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Author's Note: It's been a long time, (Law school, writer's block, and NY ComicCon all take their toll) but I'm still alive and here with the next chapter in the series. Hopefully it will have been worth the wait for all of you. (If not I fully expect angry comments). As always, I look forward to reading any feedback you all have. Rate, Comment, and Fave if you like this one. (And if you REALLY like it tell a friend. :) ) And if you have a question, shout it out. Hope you enjoy and you're all awesome! - AK

Dulion looked down at all the papers on his table with a contended sigh. Finally everything was done for the evening. Now the only thing he had to do was wait for Danielle. He checked his watch. There was still plenty of time for them to catch the movie. As if on cue, Dulion's phone vibrated on his cluttered table. He smiled and checked the message.

"Hey Duley, won't be able to make it tonight L Work has me in late. Maybe next week. Talk to you soon. Ily."

Dulion let out a disappointed sigh. He was looking forward to spending another evening with Danielle. Since that community dinner at the Zoo, he and Danielle had been seeing each other fairly regularly. It was a nice feeling; especially the kiss he'd get at the end of each date.

Now the question was how could he spend his night? He made sure to finish everything he had to do in order to be free for the evening, and now he had nothing to do. Dulion spent a few moments thinking before he finally decided on a simple walk. The air was cool, but not chilled; just how he liked it.

Dulion stood up from his seat and glanced at the cane leaning at the table. He hated having to use it when he actually thought about it. But it had become almost second nature to him at this point. He almost felt naked without it.

"I wish I didn't need you." He said to the cane.

Dulion shook off his words quickly; he was handicapped, not crippled, and he needed to remember that. As he hobbled towards the front door, he saw Dr. Tennant, Jason, and Mr. Makarov all coming from the opposite direction. The three men were all in their human forms. It was the first time Dulion saw Jason in his human form. Jason had sandy brown hair and was clean shaven. His features were more soft than rugged, but still gave an image of masculinity. He looked to be the youngest of the three men despite being close in age to them.

"Well, look who it is." Jason said as he saw Dulion approach.

"Good evening, Mr. Dulion." Said Dr. Tennant with a smile as he extended his hand. "Going out for your date tonight?"

"Nah." Dulion said switching the cane to his left hand to accept the handshake. "Danielle had to cancel. I figured I go for a little walk and enjoy the weather."

"Well, the three of us are heading to a bar that's not too far away. You're more than welcome to join us."

"That's I ok, I wouldn't want to..."

"Shut up," Jason said putting his arm around Dulion's shoulder, "you're coming."

"Besides," said Josef, taking the opposite side of Jason and likewise putting his arm around Dulion's shoulder, "I owe a drink for helping me with Stephanie. It's the least I could do.

"Alright," said Dulion resigned to his fate but with a smile, "let's go."

Dulion felt a sharp slap on his back that nearly knocked him over. As he righted himself, a concerned look on Mr. Makarov's face showed that he was the culprit. Dulion waved it off before he could apologize.

"Don't worry." Dr. Tennant said, "I'll make sure they don't get out of hand."

The good doctor held the door open and everyone filed out.

"Try to keep up, limpy." Jason said with a smile.

Dulion returned the smile and stuck his cane out in front of Jason's legs. Jason stumbled and fell to the sidewalk.

"Well, Jason's cut off." Dr. Tennant said helping his boyfriend up. "He can't even stay standing."

"You're learning." Jason said to Dulion as he smiled.

"Slowly but surely." Dulion said.

"The bar isn't that far away." Dr. Tennant said. "It shouldn't be a problem for any of us."

Dulion nodded and followed the three older men towards the bad. He was ashamed to admit it to himself, but he was a bit nervous. After all, he was at least ten years younger than everyone and he doubted there was much that they knew they all had in common. He told himself to relax.

"So do you guys do this regularly?" Dulion asked as they walked.

"We try to." Jason said. "It's a lot of fun. The bartender knows who we are and what we are, and doesn't care so it makes life easier."

"So do a lot of..."

"No. I think we're the only lycanthropes who go to the bar." Jason interrupted. "And Matthew and I are, to my knowledge, the only gay people there."

"I see." Dulion said.

"I think he just meant lycanthropes, Jay." Dr. Tennant said.

"Well, I figured he'd want the whole picture. Lawyers are like that right?" Jason responded.

"You'd be surprised." Dulion said with half a laugh.

