Sorry I took so long to update this guys! I lost the urge for a while, but I just can't let poor Alex and Lawrence go like that. Time to get them going again!

Chapter 34 - Mysterious as the Dark Side of the Moon.

"What..... The.... FUCK?!?" I bellow at Mortimer.

The hell is going off here?! The mage who helped is actually the sodding one who took my spirit? Did they swap? Teleport? Dammit! It's all I can do not to smash his face in right now! I'm so glad that I don't have rage at the moment or he'd be bleeding from whatever pieces were left.

"Well, not quite what I was expecting either my boy. I suppose I should explain somewhat." he says, brushing down his smart clothing.

"YOU THINK?!" I bristle angrily.

Mortimer sighs "I'm sorry you got mixed up in this m'boy, I can help. I can return your spirit." he says.

I grind my teeth in irritation. I wanted answers, but time was short and he was pretty much handing me the reason for us being here.

"Keep talking." I huff.

"My other self doesn't half keep himself in mischief. However due to him being essentially a part of me and not something I can remove right now, I end up spending a lot of time clearing up the odd mess he makes, but he keeps me safe too as he cannot reveal the binding without putting himself under too much scrutiny. I am sorry that he took your spirit my boy, I could do nothing about it at the time, however now are here and with the tools I have available, we can make sure it does not happen again." he says.

"So, why exactly should I trust you given what I've just seen?" I fold my arms just so I don't launch a punch at him.

"Because you don't have time not to do so given that this place will very shortly be full of technocracy imbeciles who will most likely be happy enough to pin the blame upon yourselves for what transpired here."

That gets my attention. I can't risk everyone else, we have to move fast and get out of here.

"So how do I get my spirit back?"

"Come with me, we will need to be quick." he walks past me towards the back of the room where I saw the surgery room. Oh this can't be good.

"Where are we going?" I say, following a little bit back from him and Lawrence is suddenly beside me.

"I'll need to use the operating room here and reverse the process. Luckily I pay attention to what he does whereas normally he has little care for my activities. The spirit is in storage as it was meant to be injected into that."

He gestures to something covered in a large tarpaulin. Lawrence strides over and simply yanks the thing off. I can't say I'm not fucking terrified with what's under it. If you've ever seen a werewolf, picture a robot version, then make it bigger, give it blades on its forearms and what looks like a cannon strapped to its shoulder. Yeah, that's fucking scary.

Lawrence lets out a low whistle "Shit, I can't let this thing get out of here..."

Mortimer speaks up "It won't. I've already hit the self-destruct, so we're on a timer now as it is. Alex m'boy we are running out of time, get on the table!" and he motions me through the door at the operating table.

I don't like this at all and I'm seriously not happy about having to just trust Mortimer after what's happened. Still, I don't have much choice in the matter. Urgh, don't have much in the way options, at least that's what I'm telling myself as I lay down on top of the operating table, realising then that there's a fucking LASER on the ceiling. I'm assuming it's a laser, its exactly like the James Bond film and that's quite terrifying to see right this moment, so I'm grateful I'm lying down.

"Bro!" I hear from the door. A glance and I see Rain there.

"Keep a look out, Lawrence will keep an eye on me here. We need to get out of here sharp as soon as he's done!"

Rain nods and I see Rin behind him as well.

"Stay still, this won't hurt. Well, I'll try to make sure it doesn't hurt too much." says Mortimer, starting to hit what appears to be some kind of control panel on the wall.

Well there goes the last of my confidence. Panic hasn't quite set in yet but I can't say it's not a considered option for me right now. Okay, at least Lawrence is here. If it goes wrong, he can thrash Mortimer.

"So what..." I start to say before a bolt of white light smacks into my chest, it feels like a knife edge sliding right into my body and it tears the air from my lungs, preventing me from actually being able to scream. My whole chest was ice cold for a moment before I could feel it spreading from the beam, a familiar warmth starting to spread slowly through my body.

Gritting my teeth, I close my eyes and focus on the feeling, there it was! Like a needle, the beam was injecting the familiar warmth and heat of my beast back into my body and soul. I could feel it and I welcomed it wholeheartedly, even though it was a knifing pain, it felt like my body was slowly being injected with a fur lining.

Goddess this hurts! It's not even a properly describable pain either! My body aches and stabs, feels bloated and crushed, my insides feel like they're trying to get out and my entire skin is slowly sliding within the point of light. How long will it take, how much more can 'I' take? It felt like hours before the light stopped and my body ached and throbbed.

"You still with us m'boy?" asks Mortimer.

"Owww.... Yes... Urgh, that took forever." I groan, sitting up and putting my feet on the floor, my body swaying a little but the grip on the table keeps me upright.

"Hardly, it was only two minutes." I hear Mortimer reply.

Well, nice to know my time keeping skills were as sharp as ever. Oh well.

"Nrrgh. Well, lets see if it worked." I say and reach inside myself yet again.

It greets me at full tilt, my body shifts so fast I crack my head on the ceiling.

"OUCH!"

There's laughing from Lawrence as well as a tutting sound from Mortimer.

