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"Things That Go Bump in the Night"Written By: Honor Disclaimers: Oranges are purple, the Wizard of
OZ actually exists, and the boys have signed a contract saying they
legally belong to me. And, no, they weren’t under the influence
of drugs or alcohol when they signed it either…well, okay, not
much. ^_^ Pairings: 3x4, existing 5xM Rating: Velvet says it’s an R Spoilers: Nope Warnings: AU (so, SOOO AU), supernatural, lime,
violence, some language, my twisted sense of humor…need I say
more? Author’s Chaotic Rambling on No Particular
Subject: Yeah. No idea where this came from. Sat down
to work on the 4x6, and wrote thirty pages of this instead. Granted,
I was in the mood for some supernatural kinkiness, but I wasn’t
planning on writing it! Ah well. *emphasized*
" Things That Go Bump in the Night" Chapter 4 You cannot hide a change of heart.
It had a very interesting effect, too. Under my hands he slowly shifted, falling back into his human skin. I supported his body as he leaned into me, and I was careful to not look below the waist. When I felt him calm down completely I stopped. It took a second for him to blink his eyes back open and focus on me, but he was smiling. “Thank you.” “You’re welcome,” I whispered back. “How badly are you hurt?” He negated the importance of this with a casual flick of the fingers. “Nothing serious.” Rashid came and helped him up as a jaw-breaking yawn stretched his face. I let go as Heero rose, careful to not look…wow, Heero has a great ass…not looking! So, so not looking. In desperation I focused on Duo before I started ogling. He was just standing there, watching me with bemused delight. One glance was enough to tell me that he was wound even tighter than Heero had been. I didn’t say a word to him just took his arm and led him to a chair, sitting him down before kneeling in front of him and putting both hands over his heart. He groaned low in his throat as I started calming the inner beast. I hadn’t realized just how much tension was riding his body until it started fading away. As I did that Trowa came over with a first aid kit and started cleaning and bandaging gashes. Some of them looked pretty deep. I didn’t think a band aid would cover it. “Do we have a doctor in residence?” Duo’s eyes snapped open, focusing on me. “We?” he repeated with burgeoning hope. I smirked at him. “Answer the question, Packmaster.” In the next instant, I was given the bear hug of my life. I could barely breathe, but it didn’t matter. Laughing, I hugged back. Duo was just so happy, I felt like I was on an emotional high. Actually, I probably was. A weres’ emotions were much more potent than a human’s. “Thank the guardians,” Duo sighed as he finally released me and sat back. “I was wondering how I was going to talk you into staying here. It’s just too dangerous for you to live outside of the boundaries.” “Yes,” I agreed in perfect understanding. I had seen that for myself. “I’m still not sure if I’m up to this, but I can’t just let you protect me without trying to give something back. If it weren’t for you, I’d be dead. The least I can do to repay that is try and help.” “You are a part of my pack,” Duo corrected in perfect seriousness. “I protect what is mine. There is no debt of gratitude here.” “Don’t argue that too much,” I parried dryly. “It’s the main reason why I’m agreeing to this.” He thought that over for about a tenth of a second. “Ah. In that case, it will take the rest of your life to repay the debt.” The man really is a brat. Sarcastically I drawled, “I thought you would say that. Now, back to my question. Do we have a doctor in residence?” “No,” Duo replied in true regret. “She was one of the ones that turned.” Ah. Not good. I got up and walked to the phone I had spied in the hallway, calling up my sister’s cell. “Iria?” <Quatre? Something wrong?> “A great deal. I need you to come here now, and bring your little black bag.” Her breath caught. In our family, ‘the little black bag’ usually meant someone needed stitches. <Are you hurt?!> “No, but two friends of mine were hurt while protecting me. I’m not at home, let me give you directions and come with all speed okay?” <Okay. Where am I heading?