Sometimes it feels like it should get old, Daniel thinks as he splits off from Maya, ducking behind an old factory. The fight between cabals, the uprising of supernaturals, the need to possess the Edison projects funded by the St. Clouds, but it never does.
His senses prick, and he turns his head in the direction that his demon radar is directing him in. He stays still, but what he wants more than anything right now is to hunt the half-demon down. His fingers curl into his palm, fists clenching before he forces himself to relax. A few years ago, he'd been unable to handle the mounting pressure of wanting to fight, but he learned quickly how to control his temper.
Besides, if his power was any indication, there was more than one in the area. He wish he could figure out a way to warn Maya - if there were half-demons, there'd be others. Sorcerers, more than likely. Especially if they were from the cabals.
He waits in the shadows, thinking that over. He'd heard stories, from the Nast employees mostly, about others who weren't affiliated with cabals. Who would go rogue and risk exposure, who had fought against cabals. He'd learned more about who they were facing in general: beyond the Nasts, there were the Cortezes (the most powerful), the Boyds (nobody seemed to bother with them), and the St. Clouds (who were still more than a little miffed to lose both the Phoenix and Genesis II projects).
He made it his business to know who could be enemies and who could be allies.
For his sake. For Maya's, for their friends and family.
Movement to his right.
The vibes he picks up aren't good, and he stays still, watching. His vision isn't as good as a cat's, but he's got something his girlfriend doesn't have: patience.
The figure pulls out a radio. "Lost sight of Bianchi and Delaney. What's the situation like with the others?"
Static fills the air when the woman releases the button, and then another voice fills the silence. "We had them until Enright showed up. They're scattered now."
Daniel realizes he's been tense with worry only until the tightness in his chest releases slowly. They got away, for now.
Are they Cortez employees? Are they from the St. Clouds? Who are they?
His patience breaks, and silently, he runs at the woman only a few feet from him. Before she can do more than throw her hands up at him, he's on her, tackling her to the ground. He's bigger than she is, but he's also faster, his supernatural reflexes almost as good as any werewolf (or at least the one werewolf he actually knows). He's got hold of her hands before she can do anything else, figuring she's a witch. And if she's a witch, is she working for a cabal? The woman looks up at him with real fear in her eyes.
That's new.
It doesn't make him feel guilty for it. Holstered on her hip is a gun. Holding her wrists together with one hand, he reaches for her weapon. Real, the bullets too. There are no tranqs here, no blanks. They're here to capture or to kill.
Daniel's not going to let that happen.
"Tell me who you are," he says softly, his voice barely a whisper in the darkness, but there's power behind it.
The woman pinned beneath him blinks. "I'm a friend."
He arches an eyebrow at her before dangling the gun in her face. "Sorry, but I really don't take too kindly to those that hunt me down and call themselves a friend. I'm sure you know that. Who do you work for?"
"I'm not with a cabal," she tells him.
It'd be easier if she was, he thinks, because at least he knows the most about the cabals. He files it away for later to get his hands on more information, stuff him and Derek can go over later. He might not be a werewolf, but he thinks in those terms. Protect the pack at all costs.
"Then who?" His persuasion is holding up, making her want to talk little by little, but he cocks the hammer of the gun. It's like a crack of thunder in the eerie silence. Her eyes widen just a fraction more, but she remains still and quiet.
"We've heard about you, Daniel. Is it okay if I call you that?" She licks her lips. He doesn't give her permission, but he doesn't say no, either. "You and the others, what the St. Clouds did to you. You're not the only little experiment that the cabals have done. There are others, other things. Horrible things. Cryogenics from the Nasts, the group you're thinking of joining."
Now that he didn't know. But he schools his face to remain expressionless. What the hell would they need for cryogenics, anyway?
"And what? You're here to free us? Save us all from the big bad Nasts?" He frowns and shakes his head. "One of your anti-cabal groups tried that before. With Chloe, don't you know? It didn't end well."
