AN: Thank you to everyone who's reviewed, those really make my day. And a double thank you to everyone who helped me with the wolf colours. This chapter may be a little on the short side but it was a natural break.


An hour or two later Warren managed to shift back to this human form, Jesse went back up stairs and a few moments later Honey came down carrying a tray and a pile of fabric, she put the tray down and threw a tee shirt to me before unlocking the cage door. She draped a blanket over Warren and then knelt beside him, placing the tray next to her.

"Warren, it's Honey." She said softly, "You need to eat." Warren groaned faintly but otherwise ignored her. "Warren please, you must eat." He shifted away from her slightly. She sat by him for ten minutes and then sighed. Standing she picked up the tray and left the cage, locking the door behind her again. She set the tray on a low table and I could see the plate contained only meat. Then she turned to me, "He's sleeping." Then she glanced down at my hands, "You know you might want to put that tee shirt on." She suggested.

"Probably." I agreed as I pulled it on.

"If he wakes, try and get him to eat."

"I will." I promised. I leaned against the bars again watching Warren as he continued to drift in and out of consciousness.

I thought I heard him say my name, "Kyle."

"Yes Warren, I'm here."

"Kyle, come back." I realised at he was talking in his sleep his words were slow and hard to understand but I didn't mind making the effort. "Love you."

"I love you to Warren." I told him softly.

He was quiet for a while after that and then I could pick out just three words, "Mate, home."

I smiled at that, I had a feeling that I knew what Warren meant when he said mate and he didn't mean it as another word for friend. "I will darling, you get well and I'll come home."

He was quiet after that, Honey brought me a sandwich, I wasn't sure if that was because it was lunch time or if no one felt like cooking. I ate but Warren still wouldn't. I spent the day imaging what we were going to do once Warren was well again. A day or two spent around the house, either his or mine, making up and becoming familiar with each other again was the first thing on my plan.

But after that I was going to take him to meet my sister like she wanted me to and then I was going to call my parents and tell them about Warren, whether they wanted to hear about it or not. And after that I was thinking we needed a vacation somewhere, preferably somewhere with a beach, maybe Florida or LA. I also decided that we were going to be taking Mercy out to dinner at an expensive restaurant, as a thank you. What exactly I wanted to thank her for I wasn't sure, maybe for been the one to tell me about the werewolves or for putting up with the pair of us for the last few months. Or perhaps simply for calling me when Warren was dying.

It was early afternoon by my watch when Darryl joined me in the basement. He settled himself into one of the chairs and we more or less ignored each other, except for him telling me that getting to close to Warren wasn't a good idea. It was better that we ignore each other, Warren didn't need to hear us arguing on the occasions he drifted into semi-consciousness.

The door to the basement opened and Darryl stared at whoever was in the door way. I had a feeling I knew who it was and called out tiredly from where I was leaning against the silver coated bars. "Mercy?"

"Just a moment." She answered softy, I leaned over and could just see her, gaze locked with Darryl. Eventually he looked away.

"What's wrong?" I asked as she made her way down the stairs and over to me.

"Stupid werewolf games." She said as she crouched next to me in front of the cage door. "Darryl's just a little confused right now." He snorted at that and Mercy smiled slightly. "Following a coyote would stick in any wolf's craw." She continued, "Sitting around when there's things that need doing is worse. If Darryl were a lesser wolf, he'd have killed me when I walked into the room."

Darryl snorted again but this time he started laughing as well. "You're not in any danger from me, Mercy. Confused though I might be."

She glanced over at him and then smiled apparently satisfied with whatever she saw, "Can Warren talk?" She asked him

"Samuel said he thought it would be a few days. Apparently there was some damage to his throat." Darryl told her. "I don't know what effect changing had on his prognosis. He won't eat."

"He talked in his sleep." I told her, keeping my gaze on Darryl without bothering to conceal how much I had come to dislike the man. He had a problem with Warren, which meant he had a problem with me as well.

"What did he say?" Darryl snapped at me, sitting up in his chair and for once paying attention to me.

"Nothing that matters to you." I didn't care that it was probably a bad idea to irritate a werewolf, I turned my attention back to Warren and noticed his shoulders had tensed, he was awake and he had heard the last part.

"You're going to disturb him if you start fighting," Mercy said, she was right so I ignored him. "Darryl, have you heard from Bran?"

