(A/N) Oh, look. It's October. Let's see how many Halloween-ish tropes we can unpack this month. Mostly this story stemmed from a desire to see Felix as a werewolf and sort of spun out of control from there, as stories seem to do with me.
Warnings: Gore, some sexy times (but nothing too graphic), swearing (yeah, lots of that, we know our Felix)
Hollow Moon
Locus wished he could say he was surprised to find Felix sound asleep upon entering the younger hunter's room, but really, nothing about his eccentric partner surprised him anymore. Felix had the uncanny ability to fall asleep anywhere, at any time of day. Locus had even seen him take a nap standing up once. It was a little past noon now, and here the man was tangled up in his blankets and snoring like an earthquake. Even in sleep, his partner just couldn't be quiet.
Glancing around Felix's horrendously messy quarters, Locus picked out what he was looking for on the far side of the room – his partner's knapsack. Picking his way through a pile of precious stones, a half-cleaned rifle, a set of bloodstained knives, and what was probably last week's dinner, Locus made his way to the pack. Gingerly lifting it, he also grabbed Felix's discarded cloak before making his way back to the bed.
"Get up," he growled at Felix seconds before dropping the knapsack on his chest. When Felix shot up with a dagger in hand, Locus tossed his cloak in his face. "There's a new assignment. Kimball wants to brief us."
"Fucking dammit, man," Felix snarled as he clawed the cloak away from his face to glare at his partner. "Wake me up like a normal person next time."
"I would if I thought you would actually wake up," Locus said as he moved toward the window, yanking open the thick black curtains and letting sunlight flood into the room. "As it stands, simply shaking you awake would result in a mumbled 'fuck off' and you pretending to sleep for another hour just to spite me."
Felix hissed like a wounded animal when the light hit him, quickly covering his eyes with his arm. "Might still do that, y'know."
"Get ready," Locus snapped, going for the collection of half cleaned blades on the floor and gathering them up, depositing them disdainfully by Felix's feet. "Daylight's wasting. I'm amazed you left these uncleaned last night."
"I was tired, asshole," Felix grumbled as he scrubbed his hands over his face, the right hand continuing up into the unshaved section of his hair. "The last job wasn't exactly easy. Just because you can shake off a ghoul taking a bite out of your arm doesn't mean the rest of us peasants don't need a nap every once in a while."
"Once in a while? It seems to me you need a nap most days," Locus pointed out as he watched Felix dig for the bottle of alcohol he used to clean the blades with. Normally, Felix's prized weapons were kept in pristine condition, so the sight of them lying bloody on the floor had been somewhat…disconcerting to Locus. In a strange way, it was almost soothing to watch the slighter male dampen a cloth with alcohol and begin to wipe away the blood with smooth, even strokes.
"Wouldn't hurt you to take a nap sometime. Seriously, do you ever sleep? You probably haven't even seen your bed since we got in," Felix said, brown eyes shifting slightly away from his task to look up at Locus. The taller hunter couldn't help noticing the way his partner's gaze flicked to the blood-spotted bandages on his upper right arm.
"I will sleep when I need to. We have other concerns at the moment," he said, leaning against the wall, barely wincing when his injury brushed against the surface a little harder than he'd meant it to. Barely was enough for Felix to notice, though.
"Why is she sending us out again so soon? We barely made it back yesterday," he said, sounding as if he were complaining out of laziness, but Locus knew better.
"I don't know. She was very insistent. I'm inclined to guess there's something different about this job. Something that can't wait," he speculated, letting his gaze trace over Felix's face, rather than look him directly in the eye.
Felix's skin was inked in several places, but the most prominent tattoo on his face was a tangle of thorny vines that ran from his neck up the right side of his face. The vines looped around his eye before trailing down across his cheek and back behind his ear. Most people didn't know it, but the vines terminated in a rosebud. The image was sometimes visible when his long hair was tied back, but right now it would be concealed beneath the loose-flowing black hair. Most people also didn't look past the streaks of orange in the hunter's hair anyway, so it hardly mattered. Altogether, Locus had always found the look just a little tacky, but it was also normally seen in conjunction with Felix's typical shit eating grin. The grin wasn't present right now. Not really. His lips stretched in the usual way, quirking upward, but the expression didn't quite reach his eyes.
"What is it? Nobody in this dump available to handle a little emergency?"
"I couldn't say. I haven't seen anyone since we got in. I know North and South are pursuing a lead out on the Western Isles, but I cannot speak for anyone else," he said as he stood from the wall, bending over to grab the first shirt he saw that didn't have blood or ectoplasm on it, tossing it on the bed beside the stack of gleaming daggers. Felix chuckled as he laid the last knife down with its siblings, cleaning his own hands of blood before going for the shirt.
"Figures. As usual, we've gotta cover for the rest of these losers. Sometimes I wonder why Kimball even keeps them around."
"Because an organization such as this one couldn't survive with only hunters in its employ," Locus pointed out. "We aren't-"
"Okay, okay, okay. I get it. So don't need a lecture right now," Felix snapped at him, beginning to strap his blades back on as he climbed out of the bed. Once he was ready, he slung his old red cloak on and hefted his knapsack onto his shoulder, offering Locus the customary sneer. "All righty then. Let's go get paid."
Five minutes later, the two men were seated in Vanessa Kimball's office, watching the older hunter pace behind her desk. Really, the term 'office' could only be used in the loosest sense here, as their little hunting business operated out of Kimball's rundown family estate, but the woman always insisted on calling the space her office in an effort to keep things at least semi-professional. Kimball didn't look like much of a boss today, though. The normally impeccable bun she kept her dark hair in was coming undone and she wasn't wearing any makeup to conceal the large dark circles under her eyes. The expression on her face as she paced back and forth before the large world map on the back wall was pinched and worried.
"So…" Felix started after several tense moments, "are we just here to watch you wear circles in that expensive elven rug or do you actually have something for us?"
"Not now, Felix. I'm not in the mood for your bullshit."
"Hey, I'd still be napping right now if scarface here didn't think you had something important for us to do. Some of us have been working our asses off to keep up with the demand. Either give us the assignment or I'm going back to bed."
"Felix-" Locus started warningly.
"I'm sorry," Kimball said, finally sitting at the desk.
"Hold on. Did you just…apologize to me?" Felix asked, looking mildly stunned.
"Felix-" It was Kimball's turn to warn.
"No, not yet. You just lost your chance of me not being a dick about this. We've really gotta take in this moment here," Felix extolled as he got to his feet. "Vanessa Kimball just apologized to Felix Choi, the man who constantly gets on her last nerve and makes her life a living hell. I tell you, Locus, I think I might've just died and gone to heaven. Did you finally follow through on that threat to kill me and just forget to mention it?"
