Disclaimer: I do NOT own PJatO of HoO, but I do love them both

"Fire!" Artemis shouted to the four huntresses. The hunters released the arrows that carried a net between them and the net went arcing through the air. It fell perfectly on the black mass that had eluded them for weeks. The creature collapsed and was pinned to the ground by the net. It weakly thrashed in the net as it tried to free itself, only to become more entangled.

"We finally have you," said Artemis in her 12-year-old form as she walked up to the creature. Neither she nor any of her hunters had even gotten a good look at the creature. All they knew was that it was big, black, and fast. Artemis looked at the weakly moving creature and her eyebrows came together. It looked much like a wolf but it was too big, too shaggy, and too thin. She grasped one of the dozen arrows sticking out of its side. She wrenched the arrow out causing the creature to give a faint yelp. Artemis looked at the arrow and her eyes widened. There was flesh and blood clinging to the arrow-head.

'Monsters don't have blood,' Artemis thought to herself in shock. She looked back at the creature and saw that there was blood trickling down over its matted coat. "Apollo," she said under her breath, "get down here."

"What's up little sis!" he said appearing in his bright, flashing, and irritating glory. "What do you... need... your... great... brother... for?" He slowed down and his raised arms lowered as he caught sight of the creature under the net that had been surrounded by hunters. "Is that the thing that you have chased For over two months?" he asked taking a step back. Artemis nodded. "Well what do you want me to do with it?"

"Examine it," said Artemis. "It's like no other creature that I have encountered and," Artemis paused and held up the arrow she had pulled from the creature's side, "it's flesh and blood." Both Apollo and Artemis' hunters stared at the arrow with pure shock.

Apollo snatched the arrow from Artemis's hand and examined the tip before setting his hand on the creature's side and flashing to palace on Olympus.

"What now Milady?" Thalia asked.

"Now we wait and see what Apollo tells us," said Artemis sighing and staring into the sky. It was nearly one in the morning and the creature had given them one hell of a chase. They had found its tracks nearly seven weeks before and had been after the creature, but never quite caught up with it even though it was sick for a week giving them a window to catch up. At least until tonight night. A couple of times they had gotten close enough to shoot it, and hit it more often than not, but it always got up and bolted away. Then the next time they saw it, the arrows would be gone.

"We'll set up camp here until further notice," said Artemis to her weary hunters. The hunt had been incredibly demanding for them. The hunters nodded and pitched their tents and went to sleep.

Apollo appeared in his palace on Olympus and the creature moaned under his hand. Apollo saw that, while it wasn't staked to the ground, the creature was still entangled in the net. Apollo sighed and put his hands on his hips trying to think what to do. Artemis told him to examine the creature, but not what she was looking for. Apollo left the creature, went to the medical wing of his palace, and found a large x-ray machine. He snapped his fingers and teleported the creature, net and all, onto the large table below the x-ray machine. He slid x-ray boards underneath it causing it to give whines of pain. Apollo went to the control panel, after positioning the scanner, and pressed the button and moved the machine to get the next x-ray. When he had finished he had four boards that should give him the creature's entire skeleton.

After he had developed the x-rays he put them on a light board side by side and turned on the light. What he saw made his heart stop. Based on the creature's skeleton it was a wolf that was roughly four feet tall and seven feet long in its curled position, that was obvious, but that was also his second observation. His first was that the creature shouldn't have been alive. He saw dozens of arrow heads embedded within its skin and muscle. He also saw at least half of a knife blade stuck into the muscle of its right rear hip. Apollo put his hand to his mouth and rubbed his face. He then steeled himself, grabbed a knife, and went back to the wolf-creature.

When he got to it he saw that its breathing was shallow and he pitied it. He swallowed and started cutting off the net. When he had finished he saw the creature watching him. It's eyes were a grey-green and full of pain and fear. Apollo tentatively reached over and gently stroked its head. The creature tried to move away, but didn't seem to have the strength. Apollo felt its muscles tighten as he pet it, but then relax when the creature realized that Apollo wasn't going to hurt him. Apollo moved to pick the creature up but stopped when he realized that it injuries would cause it serious pain.

