| It Was Always Going to End This Way |
"I'm sorry, what?" Dr. Geyer said, eyeing his stepson.
"A deep fryer. He slipped at work and caught his hand in the grease."
"And where do you work, Theo," Dr. Geyer asked, calling the bluff, "seeing as you're not wearing any obvious work attire?"
The chimera turned to glare at the werewolf sitting next to his bed. "You're a terrible liar. I told you this was a bad idea. Hot grease doesn't even char your skin. Nngh, shit that hurts."
"He's right," Liam's stepdad said, returning his focus back to the propped-up hand in front of him. He was covering the now-less-blackened skin with an ointment, one which made Theo both squirm and sigh in relief.
"Well yours wasn't any better!" Liam exclaimed.
"Well yours still sucked—"
"Guys." Dr. Geyer looked between them. "How about the truth?"
"Dad—"
"After what you told us this morning, I'm not sure why you needed to revert to lying to us again."
"I wasn't...I'm not Scott," Liam said, looking at his stepdad.
"Of course you're not."
"I mean…" He looked away again. "I mean, Scott can just tell his mom 'werewolf business' and she understands. We're not there yet. And I...I don't wanna' scare you."
"Hey, look at me," Dr. Geyer said, putting the tube of cream down on the suture-table. Liam complied, though warily. "I'm already scared, as is your mother." Liam started to look away again. "No, no. Hey. But that's nothing new. Parents are...we're always scared. Yes, you have some things that are going to worry us even more now, but it's not because we're fearful of you. We love you and that's what makes us scared. And I think, going forward, the most you can tell us without, I guess, going over our heads, the better. It'll alleviate some of our fear and it'll help us help you."
"Okay. Sure." Liam paused, looking at Theo who looked back at him. He turned to his father, took a deep breath and thought carefully about his first words. "We were chasing a superhuman cat who's trying to steal my friend's body, and in the process it attacked Theo and scorched his hand." With his unmarred hand, Theo smacked it into his forehead.
"Right," Dr. Geyer said, pulling off his blue gloves and tossing them on the suture stand. "Theo, you're done for now. I might be in surgery, or in therapy, but I'll send someone to look at your hand in an hour or so."
"You probably won't need to," Theo admitted.
"Right. Super healing or something," the man said, getting up and walking to the door.
"Thanks, dad," Liam called after him as he left the room.
"You're an idiot," Theo said, dislodging his hand from the brace that kept it vertical. Liam shrugged, sitting back in his chair and crossing his arms. "Deep fryer?"
"Tanning bed accident?"
"I was kidding." Liam pouted, looking away from the chimera.
"When did my son start dating boys?" Liam heard from out in the hall.
"Since recently," they heard Corey answer. "And they can hear you."
"So your dad seems nice," Theo teased.
"I should never have gotten out of bed," Liam said, burying his face in his hands.
"Mm, maybe not, but thanks for getting me out of there." Liam looked at, his expression soft yet unreadable. "And kissing it better."
The werewolf frowned as he blushed. "Yeah. Sure."
"It's actually starting to hurt again," Theo said, smirking devilishly. Liam rolled his eyes but smiled. He steadied himself on his hand, pressing down on the bed next to Theo's thigh. He brought his hand up to cup the chimera's jaw before kissing him, black marks of pain flowing into him at both points of contact. They smiled into each other, the older boy oblivious to the rapid-healing tingling on his hand.
/ | * | * | \
"That looks a lot better," Nolan said when Liam, Theo, and Corey stepped into the hospital cafeteria.
"Yeah, Dr. Geyer is, uh, good with burns," Corey said awkwardly, earning him the stares of each of his friends.
"We need to go back out there," Hayden said, looking at her watch. "If we leave now, we'll still have another hour of light."
"What if it's not there anymore?" Theo posed.
"You just don't wanna' back out there," Hayden countered.
"It breathes fire," Nolan offered. "I don't wanna' back out there."
"You actually did the most damage," Mason stated.
"Okay, focus," Liam said. "We wanna' deal with this thing sooner rather than later. Jeremy, any clue if it's still there?"
Liam's newest friend closed his eyes, breathing in slowly. They watched his focus, hoping that this wouldn't turn into the exhaustive fights they've been through in the all to memorable past. Jeremy's took a second-deep breath and opened his eyes. Before he opened his mouth to answer, the group made their own individual movements in response to seeing his eyes flash green and his nose twitch. "What?"
