One Like Him
Disclaimer: the author of this story does not own the rights to Beauty and the Beast or White Collar, just the plot!
Chapter 1.
In a millionaire's apartment at night...
A man stands looking at his newest acquisition. "Wow, that Arabesque Mosaic is beautiful, and such a lovely shade of blue-green. Well, it will look even better in the morning." He put down his drink, and went to bed.
That same night...
A tall, well-built, muscular man with black hair and eyes as blue an iceberg in the arctic ocean runs across the branches of the tree that he is in, sniffing the air and looking into the night. He hears a sound off into the distance, leaps down off of the base of the tree onto the ground, and stands upright. He listens, and he hears another sound, like a far-off distant scream. He goes running, faster than any man on two legs should be able to do. Somewhere deep in his own brain he screams, No! You can't do this! You're not an animal! But the instincts of the wolf and vampire-bat have taken over, and he is as helpless as a tied up passenger in a car. He stops and sniffs. He smells desperation and fear, as well as the scent of another predator on the prowl. He races towards that scent. He comes to the edge of the park, where a man is trying to steal a woman's purse and he has her shoved up against the bench, and she screams.
He holds the knife to her throat and says, "Scream one more time and it will be the last thing you do."
The knife knicks her, letting a single drop of blood fall to the cold ground. The young man races across the park, completely unnoticed by the robber and his victim, until they hear a horrible savage snarl like that of an angry wolf. The man turns just in time to see the black-haired man dive right into him, bite him on the arm, and begin sucking. The woman grabs her purse and runs, her screams echoing into the night.
"Get off me you freak!" says the robber and starts punching and kicking to no avail. The young man just pushes him down on the ground and straddles him so he cannot move. The man takes the knife and stabs him in the shoulder after having worked one arm free. The young man howls in pain and then punches the thief out cold. He snarls and is about to lunge in for the kill when he hears sirens. He snarls again, stands up, his jaw and upper chest covered in blood. He turns around and runs back through the woods into the night.
Chapter 2.
The next morning, Neil awakes on the balcony of June's apartment. His eyes are a bright blue, but not nearly as blue as the night before, a bright yellow sun is shining down on him. He blinks a few times, and then stands up. There is a stabbing pain in his shoulder. He reaches around and feels the wound made by the thief's knife. Looking down, he sees he is stepping on the very handle of that knife. He picks it up and a brief memory flicks through his mind of him sucking the blood out of someone's wrist, getting stabbed for his trouble, and somebody running away.
Neil puts the knife down on the table and walks into the apartment. He realizes his feet are dirty and muddy. He walks into the bathroom, looks into the mirror and has to stop himself from gasping in horror. He realized what had happened. He said to himself, "Not again...what am I going to do?" He cleaned himself up, wiped away the dirt and taking a deep breath, walked out the door and went to work.
At that same time, on the other side of Manhattan, a tall pretty woman with short brown hair, a white blouse, and a tan dress walked into an office and was greeted by a tall curly-haired man in a blue suit, gray shirt, and a red tie.
"Ahhh, Catherine, right on time," he said with a smile.
She smiled back and said, "Hello Joe, you look well but tired, what's up?"
"I got a call from Elliot Birch. He was very long and very loud."
She looked at him and said, "Well what did he want?"
He wants us to find out who stole his latest art acquisition and how.
She looked at him again with a quizzical look on her face and said, "We are attorney's not art detectives. How does he expect us to find it?"
"I know," said Joe, "but apparently his Arabesque Mosaic was stolen and he wants you to look into it."
"Why?" she asked skeptically.
Joe sighed and said, "He said he wants you to do it because he knows how good you are finding out things. He said do it or he will call the mayor."
Catherine just sighed and said, "Okay, I'll see what I can do." She couldn't let him call the mayor, for that would endanger her friends.
Later that afternoon at the FBI, Peter was talking to June on the phone and did not see Neil on his way into the building, back from lunch. As Neil came into Peter's office, he hung up the phone and looked at him with a mix of annoyance and concern.
Neil sat down and asked, "Who's that?" as he started thumbing through some files.
Peter said, "That was June, she found a bloody knife on her table and what she thought were bits and pieces of human skin on the edge of the drain in her sink. And she said last night she came to check on you and saw you running out the door. She said she called out your name, but that you completely ignored her."
Neil looked up at Peter and said, "Well, human flesh that's odd..." trying to hide the guilt in his voice, and went back to thumbing through the pages.
Peter looked at Neil and said, "She's also heard howling coming from the balcony for the past week and said you've been eating practically raw meat. Neil. Look at me."
Neil didn't want to look at Peter because that would be admitting the truth to both of them, but he also knew he didn't have a choice. Peter was a like a dog with bone, once he got onto it, there was no letting up.
Sighing, Neil looked up at Peter and said, "It's only been two weeks since Dr. G. kidnapped me and did what he did. And it'd be just my bad luck that there is a full moon this week. I do remember going out last night and I remember there was this guy trying to steal this lady's purse, his knife knicked her neck, there was a drop of blood...and that's all I remember...then I woke up this morning on June's balcony."
Peter looked at Neil and showed him an article from that morning paper. It basically read: Thief drained of two pints of blood after steeling a woman's purse. Arm ripped open to the bone. The police say they have no leads at this time as to who could have done that to the thief but that person probably saved the woman's life and there was a smear of blood leading into the woods. At this time the investigation is still active but is not a high priority.
Peter said, "I thought you were doing well a couple of days after the incident but it seems you are on the verge of letting the vampire-bat DNA take over. You could have killed that man, and that woman. It's only a miracle that you didn't."
Neil looked at him and said, "I've also been having nightmares of that night. And I never would have killed those people."
Peter shook his head and said, "I know you wouldn't, but when the combined DNAs take over, you're barely even human."
