Okay, sooooo… I'm alive? And fighting the greatest badass writerblock I have ever lived through, we shall see how I fare… Really though, I know where I wanna take all my stories, but as for actually writing it down? Nope, no can do. Damnit. BUT I have not abandoned any of them, I'm just slower than hell. This is my attempt to break the ice, going to be 2 chapters long, I think. R&R, please? I know I don't deserve it… T_T

THE STRAY WOLF INCIDENT
Side story to The Way of Warriors

„… the authorities informed us about an outbreak. Several of the 'tamed' animals of a traveling circus have escaped their cages during this evening's performance; most of them have already been already been re-captured. A female wolf, which had been with the troupe for a short while is as of yet unaccounted for. Authorities warn the populace not to approach it, and stay at home when possible. Please call the police if you have information about the escaped animal. And speaking of animals, the Padfoot Animal Shelter has in past months …"

The television was turned off as the apartment's only occupant finally grew tired of its constant and unnecessary noise. If the leading news were of escaped circus beasts and animal shelters, then it was of no use to him. Kidnapped Vice Foreign Ministers and murdered yakuza kumichos would have been all over the news way before anyone so much as thought about animals. Unless 'anyone's' name happened to be Trowa Barton.

Heero Yuy threw the remote control back onto the couch, feeling unreasonably irritated with the newsreel. It was, after all, not the woman's fault his investigation hit dead-end after dead-end. Or that he was left holed up in a hotel room while Duo was out gathering Intel. And having fun clubbing while he was at it. There were certain downsides to being trained as an assassin and soldier (or rather, a terrorist) practically since birth. Standing out like a sore thumb in all possible places where social skills were in demand, hence being unable to 'charm the info out of 'em bastards' for one.

After two weeks of nothing, he found himself restless with cabin fever, desperate to get out. Desperate enough to try reasoning with Duo how it would be only natural to be 'shy and awkward' at a gay club for someone their age, being a first timer and, say, barely-out-of-closet. His best friend and partner needed only three words to shoot his arguments to Hell: 'dance floor' and 'flirting'.

Hearing a 'beep', the Prussian-blue eyed ex-terrorist went to the kitchen to get his chocolate-and-banana muffins out of the oven, trying very hard not to think about how much he felt like a housewife waiting for her husband to come home while doing so. It was incredible what boredom could do to people, he for one constructed several new (Trojan) viruses for no reason other than his need for anything to do before stumbling upon a recipe they happened to have the ingredients for. Since then, he more or less learned how to properly cook, much to his partner's delight. He only wished he had had a camera that first time Duo learned it was his cooking they were eating. He didn't know the human eye had the capability of going that wide.

The door of the 'safe house' opened and slammed shut, making Heero wince. Looked like someone had a bad day at 'work'. And no, he was not acknowledging how that sounded. No housewife-related thoughts for him, thank you. He noticed a dirty spoon he used while cooking and forgot about and put it in the sink, only noticing what he did as he walked towards the door to greet Duo.

K'so.

"Bad day?" Purple eyes bore into his and Heero quickly calculated his chances of esca… retreating.

"You!" Too late. "Why does my best friend want your help instead of mine?!"

Duo Maxwell, possessive? Hai. Obsessively.

"Security problem?" He got a growl for trying. "Or perhaps you mentioned how bored I was?" Still not good enough. Heero decided to try his last resort. "I made muffins."

"Don't change the subject!" Despite the anger evident in his voice, the braided ex-pilot's eyes softened to their familiar violet color. "What kind of muffins?"

Seeing the danger (mostly) gone, Heero merely grunted and turned to lead the way back to the kitchen. The American took it for the invitation it was, bouncing enthusiastically after his friend, anger gone and curiosity (not to mention hunger) spiked.

A few minutes later, Heero deemed it safe to test the waters. He turned to the happily munching 'Shinigami'. "I thought I was your best friend?" The other froze and peered up at him though his long chestnut bangs. The shorter haired of the two fought to keep his face perfectly neutral, something he was trained to do until he had trouble lifting the mask of ice… yet his annoying partner had always managed to see behind it. Like right now. He saw the Asian teen was only teasing and gave one of his infuriating, cheeky grins.

"Aw, have I hurt your feelings, Hee-chan?" Said Preventers Agent noticed how his partner had to restrain himself from treating him to a serving of the 'fluttery eyelashes' the braided teen learned by watching Relena while on guard-duty. Knowing the move always sent his partner into a state of near-panic, Duo settled for another grin. "I'm sooooooo sorry! Forgive me, Heeeeero?" Said male merely rolled his eyes at this, a gesture he learned by watching Chang do it. Maxwell laughed. "Oh come-one, don't go grumpy-Dragon on me! You know you are the bestest from our lil' group of best friends!"

