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"So, do you think you're starting to get the hang of that form of yours?" I ask.

We must have been at this for a couple of hours, trading blows, well. I say trading blows, he couldn't touch me, but the ones I'd thrown at him he'd pretty much just thrown off.

"I'm getting the hang of it, yeah." Alex responds.

"Sweet. Well, shall we make our way back to the room? I'm a little on the tired side." I say.

He nods and we all head back to the room. He has to shift back down to get back through the doorway though. Let's take the quick way back, I don't want to fart around waiting for Alex to crawl through or worse get stuck.

"To save you both messing around, grab my hands." I say, holding out my hands.

Soothing takes my hand, Alex is a little slower to do so.

"So why are we doing this?" Alex asks.

"Because I can step through easier and rather than spend the next half an hour waiting for you to get through, I can just do this." I pull them both sideways and we're back in the room straight away.

"Whoa, so you can do it that easily?"

"Be careful with sidestepping. We didn't run into anything over there this time, but there's a lot more beasties on the umbral side that I've not run into but can be nasty. You're gonna need to learn on how to draw on your inner power or rather your connection with gaia. That's what allows you to step back and forth easier, but on top of that you use that power to fuel certain abilities, when you're taught them."

He nods and sighs, flopping onto the bed. I can feel a twinge and remind myself I should use the bathroom.

"Excuse me a moment, gonna use the bathroom."

It's a nice enough bathroom, pretty plain. Could do with some trims here and there just to make it a little more warming. I grab a seat to take care of business and my eyes wander around the room. It's then I hear Alex's voice raise a little from the other room. I shift up a little into the next form to increase my hearing. I hear Alex snarl and then the door open. Suddenly there's a new voice.

"Afternoon Sir. May we have a word?" I hear.

The fuck? Who's this then?

"Uh, of course officers, please come in." says Alex.

Police, not good. I manage to finish up but hold off flushing the toilet, I keep listening.

"Something wrong Sir?" asks another voice, different from the first.

"No, you just caught me having a moment of self pitying anger, that's all." Alex replies and I smirk, blunt and honest with clear definition, that'll throw them.

"We're looking for this girl." says the first voice again. I hear some rustling of paper.

"Hrm, I haven't seen anyone like that I'm afraid officer." says Alex.

"You were here last night sirs, we understand that she was with a man next door." says the first guy again.

More paper rustling.

"Oh yeah, we saw him get taken away this morning by you guys. I didn't notice anyone with him though." says Alex.

"Are you sure you haven't seen or heard anything about this girl? It's very important that she's returned to her mother. Her father took her away without permission and her mother is very worried." cop number one again I think.

"I'm sorry I don't have anything officer, we spent all evening in here." says Alex.

"Getting cosy together huh?" that was definitely the second guy. Cheeky bastard.

"I'm sorry officer?" says Alex.

"You heard me, I'm not surprised you two fags didn't see anything if all you were doing was each other." says the second guy.

What a dick. Some things never change, no matter what world you're in.

"As I said officers, we have nothing to help you with." says Alex.

"I know that, but I think you two faggots are lying through your dick holes. So I'm thinking that maybe we should take you in any way for questioning." says second guy.

Okay, that's enough. I'm not letting him take all the crap for this. I hit the toilet flush and with a brisk wash of my hands I step out. There's two officers stood with Alex in the room. They both have to be under 30. One is black and has his hat on and looks pretty hefty built, standing a little over 6ft 3" I'd guess. The other is slightly tanned with his hat on as well, a bit of a podge around his stomach and slightly chubbier cheeks. He's got a moustache across his top lip and dark brown eyes. They both scream bad ass and I do not like them already.

I step through the door and pretend to be surprised. Not that I need much help to ask, a smell hits my nose and I have to resist the urge to gag. One of them smells like they were rotting from the inside out!

Though their reaction to seeing me is more surprising. They both stand bolt upright and the white one splutters out.

"Oh! Agent Blake! We didn't realise.."

Agent huh? They're scared of me. Right, if Colt was here, he'd be barking orders at them.

"Of course you didn't realise, the pair of you go balls deep without thinking. Now get the fuck out and I'll remember the faggot comments!"

"Yes sir, sorry sir." the pair stammer and run out.