Neil had a hurt look on his face and said, "Peter, you know me, it's my fault Dr. G. was able to do this. You know I would never kill anyone, except for the guy that killed Kate—but you did that before I could.
Peter looked at Neil and said, "Well, maybe it's time for you to see Mozzie."
Neil sighed and said, "No, he's not here, he left to go visit some friends. Besides, I have to do this on my own."
Peter's face wore a look of concern and he said, "No you don't, I will help you as well as I can."
Chapter 3.
In the Tunnel World...
"Now where did I put that book?" said a medium-sized 53-year-old man wearing a pair of corduroy pants, a tan vest over a yellow shirt, thin octagon spectacles and a neatly trimmed beard.
"I see you're letting it go salt and pepper," said a voice behind him.
The man looked up and saw a short, bald man with glasses, wearing a trench coat and grey pants.
"Well, I'll be! Is that you Mozart?" said the man with the beard.
The shorter man said, "It's Mozzie now, and it's been Mozzie for a long time, Jacob."
The older man gave him a hug and said, "How have you been?"
Mozzie replied, "I've been good. I have friends and I've had plenty of adventures. How's everyone here?"
"Well, we have had a difficult year too, but we are okay."
Mozzie smiled and shook his head, "Good. What is Vincent doing? He always used to be here."
The older man smiled and said, "Ahh, that is a long story."
Meanwhile, at Catherine's apartment...
"It's such a wonderful night. Cool, yet with a hint of the day's warmth still lingering."
"Yes, it is a lovely evening, and yet, you looked troubled when you came out..." asked a voice next to her.
The smile faded a little, she turned to look at a tall, muscular man, or what would have been a man except he had the upper face of a lion and little claw-like nails on his hands and a hair-like mane framing his face. But he had human ears.
She sighed and said, "It's Elliot. He wants me to find his newest art piece or he will call the mayor, and you know what that means."
"I see," said the tall man with the hooded robe covering his body, and the rest partially hidden in shadow.
Later, back in the Tunnels...
"Vincent! Vincent! There's a stranger in the tunnels!" said a tall, skinny, blonde-haired youth with a troubled look on his face as he rushed up to his friend.
"Who is it?" asked his friend with interest.
"I don't know, but he knows about the inner chambers and he understands our way of talking with the pipes, and I saw him go into father's book room."
At this, the man removed his cloak to reveal a well-muscled body with a white shirt stretched over a large chest. Short and thick fur covered his hands and chest. His hands were almost as big as a lion's paws, and he had large canine teeth.
"What did he look like?" asked Vincent with a slight growl.
The tall skinny youth said, "The man was short, had kind of thick glasses on, and he's bald. And he wore a trench coat."
Vincent relaxed, "Ah ha! That would be Mozart. He was one of us for a long time, then he left."
"Why is he back then?" asked the boy with wide eyes full of curiosity.
"I don't know Mouse, but I will find out."
Chapter 4.
Three days later Peter was sitting in his office when his phone rang.
"Hello, this is special agent Burke speaking."
"Hello Peter, I don't know if you remember me, but we worked a case together a long time ago."
"Oh, umm, I don't remember you, sorry," Peter said.
Just as he was about to hang up he heard a voice say, "Peter it's me, Catherine Chandler, we went out twice and you spilled beer on my pink dress."
"Catherine! Oh my word, it has been awhile! How are you doing?"
"Fine," she said, "How about you?"
"Great, I'm a full FBI agent now, as you can tell, and head of the White Collar Division.
"Great! Look, I called to see if you would be willing to do me a huge favor," she said.
"What?" he asked.
She said, "A local millionaire recently had his newest prized artwork stolen and I thought with your record, you could help."
"Wow! I would love to. I'll have to clear it with my boss and is it okay if I bring my consultant with me?"
"How good is he?" asked Catherine a little hesitantly.
"Have you ever heard of Neil Caffrey?" asked Peter with just a tinge of pride.
Catherine scratched her head and said, "Uhh—wait—didn't he get caught on some bond forgery some years back?"
Peter said, "Yes he did, yes he did. I was the one who caught him and he's been an extremely valuable consultant for the past 7 years."
She said, "O.K. You can bring him along, just keep in mind he's your responsibility."
"Thanks," said Peter. "I'll call when I'll be able to come."
Meanwhile back in the Tunnel World...
"Mozzie, that is quite a story. I don't know if I can help. Are you sure it's not all in his head?"
"I'm sure. And I would not betray his confidence like this again, but he needs help. I thought you could do for him like you did for Vincent when he could not control his instincts."
The man with the beard who everyone in Tunnel World referred to as 'Father' sighed and said, "I could try. How dangerous is he?"
Mozzie looked at him and said, "Not very dangerous normal, but since the most recent incident it seems as if he is losing his humanity."
"Perhaps he needs the help of a lady friend. After all, I had to have Catherine's help back then."
"Who?" asked Mozzie with a perplexed look on his face.
"Oh, I see. I forgot you left before Vincent met Catherine. Vincent temporarily lost his sanity and Catherine had to help him regain it."
Vincent hung back in the shadows listening to the conversation and thought to himself: that poor man, I must try to help him...if he ever comes here.
Chapter 5.
The next morning...
"Neil, wake up! You're growling!" Peter said with some urgency in a loud whisper.
"Huh, what?" said a tired, pale looking, tall skinny dark-haired man as he blinked sleepily at Peter.
"You were growling almost loud enough for other people to hear you. I had to wake you up."
Neil looked at Peter, not wanting to tell him that he had found himself last night walking on all fours around June's house looking for—he didn't know what.
"Sorry Peter. It seems the more tired I get the more the instincts take over, but I haven't been able to have a decent night sleep since the incident."