I could feel his gaze on the back of my neck as he answered Mercy. "He's coming up. He's got some business to finish so he won't be able to get here until late tonight."

"Good," She said. "I want you to go up and eat something. A hungry werewolf is a cranky werewolf. Go eat something before you eat somebody."

I heard him stand, and then walk up the stairs and close the door at the top. Mercy waited until he was gone and then opened the cage door.

"I've spent most of the last few hours with Darryl telling me that wasn't a good idea." I commented.

"Probably isn't," She agreed. "But Warren listened to me this morning." She went to the mattress he was laying on and sat down on the end, pulling the blanket down until it covered his feet and then crawling into the space between Warren and the wall so that she was just inches from his face.

I followed her into the cell and knelt down behind Warren, placing my hand on a relatively undamaged part of his shoulder. He still looked terrible, if anything the darkening of his bruises made him look worse than he had that morning. I could tell from the look on Mercy's face that something was wrong, that he wasn't healing as fast or as well as he should be doing.

"It's all right," She said softly to Warren. "It's just Kyle and me here."

He opened one eye ever so slightly to look at her and then closed it again, I gently squeezed his shoulder, knowing that he wouldn't be able to see me where I was.

"Adam and Samuel are missing, Daniel is dead." She told him, I didn't know who Daniel was but I didn't think he was one of the wolves. Warren opened his eye slightly a made a small noise. "Was he alive when you last saw him?"

He managed a tiny nod and Mercy reached up to touch his check gently, I could feel him relax under my hand.

"Did you tell Adam and Samuel where to find Littleton ?" She asked. Warren shifted slightly on the bed and I felt him tense under my hand again, he was frustrated I recognised the signs and apparently so did Mercy. She touched his lips, "Shh. Shh. Not you. I see. But someone told them. Do you know where they went?"

Suddenly I remembered something. "Samuel got a phone call last night before they left." I had meant to tell her sooner but worry over Warren had caused me to forget.

She raised her head to stare at me dumbfounded, "Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"Darryl didn't ask," I said simply with a small shrug. "He assumed I was sleeping the whole time, and wasn't in the mood to listen when I tried to talk to him." I sighed, "I should have told you earlier today, but to be quite honest, I was a little distracted."

She settled back onto the mattress and I think from the look on her face she was cursing someone, no doubt Darryl. "If you think being a human around them is frustrating, you should try being a coyote." She said, "So what did Samuel say?"

"Samuel didn't have a chance to say anything to whoever called." I told her, "They called, said a few sentences, and hung up. Samuel grabbed Adam and said, 'Let's go.'"

She gave me a rueful look. "They ignored you, too."

I gave her a tired smiled. "I'm not used to being ignored."

"Irks me when they do it to me, too." She agreed and then shifted her attention back to Warren. "Did you hear what the caller said?"

He tried to say a single word but couldn't, I leant over him and managed to work out what he was trying to say. "Trap?" I asked.

"Warren, I know the werewolves have to stay away from Littleton." Mercy said. "Did he call them and get them to come to him?"

He managed to nod.

"Did you hear where?" She asked but this time he didn't answer, she pressed on. "Warren, I won't let any of the wolves go near him. Neither Kyle nor I will tell the pack where they are, not until Bran gets here. I'll just tell the vampires, it's their problem in the first place."

He tried to tell us but I couldn't work out what he was trying to say, neither could Mercy. Finally I said. "Look, it's obviously not a yes or a no. Warren, my dear, did you hear part of it?"

My poor Warren was exhausted by his efforts but he nodded and managed to get out one more word.

"Church?" Mercy asked and Warren managed a small smile. "That's all?" He shifted his head in what might be a nod and Mercy touched his face again I touched his face as he relaxed. "Go back to sleep, Warren . We'll make sure Bran knows everything."

I squeezed his shoulder again and he gave a small shuddering sigh before relaxing back into full unconsciousness.

Mercy turned to me, she looked exhausted and I wondered how long it had been since she'd slept. "Kyle," She said. "Would you make sure to tell Bran this much when he gets here? He should be here late tonight or early tomorrow morning." She carefully got out of Warren's bed and sat for a moment on the end.

"All right." I promised. "What are you going to be doing?"

She rubbed her face and I thought she looked more like she should be getting back into bed than getting out of it. "If I can find out where Littleton is before nightfall, I might be able to kill him."

