A/N: Ah hah! Chapter 12 is finished and beta'd ahead of schedule so here's chapter 10... I am only just writing 13 so you'll have to wait til tomorrow for any further updates, otherwise there's going to be a few days with nada as I don't know when Alder can beta chapters 13-15 (drafted, just turning them into actual narrative rather than bullet points :-p)

Uploaded early cos a) am impatient and b) someone bribed me with COOKIES… who in their right mind says no to cookies?!?

Disclaimer: you know it by now…

Nearly forgot! All hail Alder… she can heal the sick-minded, raise the dead-tired and make the lame-jokes walk.

Chapter 10

Tony woke up again to a now unfamiliar sensation. His body was utterly free of pain, in fact - he felt great! Though he was still incredibly weak: he could barely rattle the light restraints. He tensed as the brown-eyed man entered his cell, no longer in surgical garb.

"Tony! You are looking much better, you seem to have adapted very well so far. Now I can proceed to the final step and we will be finished!" he actually clapped in excitement.

"Wha'…" Tony cleared his throat and tried again, "What have you done to me…? I feel…different," he began to get agitated, pulling at the restraints.

"Well, since you have been such a good boy and taken all your medicine I can tell you. After all, it's too late now, you have had the final dose of the transformation liquid… I have given you a great gift Boy, the gift of strength, powers beyond comprehension… You are now a Homo Sapiens Lycus…a shape shifter. A were-wolf to be precise." Tony realised the brown eyed man was The Voice, before the answer fully sank in and left him breathless.

"You what?" he gasped weakly, laughing in disbelief. "You think I'm some monster from the movies?"

"Oh no, Tony…not just the movies…in fact you already know some were-wolves." The unknown man giggled in delight at Tony's confused look, "Why yes, your beloved boss, Gibbs, and that pretty little thing you met in the woods."

Tony weakly fought against his bonds. This couldn't be true, everyone knew were-wolves were mythical creatures…like vampires, or fairies. The only logical answer was he had been captured by a mad man. The man grabbed Tony's jaw and raised a bottle full of an amber liquid.

"Now I just need to give you the Wolfsbane formulae, and you will be mine to command, to control... Open wide, my little beast." He was speaking with a lyrical cadence, his French accent sounding more exotic than before.

Tony's mind raced, he had to stop the madman from poisoning him, but how? Then he remembered the strange comment made by Gibbs back in the woods.

"Wait! Umn…no rush!" he rattled the restraints slightly, "Ah…not going anywhere…what do I call you? And don't you know anything - geez, looks like the boss was right to call you an amateur - fine, feed me that stuff if you just want yet another failure." Tony was desperate…the more he could get the guy talking, the more time Gibbs had for finding him alive.

"You may call me Gerard, or Master, as you will soon…and what did your boss say exactly? You are correct I suppose, why rush when I can enjoy your distress?" Gerard smiled, causing Tony to swallow convulsively.

"Well, you know…you'd think you'd realise all these bodies show you are screwing up somewhere. The Bossman saw it straight off once we got the unburned bodies - you are giving them the Monkshood stuff too early, you know… Force-feeding people a deadly toxin does tend to leave them a little bit dead…just sayin'…" Tony grimaced as painful muscle spasms started.

"Ah, that does make sense I suppose…though forcing you to drink it after your first change will be more of a challenge…" Gerard had a thoughtful look upon his face. "Whilst we wait for the right time, have you looked into the next cell? I believe you are already acquainted."

Tony looked over and saw the semi-conscious form of Rhiannon, lying wearing nothing more than a hospital gown. Even as he watched she became more aware, lunging into a defensive crouch and looking around wildly.

"Tony!" she cried, throwing herself at the bars. "What has he done to you?"

"I believe I will leave you two to your little reunion… I will be back soon my pet, we will see how your transformation is progressing." As Gerard left the cell there was a remote 'click' and the restraints attached to his captive's arms and legs were released.

Tony rolled off the gurney and staggered over to the bars nearest to Rhi. His weakened legs gave out just as he reached them. The agent was shocked to see her here, locked in a cage like himself. He was still feeling disorientated and he ached from fighting the restraints.