"Are you finished yet?" Locus bit out.
"Ah, who am I kidding? No way I'm gettin' in up there. Besides, if this really was heaven, Locus'd be naked. What've you got for us, Kimball?" Felix asked as he plopped back down in his seat, completely not noticing the very mild blush that painted Locus' cheeks. Even after all their years working together, he didn't think he'd ever get used to Felix saying things like that.
"As much of a dick as you are, Felix, what I said before still stands. It's been a very long week. Wash and Maine are on assignment back East and they haven't reported back yet. I'm starting to worry about them."
"So what's so important you need to send us out again before our rest period is finished?" Locus asked, trying to keep the woman on track.
"I may have a Spirit case for the two of you."
At this, both men immediately sat up a little straighter. When they'd first started working for Kimball, it was with the understanding that something like this was a very real possibility, but in the intervening years, nothing had ever come up. To have this happen now…
"Are you sure?" Locus asked.
"Why do you think I said 'may', Locus? I'm not sure. All I have is a report of a werewolf gone rogue outside a village south of Charon, killing at will. The southern packs have always been peaceful. To have a member turn so suddenly and violently, it…it has the earmarks of a Spirit," she said, her voice becoming quiet at the last as she looked at him.
Locus had stiffened at hearing the word 'werewolf'. He knew he had and he knew the other two knew he had. There was no point in denying it. Briefly, he felt the ghost of pain in the old x-shaped scar that marred the center of his face. These things he did not deny. What he did deny was the faintest remembrance of a scream.
"If it isn't a Spirit, it will just be a straightforward hunt, and there's no one I trust more to take down a werewolf. The village council will pay handsomely for the creature's destruction. But…if this really is a Spirit…"
"Fuck, Vanessa, we aren't equipped to deal with a Spirit. You know that," Felix told her. "What about Carolina? Shouldn't she and York be dealing with this?"
"They would, but they just headed off on a case this morning. There are rumors of a Spirit north of Sidewinder. I can't call them back for this."
"And Washington?" Locus pressed. "You don't want at least one of the witch twins on this?"
"As I said, I've had no word. He and Maine are also in pursuit of a Spirit, a report in Spiral City. We don't have time to wait for them to return. We need to act now."
"What about fucking Doyle? We need a witch. Can't you at least send him with us?" Felix asked.
Kimball shook her head at this. "Believe me, if I could, I would, but he left last night, just after the two of you got back, I'm afraid. He'll be negotiating contracts in Armonia for at least two days."
"And in two days, the moon will be full," Locus said quietly, "and we may be too late."
"Just so," Kimball said solemnly. "Locus…Felix…if there were any other way, anything at all I could do, I would do it, but we're out of options here. We need to have someone out there before the moon's full."
"And if it is a Spirit?" Felix pressed. "There's nothing we can do. We can't destroy it or trap it. All we can really do is lay down and die."
"Maybe you could talk it to death," Locus suggested with a completely straight face, to which Felix gave him a withering look.
"You can subdue it. You keep it busy until Doyle arrives. Maybe you'll get lucky and there will be a witch living in the village. I've booked the two of you passage on the last airship out of Armonia tonight. Now will you accept the assignment or won't you?" she asked.
Locus felt rather than saw Felix's gaze shift to him at this point. He knew his partner would be just as content to walk away from this, and really that would be the intelligent thing to do, rather than sign up to be cannon fodder for a potentially violent Spirit fragment. But Felix also knew that leaving people to die wouldn't sit well with him either, so he was waiting for Locus to decide, and whatever that decision was, the younger hunter would abide by it. So when Locus nodded, Felix threw his head back and sighed.
"Well, these bitches damn well better be paying Maine's weight in gold or some shit, 'cuz that's the only way this is gonna be worth it."
XxX
"So what do you think it is?" Felix asked Locus as the pair strolled through the dock.
"Is?"
"We work with these motherfuckers for four years and there's not even a whisper of Spirit activity and now three or four pop up all at once. Doesn't smell a little fishy to you?" Felix continued to press, sweeping the hood of his cloak back as he glanced sideways at Locus.
"Whether it does or does not is of little consequence. We haven't the necessary intel to speculate at the moment. Whatever the case may be, we will do our job," the older hunter said, eyes fixed straight ahead.
"And you're all about the job, aren't you," Felix said with a smirk, spinning on his heels so that he could walk backwards and look at Locus while they moved. The man kept the hood of his ratty green cloak pulled up, mostly concealing his face, but Felix could still catch glimpses of his partner's delicious-looking golden brown skin. He knew Locus didn't much care for people staring at the scars that dominated his face, so he tended to keep his head down out in public, but it was never the scars Felix was staring at when he looked at his partner. It was that skin, that skin and the chiseled features it adorned, the gray eyes most people didn't look past the scars to see. Really, he'd found Locus attractive from the moment they'd been thrown together during the Daemon wars, but Locus never took his attempts at flirting seriously. Not that Locus ever took anything he did seriously, not unless he had a weapon in hand.
"It's a job that needs doing. This world's going more and more to hell every day," Locus said, not quite looking at him as they moved. "The wars awakened the darker things sleeping beneath the earth. How many people are truly equipped to fight these creatures?"
"So what? You really think taking out a couple dozen monsters will change anything? It's like trying to plug a hole in a dam with cotton," Felix pointed out, gaze continually flicking to the spot in the old green cloak where he knew Locus' injury to be.
"What would you have me do, Felix? Just lay down and die?" Locus snapped at him.
"Nah. That's not you. You wouldn't be you if you stopped fighting. So you go ahead and fight the good fight. You keep everyone else alive. Me…I'll keep you alive," Felix said firmly, probably one of the only things he would say without a trace of irony, and he saw the shift in Locus' eyes when his partner heard that in his voice. But rather than let him see that truth in his own eyes, he turned back to face forward, falling into step beside Locus once more. "Because y'know you're just shit at the whole taking care of yourself thing. You'd probably let yourself starve if I didn't make a point of shoving food down your throat. On that subject…oh…mm, yeah," he groaned, tilting his head back to catch the scent on the breeze wafting through the docks. That was definitely pork.
"What?" Locus asked.
"I smell something fucking delicious. That's what," Felix said, eyes scanning ahead, searching until he found what he was looking for just beyond their boarding ramp – a line of food carts. "Target sighted. I'm gettin' me some dumplings," he said, starting to move faster.
"Honestly? Why waste the coin? They will surely have food onboard the airship," Locus pointed out, still managing to keep pace with him.
"It's not a waste if you're getting actual food out of the bargain. If you wanna be stingy, you can waste your own gut on weak coffee and a slice of bread. Me, I'm gonna get the good stuff. So if you'll excuse me," he said before splitting off from his partner to get in line at one of the carts. When he rejoined Locus ten minutes later, it was with a large bag of freshly made pork dumplings in one hand and a glass bottle in the other.
