Title: Dermasa Author: Tiffany Adams Summary: Willy And Lucas take a vacation on Noctur Two Rating: R Pairings: Willy/Lucas Spoilers: season 2 of the web series, my fanfics "Demon" and "Spector" Disclaimer: The characters of Willy, Bucky, Deadeye, Jenny, Bruiser, and Blinky belong to Neal Adams and co. The characters of Lucas Macarthur, Fritz Warner, and Kadaf Warner belong to DJ Clawson. Just try to sue me. I have no $$. The lawyer fee will be more than the settlement. WARNING! If you have a problem with homosexual content (aka slash), please skip this and my other stories. They are rated "R" for mature content. This story continues the chronology begun in "Life of the Party" and continued in "Demon" and "Beloved." All of these deal with Willy DuWitt and his various interesting - and very male - loves throughout his teenage years. If you missed the first couple of stories, you should probably go back and read them, but I'll give you a brief description. Willy found his boyfriend (and his sexuality) in Scott Osbourne, who left him for his old girlfriend Willow. In "Demon" Willy decided to accompany the aniversian human priest Lucas MacArthur on a road trip to Tennessee to face his abusive father and it became a weekend fling. Their on-and-off relationship was rekindled in "Spector" as Lucas helped Willy battle his own personal demons. Willy hooked back up with Scott in "Beloved" and this story takes place about ten months later. _______________________________________________________________ Lucas MacArthur rarely got mail. Handwritten mail was an oddity in the aniverse anyway, its delivery systems considered inefficient and slow. It was mainly used for shipping things, so when Lucas was interrupted from his mid-morning tea on the terrace of the ziggurat temple and handed a white envelope, he was surprised. The raccoon monk bowed to the human priest and excused himself, leaving Lucas to look over the envelope. Reading the front, he instantly knew who it was from. The address was in standard aniversian print, but the stationary envelope had the DuWitt address in English on the back fold. Smiling to himself, he took the ritual dagger from his belt and slit open the envelop with great care. Instead of a letter, which he would have found especially odd, coming from the computer-worshipping Willy, was a cream-colored invitation. Willy, it seemed, was having a birthday party, and he was having it in the aniverse. Lucas didn't find this strange in any way - the engineer had far more friends in the animal universe than the human one, and having recently told his parents of his after school adventures ended that obstacle. Lucas had kept up with Willy in the year since their weekend fling, and knew that even though the young man had resurrected his relationship with the infamous werewolf Scott Osbourne, he always seemed to make time to stay in touch with the erratic priest. Lucas didn't particularly want to go to the party, not being on good terms with what he would guess were going to be the other invitees, but he had a feeling Willy wouldn't have invited him if he hadn't want him there for some reason. And into the back of his mind crept the eventual thought - An *eighteenth* birthday party. Willy was becoming legal. "Something interesting?" it was the abbot of the monastery, an elder raccoon, who spoke to him in Lopine, shaking him from his very un-pious stupor. "What am I doing on the 3rd of next month?" Lucas asked immediately. The abbot gave him a look like he was crazy. "Why, it's the Dermasa Festival. You're officiating." "Fuck the Dermasa Festival," Willy stood up, collecting his tea set. "I'm going to a party." ******************************************* Upon arriving on Warren, Lucas instantly remembered why he had been originally reluctant to go. It was very easily for him to be the snide priest most of the guests knew so well, but he wasn't in that sort of mood. It was Willy's birthday party, and he didn't want Willy to have to go through any aggravation. And besides, he was celebrating. Whispering a prayer, he begged himself to be on his best behavior. It was a tricky part to play. If he came off too nice, to devoted to Willy - well, that didn't really hold up in their little agreement about the secrecy of their relationship. And the last thing he wanted was the now consenting-aged Willy to be mad at him for something like that. He had to be his usual self, but not as annoying. He had to be Lucas, but a domesticated Lucas. And it wasn't going to be easy. Willy had invited, of course, all of his crewmates and the rest of the surviving U.A.C. fleet members, all of whom had some reason to despite the priest. There were also some scientists and engineering types Willy probably knew from conferences, and then there were Willy's parents, who seemed to be the only ones eager to see him. Obviously they were still out of the aniversian loop. "It's so good to see you again," Susan DuWitt embraced him. They'd met picking up Willy and him at the airport nearly a year ago, and had seen each other again when he had visited Willy in the hospital on Genus last month. "How have you been?" Lucas, who had recently tonsured his head and shaved his beard for the Dermasa Festival, probably looked years younger - his white beard usually obscured his age. "Pretty good. It's festival time - it's like tax time for the priesthood." "My brother became a priest," David DuWitt said. "Did you know for only $50 you can become a minister for the Church of Scientology and be allowed to marry people in the United States? And for $75 you can have an archbishopric." "I'll keep that in mind if I ever move back to earth." "What? Something about moving back to earth?" It was Bucky O'Hare, now a Commander. He had been promoted after the destruction of KOMPLEX. By his side was his fiancée, Princes Jenny, who was wearing regal robes. Her coronation was in six months; a regent was running Aldeberan in the meantime. "Be nice," Jenny said softly in one of Bucky's long ears, idly playing with it. She turned to Lucas and said as neutrally as possible, "How are you?" "Fine. You?" Lucas had to give her credit - Jenny could be incredibly diplomatic. Despite being a heretic in his eyes, he thought she would make an excellent queen. "Fine. Very busy." "Have you seen Willy?" He had no desire to continue this conversation. Jenny, ever a clever cat, seemed to pick up on this. "He's inside the house, I think," she directed him inside. The party was being held at the old O'Hare manor house, which was in the process of being renovated after years of disrepair - Bucky had rarely come back after his family was killed in the Noctur Two invasion, and his Aunt Iris had no desire to stay on the estate, moving in with her friends closer to town. Fritz Warner, who technically had bought the land from Bucky's father, had another mansion built on the other end of the lands, several miles of arable fields away. Now that the toad wars were over, Lucas guessed Bucky had an interest in returning to the old place and perhaps raise a family there, though the priest had no idea how that was going to work out with Jenny's queenship. Maybe they were going to split their time between the two planets. It was a beautiful old house, though obviously still early in the renovation stages. There were a lot of people inside, mostly U.A.C. people. Lucas wandered around a bit, until he found himself in the kitchen, which was currently just being used for storing extra party