If Your Wings Are Broken, Please Take Mine So Yours Can Open, Too
By Serena-chan
Chapter One
Dirk made his way to his new apartment in the Ridgley that evening with more than the usual amount of aches and pains plaguing him. All that digging for Patrick Spring's mystery device was hell on his lower back.
Deciding that a shower was in order, Dirk took the moment to let his mind wander from the case to his new assistant-slash-best friend. Todd was an enigma that Dirk had yet to fully puzzle out. At first glance, he seemed nothing more than an underachieving, washed-up former punk rocker, but there was so much more to him than that, as Dirk was learning with each and every day.
As he adjusted the temperature of the water, his mind went back to their conversation earlier that day, as Todd had been bandaging him him after they'd been attacked by those psychos in the woods. All Dirk had done was tell Todd what a good friend he was, and it had unleashed a wave of guilt and confession from his friend that still had Dirk reeling.
"Do you know what I was thinking about when I was staring down the barrel of that gun?" Todd had asked him.
"Bullets?" Dirk had guessed. It's what he'd been thinking about, after all.
"Amanda," Todd had corrected. "How if I die, there will be no one to take care of her."
Of course he was thinking about his sister. "You're a good brother."
"No," Todd had said firmly. "No, I'm a shitty brother. I'm a shitty person. I was thinking about how if I die right now, I'll never have the chance to make up for all the stuff I've done to her."
That had taken Dirk aback considerably. "D...Done to her? Todd, I think with both of you sharing the disease, you supporting her since you were cured has been - "
"I'm not cured," Todd had cut him off. "Not - not exactly."
"What? Then - "
"Back when I first got the disease," Todd began, looking down at his hands and refusing to meet Dirk's eyes. "I was desperate to get better. My grades were slipping and the band was suffering - I would have done anything to get rid of it.
"One night, we were playing a gig outside Phoenix in some shady bar. I don't even remember the name. Anyway, I had an attack on stage, a really bad one. After, when we were packing up, some guy approached me, said he could help."
"And you just went with him?" Dirk asked in disbelief. "Some random guy in a bar?"
"I know it was stupid," Todd sighed. "Honestly, at the time I thought he was full of shit, that it was just some line to hit on me or something, but he turned out to really believe had a cure... of sorts. I let him..." Todd sighed again. "I ended up doing something really, really stupid, and the process nearly killed me."
Dirk felt something cold settle into the pit of his stomach. He moved to sit next to Todd on the creek bank.
"What did this man do to you?"
"I don't want to talk about it. Ever." Todd had said firmly. "It's not like it was... illegal or anything, just... incredibly reckless. But... Later, when it was all over, I realized that I wasn't better, not really. I still have... let's call them 'attacks,' ten times more violent than pararibulitis, but at least they're spaced out, more... predictable.
"Still, I thought my life was over, that I still couldn't live a normal life like this. I didn't tell anyone what I'd done, and I just continued on like I still had the normal disease. I dropped out of school, and I fucked everything up with the band. I still took the money from my parents every week even though the meds didn't work anymore, because I wanted my own place to deal with my attacks.
"So then, when Amanda got sick with the disease that I was still faking, I realized how selfish I was being. She has no way of predicting her attacks, but now mine come like clockwork. I have twenty-four good days, and three bad ones. Which reminds me, I'm going to need those three days off from the investigation soon. I can still work as long as I plan for my attacks in advance and take the time off. I wasn't sure how to explain what had happened to me so I just said I got better, but by then it was too late. My parents had already run out of money."
Dirk gaped at Todd. "Why not just tell her the truth, tell her what this man did to you, and - "
"No!" Todd leapt to his feet, glaring down at Dirk angrily. "No one can ever know about this, Dirk. Do you understand? What's wrong with me is... dangerous, okay? I'm a danger to those around me when I'm having my attacks, and I don't need anyone getting hurt trying to help. This is my problem - my mistake - got it?"
The detective had stared up at his friend. "Alright, but Todd, I can't help but feel that telling Amanda is supposed to be your next step in this case."
"I couldn't do that to her now," Todd anguished. "She thinks I was just magically cured of a disease that she actually still has. Do you know how many times she's told me that's what gets her through the day? That's what gives her hope? How could I take that away from her?"
Dirk could see Todd's point, but he still couldn't understand what the big bloody mystery was. What had this man done to him that was so terrible that Todd couldn't even talk about the process? Whatever it was, it sounded like it had sort of... repressed Todd's pararibulitis for most of the month, resulting in massive attacks later. Still, with their predictability, Todd's attacks allowed him to live a somewhat normal life. Why wouldn't he want that for his own sister?