"What's this?" Locus asked as the bottle was thrust into his hands.
"Fuck if I know, some flowery bullshit. Rosehip tea or some crap. It's what the man had. I know you hate to eat while on assignment, but you have to put something in your stomach or I'm gonna have to listen to it growl the whole damn time, so you'd better fucking drink it," he grumbled, watching Locus out of the corner of his eye as he untied his own bag. His partner stared at the bottle for several moments before snapping the top off and taking a long swig.
"Rosehip," the other hunter said with a nod, taking another long drink. "Thank you."
"Whatever," Felix said, smirking as he plucked a dumpling from the top of the bag and popped the whole thing into his mouth, relishing the mild burn of the hot food as he began to chew. He moaned quietly as the rich, savory flavor filled his mouth, a small drop of grease escaping from between his lips and dribbling down his chin. "Fuck, that's good," he groaned around the mouthful.
"That's disgusting," Locus said with a shake of his head. "Would it honestly kill you to swallow first?"
Felix just smirked before sticking his tongue out at Locus, showing off the whole mouthful of half-chewed dumpling. His partner shuddered in disgust, reaching forward to snap his mouth shut. Before he'd had the chance to snatch his hand back, though, Felix reached up with his own free hand, keeping Locus' in place against his chin. Still smirking, he flicked his tongue back out to lick along one of the other man's fingers. He noted the way Locus' eyes widened at the intimate contact, the way he inhaled sharply. He noted every last detail with no small amount of pleasure, but before he could say anything, he was interrupted.
"Locus! Felix!" a familiar accented voice called out to them. The two hunters looked up to see Doyle racing toward them along the dock. "Thank the gods you haven't left yet. I was almost certain you would've boarded by now."
"Come to join the party, old man?" Felix asked as he backed away from his partner, more than a little frustrated with the bumbling witch.
"Unfortunately, no. Butch and I won't be able to follow for two days yet. How's your arm, Locus?" the old witch asked with a concerned look.
"Fine," Locus answered simply, to which Doyle raised a skeptical eyebrow.
"You didn't get any sleep last night, did you. Locus, I've warned you before. The healing spells aren't instant. You need to give them a chance to-"
"We don't have time for this, old man," Locus interrupted in frustration, relying on what was normally Felix's phrase to get the point across. "We need to be boarding. What do you want?"
"Well, if that's the way you're going to be about it, don't come back to me when your gun arm doesn't heal properly. However, I do have something that may be of help to you. It's a trap spell I've been working on," the old witch huffed as he pulled something from his faded yellow cloak – a dagger with a crystalline blade.
"So what will this do for us exactly?" Locus asked as he took the dagger from Doyle.
"It isn't strong enough to contain a Spirit on its own, but if you impale the Spirit's vessel with this, it should be able to anchor the Spirit to the vessel," Doyle explained as he swept back a strand of his flyaway blond hair.
"Should?" Felix clarified as he slipped behind the nervous old witch, beginning to move in a circle around Doyle and Locus. "You mean you're not sure it'll be strong enough to pin a Spirit down? Locus and I are supposed to pin our fucking necks on a maybe?"
"It's not as if there's been an opportunity to test it yet," Doyle huffed indignantly. "Epsilon is certainly in no fit state to be-"
"Yeah, no, we get it. Good luck boys. Hope you're still alive in the morning. Drinks are on us if you survive the night," Felix ground out, draping an arm around Locus' shoulders as he deftly slipped the dagger from his hands and into his own belt.
"Well…to be honest, I'd feel much more at ease if Locus held onto it," Doyle said, glancing nervously from side to side.
"What? Don't trust me, old man? Can't say I blame you. I wouldn't trust me either. There is one thing you can trust, though. I'm not gonna let the one person in the whole world who has my back get himself killed. Your precious weapon's safe with me," he promised before steering Locus away from the old witch and up the boarding ramp to the waiting airship.
"And you really will take care of it?" Locus asked, quickly finishing up the rosehip tea before fishing in his knapsack for their tickets and hunter's permits.
"Locus, Locus, Locus," Felix cajoled. "Have you ever known me to mistreat a blade?"
"True enough," Locus granted, fingers finally closing around the necessary paperwork. "Though…there was this afternoon."
"One time freak occurrence, I assure you. I vow to never be tired after a job again."
"Promises, promises."
"Though, since we didn't get our allotted break time, I am going to be heading back to sleep once we get to our cabin, and I insist on not being woken up til we get to Charon," Felix went on. He knew Locus wasn't really listening, but he went on anyway, because that was who he was. And that was how they were going to get through this – Locus being who Locus was…and him being who he was.
XxX
The village of Tartarus was located about a day's drive from Charon. After the daylong flight it had taken to reach the southern city, the hunters had barely managed to make the drive out in time. The village was situated on the edge of a forest – the territory of daemons and other creatures. Like many of the outlying towns and villages, Tartarus had been reduced to a much more primitive state in the years since the wars. There was little steam or gas power and their radio didn't work this far out. Until Doyle could make the journey, they were well and truly on their own.
There hadn't been a lot of time to confer with the village elders before nightfall. A curfew had already been imposed before their arrival, which the townspeople were only too happy to abide by, leaving the streets completely clear. Felix had suggested they use someone as bait, but Locus had shut that idea down immediately, so Felix had instead offered himself up as bait, and though Locus hated that idea even more, he hadn't exactly been able to contest Felix's choice.
So here they were, Felix sitting underneath a tree just outside of town while Locus took up a sniper's position in one of the upper windows in a house on the outskirts, close enough to be able to take a shot at anything that came at Felix, but far enough away that his silver weapons wouldn't be detected by the wolf as anything distinct from the silver already in the village. Yet another reason Locus hated this plan. Felix couldn't have any silver on him. If he had even a sliver of the stuff, the wolf wouldn't take the bait. It would be up to Locus to make this kill.
He watches his mother load the gun with steely determination in her eyes. He doesn't understand how she's not afraid. Everyone else is dead. What can they possibly do?
"Mother-"
"No, Lucas. Not now. I need you to protect her. No matter what happens to me, you have to keep your sister safe."
Locus shook his head vehemently in an effort to shake off the memory. He didn't need this now. He had to focus. Felix was counting on him.
"I'm trusting you with this one, asshole. Better fucking come through. If you let that thing get me, you're the first one I'm comin' after. Fucking scary werewolf, bitch."
