Here it is. Chapter fourteen. This is my longest story yet and I'm simply blown away by the response it's gotten. Thanks so much for the support! Every review really makes my day. As a reward for all you lovely people, when this story hits 75 reviews, I'll post a bonus chapter featuring the events of this chapter and the last from Torchwood's perspective.

Disclaimer: You know the deal.

Enjoy!

NOW EDITED

CHAPTER 14

Remus would have run, but he couldn't. He was still tired and achy from his transformation and sick with guilt that Harry had gotten hurt while he was away—possibly because he was away. This was why it wasn't legal for him to have custody of a child in the first place. There were reasons for laws. So, he settled for walking, leaning against walls when he had to. He clutched his left hand to his chest. He'd used a spell to scab over the splinch on the inside of his pinky finger, but he was too magically drained to fix the damage entirely. He made his way up to the lobby, shakily pulling his phone out of his pocket with his right hand. He hadn't had time to listen to any messages. He still didn't. He called Sherlock.

"John?"

"Yes," he said weakly, "Where are you? Which room?"

Sherlock told him and Remus made his way there, ignoring the looks he got from those he passed. He was so apprehensive that when he reached the recovery ward and pushed the door open, he was barely able to stand. He leaned against the door frame for less than a breath before Sherlock was there supporting him. Remus could only shoot his friend a grateful look.

"John, what happened to your hand?"

"'S nothing. Just splinched myself." He was finding himself quite grateful that Lestrade was nowhere in sight. In fact, Harry was so badly hurt that he'd gotten himself a private room. That didn't bode well, but Remus wasn't sure that he even wanted to see. Harry the elder was still holding the child's hand, but no one else was there. "Just, if you could find some gauze…" A smell hit him, assaulting his senses, and Remus collapsed, his whole weight falling on Sherlock. It was all he could do to keep from screaming.

Remus had seen the word 'attack.' He'd assumed a break in or some old enemy, with a knife, maybe. Nothing like this had ever crossed his mind. Greyback. 'How? Why?' He tried to steady his breathing and felt himself being maneuvered into a chair. 'Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!' he berated himself. 'I should have taken more precautions; given him to someone else. Maybe he would have been better off at that orphanage! How could I have been so STUPID as to think I could take care of him?' Remus brushed the hair back off his forehead. He really needed a haircut.

Remus laughed weakly. The crazed, maniacal laugh that came from extreme exhaustion and much too much stress. "This is my fault."

"Of course it's not, Rem!" That's entirely ridiculous!" Remus shook his head at his cousin.

"If I hadn't taken him in, he wouldn't have been targeted. This wasn't about Harry. It was about me. Greyback did this to hurt me." He felt a warm hand settle on his shoulder and a roll of gauze was placed in his hand. Remus took a deep breath. "Thank you," he breathed.

Still refusing to look at Harry too closely, Remus carefully wrapped his finger and set the rest of the roll on the stand beside the bed. Another few deep breaths and he was as ready as he would ever be. It didn't take long for Remus to absorb the information of what kind of damage had been done. "He's stable. There's nothing I can do until I get some more rest."

"Is he a…?"

Remus turned to look at his favorite cousin. "There's no way to know. It'll have to wait until next full moon." Remus felt guilty about the lie, but felt much greater guilt about what had happened because of him.

"We can help you there." Remus turned at the unfamiliar voice and saw two men standing in the doorway. The one who had spoken was wearing a long grey coat and the other was wearing a very formal-looking business suit. "Sorry to interrupt," the first man continued. "Captain Jack Harkness. This here is Ianto Jones." He indicated the man beside him. "We're with Torchwood."

…

That comforting hand found his shoulder again. The man named Ianto spoke. "We were tracking the werewolf the night it attacked…" he looked down at what Remus could only assume where his notes on some sort of tablet, "Harry." He looked up. "We weren't able to apprehend it before the unfortunate incident, but we were able to capture it almost immediately after thanks to the weakening affect of the," he looked at his notes again, "seven bullets." He looked directly at Remus. "Are you Harry's legal guardian?" Remus nodded dumbly. "Good. If you could just sign a few forms here, Dr. Watson, we can hold Harry for the period immediately surrounding the full moon and see to it that he is safe and does not pose a threat to anybody else. Can I assume from your previous comments that you knew the identity of the attacker?"

