Chapter 1
The Warehouse

Henry hated warehouses.

For one, they smelled. He wrinkled his nose and his eyes darted around the shelves and general debris of the place, searching in vain for whatever the source of the sickeningly sharp, sour redolence that perfumed the room. It didn't help that his werewolf-nose was exceptionally prone to pungent odors such as these.

Henry tried to concentrate on breathing through his mouth. Inhale, exhale, evenly, and (somewhat) quietly. All he managed to do, however, was attract the irritated attention of Kate and Will. Both flashed him shut-the-hell-up glares and reoriented their weapons so they could cover themselves more effectively. All Henry could do to appear useful was not drop the bulky analyzing equipment in his arms. No easy task, but also not a definitely badass one. Even behind Will's spare glasses, Henry could detect a hint of mirth at his own awkward predicament.

Score one for the nerd herd.

It took all of Henry's concentration and coordination to keep up with his friends. He had to give it to them - they were quick, efficient, and deadly. And Will had only been doing this for two short years (Henry didn't want to think about how long Kate had been in her business). They moved up one aisle, down another, wove around de-shelved boxes and detritus, guns drawn, faces set. Henry scurried after them.

Thin, shiny threads of blood lay around the next corner, and Henry watched as Will and Kate tensed, took defensive positions. He felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up. Part of the smell mystery solved: the metallic filaments floating through the air were explained.

That only left, oh, the rest of the horrible stench.

Having cleared the aisle in front of them and around the corner behind them, Will knelt next to the blood and examined it more closely.

"Drag marks," Kate sniffed, her large brown eyes darting to the metal shelves around them.

"Yeah," said Will, frowning, meditative. "Leading away from here. It must have gotten one of the workers." He looked up now, his eyes following the scarlet trail.

"Whatever it is," muttered Henry.

The three of them started to follow the blood, which started about halfway up the aisle, and continued around the corner up ahead to the left, heading towards the larger, center aisle of the warehouse.

"Jesus," said Kate. The trail led away from them for about fifty feet, then around a second corner several aisles down. "This thing didn't let go, huh?"

Boom.

As if in answer to Kate's rhetorical question, a shotgun blast exploded behind and to the right of the group. Everyone whirled around in time to hear the click-shick in reload. And the yells that were a mix of profanity, nonsense shouts, and strangely animalistic guttural noises.

BOOM. click-shick. BOOM. click-

A final yell, but this time it was cut short, strangled. Will, Kate, and Henry quickened their pace towards the noises to a dead run.

They skidded around the corner in question in mere seconds - but they knew they were too late. Will grimaced, Kate wrinkled her nose and stalked towards the blood-spattered shotgun.

"Still got some slugs left," she mused as she inspected it. Click-shick. Even Will winced at the noise.

Henry, for his part, could not believe how indifferent she sounded. A man - or what was left of a man - in tattered, absolutely shredded overalls lay on the floor, his cool, dead blue eyes staring open at the ceiling. Wounds were torn and sliced all over his body. Neck, torso, arms... Two fingers were missing, and the man's face was a bloody, fleshy mess. Henry put his wrist to his offending nose. All he could think about was how sweet the scent of vaporized blood was.

Henry felt Will's strong fingers wrap around his shoulder and was glad for the comfort, but couldn't help shying away a little. The sight of six pints of crimson liquid pouring all over the floor made his stomach squirrelly.

"You alright?"

Henry averted his eyes.

"Uh," he tried to wrench his eyes away from the sea of red - "yeah. Let's just.... Let's just go, okay?" He rose quickly, ignoring his fluttering knees and gripping the equipment with a grim look in his eye.

And tried to ignore the scratchy noises of claws on the cement floor.

"Magnus told us she'd be entering through this end," Will said under his breath a few minutes later. Kate had armed herself with the pre-owned shotgun, ignoring the surprised and horrified looks from her companions.

"She could be -" started Kate, shotgun slung over her shoulder. Relaxed, Henry noted. He shook his head and decided he'd never understand her.

"Will!" came the strangled yell, not two aisles away. "Kate! Henry!"

Three sets of legs tensed, ran, and flew around one corner, then another, towards Helen's voice.

They found her and the Big Guy huddled behind a few wooden crates, providing covering fire to a man who wore coveralls that resembled those that had been a bloody mess just a few short minutes ago. This one seemed to be smarter than the last: instead of standing still, hurling curses, he turned tail and bolted towards the crates. Will, Kate and Henry followed suit, afraid the thing they were fighting would fire back.

