Wufei was willing to trust the others, mostly because he held no doubts in his mind that Anita would keep her word and that alone was what allowed him to sit in the back seat of the black Jeep Cherokee next to Duo and manage to keep himself ‘looking’ relaxed.  Though he didn’t exactly mind having Duo’s head resting against his shoulder it did bother him that if danger presented itself he might not be able to move quick enough because of it.
     He frowned slightly as he found a familiar train of thought take hold, it was obvious that Duo was in no condition to fight and yet the braided baka had insisted in getting it over with immediately.  Richard had actually agreed to it, and had called a meeting of his pack at his house out in the middle of the country, far away from any curious neighbors, which had to be a necessity for anyone who didn’t want others to know that he turned furry once a month.
     Overall Wufei was just glad it was Stephen and Anita they were riding with.  There was something about Richard and Jason that – made his shackles rise.
     A soft moan came from next to him and he looked over to see Duo frowning in his sleep and with only a slight hesitation he through his cautious nature into the wind.  Careful not to wake the sleeping pilot he slid his arm in behind Duo’s back and moved his body so that Duo lay with his back against Wufei’s chest and found himself wondering if, with their injuries, they had a hope in hell of winning a fight against a pack of Werewolves.
     He knew they were good but he wasn’t sure exactly what they were up against.  And not knowing your enemy or underestimating them could get you killed…….
……………………
     Wufei silently cursed himself as the stopping of the car jarred him awake.  Falling asleep in the presence of dangerous people, even those he considered allies, was inexcusable.  Not for the first time he wished he had had his sword with him.
     Looking down he realized Duo’s head had fallen into his lap and he felt his lips twitch upwards slightly, Duo claimed to be The God of Death but while sleeping he looked more like an Angel.
     Leaning over, he gently shook Duo’s shoulder and soon found himself starring into violet eyes.  Suddenly realizing how their positions looked he felt his cheeks burn.  “We’re here Duo.  So get off me, will you.”
     Duo smiled impishly, and rubbed his cheek into Wufei’s lap, making the Chinese boy tense as emotions he didn’t want to explore, tore through him.  “What if I don’t wanna get off?”
     One of Wufei’s philosophies was ‘Simple questions deserve simple answers’, so without a word he stood up and in the process, dumped Duo unceremoniously to the floor.
     There was a slight yelp from the lump in front of him and he found himself smirking.  “Question answered?”
     Duo raised himself onto his elbows and peered up at Wufei from under long, chestnut bangs.  “That was harsh Wu-man, even for you.”
     Starring into Duo’s pouting face Wufei felt his heartbeat quicken, but he hid it by stepping over duo to the door.  “Was it?”
     Peering over his shoulder he raised an eyebrow at his fellow pilot.  “Are you going to lay there all day or are you planning on actually doing something useful?”
     Duo chuckled lightly.  “Oh don’t worry Wu.  I plan on making this a party to remember.”
…………………….
     Wufei stood in the middle of what appeared to be sacred territory for Richard’s Pack.  It was a large stone-enclosed circle and he could feel the ancientness of it.  There were a lot of men and women on the other side of the ring, and Anita had referred to it as the Lupanar.
     Anita stood with them on their side of the circle as their sponsor.  On the other side Richard explained it to his wolves, who didn’t seem to like the news, which in turn caused Wufei to frown deeply and move protectively in front of Duo.
     It was then the young blond-haired man, named Stephen spoke.  “I’ll accept them as dominant to me.  Duo saved Nathaniel’s life and my own, and I’ll accept Wufei because Duo says he’s as good as he is.  I believe that when Duo was telling me he doesn’t lie, he meant it.  I believe him.”
     Richard didn’t look happy but nodded.  “Anyone else?”
     A small man with glasses and a balding head nodded.  “I agree with Stephen.  They move like Shang-Da and Jamil.  I maybe a werewolf but I’m not a trained fighter.  They’re both dominant to me.”
     “Well, unlike Irving here, I don’t agree.”
     Wufei’s night vision wasn’t as good as Duo’s but peering through the shadows he spotted the twenty-year-old blond, Jason, who’d reminded him briefly of Duo.  He felt his body tense but kept his face blank, giving away nothing.  He’d hoped that this whole thing would go fine without fighting but he’d been wrong.
     Jason’s cool blue eyes met his own.  “I want to fight the cocky boy and show him the answer to his earlier question.”
     Behind him he felt Duo move closer, but not touch him.  “Question?”
     Keeping his face expressionless, Wufei spoke low and calm, “I asked him if he would fight as beast or man.”
