Chapter 6 - Howdy Partner.

I wave to the car and the pair get out. They head over to me.

"Throw him in the back and I'll keep him company. What are your names?" I growl.

"Officers Dave Lister and Dyson Bridge." Says the chubby white guy.

"Okay. When we get there, Dave you need to get me my current operations file so I can find out what I'm supposed to be doing in conjunction with this one and bring me the file on the dad and the kitten. Oh and do we have a lie detector?" I walk behind the two as they carry him to the car and throw open a door, pushing the still form of Alex into the back.

"Ufff. We've got a fetish we use. But Sir, haven't you been receiving updates?" asks Dyson.

I shift up forms and snarl in his face. "Do you think I'd be asking you for them if I did moron?! I got trapped on the other side of the umbra and these fools have taken their sweet time to get me back. Consider yourself lucky I'm helping you instead of just taking you out right now!"

He's sweating now as I'm breathing in his face. Colt would be proud of the hard ass attitude I'm giving him. Well he should be, I'm copying him. Hard ass I may not be, but I'm a fucking great actor.

"Yes sir, sorry sir!"

"Can it, in the car. There's another nearby who's stronger, I don't want him involved." I growl and shift down again, getting in the opposite side from where they shoved in Alex.

I sit upright and pay very close attention to the pair, making sure to listen out for anything they might say or radio in. Keeping them on the hop was my best chance, if they don't get time to suspect then I might be able to pull this off. My biggest problem right now was just how much communication they have with whoever this world's Lawrence's boss is. They recognised me by sight, so I must have worked with them before or been in their precinct and been ordered to watch out for me. I'm guessing the latter or they'd have been offended by me asking their names.

I have to watch carefully which way we drive too. I have to remember how to get back this way if this all goes either to plan or pear shaped. The two up front keep quiet and drive us back at a considerable speed, they must be eager to get us back too. Probably in the hopes of either getting this over with or getting something big out of it to wave around like a pride flag. They'd get something out of it alright, I'd make sure of that.

Alex starts moving, crap, he's waking up. I could have done with him staying out a little bit longer. Sigh, time for the hard ass routine.

"Ah, you're awake. Don't move or struggle or I'll have to put you out again." I give the tazer trigger a squeeze to make it spark for effect.

"Whu... Why..? Why Lawrence?" he asks pleadingly.

Since I can't actually tell him I'm only pretending and I really do need him to understand that people shouldn't be trusted so easily, I have to go with the feed line for the two morons up front.

" To capture you of course. Not my current assignment I do know, however these two let me in on what's happening and I agreed to lend them a hand tracking down that little missing kitten."

He looks like he can't believe it. Poor kid. I wish I didn't have to be so harsh on him right now, but scaring every fucker into submission is working pretty well so far. I can't afford to appear weak right this moment and offer him some comfort. Got to make this look real and if he honestly believes I've betrayed him, he'll play his part beautifully. I hope he just doesn't get any idiotic ideas and try to burst himself out before it.

As if on cue, he starts to struggle against his handcuffs.

"Please don't make this harder on yourself than it has to be Alex. I really don't want to have to waste my energy on you." I growl at him. I really don't want to have to try to subdue him, it would hamper our escape chances later.

We pull up outside a police station a moment later. I glance up, seeing a sign down the road I recognise and withhold a sigh of relief. Alex's little bravado show nearly cost me the route back. Now let's see if this little act will keep up.

The two up front get out of the car and cover Alex with tazers whilst I get out and walk around. I grab Alex's handcuffs and hoist him up and out of the car. I don't bother with small talk, I just shove him towards the door. I've no idea where I'm going, here's hoping one of the two goons takes some initiative.

There's two big dark blue painted doors that slide open as we approach up some steps at the front of a pretty bland looking building. It looks just like someone set up four concrete slabs and slapped some white paint on it, oh then poked a few holes in it for windows. There's a huge sign to the side saying NOPD besides it, but apart from that, it's rather underwhelming. Though I guess I don't know what I was actually expecting, guess I've been watching too many spy shows, this is no Dr Evil's lair.

The two besides us take a step ahead and start clearing the way. Good boys, I like it when they're well trained. Makes things easier for me. I keep shoving Alex forward and for a moment where we're alone going down a corridor, I use the distraction to take a peek into the umbra.

I fucking wish I hadn't.

What I saw snapped me right back into the real world. The place was a dripping fetid pit of slime and other crawling things that makes the cup of tea I had early rise up in my throat. I manage to hide it with a growl and another shove into Alex's back. I'd have to apologise later but this place is one big cesspit. I'm gonna need to do more than just get Alex and the kitten's dad out of here. This place has to go somehow.

