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DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

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THE GRYPHON COMPLEX. Chapter 2: In flux.

Resting under the bridge, I clutched my sides and tried catching my breath. Pyre had beaten me there by nearly a minute, and was barely panting. A poor reflection of my level of fitness, I thought, doubling up with a stitch.

Looking at me from where it sat, or should I really say he, from the unintended view I was getting from being bent over in front of him, he gave me a curious glance, with a bit of concern mixed in. I waved him off until I recovered enough to speak.

"OK, so how the hell did you end up sent to this place?" I gasped, dropping my butt onto the ground to lean heavily against the bridge support.

The gryphon looked away for a moment, nares turning red. "Umm, well, good question, really. It wasn't exactly planned."

David took in his obviously embarrassed expression, and smirked. "So, what happened? You just accidentally zipped across the dimensions to here from wherever you came from?"

"Err, yeah. I was actually in my college finals, demonstrating my graduate research, when I felt something corrupt the transfer and drag me across here. Up till that point the equipment had worked perfectly. Had thought I had it under control until... well... A face full of fire foam fixed that. So, here I am, wherever the hell here is."

Pyre looked pretty dejected, and I began feeling somewhat guilty. "Yeah. I'm sorry about that, mate. If I can do anything to help you get back home, you have my promise I'll try"

I gave him a gentle clap on the shoulder, rubbing the feathery muscles underneath, and he looked up gratefully, ears perking a bit. "Well, unless you know something about quantum matter transference, I might be stuck here for a while."

I gave him a grin, and he stared at me curiously. "Mate!" I said, thinking back to my job application for the department. "You're in luck! I watched that movie seven times! We'll have you home before you know it!"

His puzzled expression became a bit worried.

Can't say I blamed him. Not everyone is a 007 fan.

______________

I reached for my cell phone, realising with anger at my own stupidity that they were still in my jeans, which I had left in the broom closet during our escape. Of course, so too was my wallet, and my ID, and pretty much everything that could tie me in to this mess royally.

Cursing liberally, I began pacing around the spot, before the gryphon finally asked what was wrong. When I blurted out how stupid I'd been, he let out a gaping smile, before reaching into a cloth pouch strapped to his waist, and dragging my pants from within.

I gaped at him, and he smirked "I had thought you might need these later, so I brought them along. Hell, I'm a particle science major, remember! It wasn't rocket science!"

He chortled as I began to laugh, grabbing the faded denims from him and stripping down to change back into them. Feeling much more comfortable out of the baggy coveralls (which I promptly disposed of in the nearby water), I grabbed my phone out of the front right pocket, and toyed with it absently, thinking what to do next.

"OK, here's the thing. We need to get out of here, and get you stashed someplace safe. Then I need to cover my arse somehow."

Cocking his head, he asked "Why bother?"

"Think about it. I'm directly involved from the start, and they'll soon be looking for me, since I vanished so unexpectedly. That little escapade with the bleach won't go unnoticed for long, either. I need an alibi. My idea is that I rough myself up a bit, and while we get you to safety, I can be dropped off at the hospital, "messed up" after escaping the explosion, and looking for much needed treatment"

"We" he asked, "Who else are we involving with all this?"

I have him a disturbing smile, picturing the mental carnage that was to follow. "Oh, you'll see, my friend" I told the confused gryphon, before flipping my phone open and calling the only person who could help us out of this situation.

*bzzzzzt* *bzzzzzt*

Click.

"Uuh, hello?"

"Hey K" I whispered into the phone. "I need you real bad!"

"Uuum, who is this? What time is it?" a confused, sleepy voice said down the line.

"It's David. Dude, I need your car"

The voice became more alert, and significantly more irritated.

"David? Fucks sake!! It's 4am in the fucking morning, and you woke me up cause you need my car?? Are you fucking crazy?"

Smirking more at the thought of his face when he got here, I replied "K, I swear to God, if you don't come down here, you'll regret this for the rest of your life!"

There was a pause, before the voice continued "OK, got my interest. What is it?"

"Oh no. Can't explain. Need you and the van down here super urgent. Serious, K. No shitting!"

He paused again, before swearing down the phone as he got out of his bed. "OK, I'll be there in 15. You'd better not be fucking with me. Where are you?"