platters. Scott Osbourne was in the other doorway, his hair currently bleached blond. He saw the priest and immediately approached him, making Lucas groan silently. "Hey," Scott said in his very cool, collected way. Lucas didn't want to be civil to the man who stood between him and Willy, but he felt it was necessary, at least for the sake of the man they both loved. "Hey. What's up?" "Not much." The werewolf seemed not to have anything relevant to say until he added rather suddenly. "Will and I broke up." It hit Lucas like a ton of bricks. He wasn't sure whether to be shocked or excited, or both. "What? Why?" Scott had a sort of distant but content look in his eyes. "Well, Will's leaving for college in a month - and he's gonna be in Boston, at MIT, and I'm going to Berkeley, and that's in California. You know, long distant relationships. They usually don't work." He had no pain in his voice, "It was a mutual decision." The priest's mind was spinning so fast, it was making him dizzy. He wondered his it would be inappropriate to show his complete elation at this news, and did his best to mask it. "I'm sorry." Lucas had to hand it to him - the boy was no dummy. "No, you're not. But hey, I understand. Anyway, this probably good-bye for me to all the aniversians. I have no real connections here, and without Will's door ...," He shrugged. "You know." "That's why you're here?" "Yeah, I guess so." Scott seemed finished. "Anyway, I gotta say some more good-byes." He wandered off. The excitement was now a pounding force sending blood to Lucas' brain. He now knew exactly why he had been invited, or at least he was pretty damn sure. If he could catch Willy alone, maybe that would seal it. It was a harder task than he had imagined; Willy was in the living room, but surrounded by people. It was the first Lucas had seen the young man since he lay half-alive in his hospital bed, his life forced drained and his spirits crushed by the death of his crewmate Bruiser and the amputation of his left leg. Now Willy seemed vibrant again, and it was like a fresh breath of air. He had a prosthetic leg beneath the knee and would walk with a considerable limp for the rest of his life, but he seemed otherwise perfectly normal - maybe a little stronger, more grown-up. He rose to greet Lucas, which he didn't have to do with his condition. "Hey, Lucas," Willy embraced him, but in a very chaste way. "I'm glad you came. I was worried you would be busy with some kind of festival." "The Dermasa Festival, yeah," Lucas played with his very short hair. "Hence the ritual haircut. But the festival is five days, and I told them they could go shove it for the first one." "I appreciate it," he said genuinely. "Don't leave without seeing me again." It was obviously his way of telling Lucas he wanted to talk in private, but he was currently unavailable, and resumed talking to Prince Tommy, the Aldeberan male cat. The time couldn't pass by soon enough. Since Willy was now a legal adult, he was allowed to serve quarn, which was the aniversian equivalent of alcohol, only it didn't kill brain cells or give someone a hang-over. Lucas promised himself he would not get drunk, but he did have a drink to take the edge off having to be around people he hated, and sat down on the steps of the wide back porch, overlooking the fallow cornfields. A few guests were out back talking, including Admiral Dogstar and Commander Mimi LaFleur. David, the three-year-old brown rabbit who was obviously the result of the union of Mimi and now-retired Chairman Fritz Warner, was playing catch with a partially-rebuilt Blinky. "Shouldn't you be at the festival?" He turned around without getting up. Ramsay MacLeod, Willy's warp drive mechanic raccoon friend who Lucas knew only by association, was standing on the porch. Lucas turned back around and looked out at the fields again, finding their lack of prying eyes soothing. "I'll be there tomorrow. Willy doesn't turn eighteen every day." The raccoon mumbled something to himself and must have gone back in the house, because by the time Lucas bothered to look back over his shoulder he was gone. Sighing to himself, he took another sip of his very potent drink and let his mind wander, having no desire to interact with anyone else. He had no idea how long he had been in a semi-trance-like state, because someone had to shake him out of it. Blinking, he refocused his eyes and looked to his side. Willy was sitting on the steps next to him, and the yard was now empty. "You okay?" The young man seemed mildly concerned. "Yeah ... I just sort of nodded off, I guess." Lucas felt immeasurably relieved. "Sorry I made you wait so long," Willy apologized, but Lucas shrugged it off, indicating it wasn't necessary. There was a brief silence between them before Willy finally asked what Lucas had been waiting for. "Did you talk to Scott?" "Yeah. He told me. Sorry, man," Lucas clearly wasn't overly sorry, but it was the appropriate thing to say. Willy leaned back, propping himself up by the palms of his hands. "It had to happen sooner or later. I mean, I'm sorry to see him go, but it's a natural progression at this point." "So what now?" he left the question as open-ended as possible. The engineer looked out across the fields. "I was thinking about taking a vacation. You know, before I leave for college." He looked back at Lucas. "You know of anything going on in the aniverse right now? Like a festival or something?" Lucas smiled at him. ******************************************** "Jesus, you have a nice place. I need to visit more often." It was the kind of innocent wonder in Willy that had made Lucas fall in love with him in the first place, and he was more than happy to see it. The spiraling ziggurt that was Noctur Two's largest temple and monastery was indeed a breathtaking sight, but during the Dermasa festival, the entire structure was covered in yellow streamers and candles. Some 90% of the population of Noctur identified themselves as Lopinenean, the majority also being raccoons. The grey stone temple had survived toad conquest and climate conversion fairly well, being too much of a pain to try to destroy with weapons and not being at all affected by the change in humidity, except that its lower layers were covered in vines that were easily cleared away. "There are seven levels, and each level has a different layer of holiness, going from bottom to top," he explained as they got off the public transport in front of the temple. The streets were packed with festival-related tourists and merchants selling candles and glowsticks, even though it was daylight. "The top is reserved supposively where Frith, the sun G-d, partially resides. There's nothing up there but an altar made of solid gold. No one but a priest or an abbot can go up there." "Where do you live?" "The level beneath it, which is reserved for very holy men, high-ranking priets, and prophets." Lucas led him through the crowds to the temple entrance. "And the one beneath that is for monks and nuns. Beneath that are other alters where lay people can offer gifts and material sacrifices to appease Frith-rah." As they approached the temple, the two guard monks gave him a small bow and let the two humans pass. "The only way to get up is the staircase that spirals around the building. I hope you're not afraid of heights." "No," Willy answered quickly, but he looked a little apprehensive at the sight of the beginning of the steps. Lucas glanced at him, noting that he was still only