"Dammit, Felix," he hissed under his breath, even though the other hunter was some hundred feet away and couldn't hear him. Felix was leaning against the tree with his head resting in his hands and his legs crossed in front of him, whistling casually as he looked up at the full moon hanging in the clear sky far above his head. Then he yawned before beginning to sing, loudly and off key, but Locus was still able to recognize the words.
I was five and he was six
We rode on horses made of sticks
He wore black and I wore white
He would always win the fight
Bang bang, he shot me down
Bang bang, I hit the ground
Bang bang, that awful sound
Bang bang, my baby shot me down
Even now, at a time like this, Felix still couldn't shut the fuck up. Locus was so tense, he had half a mind to go down there and throttle his partner himself. He just might have, except that was the moment a lone howl sounded in the distance.
In no more than a heartbeat, Felix was on his feet and Locus' eyes were fixed on the forest. A wolf emerged from the tree line, a creature nearly as large as a man was tall. Definitely a werewolf, but how would they know if it was a Spirit?
Letting out another long, high hunting call, the wolf broke from the trees, barreling across the field toward the village. No time to worry about it now. Best to just focus on killing the thing. Readying his rifle to take the shot, Locus' gaze briefly shot to his partner, who was standing at the ready with two daggers in hand.
"Come and get me, bitch!" Felix challenged, standing his ground as the monster charged at him. When it had drawn close enough, the younger hunter let his weapons fly. One blade missed its mark, but the other bit deep, burying itself in the wolf's right eye. The creature howled in pain, its rampage briefly halted as it skidded to a stop to claw the knife from its face. Locus quickly lined up for the shot, getting the beast in his sights. He would have only one chance at this.
However, before Locus could take the shot, the creature managed to claw Felix's knife from its eye. Then it turned its enraged gaze directly upon him, somehow knowing exactly where he was. As the wolf looked into his eyes, blood pouring down its face, its silver eyes suddenly glowed red.
"The wolf slayer," the beast snarled in a voice barely recognizable as anything human. "Now I see why they call you thus, man child. I see the blood of your loved ones in your eyes."
Frozen. Completely frozen. The creature was looking directly to the heart of him and there was nothing he could do about it.
"Dammit, Locus! Wake the fuck up!"
Felix! Felix was shouting at him. Felix was down there with the monster. Helpless. He had to do something. He couldn't let it happen again!
Lining up again, he finally took the shot, but it was too late. The wolf was already in motion again. By the time the silver bullet struck the dirt where it had been, it was bearing down on Felix again.
"Felix!" Locus screamed, throwing himself from the window without a second thought. When he landed hard on the ground, he was already in motion.
Felix didn't see what Locus was doing. He was completely focused on the imminent death running toward him. There was no point in running. He could never outrun this thing, and though he was armed to the teeth, every last one of those weapons was useless against this monster. He just had to hope his partner was going to come through. When the wolf tackled him to the ground, he already had another dagger in hand, thrusting it up through the beast's throat.
The wolf chuckled around the weapon in its windpipe – actually fucking chuckled, what the hell? As its blood flowed down onto Felix's chest, it leered down at him.
"Do you think the child can save you, hollow warrior? Are you even worth saving?"
"Okay, talking werewolf. I'm gonna go with Spirit," Felix muttered, trying to reach for the crystal dagger in his belt. But his fingers fell just short of the hilt. As the wolf watched him struggle, its angry features twisted into something like raising an eyebrow.
"Oh? So you know me, do you," the thing snarled, claws digging painfully into Felix's arms. "Then you know you cannot destroy me. Why are you trying?"
"Get away from him!" Locus was suddenly right there screaming, standing just a few feet away with a pistol aimed at the wolf's head, and for the life of him, Felix had never before heard such utter terror in his stoic partner's voice. "Let him go or I'll shoot!"
Again, the wolf laughed, lifting its shaggy head to look up at Locus. "I'm certain you'll shoot even if I do let him go, so where is my incentive to comply? Perhaps if you were to discard your weapon, I might be more willing to talk."
"Fuck that, Locus! Don't listen to this fugly half breed!" Felix snarled, using the wolf's distraction to his advantage, slipping the dagger from its place and jamming it up through the monster's heart. Upon making contact, the blade began to glow with a bright white light.
"Huh," the wolf commented absently as it looked down at the knife in its chest. "That's different. I think you may have actually found a way to hold me, scum."
"Not so cocky now, are you," Felix said with a sneer of his own.
"Oh, I don't know about that. I think it would be in your best interest to remove that spell, hunter," the creature said, lowering its head so that its dripping maw was less than an inch above Felix's exposed shoulder. "Remove it…or I will bite you, and I think you know how much worse a fate than death that is."
"Bite him and I'll shoot you," Locus snarled. "If you hurt him-"
"Just fucking shoot it, you idiot," Felix growled back. "It can't bite me if it's dead."
"Perhaps not…but do you know for a fact this spell of yours will hold me to a dead host? What happens to you if it doesn't? What do you hold me to when I'm free?"
"Go ahead and take a bite, bitch. I'm almost jealous of you, getting to take a bite out of me," Felix challenged.
"Felix, for once in your life, would you shut the hell up!" Locus growled, feeling his arms starting to shake. The jump from the window had already rattled him and he could feel his injured arm starting to protest the rough treatment. Could he even make the shot like this? Would untethering the Spirit from its host just cause something worse to happen?
"Remove the spell, brat. Do it now!"
"I won't!" Felix snarled right back. "I'm not takin' that blade out, so you can go ahead and eat me or whatever it is you're gonna do. I know Locus can handle the wolfie. You're the only real threat, and so long as you're trapped, you can't hurt him."
"Why?" the Spirit demanded. "You would spend your life for a broken child who cares nothing for you? Why?"
Felix actually laughed at this, threw his head back and laughed, loud and long and slightly mad. "You fucking moron! You really don't get it, do you? I'm a fucking piece of shit! My life's not worth anything to anybody! Why do you think I was the bait? Was it supposed to shock me my own partner doesn't care about me? Joke's fucking on you, doggie! So go ahead! Do your fucking worst! DO IT!" he screamed.
"If that is what you wish, then so be it!" the wolf snarled, closing the final distance.
"NOOO!"
At first, Locus wasn't completely sure what had happened, it had all happened so quickly – the wolf's snarl, his own scream, the sound of teeth ripping into flesh, the explosion of the gun firing, Felix's cry of pain, a single weak howl – all of it swirled together in a horrible white flash. When Locus came to, he found himself on his knees, breathing heavily and still aiming his smoking pistol at the werewolf. The beast lay on top of Felix, completely unmoving, but there was a strange substance almost bleeding off the creature. It wasn't ectoplasm, not quite. Whatever it was, it was caught somewhere between a liquid and a gas. As it bled out of the dead wolf, it moved several feet away, ultimately coalescing into a semi-transparent figure composed of shifting black and gray light.