Apollo went to a medicine cabinet and pulled out an anesthetic shot and a painkiller. He offered a painkiller pill to the creature but realized it wasn't even strong enough to swallow. Apollo got water and a rubber tube and hoped that the creature wasn't just acting. He went to the creature's head, opened its jaws, and forced the tube past it sharp, massive teeth, down its throat, and into its stomach. The creature barely flinched. Apollo then slipped the painkiller pill into the tube and poured water down after it.

After twenty minutes of waiting for the painkiller to kick in, Apollo put the wolf under with an anesthetic shot in the scruff of its neck. A minute later the creature's eyes drifted shut and Apollo went into work mode. He pulled out a scalpel, a tray, a needle, and some thread and went back to the creature. He checked the x-ray, then cut an incision directly over an arrow-head. He pulled the arrow-head out, put it into a metal dish that was beside the table, and quickly stitched the incision back together. He did this for every arrow head, consulting the x-ray as to where they were located. After he had pushed another table closer turned the creature over onto it and removed the arrows heads from its other side he looked to its right rear hip. He walked over to the x-ray and stared at it for five minutes before going back to the creature. He made one last incision, reached in with a pair of tongs, and pull out the six-inch knife blade. He dropped the blade in the tray with the arrow heads, stitched up the incision, and sat down shaking slightly.

He had just removed forty-three arrow heads and six inches of a knife from a creature that was somehow still alive. He got a stethoscope and checked the creature's heart beat and lungs and found nothing out of the ordinary for a wolf of its size. The only thing wrong with the creature were its physical injuries and it appeared to be under severely weight. Apollo cleaned himself up and went back to staring at the x-ray. He had an idea and went to get an electric razor. He fitted the razor with a comb that would keep four inches of fur but removed the mats.

He clipped the creature's fur, carefully avoiding the stitches. He finished its body and tail, and moved to its head. He fitted a razor that would leave an inch of fur and delicately cleaned up around its eyes and nose and clipped the rest of its face. When he was done he swept the pounds of fur into a heap and burned it in the courtyard of his palace. He went to an empty spare room and a grabbed couple dozen cushions and pillows from couches around his palace and deposited them in the corner of the room. He got a couple of blankets, double layered the cushions, and threw the blankets over them to form something like a bed. He then went to get the creature.

He looked back over it and realized that it was indeed a massive wolf but its over-grown and matted fur, large size, and severe emaciation made it look more like a monster. It was all black but the mats and mud had hidden a grey stripe across its chest. Apollo gingerly picked it up off of the table and deposited it gently onto the blanket covered cushions. He then closed the door and went out in front of his palace before flashing down to Artemis' camp in Colorado where he'd left her.

When he flashed in the huntresses gave him dirty looks and Artemis came jogging over. Apollo had a serious gaze and wasn't cracking his usual jokes or claiming to be older. He stood stoically with his arms crossed and waited for Artemis. The hunters realized this and followed Artemis to her brother.

"What did you find out, Apollo?" Artemis asked. She was puzzled by her brother's mood, but was more than curious about the creature.

"I will answer your questions if you will answer mine," he said, his voice steely. Artemis was shocked by his serious tone. 'He has only been gone for seventeen hours, what could possibly make him so serious?' Artemis thought as she nodded.

"Why were you hunting the creature?" Apollo asked.

"For the thrill of the hunt and out of curiosity," said Artemis. "The creature seems unique and I wanted to know what it was."

Apollo rubbed the lower half of his face before looking back at Artemis. "Was there anything odd about the creature? Maybe odd things happened around it or the way it moved..."

"We would shoot it with arrows when we saw it and then it would disappear. Then the next time we'd see it, the arrows would be gone," said Phoebe.

"Yeah," piped another hunter. "I even managed to get a knife into its flank, and the knife disappeared too!"

"It did moved strangely," said Artemis thoughtfully. "It's back legs worked differently than any other animal or monster that I have encountered."

Apollo looked to be seething. His shoulders were back and his arms were crossed and Artemis could hear his teeth grinding together. "What did it eat?" he asked after a minute. Artemis could hear strain in his voice but said nothing of it.

"We don't know," she answered. "I assume whatever it could get its teeth into. Why? What did you find in its stomach?" she asked.

"Nothing," said Apollo.