partially-healed from his final mission in the toad wars. "We can get somebody to carry you up, if you want." "No way." The engineer was as resilient as ever. "I can do it if I take it slow." Lucas slung Willy's bag over his shoulder and they began the what for a one-legged man was a tremendous climb. Lucas felt bad, and cursed those old-fashioned monks for not installing an elevator. Willy held fast to his pride until they hit the third floor, and he allowed Lucas to take him by the shoulder so he could take weight off his prosthetic leg. "You want to stop?" he offered on the fifth floor. "It's only one more floor, right?" Willy looked pale, but remained confident. "I can do it. As long as I don't have to do this again for a long, long time." Lucas grinned at him. "I promise." Taking most of Willy's weight, he helped the younger man up the last few feet of elevation and into the priestly chambers. Upon arrival, there were many attendant monks ready to greet them, but Lucas shooed them away, practically carrying Willy into his own private chambers. Willy immediately collapsed into a very plush coach, putting his foot up on the foot rest as Lucas shut the large wooden doors behind them. "I see where you get all of your exercise," the exasperated human said, taking off his prosthetic leg and looking around. "You have a *really* nice place." It was not far from the truth. Despite the barbarity of the transportation system, the upscale area of the temple was well-built. The floor was polished marble, smooth and cooling to Lucas's feet after he took off his sandals. The walls were covered with tapestries, mainly of the sun and other images of the pantheon of Lopinenean Gods. There was a private altar and a kneepad to kneel on in front of it. There was a computer on a large wooden desk, but what was obviously the center of attention on the desk was the scrolls and scrolls of fancy parchment paper, and the feather-and-ink pen, just like in human colonial days. In fact most of the room was filled with piles of scrolls, scrolls in drums, scrolls on shelves, scrolls hanging from hangers - all with Lopine writing on them, except for the clean scrolls near the desk. This was obviously the place where Lucas did most, if not all, of his writing. In the center of the room, seperated from the work-related area by drapes, was Lucas's very large bed, with black satin sheets, fitting for a prophet who always wore black. There was a room to the side that was obviously the bathroom, and some furniture, but it was clearly not meant to be a very public dwelling. "You're surprised," Lucas observed. "Well, I thought it'd be sort of ... monkish." Willy took off his glances and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Is monkish even a word?" "I don't think so. But I know what you mean." Lucas sat down in the chair across from him. "The monks below us live traditional lives of poverty and chastity, but they all *decided* to take vows. I didn't *decide* to become a prophet, so I'm not held to the same restrictions." "Won't they think it's kinda weird that I'm here with you?" Willy put his glasses back on. "No, they don't care what I do. They care about what I say and what I write, because I'm a prophet. But they don't care what I do. I outrank them. I could be running a brothel in here and they couldn't complain." "Thank you so much for that wonderful comparison," he said sarcastically. The priest seemed hurt. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it that way." "I know." Though having no desire to get up, Willy arched his neck so he could see the giant tapestries that hung on the walls without moving any other part of his body. "I see Frith, and I see his kid, the lion, whatisname - " " - Uraysus." "Uraysus. But who's that guy?" Willy pointed to the largest tapestry, that hung above Lucas's desk. It appeared to be a picture of the entire pantheon of gods, with the sun at the top and a line leading from him down to Uraysus and another character, apparently an anthropomorphic cat with white fur and carrying a sword. "That? It's Frith's other son, Ecuador. He's a kat, with a 'k'. He was mortal for a time and still has mortal descendants today." "No, the guy with the fire in his hand." Willy was referring to the small figure to the lower right side of the sun, but was not connected by a line to it. The figure was cloaked in black with no visible face, and had a lantern and sickle in one hand and a book in the other. The hand holding the book was burning with a blue flame. "That -," Lucas got up and looked at the tapestry, "- is the Lord of the Underworld. He's traditionally the right-hand god of Frith, chosen by but not related to him. The book he's carrying is the Book of the Dead, which has the names of every mortal that will ever exist and their death date. The Lord of the Underworld is in charge of retrieving souls after they die from their bodies and taking them to the Underworld. I don't actually know why his hand glows with blue flame, but it does." "That's cool," Willy said. "But why does the sun have a son that's a lion and a son that's a kat? Does it matter?" "The gods can take whatever forms they want," Lucas explained. "See these black dots?" He sat down on the couch next to Willy, pointing to the three black dots. In the tapestry, the pantheon was seemingly hovering in space, but the bottom fringes were clearly a planet. In between where the gods were and the planet was was three black dots. "One of those is me." "You're a god?" "No, I'm a prophet. There are many levels of prophets, but the highest level of prophets are those who only receive visions sent by one of the gods to help them communicate better with mortals. At any given time, in all of the galaxies and dimensions, there can only be three highest-level prophets. Once one of us dies, another can be born. But after that, they powers have to be activated, usually by a cataclysmic event." "Liking falling off your bike and hitting your head," Willy offered. "Have you ever met the other two?" "Yeah, a few years ago. They both live on this planet called Terra, on the outskirts of the aniverse. One's a gargoyle and the other is a she-kat. Their names are Abi Sinian and Thoran." Willy looked over at the priest. "Do you guys ever hang out? Have kegger parties or something?" "No, it's better if we don't exchange notes." "Why?" Lucas thought about the best way to say it. "When we receive visions, the visions aren't crystal clear - they're very far from it. We all receive information that will mean something to someone at some time, but not necessarily to us. We're not meant to understand them. So Frith might, say, tell me someone's going to be shot, tell Abi when this bad thing is going to happen but not what it is, and tell Thoran why this bad thing is going to happen, but not when or what. It's up for the mortals to put the pieces together." "Do you ever get prophecies about yourself?" "Sometimes." The subject made Lucas uncomfortable. "It's hard to receive a prophecy about me or someone I know, because Frith doesn't give me the information to prevent it, and prophecies can be very violent and very scary. You want to prevent them, but it's just not in the cards, as they say." He shivered, recalling something he wasn't interested in telling Willy about. Willy seemed to sense this, and slipped his hand over the priest's hands. The stillness of the engineer's hand made Lucas realize how shaky his hand was. "Blessed Frith, I don't want to think