(( I'm sorry about the long absence! Thank you for the support and I hope you enjoy the next chapter!))

Rick took a sharp inhale, shifting over in his sleep, this happened several times before he finally decided to get up and get something to drink. He groaned as he got out of bed and lumbered out of the room… this… wasn't the hallway he expected. He looked around, now that he realised it he was taller than when he went to sleep. "... what the fuck…?" he asked as he looked around and, when he finally managed to get the courage, he looked down.

This disbelief in his eyes as he saw his own body, hands, feet, all of it clothed in the last clothes he had worn before all of the insanity. He let out a relieved breath, his lips turning upward to form a smile as he took deep breaths, his hands clasping together. "Thank god that was just a dream." he muttered "A really fucked up dream." though being able to remember it so vividly was strange. Beyond this desire to accept that he had dreamt himself a wolf, what proved strange about his surroundings was that he emerged from a room within his old headquarters. Never mind that he was at headquarters, the problem was he never used the room given to him.

He walked down the hall, his hands running along his clothing, himself still not believing this was happening as his fist gripped the fabric tightly. He could remember burying these clothes. The more Rick thought, the more confusion invaded his confidence. For now, just focus on getting out of the building. Focus. His pace quickening, Rick started down the hall in search of the exit, a little fresh air could do him some good. He turned the corner of this dark hallway, pausing when he saw the exit. It really wasn't the exit he was hesitant about. Just a few paces down this hallway, there was a light from the dining room.

From this room he could also hear faint talking, like they had decided to quiet themselves down for once. His eyes stared toward the room as he approached to hear better, trying his best to remain silent once he got to the door leading into the bar room. "Poor bloke." one of them said, he recognised the voice as someone who had been actually kind of nice to him, a british chap hired because of his tactical skills. This statement was accompanied by more talking that he couldn't hear, it was blurred almost as though he was underwater listening to them talk.

Then another voice spoke out as clear as day, someone he had loathed from the first day he was hired. "Not like any of us knew the bastard, he was always held up in his camper." a few laughs were thrown, obviously some of them more drunk than others.

"Come off it, he was better than you any day!" more laughing followed as Rick looked around. Who were they talking about?

Well, his answer came swiftly as he heard chairs moving about, causing him to take a step back from the door. "To the sniper, his skills were unparalleled, personality not so much." This was followed by the clinking of beer mugs and more distorted talking.

Rick's confusion sent him continuing down the hall. Why were they talking like he was dead, he's not dead… just go home, just go home. He needed some sort of comfort and he knew where his camper was, he knew he parked it a few meters away in a nice shady area with trees.

He quickly fled the building, cold wind hitting his heated skin as he exited outside. The moon shone, unhindered by clouds, that gave him plenty of light to push forward toward his camper. Upon spotting it, a smile crossed his lips though slowly dropped when he got close enough to see the warm glow of a fire. The position of his camper made it difficult to see the fire, more or less if someone was there.

Cautiously, he approached his camper, humming soon breaking the silence of the night. Finally, Rick rounded the corner and froze. The humming continued, coming from a dark haired male, hair messily tossed about, standing near Rick's favourite chair by the fire. In his hands there was a beautiful white owl cooing, this humming soon came to a stop, along side Rick's breathing.

"It's been too long," The man said in a smooth voice, his head turning slightly toward Rick, not nearly enough to see their face "Did you miss me?" they asked, the owl's attention turning toward Rick.

He shook his head, unable to find his breath "You…" he cut off taking a deep breath "I knew it was too good to be true." he said taking a deep breath and shaking his head, a hand coming up to run through his hair.

"Is that so?" he asked standing up and fully turning to look at Rick.

On so many different levels, it would have been better if this man hadn't turned around. Dead center of his forehead was a bullet wound, trails of blood trickling down his face. A small smile crossed the male's face before dropping at Rick's horror "Right, I forgot my little predicament while talking with Sir. Hootsalot." he chuckled lightly, his hand coming up to wipe at one of the streams of blood.