> I gave her directions, assured her again that I wasn’t hurt, then hung up. Duo was watching me with curious eyes. Ah. I probably need to explain a bit. “My sister is a doctor. She already knows about you, and the pack, so she’s safe to bring in.” Duo’s eyes lit with anticipation. “Two Raberbas? Excellent.” He looked like the kid that discovered the candy store was left unlocked. Oh boy. + My sister showed up in a squeal of tires, jumping out almost before the car had fully screeched to a halt. I met her at the door, because I knew she wouldn’t believe that I was fine until she saw me. Big sisters are like that. She was in Doctor Mode, so took one good look at me, didn’t see blood, and immediately switched to the next person. “Where are they?” When Iria is like this, she only wants one word answers. I pointed inside, figuring that she could see the blood on Duo easily enough. Heero’s ‘nothing to be concerned about’ was actually a nasty cut across his hip. (I didn’t notice that earlier because I was Not Looking.) I’d pulled him down into the den to wait for Iria as well, despite protests. I stood completely out of her way and fetched things when requested, the safest thing to do when my sister is doctoring people. My Packmaster was watching her, a little smirk playing along his mouth, as she patched up Heero. It became a full-blown smile when she started in on him with the same professional efficiency. When Iria was finally done, she sat back on her heels and looked Duo dead in the eye. “What did this? You have bite marks in you over three inches long. And why aren’t you dead yet?” “You are Raberba through and through,” he told her with the same expression as a proud parent. “Nothing fazes you.” “That does not answer either question.” Duo didn’t know my sister well enough to realize that she would smack him if aggravated enough. I stepped in before she started swinging. “As for the what, Rashid told me it was a chaos demon. It wasn’t pretty, sis—I hope you used really strong disinfectant when cleaning out those wounds.” Distracted from her intended target, she glanced at me. “Chaos demon?” “You’re better off not seeing one, trust me.” I quirked a brow at my Packmaster. “I assume that werewolves heal very fast?” “It’s rather hard to kill us,” he confirmed. “We heal too quickly. A chaos demon’s blood inhibits our immune system which is why we’re healing slower than normal.” “Ah.” Iria stared at me, completely flabbergasted. “You dragged me in here to heal a werewolf?! Dammit, Quatre, the last thing you said to me was that you were going to think about joining them for a few days!” “Iria,” I said gently, “who do you think that demon was after?” She abruptly shut up, very unhappy with the whole situation. They had been hurt defending me, and she knew it. Gratitude warred with indignation before she sighed. “Knowing you, you agreed to stay here didn’t you?” “He is now of my pack,” Duo confirmed. Standing, he offered her a hand up, pulling her easily to her feet. “Dear lady, would you consider emulating your brother’s decision?” Iria blinked at him in confusion. “I’m not an empath, y’know. I wouldn’t serve much purpose.” “We don’t have a doctor,” I corrected. “You’d actually be very useful.” Understanding lit in her eyes. “It’s why you called me. Hm. I need to think about this…” She frowned at me, and I could see the shift from Doctor Mode to Sister Mode. “Where is this packmaster of yours? I want to talk to him.” I inclined my head to Duo. “Perhaps I should do formal introductions. Iria, Packmaster Duo Maxwell of the Hades Clan. Packmaster, my sister Doctor Iria Winner.” Duo inclined his head, smiling impishly. “Pleasure.” Iria gaped at him. “There is no way you are older than eighteen.” “Actually he’s much, much older than that.” If she could sense what I could, she’d be able to see centuries of age in his soul. I was the recipient of a curious look from Duo for that comment. “You can sense age?” “Yours I can,” I answered emphatically. “I can’t tell you a number, but your soul is an old one. I can see that.” “Interesting.” Duo’s tone added ‘you shouldn’t be able to do that’. Great. Now I was special. The look he gave me said we would discuss my abilities later, and he turned back to my sister. “What did you want to talk about?” Iria lost some of the wind in her sails, but continued regardless. “May I stay here for a few days? I want to see just what kind of environment my brother is going to be living in.” “Lady, it would not be safe for you to be elsewhere right now. You are going to be a target simply because of your connection with your brother. You will stay here.” The Packmaster had spoken. The law was written. That’s the kind of tone he used. Pretty impressive, and my sister (who would dig in her heels at the slightest provocation) promptly shut up and nodded as if she had every intention of obeying. “Good.” I cleared my throat a little, getting his attention. “Since I will be living here…or wait, am I living here in this house or another?” “This one.” Duo was back to being very pleased, probably at the reminder that he now had an empath at his beck and call. “Trowa will show you to a room. I’ll send Abdul and Auda to pack your stuff and move you here.” In other words, I wasn’t going anywhere outside the territory tonight. Well, considering what was out there, it was okay by me. “Iria, you will stay in the room next to his. I will give orders for things to be packed for a two week stay. Satisfactory?” “I don’t suppose I can go pack my own