"I don't think tha-" His partner turned pleading puppy-eyes at him and he had no other choice but to swallow the rest of the sentence, thinking about how unfair it was of Duo to tease Winner about his 'baby-blues'. Then the Baka grinned one of his patented 'Cheshires' and Heero had to cover a sigh. He didn't want to think about what J would've done if he knew about his soldier's greatest weakness. Puppy-eyes… they were going to be the death of him. "What did Winner want?" Seeing the signs of an upcoming 'storm', he shoved another muffin in front of his loudmouth of a brother. Maxwell snorted, but accepted the sweet treat.

"Dunno." Heero's eyebrows furrowed, telling the other to elaborate. "He just kept insisting he had to speak to you 'bout it, an' that it was too boring to interest lil' old me." He took a bite of the baked goodness, sulkily chewing on it. "You know he can't lie to save his life."

Heero snorted.

"Business, politics and wartime happenings don't count!"

Heero grunted, but declined to argue. In matters like this, his logic could never win over Maxwell's… insanity? Twisted mind? Hairsplitting and (very much intended) misinterpretations? All of the above?

"Why did he not call me?"

A piece of muffin came flying towards him and he caught it with his mouth, enjoying the sweet, spicy taste and the dumbfounded expression on the other's face.

"Um…" He could almost see Maxwell 'reboot', trying to get his brain to work again. "He… uh." The former street rat shook his head, braid flying all over the place. "He tried. Didn't answer. So he called me. Tell you to call back." He looked around hopefully. "Do we have any more cookies?"

"Please, Heero?"

No, he will not.

"Please, I know I am asking much of you…"

Damn straight… perhaps he should spend less time around Maxwell.

"… but you are the only one I could trust to do this job!"

Oh no, he won't succumb to this… ego-stroking and emotional blackmail. Maybe less time around Chang, too. Don't look him in the eyes, don't look in the eyes, don't…

"Trowa is on a mission and Wufei is somewhere in China…"

Sounded logica… DON'T!

"… and I don't think Duo would be a good choice to take care of her."

Damn. It.

"Ninmu riyokai."

"No." Heero glared in synch with the strict tone that delivered the forbidding word. He got a whine, but the other didn't back down. The teenager thought about just going over there and removing the offender from the area, but dismissed it quickly as being counter-productive. "No. That is my dinner. Yours is going to be placed at the usual place, after I finished preparing my meal. Now get down from that table."

The she-wolf whined yet again, but obeyed the strange two-legged male she slowly came to accept as her Alpha. He was, after all, caring for her, protecting her, and setting the rules for her. Like any Alpha would. She might have been caught and caged early in her life, but she could still remember her old Pact and its workings.

Taking her place by the funny cold-box, she briefly wondered if her Alpha had any others in his Pact… she hoped she counted as a member of the Pact. She could smell many others on the strange he-wolf, the scent of four males being the most dominant… along with two or three, yes, three females, two of which she decided she didn't like. One had the scent of an Alpha-female and illness, the other… the other smelled, while not outright weak, non-combatant. Well, yes, weak. The likeable one smelled competent and was probably the Healer of the Pact.

She wondered if her Alpha was mated.

She wondered if said mate would kill her for stealing the Alpha's attention.

She hoped both questions could be answered with one 'No'.

Her Alpha's voice bought her out of her musings as he called her to eat… well, she guessed so, anyways. His voice held a calling tone and he was setting food on the ground for her. She would take her chances.

Walking over to her meal, she remembered how strange it was at first to eat out of her, hm, portable-hole-on-the-ground. She still had no idea what it was. But she noticed how it was always the same one at the same place, and how her Alpha also always ate off the same portable-flat-surface, and decided it must be so they could all eat their share at the same time, not having to wait for those higher in the hierarchy of the Pact, the food already proportioned beforehand by the leader. She admitted it was a clever way to spare time, though it would only ever work for the two-legged wolf. She also guessed there must be something about the portable-somethings that showed their respective places within the Pact, but she had yet to figure out what and how. She sat down by the deliciously smelling food, gazing up at the he-wolf. Said male ignored her, opening the 'heat-box' and placing his meal on the four-legged-high-ground before nodding to her and beginning to eat his meal of flame-hot meat and plants. She also dug in, amused by the strange habits of the Alpha and thankful she didn't have to follow said habits. No offense, but she liked her meat bloody, raw and plantless. Why eat the food of your food unless you are ill, of course.

… her Alpha wasn't ill, right? She sniffed the air carefully, searching for signs of illness. Huh. Right.

Heero looked over to the wolf at the loud huff it had given. It looked… relived. Strange.

