AN: This is set about a week after Danger and still before the beginning of season four. Get ready for a wild ride. I plan to put the boys through the wringer.
VvVvV
It should have been getting easier. It had been months since a shootout had claimed his best friend's life. Speed had been dead for long enough. It should have stopped hurting. Or not hurt as much. And still Eric felt a keen sense of loss every time he went out to a case without his partner and best friend. There was no biting wit, no sarcastic remarks, no "you're a dumb ass" looks. All of that was gone. Taken away from him by some asshole who cared more about money than lives.
It didn't help that there was a constant reminder of the fact that Speed was gone. It wasn't bad enough that his presence was sorely missed by everyone. No. Horatio had wasted no time in replacing Timothy Speedle, as if he could be replaced. And that's all he could think about when he looked at Ryan Wolfe. The younger man paled in comparison to Speed. He could never, never take Speed's place and Eric was offended that Horatio even thought that was remotely possible.
Wolfe was a cocky, arrogant, know-it-all little punk. He disrespected Eric and held onto Horatio like his own personal security blanket. The kid had run off and left him at a scene to take case breaking evidence back to Horatio like he was the one that dove into the water for it. That was only the latest in a string of offenses that just kept adding up. The most annoying thing was that Horatio expected them all to accept this replacement like someone could just take Speed's place.
And it made him resent Wolfe even more. Who did the kid think he was? Swooping in like a vulture as soon as there was an opening. It made Eric sick. It showed a serious lack of respect in Eric's eyes. He really wanted nothing to do with the replacement, but Horatio kept putting them on cases together.
Like the one they were working together that fateful day.
A man in his early thirties had been found murdered in his home by his visiting sister. The initial evidence pointed to a breaking and entering turned deadly. There had been an obvious struggle. The deceased had put up an admirable fight. Whoever had broken in had certainly not walked away unscathed. Eric had hopes that it would be an easy open and shut case. He put Wolfe to investigating the outside just to get the guy out of his hair while he got Alexx's initial report.
Alexx. There was another thing that irritated him. Alexx was treating Wolfe the same way she used to treat Speed. Like the replacementwas another son. Oh sure, she gave Wolfe the cold shoulder at first. Everyone but Horatio had. But then something happened and her attitude changed. It was like the younger CSI had cast a spell or something. Alexx acted like Speed had never existed and that tweaked something deep down.
"Are you listening to me?"
Eric snapped out his thoughts and wiped the glower off his face. "Sorry Alexx."
Alexx studied him silently for a moment before she sighed and repeated herself again. Victim was stabbed numerous times, but it was a lucky shot through two ribs and into the heart that had killed him. Eric tuned her out as she went to speaking to the dead body like she usually did. Instead he turned his attention to taking pictures and gathering evidence.
He barely registered when Alexx left with the body as he focused on his work.
"Found some blood outside probably belongs to the killer."
Eric jumped violently and spun to glare. "Damn Wolfe don't sneak up on me."
"Thought you heard me come in," Wolfe replied with a shrug.
"Well, I didn't," Eric took a deep breath to calm himself. "Are you done outside already?"
"Well not quite, but--."
"Then why don't you go do your job."
Wolfe's face scrunched up in frustration and he opened his mouth like he wanted to argue. When no words came he turned and stalked out. Eric smirked. It felt good to throw a little bit of his annoyance back at the kid. As much as the younger CSI pissed him off he rather enjoyed returning the favor.
It was when he looked back to where the body had been that Eric noticed something strange. There was a pool of blood from where the guy had bled out which was to be expected in a stabbing. However, the blood revealed cracks in the floor that were a different shape and size that the wood flooring. There was only one way that could make sense. A trapdoor. Bending down he examined the area, taking a few pictures, before he tried to open it. After a few seconds he was able to find the catch and lifted the trapdoor. He snapped several more pictures and then reached down and pulled out the little box. He flipped it open and stared in surprise at the amulet within.
The amulet was the purest blue he had ever seen. It was an absolutely perfect cut, better than anything he had seen in a long time. It was highly polished and seemed to catch every beam of sunlight and reflected it perfectly. The effect wasn't even dulled by the leather straps that served as the means to wear it.
Eric couldn't tear his eyes away. Without thought he grabbed the leather straps and lifted the amulet out of the box. It sparkled and gleamed in the sunlight and as he stared at it something flashed in it briefly. Then he had a compulsion that he just couldn't shake. Without a thought he reached forward and touched the amulet.
"Eric no!"
He managed to feel a smooth and warm surface before something big, burly and odddly blue colored flashed in his vision accompanied by a eerie howl. And then everything went black.
VvVvV
Things happened fast once Eric fell unconscious. His body shook and convulsed as a change came over him. Fur sprouted all over his body in a deep, vivid blue color. His mouth and nose extended into a muzzle as his teeth grew long and sharp. His muscles bulked out and his whole body got bigger by at least two feet. His ears got larger and pointed while a tail burst out. As the final change came over him burning brown eyes snapped open. A low rumbling growl came from his throat as he maneuvered into a crouch.
Confusion. He felt confused and angry. And he couldn't think of why. He couldn't think at all. Instinct. He lived on instinct.