about this anymore." He leaned against Willy, who let him rest his head on his shoulder. "You don't have to," Willy said in a soothing voice, resting his chin on Lucas's head. "You don't have to do anything." It was another thing that made him fall in love with Willy; the young man didn't care who he was, or how he acted because of it. He didn't want him to be a priest, or a prophet, or a terrorist. He just wanted him to be Lucas. "I love you so much." "I know," was Willy's response. ****************************************** Noctur Two was really a beautiful place to be, Willy decided to himself as he limped out onto the balcony. He couldn't imagine the place as a swamp, as it had been for four years. Clearly the landscape was still recovering from two whitewashings of the atmosphere - there were no trees older than a few years, many patches of what was meant to be forest not reseeded yet. But it was a breathing place nontheless. The night air was cool and calming, the air filled only with the noises of crickets and other strange bugs he guessed were native to the planet. It made him glad that he had been restless at such a late hour, enough to throw on some clothes and come out onto the balcony. Below him, the lower levels of the ziggurat temple were visible, along with the impossible staircase he had climbed several hours ago. Just looking at it made his only leg ache. Beyond that, the bustling town had all-but turned in for the night, with the exception of what appeared to be taverns, and the patrols of night watchmen. There was a shuffling behind him, and he casually glanced over his shoulder. Lucas was throwing on robe and apparently coming over. Maybe he wasn't the heavy sleeper that Willy had estimated. Willy looked over his shoulder again, wondering why Lucas hadn't joined him yet, because a good minute had passed and the balcony only extended about five feet. In the background of the sky, he heard a strange humming noise, but couldn't place it. His attention was suddenly elsewhere. Lucas was standing in the doorway to the balcony, barefoot but clothed. He looked pale as a sheet, afraid to advance and too shocked to speak. It was worth Willy turning around and moving towards him. "What is it? What's wrong?" "I-I've seen this before," Lucas stuttered, a confounded look on his face. "I don't remember - Oh Frith, get down!" The engineer's soldier draining didn't need another signal; he dropped to the ground, a few feet away from where Lucas was standing. He instinctively covered his ears, a motion he did not come to regret when the sounds of gunshots filled the air. They came from behind, and he slid around on the ground, trying to see where the came from. He only caught a glimpse of a small black hovercraft before it was gone, beyond the balcony above them and out of eyesight. His attention was stolen by a 'thump' behind him. Standing halfway up, a tremendously painful feat, he turned back to Lucas, who was now laying in a pool of his own blood. "Shit!" He stumbled over to Lucas's side. The priest was very much awake, but holding tightly onto his left abdomen. At the opposite end of the room, there was tremendous pounding on the wooden doors, and shouts of monks demanding entrance. "Let them in," Lucas's voice was more of a croak. Willy was reluctant to leave him, but the priest had barred the doors, and he knew he needed immediate medical assistance. He climbed to his feet and scrambled to the door, removing the wooden bar across the door and allowing the group of raccoon monks to hurl in in a flutter of robes and fur. They circled around Lucas faster than Willy could hobble back to him. To his dismay, the priest was now unconscious, and not responding to all attempts at stimuli, including smelling salts and shouting in his ear. One of the monks hurried out carrying a comm-unit, probably to call a medical team. Willy painfully knelt to Lucas, picking him up and cradling his head in his lap. The next few minutes were a blur as his mind began to stop processing what was happening. The medical team arrived somehow, and put Lucas on a stretcher with an IV and respirator. Willy practically had to have Lucas torn out of his arms before he could be put on the stretcher, desperate not to lose physical contact. As soon as he did, it was like a wave of disorientation had it him, and he stood numbly in the room, watching various medical technicians and monks scurry around trying to collect the blood on the floor, presumeably because Lucas had no possible donors, his blood type being different from Willy's. He stumbled back out onto the balcony, his mind racing almost painfully. Probably only a minute or two had passed since he had been standing so peacefully on the same slab of soothingly cool marble. He ran the events through once in his mind, and almost automatically, he began to make calculations. It was relaxing to his nervous brain to get lost in mathematics, and he allowed himself this repreive, trying to recreate where he was standing, where Lucas was standing, where the hovercraft was last seen, what the trajectory must have been - Willy blinked, and wondered why he hadn't realized this before. He turned to the raccoon monk who was watching him from the doorway. "They were aiming for me." **************************************** By the time he made it to the hospital closest to the temple, the severity of the situation must have occurred to the monk, because Willy was now flanked by several security guards. He basically ignored them, concerned much more about Lucas' health. The wing of the hospital Luas was taken to was closed to all other visitors, and the monks had to justify Willy's presence before he was allowed to enter. Lucas was still in surgery when he arrived, so he was force to wait in an uncomfortable seat that was far too small for him for what seemed like far too long. He stared down at the floor, trying to fight back tears. This was all his fault, if his hunch was correct. The sniper was clearly after him, not Lucas, but his brain could not process why. All he could think about was the man on the table beyond the operating room doors, the man he had held lovingly held in his arms just an hour before, and was now fighting for his life. "I'm sorry," said a comforting voice, that sounded familiar, but he couldn't place. Looking up, he was utterly shocked to find Jenny a few feet in front of him. "What are you doing here?" he asked in a mildly aggravated tone. There was no logical reason for her to be here. She was Aldeberan, not Lopinenean - she certainly wasn't here for the Dermasa festival. And only about half an hour had passed since he had determined that his life was probably in danger; there simply wasn't enough time for her to have found out, much less gotten to Noctur Two. Jenny looked uncomfortable, uneager to answer the question. It only made him more suspicious when she finally said. "I don't think I really have an answer for that." "What? Did you know about the sniper beforehand?" It was the only reason he could think of to explain her presence. Unless ... "No, of course not." Jenny was offended, but her denial only confirmed his fears. "You're spying on me." It was a statement, not a question. Her eyes fell to the floor. "I have to admit that I was a little ... curious as to why you picked up and left for Noctur Two after the party." "So you followed me?" He felt horribly betrayed, his anger growing. If he wasn't so exhaused, he would practically be hurling spells