Looking at his friend with worry, Peter asked the former thief, "When did you go to bed last night?"
The younger man stood up and immediately sat back down; his legs temporarily weakened.
Putting a bright smile on his face, he decided to try and bluff Peter and said, "I went to bed at 10 o'clock last night."
Peter folded his arms across his chest and gave Neil a fatherly stern look and he said, "Really...when last night the history channel was airing a special on
Tomas Van Der Heijden, who made off with seven Renoir paintings from the Louvre in 1961?"
"I DVR'd it, for when I have more time," said Neil.
Peter was about to comment on that when his boss knocked on the door and came in with a slip of paper giving permission for Peter to work with the local district attorney on the other side of Manhattan. Peter's boss looked at Neil and then looked back at Peter, shook his head, and left.
Neil, being naturally curious, tried to look at the paper and Peter pulled it away.
Peter said, "Do you still have your supplies that Mozzie gave you?"
"No, I ran out a month after everything settled down."
"Ah ha," Peter grunted, slightly annoyed that Neil hadn't said anything before now. "Ok Neil, this is what's going to happen," he said authoritatively. "First, you will need to get something to eat, then you and I will be going to the upper West side to help a friend of mine at the district attorney's office."
The young dark-haired man looked up at his partner and said, "With what exactly?"
"The theft of an Islamic Arabesque Mosiac."
"Wow, those things are rare," he said with a wistful smile, a trace of his old self on his face.
"Good. Now that that's settled, drink this."
Neil took the mug from Peter, sniffed its contents, then said, "Thank you Peter," and drank deeply.
Chapter 6.
The next day Catherine knocked on the door to her bosses office and showed Peter and Neil inside.
"Joe? This is my old friend Peter Burke from the FBI and his consultant Mr. Neil Caffery."
Getting up to shake their hands, a tall curly-haired man with a yellow shirt said, "I'm Joe Max, DDA. Nice to meet you both."
"It's very nice to meet you Joe," said Peter. "So, how long has Catherine worked for you?"
"Ohhh, about 8 years now." Turning to Neil he said, "So you're a criminal consultant. That must be interesting."
Neil slightly blushed and said, "Yeah, I guess you could say I have a small area of expertise," with a slight smirk on his face.
Peter cleared his throat and said, "So Catherine says a man named Elliot Burch was robbed of an Islamic Arabic Mosaic."
Holding up a small folder, Joe said, "Yea, he just bought it for $15,000 and fortunately he had insurance pictures taken that very day. Here, take a look."
Peter and Neil looked at the pictures and came to the same conclusion.
"It's a fake," they said in unison.
Later, back at the hotel...
"How do you feel, Neil?"
Neil stood for a second by the window and pondered that question.
Then, looking at Peter he said, "Better than I have in a long time." Then he said, "Thank You."
Peter looked at him a bit surprised and said, "You're welcome. But, for what?"
"What you did helped, and maybe it's being a little outside of home but I feel calmer...much calmer than I have been."
Peter nodded in understanding. "Good, get some sleep tonight. We interview Mr. Burch at 9:00am sharp."
Chapter 7.
The next morning...
"Thank you for coming. I regret my apartment's appearance, but crime scene tape makes things so dingy," said a tall good-looking bearded man who was fairly sharp, and a good business man.
"Uh huh," said Peter as he looked around. "So tell me, Mr. Burch, who do you think would want to steal your Mosaic?"
"I don't know, maybe one of my many rivals or someone who thinks it's theirs?" said the man with a shrug.
Neil was looking at the section of wall that was taped off and saw scratches that looked like they were made by a ninja shurkin being rolled like a pizza cutter around the area where the Mosaic once resided.
"Peter, look at this," said Neil, as he pointed at the scratches.
Walking over to where Neil was, Peter and Elliot looked at the wall.
"Well, that's odd. It looks like someone used a tool with sharp points to loosen the Mosaic and some other tool to pry it from the wall," said Peter with interest.
"Whoever did it was quiet, stealthy, and knew exactly what they were doing," said Elliot as his drank his coffee with a look of pure aggravation on his face.
Chapter 8.
Meanwhile, down below...
Mozzie, having visited with everyone he knew, was walking passed the entrance to the waterfall cave when he saw Vincent standing there looking at the waterfall.
"Hello, my friend, it's been a long time."
He turned around and said, "Good to see you—Mozzie is it now?"
The short bald man slightly blushed and said, "Yeah, I shortened my name."
Vincent hugged him and said, "I heard you were visiting, it's good to see you."
Mozzie looked up at him and said, "Yes, I wanted to see if I could find some help for a friend."
Vincent looked at him and said, "I overheard some of your conversation."
Mozzie looked at him with serious eyes and said, "Can you help him?"
"I can try. If you can get him to come here," said Vincent.
Mozzie scratched his chin and said, "That will be difficult, he is a criminal consultant with the FBI."
Folding his arms across his chest, Vincent said, "Well, you can bring him to Catherine. I will talk to him there."
"Thanks Vincent," said a grateful Mozzie.
"Calm down, Elliot," said Catherine, as she listened to ranting and raving coming from the other end of the telephone.
"Calm down? I just spent $15,000 on a forgery and then it gets stolen and a good portion of my wall ruined!" he snarled into the phone. He took a sip of scotch and said, "Now this will be all over the newspapers and the press will be hounding me like fleas on a dog."
She sighed and said, "No one but the four of us know it's a fake. Everyone else just thinks it's a piece of valuable artwork that was stolen."
Staring at the broken portion of his wall, he said into the phone, "Well, your friends better find who did the theft or forgery or I'll do my own investigating!"
Chapter 9.