Dave opens the door to a room and I push Alex in. It's an interrogation room. Alex is looking around it and I'm betting he just noticed there's no mirror in here either. Well at least he's got some of his wits about him if he noticed that. Better be careful and move quickly as possible. Don't want him coming up with an escape plan before I can enact mine.

I shove Alex into one of the chairs in the room, stalking around the table and leaning onto it, my hands palm down on the surface.

"Right, since we will be literally forever if I go down the route of asking you where the kitten is, we'll go straight to the part where I know you'll start talking. Go get the dad." I look at two goons.

They look at each other, fuck sakes. I shift up into my manabozho form and snarl, let's keep the motivation going shall we?

"Am I speaking another fucking language you idiots? Get the dad so we can show Alex we mean fucking business!"

Dave goes running from the room. Good boy, fetch.

"How the hell is that going to help us?" says Dyson.

Urgh, I should have know I'd have needed explain at some point. Though I'm doing pretty well and I've already come up with what I'm gonna tell him. Worst part is, what I'm about to say is the truth.

"Tch, how short sighted you guys are. I know little Alex here, he's a tough little cookie... When it comes to his 'own' health at least. However, he does have a slight white knight complex and will put other people before his own safety. I'm wondering just how much we gotta do to poor daddy before either he or Alex here. Tells us where the little kitten is."

Dyson's face splits in a mean little grin. Fucking hell, I hope I get to wipe that off his face soon. A glance at Alex and I realise he's looking really confused. Shit, I bet he's not met a fomori yet. This is my first encounter with a live one yet I'm handling like a pro. I'm badass.

"Oh, you haven't run into this ilk have you? Little Fomori here. So full of power from the Wyrm they just can't help themselves when they get to have a little fun with you garou." I grin at Alex.

"Fomori?"

"Oh yes little garou. That's what we are, we're going to have lots and lots of fun with you...." says Dyson.

I'm stood a little away from him as he starts to transform. Urgh, he's got arms growing out of his sides and his mouth is full of fangs. This is gross. I knew about fomori, but I should have really done my research before going balls deep like this. Well fuck, too late to worry about that right now.

Alex looks pretty horrified, suppose I should at least explain a little, you know, like a good super villain.

"If you're wondering, the wyrm gives you what you want. Of course there's a price, all power comes at a price. Some are willing to pay it, some consider it a bonus rather than a price. Either way, Dyson here, is pretty much an expert at catching people." I say.

Flattery works well when you're trying to be intimidating to one person and keep the other on your side. Seems to have pleased mr gruesome here at least. Coyote, this fucker is ugly.

And now he's laughing and it sounds like a drain that's not been unblocked for ages. Ew.

The door opens and Dave shoves someone in with him. Must be the guy we're here for. He's tossed into the other seat, far from delicately. Ah well, he looks like he can take a knock or two. He's pretty decently built considering his eastern ethnicity. Or maybe I'm jaded and racist. Nah.

Whoops, I'm on stage again.

"Ah, welcome. What was his name again?" I ask.

"This is Riyada Smith." Dave replies.

Smith. Seriously? Okay, this guy was just begging to have some problems if he gave his surname as Smith. Urgh, the things I do. Might as well take the piss a little, see if I can ease Dave into a state of false confidence.

"Really? Smith?" I snort.

"Yeah, original." beams Dave. Let's hear it for the brawny and none brainy.

"Well then Dave, let's start this little game shall we? You want to slip into something more comfortable?" Might as well encourage him to shift so I can see what I have to deal with, plus this way it'll at least seem like I'm trying to be scary until I get the rest of the stuff I need and us out of here.

I'm pretty much regretting that decision as Dave sticks out a tongue the size of a Burmese python. It reeks! God and there's stuff dripping off it, gross gross gross.

Urgh, gotta work with what I've got though, time to get back to the threats. Engaging serious bond Villain mode.

"Now Dave here is rather homophobic I have to admit. One might say a bit of a cunt. Though with a tongue like that you can understand why the ladies love him." I say.

It does feel good to insult him like that, but yeck, the smell this close to him is awful. It's like weeks old rotting things combined with battery acid. I have to put a hand on his shoulder to steady myself. Urgh, every part of me thinks this is just vile, but I really need to keep this act up.

"Yet I get the feeling if I asked 'really' nicely, he'd give little Riyada a nice kiss, you know, help 'loosen' him up, so to speak." I grin.

Dave and Dyson chuckle, just like good little minions. I move around the room to stand near Dyson, the smell is a bit lesser here, but god I'm still chewing on it. Blergh.

"So I know that you hate to see people getting hurt. All you need to do is start talking and telling us where the little kitten is. Or for the first time ever, you're going to be mortified at the sight of a man kissing another man." I growl threateningly.

"Hardly asshole, I saw you kissing Soothing. That comes pretty close." he snarls at me.