And then there was the Mystery of the Locked Room, as Dirk had labeled it in his head. The first time he'd pushed his way into Todd's apartment he'd noticed it. There was a door, just off the kitchen with a rather fancy lock on it. It hadn't even budged when Dirk had tried the handle.
Todd had told him, in no uncertain terms, that the room was Private and Off Limits. He'd assured Dirk that it had absolutely nothing to do with the case, but there was a nagging pull from the universe every time he was near it that told Dirk that that room meant Something. He just wasn't sure what, yet.
Stepping out of the shower, muscles feeling considerably looser and more relaxed, the detective pondered just what to do with his evening, and the following days. Todd said his attacks always took three days to work themselves out, so that was three days Dirk would be without his new assistant. Should he keep investigating on his own? It's what he'd do normally, however, the idea of three days Todd-free held little appeal to him.
As they'd been driving back, Dirk had even suggested popping round the next day to bring Todd anything he might need or simply to keep him company, but Todd had been... oddly resistant to the idea, once again using words like "violent" and "dangerous" to describe his attacks. Perhaps they were, but that didn't mean Todd had to cope with them entirely on his own did it?
As he pulled on a clean set of clothes, the detective had a brilliant idea. Perhaps he'd just pop round to Todd's tonight to check on him? Maybe once Todd saw that he could be of use and not just a nuisance, he'd allow Dirk to come again the following day.
Re-energized by his new purpose, Dirk grabbed his jacket and decided to pick up some food to bring Todd. That was something useful he could do.
Dirk showed up at Todd's door at precisely 21:00 and feeling only slightly guilty for it. Technically, it wasn't the next day yet, meaning he still had three whole hours left before Todd was on sick leave. He'd bought some soup at the deli around the corner, enough to last a few days. That was something friends did for one another when one of them was sick, right?
After knocking twice - the second time very loudly - and still receiving no reply, Dirk pondered what to do for all of two seconds before turning the handle. It swung open easily on it's broken lock, and he once more pushed away the odd feeling of guilt. After all, Todd might have already had his first attack. He could be lying somewhere in his apartment, sick and unable to come to the door.
"Todd?" he called.
Silence and a seemingly empty apartment were his only answer. Dirk frowned, setting the soup container down in the kitchen and moving to the bathroom to find it empty as well.
This didn't make any sense. Todd was supposed to be here, holed up and preparing for his pararibulitis attacks. Dirk perched himself on the edge of Todd's sofa and tried to puzzle out where his new friend had gone. He supposed Todd night have decided to actually tell Amanda the truth. He could be with her, but there was a little niggling feeling at the back to Dirk's mind that said that there was something he was missing.
While the was sitting there, he became aware of a faint, muffled thumping noise. At first he thought it was coming from another apartment, but then he remembered the room Todd wouldn't let him go in.
Approaching the door, he pressed his ear against it and determined that yes, the faint thumps were coming from the mystery room. He tried the handle but wasn't really surprised to find it locked.
"Todd?" he called loudly, knocking on the door. "Todd, are you in there?"
The noises stopped, but there was no other response.
"Todd?" he tried again.
Silence.
"Todd, I'm not trying to invade your privacy, but if you don't answer me to let me know you're alright, I'll - I'll be forced to break down the door!"
Still no response. Dirk felt worry and unease curl into a knot in his stomach. Every instinct he had was telling him that there was something terribly wrong; that all the answers he needed were behind that locked door.
Of course, he didn't think he'd really be able to break down the door, but thankfully Farah had been giving him lock picking lessons. The lock was ridiculously hard to pick (Todd really didn't want anyone getting in, did he?), but he finally heard the catch give. There was a chain locking the door from the inside, preventing further entry, but it gave way after a few good pushes of Dirk's shoulder.
"Todd?" Dirk called loudly. Again, no response. "Todd, I'm coming in."
It was completely dark inside, and Dirk fumbled around the walls, feeling for a light switch. Finding none, he ventured further into the darkness and pulled his phone out of his jacket pocket. He'd just managed to click on the torch app when something large lunged out of the darkness at him.
Dirk toppled over with a started cry as something huge and heavy knocked the wind out of his lungs. His phone went flying and landed screen down a few meters away, the torch on the back illuminating the small room and bringing a terrifying sight to Dirk's eyes.
