It was already getting to be rather dark which meant that the moon would soon rise and bathe everything in silver light.
The beeping sound of an approved access code resounded throughout the halls of the quiet Sanctuary and three figures entered, each one carrying a huge suitcase.
They silently shuffled into one of the building's wings.
The young redhead of the group allowed Grif to directly go to his room for once. Simmons already knew that putting away the stuff from the wolven's suitcase would fall to him later on anyway.
Shortly after pulling out the spare mattress for the Hawaiian, Simmons left to go find Kimball.
Knocking on the door to her office, he entered the room only to see her sitting at her usual spot in front of her desk.
"Good evening, Simmons. It's good to see that you're back safe and sound."
"Yes, I'm glad too." Simmons smiled at the greeting, "I just wanted to ask you if there had been any issues while I was gone."
The leader of the Sanctuary quickly contemplated the happenings of the previous week in her head before responding, "Actually, yes."
Kimball motioned for Simmons to sit down just then, "Katie is working on a suit for you which will also turn invisible when you do. She would like to test it in about a month." she informed him, "Please check with her for the exact date, all right?"
"Okay." Simmons agreed, already thinking deeply on the new information he had been given.
Jensen was a tinkerer. Ever since she had come here, she would tinker and work on stuff.
Most of the equipment she handled would ultimately blow up, somehow even worse and more spectacularly whenever she would involve cars or driving in her efforts…so, yes, it went without saying that Simmons was legitimately curious and more than just a little terrified at the notion of finding out if this suit of hers would work out or if he would end up getting blown up along with it.
Kimball's low coughing drew him back. He smiled apologetically for being so distracted.
"Secondly, we have a new guest." she told him when she knew that she had Simmons' full attention once more, "His name is Felix. Please try to fill in the rest of the information for the database later. We only know his age so far and that he's a subspecies of the Diacom." Kimball frowned slightly before adding with a hint of concern in voice, "His anger fits tend to get sadistic, so please be careful when you do go to complete his file."
Simmons nodded at that, "I will try. If you'd allow it, I would like to take North with me for that as a support."
"No problem." From the look in her eyes, she seemed to think that was a good idea, "I'll leave it to you to organize everything then."
Simmons nodded again and waited patiently for the next point.
"Thirdly, since some weeks ago Abnormals have been disappearing for unknown reasons. The Freelancers and Wash are currently investigating the cause, but they might need your IT skills for further inquiries on the web." Her tone and expression became deadly serious at this point.
"Abnormals are disappearing!?" Simmons quickly went on the alert at that, somewhat panicked at the news, "Which ones?"
"All kinds of different Abnormals: Diacoms, a wolven from the Grif Clan, empaths, telepaths, those with invisibilities, fire breathers, and many more. There are even unconfirmed rumors that whatever is causing the disappearances managed to get one of the members of the Church Clan called Epsilon." She frowned, looking more than just a bit disturbed at recounting the information herself, "It's quite mysterious, and we have no idea as to who is behind it or why. All we currently know is that this is not a normal occurrence whatsoever and that Abnormals are afraid to talk about it. Besides, we don't know if those I had mentioned earlier are all of the missing Abnormals or if there are even more we haven't heard about yet."
Simmons' expression turned stern.
He knew a few members of the Grif Clan, foremost being Kai and Dex. But there was also their mother to think about. Their dad had died defending their place from another dominant Alpha male, which had caused Grif's mom to leave her pups for the new Alpha male wolven.
During their holidays, they had learned that those two had also separated, the Alpha staying in Hawaii, while their mother had apparently moved north somewhere to build up a new life for herself away from the clan.
Nobody knew where she was exactly.
"I will start with my research tomorrow after interviewing the guest." Simmons assured Kimball, rather eager to help with the investigation if he could.
"Yes, please." Kimball agreed before adding with gentle firmness, "For now you are released. Please have a good night's rest."
"There's something more." Simmons started, observing Kimball's reaction as he continued, "While we were on vacation in Hawaii, someone was following us."
He frowned at recalling that himself, "I don't know if this relates to the reports of Abnormals disappearing, but we should probably be careful anyways. Whoever the follower was they didn't reveal themselves, but Grif noticed them several times."
A dark expression appeared on Kimball's face as she listened to the update, "Thank you for the news, Simmons. I will make sure to inform the other inhabitants tomorrow to be more careful until this unknown threat is gone."