"It seems that remaining bound to a vessel at the moment of its death robs me of my strength. You have won tonight, wolf slayer, but you have lost something precious to you for that victory. Don't think I will forget this. No. Omega will have his vengeance," the Spirit said in a voice not unlike the wolf's. Then it was gone, and they were alone.
"Felix," Locus whispered breathlessly, dropping to all fours and crawling to his partner. Shoving the wolf's carcass off of him, he desperately started to shake him. "Felix? Felix!"
Felix's eyes were closed and he was lying so still, but he was still breathing. Even at that, Locus knew he was too late. He could clearly see the place where the wolf had torn a chunk of flesh from his partner's shoulder. The venom was in his system already, pumping through his veins with his blood, now just as much a part of him.
"Felix…dammit…Felix," he hissed through gritted teeth, pounding a fist against the ground beside his head. Why…?
"Do it," Felix was suddenly hissing in his ear. When he looked back down at his partner, it was to see his brown eyes looking back up at him with resolve and…desperation? Fear?
"What?"
"Do it," Felix hissed again. His voice was quiet, but the sound of it was deafening in Locus' ears. The anger and hurt in his partner's voice sunk into the hunter's brain as Felix reached up a hand and wrapped his fingers around Locus' wrist. Only then did Locus realize that he was still gripping his pistol in pale fingers. "Nothing's easier."
"Felix…" he exhaled his partner's name in fear and desperation. Felix offered him a pained grin as he forced Locus to press the muzzle of the gun against his temple. "I…I can't-"
"You have to," Felix snarled quietly, eyes flashing silver, already resembling the monster he was becoming. "I did this for you. If our partnership ever meant anything to you, you'll do this for me. Now fucking kill me before it's too late," he hissed, and if Locus didn't know any better, he would say those were tears gathering in his eyes.
"Felix," he whispered again, throat tightening against the pain gripping at his heart. He would do it. Of course he would. It was the right thing to do – the merciful thing. It was the only thing he could do for Felix now…so…why was it he couldn't make himself pull the trigger?
"Locus…please," Felix begged him. "Motherfucker…you can't just leave me like this."
"Felix," he repeated, cupping his partner's face in his free hand while keeping the pistol jammed against his temple. Then he pressed his forehead against Felix's, their breath mingling together as he held him. "Felix," he murmured once more, as if he would never say his name again. "How can you think you mean nothing to me?" he whispered before pressing his lips to Felix's.
The younger hunter returned the kiss harshly, hungrily. Locus kissed his partner with years of unspoken, unspent passion – desire he'd been afraid to pursue for fear of the younger man's flippant attitude. But if this was really to be their end, before they'd even started, then he didn't want this moment to end. He wanted to go on kissing Felix forever. If he had to kill the man he loved, then he wanted his last moment to be this one.
But Felix knew him too well. He must have felt the thought take root in Locus' mind, because that was the moment he broke the kiss, looking up at Locus with tears flowing down his face.
"Please," he started, reaching his other hand up to tangle his fingers in Locus' dark hair, partly hanging loose from the short ponytail it was normally kept in, "don't do anything stupid. Don't go off and get yourself killed. I fucking want you to live, Lucas. Don't throw away the one good thing I did with my life."
"I won't," Locus promised, leaning down to kiss him one last time. Then he tore the pistol away from Felix's head, turning it in his hand and smashing the butt of the gun harshly against the side of his face, knocking him out cold. That done, he fired a round into the earth next to Felix's head, putting on a show for the villagers already starting to venture out of their homes. Gathering him in his arms as if he'd just killed him, he held Felix tightly, whispering to him, "I won't lose you."
Tenderly laying his partner back on the ground, he pressed a kiss to his forehead before getting to his feet to meet with the village elders moving toward him.
"The creature…it's dead?" one of the men asked him.
"Dead," he reported simply.
"And your partner?"
"He was bitten. I had to shoot him," he explained, looking more past the elders than directly at them.
"We are grievously sorry for your loss, then. But we are forever in your debt," one of the women said.
"If it's all the same to you, I'd like to leave tonight," Locus said, pulling the hood of his cloak back up. "I need to take Felix home."
"As you wish. We would advise against traveling at night, but you seem perfectly able to handle yourself. The payment will be loaded into your automobile."
"Thank you," Locus said, nodding once before moving back to Felix. Gathering him up in his arms again, he cradled him easily against his chest as he carried him to the automobile they'd come in. Laying his partner out in the backseat, he used Felix's red cloak to cover him, as if he really were dead. Shuddering at the thought, Locus left the others to load their pay while he went to gather the rest of their equipment – Felix's discarded knives and the set of guns he'd left behind when he'd gone to help Felix. Within twenty minutes, he was driving out of Tartarus with Felix and the payment for the job – a bag of gold and two bags of unprocessed ruby mined from the Southern Mountains.
Locus didn't start on the road back to Charon, though. No. Instead he took the decaying road through the forest, toward an abandoned village he'd noted on the map while they'd been planning the hunt. The deserted community was overgrown and half reclaimed by the forest, but Locus did manage to find at least one house that was still standing, carrying Felix inside and laying him down on a mostly intact bed he found in a back room. Then, for a long while after, he just sat in the darkness with his comatose partner. For the first time in a long while, he had no idea what to do. There was no mission to keep to and the only order he knew Kimball could give him would be to execute Felix, and he could sooner put a bullet through his own brain than he could follow such an order.
He knew there would be no transformation tonight. The wolf's venom hadn't had time to properly run its course yet. But tomorrow night, when the full moon rose over the forest and its light called to Felix's heated blood, then he would transform into the very monster they'd fought tonight and he would lose all memory of the person he was underneath the wolf. When he became the wolf, he would lose all his memories of Locus and the fact that Locus had spared his life – that he loved him – all of that would mean less than nothing to him.
He should've killed him. He should kill him – spare him the agony of killing Locus when he finally did turn – but he couldn't bring himself to do it. All he could do was lie beside his partner on the small bed and hold him close while he still could, ultimately crying himself into a sort of half sleep, never once relinquishing his hold on Felix.
XxX
Locus didn't bother wiping the signs of tears from his face late the next afternoon when he finally managed to pull himself out of the bed. He didn't care if Kimball knew he'd been crying. He hadn't cried since the night his mother and sister had been torn to pieces in front of him and the experience was so alien to him, he nearly lacked the capacity to feel shame at his tears. He'd just been so overcome by everything that had happened, he'd been unable to do anything but cry. He didn't really want to contact Kimball, but he knew he should at least tell her what had happened – in case he couldn't after tonight.