Some sort of impossibly large dog - No, it was a wolf. Dirk had never actually seen one before outside of photographs. - had him pinned down by his shoulders, lips curled up in a menacing snarl that made all the hairs on the back of Dirk's neck stand on end.
"N-Nice doggie," Dirk squeaked.
The wolf leaned in closer, growling loudly, and Dirk had an excellent view of long, sharp white teeth standing out starkly against dark fur. Oh god, this was how he was going to die, wasn't it? He was about to have his throat ripped out by some deranged wild animal that Todd had apparently been keeping as a pet in secret.
"Todd, help!" Dirk screamed in vain into what he now knew to be an empty apartment.
The wolf's ears perked, and he leaned his snout down toward Dirk's neck. The detective closed his eyes and tried to brace himself for the inevitable pain and blood. He could feel its hot breath against his pulse...
To his shock, however, the wolf sniffed deeply along his neck before letting out a huff of air and backing off him. Dirk lay there for a moment, staring up at the ceiling and wondering (among other things) why he wasn't dead.
In the faint light from his cellphone, he could vaguely make out a bare bulb with a single pull-chord hanging above him. Jumping to his feet, he yanked the chain, flooding the room with light and quickly flattening himself against the furthest wall, next to the door.
It really was a wolf, larger than any dog he'd ever seen, with dark, chestnut brown fur. There was a thick leather collar secured around its neck through which a heavy metal chain had been looped. The chain was bolted into the far wall, giving the animal enough slack to move about the tiny room without being able to reach the door.
Dirk eyed the wolf warily, heart still in danger of thundering out of his chest. It no longer seemed interested in eating him, but the creature was pacing the room, emitting low, grumbling growls from the back of its throat. It was obviously agitated.
Once he was sure that the wolf couldn't reach him in his current position, Dirk allowed his eyes to scan the rest of the room. It was utterly bare, without a scrap of furnishing. There were deep gouges and scratches all along the floor and walls. They looked like claw marks.
Wait, did wolves even have claws? Dirk didn't think so, but a quick glance down at his shoulder told a different story. There were small punctures and tears in the leather where the massive paws had been pinning him down.
He wondered for a movement why the room was so empty. Didn't the poor creature even have a bed? What about food and water? There wasn't any - Wait, what was that in the corner?
Dirk edged along the wall, closer to what appeared to be a pile of clothes. He shone his phone light into the dark corner and saw to his growing confusion that they were clothes; the same clothes, in fact, that Todd had been wearing earlier that day.
The detective frowned as he tried to work out all the things about his current situation that didn't make sense. Why were Todd's clothes here, but he himself was gone? How had the door managed to lock itself from the inside when there was no one there to do up the chain, and perhaps most pressing of all, where had this bloody wolf come from?
The wolf gazed up at Dirk, and the man gasped as he got his first real look at the creature's eyes... it's incredibly blue eyes... Dirk knew those eyes.
He felt himself slide down the wall on suddenly wobbly legs to sit on the floor as an impossible idea took root. It was too fantastic for him to believe it completely, yet it was the only thing that made sense.
"T...Todd?"
The wolf cocked its head and emitted a low, sad whine. It obviously knew the name, if nothing else.
"Todd if... if that's you, somehow, could you, I don't know, bark or something?"
The wolf did not bark. It sat, staring at him intently as though he were the mystery.
Dirk ran a hand through his hair and groaned in frustration. He'd seen a lot of strange and impossible things as he'd been pulled along by the universe - Their current case involved a girl who had somehow had her soul swapped with a dog's, for god's sake! (Dirk wondered for a moment if those insane men had somehow managed to swap out his assistant with a wolf but dismissed the thought. Todd had obviously had this room prepared before any of this began, and nothing Dirk knew about the other man gave him any indication that Todd had ever met any of these men before.) Was 'werewolf' really so far-fetched?
Dirk and the wolf (possibly Todd) stared at one another.
"E-Excuse me a moment," Dirk stuttered out at last, feeling a bit ridiculous talking to an animal that may or may not be his best friend/assistant and possibly couldn't even understand him. "I need to check something."
He staggered to his feet and practically bolted from the room, making his way to the window that he had used to break into Todd's apartment the day they'd met. Opening it, he stuck his head out into the cool night air, craning his neck to search the sky for the moon, stomach plummeting as he found it. He'd been hoping to immediately disprove his theory, but no, he found it treacherously full.