at her. "What kind of sick vouyeristic thing is that?" "So I was right." Jenny had indeed figured out that his relationship with Lucas was anything but platonic, and now Willy's last comment had only confirmed it. "How long has this been going on?" Willy began to shake with anger; he wasn't afraid of Jenny finding out. He didn't care. All he cared about was the man dying twenty feet from them; her accusational tone only made him even more furious. "Why should I tell you anything?!? I don't have to answer to you! I'm an adult now; I'm allowed to anything with anyone I want! Why are you still treating me like I'm twelve?!" But the Aldeberan princess was stubbornly remaining in her fixed position of a paranoid mother-figure, which was annoying to Willy to no end. "Willy, you've been 'legal' for two days, one of which I was with you for most of. How long has this been going on?" He couldn't believe what he was hearing. It wanted to block it out, to pretend this conversation was not taking place. "Does it matter? And, most of all, why does it matter to *you* so much? You supported me with Scott despite how bad he was for me, what's the issue now?" It took her a second to get the courage to respond. "Willy, I don't think he's a good ... influence on you." It was the blow he knew was coming, and he was prepared for it. He'd gone over in his head a thousand times what he would do if any of his anti-Lucas friends ever found out about their on-and-off relationship; he just hadn't imagined he'd be answering to it in a hospital waiting room. "You know, I thought of a very long, very concise answer to that a long, long time ago. I had it all mapped out in my head and everything. But right now there's a man who's very dear to me fighting for his life and I need to concentrate on *that*. So you can take your thoughts and shove them, okay?" Just as he finished speaking, the door to the operating room open and a doctor in scrubs came out. The abbot of the temple rose to speak to him, and Willy got up and limped over to where the doctor was standing. He was still sore from his seven-story climb the day before. "The patient is resting comfortably. We were able to remove two bullets, one from his large intestines and one from his left lung. I take it they'll be needed for evidence in a U.A.C. investigation?" "Of course," the abbot offered. "Please continue." "As I said, he's resting comfortably. All of the damage to his digestive and resperative systems was repairable, though it'll be a while before he's back on his feet, especially because we weren't able to give him blood. He's going to need a lot of rest and will probably remain on a respirator for the next few days. We gave him general anesthesia for surgery, so he should be unconscious for at least the next six hours." "Thank Frith," the abbot answered, and the monks answered with brief prayers of thanks in Lopine. "Can I see him?" Willy demanded eagerly. "No, I don't want him disturbed. When the anesthesia wears off you may visit him, but not before." The doctor continued to field questions from the group, but Willy tuned them out. He couldn't believe that he was going to have to wait at least six hours - it seemed like years away. "Willy, you should go somewhere and rest," it was only thing to come out of Jenny's mouth that hadn't made him angry. He was about to retort, but looked at himself. He had a good deal of blood on his clothes, his non-leg was killing him, and it was now almost dawn and - well, he hadn't been doing any real sound sleeping during the hours usually reserved for that sort of thing. But he didn't want to go back to the temple - there was no way in hell he was climbing all those stairs again. Out of blue, Jenny spoke again. "You can stay in my hotel room." Willy was a little stunned, but then he reminded himself that he wasn't usually mad at Jenny, and she was a good person who cared for him and he trusted with his life. And he really had no choice. "Okay." The ride to the hotel was silent. Jenny didn't seem interested in picking up their earlier topic of conversation, for which Willy was grateful. His strength was rapidly evaporating. She mentioned something about how he should be under U.A.C. guard until they figured out exactly what had happened with the sniper, but he shrugged it off. Instantly upon arriving in the hotel room, he stripped off his outer shirt, which was bloodied, and threw it in the automatic washer, blessing aniversian technology all the way. He then collapsed on one of the two twin beds. "What should I tell them?" He rolled over without getting up to face Jenny, who was holding a comm-link in her paw. He looked at her quizzically. "What do you mean? Tell who?" "Willy, there's been an attempt on your life. You're still a member of the U.A.C. military, even if you've been discharged. This is a possible matter of the intergalactic security." He wasn't sure he could process all of this information. "So what's the problem?" "Willy," she said slowly, attemping to explain it. "Are you intending to keep your ... relationship - with Lucas private? Should I tell everyone on Genus you were staying alone with the one other human in the aniverse in his private residence and he was around to get shot instead of you because you were both in the same bedroom at four in the morning? They're not idiots." He hadn't thought of it like that. "Damn. Okay, good point." It was hard to think ... "Just tell them I was staying with a friend during the festival, and they should send an investigator or something, who we'll give the details when he or she arrives." Jenny seemed satisfied with his, and allowed him to drift off into a nervous sleep. He wasn't sure if he was staring up at ceiling of the hotel room, or just dreaming of staring at the ceiling, when he came around. Rolling onto his side, he put on his glasses and looked at the clock on the bedstand, cursing to himself. Though he felt worlds better, he'd slept for nearly ten hours. "I was wondering when you were going to get up," came Jenny's answer, from the other side of the room - he couldn't see her. He swung his legs over the side of the bed, scratching his head. "Did the hospital call?" It was now daylight out, and the sounds of the festival were coming in distantly through the partially-open window. "No, but I called Genus. Chairman Griff is sending an investigator. Until then, you should stay under U.A.C. guard," she added, "I offered." "Thank you." His brain was still a little too fuzzy to be grateful, but as he stumbled into the shower, he realized that Jenny was indeed sticking her neck out for him. Maybe she felt guilty about spying on him. The shower was surprisingly soothing. He wished he had time for a bath, but he really needed to get back to the hospital and check on Lucas. Under the lukewarm spray, he tried to process why someone had taken a shot at him. It could have been a political thing - he had very contraversial views on how the toad population should be treated since the destruction of KOMPLEX. Unlike many mammals who had suffered great personal loses under the regime of the supercomputer (not that he hadn't), Willy felt very strongly that the toads could easily be reformed if treated properly, that they were as much victims of KOMPLEX than anyone else. It was certainly enough to make a lot of people angry. Maybe he had underestimated the feelings the plan had stirred up. He bit his lip as he scrubbed the last of the conditioner out of his long hair. Maybe