things?” Iria inquired in exasperation. Duo shook his head. “I wish for you to stay here tonight. Our skirmish this afternoon has drawn a lot of attention.” My sister was set to argue the point, then apparently changed her mind about beating her head against this particular brick wall. She sighed. “Fine. Let me give you a key so you don’t break a window getting in. I’ll write a list of things for them to get.” “Wise of you,” Duo murmured with a muted twinkle in his eyes. + My sister was taken on a tour of the place. My tour apparently was going to have to wait because my Packmaster had Questions, with a capital Q. I was dragged back to the room with the chairs, Trowa and Heero once again following inside and sitting next to me. This time I knew why—as leaders in this clan, it was important that they know what was discussed here. That and curiosity driving them insane. Duo set right to the heart of the matter. “You called me. How?” “I know what you feel like,” I answered with a simple shrug of my shoulders. I still wasn’t sure if what I had done was taboo or not. “I reached out until I could feel you. I’ve never done anything like that before, Packmaster. If the situation weren’t dire, I wouldn’t have done it at all.” “Peace, Quatre, I am not upset with you. Actually I’m glad you did call. You just shouldn’t have been able to. Most empaths can’t reach someone outside of a half-mile radius. You were nearly…what? Twenty? Was it a strain to reach me?” I had to think about that for a minute. “No,” I decided carefully. “I think I could have reached farther. How much father, I can’t say. Just…farther.” “We’ll test your abilities to determine your limits.” I knew an order when I heard it. “Yes, Packmaster.” “Good. Now, next thing. Quatre…lighten up.” I blinked at him, confused at his chiding tone. “What?” “Only the lowest of the pack call me by title. You are El-Szen. You are second only to me—you have the right to call me by my name.” “Oh.” Well, that was cool. I could live with being somewhat special. “Okay, Duo. Is there any other formalities I’m not aware of?” “You’ll learn as you go along,” Trowa assured me quietly. I gave him an exasperated look. “Trowa, I would rather know before I make a mistake.” “Wanting is good for you.” I stuck my tongue out at him. “You’re making a habit of that,” Trowa noted in muted amusement. Since I had already used up my tongue, I went with my second approach—a withering glare. “If we can get back on topic…protocol. Anything else I should know?” “Don’t eat with your mouth full,” Heero told me with a perfectly straight face. I rolled my eyes. “Ten thousand comedians out of work, and you’re sitting there cracking jokes. Gah.” “You’re fine, Quatre.” Duo looked particularly amused at the bantering. “You have the soul of a diplomat, I’m sure you’re not going to step on many toes, if any. Now, let’s go back to discussing important matters. Can you feel Tro and ‘Ro the same way you feel me?” “Er…I haven’t the foggiest idea,” I admitted. “You’re very strong, strong enough to leave an impression even through my shields. I haven’t tried looking at anyone else yet.” “Do that now.” Duo’s really good between oscillating sounding like a friend to being bossy. I lowered a shield, then another until I could feel the two sitting next to me. They both felt very different from each other, although it was hard to put a finger on why. They just did. I blinked myself back into focus and nodded. “Yes, I can pick them out again easily.” “Good. I don’t expect them to be more than twenty miles away from you at any point in time,” this statement was accompanied by a pointed look at both wolves, “so whenever you sense something wrong, I want you to call for them. If it’s very wrong, do what you did today and call for me too.” “Got it.” “If I’m not within range, there is another El-Szen that you will call.” Er…there was more than one holding that position? “Who?” “His name is Chang Wufei. He is a shifter of considerable power, one that has been my friend for many years now. He’s not here at the moment, but when he comes back I will introduce you.” Ah. Well this was bound to be interesting. A yawn caught me by surprise. It had been a long day. And a long night before that. “Sorry.” “It’s alright.” Trowa stood, pulling me up with him. “Come, you need rest.” I wasn’t going to protest. I waved in casual farewell to the other two as I was towed out the door. Trowa took me to a bedroom half-way down the hall and gently guided me into it. I didn’t notice much of the room, just the huge four-poster bed in the center of it. With a dazed smile I stumbled to it, flopping belly first. Oooh…comfy. Trowa wrestled my shoes off my feet. He might have turned me a little too, but I don’t remember that well. As soon as I was settled on the mattress, I went out like a light. ~*~*~*~
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