I gave him the directions, and he hung up abruptly. Turning to the gryphon, who'd been watching me intently, I said "OK, transport will be here shortly. He'll take you somewhere safe, while I deal with the authorities"

He looked a bit nervous, before questioning me. "You trust this guy?"

I grinned broadly "With your life, mate!" I said.

It didn't seem to reassure him overly.

____________________________

It was a long half hour before the beat up Kombi came smoking down the path leading to the river. I had Pyre keep in the trees out of sight till the van pulled up, and a decidedly dishevelled Kay dropped from the driver's seat and came around to meet me.

"You're late" I said to him, hanging out a hand to shake.

He looked at it like it was a dead fish, before replying "This had better be worth it, arsehole", running a hand through his long stringy hair, and pulling it back from his eyes.

With a smirk reaching from ear to ear, I grabbed his shoulder and said to him "Oh, you have no idea, K. Remember all that D&D we played as kids? How you always chose all those non human characters? How we'd take the piss at you being too furry for your own good?"

He shook himself free, looking grumpy. "Yeah, I remember copping all the shit quite well, thanks. Why?"

Beckoning behind K's back for Pyre to come through the bushes, the gryphon silently approached to within a few feet, before sitting on his haunches expectantly.

"K, my friend. I'd like you to meet Pyre. He's new to the area".

Turning the lanky human around, his eyes caught sight of the gryphon with a start, looked at him up and down carefully. When the gryphon stirred uncomfortably at his inspection, proving he really wasn't a figment of someone's imagination, K grabbed his goatee in thought, before breaking into a huge, happy grin.

"Oh hell, D. Sometimes... just sometimes... I really, really love you, man! I have no idea what's going on, but it's going to be friggin' awesome, isn't it!" he giggled again, before laughing loudly!

Putting an arm around the chortling human's shoulders, I turned to the confused gryphon and explained "Pyre, meet Kaynard. K to his friends. K's been my brother in arms since we were babes in arms. Mi amigo. We're the original Dwarfers. So, you could say he's probably plum loco crazy"

K pushed me away, turning back to gaze intently at Pyre some more, before holding out a hand. "Amazing to meet you" he said, and beamed back and forward between the two of us.

They shook for a few seconds, until after finally getting his forepaw back, Pyre looked at me, raising an eyebrow, and said "On a schedule, aren't we?"

I turned back to K, who had settled down a bit, and began explaining the situation. After a few minutes, his grin turned into something quite the opposite, and he began eyeing the two of us a bit less certainly.

"When you said you needed a ride, I didn't think it was to the lockup, mate! This is some serious shit. Where am I going to stick him while you look for an alibi" he asked, gesturing at the gryphon.

Pyre shook his head, beginning to state he didn't need to be "put anywhere", when I butted in.

"Hey, we can help you, but first we need the space to do this. A few days to let this situation settle, we'll be in the clear. Then, it's all hands to battle stations."

Pyre sighed, before stating the obvious. "They'll never believe you were banged up in that mess, looking like that".

He was right.

This was the bit I didn't want to think about.

"Well. I need a few bruises. That's your job, lads"

K looked at me less certainly. "You totally sure about this?"

"Nope!" I replied in false cheer. "Got a better idea?"

"Nope!" he said, and promptly punched me in the face hard.

I woke a few minutes later, after having a cup of river water splashed in my face. I hurt, from top to bottom.

Sitting up with the help of the concerned gryphon, I reached for my chin tenderly, rubbing the bruised flesh between my fingers.

"Shit K! I think you loosened a tooth there!"

"Hey, you asked for it. You got it" he responded, rubbing a bit more dirt into my pants for good measure.

Clearly they'd messed me up some more while I was out, as I felt like I'd been hit by a tank. My clothes were scuffed and torn, I was covered in dirt, and I had some really nice bruises on my upper body.

"You haven't even seen your eye yet!" said Pyre helpfully.

My eye, I thought? What did they do to my eye?

I looked at K for an explanation, but he shook his head, pointing to his watch. "Time is of the essence. Besides, it's best not to know, dude. Let's get going".

Jesus, the things we do for science!