He didn't know how long Felix would remain unconscious, so he would have to be quick about this. Going for his knapsack, he searched through its contents until he came up with the small packet of spells Carolina had equipped him with. None of them were very powerful, but a simple communication spell would serve his purposes. Selecting the correct pouch, Locus tore it open and dipped his fingers into the paste contained within, a substance composed of honey, powdered shell root, witch hazel, and several other herbs, all of it infused with the young witch's magic. Locus used the potion to paint a set of runes on the cracked mirror that was situated across from the bed where Felix slept. Then he sealed the working with a binding rune and quietly spoke the incantation to activate it.
"Recludere arti arcano te iubeo."
At his words, the mirror began to glow. For several tense moments, he received nothing but whiteness in the reflected image, but before too long the familiar trappings of Kimball's office began to appear within the mirror. When the image finally solidified, he was faced with his boss' worried expression.
"Locus, what happened last night? What's going on? What did you-"
"Shh," Locus shushed her, nodding back over his shoulder at Felix. "He's still sleeping."
Vanessa's expression paled at this. It was several moments before she could get herself to speak again. "Locus…I've never known you to care if you woke Felix. What happened last night?"
"We lured the werewolf out into the open. Your suspicions were correct. The creature was possessed by a Spirit."
"Do you know which one?"
"It identified itself as Omega."
"Oh, no," Kimball whispered, gaze briefly darting back to Felix. "What happened?"
"I had a shot, but I missed it. Felix was briefly able to pin Omega down, but…"
"But what?" Kimball prompted when he was unable to finish.
"When Felix would not release Doyle's spell…Omega bit him," Locus answered, once more looking past the person he was speaking to rather than directly at her.
"Oh…oh, no. Locus, I…you…why is he still alive?" Kimball demanded, her dark eyes going wide with fear.
"I can't do it, Vanessa. I can't kill Felix. I tried. I cannot do it," he explained, briefly squeezing his eyes shut, guarding himself against the remembered pain of even thinking about killing his partner.
"Locus, listen to me. You have to. You aren't thinking clearly right now. That thing in the bed, it's not Felix anymore. You can't think of it like that. Felix died last night. This is a monster. You're supposed to destroy monsters. It's your duty. Destroy this one now," Kimball urged him.
"I promise you, Vanessa, I've never been clearer in my life," Locus said softly, glancing back at Felix, who still slept fitfully on the bed.
"Obey my orders, Locus! You've got to destroy that thing before it's too late."
"I won't. I didn't call you for orders. I wanted you to know what happened…in case I don't get another chance to tell you. Omega's still roaming free. Doyle's spell couldn't hold it once the host was dead, but being within the host at the moment of death weakened it. That may be of help to you when you do catch up with Omega."
"Dammit, Locus, don't do this! I've lost Felix. I may have lost Maine. I can't lose you, too! I get that you two fucks have been dancing around each other all these years, but can you honestly think Felix would want you to do this? When the sun sets, what Felix felt for you isn't going to matter anymore. It won't matter what kind of history the two of you have. It won't be him in that room with you anymore. He won't know you, and he'd just as soon eat you as look at you. Maybe control can develop over time, but a newborn werewolf…there's no way."
"I know that. I know all of that. Who knows the lore better than I do? But Vanessa, I just…I can't let him go. I can't let it end like this. I have to try," he said, voice heavy with his resolve.
"Try what? Just what do you think you can do? You can't expect to- oh, gods, Locus, watch o-"
Kimball was abruptly cut off by a fist smashing into the mirror, shattering the glass and destroying the communication array. Locus immediately felt the heat of another body at his back.
"Why didn't you kill me?" an enraged voice snarled in his ear.
XxX
Felix honestly hadn't expected to wake up again. In that last moment, he'd been so happy to learn that he wasn't dying for nothing – that his feelings of love were returned – and to finally fucking get to kiss Locus. That would've been a good last moment. He would've been happy to die like that.
I won't lose you.
But no. He just had to wake up again – wake up on a lumpy mattress in a room that smelled like mold with his blood practically boiling in his veins and the feeling that there was a literal swarm of bees beneath his skin, buzzing over every inch, just beneath the flesh. It wasn't hell, was it?
No. It couldn't be. There was Locus, talking to Kimball via mirror – talking about not letting him go – and when the pieces finally came together in his addled mind, he felt rage grab his heart in a stranglehold.
Felix was out of the bed and across the room, smashing the mirror before Kimball had a chance to warn his clearly brain dead moron of a partner.
"Why didn't you kill me?" he demanded, fighting the urge to start killing Locus early.
"Could you?" Locus asked him without looking away from the shattered mirror. "If it was me, could you?"
"To fucking save you? I'd-"
"Don't you dare say yes," Locus snapped at him as he pulled away, finally turning to look at him. "Don't talk about things you have no understanding of."
"Dammit, Locus!" Felix growled in frustration, running his fingers through his hair. "You were supposed to blow my fucking brains out. Why are we doing this again? You've threatened to kill me so many times, the one time I actually need you to and you can't fucking follow through. What the fuck, man?"
"Felix-"
"Do you not get what's gonna happen when that sun goes down?" Felix demanded, pointing out the window at the rapidly sinking sun. "I'm gonna fucking tear you apart! Please…Lucas…don't make me do that," he begged him, defaulting to his real name again to show just how much he meant what he was saying.
"You won't," Locus said firmly. "I think we can get through this."
"Oh, gods," Felix groaned. "You're not gonna pull any of that 'have faith' crap on me, are you? If you won't do it, I will. Give me a gun."
"I am not going to do that, Felix. There's only one silver weapon in this room and I'm keeping it to myself. None of the other weapons will kill you."
"So what is it you plan on doing?" Felix finally asked, crossing his arms over his chest as he surveyed his partner.
"Nothing in particular. I just don't believe you'll kill me."
"So…what happens if you're wrong?" Felix pressed.
"Then, and only then, I will kill you. If you really don't know me when you turn, I'll do what you ask, but I have to know for sure. I can't just kill you. You have to understand that."
"Fine," Felix growled as he moved toward his partner's knapsack, not wanting Locus to see just how much all of this was bothering him. "But you're damn well not gonna be naïve about this. You need to tie me up, subdue me at least a little."
"What?" Locus asked as he watched Felix go through the knapsack.
"Tie me up! Stop me escaping!" Felix shouted at him as he pulled a length of chain from the sack. "Which part don't you understand?"
Felix could see Locus wanting to respond to him, but the older hunter kept whatever he wanted to say to himself. Felix moved back to the bed, kneeling at the foot by one of the posts with the slender chain resting in his lap. He didn't look at Locus while waiting for him to come chain him up. To Felix, in his strangely hyperaware state, it felt like it took ages for the other hunter to come kneel in front of him, slowly starting to wrap the chain around him.