The next day Neil was by himself walking through the park, enjoying the feel of the sunshine on his face and the feel of the cool breeze as it ruffled through his hair and danced in the branches of the trees on this warm spring afternoon. What Neil didn't notice because he was enjoying this rare opportunity to be out and alone was that the young tunnel-dweller named Mouse was following him from a discrete distance, curious as to why he was so interesting to father and his friend Mozzie. As he walked, munching on a hot dog, Neil thought to himself, Peter would love this, walking in the Park munching on a hot dog, being able to relax. But, too bad he had to talk to the deputy district attorney.
Mouse watched Neil and noticed his tracking anklet. He mumbled to himself, "Wow, he must of done a bad thing...I gotta be smart and not let him catch me following him."
Neil stopped chewing, swallowed, and then sniffed discretely. He smelled an odd scent, and it was coming from behind him. Turning around, all he saw was a small bush with budding leaves. He didn't see anyone, but he smelled that the source of the scent was behind the bush. Neil finished the last bite of his hot dog and as he was wiping his hands together, he thought for half a second of pursuing the scent and finding out who was following him. Then he realized he would have to allow his wolf instincts to take over, but that would be dangerous in a crowded park in the middle of the day. So, he reluctantly turned around and walked off.
Later that night, Mozzie was talking to Mary about Catherine. "Oh, she's a nice woman. Smart and tough, she did not even scream when she saw Vincent for the first time after he rescued her," said Mary.
Mozzie looked at her thoughtfully for a moment and said, "Oh that's nice, maybe she can help get Neil down here a little more easily."
Mary looked at Mozzie and said, "Why are you so nervous? You said he needs our help, so we will help."
Mozzie sort of blushed and shuffled his feet and said, "I know, but this is the second time I have betrayed his confidence in this manner, and in this one instance he is still so sensitive."
"Well why?" asked Mary curiously.
Mozzie sighed and said, "He met his one true love and even with his abilities, no matter how latent or weak they were at the time, he could not save her from being taken from him."
Mary looked at him and said with sympathy, "Oh my, I see."
At that same time on the surface...
Neil had gone back to the hotel, cleaned up, and gotten a pair of black sweatpants and a black t-shirt and running shoes. Someone was following me, and I will find out who, and why!" Neil had just put a note on his bed, when he smelled something odd. He opened the glass sliding doors, stepped out onto the balcony and sniffed. He looked around. He could tell someone or something was out there, he just couldn't see who, or what. Slightly irritated by the fact that he could not identify the source of the smell or whether or not it was a threat, Neil bared his teeth in frustration. Then, something caught his eye. A thin shaft of moonlight was glinting off an exposed water pipe on the ground. His eyes followed the shaft of light up to the moon, a pale white pearl in an endless dark sea. He opened his mouth preparing to howl when Peter opened the door and saw him.
With a look of concern on his face, Peter walked in slowly putting his coat and the bags that it hid on the chair and said, "Neil, big guy, are you O.K.?"
Hearing Peter's voice, his eyes went back to their normal shade of blue and he turned around and for a brief second Peter saw his altered canines and Neil snapped his mouth closed and walked inside. Clearing his throat, Neil slightly blushed and said, "Ya, I'm okay, just for a second I sort of felt myself changing and had the urge to...call out..."
Peter just nodded his head slowly and said, "There's more to it, isn't there?"
Neil sat down on the chair and said, "Yes, earlier in the park I smelled someone following me."
"What did you do?" asked Peter.
"I was eating, so I just kept listening, and he just kept following until I passed an old boarded up cave and that's when he got nervous and stopped."
"Why?" asked Peter, curiously.
Neil scratched his chin and said, "I have no clue but I smelled an odd scent like a lion and a man, all in one, and just before you walked in I got a whiff of the same scent."
Peter sighed and said, "Well, at least you were able to keep your instincts from getting the better of you. It seems as if your human side is getting at least a little bit stronger."
Peter said, "Have you found out what made those strange marks on the wall, where the mosaic was?"
Neil said, "Ya," and handed him some pictures of various tools and weaponry. "It's a pair of garden spades and a ninja shuriken, or death star, slightly modified to fit onto a spinning dry-wall cutter."
"Why not just get a regular dry-wall cutter?" said Peter swiveling in a swivel chair.
"One reason," said Neil, "Would be to create confusion and to leave marks that would leave few clues, and, who would think garden tools or Japanese weaponry?"
Suddenly sitting upright, but with a smile on his face, Neil took in a big whiff then looked at Peter and said, "Is that stuffed shells with meat balls and garlic rolls that I smell?"
Peter took the coat off the two boxes and said, "Yes, that one mine and this one's yours."
Neil sniffed it and said, "Steak and potatoes? And you bought two six packs, one of beer and the other one—ooo—strawberry lime wine cooler!"
Peter said, "Well I figured you'd be hungry, and apparently you are so let's eat." Peter opened the boxes and Neil took one last look outside, a slight curl to his lips. He could still tell the smell was out there but he couldn't tell where exactly. Neil turned his head around and dug into his food with gusto, as did Peter, neither one noticing that Mouse was in the tree watching them.
Chapter 10.
Two days later...
"Well, we have some clues as to how the mosaic was stolen, and we know it was a fake, so why steal it?" asked Catherine as she, Peter, and Neil ate lunch at Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde restaurant and bar.
Peter sat there eating his roasted salmon and said, "I don't know, maybe whoever did it had no idea it was a forgery."
Neil was taking in all the memorabilia. The classic Wolfman and Dracula posters, the T.V. showing clips of old black and white monster films, and just behind the hostess desk, behind glass, really cool looking sweatshirts—one even had a wolf eating something the words, "The Slaughtered Lamb" on it. Neil smiled.
"So, what do you think Neil?" asked Catherine.
"About what?" asked Neil, sheepishly.
"About how the burglar got in and how he did it so quietly," she said with a slight irritation in her voice.