he should call Warner. If this was a political assasination attempt, he was certainly an expert at dodging political assasins and probably knew how to recognize it. And Willy's own proposal of not actively punishing the toads for war crimes, just deprogramming them, was the last thing the rabbit had supported and signed before retiring from office. It was certainly worth a try. He stepped out of the shower and retrieved his clothes from the machine, putting them back on. It was good to feel fresh for the first time since arriving on Noctur Two. Jenny, who had also changed while he was in the bathroom, was ready to go. "I appreciate your help," Willy said as they walked to her rental vehicle. Their relationship was still somewhat on the rocks, earlier issues not having been resolved, but his only concern right now was getting to Lucas, and maybe figuring out why someone was trying to take him out. He couldn't afford to be fighting with Jenny, who he needed as a support. She seemed to accept it and pulled out of the hotel lot. The ride to the hospital was another silent one, mainly because they both had things on their mind, and Jenny was constantly watching the roads for suspicious-looking characters. She seemed to feel very strongly that Willy was still in danger. By the time they arrived in the hospital, thanks to a delay with festival traffic, Willy was dizzy with impatience. He found one of the monks on the secured floor and was informed that Lucas was indeed awake, if barely. The priest was alone in his room with the abbot; he had apparently been downgraded out of intensive care while Willy was back at the hotel. Wearing a respirator, he was prevented from talking, but seemed to be listening to the abbot in Lopine, and did not notice Willy come in until the human was right next to him. His tired eyes lit up as Willy sat down on the edge of the bed, taking his hand and squeezing it tightly. "You look good," Willy joked, but in fact, he looked worlds better than he had when he was last seen. "They're not letting you talk, huh? That must be tough. Even I can never get you to shut up." It warranted a weary smile from the priest, but he seemed eager to speak. The abbot excused himself and returned immediately with a nurse. "Lucas-rah wishes to speak." It took some pressure on the nurse to finally remove the mouthpiece of his respirator, but only on the promise that the oxygen monitor would be carefully watched. "Thanks," was the first word out of Lucas's mouth. His voice was beyond hoarse, barely sounding human. "How do you feel?" "Like shit," Lucas said resigningly. "Are you okay?" "Yeah, I'm fine." Willy gave the priest's hand an extra squeeze. "But I was worried about you." "How long am I gonna be here?" Willy admired his fortitude; he already seemed eager to be back on his feet. "You have holes in your abdomen and left lung. You need to rest and let them heal for a few weaks." The news seemed to discourage Lucas, who closed his eyes, steading his ragged breathing. Willy look his hand and kissed it. "C'mon, you took two bullets for me. You're allowed to take it easy. And thanks, by the way." "I was meant to take those bullets," he said in his creepy prophet way, a distant look in his eyes. "I wouldn't have told you to duck if they were meant for you." "Yeah, well, I'm still allowed to be grateful," Willy offered. He didn't like it when Lucas got all serious; it was unnerving - he preferred the mood to be more cheerful. "Did you have any visions on who did it?" "Chairman Warner would know," Lucas said firmly. His breathing was growing more labored. "I'm sure he's connected to this, but I don't know how. If I could get my writings out in front of me, maybe I could decode something now that -," He was cut off by the oxygen monitor, which began to beep harshly. Despite his protests, the nurse immediately put the respirator back his mouth, and Willy and the abbot had to hold down his hands to prevent him from pulling it back out. His eyelids were starting to drop, his energy spent. "You have to rest now," Willy commanded. "We're gonna get to the bottom of this, even if it has to be without you. But I'll be back, okay?" He leaned in and kissed Lucas on the forehead. It seemed to calm Lucas, who was already fading out. But the time Willy got up off the bed, he was unconscious again. "Me or one of the monks will stay with him," the abbot said kindly. "Don't get in any trouble, or Lucas-rah will kill us." "Thanks," was Willy's response, as he stepped out into the hall. Jenny was right outside the door. Her mood seemed changed, but she didn't offer any commentary on it, and he didn't ask for any, instead beginning, "How do I reach Warner?" "You'd have to go off-planet," she said immediately. "He's nearly impossible to reach except on Warren. He's been a complete recluse since he retired. But I don't think all this traveling would be safe right now. You should stay here; it might not be easy to get back to see Lucas again." It seemed a strange comment, considering her earlier opposition to their relationship, but Willy didn't question it. "Bucky's on Warren, so he could go over to Fritz's mansion and try to get him to call us at the hotel. We should go back to the hotel anyway, because the investigator is meeting us there." Willy wasn't particularly interested in meeting or discussing anything with the 'investigator' but he realized he didn't have a choice. "Okay." They got their parking ticket validated at the nurse's station and headed back into the car. Almost immediately upon pulling out of the hospital parking lot, Jenny spoke in a reflective voice, without looking at Willy. "You really care for him, don't you?" "Yeah," Willy answered. "He's a wonderful person; he just doesn't show it to many people. And he's had to deal with some real shit in his life. You gotta admire him for that." After a moment, she spoke again. "I trust your judgement." It seemed to be her way of saying she respected their relationship, even if she didn't understand it, and she clearly still didn't have any particular good feelings for the ex-terrorist. "Thanks." He knew Jenny could be very set in her ways, and very protective of him, so coming from her, this was a lot. The rest of the way back was quiet. ********************************************** When they arrived back at the hotel, Jenny immediately called up Bucky on Warren and gave him a very guarded update as to what was going on. Willy was in the room, trying to sort out exactly what to tell the investigator, and he watched the conversation she had with her fiancé over the vid-phone. She was obviously choosing her words very carefully; he doubted Bucky O'Hare would be as accepting of Willy's personal choices as she was. Bucky was a figure of respect and admiration to Willy, but he was also very set in his ways, and when he hated someone - either a terrorist priest, or the toads as a whole - he had trouble letting go of that hatred. Maybe it stemmed from his traumatic experiences on Noctur Two. The former Chairman Warner had once privately mentioned to Willy that he felt Bucky stood in that gray area between sanity and madness. The mess of the aftermath of the destruction of KOMPLEX had put a strain on Willy's relationship with his captain - Bucky's thirst for revenge remained unquenched, and he had violently opposed Willy's proposal to peaceful reintergrate the toads into society. But that was a political matter, and they had remained close friends nonetheless. So