"Yes. Thank you, Kimball." Simmons stood up, only to pause before leaving in order to ask another question, "Would you mind if I was the one who told Grif about the possibility of there being a hijacked member of his clan?"
She shook her head in response, "Please, just be careful. We cannot afford someone leaving and putting himself in danger just to find a relative."
"I will make sure that doesn't happen." Simmons reassured the woman, "That's why I won't tell Kai. Besides, I doubt very much that Grif would leave the Sanctuary no matter what reason he might have to do so. You know how lazy he is."
Kimball smiled, observing the slightly smiling redhead before her, "Right, I had forgotten about his easygoing nature."
"That's one way to describe his lazy nature in a friendlier manner." He joked before becoming serious once again, "Well then, I should get going. I am guessing that tomorrow will be a long day."
"Yes, although you do know that you have been cut short on your usual duties for the moment except these ones I just gave you?" she asked him, wanting to make sure Simmons knew that well before overworking himself anymore.
"I know and I'm very grateful for it." he told her, "I think this whole research thing will take some time since I will need to write a passing algorithm and make sure that it will find out what we need for our investigations."
"Very true, but I know you're capable of it." Kimball's tone was a reassuring one, "I wouldn't have assigned this task to you otherwise."
"Uh, thank you very much." Simmons muttered, his face once again beginning to flush red.
Both of them bid their goodbyes and Simmons left the office to wander back to his room.
As he was walking back, he tried to sort out his thoughts and put together some well worded sentences to explain to Grif what had happened exactly without making him want to leave the Sanctuary in order to search for his missing relative.
Simmons knew that Grif didn't have a very strong bond to the rest of his clan except for Kai and their mom, so he didn't really think that the other man would leave the Sanctuary for anyone else.
So long as it wasn't clear who exactly had disappeared, Simmons doubted that the wolven would go out and search for the hijacked victim.
Upon entering his room, he could see that Grif was still lying on the mattress.
"Hey, you stuck to our agreement and stayed on the mattress. Good boy." The redhead gently petted him between his ears which caused the wolven to mumble, though Grif couldn't hide the glare he sent Simmons' way when the other mentioned that he was a 'good boy.'
He wasn't really angry about it, however, as the glare was more of a 'seriously, Simmons!?' one than anything else.
Simmons smiled apologetically at that, again gently petting the wolven. He had sat down beside him, Grif lying over him like a furry blanket in the process.
He liked the way Grif would to that.
It made him feel safe and secure, like nothing bad would be able to get to him when they were sitting together as they were.
"Grif." his furry ears twitched when Simmons called him, "Would you listen to me about something for a moment? I mean, just listen and not fall asleep halfway through it. I would appreciate your opinion when you can change back."
Those words made Grif lift his head and look at him curiously. It was rare for Simmons to really require his attention on anything and not just for needing someone to be around and more or less pretend he was listening to his rambles.
"And in that vein too, please promise me that you won't do anything you might regret later." Simmons continued, "Such as leaving the Sanctuary on some kind of self-made mission, okay?"
The wolven looked both confusedly and curiously at the redhead at that last remark, waiting for him to continue.
Simmons let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding until then, "Just promise me, okay?"
After some moments, Grif sighed and nodded his head in response.
When Simmons nodded back, the wolven laid his head back on Simmons' lap to listen to what the redhead needed to tell him.
Whatever it was, Grif knew that it had to be important.
At least to Simmons.
"During our holidays…" the redhead began, scrambling for words a second later. He honestly didn't know what to say now that they were sitting together like this.
All of his carefully chosen words were gone.
He plowed through after a moment regardless though, "People…Abnormals disappeared. The only thing any of them had in common is the fact that they had an abnormality. Those with invisibility, Diacoms…many other different types of people disappeared too."
Grif looked at the redhead attentively at this announcement, waiting for him to continue when it looked as if Simmons had paused.
"One of those who had disappeared was a different type of Abnormal too. A wolven."
Grif's head shot up, looking at the redhead with wide eyes.
Simmons lifted his hands in defense to help him calm down, "We don't know who it was who disappeared yet. Just that it is someone from the Grif Clan." he told him, "This is why I wanted to inform you about it before you heard it from someone else. To have you promise me that you will stay here."
This time, a curious spark lit up the wolven's eyes at Simmons' comment.
He sighed and continued trying to explain his actions, thinking all Grif wanted was more of an explanation, "It's dangerous outside, Grif. People are disappearing. I don't want you to disappear and fall into the hands of whoever is doing this."