Sniffing the air he caught the smell of fear along with a scent he recognized, but associated with anger and hurt. He spun with another growl. With a howl he lunged and swatted the human that stood too close to him across the room and into a wall. He took a step toward the fallen being but movement to his right made him stop. He spun to face the new threat and snarled. Something was pointed at him and reacting quickly he sprang forward and smacked that something away then grabbed the human and threw it out of his way.
With a howl he bound away. Loud bangs followed him and he felt the heat of something pass his ear. Then there were more humans in front of him pointing those same somethings at him. He lunged and grabbed the arm of one and used it to swing the human into the other. He looked down at what the humans had been holding and a word popped in his head. Gun. They were guns, but he couldn't think of what that was.
With a confused snarl he continued on his way. There were so many humans around him. And big monsters that had hard skins and made a strange sound. One was coming towards him and his automatic instinct was to charge, but when he hit the thing it hurt him. He whimpered in pain and confusion and backed away from it.
Suddenly he was tackled from behind. He smelled worry and there was that scent again. But it was different this time. It was..Pack? No, not Pack. An outsider.
"Eric, calm down," a deep voice rumbled in his ear.
He snarled and twisted in the outsider's grip. He brought his fist up into the other's chin and kicked the outsider off him. The other wolf rolled with the kick and managed to stay on balance. He crouched and watched the white wolf with his ears erect and his lips pulled back to show off his teeth. His fur bristled as he watched the other wolf take a defensive stance.
"Eric, you're not a wolf. Calm down," the white wolf said.
"Outsider," he snarled in return.
"Friend," the wolf insisted.
He growled and tensed his muscles. "Not Pack."
"Do you want your Pack? Would that help?"
"Outsider, not Pack."
"Trust me I know."
The white wolf moved and he reacted on instinct. He pounced the outsider and threw his fist at the other wolf's muzzle. It connected, but he was kicked off and sent tumbling. He managed to get his feet under him and spun once more to face the outsider. He was met with a face full of ice and howled in fear and panic as he suddenly couldn't see.
"I didn't want to have to do this, Delko, but you've had this coming for weeks anyway."
He tore at the ice as the other wolf spoke, but just as he got it off he was grabbed from behind. Strong arms tried to restrain him he reacted on pure instinct. He grabbed the other wolf's arm and used it to toss the outsider over his shoulder and into the ground. He fell on the outsider, trying to get a good solid bite, but the white wolf struggled too much. A punch to his jaw rocked him and a solid pillar of ice lifted him into the air.
"Now just stay up there like a good little blue wolf and--."
The white wolf's talking was really starting to make his head hurt. So with a snarl he braved the leap and made it onto the roof of a nearby building. He took off leaping from roof to roof as he listened to the other wolf yell at him.
He was confused, angry, and now in pain. The outsider hit hard.
He wasn't sure how far he had gone when he was suddenly tackled off the roof.
"Hawk!"
He landed flat on his back with something heavy on his chest. For a moment he couldn't breathe and could only stare at the red and white clad human whose fall he had broken. The human didn't waste any time and threw several punishing hits to his face before he tossed the human off him. He managed to get to his feet until suddenly he couldn't get any traction and fell face first to the ground.
"Do yourself a favor and stay down."
It was an unfamiliar voice with an unfamiliar scent and it made the hackles on the back of his neck stand up. He struggled to get up, but his claws couldn't quite dig into the ice and he kept slipping. A weight jumped onto his back, but the attacker had jumped at an angle and it allowed him to slide far enough across the ice to get his claws into the ground. He yanked himself and his attacker off the ice and then rolled so that he put all his weight on whoever was on his back.
"Get off!'
He was shoved into the air and tried to twist to land on his feet, but ended up twisting his ankle. He whimpered and knelt to hold his wound, but stood up again when he realized there was not one, but two unknown humans and something that wasn't human, but wasn't wolf either approaching him.
"Can I suggest something other than violence? He seems pretty capable of continuing to fight," the blue and white clad human said.
"You can suggest it," his previous attacker replied. "Doesn't mean I'm gonna follow."
"Down boy," a strange voice said from seemingly nowhere. "Violence isn't the answer here."
He crouched and stared at them in a mix of bewilderment and growing fury. They were strange and they triggered a fight or flight instinct in him. The not-human-not-wolf took a step toward him and he lunged forward. At the same time he caught the outsider's scent and found himself restrained. The hold incapacitated his arms while forcing his head forward and down in a painful way.
"Now, it's time for you to listen to reason," the outsider said in his ear. "MidKnight, do your magic."
He struggled, but the outsider was stronger and more determined. The more he struggled the tighter the hold got and the more pain he received.
Then he became aware of something. Something on the edge of his understanding.
"You're not a wolf, Eric. You're human. Focus on that. Hold onto that."
The voice was confusing and felt intrusive. He struggled, scared and not understanding. He howled and fought.
"Don't be afraid. Focus, Eric. I know you feel your humanity. I feel it too."
"Ah screw this."
He watched, unable to move as the red and white clad human lunged forward while swinging a fist forward.
"Damnit Hawk!"
And then there was blackness.