Well fuck. I kissed him? Oh dear, no wonder he's been so pissed at me. He must have the hots for Soothing now too. I'd be a little more concerned about the fact I'd pissed him off but I'm rather worried about why the hell I appear to be reliving past events. Not that Soothing is particularly happy with me either. Crap, oh well. Remember, need to be a dick. Play it down. Just think how would Jaheed react in this situation?

"You saw that huh? Whoops. Oh well. Dyson, where's that info I wanted and the little lie detector?"

Keep them on their toes. I need to move this faster, I don't need Alex here getting pissy and raging out of control.

"Should be here in a moment boss."

A knock on the door proves music to my ears and Dyson goes to answer it. That's not a good sign, this place is fine with Fomori wandering around in their usual forms? Okay, I can't afford to ignore this place. Get these two out first, then take care of the rest. Somehow.

Dyson walks over to me and hands me a pair of folders with a stone compass on the top. There's a O, X and a line marked on the edges of it. True, false, avoiding. Pretty simplistic, as a fetish should be from what I'm aware. Time to give Alex another lesson whilst I pump some gnosis into this and hope it works.

"So Alex, before we get on with the really fun stuff, let me ask. Ever seen a fetish before? And no, I don't mean chips, dips, chains and whips. I mean a mystical item that has a spirit sealed into it, which when empowered by the user can do different tricks."

I hold it up so he can see it. "This little doo-hicky will be kind enough to let me know when you two are telling me bullshit, there's also no need to worry about being able to fool it. It's totally accurate."

I flip through the file with Riyada's name on it. They've put the girl's file in there too, what do you know, efficiency. The girl they're after is Rin. Cute name. I throw the file onto the desk. Then an idea pops into my head. I wander over to Riyada, and sit myself in his lap. He's looking pissed, but the effect is perfect and it puts me in a position so that if shit hits the fan, it's me that gets smacked before the Riyada.

"Now Alex, let's get the bullshit out the way. Do you know where Rin is?" I ask Alex.

"No."

I glance down at the compass, it's pointing towards the O. Looks like he's telling the truth, well that's interesting.

"Well bugger me. He's telling the truth. Okay Mr, do you know where your daughter is?" I tilt my head around at Riyada.

"Get off me!" he snarls.

Ok, probably not the best of places to sit and he's probably not comfortable with a 7ft werecoyote in his lap. But I can't afford to appear weak yet. I slide my clawtips around his throat. I have to confess, this guy should be running screaming, he's made of pretty stern stuff, here's hoping he tells me what I need to know.

"Now stop that, answer the fucking question!"

I feel his throat convulse as he gulps. "No."

I glance down at the compass again, same answer. That's fine, I'll have to make my move soon and I can pull the old 'pretend to let them go so I can follow trick'.

"Well fuck. Two for two here. So, you two have no idea where she is. I guess that makes this pretty pointless. Though I do have a question for you Alex." I say whilst standing up out of Riyada's lap.

"What?" he growls.

Time for me to try to explain the lesson a little. If he's got this one down, we can just skip right to the escape part. I've got everything else we needed and now it's a bit of luck to get these two out and hopefully some more to do something about this fucking rotting place.

"As a nuwisha, I need to make sure people learn their lessons, the interpretation of course is up to me. So I wanna know, what have you learned from all of this?" I ask.

He growls at me. Dyson moves up behind him and clips him around the head, luckily not very hard, but enough to put a point on his next statement.

"Answer the question!" says Dyson.

"Fuck... You treacherous bastard... How could you?" Alex curses.

Ouch, even knowing I'm pretending, that kinda hurts. Though it's the sad affair of the world right now, he has to learn that it's okay to trust, but don't be so blind about it.

"Tch, that's not an answer Alex. Stop being so obtuse, at least you might convince these two to make it quick if you're nice."

"FINE! I shouldn't have trusted you! I shouldn't have assumed that you were the Lawrence I knew and that I should be more careful."

Oh thank fuck for that. I was hoping he'd get it pretty quick. Now to spring into action, or rather, have a little more deadly fun.

"Halleluiah, he can be taught! My job is done, so I will have to turn you guys over to these gentlemen."

I hold my hand up for Dave to give me a high five. He leaves me hanging for a moment then does it. Moron. Soon as his flesh touches mine, I hit him with my swollen tongue gift. This should prove interesting on Mr tall dark and smelly.

I resist the urge to run around the table as I move around behind Dyson. Both of them are looking at Riyada and Alex with glee. Though Dave's look changes quickly to one of pain as he starts flailing, that huge tongue of his swelling up to nearly twice the size of its original form. Dyson has turned to look at Dave and I take the opportunity to shove my claws through his throat and remove most of his neck.