The rest of the walk was quiet. Despite the short distance, Dulion felt almost exhausted as they approached the door. His leg was deciding to not cooperate today. Dr. Tennant gave Dulion a slight look of concern. With a wave of his hand, Dulion told Dr. Tennant there was nothing to worry about. Matthew nodded and held open the door of the bar.

The bar looked almost exactly like the handful of other bars Dulion had been to, if maybe a bit larger. There were several TV's around; some tuned to the local news, others to a sports team Dulion had zero interest in. There were several tables gathered around the room as well as a long, dark wooden bar. Some 80's hair metal played throughout the bar. Dulion mouthed the words to himself away from the gazes of his companions. The four men found a table away from the televisions. Every one sat down except for Josef.

"The first round is on me." Josef said. "What will you have Mr. Dulion?"

"Uh...I guess a beer is fine." Dulion said.

"Nonsense." Josef said. "Get something better. I told you I need to buy you a drink. I meant a proper one. So whatever you want."

"You don't..."

"Pick something already!" Jason said playfully. "Before last call."

"Alright, a Kahlua and Bailey's then."

"Coming up." Josef said.

Mr. Makarov left and approached the bar. Jason leaned across the table closer to Dulion.

"Look, don't be shy or nervous around us." He said sincerely. "You don't need to worry about having a good image or whatever. We like you just fine. So relax and enjoy ok? I don't think you do that nearly enough."

Josef came back quickly with their drinks. Dulion picked up his drink and held it towards Jason.

"I'll try." He said. Then he raised his glass "To all of us."

***

Emi Ibuki knocked one more time on the door. She understood that Dulion couldn't move that well, but this wasn't like him. She didn't want to bother him, but this was important and she needed an answer.

"He's not here, Emi." A voice from behind her said.

Ibuki turned around to see Cameron standing in the hall way. She was carrying a small bag from the local store.

"Out on another date again?" Ibuki asked.

"No, I think he went out for drinks with my husband and the boys. I just texted Josef and told him to stay out of trouble tonight. He said if there was any, he had a lawyer with him, so I guess that meant Dulion."

"Oh I see. I had a question I wanted to ask him, but I guess I can ask him later."

"Probably. Are you busy tonight?"

"Not really, why? Need me to run an errand or something?"

"No. I figured that if the boys can go out for the night, why don't we girls stay in and do something fun, like watch a movie or something?"

"Ok, sounds good. I just want to jump in the shower real quick."

"Go for it. Meet in my apartment in say...an hour?"

"Ok. See you then."

Cameron smiled and headed upstairs to her apartment. A movie night would do Emi a world of good. Work was always hell, and today had especially been a struggle. There was a lot on Ibuki's mind and a chance to unwind might just calm her down a bit. Within an hour, Emi was knocking on Cameron's door. The door opened and Emi was greeted by a hug around her waist.

"Hey pipsqueak." Emi said to Stephanie as she hugged her. "You watching the movie with us too?"

"Yup! I'm kinda excited to see it. Come in!"

Ibuki followed Stephanie inside. When she walked in, Emi saw Jess sitting on the couch with a glass of what looked like white wine. Jess smiled at Emi when she came in.

"Hey Emi. I see Cameron recruited you too?"

"Yeah. I figured this would be a relaxing way to spend the evening." She replied.

"Red or white, Ibuki?" Cameron's voice echoed from the kitchen.

"Red please." Ibuki answered. "I can't stand white, no offence."

"None taken. So I heard you were banging on the advisor's door earlier. Anything wrong?"

"Nothing to worry about. I had a small question I needed to ask him, but it's no big deal. He hasn't been around much at night, has he?"

"I haven't really noticed. To be honest, I don't really talk to him that much."

"He just got a girlfriend, so I guess it's to be expected. Still, would be nice to have him around a little more. I haven't seen him in like two weeks."

Stephanie let out a small giggle.

"What's so funny, pipsqueak?" Ibuki asked.

It took Stephanie a moment to contain her obvious amusement.

"I think you're jealous." Stephanie said.

The innocent comment caused Jess to laugh loudly.

"Why would I be jealous?" Ibuki responded. "I was the one who helped set him up."

"Yeah, but you didn't expect it to actually work, did you?" Jess said with a sly smile.

"Well...no. But that's not why I did it. I figured it would help him with his confidence and...why are you laughing, Jess?"