It never will. It never ends well for any of them. As long as they exist in this world, with the power hungry and the desperate, him and Maya and the others will never be safe. He doesn't know how to do it, how to keep them from harm. To keep Maya from it, and that's the worst part of all.
He's engrossed in his thoughts and keeping his prisoner secured, only catching the footsteps behind him a second too late. Stars explode behind his eyes, and for a moment the world goes in shades of brown and red as he's thrown off of the woman. The gun clatters to the ground as he lands a couple of feet away. Something wet drips down the back of his head, and he can smell the copper of his own blood in the air.
The woman he'd captured rolls to her feet, sweeping up the gun just as fast. Another woman stands next to her, grinning happily, an iron bar in her hands. Damn, Maya's never going to let him hear the last of this.
Assuming he gets out, of course. He feels sicks when he tries to move, getting to his feet sluggishly.
The woman holds the gun on him, her face hard, eyes cold. His persuasion has dropped, and he's sure it won't work again.
Damn.
"Looks like the Benandanti got the best of you," her friend laughs. "So, how do we take him in?"
"We don't," the woman says. "He's too dangerous."
His lip curls into a sneer, but he manages to bite his tongue.
The newcomer looks surprised at this sudden decision. So maybe they haven't been ordered to kill, but that doesn't seem to matter to his executioner. He's hurt her, he can see that. Not really physically, but her pride. He almost laughs, mouth opening and-
-in that moment, an unholy scream fills the air.
The woman with the gun swings around, firing into the dark of the night, but she's facing the wrong direction. Maya's on her in an instant, all one hundred and twenty plus pounds of muscle and terror leaping on one fragile, mortal body. She doesn't go for the kill, but it's clear that she wants to, fangs on the woman's throat.
Her companion screams a name -Nat! - and pulls her arms back, but Daniel punches her before she can do anything, a sickening crack of his fist against her jaw. She crumples like paper.
The woman, Nat, probably hadn't really expected to see a mountain lion on top of her, Daniel guesses, because the scent of urine suddenly fills the air.
Maya huffs loudly, turning her head to look up at him. She's all animal, but he can see the questions in her eyes, the irritation at having to be so close to piss, the almost laughable situation when Nat's eyes roll in the back of her head and she passes out.
"Good kitty," he laughs, patting his girlfriend on the head gently. "Although you're a little late."
A low growl, more playful than warning. She must have been busy, and he figures that's what she's saying.
His gaze sweeps over her, making sure that she's okay, even as pain slices through his head with every minute movement he makes. She's okay. She's safe.
"Let's get out of here."
Maya steps carefully off of the woman, tossing her head in an indication that she should follow him. Her pace slows to match his, body so close that she trips him up a few times as they reach an alley where she's left her clothes.
He leans against a wall as she gets dressed, but she does it so fast that she's forgotten that her shirt is inside out and she's definitely left her underwear on the ground. His eyes close when she approaches. Her warm hands slide along his face, fingers probing at the wound.
"You definitely are going to wake up with a headache in the morning," Maya laughs, but there's an edge to her voice.
Daniel cracks one eye open, staring at her as she concentrates. She's not as good as healing humans as she is with animals, but they've been together for so long, that it's not as hard with him as it is with others. She's connected to him on a different level. He thinks that, even if they hadn't started dating, their friendship would have still made it easier.
"I'll take headache over dead," he mutters. "I couldn't even feel that other girl."
"That's because she was human," Maya says, leaning in to brush her lips over his. She kisses him once, twice, pulls back to make sure he's got air, and then kisses him again. They're brief and warm and hard kisses.
"Human? Are you sure?"
"Are you doubting my nose?"
"I think we'd be better off with Derek's nose, definitely." Daniel laughs as he dodges a punch from her, catching her hand easily enough.
"We should go find them," Maya decides, taking a step away from him.
He drags her back, his arm going around her waist as he returns one of her kisses. "Next time, I'm going to save you."
"Sure. I'll make sure to get myself into a really bad situation, just so you can beat up a few guys. How does that sound?"
Daniel shrugs easily. "Perfect." He lets her go. "Now we should go find them."