"Tighter," Felix urged. "If I struggle, I can still get free."
Locus complied, tightening the chain, but before he could lock it off, Felix insisted again.
"Tighter," he growled before asking in a voice that was much more frightened than even he would admit to, "What…what's the worst thing you've ever done? Locus?" He didn't really expect an answer, but he just had to talk. Once again, before Locus could lock the chains, Felix stopped him.
"Tighter," he growled in a much more openly predatory tone, nearly purring at the way the other hunter's arms moved around him to tighten the chain. "Or I'll eat you up," he warned him, and at this, Locus finally looked up at him, the barest flicker of uncertainty in his gray eyes. When he finally locked the chain, he crawled backwards away from Felix, moving until he was against the door, silently eying him all the while.
Despite being chained up, Felix couldn't quite help fidgeting. For fear of saying something like that again, he tried to keep his mouth shut, but it really just wasn't something he could do. Finally banging his head back against the bedframe, he sighed in frustration.
"If I'm not gonna talk, you have to. I can't stand this silence."
"All right," Locus agreed quietly. "What do you want me to say?"
Felix offered up a pained chuckle at this. "Y'know, I don't know what's scarier. The idea of actually turning into a monster or you agreeing to that. It's all very last rights. If you don't think this is gonna work, why are you drawing it out? Can't we just fucking get it over with? We already did all the saccharin shit. We did the tearful goodbye and the last kiss and the 'I fucking love you, live for me' crap. Why can't you just…let me go?" he asked, not looking at his partner as he spoke.
"You'll forgive me if I'm not satisfied with our first kiss being our last. As for why I can't let you go, you said it yourself. To use your words…I fucking love you."
Felix wished he could take that as anything but what it was coming from Locus' mouth. If anyone else said it, it would be a joke, but him – when Locus said those words it was fucking poetry. It was a declaration of undying love – and here he was only an hour from ripping the man's throat out. Therefore he continued not to look at Locus, because he knew what he would see if he did.
Truth. Perfect truth. Absolute integrity that a piece of shit liar like him would be burned just for daring to look at it. That was what Locus was, and he just had to go and fall in love with the bastard.
"You're wrong, though," he suddenly head Locus saying.
"Wrong?" he asked with a bitter laugh. "What exactly am I wrong about?"
"I don't recall you say anything like that last night."
"What? Kissing you like a daemon on my death bed doesn't count?" Felix fired back, the irony of the fact that he was now chained to a bed not at all lost on him. "You're not gonna get to hear anything like it either, because I don't love you right now. I fucking hate you."
"No more than I would've hated myself if I'd killed you last night. That I promise you."
"Guess you're just delaying the inevitable then. You'll have a good long while to hate yourself come morning."
"No. I don't think so. Even if you're right…I have no intention of living longer than you."
"What the fuck's that supposed to mean?"
"I think you know what it means, Felix."
When the proverbial light finally went on in Felix's brain, he was unable to stop his gaze from snapping to Locus. There was a strange sort of serenity to the not quite smile on his face. Like he would be completely fucking okay with whatever happened next, whether that something was riding off into the sunset with Felix or being torn limb from limb by him. It didn't seem to matter. In that moment, his partner was happy, and Felix didn't know if he wanted to kiss him or punch him for that. But before he could comment on it one way or the other, the younger hunter felt something inside of him shift.
Felix couldn't really identify what it was. The best comparison he could make was that it was like snapping awake after nearly nodding off. Whatever it was, something in him had come awake.
"No," he whispered, eyes bulging in fear. "Not yet. Not yet."
He should have more time, shouldn't he? At least until sunset. There should still be time, dammit! Why the fuck was he being cheated out of his last moments all over again?
"What's wrong?" Locus asked him, immediately climbing to his feet.
"Don't…don't know," he barely managed to answer, feeling himself begin to tremble as a foreign wave of energy swept through his body, leaving him feeling both hot and cold. All at the same time, he felt nauseous, turned on, bone tired, and completely hyper. Really, his skin seemed to be the only thing keeping him from outright exploding, and he had a feeling the skin wasn't long for the world.
"Felix, what's happening?" Locus pressed as he moved toward him, kneeling in front of him again.
"Locus," he whispered in fear, not wholly able to keep his body from struggling against the chains. "Get away from me. Get the fuck away from me right now!"
"Felix! Felix!"
He could see Locus shouting his name, but he couldn't seem to hear him, couldn't properly feel it when his partner reached out to grip his shoulders. All there was was the sound of blood rushing in his ears, the violent thump of his own heart beating, and the feeling of a shadow crawling over his body. Then his world narrowed to a single pinprick of light and he was gone.
XxX
Locus didn't know what had happened at first. For a moment, it had seemed like Felix was on the verge of having a seizure. Then his head had snapped back against the bedframe and he'd gone completely rigid. The fit lasted only a moment before Felix's head dropped to his chest, leaving him seemingly passed out.
"Felix?" Locus called out quietly, uncertainly, almost afraid to move his hands from his partner's shoulders. But when Felix finally came awake and looked up at him, he was convinced to do so.
Felix's eyes had gone silver.
As with all werewolves, they were eyes that were not wholly human, but not wholly wolf either. They were trapped somewhere in between, like everything else about the werekind.
"Felix?" he tried again. "Are you still with me, Felix?"
Felix tilted his head slightly to the side in confusion, seeming to have no recognition of the name. No, then. When he opened his mouth, a sound that was all wolf came out. Only it wasn't like a wolf on a hunt. If anything, it was like a pup's plaintive cry. Despite the helplessness of the sound, though, Locus couldn't quite help noticing the elongated canines that now dominated his mouth.
Felix continued to make the strange keening sound while staring at Locus in confusion. The older hunter knew he'd never seen such a lost look in his partner's eyes before. If Felix were really still present behind them, there was no way he'd ever allow himself to look that helpless. There also seemed to be no recognition of him in those silver eyes, but at that, also absent was the taste for blood they'd both feared would take over. This was a part of the lore he'd never heard of before. Was it because the sun hadn't fully set yet, or maybe because he'd been bitten by a werewolf possessed by a Spirit?
"Felix?" he called softly, resolving to keep trying. "It's me. It's Locus." Then, deciding to take the risk, he reached his hand forward, gently caressing his partner's cheek.
Felix whined softly at the gentle touch, nuzzling into it, but when he shifted a little further, he suddenly seemed to realize that he was chained to the bed. Looking down at the chains, the younger hunter yipped in confusion, attempting to shake them off.
"It's okay. We're okay," Locus tried to soothe him, but then Felix let out a tiny growl of frustration, fighting all the more insistently against the chains. It didn't take much for him to start wrenching the links apart.