Rick could physically feel his heart ache in his chest at the sight before him, hell he felt his stomach churn in the most unpleasant way, causing him to bend over prepared to throw up. There was a mix of emotions running through him, most of which were making him feel sick with all this sudden emotion.

He refused to believe what was happening, his head shaking as he remained bent over. A good minute was spent in silence. Rick gathered himself finally and straightening himself again. His eyes now stared straight at this person, unwavering as he simply shook his head and turned away. He didn't need to deal with it… no he actually couldn't deal with it. "Rick." the voice said, Rick flinching and continuing to shake his head as he walked away from the fire only to look up to see the fire straight in front of him. His head turned to look behind him before turning again to look in front of him, did he just… loop back around?

"Rick, you can't just walk away from me. You can't walk away from what happened," the man said as the owl took flight, flying straight at Rick causing him to flinch away, when his eyes opened the man wasn't there anymore, instead it was someone he had come to know recently. "Because it will happen again." the southern drawl stated, Dell's voice lingering in the eerily still air, it felt almost as if the surroundings had just ceased to exist.

Rick was silent, listening to the crackling of the fire for a moment longer before deciding to speak. "How?" he asked "I don't have a gun or motive." he stated to which Dell sighed and shook his head. Dell never said Rick himself would be the one to do it.

"You have been plagued with Death since you were young, Rick. Your mother, your father, everyone that has come close to you has died one way or another. 'Accident' or not. It will happen again." the man took a step closer before realising a strange look on Rick's face.

"And what makes you think I'm close to you?" he asked blatantly, his eyes staring dead into Dell's. Raging fiery amber eyes staring down into cold ocean blue, and Rick just knew. If you were to ask him, he wouldn't know how to explain it, he just knew this wasn't the real Dell, obviously because he was in a dream but it was something more, like someone was trying to make him believe Dell was here. He knew this wasn't Dell because, though his eyes were a beautiful blue, they never seemed cold like this, they always seemed to radiate warmth, and even though his voice sounded the same, the words he spoke were empty as Dell's never were.

Dell gave him a look "You think this is a joke?" he asked seeming to get irritated now at how Rick wasn't cooperating, something Rick had yet to see from Dell. It was so foreign to see his features twist into a glare, though it got worse. Oh, it got way worse. "Do you really want to spend your life alone? Do you wanna toss out one of the few people that might just understand? Assuming they can get past your ego." Okay, now Dell was getting angry and it was getting a little strange. He had never seen Dell anything besides happy, maybe a small glint of disappointment but happy nonetheless.

His eyes fell downward "No…" Rick hissed closing his eyes tightly, his life couldn't be coming to this, coming to being an obedient dog or wolf or whatever the fuck he is! Rick's eyes flashed open, intending to fight back against whatever this thing in his dream was, but when he opened his eyes he was met with a rather gory scene. Crimson eyes silenced Rick before he could even speak, blood dripping from Dell's lips, his teeth dyed in the liquid, from his chest it was obvious his shirt was soaked in blood, you could see the three key bullet holes, one in his chest, one in his leg, and one in his abdomen. Since Rick opened his eyes Dell had almost become a mindless drone, standing bleeding.

Dell was silent for a moment before his lips started to move, inaudible words drawing Rick closer in hopes of hearing them. God, he didn't want to get closer, but he forced himself. Reaching close proximity of the mumbling man he recognised the speaking, it was similar to the way that voodoo man, or whatever he was, spoke. It was drawn out and, despite it sounding like gibberish, he could understand it perfectly. "Nine nights a curse, nine nights a blood moon, with its fall to the tenth day, the curse will conclude." Before Rick could even begin to think about what he was hearing Dell attacked, hands gripping his shoulders and throwing him back.