I barely resist a chuckle. It's been some time since someone has been 'that' scared of me. Though I'm betting they think I'm the Lawrence from this world. If that's the case then he must have been a special unit. What's not reassuring is the fact that they recognised me. I either had to work with this group previously or they were well aware of me. This could work to my advantage if we're wanting to get the kitten's dad back. Yet there's a risk that they might know what actually happened to me, or that I had gone AWOL. When I say me, I mean the other me from this world, I think.

Alex is growling at me. Whoops, I bet he thinks that I'm part of their group now. Wait a moment. Why didn't he think that from the start? It has just occurred to me that he has been far too trusting with me without questioning anything I've told him, regardless of the ridiculous and unbelievable stuff that's happened to me. Urgh, I smell a lesson to be taught here.

"Chill out Alex, looks like the me from this world is an Agent, that's lucky." I say.

"Yeah, lucky. So you just happened to react fast enough to tell them to fuck off?" he snarls.

I snort. "You should have seen how fast I pretended to be a Black Spiral when I was being chased by Skin Dancers. I hate lying, but if it'll help the situation I'll do it without a second thought. Speaking of second thoughts, I want to go have a word with those two idiots before they run off. Let's see if I can find out where our friend is being held."

I trot out the door after the two officers. They're almost to the car and I have to sprint to catch up to them.

"Oy!" I growl.

The pair turn to me.

"Sorry Sir, we didn't mean any..." stammers the white one.

"Can it. Why are you here?" I growl.

"We're trying to find the female weretiger that was seen with her father last night. Reports say she was seen here. May I ask why you're here Sir, we were made aware that you were AWOL." says the white guy.

"I got stuck in somewhere the other side of the umbra. I had to use these idiots to get back. I'll also lend you a hand here because I've currently got them believing that I'm on their side and you two have nearly blown it! I'll have to convince them that I'm on their side by leading them to the dad, but you two will need to be ready." I growl.

They're nodding and I hear someone run, seeing Alex come belting out the door and off down the road like a lightning bolt.

"Scratch that, I'll bring one of them in for questioning instead. Follow him and me but do not interfere, understood!?" I growl at the white one who nods rapidly. I reach forward and snatch his tazer from his belt.

"Good, I'll take him down and you two can give me a hand." and I sprint after Alex.

Fucking hell, what is wrong with this guy? He's running like he's trying to get away from something, I know he didn't see me so what the hell is he running from? He suddenly swerves into a park area and starts to jog around it, I realise he's trying to run off some aggression. Something must have happened whilst I was out. Looking at his face I catch light reflecting from below his eyes, he's crying.

Ah, suddenly a few more things make sense. He's fighting against what's happening and I'm gonna take a stab in the dark that he's wishing he could just be happy right about now. I haven't had those thoughts for a little while myself. I miss Tyr something chronic and on top of that I fancy someone who's probably repulsed by my very existance. Maybe someday I'll be able to have someone in my life to love again, but it won't be any time soon. Time for me to make myself known and see if I can talk him down a little before I spring the trap.

This is going to be a whole host of luck, but I think I can pull it off. The officers are obviously looking at me as someone higher in the command chain, so as long as I can keep underlings on the run around, then I can take care of things. I only got to worry when someone bigger turns up.

I step forward and move towards where Alex has slumped on the grass.

"You are allowed to be happy you know Alex. It's just going to be a while before you find the happy medium."

He snarls and sits bolt upright.

"What the fuck? How did you get here? How did you know that's what I was thinking?"

"How do you think? I've been through what you're going through. You're lucky because you still have people around you who actually like you. Whether or not I care for anyone around me doesn't make a difference right now. I'm still the screw up. Yet they're giving me time and a chance to prove myself and maybe someday one of them might actually start to like me. You've landed on your feet and although I know it's going to be hard being that close to someone and never being allowed to go that final step, you can make it work. I managed it and I wouldn't have if it wasn't for you." I say.

"But it can't be, it can't be what I want it to be." he says rubbing his eyes with a sniffle.

I can sympathise, badly. "I know, but you have more than most, don't let your wants and needs cloud your vision to what you 'have'. Believe me, you don't know what you had until you give it up."

"So what do I have that you don't?" he mutters.

"A brother. A chance at a real life with people who really care about you. Soothing likes you a lot and it sounds like Wyrmripper does too, but as an alpha he can't obviously admit that. Don't drown in your despair Alex, as a shifter, our sorrow can run very deep and cripple you. Believe me, I nearly drown myself in it. If it wasn't for realising that Tyr would never forgive me for giving up the life I'd just been given, I wouldn't be stood here talking to you." I say earnestly.