________________________

I was dropped off at the emergency entry to City Central Hospital, and winced my way through the ambulance entry into the waiting area. For a change, the emergency room was relatively quiet, with just some screaming feral children running around their morbidly obese mother, and a few drunks sleeping the evening off undercover. When I approached the nurse, who was diligently performing her duties nose down at her desk (with the assistance of a copy of "Who, weekly", take away espresso and a choc chip muffin), when she finally felt inclined to look up at me, she did a double take at my appearance, before reassuring me with a professional "Shit, fella! What sucked you in and spat you out?"

Why do medical people get such enjoyment at stating the blatantly obvious? It's always "Your appendix is going to burst" or "you have a shovel stuck in your head". No imagination, the lot of them.

Spending the next several minutes explaining that I had been in a lab explosion when the matter transference equipment had exploded, the nurse had me fill in my details on an admittance form, before directing me to an examination room, where I dropped onto the bed in exhaustion. Several minutes passed before a white coated intern walked through the door, and took a seat opposite.

"So, Mr Clarke, How much have you had to drink tonight?" I was asked.

"Nothing" I replied curtly. Even a blind guy could see where this was heading.

He gave me a suspicious look. "So, you're saying you were at your work, in a physics laboratory, when Spock's matter transporter blew up, and you spent the next several hours in a daze wandering the university campus woods, before snapping out of it and heading here? Didn't also get bitten by a radioactive spider, by any chance?"

I began to become somewhat irritated. While I can handle sarcasm, and enjoy dishing it out as required, to have some half arsed wannabe doctor treating me like I was a liar was NOT on my "to do" list for the morning.

"Look, smartarse. Here's my university card. Here's my lab pass key. If I had a pair of "I work with quantum physics" undies on right now, I'd be dropping my pants and flashing them at you. I've been blown up, zapped, thrown about and I'm now waiting for treatment by a quack who doesn't know how close he's getting to having an unprofessional conduct law suit shoved up his arse! So, stop with the funny, and start with the treatment, already! I fucking hurt!"

He began to reply in an angry voice, when a knock at the door preceded the nurse's return. Eyeing me with a worried expression, she pulled the intern aside, and spoke with him in hurried whispers, before she left just as quickly.

The Intern eyed me again, coughed into his palm, and returning to my form. "OK, it seems we've received a phone call from the police, advising there was an explosion at Central U, and we were to keep an eye out for anyone arriving injured. They're on their way over now, with your professor. So, perhaps we should get started with the examination before they arrive?"

Hmm, I thought, this didn't bode well. However, it certainly wasn't unexpected. So, shrugging mentally, I stripped off, while the doc checked over my cuts and bruises.

After he finished, I was given some Ibuprofin, and told to keep out of exploding labs in the future. Smiling at his mirth, the intern walked out. I gave his departing back the finger it deserved, before laying back into the sheets waiting for the inevitable. Sure enough, it was less than 5 minutes later that "everyone" began to arrive... and by that I mean everyone!

Between the lab staff, admin, police, concerned colleagues, fire brigade officials, and some disturbing looking guys dressed in suits wearing sunglasses (it was still dark outside, for Christs sake!), I spent the next few hours recounting my story. How I'd seen the telltales flash to red, before the explosion knocked me out. Remembering nothing until waking up, cut up and bruised, in the woods. Getting to the main road, where I flagged a passerby for help, who dropped me off at the hospital.

It was the truth, almost. All the truth they could handle, anyway.

During this, the Prof stood near my bed head quietly, listening on the conversation without interrupting my story. After answering all the questions I could, I really did begin to feel exhausted, so the nurse took pity on me, demanding my visitors leave to allow me to get some rest. After advising I'd be called in for further questions as needed, the lot sullenly left the room, with the exception of the professor, who remained in the half closed doorway for a moment, before turning back and looking directly into my eyes.

"Nice story, David" he asked, giving me a further scrutiny.

"Not the best night of my life, Professor." I replied, wondering what else to say.

"So, nothing else... unusual... happened during the incident?"

Becoming a bit nervous, I stuttered "Umm, no, sir. I don't remember much of anything".

He looked at me solemnly, before reaching into his coat and removing something from within.

"So, you don't know anything about this, then?" he spoke, before returning into the room and handing it to me.