"Oh no reason."

Cameron walked into the room carrying two glasses of wine, one red and one white. She handed the red wine to Ibuki and sat down in a chair.

"So what's funny?" Cameron asked when she did.

"Nothing." Ibuki said quickly. "So, what movie are we watching?"

"The Breakfast Club. I figured that a classic would be good."

"Never seen it."

"How have you never seen The Breakfast Club?" Jess said. "It's practically a teenage rite of passage."

"I didn't have many of those." Ibuki said with a sigh.

"What do you mean?"

"Well...they... I'd..."

"If you don't want to tell us, that's fine." Cameron said, pinpoint Ibuki's emotions perfectly.

"No, it's fine. It's just kind of hard."

Ibuki hung her head for a moment. It was too late to turn back now.

"My parents...well they basically disowned me when I was fifteen."

Ibuki saw Cameron's jaw drop. She felt Jess' hand on her shoulder.

"I...I had no idea." Jess said.

"I don't like talking about it much. Basically, the second they found out I was a lycanthrope I was thrown out of the house. There was no way their daughter was a freak, so out I went. My grandma was the only one who supported me. She would give make sure I was ok. She even helped me get an apartment and pay rent until I found my job and this place. They refuse to talk to me, and I feel the same way about them. "

In many ways, it felt good to get that off her chest. Still, Ibuki didn't like telling people about her family situation. She was still embarrassed by it despite knowing she had done nothing wrong.

"That's terrible." Jess said. "At least you have your grandma though."

"What do you mean?" asked Cameron.

"My Grandma just passed away; my cousin told me. He also told me that my parents weren't going allow me to go to the funeral. I wanted to ask Dulion if they could do that."

"Don't you have his cell number?" Cameron said. "I can give you it if you'd like. I doubt he'd mind."

"Please?" Ibuki said, sounding more like she was begging than she would have liked.

Cameron gave Ibuki Dulion's number. Ibuki quickly typed and sent her question to Dulion.

"Thanks. Sorry I'm kind of raining on the parade here." Ibuki said.

"You shouldn't be." said Jess. "We're your friends. It's what we do. Now, are you still up to watching the movie?"

"Absolutely." Ibuki said.

"I'll put it on." Stephanie said, rushing towards the TV. "Oh and Ibuki?"

"Yeah, Pipsqueak?"

"Don't forget, we're your family too."

***

Dulion quickly answered Ibuki's text. He felt terrible for her. He made a mental note to ask her about everything later if she was willing to tell him.

"So, Jimmy," Jason said to Dulion, "I have to ask, what's up with your leg? Some kind of freak accident?"

"No." Dulion said. "My leg I was born with. Doctors said the nerves didn't set right or something. The accident didn't do anything physically to me."

"You mean the accident that took your parents?" Dr. Tennant asked gently.

"Yeah." Dulion said. "You never told Jason?"

"I figured it wasn't my place."

"It's alright. It's not a secret. Car crash on a snowy night."

"Sorry." Jason said. "My dad died when I was in high school, so I know it sucks. Who took care of you after they passed?"

"I lived with my aunt and uncle, though I wouldn't say they took care of me." Dulion said.

"Not attentive parents?" asked Josef.

"Not to me. To my cousin, they were fine. I was just the 'other' or maybe the 'ATM.'"

"What is that supposed to mean?" asked Jason.

"My parents put aside a trust fund for me when I was born. In addition to life insurance benefits and the like, I had a decent amount of money. My aunt was named the executor of the trust. She blew through most of it. By the time my cousin told me, I had only enough to pay for college. Hence why I had to take loans out for law school."

"You should have taken them to court." Dr. Tennant said.

Dulion shook his head.

"It wasn't worth it." He answered. "I was just graduating high school when I found out. I just took whatever was left and used it to pay for school. The only time they figured out I knew was when they were informed that all the money was gone, so my cousin says."

"You still talk to your cousin after what they did?" Josef asked.

"Yeah. I mean, it wasn't his fault they did what they did. Every so often I'll call him and say hi. He wanted to invite me to his wedding a couple of months ago, but we both figured it would be a bad idea. I doubt my aunt or uncle want to see me again. But that's enough of this. I'm the only one to have not bought a round and after this conversation, I think I could use a nice drink."

