a/n - No idea what's going on here? You may wish to read Mr. Campion's Curse first, as it explains the central conceit of this AU, namely that Albert Campion is secretly a werewolf, in addition to his other less-than-reputable habits.
Mr. Campion's Secret
June, 1932
There were very few individuals capable of overpowering the preternaturally strong Mr. Campion these days. Brett Savanake just happened to be one of those rare specimens.
Campion had managed to knock the revolver from the man's hands fairly early in their confrontation, which had unfortunately turned out to be a critical mistake. He could've shrugged off an ordinary bullet wound if it came to it, but Savanake's impressive size was sufficient to give the ruthless businessman enough of an advantage over his lanky opponent in hand to hand combat that the younger man had been lucky to escape their first encounter at the mill pond alive. If Amanda hadn't opened the sluices when she did, he might've been drowned.
Dazed, and carried swiftly away from the race by the current, he'd been still recovering his wits as he drifted across the pool when he heard the shots. Ignoring the aching of his oxygen-deprived limbs, he scrabbled up the nearest muddy bank and ran back toward the mill.
Coming in from the pond side of the large white building, he found his young lieutenant barricaded inside, slumped worryingly against a dusty crate next to her stolen prize, clutching at her left arm. He smelt blood and cordite in the musty air.
"Amanda! Are you hurt?" Campion stepped forward and she fell limp into his arms with a small pained noise that wrenched at his heart. One narrow shoulder felt unusually warm and wet under his hand as he held her. The cause was unmistakable.
She'd been shot.
Normally the mildest of men, Campion nearly lost control there and then. A cold fury seized him, bringing his repressed predatory instincts to the fore. After settling her carefully against the far wall, he went out to face Savanake again with violence on his mind.
Campion's inner wolf was to be denied the satisfaction of a proper confrontation, however.
Instead, the villain's own haste proved to be his undoing. Intent on circling around the mill quickly to catch Amanda before she could escape with the treasure, Savanake had ignored the hurdles placed in front of the rotted gangway over the stream and charged past them. In this instance, unlike earlier, his impressive size had worked against him; he'd immediately plummeted straight through the ancient boards and into the icy water below. He now clung feverishly to the remaining planking, fighting against the unrelenting pull of the current. He'd fallen behind the grille intended to keep large sticks and other heavy debris out of the wheel. The metal paddle thumped ominously just beyond the reach of his extended legs.
Realising the gruesome fate in store for the man should his grip fail, Campion abandoned his homicidal intentions and hurried to his aid.
"Hold on, I'm coming," he called.
Recognising his voice, but unable to discern the individual words over the roar of the water, Savanake looked up in alarm as the young man made his way over to the broken gangway. Just as Campion reached the hurdle, and was swinging his leg over to straddle the barrier, the trapped man snatched up the revolver which had incredibly fallen just within his reach and levered his arm around to fire up at his would-be rescuer.
Savenake hadn't paused to check his aim, and Campion attempted to duck out of the way at the last second, but the shot still found its mark, striking him in the lower abdomen and passing cleanly through the other side of his hip. Campion fell against the hurdle with a grunt, and lay there gasping for air as the equally painful rush of healing retraced the burning path of the bullet.
This impulsive reaction cost the desperate man in the water his life. The recoil from the gunshot broke his already weakening grip on the splintering boards and he slipped down into the rushing water. The churning blades of the mill wheel claimed his body before anyone could've acted to prevent it.
Campion was too preoccupied with his own concerns to notice the tiny, sickening shudder that passed through the building as Savanake met his demise. He'd long ago learned the hard way that intense pain, fear, or anger could trigger an unwanted transformation if he allowed those feelings to overwhelm him. Getting shot had very nearly sent him over the edge. Only the thought of Amanda lying wounded and alone in the mill kept him human.
He dragged himself back to her side, kneeling to examine her again. She looked paler than she ought in the dim light. He put a trembling hand to her cheek and her eyes fluttered open just long enough to catch his gaze.
"Did we get 'em?" she whispered hopefully, wincing as she tried to move her shoulder.
"Yes. Thanks to you," he told her.
"Oh, jolly good." Amanda smiled weakly before passing out again.
Campion scooped her into his arms and was preparing to carry her over to the house when the army arrived to take charge of the situation.
Nearly four hours passed before he saw Amanda again. A proper doctor had been brought over from Sweethearting to tend to her and Campion had been detained providing explanations to the military and his faithful associates now that the dangerous business was concluded. By the time the matters of the hidden treasure of the well and the missing church records had been relayed between the triumphant adventurers, Campion was exhausted.
After bidding the others a heartfelt good night, he ascended the stairs to the first floor, whereupon Aunt Hatt summoned him into Amanda's room before he could retire to his own bed, saying she'd been asking for him.
He found Amanda propped up in a sea of pillows looking decidedly peaky, but that vibrant spark of her personality had returned. She smiled warmly when he walked in.
"Hullo, Orph. Come to make your report to the Lieut?" she asked him.
He permitted himself a wry smile and nodded, taking a seat at her bedside. They talked lightly for a little while and, after he'd relayed to her the brief summary of their victory, and she'd made him promise not to let anyone send her off to finishing school once Hal was officially confirmed as the Earl of Pontisbright and came into his estate, their conversation gradually reached a pleasant lull. Amanda took advantage of the pause to examine him shrewdly.
"I say, I think I know why you wouldn't want to mention it to anyone else, lest they get the wrong idea, but I think I've proved you can trust me with the real explanation of what happened tonight," she said.
Campion stiffened in his chair and glanced at her sharply. "What do you mean?"
Amanda sighed. "I saw your eyes when we were in the mill together. And earlier when I told you about Dr. Galley. I know I wasn't imagining things; for just a moment they were different."
Mr. Campion's face became studiously blank, a long ingrained protective habit asserting itself.
"It's all right. I don't mind, whatever it is. I told you, I've grown up with this stuff," she said reasonably, though heaven knew what she meant by that. "I know that you're on our side."
Campion regarded her seriously from behind his horn rimmed spectacles. He suspected there was a rather substantial difference between familiarity with the folk healing proclivities of Pontisbright's eccentric resident physician and regular encounters with genuine supernatural phenomena. "And what makes you think there's more to tell about tonight's adventure?" he asked her quietly.
"I heard the gunshot right after you left me. And you were limping when you came back into the mill. He got you, didn't he?"
"Very observant for someone nursing a bullet wound of her own," he noted with faint amusement.
She took his comment for the admission it was and grinned. "Well, I am rather good," she said proudly. "And that's just it, isn't it? Here I am, laid up in bed and I see you're walking about perfectly fine now. Come on then, out with it. I promise you won't scare me."
Campion shook his head. "Suffice it to say that you're correct in your assumption that there's slightly more to me than meets the eye. Savanake may have gotten lucky with his parting shot, but I'm a tougher old bird than most. Other than that minor detail, you've had the whole of it already."
Amanda gave him an exasperated look. "If we're to work together, I'll have to learn your secret eventually," she warned him.
He smiled tolerantly at her. "Then I'll tell you someday," he said gently. "Let little Albert retain his air of mystery for now."
Amanda huffed and frowned at him but she was too tired to really argue. He remained at her bedside until she fell asleep and sat in the comfortable darkness thinking for a long while afterwards.