"That wasn't exactly well thought through now was it?" he says. "You're welcome by the way and I'm sorry for the pain my boy, but on the plus side, this place is going up with the items he used to strip you of your beasts. This project is out of its use, so now he'll move onto something new. Hurry now, you only have 5 more minutes." he says and gestures out.

Five minutes later we're about a block and a half away before we hear the explosions behind us, great black plumes of smoke raising into the sky and dust clouding up into the air. Mortimer had made good on his promise there and had vanished before we even left.

"Wow, what a blast." I say.

There's a groan from Lawrence. "You don't say... So now what? We head back?"

"Well, sort of. We have a slight problem." I turn and look at Sparky.

"What's wrong with having him along?" Says Lawrence.

"Nothing, problem is, Rain spoke to him before we left and this Sparky says he's been trapped since at least last night." I reply.

"Oooh, so since this one isn't the dopple ganger, you're assuming the other one will be?" says Lawrence.

"It's pretty much a given. We're gonna need to do something about it but I'm not sure what because Vadir will at least be aware that something is up if we just pull either a switcheroo or take out the fake." I grumble.

"Well, how about Sparky comes with me for a bit and we lay low?" says Lawrence.

I look at him then to Sparky who just looks nervous. "What do you think?" I ask Sparky.

"I don't know, I guess I should be fine, but wouldn't the others pick me up on the pack speak thing?" he says.

A frown creases my forehead as I give that some thought "Only if you talk back I think, but at least you'll be able to keep an ear on things that way for Lawrence so if we're in shit he can come running."

"Oh my, me saving your ass again, whatever next?" Lawrence snarkily chuckles.

I roll my eyes but give a soft grin "Nice to know you've still got your sense of humour. I'm glad they didn't make a copy of you, that sound's like hell.."

Lawrence playfully slaps my shoulder but grins "Well, I've got a few bucks to get me n Sparky somewhere for a bit. You can just tell the pack that I went hunting since no one there was willing to play with me."

There are chuckles from all of us and I shake my head "Alright. We'll head back and give them the good news."

"Actually, really good news..." says Rain.

I turn my head quizzically at him then realise he's got something on his back, I remember him having a backpack but I don't remember it being that big. He's already reached around and pulled it to his front and I can see its wrapped up in cloth. He tugs it back and looks up at me with a grin and I jaw drop. The smart ass stole one of the damn tech wolves' claws!

"Rain! Are you sure that's a good idea?" I frown.

"If I store it for a bit and then wipe it, we should be able to use it as they'll run a trace on it first but I can shove it where they won't find it. They'll most likely assume most of it has gone in the explosion cos it was the self-destruct rather than an attack." He grins.

Can't argue with that logic. I'm just glad to be back in the fold. Though a pang of regret on the end of that, knowing that I blew my only chance at getting Soothing in the sheets. I guess I should be grateful that I get to be around him now, but hey, I'm a guy. So sue me.

Lawrence and Sparky bid their goodbyes and slip through into the umbra, Lawrence said it would be easier for them not to be noticed this way.

"Hey Alex?" says Rin

"Yuh huh?" I look at her.

"Look, I overheard some bits about that yote guy and my uncle, well, Tyr from his world and I've been wanting to ask about it." She says.

"I'm not sure I'm the best person to answer them though Rin. You'd be better asking him." I reply.

"I haven't had chance and I trust your judgement more than his." She responds.

"Well, ask and we'll go from there I guess." I shrug.

"Did he really trade Tyr for his life back?"

I scowl "No. He was tricked and thought he was trading for a life WITH him. I know Lawrence did everything he could to make sure the tigers survived just to win over Tyr. Hell, I know they even froze some of Tyr's sperm just to make sure that there was still a way. Lawrence was old when I met him and ran from everything because it's how he survived. If I hadn't begged him to save Tyr that night, he wouldn't be here today and Tyr would still be dead."

Rin is silent for a few moments and looks down.

Rain frowns "Rin... What is it?"

Rin takes a deep breath and nods more to herself "I.. Possess a gift that lets me understand someone's true form. Lawrence's form seems to keep changing... I keep getting hints of Khan rising up from him and then back to the Nuwisha. I thought it was Tyr's revenge on him, but I'm beginning to wonder if there's still something of Lawrence's Tyr clinging onto him..."

I feel my eyes widen and glance back at where Lawrence just left, then turn back to Rin.

"Rin, can you not say anything to him about that just yet? I don't want to get his hopes up as he's currently having another problem that seems to be worse and I think they might be connected. We need to get back to the others and talk to someone who's got a better idea about the spirits. Lawrence really does deserve our help but I know for a fact it won't bring him the happiness he's hoping for." I sigh softly.

Rin nods her head in agreement and we continue back towards the hangout.

I chew over the thoughts of what Rin just said and what's happened with Lawrence. He needs help and I want to, but we're in realms I just don't get. For the first time, I actually wish Tarquin was around because he at least would give some answers, even if he probably doesn't like Lawrence much from the sounds of things.

Still. Soothing is waiting for me and now I have another fight to get ready for because like hell is someone gonna usurp that handsome wolf, even if he isn't mine.