"So is that why you're eyeing Colt? As a replacement Tyr?" he sniffles again.

Ack, wasn't expecting that one. I can't stop the blush crawling up my cheeks as I explain myself.

"Hardly. Colt is a wonderful man and I see why you were attracted to him. He's given me the time of day and has been the one to actually trust me to try to do things for him. I don't think for a moment he's even remotely interested in me because he's still hurting from you. I want to help him and make him feel better. That much I can say honestly, anything further I'm scared might be because I'm not used to feelings again, though I can't say I don't want more than just the odd pat on the back."

"So why kiss Soothing?" he says.

Oh fuck, so that's what I did? I am in so much shit, what the hell is going on with my mind? It's like my past keeps bleeding into the present. I sincerely hope this is a temporary thing. However, back to the present, I can't exactly explain to Alex here that I'm hallucinating. That's going to go down like a lead balloon.

"I can't explain that right this second I'm afraid, but I will soon. Just believe me when I say it was a spur of the moment thing alright?"

He stands up and brushes his trousers off.

"You better tell me soon Lawrence."

"I will, I promise." I say.

"So how come you get to do stuff with garou and I can't?" says Alex.

"I told you, I'm a nuwisha. They're not the same breed. The rule with garou is they may not mate with one another for fear of producing the metis, an inbred, so to speak. They are born with deformities which are burdens they must carry for their lives which are often short and violent. It's not something you'd want to wish on anyone, so the rule was put there more to protect future lives, not to destroy other lives." I explain, walking towards the curb with him.

"So you get different rules?"

"Yeah, mine are different, but whilst I run with Colt and the pack, I have to follow yours too. If I was a female nuwisha then it would still be alright because any reproduction wouldn't produce metis. There's less chance of it being a garou or a nuwisha, but it's never a metis of the two." I explain, repeating what my mentor briefly mentioned.

"Why's that?" he tilts his head curiously.

I shrug. "Something to do with the soul and connection with gaia I think. I don't know on that one, I'm pretty much repeating what I've been told."

"So basically, you can be with a garou if you wanted to?"

"Yes, but of course, that's dependent if they wanted me. Right now, that's more than just slightly unlikely." I look down the road, I can see the car parked up near the corner.

"Would you look after him?" says Alex

"Hrm?" I turn to look at Alex.

"Colt. If he developed feelings for you, would you look after him?" he asks.

Might as well stick with the truth.

"I already am trying to Alex. He's earned my respect and more importantly he's someone I like a lot. Unless his feelings turn for the worse for me, then I'll look after him as best he lets me." I explain honestly.

Much as I'd honestly like to do more with Colt than explain how I've screwed up this time, it's more likely that I'll end up breaking my own heart.

"So even if he doesn't love you back, you'll still be there when he needs you?" says Alex.

I nod gently. That much I can be one hundred percent honest about. I'll be there whenever he actually needs me. Wanting me is a whole new ball game.

"Okay. Let's get back to the motel. I think I need to sleep this off." he says.

I nod and we walk down the road, getting closer to the police car. My eyes keep flicking to it and I inhale through my nose, scenting the air. I can smell the fresh grass of the park, the odd piece of food left in a trash can and bush. No humans around and there's the smell of the car exhaust and faintly I can smell the rotting stench of one of them. They must be the fomori that Colt spoke of, corrupted humans. So how come they still look very human?

"Do you know all your rules yet?" I ask Alex.

"Huh? No, not yet, I know some of them." he replies.

I nod. "Mine are pretty simple, Be subtle. Respect Luna. Always Prank the Wyrm. Think, then act. Let fools die a fool's death and then there's the last one."

"What's that then?" he queries.

"Teach those who need teaching a proper lesson."

"Huh, that's gotta be difficult, I mean. You've only just started learning yourself haven't you?"

"Yeah, but there's an important lesson I've already learned that I do think you should learn." I say.

"What's that?"

I bring the tazer around in my left hand into his side. His body tenses and he hits the floor, I keep the button pressed against his side and say gently.

"Don't be so trusting."

I watch his eyes roll back and pass out. Good, I don't really want him kicking off a fuss. I could handle the two idiots in the car if I have to.