he was obviously eager to help out, and offered to go to Warner's place immediately before severing communications. They barely had a moment of peace before there was a knock on the door. Jenny got up and opened the door a slit, and recognizing the investigator, invited him in, closing the door behind him. It was Admiral Dogstar. After the end of the toad wars and the dismantling of the fleet, he had returned to his original job of investigator for the U.A.C., though this time a higher ranking one with a bit larger of a jurisdiction. He seemed relieved to find Willy safe and under Jenny's watch. "I'm sorry to hear about MacArthur," Dogstar said, sitting down at the small table next to Willy and getting out his laptop. "It was very noble of him. Maybe he's actually reforming from his earlier ... transgressions." "Yeah, whatever," Willy said tiredly. "Let's get this over with." "Okay, where were you when this happened?" "I was in the temple, on the sixth floor balcony when I heard some humming noise. Lucas came out onto the balcony and said something in his creepy prophet voice, and told me to duck. There were two shots from behind me, but I was already on the ground so they hit Lucas instead. I turned around, and there was this one-seater hovercraft floating over the balcony. It flew up over the balcony on the level above us and disappeared. By then I had to help Lucas." "And you were staying with him?" "Yes," he answered quickly. "I'm assuming you left for Noctur Two immediately after the party. Who did you tell you where you were going?" "My parents and Bucky and Jenny, just before I left. It was sort of a snap decision." It was only partially true. He had penciled time with Lucas before going off to college in his mental calender after he'd broken up with Scott, and planned to maybe use the Dermasa festival as an excuse, but hadn't told anyone of his plans until they were finalized after the party. "And upon arriving on Noctur, who would have known you were here?" "I guess someone could've seen me, but I basically stayed at the temple with the monks and Lucas." "Hmmm...," Dogstar rubbed his snout. "So basically either someone followed you there from Warren, or saw you there and planned the hit. What do you know about temple security?" "Not much, other than the fact that laymen aren't allowed up to the level that I was staying on, and I didn't make any public appearances - " He was interrupted by the ringing of the vid-link. Willy hit it, and the screen lit up with the U.A.C. symbol, then scrolled open to live feed from what appeared to be the ex-Chairman's study. Fritz Warner, now dressed only in black and white for some odd religious reason, was at his desk, fiddling with an ancient comm-link. "Oh, hello -," he hit a button and the screen gained a red hue. "I don't think I wanted to do that -" He hit another, and it returned to normal. "Okay, that should do it." He turned to the screen for the first time. "Hello, Admiral. Willy, good to see that you're all right. Give MacArthur my thanks." "I take it Bucky reached you," Willy said. "We were wondering if you could give us some political advice." "Don't run for a second term," the rabbit deadpanned. "Haha, very funny. We mean about the assasination attempt, if you would call it that." "It's not the first time you've been shot at, Willy," he reminded them. "But this is different. Tell me your thoughts." "I think it was political," Willy offered. "I mean, all of the accelerator technology has been made public since the end of the war against the toads and is now being handled at the Graham Insitute, so it can't be about that. I figure the only contraversial thing I've done is the proposal for reintergration of the toads into society." The former politician leaned back in his chair, deep in thought. "There's no way to be sure, but that's where I'd put my simoleans. You and I upset a lot of mammals with that plan; it nearly ruined my political career." "I'm sorry," Willy didn't know it had done so much damage. But Fritz didn't seem concerned. "I retired for other reasons, Willy. Kids don't raise themselves. Anyway, a lot of groups opposed that proposal. I tried to shield you from the flack because you're not a politican and you were healing from war injuries, and I was about to resign anyway so I knew the blame could fall on me. You were never told, but I got a lot of death threats from that proposal. But I didn't think they'd go after you." "Who sent the threats?" Dogstar asked, taking notes on the whole conversation on his laptop. "If I knew exactly, they'd be in jail right now. But I think it was either a hare group or a raccoon group. Those two planets have always provided the U.A.C. with some of its most radical anti-toad extremists, because they were the people to have their planets' climates converted *and* their populations enslaved. And I don't see how a hare group could have followed you to Noctur Two and then put together an assasination attempt in - how long was it between the attempt and your arrival?" "About ten hours. But I never left the sixth floor of the temple." Fritz pondered out loud. "I've been to that temple; it's nearly impossible to access, even to native raccoons. And it's very well guarded, because they have a vilthuril living there - " "Vilthuril?" Dogstar asked immediately. " - Prophet," Fritz explained. "Do you know how rare those are? And how important they are in the Lopinenean hierarchy? The answer to both of those questions is very, Admiral. That temple, especially the sixth floor, is one of the safest places in the aniverse. It had to be one of the monks." The news seemed to hit Willy like a brick. "What? The monks?" "I could see that," Jenny offered. "But the monks are peace-loving. And they would never do anything to hurt Lucas," Willy defended. "But they didn't mean to hurt Lucas, did they?" he pointed out. "They meant to hurt you." "What's the suggested plan of action?" Jenny was all-business. "It's been my experience that there are two ways to flush out an assasin. The easy way is to check out the backgrounds and recent financial deals, maybe even communications of all possible suspects. Assasinations are expensive; usually there'll be a financial discrepancy somewhere. And if that doesn't work, there's the hard way." "Which is - ?" "Leave yourself open to attack - *really* open. The assasin is bound to try again," Fritz explained. "Of course, being a regen helps, but a vest also works." "We could request the financial records of the monastery," Dogstar offered. But Fritz added quickly, "No, that would be a bad idea. Best to not let the assasin in on your investigation, if it is one of the monks." "Then how are we going to get the records?" The ex-Chairman smiled. "Be creative." "Mr. Warner, I am shocked," Dogstar said, only half-joking. "Yeah, right. Like everything *I* did was legal. It's what made me a good Chairman, Admiral. Now, do you need anything else?" "That should be it -," "Good. Call me if there's any more trouble." Fritz severed the communication, replacing his image with the U.A.C. symbol. *************************************** Willy scrunched uncomfortably in his protective vest, which was under his clothes and just a tad too small for him. He was at Lucas's desk in the temple, the scribal equipment pushed aside to make room for his keyboard. Jenny and Dogstar were at his side as he plugged away at the priest's computer. "Okay, Lucas didn't leave any kind of password protection, so we should