Pulling himself back into the apartment, Dirk decided to leave the window open for the fresh air (He was feeling a little faint.) and tried to wrap his brain around his current situation. Either Todd had been keeping this animal in secret, or Todd was the wolf. If that was the case, did that mean that Dirk would have to wait around until sunrise for Todd to change back? Wasn't that how werewolves theoretically worked?
Turning to his phone, Dirk discovered that sunrise wasn't until 06:00 the next morning. That was a long time to wait for possibly nothing to happen, but maybe if he hung around long enough, Todd (if he wasn't the wolf) would come home and could explain.
Absurdly, Dirk's own words from the previous day popped into his head, causing him to wince as he made his way back into the room with the wolf.
"It's very easy to act like a jerk, and then say, 'Well, I'm a jerk so that's that.' But it's not like... being a bloody werewolf, is it?"
"To be fair," Dirk told the wolf (who might be his best friend), "the possibility that you were an actual werewolf was the farthest thing from my mind when I made that statement."
That didn't stop guilt from coiling itself in his stomach when he remembered the way Todd had diverted his eyes with a sad look on his face as he'd said it. At the time, Dirk had thought the other man had been uncomfortable because Dirk was making a good point, but in light of recent evidence, it was probably because Dirk was being unknowingly insensitive.
"Well, it looks like you and I are in for a long wait," Dirk said at last. He seated himself on the floor a good distance away from the wolf, just to be safe. "Todd - If you are Todd. Did I ever get around to telling you about how I met Thor? It's actually quite a funny story. As I've said before, he's not nearly as good-looking as people say, but anyway..."
The wolf was alone in the darkness (He was always alone.), but tonight something was different. His sensitive ears could hear movement in the apartment. He could smell a human male scent emanating from just beyond his prison.
He was supposed to be alone! He felt a low growl rumble through his chest as the intruder began moving towards his door and began trying to get inside. The wolf crouched low on his haunches, ready to attack. He could practically taste the blood on his tongue, and his teeth ached with the desire to bite, to sink into soft flesh and tear.
His foolish prey had evidently not heard his warning growl. It was at his door now, forcing its way in - invading his territory. (Something was niggling at the back of his consciousness as the man's scent flooded the room, but the wolf had been denied prey for far too long to care.)
With a mighty leap and an angry snarl, he easily had his prey on its back, digging in his sharp claws to ensure it stayed there. The wolf took a moment to savor the sweet instant of victory before the kill. The man was struggling and making in comprehensible noises of fear. The nagging pull at the back of the wolf's mind got stronger, but he didn't want to listen to it.
"Todd, help!" the man screamed.
'Todd...' The wolf understood that. That was him, wasn't it? He couldn't... Trying to remember things from when the wolf was asleep was difficult, like chasing a rabbit that just kept running and running without ever tiring, but something about that name made the wolf pause. The nagging was now a panicked scream, so maybe... Maybe this man wasn't prey after all.
Leaning close to the man's neck where his scent was strong, the wolf scented the man carefully. He smelled of sugar and sunshine and something almost electric that made his nose itch, but underneath all that was a deeper scent, one that pulled at the primitive corner of the wolf's mind. It spoke of safety and warmth and pack.
Huffing out a disbelieving breath, the wolf allowed the man to go free, feeling oddly pleased when he didn't immediately bolt from the room. The wolf watched the man, trying to puzzle out the odd turn his life had taken.
He'd always been alone, of that the wolf was certain. At first, he'd been allowed to run free, chasing small prey until he was satisfied and howling up at the silver orb in the sky - the source of his torment. Lately, though, he'd been trapped in this terrible room, unable to leave, unable to run or hunt, and always, horribly alone.
Now, here was this man, smelling of pack and home. Where had he come from? Where had he been all this time?
"T-Todd? Todd, if that's you..."
The man was making noises again, babbling like he was trying to communicate something, but the only thing the wolf could understand was his name. He let out a low whine of distress, trying to relay to the man that he didn't understand.
Then the man was leaving, and the wolf felt an odd jolt of panic shoot through him. Didn't the man realize that he was chained, that he couldn't follow? The wolf had never had anyone before. He didn't want to be alone again!
He could hear the man moving around just outside the room. He at least didn't seem to be going far.
The man came back after a while and seated himself at the far end of the room. He almost immediately started babbling again, and the wolf huffed out a frustrated sigh. Still, the sound of his voice was nice, soothing even. The wolf lay down, resting his head on his front paws and feeling more content that he had in years.