"Tony! What has he done? How are you? Gibbs will find us soon, now that I am missing too - we can't be far from where I was taken," the young British woman reached through the bars and gently took Tony's arm, growling quietly when she saw the state of his wrist up close.

"Rhi! How did he catch you? He's crazy…something about potions…and turning people into were-wolves…He says I'm one now! And that you and Gibbs are were-wolves. He's nuts, we have to get out of here now, before he kills us both," Tony spoke fast, he was scared and confused, the drugs and torture had left him weak and beyond exhausted.

"Tony, I'm sorry…but he's not as crazy as you might think… We have to work together now, survive until your boss can find us." Rhi spoke gently…she realised that Tony was spooked, and half-convinced he was losing his own mind, but she needed to keep him calm.

Rhiannon was devastated to find out that she was here too late and Tony had received all three treatments. What was worse, both she and Gibbs were technically now duty-bound to kill him; he had no pack, no family to speak for him and take on his training. If there had been an active pack in the area then he could petition for a place, though it was extremely rare for a pack to adopt an unknown Bane-Wolf, a Were created through alchemy rather than blood. The True-Born wolves were often intolerant of any Bane-born unless they had performed the rite themselves. The use of alchemy to create new were-wolves was usually limited to humans that had fallen in love with a member of the Clan, even though the pack accepts them occasionally, their status would always be low within the pack.

"What? No! He was lying, he's crazy…were-wolves don't exist! And even if they do, I'm not one…no way. Don't you have to be bitten by a were-wolf to change? No, it's impossible! No!" Tony pulled away from Rhi and huddled in the corner of his cell.

She could see his panicked breathing as he sat with his knees drawn up, it was obvious that he was in a great deal of pain as the change was starting to take place. Tremors wracked his body and sweat shone on his torso. Rhi wished she could do more for him. If he could be contained when Gibbs arrived then she would definitely call Jeni and make an appeal. It was only the lack of control a newly created Bane had that made them a target, they were too much of a security risk.

"Tony, please, you have to listen to me…this is going to be hard, have you got any questions? Once the change truly starts you won't be in control, so ask now," she tried to get him focussed, if she could teach him even the basics there was a small chance he would be able to control his beast.

"Fine…the stuff in the movies…how true is it? You know, full moon, silver bullets…do you go full wolf or that weird hairy man/wolf thing?" Tony didn't really want to know, but anything was better than silence. The distraction would hopefully detract from the pain he was in.

"Okay, well…full moon has little effect on us, we just like to run during the full moon when there is more light. Young wolves can only shift to a full wolf form, I don't know if Bane-Wolves, ones created like you, can ever master the hybrid form. Any bullet can kill us if we are hit in the head or heart…though in either wolf or human form you'll be a lot harder to kill now. More resistant to disease too." Rhi focussed on the positives and tried to give him confidence in his new life. "You'll also live a lot longer, and aging will slow down a lot. As a Bane-born wolf you won't achieve the same age as a True-born…but still live up to about a hundred and eighty to two hundred years."

Tony jumped, his dull green eyes momentarily regaining some of their usual shine…he was always interested in new knowledge, even if he still wasn't sure whether he believed her.

"What about the whole biting thing?" he asked, struggling to focus on her.

"Total myth, humans are obsessed with creatures biting them…only the vampires and the pixies do." Rhiannon huffed a small laugh at the incredulous look on Tony's face.

"Vampires? Pixies? They're real?! And pixies bite people?!" the agent gave a wheezing laugh, disbelief clear in his eyes.

"Well, you'll have proof about the were-wolves soon enough, and aye, you'd better believe it about the Pixies…vicious lil' buggers…" Rhi was glad to see DiNozzo relaxing a little despite the pain. He only had a matter of hours before he would experience his first full change.

Tony leant his head back and panted, his chest heaving as he tried to supply his struggling body with enough oxygen. It felt like he was burning up, though if he was honest with himself, it wasn't as bad as the previous drugs…it wasn't even as bad as the bout of y-pestis.

"I hate Halloween," he grumbled to himself, missing Rhi's wry smile.