"Oh, uhhh," said Neil, "Well I think whoever did it has to have balance and dexterity and not be afraid of heights, and he would have to be flexible."
She looked at him and said, "What do you mean balance?"
Neil said, "Well I noticed that the glass sliding door was open and when I went out onto the balcony I noticed a slight odor. Looking up, I saw a small piece of dirt on the underside of the metal railing on the balcony above his."
"Why didn't you say anything?" Peter asked with mild annoyance.
"A pigeon landed right on it and broke the piece into tiny fragments and then pooped on it." At that, they all grimaced.
Meanwhile, down in the tunnel world...
"Mouse, calm down, you're not making any sense. Take a deep breath and tell me and Vincent what you saw two nights ago."
The young blond-haired boy was very excitable, and sometimes talking to him could be very taxing. Mouse followed the man that Vincent and the short bald man were talking about just to see why he was so interesting.
"I saw him in the park, and he was eating a hot dog, and he was happy. I mean, sure he could not see me, but he looked back, and even though he could not see me he stopped smiling at the sun and turned and looked at my hiding bush."
"What did he do then?" asked Vincent.
"Nothing, he turned away and kept walking. I followed until he got to the cave. I had to stop to make sure he did not find our home."
"Did he stop when you did?" asked Father.
Mouse shook his head and said, "No, he kept going. When he was far away I ran back here to tell you. He had a strange thing on his ankle, like an ugly bracelet."
Father and Vincent looked at eachother, then looked back at Mouse and said, "You went back didn't you?"
Mouse looked at his feet. He had been told not to follow people, but sometimes he just could not help himself. "Yes Vincent, I did. But I only climbed the tree on the outside of the hotel just to see what he was doing."
"And what did you see?" asked Father.
"He went and cleaned up, changed clothes, and he had an angry scar on his right arm, and he had teeth like yours Vincent, only much smaller and pointier, and he was talking to a man in a suit with blonde hair—not like mine though— "
"Did you follow them anywhere else?" asked Father.
Mouse said, "Yes, earlier I saw them walk into the building where Catherine works."
Vincent gently but firmly placed his hands on the boy's shoulder and made him look him directly in the eyes and he said, "Okay Mouse, this is very important: I don't want you following him anymore. He has been through a lot and in two days I will try to get him down here for some help."
"Is he bad?" asked the blonde-haired youth, his eyes going wide.
"No," said Vincent. "He has had bad things done to him and has lost someone very close to his heart, all in a short time, so he is almost mad."
"Like you were when Paracelus made you say things that were imaginary?"
"Yes, almost," said Vincent.
"The one he lost, was she his Catherine?" asked the kid.
Vincent smiled a small smile and said, "Yes, I believe she was."
Chapter 11.
Two days later...
Neil, Peter, and Catherine led a raid on a small art studio on the very edge of Greenwich Village and found the mosaic.
"How did you know?" asked the short, skinny art forger named Benny as he was placed in the patrol car.
"We received an anonymous tip, and we contacted the owner of the art piece and he knows it's a fake," said Peter. "He said, and I quote, he was going to sue you for so much that not even your signature would be worth anything."
After everything was settled and they were back in Catherine's office, Peter and Catherine were talking and Peter said, "Well, who do you think is going to have to do the paperwork on this thing?"
Catherine looked at him and said, "Well, there will be paperwork to do, but it can wait."
Neil turned around and said, "Hey, why don't you two have lunch and look at the sites and I'll go for a walk."
Peter looked at him seriously, he knew Neil was going to go look for whoever it was that was following him and he didn't want him to do anything that he would regret so he said firmly, "No, you go back to the hotel, I—we are going home tomorrow."
Catherine looked at him and said, "Oh, come on Peter, you and I can at least have a drink, can't we?"
Peter rubbed his chin thoughtfully and said, "Well, okay, I do want to catch up," and then turning to Neil he said, "Neil, you still go back to the hotel."
Neil gave him a sour look and said, "Okay, okay."
Later as the sun went down, Neil was on the balcony letting the breeze caress his face and feeling the cool of the evening air. He turned toward the tree branch that was half a foot from the edge of the balcony and as the wind blew he picked up a faint trace of that boy's scent that had been following him. Taking in a deep breath, he got a stronger sample of that scent, and even though he did not sense a threat it irked him that someone could be that close and he did not sense them.
He let out a small growl and thought, Well, Peter is on that walk, I might as well have one last look around. Even if I don't find this guy I can work off a little of this extra energy. Crouching on the ledge like a wolf, he eyed the branch trying to judge the distance and then leapt easily snagging the branch with his hand and hauling himself up. Looking around to make sure nobody was watching him, he half-crawled down the tree, and walked in the direction of the park.
Mouse, despite the fact that he was told not to follow him, was, because he was very curious, he had never seen anyone act like a wolf before.
Chapter 12.
"Mouse, is it?" asked a voice next to him.
Startled, he turned around to stare at the short, bald man.
"Who are you?" he asked, slightly shaking, backing away.
Mozzie sighed and said, "Don't worry, I'm a friend. My name is Mozzie, and that man is my friend."
"Why is he acting like that?" asked Mouse, who was slowly calming back down.
Mozzie said, "He is not in control of himself. He's had bad things happen to him and well, sometimes he acts like this."
Meanwhile, Neil was running towards a tree, then he stopped and sniffed the air. Cocking his head slightly he said to himself, "Mozzie? Why do I smell his scent here?"
Neil turned back around and there he was. Mouse then took cover to avoid being seen.
"Hello, Neil. Well, I guess you're wondering why I'm here."
Neil just stared open-mouthed in shock, then said, "Did you steal the mosaic and then frame the art studio owner?"
Looking hurt, Mozzie said, "Do you really think I would do that?"