All right. If he was already that strong without even properly shifting forms, this could easily become a problem. Realizing that any attempt to retreat could potentially trigger some sort of predator response, Locus decided not to make any sudden movements, carefully sitting down in front of Felix. At this point, there was no changing course. He would just have to trust to Felix.
Easily shaking off the destroyed chain, Felix quickly crawled the short distance to Locus, mimicking his gesture from earlier by reaching out to touch his face. Locus offered him an encouraging smile, leaning slightly into the touch.
"It's all right," he continued to soothe. "Nothing bad's going to happen."
Locus kept himself calm throughout, in turn keeping Felix calm. He let his bewildered partner touch him, returning touch for touch and caress for caress. He remained composed even when Felix's searching fingers strayed to his lips, ghosting along the mildly chapped surface. Remained calm, yes, but couldn't quite help the quiet gasp he breathed in.
For a moment, Felix looked afraid, but Locus remained collected, continuing to smile for his partner. Reaching up to cup Felix's hand in his, he slowly turned his head to the side, pressing a tender kiss to his palm. He didn't miss the shiver that passed through the younger hunter's body. An easy growl sounded from deep within his throat.
Taking the sound of pleasure as permission to continue, Locus scattered kisses all along Felix's hand, covering his palm, the pulse point in his wrist, and the length of each finger. He knew Felix's hands so well, knew the shapes of his fingers, knew where callouses had formed from handling knives and guns, knew exactly how skilled and deadly they were, where they were strong and where they were weak. He'd thought he'd known everything there was to know about his partner's hands, but this – it was like relearning them all over again, discovering secret places that made Felix whine and gasp in pleasure.
Locus felt he could've just gone on kissing Felix's hands all night. As such, he was almost surprised when the other hunter leaned in to kiss him on the lips. It was so different from the harsh, desperate kisses they'd shared the night before. Where those had tasted of blood and bitterness, this one was soft and sweet. Even when he felt the impression of Felix's fangs behind the kiss, he could feel only gentleness behind the movements.
Felix kissed every inch of his face before moving down to his neck, tongue occasionally venturing out to taste him. Again, he felt the brush of those fangs, aware of just how easily they could break skin, but knowing they wouldn't. Felix didn't want to hurt him, and really he wasn't even sure if Felix's bite could turn him in this state. There was no way to find out and he didn't much care to think about it.
Locus didn't resist in any way when Felix pushed him back to lie on the floor, just enjoyed the heated press of the other man's skin as he climbed on top of him. The two of them continued to kiss, clinging to each other as they moved together on the dirty floor. Was it sex? Locus didn't particularly care to define it one way or the other. Mostly it was the two of them just moving clumsily against each other until they'd reached climax. Whatever was happening between them, it was intimacy, and Locus wouldn't trade it for the world. It told him that, even if Felix didn't know him on a conscious level right now, the fact that the younger hunter had come to him so easily meant that some part of Felix still lived within this creature. Even if this state didn't last, it gave him hope that his partner wasn't completely lost to him.
And that faith was put to the test when the sun finally set.
Locus knew the moment had come when he felt Felix stiffen in his arms. Then he felt him begin to tremble, and not with pleasure this time. Beginning to whimper in pain, Felix pushed Locus away from him, wrapping his arms around himself as if it might keep him from just shaking himself apart.
"Felix?" Locus called out worriedly, trying to approach him again, but this time, Felix actually grabbed him and tossed him to the other side of the room, his meaning quite clear.
Stay back!
Before Locus could attempt to approach again, Felix threw his head back and screamed – a hideous, horrifying sound that was neither wolf nor human. It was just suffering, agony of the worst kind, and as Locus watched the transformation, he could understand just what sort of tormented soul could make such a sound.
Felix's body broke. Bone and sinew shattered and reformed, twisting into shapes they were never meant to bear. Skin tore and knit itself back together a hundred times over to accommodate the change in the underlying structure. Felix grew to nearly twice his normal size, a vicious maw sprouting from his previously human face. As he fell to his newly formed paws, thick black fur sprouted all over his body, completing his transformation into a wolf.
For several moments, all Locus could manage to do was stand there, just staring at the creature that had once been his partner. No! Still was his partner. Felix was still in there somewhere. He had to believe that, otherwise all of this was for nothing.
Locus couldn't say how many minutes ticked by before the wolf finally became aware of him, a low growl sounding in its throat as its hackles rose in warning.
"Felix…please," he whispered, throat going dry in fear as he backed up against the wall. "Please…I know you're still there. Don't let me down."
In no more than three strides, the wolf had crossed the room, snapping at him and baring its teeth.
"Felix…it's me," he tried one last time, fully aware that if Felix didn't know him now, then he never would again, because this would be the last moment for both of them.
Then, just when Locus thought the wolf was going to reach forward and snap his neck with one powerful clench of its jaws, it hesitated. It sniffed at Locus for several tense moments before shaking its shaggy head and moving away from him, off into the far corner of the room. It circled several times before finally settling down, looking like it didn't mean to go anywhere for the rest of the night.
Locus exhaled a shaky breath before his legs completely gave out on him, sending him crashing to the floor. He hadn't realized just how terrified he'd been until that moment. It had been a long time since he'd felt fear during a hunt, but this was a slightly different situation. As he sat there, shaking, he thanked whatever gods there might still be that he hadn't been wrong, that Felix had come through. Locus didn't stir an inch from his spot until morning.
When Felix finally shifted back to his human form, he was left crouching naked in the corner of the room. For a few minutes, he had no idea what was happening. He just knew that he was cold and exhausted. But then, when he looked up, it was to see Locus approaching him with his discarded red cloak in hand, and he began to remember.
"Felix?" he called out hesitantly. "Are you here?"
"Lucas?" he whispered, clutching tightly at his arms for fear it was just some cruel dream.
Exhaling a sigh of relief, Locus quickly dropped to his knees before him, taking a moment to drape the cloak around his trembling shoulders before enfolding him in his arms.
"I knew it. I knew it," Locus whispered several times, kissing Felix's eyes as he held him close.
"Dammit…Locus…dammit," was all Felix could manage to get out just then, clinging to his partner for all he was worth. He didn't ask Locus what had happened, didn't ask how they'd survived the night, because he didn't care. All he cared about in that moment was that Locus was alive – alive and here and real and filling his arms and holding him and nothing else mattered because Locus was fucking alive!
Neither of them could explain what had happened that night. There were too many questions and not enough answers, but neither man gave a damn about solving the mystery just then, because against all odds, they were both alive. Everything else could wait until later. For now, the two hunters were content to just hold each other.
XxX
(A/N) Hmm, well, this just might be part one of a series, as I am now very curious as to what all else might be lurking in this little AU. Anybody else interested?