Love and Freedom

Rhys couldn't help but smile as he traced a circle with his finger on top of the head of the grey, brown and black werewolf pup, who fell asleep on his lap.

A little white after the Torchwood team and Douglas left, the same werewolf pup rolled a ball at Rhys, indicating he wanted to play with him. Rhys was a little unsure a first, but soon he was playing catch with the pup, and then with the other pups. He found himself having fun playing with the pups. After what seemed to be a an hour, the pups curled up next to the chair, as Rhys sat down, and they all feel asleep in a pile, as the same pup got on Rhys's lap.

Suddenly, all the pups woke up at once and looked at the door. Rhys wondered what was going on as the pups began barking and headed to the door. Gwen opened the door a crack and looked in; she gave a signal to Rhys to be silent, as she opened the door all the way. Two adult werewolves entered the room on all fours. One was a white werewolf with a feminine built and the other werewolf had fur that was the perfect mixture of grey and silver.

The pups happily yapped at the two werewolves and ran to greet them; half of them headed to the white werewolf while the other half went to the grey and silver werewolf. Rhys's eyes widen when he figured out who these werewolves were. He was no expert in werewolves, but it was easy to tell that these werewolves were the pups' parents.

The pups licked their parents' faces, as their tails wagged in circles so fast that they looked like they were about to take off. Their parents slowly wagged their tails and Rhys could see trails of water leaving their eyes. Were they crying?

The white werewolf picked up the nearest pup and held him close to her as she cried, while Gwen entered the room and watched the werewolf family reunite.

As the white werewolf put down her pup, the pups began cheerfully yapping. The parents then looked at Rhys. The white werewolf went up to Rhys and laid her muzzle in Rhys's hand as she cupped his hand with her hands and she cried. Rhys looked at little confused.

"She's thanking you," Douglas's voice said from the doorway. Rhys looked to see Douglas standing in the doorway, now wearing a blue shirt, blue jeans, and white sneakers.

"She's thanking you for looking after her pups," Douglas said, as he entered the room and the white werewolf removed her muzzle and hands from Rhys.

"Oh . . . um . . . You're welcome . . . . ma'am," Rhys said.

The white werewolf just smiled and went back reuniting with her pups. The pups barked at their patents, and the grey and silver werewolf barked back. The pups then poured out of the room, as their parents followed behind them at a more moderate pace.

"Don't worry," Gwen said, seeing how fast Rhys got up from his chair. "They probably want to see the rest of the pack."

"You mean they're all here?" Rhys asked as he, Douglas, and Gwen walked out of the room.

Gwen nodded and once Rhys stepped out of the room, he saw adult werewolves around the Hub. The werewolf pups ran to each of them and cheerfully greeted every one. The werewolves with the most serious injures were being look over by Owen, while the rest relaxed around the Hub.

"Rhys, do you still have anymore meat left from Dr. Gibson's rampage?" Douglas asked Rhys. "My pack is surely hungry after the ordeal they went through."

"Um . . . yeah, there's plenty," Rhys said, trying to recall the name Dr. Gibson. Did Gwen say they were going to Dr. Gibson's estate? "I brought it all back here."

"Wonderful, thank you," Douglas said, smiling. He then left to ask Owen a question.

"Wait. Dr. Gibson was the creature?" Rhys asked, puzzled, looking at Gwen. "Never mind; you can tell me when we get home."

Gwen nodded and smiled; as she and Rhys watch the werewolves and the pups interact.

"By the way, why aren't the rest of the werewolves in their human form?" Rhys asked Gwen in a low voice.

"We only had clothes for Douglas, and you remember what werewolves believe how humans perceive nudity," Gwen whispered with a smile.

"I'm sure your fearless leader wouldn't mind," Rhys commented. Gwen just laughed and slapped Rhys playfully on his shoulder.

"How are they?" Douglas asked Owen, who was finishing treating the last werewolf.

"They're not in immediate danger, but I still need to run tests to make sure there're no lasting effects on what Dr. Gibson did to them," Owen said, as the werewolf he treated left to greet the pups. "They're a little malnourished, however they're making a nice recovery, but I would like them to stay overnight just to be cautious." Owen paused and looked at Jack. "We're not going against protocol having them stay outside the Vaults?"

"I think it will work," Jack said smiling. "I would just need someone else to watch the werewolves with me."

Owen groaned and rolled his eyes, knowing what Jack was saying.

"Oh, is everyone in your pack housebroken?" Owen asked Douglas. "Or should we get out the newspaper to have you all paper trained-OI!"

Owen skidded out of the way of the grey, brown, and black werewolf pup, who was nipping at his heels. Owen glared at Douglas.

"I thought you said they couldn't understand human language!" Owen said.

"They don't, but that doesn't mean they don't understand body language and vocal tones," Douglas said.

Jack laughed and scooped up the werewolf pup. He spun the pup around and the pup cooed in delight.

"We just have to finish something with your Big Brother Douglas, and then you can play around the Hub," Jack said to the pup, even though the pup couldn't understand a word he was saying, but Jack knew now that the pup did understand his tone. The pup happily yipped and licked Jack's check.

"Aye, for tonight, we feast," Douglas said, grinning.

Unlike the Torchwood team, the pack of werewolves, and Rhys, Andy was not in a good mood.

First, he woke up in a field with his clothes and car stolen, and he didn't want to share with anyone how he got back to the police station. To add injury to insult, the bump Dr. Gibson gave him was huge, so his head had to be bandaged up, but now he felt he looked like a lobotomy patient. Right now, he was the laughing stock of the entire station, and the paperwork he was doing didn't help his mood. The Torchwood team and Douglas watched him sign and stamp the papers.

"Do you remember what we told you?" Ianto asked.

"Yes, yes, I know," Andy said as he continued to sign and stamp the papers. "Dr. Gibson was a victim of his own research, and he harvested human tissue off the people he murdered. He perished in his own experiment."

Andy finished signing the last paper and looked at Douglas.

"As far as the law is concerned we got our killer. You're a free . . . man, Douglas," Andy said.

Before Douglas could thank Andy, he waved them away from his desk as he rubbed his forehead. The Torchwood team and Douglas left Andy alone and they walked outside.

"I expunged your record after I accessed the police files," Toshiko said to Douglas. "They will not be looking for you."

"Thank you," Douglas said, smiling.

"Ianto, I wonder if you would like to stay with me tonight to watch over the werewolves," Jack said. Ianto gave him a slightly surprised look. "And when we're not busy, we could-"

"Are you sure you want to do that?" Ianto asked in a low voice. "With company around?"

"I think the werewolves have more important things to do than watch us," Jack whispered. "Not that we don't put on a good performance."

"I'm sure you're very entertaining to watch, but you're right, we have more important things to do," Douglas said, behind Ianto and Jack, apparently overhearing their conversation. Douglas then quickened his pace to get ahead of the men. Jack then remembered something.

"Oh, Douglas, there's something I wanted to say when I saw you change," Jack said.

"Aye?" Douglas said, looking back.

"Nice legs," Jack said with a huge grin.

Douglas laughed as they reached the Torchwood SUV.