"Apollo you aren't being funny. When you dissected the creature, what did you find in its stomach?" asked Artemis thinking that her brother was being a jerk.

"I didn't dissect the creature," he said, "I operated to save its life!" He was shouting now. "The reason I answered nothing was because that was exactly what was in its stomach!"

Artemis stepped back, surprised at her brother's outburst. Then thought about what he'd said, and stopped. "What do you mean 'operated'?" she asked. Her tone was quiet, but sounded threatening. Apollo snapped his fingers and a large Manila envelope appeared in his hand and he threw it to Artemis. Artemis caught it and opened it. She stepped away and into the sunlight and opened the envelope. She pulled out the picture of all four x-rays side-by-side giving her a clear picture of the creature. Artemis froze. She looked at Apollo, then back to the picture in her hand. "This is impossible," she breathed. Apollo nodded. Artemis dropped the envelope onto the grass below and stared at the photo. "How is it alive?"

"I have no idea," said Apollo.

The huntresses walked over to Artemis and saw the photograph. All of them blanched and two gagged.

"Is that the creature?" Phoebe had asked the question that all of the hunters wanted to know. Apollo nodded. The hunters continued to stare at the photograph. Artemis folded up the picture and put it into her hunting jacket.

"So it didn't remove the arrows," said one hunter.

"It broke off the shafts," another hunter finished.

"Will you take me to it?" she asked Apollo. Apollo nodded and they both flashed out leaving the hunters alone.

They appeared in front of Apollo's palace. Apollo led Artemis inside and to the spare room where the creature was sleeping. Artemis saw it and her knees buckled.

"It's a wolf," she murmured. The black wolf weakly lifted it head and blinked to clear its eyes. When it caught sight of Artemis and Apollo it scrambled up right before running past them and out the door. "Wait!" Artemis shouted, but the wolf didn't even slow. It bolted out of the palace after slipping a couple of times on the smooth floor, yelping as it fell on the stitches, and into Olympus, its exhaustion forgotten. It dashed around trees, bushes, buildings, satyrs, minor gods, and anything else in its way. It may have been severely injured and starving, but it was fast. Apollo and Artemis could barely keep up. Artemis saw Hermes running at her elbow.

"What is that?" he managed to heave out.

"No time!" panted Artemis. "We need to catch it! Get the other gods and we'll try to corner it!" Hermes nodded then split off. Apollo and Artemis continued following the zigzagging wolf. Soon they saw the other Olympians running at their sides, even Aphrodite, Persephone, Demeter, Hades, and Hestia, and a few minor gods as they dashed around Olympus. Soon the wolf made a wrong turn down a dead-end alley and was fenced in by the Olympians. The wolf turned to look at them and they saw that its tail was tucked so far underneath it that it was almost touching its belly. The wolf's ears were back, it eyes were huge, and its head was lowered as it cowered in the dead end. It stood about four and a half feet tall at the shoulders and its legs weren't anywhere near straight. Hestia stepped towards it and the wolf tried to take a step back, but bumped into the wall. Hestia kept slowly walking forward.

"Shh," she said to it softly. "It's alright, I'm not going to hurt you." The wolf's claws were digging into the street below it as it kept trying to move back but be stopped by the wall. Hestia was no more than five feet away when the wolf lay down against the wall, claws digging into the street, and looked at her with terror in its eyes. Hestia sat down right next to the wolf and it wouldn't take its wide eyes off of her. She she reached out a hand to pet it, but it tried to cower away. All of the Olympians felt like they wanted to relax by the fire, but that appeared to be the last thing on the wolf's mind. Hestia touched its side and the wolf's eyes seemed to get larger. Hestia began gently stroking the wolf's side. The wolf was still breathing heavily and its eyes were still full of fear.

All of the Olympians watched and felt like their hearts were being broken. What could push a creature so far as to make it fear the goddess of the hearth? Hestia kept petting the wolf and felt is muscles tighten beneath her hand. She snapped her fingers which caused the wolf to jump and start shaking with terror. Hestia saw the cut of steak that she had summoned appear in front of the wolf, but she also felt the wolf's trembling start. She offered the steak to the wolf, but the wolf tried to move away from it but was stuck in a corner. Apollo sighed sorrowfully, summoned an anesthetic shot, and slowly approached to wolf. He saw it looking between him and Hestia in pure terror before Apollo gently grabbed its scruff and gave it the injection. A minute later the wolf's tremors stopped and its eyes drifted shut. Everyone watched as Apollo picked the wolf up and followed him as he carried it to his palace. Once Apollo had set the wolf down on the makeshift bed and closed the door of the room, the gods flashed to the throne room.