     Duo’s laugh carried through the night, causing everyone to gaze at them and Wufei to turn his full attention to his fellow pilot, arms crossed over his chest.  Slowly he let his eyebrow raise in question as the braided boy gasped for breath.
     “Sorry Wu-man but normally you’re complaining about me and MY big mouth.”
     “Baka.  And do not call me Wu-man.  My name is Chang Wufei.”
     Duo looked up at him, grinning cheekily.  “Anything you say, Wu-man.”
     Gritting his teeth, he clenched his fists at his sides.  “Omae Korosu, Maxwell!”
     Duo danced out of his reach, grinning like an idiot.  “Yah, you and the rest of the world.  Funny thing, though,… with everyone threatening to kill me and all… I’m still 100% alive.”
     Letting out an agitated sigh Wufei looked up at the star filled sky.  “Nataku.  Give me strength.”
……………………..
     Anita was about to bring everyone back to business when Duo spoke, suddenly serious, effectively doing so for her.
     “Then I want the Chinese dude.”
     Anita looked at him in surprise.  “He’s Hati, Duo.  He’s Richard’s bodyguard.  Fourth in rank, you can’t fight him.”
     Duo turned his youthful face to her and smiled a truly dark smile.  “Too late.  I already issued the challenge.  After Wufei fights the blond wolf-boy, me and that dude dance.”
     Anita was about to appeal to Richard when Shang-Da spoke.  “My name is Shang-Da.  And I accept… Maxwell.”
     Mouth hanging open, Anita watched Duo grin manically and suddenly wondered if she shouldn’t be worrying about Shang-Da instead of the strange braided boy.
…………………………
     Wufei found his frown deepen as he studied Duo.  He could tell Shang-Da was a trained fighter and if he was fourth in the pack, he had to be good.  Duo had deliberately picked someone who might beat him, and he wasn’t sure why.
     A flash of memory surfaced and it suddenly made sense.  It all had to do with the crash… something had happened to Duo, something the braided pilot felt he hadn’t suffered enough for yet.
     And because Duo always fought all out he’d tried to pick someone who could have a good chance of beating him or if not, severely hurting him during the fight.
     That also explained why Duo had been flickering so badly between his joker mask and his Shinigami one.  He’d been trying to deal with whatever had happened.
     Wufei nearly slapped his hand against his forehead, angry at himself for not having read the signs sooner and forcing Maxwell to tell him what had happened.
     But, as he watched Jason step forward he knew his little ‘talk’ with Duo would have to wait until later.  He just hoped they both survived so that he could beat some sense into Maxwell’s head.
……………………………….
     Anita watched as Richard spoke to both Jason and Wufei.  Next to her Duo somehow managed to look like he was slouching, though she could feel his eyes watching everything happening in the Lupanar.
     “The Rules are… no shape-shifting, claws and wolf-teeth.  No weapons and the fight goes to first blood.”
     Before anyone else could speak Wufei nodded his head, eyes on Duo.  “Agreed.”
     Almost like a signal was sensed, everyone turned to watch the boy next to her.
     He blinked at the Chinese boy before grinning.  “Oh alright Wu-baby.  I’ll just put my supply in a pile here, but I can’t say that I like the idea.”
     As she watched she was barely able to keep her eyes from widening as she watched him pull knives, guns, bombs and numerous other dangerous ‘toys’, of various shapes and sizes from out of nowhere and dump them into a pile in front of him.
     “Duo, the braid too.”
     Anita had to blink as Duo’s grin grew impish and he withdrew two more slender knives, this time from his braid, and dropped them onto the pile.
     Anita watched him shrug sheepishly before he met her eyes.  The look on his face plainly asking her if she blamed him for being prepared.  Without really knowing why she found herself smiling back at him and nodding in understanding.  Remembering Bernardo Spotted-horse she couldn’t help but wonder how many guys grew their hair long just to hide knives in it.
     “That’s it Wu-baby.”
     Wufei growled, “My name is WUFEI!”
………………………….
     Duo blew him a kiss and Wufei glared a moment before turning back to Jason, who was smirking much like Maxwell.  “Don’t worry ‘Wu-baby’ I’ll make this quick so that you can get back to your ‘boyfriend’.”
     Wufei’s eyes narrowed and he heard Duo’s low whistle and his softly spoken and sympathetic words.  “Oh man, that guy’s gonna get it now.”
     Feeling stiff, Wufei bowed deeply, eyes never leaving his opponent as he let his anger boil inside him.  Whatever he felt for Duo was his own business.  And, love of any kind, be it of friendship or something more was something that should never be scoffed at.  He fell into a fighting stance, like it was as natural to him as breathing, which of course it was, and waited for Jason to make the first move.