Dulion got up and limped towards the bar and ordered the drinks. As he waited for the drinks to be poured, he noticed three older men glaring at him. For a moment he wondered if they were staring at a relatively young man using a cane, but as their glares turned to watch Dr. Tennant come up to the bar, Dulion began to realize why they were glaring.

"I figured you could use a hand." Dr. Tennant said as he came up to the bar.

"I could." Dulion answered. "I think this should be last call for us, Doc."

"Look, I'm sorry about the conversation. If you want..."

"No, it's not that at all." Dulion said with a slight tilt of his head to the direction of the older men. Dr. Tennant followed Dulion's cue and nodded immediately.

"Perhaps you are right." He said. "Still, we are welcome here. The bartender and owners all know what the three of us are."

"True, but...well..."

"As the advisor, you'd rather us not get into a conflict."

"Ideally, yes."

"Say no more. After this drink we'll call it a night."

"Good. I'd drink a little quickly if I were you, too. And have Full Moon ready just in case."

The Doctor nodded and grabbed two of the glasses that were set before Dulion. Dulion paid for the drinks and carefully took the other two glasses in his free hand and walked back to the table. As he approached, he heard Dr. Tennant tell Jason and Josef about why they were leaving early and to be ready.

The four men quietly sipped drank their beers. Dulion kept one eye peeled on the older men, doing his best to make sure they couldn't see him staring. When they were all about half way done with their drinks, the three men all got up and headed over towards them.

"Stay calm, everyone." Dulion whispered as they walked up.

One of the men looked to be in charge of the others. He had grey hair and hard features and none of them looked happy.

"You." The man said pointing at Dr. Tennant. "You're Tennant right? The Zookeeper?"

The stench of alcohol exuded from the man's mouth.

Dulion hung his head. There was no way this was going to end well.

"I am Dr. Tennant." Responded the Doctor. "Can I help you?"

"Yeah." The man answered. "You can get the hell out of my bar, freak. You and your little...mutts."

"This is a public establishment." Dulion said calmly. "And Dr. Tennant is fully within his rights to patronize this bar."

"What are you, mutt? Some kinda lawyer or something? I'll have you know my daughter works for one of the best firms in the state. She can run circles around you!"

Dulion had to think for a moment , but once he realized it, he buried his face in his hands. Of all the belligerent, prejudiced drunks in the world, it had to be this one, didn't it? Out of the corner of his eye, Dulion saw Dr. Tennant turn his head in surprise.

"I'm the legal advisor for the tenants of the Mona Suites." Dulion said with a sigh. "And I know your daughter."

Dulion didn't want to mention the fact that he was currently dating his daughter. If he did, he only felt things would get worse, not that such a thing was actually possible at the moment. However, judging from the drunken man's eyes, he seemed to understand the implication despite his inebriation.

"You're Dulion." He said in a whisper. "Yeah, Dani told me about you. Said you were an idealist. Listen to me boy, Dani likes you. And you seem...you seem ok. So here's a little advice...be careful with these mutts. There only gonna be your downfall in life. And as for all of you."

Danielle's father reached into his pocket and pulled out a Wolfsbane gun. The four men instinctively withdrew away from it.

"I ever catch you in here without your handler, you're gonna get the bane. You hear?"

Danielle's father and his friends staggered out of the bar. Dulion hung his head.

"I am so...so sorry." He said. "I knew he was bad from what Danielle told me but I never knew..."

"Shut up and drink." Jason said. "If you want to make me feel better about everything, stick it to the old man by sticking it to his daughter."

"Dear God, Jason, " The Doctor said burying his face in his hands, "could you have a little more tact, please?"

"Besides," Dulion added, "Danielle wants to wait, which I'm fine with. But it means I haven't it "stuck it" to anyone."

"Wait a second, you mean...like never, never?" Jason asked. "My God, we need to get you..."

"Jason, I swear to everything scared that I will..."

Dulion stopped his threat and looked straight at Jason. The grin on his face was as wide as can be. Dulion hung his head. Once again, Jason had set Dulion up for the joke, and he had fallen right into the trap.

"Get the hell outta here." Dulion said as he laughed and buried his head.

The other four men at the table joined in the laughter; half at the joke, and half and being so nervous only moments early. Jason raised his half-full glass to Dulion who picked up his glass. They clicked both together.

"Welcome to gang, Mr. Dulion." Jason said. "God help you, because Heaven knows you'll need it."

Dulion smiled. For once, he agreed with Jayson completely.