"N-nothing," Liam tried. "Just, yeah. Anything?"
"He's not there anymore. I'm not really sure where he is. I can sense...I think I got smell of oil. He's back inside the city limits. He seems closer."
"Any other details?" Jeremy shook his head. "Then we split up. Don't engage unless you have to; last time didn't go so well and we were at full strength. Jeremy will come with Theo and me, the rest of you stick together. And be careful." Everyone just stared at him. "What?"
"It's good to see the alpha back," Mason said, smacking his shoulder before heading for the parking lot, Corey and Nolan following.
Hayden, however, stepped in front of him. "Be careful, okay?"
Liam nodded, looking into her eyes. "You too." A small smile appeared on her lips. She reached down and lightly squeezed his hand before trailing after the others. The wary beta turned to the remaining two, catching an unreadable look from Theo before addressing Jeremy. "So, where should we start?"
/ | * | * | \
Theo drove passed the Del Taco they'd been to earlier that week. "No, the cemetary's done, too," Liam said, his phone in his hand.
"We're leaving the warehouse district now," Mason said over the truck's speaker.
"And that's your last one?" Liam asked.
"Yeah, though Nolan thinks we should check out the old zoo or one of the old military bases."
"Jeremy said it's still nearby," Liam affirmed. "Hayden, you didn't pick up its scent anywhere?"
"No. Even in the preserve it was pretty faint."
Theo turned his truck into Jeremy's neighborhood. "Alright. Let's call it a night then. We can pick up the search in the morning."
"Let's at least check out the zoo," the could hear Nolan mutter.
"We'll stick with Jeremy until you're done if you really want to drive out there," Liam offered. "Otherwise I'm just gonna' crash. It's been a long-SHIT!" Theo had slammed on the brakes just at Liam's outburst.
"Liam!?" Hayden cried first.
"What's going on?" Mason followed.
"He's here!" Liam said, dropping the phone and unbuckling before hopping out of the truck, glaring his blue eyes at the creature only 100 yards away.
"Liam, hold on," Theo exclaimed, shutting off his trucks, leaving the lights on. Jeremy stayed put, watching the two young men slowly converge their positions. He looked past them, spotting Shun only barely inside the shine of the headlights. Only now he wasn't looking at Shun, he was looking at himself. Mostly.
"All this time," Liam started. "Those people...his family!" the werewolf roared, pointing back at Jeremy inside the truck. Liam's fangs had distended and his nose was flared; anymore rise in anger and he'd transform.
"They...were the monsters," Shun said, his voice a hoarse echo of Jeremy's. "Yelled at me. Hit me. Threw me off a roof. Cut off my tail."
"But he loved you, didn't he?" Theo said calmly, dropping his removed shirt to the ground. "So why are you doing this to him?"
"Love. Freedom."
"You don't know what those words mean," Theo said, starting at the belt around his shorts. "But you wouldn't. You're just an animal."
Shun's eyes flashed green at him. "Both...monsters."
Liam transformed, the clouds above allowing the moon to be visible. "Only monsters kill people," Liam said through his clenched fangs. "I guess the three of us have that in common!" he yelled, lunging forward. Shun launched a ball of fire at him, the nekomata's range only increased and concentrated from before. Liam was ready, though, dodging to his right. He charged though, hoping to get close. He knew he wouldn't, however, and that was the plan. He'd distract him. Be the bait. While Theo…
The chimera, ripped Shun's throat out with his teeth, the large coyote finding his opening between bursts of fire. The nekomata grabbed at the teared skin, feeling the blood gush as it stumbled back, crumpling to the ground. Theo spit, the chunk of flesh landing a few feet from its host. Jeremy rushed past him, kneeling and grabbing Shun's hand. The creature just looked at his former owner, its eyes trembling. "It's okay. I know."
Theo walked back towards the car, stopping at his clothes and morphing back. He cracked his back and leaned down to grab his underwear; he no sooner reached for his them when he felt a hand on the arch of his back. He turned around to see Liam before him, all human again. Crying. Theo pulled the werewolf into his arms, nuzzling the sides of their heads together, self-conscious of the blood that stained his lips and his tongue. "We got him."