It was a feather.

Dark brown with mottled black stripes, over two foot long, and definitely not something usually found in a physics lab.

Running my hand along it absently, I tried to form a reply, ANY reply, when he reached out and gently plucked it from my numb fingers. Returning it to his coat, he gave me a final searching glance, before making his exit. However, just before the door closed again, I heard him say quietly. "Make use of your recovery over the weekend. We have important things to discuss on Monday morning. I'll be looking forward to seeing you in my office at 9.00am, sharp".

The snick of the door as it closed seemed awfully loud.

Shit. This was going to be trouble.

___________________

I was released from hospital later that morning. It was Saturday, and the usual buzz of city traffic was subdued compared to the chaos I was used to. Ringing K before I left, he promised to come pick me up, arriving in his beat up Kombi shortly before 11am.

I climbed gingerly into the passenger's seat, and he took off in a cloud of smoke even before I had a chance to get my belt secure. Swerving onto the main road, he gave an absent finger to the irate drivers he had cut off, before turning to me and asking how I was.

"Sore" I replied curtly. "I bloody well hurt, especially around my eye".

He gave a guilty grin, before waving a hand up. "My bad. Sorry dude. Got a little bit carried away. Not often I get to have so much fun on request at someone elses expense"

Rubbing my tender jaw, I said "Yeah, well next time, let the gryphon do it. He's gentler."

I turned around as far as the seat belt would let me, pulling back the ratty curtain between the front compartment and the main van area. Dirty, stinking, and filthy. No surprises there. However, no gryphon either!

Turning to K, I looked at him nervously "Aren't we forgetting something?" I got out, pointing behind me, and he turned to me with a flashing grin.

"Sokay, dude. He's safe. I stashed him at my parents place up in Northgate. They're out of town for the next few months, and the house is on fifty acres of woods, so I thought he'd be safe there"

Leaning back into the seat, I sighed, thinking it was about time something went right in all of this.

"Lead on, McDuff. Let's see what the feather brain has to say about all this"

K looked at me with one eye, before coughing. "Umm, he's really pretty cool, you know. We got chatting while you were... umm..."

"Being felt up by the male orderly?" I offered helpfully.

He laughed again, before continuing. "Well, so long as you enjoyed it. Serious though, he's a nice guy. He's a particle physics major, you know".

I raised my eyebrows. "Really? So, he's like a furry, feathery nerd?"

I received a punch to my bruised arm, eliciting a further groan from my already battered body.

"He was also worried as hell about you, too. Kept wanting me to check and see how you were. Made a real friend there, you have!"

I pondered the implications. Just my luck to meet someone cool, and find they've come from another dimension.

Just like K, I thought, sniggering to myself for a moment, before wiping the grin from my face at K's questioning glance.

Spending the rest of the short trip trying to catch up on some much needed sleep, I only woke as we pulled into the driveway of the country cottage belonging to his parents.

All 12 bedrooms, 7 bathrooms and three levels of it.

At my awed stare, K looked a little sheepish, mumbling "Well, you knew my parents were loaded, right?"

"Yeah, but shit! This is amazing"

He shrugged again instead of responding, something he spent a lot of time doing, and parked the car in front of the enormous garage.

I gingerly lowered myself from the van, shaking some of the kinks from my neck, before being promptly engulfed in a feathery embrace, which left me winded and gasping for air.

"Hey!! You're OK!!" the gryphon said, while I tried formulating a reply through the feathers, stroking him between the wings absently.

Releasing me after a moment, Pyre beamed down at me happily, letting a half chirp slip from his beak. I sniggered again, thinking a happy gryphon was a pretty amusing sight, when he grabbed my shoulder in a claw, dragging me towards the house.

"You have to see this place" he said, pulling me through the entrance into the main foyer. "It's awesome!"

Looking around, it was just that. Awesome.

I turned around to K, who was carrying a bag of my gear he'd picked up from my house, and said "How long are your folks away again?"

He let out a grin, pulling a six pack of beer from somewhere within my bag, and said "Long enough, mate. It's relaxing time!"

Laughing, the three of us made our way to the back patio deck, and made ourselves comfortable.

Continued in Chapter 3: Consequences.