He looked at the doorway leading out of his room just then, "Which is why I didn't tell Kai. She would leave and try to find the wolven on her own which is simply way too dangerous."
Simmons turned to Grif imploringly, "Please, you two just stay here and stay safe. The freelancers are already investigating it and I'm sure they will be able to get everyone found and taken care of."
Grif still looked at Simmons with wide eyes, his expression unreadable.
This was a new development for the redhead as he normally could read Grif's expression easily, no matter if he was in his wolven or human form.
"I know you can't tell me what you are thinking right now but I hope you could maybe tell me it tomorrow. But even still, please don't leave." Simmons' face turned slightly red again as he continued, "I need you around to help me with my studies at the very least. I don't know if I would be able to get through the second term of college at all if you weren't around."
He paused, before adding a little quieter, "Besides, I would be really worried about you if you did leave. So please just stay here, okay?"
There were some very long and tense moments before the wolven eventually nodded and laid his head back on Simmons' lap.
"I will take that as a 'yes' then." Simmons mumbled, smiling slightly at his interpretation of the motion.
Feeling around on the bed for his blanket and pillow, he laid down next to the wolven and observed Grif sleeping there quietly.
He couldn't fall asleep himself even a few hours later, unfortunately.
Too many thoughts ran through his mind.
Thoughts that weren't really organized in the slightest, which was pretty uncommon for him.
They were an unsorted jumble in his mind. They were clear enough to him at the time he was aware of them, but he wouldn't be able to recount them back to someone should they ever trying asking him about them later on.
So the redhead got up and sat at the laptop resting on his desk in the meanwhile, beginning to write the algorithm.
Kimball had sent him an e-mail with all the information they had already gathered. He had read all of it and made a list about the people who had disappeared for sure and those who they thought had possibly disappeared.
In the end, he had a list of about ten people who had disappeared for certain and a list of just as many people where it wasn't quite certain yet if they had also gotten hijacked.
While the algorithm went through the whole internal system of the Sanctuary and the internet, Simmons studied the files on the new guest they had.
Felix.
He couldn't put a finger on why it was but something about the guy rubbed Simmons the wrong way already.
He knew Diacoms. They didn't tend to have sadistic anger fits.
Instead they would only snap under pressure and then cook everything with the microwaves they would send off from their hands.
Which meant it was always better to not get too close to an angry Diacom, especially if you didn't want to get boiled alive from the inside out.
But sadistic tendencies was a trait he had never heard of in combination with a Diacom's anger fits.
Either this was a new subspecies as Kimball had theorized, or there was something else going on here.
And either way, the whole matter involving Felix rubbed him the wrong way as a result.
He shot off a text to North, asking him if he had time around three in the afternoon as Simmons didn't want to be alone with this guy.
North would have known the truth anyway once he got close to Simmons later on that day, so the redhead preferred being honest right off the bat with his concerned over lying and getting found out later.
It was always better to have the trust of the freelancers instead of their wrath.
A mumble drew Simmons out of his thoughts just then.
Grif was standing beside him, looking from Simmons to the computer questioningly.
"Sorry, I couldn't sleep and decided to do some work for tomorrow." Simmons admitted with an apologetic tone to his voice, "Maybe I can sleep in a little bit longer in the morning to make up for that."
Grif began wagging his tail, panting happily at the prospect of sleeping in longer with Simmons.
The wolven suddenly shuddered a second later.
Simmons noticed the slight change: how Grif's hackles raised and his whole body began to shudder.
Looking outside, Simmons' growing suspicions as to what was going on was confirmed.
The moon was about to set.
There were still around four hours until the sun would rise, but it was already time for Grif to change back.
Moving over to the suitcases he had dropped beside the desk, Simmons searched for a clean shirt along with some clean boxers and a sweater.
A low whine came from the wolven when his form began to shrink and become more human.
Simmons recalled that Grif had once told him that changing was always rather painful for him. Over time, you would get more used to it but that didn't mean you wouldn't still go through pain when changing.
Sitting on the mattress Grif slept on when he was in Simmons' room, he waited for the wolven to change back completely.
Grif had walked over to the mattress once more and laid there to change back.
When he had changed fully back, Simmons handed over Grif's clothes while making sure he sat with his back to the wolven.
He did this not only to not get an eyeful of Grif's naked body but also to hide his deepening blush.
Why the fuck did he have to blush like a madman at the idea of Grif being naked, anyways?
It wasn't like he would get a boner or something just by seeing Grif like that.