The sudden attack not only startled Rick, but it sent him yelling back into reality as he jolted awake, bolting from his cosy little corner and nearly running into the edge of the bed at full speed. It took him a minute to realise he was no longer outside, no the moon was shining from between shutters, beneath him was the cold wooden floor, and just centimetres away was Dell's bed. Without much thought, Rick's head rose to see the dark figure of Dell, probably startled awake if not already awake, and bolted up onto the plush object.

Dell flinched back, holding his hands up to stop Rick from jumping onto him "Easy, easy!" he said in a hushed voice, stopping him just short of the man's hands, a short whimper coming from him as he ducked under Dell's hands in order to inspect him for any wounds, he had to be sure he wasn't dreaming anymore, convince himself he did actually wake up. Dell let out a soft chuckle at Rick's actions, possibly finding his actions strange after the few days he had been here. It was only when Rick felt himself under the pressure of Dell's arms as they laid on him that he finally stopped. Dell's hands brushed along Rick's fur soothingly while he coaxed Rick to calm down in a low calm voice.

Wait… had he been… he was shaking. The sniper lay there, calmed and pinned by Dell, just wondering how he had managed to get so close with this man so quickly, maybe this dream thing was right… maybe he was growing close. At least close enough to feel fear due to a vivid dream. It had never been this easy for Rick to grow close to people, he was naturally a distant person, what made this man so different? Maybe it was this stupid canine form, maybe it's messing with his head somehow, any answer was better than the answer he had been given in that dream.

"I'm here, it's okay." Dell cooed, voice gravelly from hours of silence and lack of water within this period of time. It was apparent that him and Rick had been spooked awake, enough so that Dell didn't think he could just lay back down and sleep instead of laying there for hours hoping for sleep to come. Instead he scooted out from under Rick and slid off the bed, signally for Rick to follow him. Duchess was the first to hop from her little place near the window and follow him, Rick taking a moment longer before he finally started moving at a snail pace, his ego getting in the way.

Dell made his way out and to the living room where Duchess climbed up onto the back of the couch, tail flicking as she watched Dell turn on the television, some old television show being played at the early hours of the morning due to so many being asleep. By the time Dell had managed to lay down on the couch, listening to the movie rather than watching it, Rick had emerged from the dark hallway and made his way to sit near the couch rather than on it.

Rick's stubbornness left him alone despite how shaken he was from the dream, as much as he wanted to ignore it, he did seem to care for Dell. The same stupid emotion that has gotten him in trouble before. As he sat his eyes bore into the floorboards, mind still thinking about what he had dreamt up. It couldn't possibly have any truth to it. Could it? Blood Moon? What the hell does a blood moon have to do with anything? It couldn't be real, after all it was just a dream, dreams aren't real. Even then, nine nights? From when he first changed or from when he had this dream? Does that leave him four days or nine days?

In Rick's silence Duchess had moved down from her perch and was laying on dell in a sorry attempt to comfort him, only when Rick entered his fifth minute of silence did Duchess finally sit up. "Are you going to mope over there all night?" She asked, Dell's hand massaging her fur as he continue to lay in silence, thinking about everything that was keeping him up. Rick's only reaction was simply ignoring Duchess, to her displeasure. "It seems your dream has made you more pitiful than usual," she purred, standing up and walking to the edge of the couch, placing her paws on his head "you will explain why you woke Dell and I, yes?" she asked, receiving silence. With this she continued to annoy him through kneading her paws along his head.

With a sigh Rick's ear flicked "Would you kindly fuck off?" Rick finally spoke, unable to keep his train of thought going while she was talking to him and pressing against him, and basically doing anything she could to break his personal space.

"Not until you tell me why you were yelling so late at night." she declared, stubbornly pawing at his ear as she ignored his request.

"Duchess, I'm really not up to dealing with your condescending attitude right now." he huffed, this statement obviously not pleasing the princess of the house.