Neil gave him a sort of knowing look.
Mozzie said, "Well despite all that, no he did it all."
Neil looked at him and said skeptically, "How? He's too short."
"Well, he must have had a partner, but it wasn't me."
Then Mozzie looked at Neil and said, "How are you feeling?"
Neil sighed and said, "I've been sort of out of control but when I came here to work on the case I felt calmer. That is until recently..."
Mozzie said, "I think I might be able to help you with that."
Neil looked at him, squinting his eyes a little and said, "How?"
"I have friends that may be able to help."
Eyes widening in realization and shock, Neil said, "Who did you tell?"
"Only my friends Jacob and Vincent. Believe me when I say they know what it's like."
Anger lacing his voice he said, "Now how would they help me? By making me some test subject in the lab? No thank you."
"No, but he did used to be a doctor up here."
Neil was furious and he could feel his control starting to slip. He said, "How could you? How could you betray my trust—again? I was in no danger this time!" He practically growled the last word.
Mouse, hiding behind a different bush this time, saw the different look in the taller man's eyes and was actually starting to get nervous, but he didn't dare move for fear of drawing the other man's attention.
Mozzie said, "Yes you were Neil! Peter, June, me—we were all very worried that after your supply ran out the stress of what had happened to you would drive you away—or worse."
"So you told a doctor!" Neil roared, showing his teeth. "Another Dr. G. or worse?"
Raising his hands in a placating manner Mozzie said, "Nope, no, he's a good man, Catherine knows him."
Neil's curiosity made him calm down just a little and he said, "How do you know Catherine?"
Mozzie said, "I have not met her but Vincent has and they have known each other since he rescued her from some muggers years ago."
Clenching his fists to try to hold back to urge to growl at Mozzie, Neil said with bitterness as calmly as he could, "And how would Vincent know what I am going through? Was he ever used as a human guinea pig?"
Mozzie looked at him and said, "Possibly. You should thank your lucky stars that at least you can go out in public."
Chapter 13.
Neil was about to retort when he paused, sniffed and looked around.
"What is it?" asked Mozzie.
"I smell Catherine's perfume, and I can hear Peter talking—he's close."
Mozzie cocked his head to listen but couldn't hear anything.
Neil looked at Mouse and said, "You have that strange scent on you I've been smelling ever since I got here."
Mouse looked at him confused and Mozzie realized what he was talking about and said, "Perhaps you should go home, Mouse."
Neil was looking at Mouse rather suspiciously as if he knew he was hiding something but couldn't tell what and was about to walk over to him when everybody heard Peter and Catherine's voices, much closer than they had been.
Neil was torn, he wanted to get information on what that strange scent was, but he didn't want Peter to find him in the park because he'd never hear the end of it. Plus, he was starting to feel the urge to hunt.
He turned to Mozzie, still angry that he had betrayed his confidence, yet again, and said, "We'll talk later. You might want to go hide behind that bush." Then he turned, and raced toward the nearest tree and climbed to the middle of it and hid.
Peter and Catherine were walking along the path in Central Park that led by the tree that Neil had just climbed.
"So you're saying, Benny hired a mysterious thief to actually get the fake artwork for him?" asked Peter with a half-serious look on his face.
"Yes, that's what he said and I believe him," said Catherine.
Sitting in the tree, Neil suddenly got a more disturbing scent. He turned his head and saw a man standing in the dark running toward the path where his friends were.
Neil let a silent snarl escape his throat, baring his teeth.
"Freeze!" yelled a tall sandy-haired man with a .38 pointed at them.
Peter and Catherine stopped and looked at the man dressed all in grey with a red old-fashioned ski mask covering his face. The man glared at Peter and Catherine, utterly furious with them for what they had done.
He pointed the gun at Catherine and said, "I hear that you are the nosy lawyer that put away my friend—and for what—for stealing a fake mosaic from a stupid millionaire?" Then he turned to Peter and said, "You don't recognize me, do you?"
Peter looked at him and said, "No, I don't but you don't want to be holding a gun on a federal agent and a lawyer."
He said, "The man you put away was like a father to me. He raised me practically by himself. I was over at his house so much. Does that name Dr. G. ring a bell?"
Peter looked shocked and said, "You're Dr. G's son?"
The man said, "No, I'm his nephew. For what you did to my father, Garrett Fowler, you're going to pay!"
Peter looked sternly at the guy and replied, "You're father tried to blackmail me and your uncle was a sick man who experimented on people. They deserved what they got."
Neil was in a crouched position, low growls escaping his throat. Somebody was threatening his friend, and it was all he could do to not rip him a new one. Again, the urge to hunt and attack surged forth.
The man stood there shaking with utter fury, how could this FBI agent just stand there and say two of the most brilliant men on earth got what they deserved? He thought, he's jealous, that's all he is. Though that was something that could not have been further from the truth...
The guy leveled the .38 and Peter and said, "Oh yeah, well so will you."
Chapter 14.
If anybody had bothered to look up, they would have seen a man in a tree, his eyes the color of an arctic glacier, and had they known what that meant they would have run for hills. Just as the man was cocking the gun and getting ready to fire it, Neil leapt down from the tree, a snarl that was almost a roar escaping from his lips as he charged forward towards the man with the gun.
The man turned and Neil slammed into him and started scratching and punching him. The man fought back and the two rolled on the ground, he was still holding the gun and trying now to point it at Neil.
The man, trying to show his bravado said, "Oh you're going to be sorry you interfered you weakling!" The man gave him a punch across the face and smiled as blood dripped from Neil's nose.
Neil was now no longer in any sort of control, his human side shoved so far back it might as well not existed at all, and bearing his own teeth clamped onto the guys wrist and started sucking his blood.
"AHH!" yelled the man and tried to beat Neil with the gun but it didn't do him any good.