Will turned to Helen, ready to obey or assimilate any musings she might have, and Henry did as well. Kate however, had other plans.

Boom. click-shick.

"Kate!" screamed Helen again, and made a grab for the shotgun. Kate recoiled like a wounded animal, spooked. Henry and Will caught a glance of her wild, fierce, and scared brown eyes, but were rewarded for their curiosity seconds later by an indifferent glazed look.

"What?" hissed Kate. Henry thought she resembled a spitting cat. Neck arched, shoulders hunched, eyes narrowed to slits. And armed, too. "That thing - "

"Is an abnormal," Helen finished, reserved and calm. "And at the Sanctuary, we give all abnormals equal opportunities and treatment."

"But," said Kate. "Did you see what that thing did to this guy's buddy?" She thumbed in the direction of the stranger. "The dude was torn to shreds!"

"The same treatment, Kate. No matter how deadly."

Kate huffed and leaned back against the crate angrily, ramming against it with a muffled creak.

A snuffling, snarling, scratching noise reacted.

Henry could see even Helen's eyes had widened. Henry (along with everyone else) chanced a glance around their barrier to see what they were up against.

A massive hulk of matted dark fur heaved at the end of the aisle - it was almost large enough to take up the entire space between shelves. It was semi-erect, hunched over at the waist, long, furry arms shoved forward, almost like a barrier. The thing had to be at least eight feet tall, and perhaps over half of that in width. It hand strange appendages. The only way Henry could explain the front ones were "paw-hands", but even that was insufficient. They were augmented with long, sharp claws.

In general, the thing resembled a wolf. It was tail-less, and the ears were set lower than those of a wolf. He couldn't complain about the great maw of the thing though - it was huge, a lined with a keen, bloodstained set of teeth. Every inch of the being was a toned, muscled animal, down to the furrows in the great brow. Down to the piercing, savage yellow eyes. Henry noted dark red mats in the fur. Apparently, the beast had been hit by the gunfire.

It looked one way, then the other. It took a long, deep breath, nostrils flaring. And it started to move down the aisle towards the crates, claws making ominous clicks with every step.

"Canus lycanthropos," breathed Helen.

"A werewolf," translated Will.

Kate made a move to shoot it, but Helen waved madly at the Big Guy.

"Tranquilizer!"

The Big Guy obliged with a grunt, and the mass of matted brown fur yelped, snarling, catching the dart in the shoulder. Lowering the front two paws to the ground, it growled and started to lope towards them.

Henry's breath caught in his throat.

"Double dose!" yelled Helen, nearly drowning out another deafening BOOM from Kate's shotgun.

The werewolf caught the second dose in the same arm, causing it to go completely limp. Momentum sent the creature off balance, and soon, a projectile made out of fur, teeth and claws crashed into the nearest bunch of crates, showering everyone with splinters.

The man with the coveralls lost it then. He jumped up from the hiding spot, and despite Kate's mad grasps at him to drag him back, he sprinted away, screaming.

"Dammit," said Kate. Everyone turned to look at their other guest.

Henry could see the moment the movement was caught in his kindred's eye. After landing unceremoniously, it had relaxed a little - still ravenous and ferocious, but it was not entirely sure if it was anywhere near any prey. After all, they could have moved while it was busy trying to regain feeling in it's arm. The screaming form of the warehouse worker eliminated any doubt the werewolf may have had that they were still near, and still protected by very breakable crates.

Groaning and screaming (if werewolves could scream) in fury, it regained a bit of balance. Close, now closer the ever, it leaned its enormous maw over the edge of the crates.

Everyone froze with fear. Warm spittle flew at them from the beast's heavy exhales. Henry thought the teeth had to be at least four inches long.

And he finally knew what the rest of the horrible stench was after the creature's breath hit him full in the face.

It took one breath, then another. Eyes darted between each warm, soft body. Finally, they rested on Kate. For a long, still moment, everyone stared at Kate.

"Triple dose, my friend!" Helen said, her strong voice shattering the silence around them. Will, Henry and Kate jumped at her sudden outburst, and the beast reacted, too - now hefting a huge paw above Helen Magnus' head.

And with a clean sounding shick, a final, triple dose of tranquilizing serum hit the werewolf in the chest. The massive hulk stop, paw still raised, and swayed. Henry thought he saw a small look of surprise in the golden eyes.

Then they rolled back into the immense head, and the beast toppled backwards, smashing the remaining few crates.

A/N: Alright, so my first Sanctuary fic is underway. I hope you like it! Also - I do not own Sanctuary. Please don't make that assumption, and don't forget to review!