     Jason charged forward gracefully but with little skill, which let Wufei know that his opponent wasn’t a trained fighter.
     He watched as Jason moved faster than anyone had a right to and at the last possible moment, moving just a bit faster, he moved out of the way in a half-spin and brought the back of his arm, between his shoulder and elbow, down on Jason’s back, sending the other to the ground hard.  In a single fluid motion he had moved back out of arm’s reach and crouched slightly, waiting for the wolf to get up and attack.
     Jason scrambled to his feet grinning.  “Not bad kid.”
     Wufei smirked, “Of course.  I give nothing else but my best.  Care to continue our fight or did you wish to sit down over tea and chat?”
     The blond growled deep in his throat but this time moved forward more cautiously, though still as fast.  Before Wufei could dodge, a fist came out of nowhere, glancing his cheekbone.  But using the action he went into a cartwheel and connected with Jason’s jaw with both feet.
     Finishing the movement he righted himself and once again faced Jason just out of arm’s reach.  A series of punches flew at him, but he dodged them until he managed to grab ahold of one of the offending arms and using a well-practiced technique, threw the blond hard and fast through the air to land in a heap a couple of yards away.
     From the edge of the ring he heard Maxwell sigh, before calling to him.  “Stop playing with him Chang.  I know he isn’t exactly a challenge but would you at least stop playing so nice!  He’s a werewolf, he’ll heal.”
     The blond got up, dusting himself off and glared at him, “Your lover should be worrying about you instead of trying to send you into a world of pain.”
     The rage inside him blazed from the embers he’d been fueling and as Jason came at him he held nothing back.  Catching both fists in his own hands he glowered into the other’s surprised face before dropping one of the arms and using both hands to twist the other arm up and behind the blond.  A loud cracking sound was heard throughout the ring and Wufei was satisfied to see a bond sticking out of the arm, blond welling from it.  With ease he let the blond go and backed up a few steps.
     Jason got up slowly, cradling his arm and laughed as he brought a finger with his blood on it to his lips and licked it away before kneeling in front of Wufei, eyes cast downward, “You are dominant to me.”  Then he jumped to his feet and moved back to Richard.  “I wonder if your lover-boy has moves as nice.”
     His fists were clenched and he might have run after Jason if Duo hadn’t chosen that moment to bounce forward and place a kiss on his cheek.  Startled, Wufei could only stare back into Duo’s violet eyes.
     The braided boy winked, “He figured out our secret… lover.”
     Wufei felt his face go red.  “Maxwell!  I’m going to…”
     He was cut short as Duo literally pushed him back to Anita.  “You can kill me later, Wu.  Right now I gotta dancing date with Shangrala.”
     There was a growl from across the circle.  “That’s Shang-Da.”
     Wufei watched in irritation as Duo sauntered back towards the large Chinese man, moving his hips in a way that made parts of Wufei’s anatomy tighten, and causing his braid to swing merrily across his back.  “Okay, big guy.  I wanna change the rules slightly.”
     Shang-Da crossed his arms over his chest, one eyebrow arched.
     Feeling a lump raise in his throat Wufei managed to choke out, “Duo?”
     The other pilot grinned at him but Wufei caught the manic gleam in the suddenly hard, violet eyes.  “Don’t worry, I won’t fight him to the death.  But I don’t want to fight him like you fought laughing-boy over there.  It’d be no fun then, over waaaaaaay too quickly.  So I propose we fight until one of us can’t get up again.  The one still on his feet is the winner and of course all of the other rules will apply.”
     Despite himself Wufei bit his tongue, keeping quiet.
     Shang-Da merely nodded, “Perhaps it will serve to knock that chip off your shoulder.”
     Standing next to Anita, Wufei crossed his arms over his white, silk tank top and forced his muscles to realax.  He might not like the situation but it wasn’t his place to interfere… yet.  Almost as if a switch had been thrown, he watched as the joker bleed away leaving only Shinigami in its place.  Absently he took a step forward but stopped and instead moved closer to Anita.  Even during fights back in their own dimension there had always been a hint of the joker mixed with Shinigami, now… there was nothing but death coming from Maxwell.  “Anita?”
     She kept her eyes on the two in front of her and he had a feeling she sensed the change in Duo as well.  “Yes?”
     “You have a doctor on standby, right?”
     This time her dark eyes flickered momentarily to him before turning back.  “Yes.  Why?”
     “Because we’re going to need a doctor by the time this is over with.  And maybe not just for them.”