Dave is clawing at his throat as I jump around the table again, grasp him by the back of his head and smash it down into the floor with all my bodyweight behind it. There's a sickening crunch and squelch sound. I don't check to find out exactly what that was, I don't want to know.

Dave has stopped moving beneath my hand so I release him and stand up. That worked quite well actually. Though it was kinda messy.

"Well that went better than I thought it would. Didn't know I was such an asshole though." I muse out loud.

"What... What the fuck? You asshole! You set this up! How the fuck did you?!" Alex snarls at me.

Blind fucking luck of course. Maybe Alex has some kind of guardian deity in this world because this went so swimmingly that I honestly can't believe it, you only see shit like this in Hollywood films. But still, I do owe him some explanations and a reminder of the lesson I was trying to get across.

"Calm down. I didn't plan any of this as such, I took advantage of the situation. But that doesn't mean that what you learned should be forgotten Alex. Just because I really am on your side doesn't mean you should have been so trusting with me. What would have happened if I wasn't really on your side? Who would have suffered for your mistake here? It wouldn't have just been you. Do NOT make the same mistakes I have and assume you can trust everyone who's of your ilk. It really can be skin deep the similarities."

"So what the fuck now?" he growls at me.

That I had an idea about. Dave wasn't too far off Riyada's size. So I was going to go with my earlier plan of Alex walking out of the front door and I'd pretend to follow him to where he was hiding Rin. I just needed to get them out of the door without arousing too many suspicions.

"Now, we walk out the front door." I say.

"The fuck?" he says, looking surprised.

"Dave's outfit should fit Riyada here, you're being released as you have no useful information and I have every intention of following you back to where you actually came from in order to find Rin. Riyada will escort you off the premises and I will follow shortly after. So count yourself lucky yet again Alex, not only did you learn an important lesson, you get the kitten's dad back."

Just hope Alex's and my luck holds out long enough for me to get us the fuck out of here. Or at least them two. I should be able to run like a bitch. Oh shit, that reminds me, I need to apologise to the other guy.

"My apologies for how I acted there. I couldn't afford to risk taking them out straight away as I needed the information they had on your daughter. Plus I did need Alex to learn his lesson. Would you be alright in slipping into that asshole's uniform and shoving Alex out the door for me?" I give him a little bow of apology.

He looks a little shell shocked, no surprise really. He takes a moment to gather himself back together then frowns at me.

"You're a tricky bastard. How do I know this isn't a trap?"

"You don't, if you have a better option, feel free to take it. However I will tell you this. The Tyr in my world was someone I loved dearly and I got him killed. I will move fucking mountains to make sure that the tiger's survive in any world because of the love he showed me. Your Tyr is now there and I can do little to help him, yet right now I can give you the help. It's your choice."

It was the truth, possibly a little too much sharing there too. Oh well, one of these days I'll get a grip and manage to keep things on a 'need to know' basis. I move behind him and use another of my gifts to pop open the handcuffs. I then make my way over to Alex and pop his too. Here's hoping he doesn't just take a swing at me straight away.

"How can we trust you right now Lawrence?"

"You can't and that's the point I'm making. Don't trust all the time, check your options and understand that some you may be forced to take, but others that are based on trust need to be looked at hard."

"What happened to make you this bad?"

There's a loaded question....

"You mean apart from nearly two hundred years as a vampire?" I reply sarcastically.

"Well yeah, but you still loved life even though you didn't have it as such."

"Eh, long story short, I got my emotions back and now I realise I can't trust them as much either. I'm developing feelings for Colt and I'm scared he won't feel the same back, but on top of that I don't want to upset you alright? Now Riyada if you'd be so kind, I'll turn my back, quickly now."

I shift back to human and turn around quickly so I don't have to continue with this conversation. I really don't want to talk about all this and I certainly don't want to keep reminding myself that I'm doing the equivalent of a schoolboy crush on someone. I reach down to Dave and pull his uniform off him. Tis a shame he was nothing but a walking bag of corruption. It was a surprisingly nice packaging. Though weren't fomori supposed to be ugly and mutated? How were they managing to hide like this?

Not time really to think about that, I have to get these two out of here, then if I have chance, I'll try to investigate. I don't want to be impolite and stare at Riyada whilst he changes, so I turn around. Though it serves another purpose, I need to show Alex that I trust him, so turning my back gives him a chance to do whatever he chooses.

I'm stood looking at the wall thinking of all the things that can go wrong right now when I feel Alex's arms wrap gently around me and hug me tight.

"Thank you my friend."

He's thanking me for teaching him such a horrible lesson? Or is it for getting Riyada? Either way, I'm not entirely happy about this whole thing and I certainly hope I do not have to do many more of these kind of lessons.

"Don't thank me Alex. I'm sorry I had to do it." I rumble gently.

"I'm ready" says Riyada and we both turn around.