"I'm decent." Grif sounded rather amused when he made his announcement, "You can turn around now, prude."
"I'm not a prude." Simmons squawked indignantly at the wolven's commentary, "I'm just displaying something akin to manners, perv."
"Uh-huh, which is why you turned beet red too."
"Hey jackass, not everyone has such a low limit of shame when it comes to nudity." Simmons snapped, his back still turned to Grif as he crossed his arms.
There was a short silence following that heated exchange before Simmons felt a hand on his shoulder, "Hey, you had asked me what I think about that stuff you were talking about earlier?"
Simmons nodded. His curiosity was piqued at the sudden shift in conversation and that caused him to turn around to watch the wolven.
"I won't go searching for this wolven." Grif told him, surprisingly serious, "You know I don't have that much connections to the clan. We're pretty much outsiders to them. So I won't risk my life for them since they don't give a shit about me."
Involuntarily, a smile spread over Simmons' lips at Grif's spoken confirmation of his earlier promise.
"To your other thing." Grif was still uncharacteristically serious given this train of topic, "I think something's up. I don't know exactly what is going on, but I think there's someone out there extremely interested in Abnormals and whoever they are…they probably want to use them for bad purposes."
"Sounds logical to me. That could be another aspect I hadn't even considered up until now." Simmons agreed, taking his blanket from the mattress.
He hesitated slightly before getting up, "Would you… Uh… Would you mind if I would stay here?"
"This is your room, genius." Grif once again looked amused at Simmons' question, "You don't have to ask me for permission."
"No I don't mean here in the room." Simmons was becoming more and more embarrassed now that he had brought the subject up, "I mean here. On the mattress."
Grif blinked several times as though it took him a bit longer to process just what it was that Simmons had actually been asking, before he nodded in response.
He laid back down on the mattress, leaving enough space for the redhead to lie down next to him.
Simmons gnawed at his lower lip, not really noticing that Grif was still waiting for him to lie down.
"Hey, what's up?" his friend finally asked.
"I… There's something more…" Simmons muttered, wringing his hands uneasily in the process, "I don't want to ask you for even more though. I've already asked you for enough."
"Spill it." Grif coaxed, still observing the redhead from his lying position.
"I… wanted to ask you if you would join me tomorrow." Simmons began, nervously, "I need to put a new guest in the system and something about him rubs me the wrong way. I—I would feel safer if you were around."
Grif looked skeptical at that, "I could just lie there and sleep?"
Simmons frowned slightly at his question but acquiesced slightly, "Maye not sleep, but you could slack off still."
"Sounds good to me. I'm in." Grif seemed nonplussed by the whole situation once he realized he wouldn't be required to do much of anything.
Simmons still gnawed at his lip before adding, "I also asked North to come along." he informed Grif, "As I said before, something is very strange about this guy and you're a good observer. So if you catch anything strange going on with him, could you tell me?"
"Maybe." He shrugged.
Simmons sighed, knowing that Grif had been way too agreeable for too long over everything for there not to ultimately be a catch, "What do you want?"
Grif grinned, "There's a movie I wanted to watch. Pacific Rim."
Simmons heaved a sigh once more at the obvious bribe, "Okay, I will get the movie then and make sure that we'll have the movie room available and I'll watch it with you."
"Neat!" Grif's face lit up with anticipation, "I'll keep an eye on the guy then."
"Good."
Grif closed his eyes with his trademark smile splaying across his face before saying, "Can we just go back to sleep now? I like to spend my nights napping instead of talking until my head starts to smoke."
"You're such a lazy-ass." Simmons replied with a low laugh, but he laid down and snuggled with Grif under his blanket.
"And you're a fucking nerd who's panicking over bad grades when you're about to end college with Summa cum laude."
Simmons smiled faintly at that, noticing that Grif actually managed to say summa cum laude without stumbling over the words.
"And you wouldn't care even if you're about to fail at something." He responded.
"Hey, I am who I am." Grif smiled again.
"Yeah… you really are." Simmons muttered, closing his eyes and already starting to drop off.
He only noticed a slight shifting beside him as Grif moved closer and made Simmons snuggle even more against the wolven's broad chest.
This time, he didn't care. He was simply too tired to over process things at the moment.
At least, he tried to tell himself that was the reason anyways.
Right now, being hugged to the wolven's side was a nice sensation. He felt safe and sound being here with Grif, which was the real reason why he didn't fight the wolven's actions.