"Oh, I must be so horrible to live with." she told him sarcastically "Have you ever stopped to take a look at how awful it is to live with you, thinking you are so high above me. So maybe I do feel I rank higher than you, and I really do-" The white cat fussed on until Rick finally turned around, annoyed beyond belief.

"If I tell you why I… woke everyone up, will you leave me alone." He asked in a grating tone, Duchess remaining silent despite her agreement to the terms.

"I had a dream-"

"Obviously."

Rick sighed really getting irritated, especially with his lack of actual rest and dream combined. "It was more vivid than any dream I have ever had, it was talking about a blood moon,"

"It? What was talking?" Duchess asked, Rick taking a moment to think. He didn't want to just state that Dell was the one that told him… technically.

"My demons." he answered in a solemn tone before clearing his throat "Anyway, it told me I have three days until a blood moon, or else I will never be human again." in itself it scared him for more than one reason. When this time is up, would he just cease to exist? Replaced by a wild animal? If so, that would create a dangerous situation for Dell.

He didn't want to just cease existing, no one would remember him. His harsh reality. He had never done much worth remembering, he has always been under the radar doing his job, being invisible. The only thing that would be remembered would be his skill as a sniper. "Do you think it's possible?" Duchess asked in a softer tone, possibly now realising why Rick was in such a bad mood, or just feeling bad for him.

"I don't know." Rick answered, scared to find out if it was.

Following their conversation was a long silence, that was until Duchess sat up, starting to groom herself "I have yet to get an answer."

"Duchess."

"Are you going to sit there and mope?" she asked "Or… Dell is right there to make you feel better." This statement caught Rick off guard as he turned to look back at her, before he could inquire as to how Dell would make him feel better she stood up "Whenever I am feeling sad, Dell has always been loyal to me and shown me the affection I want. As a canine companion, you are supposed to enjoy such affection as well." the posh feline informed him, implying her rule over him but not enforcing it as she jumped down from the couch and walked back toward her bed. "We will talk later about your situation when you aren't so… nippy."

Rick continued to sit there stubbornly, Dell shifting on the couch next to him. More silence followed as the sniper tried to overcome the biggest thing he owned. *The pride*. Eventually, with stiff muscles, was able to stand, tail low, and slowly get up onto the couch. The new weight at Dell's feet had the man glancing down at an uncomfortable canine as they laid down at his feet, inching himself closer. Dell pat his chest, inviting Rick to him despite his size. Rick's ears flicked forward at the noise, himself finally getting up and slowly manoeuvring his way closer to Dell until his foot sunk between the couch's backboard and the cushions causing him to slowly flop over without much he could do but struggle to take his leg back from the abyss of lost change.

As if Rick didn't feel pathetic enough, Dell erupted into a fit of laughter, helping Rick pull his leg from the cushions only for Rick to place them back as he wedged himself between the couch backboard and Dell himself. After a moment of being unable to move more than an inch per struggle, Rick simply gave up, letting his head plop down onto Dell's upper abdomen, letting out a sigh of defeat. "I feel ya." Dell muttered, brushing his fingers through the rough fur as he too lay without motivation to get up or move much at all.

For the first time in a long time, Rick had willingly accepted physical attention that someone offered, or at the very least he didn't hate it. It felt rather nice to be this close to Dell, it was certainly warm and comforting. Again these were thoughts that came to him only to be shunned, why should he admit it? It's not like the cat is the only one that can hear him. How horrific would that be? Duchess finding out he actually likes Dell's attention? Catastrophic.

((I hope you enjoyed the chapter and I did make a Ko-fi page ( /taliolic) if you would like to donate, I offer a one-shot from a certain amount of things I am familiar with, you may inquire as to what these are in a pm. What makes this one shot better than the typical request? Several things, as per usual you may request a ship, but also a particular setting/story idea for me to go off, and it gets done within a timely fashion. If you would like more information you are completely free to ask me!