It was silent for a few minutes as everyone thought over what had transpired. Zeus looked to Apollo before asking, "What was that?"

"The creature that Artemis had been hunting," said Apollo without looking up.

"How did it get here on Olympus?!" Zeus roared.

"Father," Artemis said quickly, "my hunters and I had managed to catch it and I thought that it was as good as dead when I turned it over to Apollo to see what we could learn about it."

Apollo, without waiting for Zeus to ask, relayed the story, picking up at where Artemis had summoned him. The gods looked stunned as Apollo told the tale and Artemis looked sad and a bit guilty.

"And you know the rest," sighed Apollo resting his head on his hand and looking at Zeus.

"Why was it so afraid of us?" asked Hestia.

"Oh you know," said Apollo waving his hand about, "maybe because it was being hunted for two and a half months. You know I was reading an article about that the other day. It said that being hunted makes you fear for your life," said Apollo, his voice dripping with sarcasm as he glared at Artemis.

"Apollo," chided Athena. Apollo just huffed at her and rolled his eyes. "What has gotten into you?"

"I'm sorry," he said sighing and turning to Athena, "I'm just tired and frustrated." Athena nodded, accepting his apology. "The wolf is going to stay with me for the time being," he said then flashed out.

"Council dismissed," said Zeus grumbling to himself before flashing out, quickly followed by all of the other Olympians, including Hestia, but not Artemis. Artemis stayed for a minute longer deep in thought before flashing back to her hunters' camp.

Apollo had flashed back to his palace and was about to enter when Hestia flashed in behind him. Apollo looked at her then nodded and led her to the spare roof where the wolf was. Apollo cracked to door open and saw that the wolf was still in its drug-induced sleep and walked in with Hestia in her eight year old form behind him. Hestia sat down beside the wolf and began stroking its head and Apollo summoned his bow before flashing out. Hestia looked at the wolf and saw the dozens of incisions on its side where Apollo had removed the arrow heads and chunk of a knife.

She felt hot tears tracing her cheeks and quickly wiped them away. She sat with the wolf for nearly fifteen hours before Apollo flashed with a deer over each shoulder. He nodded to Hestia before he left the room. He came back half an hour later.

"How is he?" the sun god asked.

"The same," said Hestia. "But really, what could drive an animal to survive such a thing as this?"

"I have no idea," said Apollo. "But whatever it is, it's important." Hestia nodded. "He should be waking up soon," said Apollo standing up. "I'm going to go finish getting his meal together."

Apollo left the room and Hestia kept stroking the wolf's side. Now that the mats were gone his fur was soft, softer than Hestia expected. She was petting the top of his head when she felt him move. She kept calm and went on petting him. He quickly realized that Hestia was petting him and his ears went back, his eyes went wide, and his muscles tensed. He was in full on fight-or-flight mode. Hestia just kept petting him and started humming. After a minute his muscles started to relax and he eventually put his head on his paws. Then, to Hestia's immense surprise, he seemed to snuggle closer to her. She could feel his back steadily rising and falling beneath her hand as he fell into a natural sleep. She kept humming and a small smile crept onto her face.

Apollo opened the door and the wolf's head bolted up right and he looked at Apollo with his ears back and his eyes wide and seemed to cower behind Hestia.

"It's alright," Hestia cooed. "It's okay," she said petting his head. "See, he brought you food."

Apollo took a strip of raw venison off the tray he was holding and handed it to Hestia then sat down with a clipboard and set the tray beside himself. The wolf smelled the meat Hestia was holding before gingerly taking it in his jaws. Once it was out of Hestia's hand the wolf threw back its head and swallowed the strip of venison with a snap of its jaws. He then looked past Hestia to Apollo and licked his lips and started staring at the tray. Apollo kept handing Hestia venison and the wolf kept snapping it down. Apollo filled the tray twice more before giving up and hauling both deer into the room. Apollo set the deer on the far side of the room and went to sit beside Hestia on the pile of cushions and blankets. The wolf licked it chops and stared hungrily at the carcasses.