"Neil—no!" yelled Peter as he realized what was happening. "Don't do this!"
He ran over and tried to pull Neil away but the man with the gun pointed it at Peter and Neil clamped down harder forcing his aim to go away from Peter. What nobody noticed was that Vincent was in the background watching all of this and debating whether or not to interfere.
The man with the gun screamed, "You're a freak!" Then he shot Neil in the side.
Neil let go and practically howled in pain and backhanded the guy, knocking him out cold.
Peter then pulled Neil off the guy and turned around and said, "Neil! You recognize me?" Neil growled and backed away and then his eyes rolled up in his head and he passed out.
Catherine stood there in shock. She had seen Vincent go insane once, and she realized Peter had been keeping this a secret as she had been keeping Vincent a secret from him.
Mouse and Mozzie ran from behind the bush where they were hiding and ran out to his friend's side.
Mozzie grabbed Neil and said as he tried to stop to bleeding and said, "He'll be okay."
Chapter 15.
"Mozzie?" Peter blurted out in shock.
Mouse was standing a few feet away looking at the scene, unsure of what to do.
The short bald man looked up at Peter and said, "Yes, and your lovely friend must be Catherine."
Catherine started walking over to start helping Peter apply pressure to the wound when he turned to her and said, "Stay back, when Neil wakes up I'm not sure he'll be in control of himself." She understood and stayed back.
Turning back to Mozzie, Peter said, "What are you doing here?"
Mozzie looked at him and said, "Suit, I need you to trust me and remove the anklet."
"No," said Peter firmly. "I do that and the whole bureau will come running and he will go back to jail."
Looking equally firm, Mozzie said, "If you don't, he will die."
Mouse came over and said, "He needs help—we can help him."
"Mouse! What are you doing here?" asked Catherine, a little surprised that the youth would be out here by himself.
He looked at her and said, "I just wanted to follow the man. I know I shouldn't, but he's so interesting.
Catherine looked back and Peter and said, "Let them help him. They know how to do so, and it will safer than a hospital."
Peter looked at her and at Neil, who even unconscious was still tense.
Peter looked at the three of them and said, "Ok, but he has to be back in six days, I'll stay behind and handle the bureau."
"I will do what I can, Suit," said Mozzie quietly.
Hours later, Neil was still unconscious, but the bullet was gone, but he was still tense. It was almost as if his muscles couldn't relax.
"Fascinating. It's as if the animal DNA has been assimilated into his body, but not completely," said the man everyone called Father.
"What does that mean, Jacob?" asked Mozzie irritably. "Is he going insane or is the DNA mentally devolving him?"
The older man looked at Mozzie and said, "It means, when conscious, he has full control over his baser instincts, except in moments of extreme emotional distress." Mozzie looked at him with a raised eyebrow and the older man said, "Well, for example like tonight. When he saw his friend was going to be shot and his girlfriend was murdered in that horrible explosion."
Carefully leaning down over the unconscious man, Jacob gently pulled Neil's upper lip back to get a look at his upper canines. He then gently put the lip back in its proper place and said, "You weren't joking when you said the man that did this to your friend was truly a madman." Then he said to Mozzie, "Do you think he will be able to control himself? Because if not he will have to be immobilized."
Mozzie looked at Jacob in shock and said, "No that would only upset him more. When he wakes up, let me explain things to him."
Chapter 16.
"No!" said Jacob in shock. "You would expose Vincent!"
Mozzie looked at him and said, "Neil can be trusted. He would not expose you or Vincent."
"I agree," said Vincent as he walked in and looked at Neil. Turning to the man that raised him Vincent said, "Let Mozzie talk with him, then we will see how he handles things. After all, I could be just as dangerous as he if I had been dealt his hand by fait."
Peter was at Catherine's. He was pacing back and forth on her floor, worried about his friend.
"Peter sit down, your friend will be okay," she said trying to be supportive.
Peter looked at her not sure whether to believe her or not and said, "How do you know that?"
Catherine looked at him and said, "Because I have known these people for a long time. Except for your friend Mozzie," she said calmly.
Peter looked at her and said, "How did you meet?"
Catherine had promised not to expose them so she simplified it by saying; "They saved me from some muggers and tended to my injuries."
Simultaneously, down in the tunnel world...
"Peter, no!" cried Neil as he awoke with a start, eyes wide with fear and anger. After a second or two he realized Peter wasn't there and in fact, he was no longer in Central Park. "Where am I?" he muttered, and then with a wince looked down at his side to see blood dripping from opened wound. He sat up on the bed and tried to staunch the bleeding.
"Glad you're awake. You had me worried," said a voice. Neil's head snapped up and he found himself staring at Mozzie holding two cups of tea.
"Mozzie? What are you doing here? And where are we?" asked Neil in a state of utter confusion.
Mozzie set the tea down and sat in the chair next to the bed and said, "This is a safe haven, and the people here have agreed to help you."
"What? Why? And where's Peter?" asked Neil with slight suspicion.
"He is with Catherine Chandler at her apartment, and she is a very nice person."
Neil tried to take a deep breath and grimaced in pain, and then he looked at Mozzie and said, "How does Catherine fit into all of this?"
Mozzie said, "She's known these people for a long time and she was there, obviously, when you were shot."
Neil closed his eyes and tried to think. He barely remembered what had happened, but he did remember seeing her there with Peter in the park and then he realized what that had meant.
"I didn't go after them, did I? I mean—I don't think I had any control last night after I saw that man about to shoot Peter."
Mozzie looked at him and said, "No, you didn't go after him. The man shot you and you drained him of about 3 pints of blood."
Neil shook his head and said, "At least I didn't go after Peter and Catherine." Then he looked at his side and said, "Did they remove the bullet?"