"Can I help?" I asked and I wasn't joking, I wanted to get my hands on the guy who had done this to Warren and make him hurt like Warren was hurting.

"Only by staying here with Warren." She told me. "See if you can get him to eat when he stirs again."

I looked down at Warren and tenderly brushed a strand of hair away from his face. "When you find the bastard who did this, kill him and make it hurt." If I couldn't make the bastard hurt then I'd settle for violence by proxy.

She nodded and then said, "Come on."

"He won't hurt me." I insisted.

She looked like she might agree with me but at the same time like she didn't want to take the chance, Warren might be in control now but that could change after she left. With a sigh I pressed a kiss to Warren's hair and then whispered, "Heal quickly my love." Before I followed her out and resumed my seat on the floor by the door.

Seeing what I was doing Mercy pulled one of the cushions off the sofa and threw it at me. I smiled to her and it was slightly more comfortable than the floor had been. Before I could thank Mercy her phone rang.

"What?" I heard her ask, there was a pause and then. "The police station?" Another pause and I wondered if I shouldn't be listening but then she had asked me to pass everything onto Bran and overhearing phone calls did seem to be helping today. "How broad's the pattern?" Again a pause, while the person on the other end answered and Mercy started waling towards the stares with a brief nod to me. "I don't know, maybe. Thanks, Tony. I owe you a few favours for this." She was at the top of the stairs when she hung up with a final, "I'll do my best."

I thought I heard Darryl's voice at the top of the stairs but the door swung shut blocking it off and leaving Warren and I alone again.

Honey came down an hour or so later with a tray of food for Warren and I. "If he wakes again try and get him to eat." She told me before she left. I assumed the plate with cooked stake and vegetables was for me, I may like my stake medium rare but the other stake look so rare it seemed as though it should be able to get up and walk. I wondered if it had even seen a frying pan.

I ate my dinner and then called the office, for a basement I got surprisingly good reception.

"Marie, it's Kyle." I said."

"Mr Brooks, how is Warren?" She asked, her voice politely interested but there was also a note of true concern in it.

"There have been some rough patches over the last twenty-four hours but he's a bit better now." I told her truthfully, "Though still not good."

"Do you want me to clear you schedule for the rest of the week?"

"Thank you." I said grateful that she seemed able to read my mind.

"I informed Mr Willis and Ms Reid of what had happened," Marie told me. "They are both perfect happy to cover for you for the rest of the week."

"Thank you, Marie." I said, "I'll call you later in the week." I said as I hung up.

"Kyle?" Warren called out in a quiet voice. I turned towards the cage, Warren had managed to roll on his and his head was turned towards me.

"Thirsty."

There was a pitcher of water and two glasses on the tray that Honey had brought down. Not even thinking about the consequences of it I poured him a glass of water and unlocked the door. I sat on the bed beside Warren and supported his head to let him take a sip of the water.

"Slowly." I cautioned him. "Slowly, there you go." When he'd had enough I helped him lay his head back down. "Are you hungry?" He made an affirmative noise and I leaned down to kiss her forehead. "I'll be right back my dear." I quickly left the cage and picked up the second plate before returning to Warren's side. "Don't blame me for the cooking, Honey did this. Do you need help sitting up?"

Warren nodded and I supported his shoulders, helping him sit up and then lean back against me. "Well, at least Honey cut it up into bite size pieces, open up." I said holding a piece up to his lips. He ate the piece I gave him and continued eating until he had cleared the plate, then I put the plate on the floor and helped Warren lay back down.

I was about to leave when he weakly grabbed my arm. "Why?"

"Why am I here?" I asked, he nodded. "Mercy called me when she found out you were hurt."

He shook his head, "Came, why?" I smiled understanding what he was asking.

"Because in spite of how I acted, I love you. And when I heard that you were hurt I realised just how much, I didn't care what you are, or the lie you told, all I cared about was getting to you as soon as possible."

"Love you." He managed, I was going to leave again when Warren uttered one word that changed that. "Stay."

I knew that it probably ranked fairly high on the list of stupid things to do but I didn't care, Warren wanted me to stay with him and I would. "Of course darling." I told him and lay down beside him.

He fell asleep in a matter of minutes, a faint smile on his lips, and I wasn't far behind.


AN: Next chapter should be up by a week Friday at the latest, it would be up sooner but between the Brownie Guide Warrant I'm working on and these interviews I've been having I'm afraid I've been a little short of time.