"Go for it," said Apollo motioning to the deer. The wolf looked at him and tilted its head to the side looking both adorable and confused. "You can eat them," said Apollo pointing with his pencil. The wolf then stood up and loped over to the deer, but kept his back right leg off of the ground. It sniffed the first deer that was almost gone, then laid down beside it. He stuck his jaws in and got started. Fifteen minutes later all that was left was the fur and antlers. The wolf had eaten the bones and all. It then turned its attention to the other deer and turned itself so that it was facing the other deer. It stuck its snout into the long cut that Apollo had used to clean the deer.

After an hour, a lot of crunching and some tearing the wolf rolled over on its side, its stomach looking like it was going to explode. All that was left of the doe and buck Apollo had brought down were a couple of piles of fur and skin and a couple of antlers. But then the wolf set a paw on an antler and pulled it over and began chewing on it. Apollo and Hestia had watched with morbid fascination as the wolf crunched its way through the two deer.

"Remind me never to stick my hand near its mouth when its hungry," said Apollo to Hestia.

"Likewise," she replied.

They watched to wolf chew on the antlers for a bit until it got bored. It then stood up, still not putting any weight on it rear right leg and looked around then started panting.

"Oh right!" said Apollo jumping up and dashing from the room, but being sure to close the door behind himself. He came back a few minutes later and kicked the door so Hestia got up and helped him in. The wolf stood there panting and watching them. Apollo set the massive bowl of water on the floor near the piles of fur. The wolf then walked over and gulped down nearly the entire thing. Then it started looking around again. He started shaking and his back came down and his hind legs came together.

"Hey Apollo," said Hestia.

"Yeah."

"Just how much value do you place on your floors remaining clean?"

"A lot, why?"

"You should let him outside," said Hestia with a small smile.

"Oh!" Apollo jumped up and grabbed the door. "Okay, come on," he said ushering to wolf out of the medical wing and into the courtyard. The black wolf smelled around a bit before lifting its leg over a bush. It came back a couple of minutes later tongue lolled out, ears up, eyes bright.

"It's amazing what a good meal and some kindness can do," said Hestia.

"Oh yeah," sighed Apollo. The wolf closed its mouth and sat in front of Apollo. "What?" Apollo asked.

In response the wolf got up and trotted away, leg still held off the ground. It walked up to a tree and grabbed a small, low branch in its teeth. It then twisted its head to the side and ripped the six inch thick branch right off of the tree. It laid down with it and stripped the leaves and small twigs off of it leaving a clean stick at its feet. The wolf picked the branch up and walked back to Apollo, then dropped the branch in front of Apollo and sat down. Apollo picked up the branch and saw the wolf's tail wagging in the grass. Apollo drew his arm back and threw the stick to the other side of the courtyard. The wolf gave a bark of excitement then took off after the branch, this time using his right rear leg slightly giving him a very pronounced limp. But at least he was trying to use the leg.

"You know," said Apollo as the wolf picked up the stick, "he seems kind of intelligent."

"You don't say," said a mystified Hestia as the wolf brought the stick back.

The three of them played for an hour before the wolf got tired and lay down in the sun panting. Apollo and Hestia had taken turns throwing the stick and the wolf would always go get it and return it. Apollo saw the wolf's eyes drooping shut and the sun going down.

"Alright, come here boy," he said clapping his hands. The wolf was suddenly on its feet with wide eyes and its tail between its legs as it cowered in the courtyard. "Sorry," Apollo said quietly. "Come on, let's go inside," he said gently.

The wolf's tail came out and its ears went up, but it still wasn't quite standing at its full height. Apollo led it back to the spared room and the wolf got a drink before curling up on the pile of cushions. It gave a huge yawn with its teeth flashing in the dying light and went to sleep.

Hestia and Apollo crept out of the room and closed the door. They shared a smile before Hestia flashed to her palace and Apollo went to rest after a long day and very eventful day.

A.N.

I will try to update at least once a week, but we'll see how that goes!

R&R is much appreciated!