"And just what is going on in that head of yours? Looking at you, I could sometimes swear you are a worse worry-wart than Quatre." The wolf looked over at him, looking happy and content, and much better than she used to. He sometimes got the urge to name the wolf Winner left in his care after finding her near the estate, starved and with sores all over her body. The apparent mistreatment naturally called out to their Mother Hen, hence his new position as Quatre Raberba Winner's wolf-sitter. He found he enjoyed it to a surprising degree. But he refused to actually give her a name. She would be set free anyway… not that he wanted to keep her… oh, well. He wanted to keep her around. "Guess the therapists are right about animals having a positive effect on reclusive individuals, huh? Look at me, speaking as much as Duo…" He paused, rewinding what he just said. "Well, perhaps not quite as much…"

The low rumble of her Alpha's voice was decidedly calming, and it reminded her of the cats she met during her years of captivity. They would sometimes purr while lying in the sun, or on occasion to calm her. Few cats did that, the really nice ones. Her Alpha was nice, too…

The ex-terrorist chuckled when he noticed his charge being taken over by sleep with the aid of the drug her meal contained. He wasn't all that pleased with having to use them on the still healing animal, but Commander Une requested (or rather, she demanded) his presence at the London Headquarters in two days time, and he did not fancy traveling with a traumatized wolf. The probability of accidents happening was too high as it was. Not to mention he might not be able to pass Okami off as a dog, in which case he would have to (mis-) use his Preventers badge, hence abusing his !, resulting in him either losing his job or finding himself owing Une a favor. And owing Une a favor was definitely not his idea of fun. Having Okami bite someone would result in an even bigger favor owed, and while he did not yet age enough for the effects of J's drugs to wear off (he suspected they would never wear off completely), his famed addiction to danger and adrenaline did not exist. Having a borderline schizophrenic pyromaniac as his partner was more than enough, thank you very much.

Now to get the snoring wolf on the plane…

Waking up was slow and confusing, and she felt rather disoriented for a long time afterwards. She didn't know where she was, or more importantly, where her Alpha was. For a short, yet oh-so-long period of time she could see the bars of her cage in the darkness surrounding her, but it didn't smell like her cage. There was no cold iron or illness or hay in the air, rather it smelled… sunny, and sweet, and… where's the rabbit?

Carefully, she began sniffing the air, trying to locate the rather deliciously smelling rodent without having to move her head. She did that once since waking up, and it hurt like something really painful. But maybe food would be worth moving, especially that yummy rabbit… she liked rabbits. Especially their hindquarters. Raw and bloody of course, not like her Alph-

The sunrays the room smelled after have finally decided to join her in her (hungry) misery it seemed, because they were suddenly there, and they brought the scent of a male with them, and soft footsteps followed. She closed her eyes as tightly as she could in an attempt to hide, not having the energy to do anything more, besides, the sun healed and the scent was vaguely familiar… Then the scent of bloody rabbit flesh hit her nose, and the speed she threw herself at the portable-hole full of food caused the male to have to jump out of her way or risk being knocked over. He didn't retaliate, though, so she assumed he acknowledged her as someone higher in the hierarchy of the Pack. Oh, that was why she thought he smelled familiar, her Alpha carried his scent. Very well then, she would accept him as a fellow member of the Pack… and hold out judgment on their relation until they met the Alpha. Maybe he was the cub of the Alpha. She looked at the male sitting strangely some ways away from her, mouth never ceasing to work as she gave the new he-wolf an once-over. He looked small in that position and smelled young, but then so did her Alpha. Their Alpha. No, he couldn't be his cub. Well, whatever he is, how could she get some more of the delicious meat from him?

Trowa Barton had always been exceptionally good with animals, had known and took pride in this fact. So he should be forgiven for not being able to contain his mirth when he saw one very embarrassed and hence angry Chang Wufei stalk into the kitchen of the surprisingly small Winner mansion with his shirt and hair covered in what Trowa guessed was wolf saliva mixed with rabbit blood.

Oh, ouch. That was going to be a bitch to get out of white silk.

He countered the glare the angry Chinese gave him with a half-smirk before walking up to the other youth and taking the bowl out of his hand. A questioning glance was met with calm green eyes, and Wufei retreated with a grateful bow in his direction. He wondered if he should tell the ex-pilot of Nataku that his actions probably made Trowa seem be his superior in the eyes of the wolf, but decided against it. Chang probably wouldn't care, but maybe he ought to secure the sword and guns of the Dragon before such revelations, just in case he did.

He entered the room of the wolf carefully, taking note of it having found and destroyed the pillows, and that judging by the box full of sand that stood in the corner of the room, Yuy has probably managed to have it housetrained. Huh. Who would have thought. The wolf must have lost its patience with the new human, though, for next thing Trowa knew he was taking a step back in order to avoid two rows of very sharp teeth… then he grabbed the offender by the throat and managed to slam her into the floor with relatively little difficulties. He growled out the order for the wolf to 'stay' and put the bowlful of meat down to the floor behind himself. Stalking closer to the beast, he placed one hand to the throat that was, as he noted with some smugness, freely offered to him in a display of submission, and squeezed gently, confirming his dominance over the female. He then proceeded out of the room, pushing the food towards the recovering animal almost as an afterthought as he closed the door behind himself, pleased with the way the matter was settled.

Take that, Chang.

tbc