be fine," Willy typed into the computer, searching for access to the monastery's server. "I think I get into the server from this computer, but it might take some time." "Will they be able to tell what you're doing from their computers downstairs?" "Only if they're looking very carefully," he explained. "Which they shouldn't be; they're still running a festival and watching Lucas." The keyboard was in standard aniversian characters, which Willy was well-accustomed too, so the work was relatively easy. He felt bad breaking in through Lucas's computer, but he wasn't exactly reading a diary, just trying to access the monastery server, and it wasn't like they had any other feasible options. The only real problem was he wasn't sure what exactly he was looking for. He had about ten minutes of reading budget reports under his belt when there was a knock at the door. Jenny went to the large wooden door and opened it, and a monk named Zani came in, carrying a dinner tray. "The abbot would like to speak to you," he said to Dogstar, "about the safety of the temple." Willy turned back to his computer screen as Dogstar left and the monk set the tray down on Lucas's coffee table. Typing into the keyboard, Willy was about to make another attempt to access the abbot's files when he saw a flashing icon in the corner of the screen. Dragging the mouse down, he clicked on it. It was an electronic message from someone named Abigail MacIsaac, and it was addressed to him. Willy, Duck, you idiot. - Abi "The hell -," Willy rolled the chair to the side with the intention of showing Jenny the screen, but as he did, a maser blast hit the computer screen, destroying it. "Willy, get down!" Jenny commanded, and he instinctively dived under the desk as Jenny hurled a blast of spellgem energy in the direction of the raccoon, who had taken refuge behind Lucas's bed and was firing his blaster at them. Willy didn't have to pull out any of his Aldeberan magic; Jenny had disabled the raccoon before he could prepare a spell. "That was easy," she said bluntly, looking at the unconscious raccoon. Willy got up from under the desk and looked at the email, now about five seconds old. "Prophets are creepy." **************************************** "I'm surprised Abi emailed you," Lucas said, his voice stronger now. "Yeah, I didn't recognize her last name at first. I thought you said it was Sinian." The priest closed his eyes in thought. "I guess she must have married Jake. Yeah, that makes sense." "Anyway, it was Zani. You know, one of those my-whole-family-was-killed-by-toads stories. I guess the reintergration plan upset him," Willy explained, holding Lucas's hand. "The abbot went up to the seventh floor and found where Zani was hiding the copter. Turns out he rented it from some regen who was in town for the festival." "I'm surprised he would desecrate the altar like that." Lucas seemed genuinely shocked. "But people are really still worked up about the toads." "They put you in a slave camp, Lucas. I can't image that you've completely forgiven them." The priest sighed, which took him great strength, considering his dependence on any oxygen tank. "They didn't do anything to me that was any worse than my life on earth. And Noctur Two has almost been returned to what it was before - it's hard to still hate them." He opened his eyes, looking at Willy. "But I want to sometimes." "Yeah, I do, too," the young man admitted. "But you don't," Lucas corrected. "I don't think you truly hate anyone. Maybe KOMPLEX, but he was never a real person. I don't think you're capable of that kind of cruelty." "Thanks," Willy answered, but he didn't seem to believe it. "No, I mean it," the priest said more firmly. "I don't think you have that in you. You're too kind; too good of a person. I mean, before we took our little roadtrip, did you even hate me? Did you despise me the way Bucky or Jenny despises me?" Willy thought about it. "No." "It's what I love about you," Lucas was unable to sit up, so he squeezed Willy's hand. "If I could get out of this Frithdamn bed, I'd prove it, too." "I'll take a rain check," Willy offered. *************************************** Lucas was released three days later. In the day leading up to his discharge, Willy returned to Warren to get home through the photon accelerator, which now resided in Bucky and Jenny's house, collected some more things, and returned to Noctur in time to wheel the priest out of the hospital. Lucas was told to take it easy for a few weeks and was exempted from all priestly duties while his wounds continued to heal, but otherwise was given a clean bill of health. Willy wasn't sure he had ever seen him happier. "I hate hospitals." "You visited me," Willy reminded him. "I visited you because I love you and I wanted to support you in your time of need. But it doesn't mean I changed my feeling towards hospitals." He blinked as he was wheeled out into the bright sunshine, towards the waiting van from the temple. He was wearing a black metallica T-shirt and jeans he had borrowed from Willy. "Well, I appreciated it." Willy helped the monks lift Lucas into the van. They had a cot for him, and he closed his eyes and rested for the ride. Upon arriving at the temple, the engineer found it amusing to watch the short raccoons all attempt to lift the cot up and carry it on their shoulders up the six floors of stairs. By the time they got Lucas into his room and own bed, he was requesting his pain medicine. He swallowed his pills with some water, and by the time Willy had settled himself back in and the monks had left them alone, the priest was looking noticeably drugged. "Shit that's good stuff," Lucas laid back with ease, despite his healing wounds. "They have really good narcotics in the aniverse. Blessed Frith, I'm practically numb from the neck down. What's up with that?" "Oh really?" Willy hopped onto the bed next to him, running a finger along Lucas's bare forearm. "Feel that?" Lucas giggled. "Stop it. I've got like half of my feeling here. You're not playing fair -," His eyes went wide. "Okay, I take that back. Don't stop." "You're silly," Willy said in a very child-like voice, resting his head on Lucas's stomach. "Did I ever tell you you act like you have two different personalities?" "I have like ten different personalities," he corrected. "So does everybody. I have to be a lot of things to a lot of people. Priest, prophet, terrorist, boyfriend -," "I didn't know you were still into terrorism." "No, but O'Hare seems to think I am." Willy rolled on his side. "Bucky's opinions of people don't change easily. Maybe one of these days I'll tell him to stop acting like you're a total bastard." "Won't Jenny straighten him out?" Lucas had noticed Jenny's presence with Willy in the hospital during the investigation. "What does she think of this, anyway?" "Jenny's a very private person. She knows our relationship is private. And Bucky would never accept us. It's just not something he's capable of. Some thing with Deadeye, a lot of other people I know." Willy clearly wasn't all that concerned. "But they can honestly go fuck themselves." Lucas laughed. "You know, a year ago, you wouldn't have said that." "Well, that was a year ago." "Yeah." He touched Willy's cheek. "You've really grown up." "I bet you've been waiting for that," Willy said in a sultry voice. "Since the day I met you," he answered. "Are you gonna talk all night? Or are you gonna prove how grown up you are?" Their giggling filled the vast room. The End