Mozzie said, "Yes they did but they couldn't dress the wound and close it because they wanted to make sure there was no infection first and plus we didn't know what would wake you up."
A little ways down the tunnel...
Mouse was talking with Vincent and Father.
"So when can I see the man again?" asked the blonde-haired boy named Mouse.
"Later," said Vincent. "Right now, Mozzie is explaining things to him."
Mouse looked at him with wide eyes and said, "Everything? But you said that was a very bad thing to do and that it would hurt us all."
"You're right," said Father, "And normally that's true. But I believe he is trustworthy."
In the meantime, Neil was looking at Mozzie and said, "Wow, that's a lot Mozzie."
Mozzie looked at him, sipped his tea and said, "Yeah, I stayed down here from the age of 12 to 22 and then went out on my own."
Neil sat cross-legged on the bed, sipping his own cup of tea and said, "Why didn't you ever say anything before?"
"Secrecy is an absolute essential. It protects everyone down here, especially Vincent."
"Who is that?" asked Neil, curiously.
"A very good friend," said Mozzie. "I believe you caught his scent once or twice on the surface. If you take a sniff here you'll really be able to catch his scent."
Neil closed his eyes and breathed in deeply and then he opened them in surprise and said, "Your friend? That's who I've been smelling all this time?"
Mozzie looked at Neil and said, "When you meet, try not to stare."
The next morning...
Peter having had a fitful night's sleep, decided not to put Catherine's friend or anyone he didn't have to into the report when he got back home.
At the same time, down in the tunnel world...
Neil was reading The Great Escape, when Mary walked in to his room. He looked up and smiled and said, "Hello."
She smiled and said, "Hello, you must be Neil, Mozzie's friend."
Neil said, "Yes, he's not here right now though."
She said, "That's okay. I'm here to tend to your wound and close it up."
Neil closed the book, took off his shirt to reveal a very well muscled frame and laid down on the bed.
Mary walked over and said, "Can you lean over on your right side please?" And so Neil rolled over on his side. She looked at it and said, "That is a nasty bullet wound, but don't you worry I have plenty of practice."
Getting to work, she took out an alcohol swab and rubbed the area, which stung and made Neil stiffen and expose his teeth. Fortunately, he was facing away from her so she did not see. Wiping off the excess, she then took a sterile needle and thread, looked at him and said, "This is going to hurt a little, but we can't risk putting you under again, you were unconscious for a long time." She sewed up the wound and Neil swallowed a snarl of pain and she did so, not wishing to scare her. It only took 10 minutes and when she was done, he was told to lie there and let it heal.
Two hours later he woke up from a light nap, and sniffing deeply, he recognized a scent and said, "I know you're there. I'm not going to hurt you."
Mouse poked his head around the side and asked, "How are you feeling?"
Neil looked at him and said, "You were the one at the park last night with Mozzie. Did you try and help me?"
The boy just nodded and said, "Yes, you were hurt bad."
Neil looked at him and said, "Thank you for trying to help. I'm sorry if you were scared."
"That's okay," said the boy.
Mouse walked in holding a weird box-like contraption. Neil looked at it and said, "What's that in your hand?"
Mouse looked down at it with a shy smile and said, "I tinker sometimes. This is an alarm that sounds incase there is a flood from the excess water on the surface world.
"So, what's your name?" asked Neil.
"People call me Mouse, because I can get into places other people can't."
Neil suddenly went rigid and crouched in a defensive posture facing the door. Neil thought, It's that odd smell from before. Then he said, "Get behind me," to Mouse.
Then Vincent walked in and said, "So you can smell people before you see them?" as he, Mozzie, and Father walked in.
Relaxing from his crouch Neil sat on the bed and eyed Mozzie with something between skepticism and disbelief.
"Neil, this is Jacob Wells. He was a doctor on the surface world and now he leads this community. This is Vincent." He said pointing to the man-lion. "He is our friend and protector, and we protect him as well."
Neil straightened up and said, "It's nice to meet you. I hope I did not freighten you," as he shook hands with the two men.
Vincent looked at him and said, "Your friend has told us what has happened to you and we think we might be able to help control your animalistic side. If you are willing, we have four days left before you have to return to the surface world, we would like to help you."
Neil looked at Mozzie and said, "What about Peter and Catherine?"
Mozzie said, "They're fine. Peter is trying to keep the FBI from coming here until the 6 days have passed. By then, you should be out of here."
Neil thought for a minute or two and then said, "What exactly are you planning on trying to do?"
Jacob stepped forward and said, "We would like to try meditation."
So then Neil agreed and for the next three days he underwent meditation sessions and would run through the cavern trying to disperse excess energy. He soon felt much calmer. He learned how to work with his other side as opposed to trying to dominate it. Before Neil left he said goodbye to Jacob and Vincent and everyone else. He and Mozzie left to join Peter for the car ride back to their side of Manhattan.
Two days later...
Neil and Peter were working on some cases when Neil looked up at Peter and said, "What ever happened to that guy at the park that I attacked?
Peter looked at Neil and said, "Well after we got him a little blood transfusion at the hospital he woke up and told the story of you trying to suck his blood and trying to tear his throat out. He kept pointing to me and saying, "he was there, he'll tell you!" So I told the doctors this man was high on PCP and LSD, and that he attacked Miss Chandler and I and clawed at himself in a fit of hallucination. So, they put him away in a nice cushiony psych ward."
Neil shivered in sympathy. The one thing he would never do to a person is put him in an institution.
Peter looked at him and said, "How are you feeling, though?"
Neil said, "I feel much better. I feel...more in tune with myself, I suppose. I'm no big fan of meditation—but it works."
Peter smiled and said, "Good, because we have two dozen cases to go through."
Neil just shook his head and said, "It's good to be home."
The End