Remus nodded again but only answered when Sherlock squeezed his shoulder. "Uh…" He looked up at his friend questioningly whose responding look was indecipherable. "Yeah, yes. Fenir Greyback."

The American one, Jack, interrupted, "How do you know Greyback and why do you believe you were being targeted?"

Remus gripped his wand protectively in his pocket. "I, myself, was turned by Greyback as a child, but I refused to reject humanity and join him in his pack." He spat he word. Ianto looked shocked. Jack nodded.

"I haven't seen any of your kills."

"Jack!"

"I don't kill!" Jack looked confused. "I make sure to never hurt anyone." Remus sagged backwards, taking comfort from Sherlock's presence. His voice dropped to an angry whisper. "I make sure!"

Harry joined the party by the door and took Remus' left arm. "I know you do, Rem. This isn't your fault. You don't have to take responsibility for other people not being good." She turned to look at the two intruders. "As for you, you're not taking Harry anywhere. What kind of guarantee do we have that you won't lock him up forever in some top-secret base and run experiments on him. Or just kill him?"

Jack looked hurt and just a bit offended by her statements, but was trying not to show it. "I wouldn't let that happen. Never before have I met a werewolf with morals, but I refuse to make snap decisions without evidence."

Ianto took up after Jack. "We would house Harry in a secure cell for the period immediately surrounding the full moon. If he did not turn, then he would be free to go. If he did, we would set up an arrangement whereby he returned every full moon to ensure the safety of him and others."

No longer satisfied with silent observations, Sherlock butted in. "What is Torchwood? What do you do? Who do you answer to?"

Remus' breathed "He won't turn," went entirely unheard.

A small smile crept onto Jack's face. "We're outside the government, beyond the police. We're preparing the human race." Sherlock growled at the roundabout answer. "Basically, we're a top-secret organization set up by Queen Victoria as world's defense against alien invasion. Mostly, we monitor the rift, help out the stray crashed ship here and there, and save the world. We do a lot of weevil wrangling. But we also track earthly threats. Faeries, trolls, werewolves."

"Also," Ianto interjected, "we took care of the ministry workers that were hovering about your flat looking severely out-of-place. The police were beginning to be unnerved by the robes and sticks."

"How-?"

"How did I know you were a wizard? You've been tightly gripping a stick inside your pocket for most of this conversation."

"Do you interface with the Ministry of Magic?"

Ianto chuckled. Jack answered. "Yeah, they don't like us much. We're over their heads."

"Anyway," Ianto continued. "Fill out the confidentiality agreements or we'll have to wipe your memories and take the issue into our own hands." He started handing out stacks of paperwork. Remus felt Sherlock tense behind him. He reached up and placed his left hand on top of Sherlock's right, which was still resting on Remus' shoulder.

A few moments later, Harry interrupted the rustling of papers with her shout, "Hold on! This says you have the right to kill us if we don't keep our mouths shut!"

Ianto shrugged. "Necessary precaution."

They reluctantly filled out the forms, carefully reading them first. When they were done, Ianto collected the papers and Jack gave them all a jaunty salute. "We'll collect him the evening of the sixth of September." He pointed at Remus. "You're welcome to join us." And then the pair left. Remus collapsed into the bedside chair. Sherlock stood awkwardly behind him. Harry claimed the other chair. Remus swiftly fell into a fitful sleep.

It was well after sun-rise when Remus woke to the sounds of whimpering. Harriet was slumped over in her chair, unmoving. Sherlock was nowhere to be seen. Remus forced himself to his feet, pushing back the guilt as he bent over the boy. "Harry? Harry, it's okay. Harry?"

Harry's eyes fluttered open and the child let out a moan of pain. "Moony?"

"I'm here." Remus quickly forced Harry to swallow a potion for the pain.

"What happened?"

Remus swallowed dryly, forcing back the lump growing in his throat. "You…you were attacked. By a… by a werewolf."

Harry squoze his eyes shut, trying to block out some of the remaining aches and twinges. Tear streaked down his cheeks. "Am I going to die?"

Remus pressed his forehead to that of the boy he'd come to think of as his son. He couldn't decide. Tell the boy the truth, or lie to make him feel better? "Yes."

Harry bit his lip and started to sob. Remus hugged him, trying to provide some comfort. "It's gonna' be okay, Harry. I know it hurts, but it'll be okay. Dying isn't the end, Harry. You'll be with your mum and dad. They love you."

"I d-don't wanna' b-be w-with th-them!" he choked out. "I want t-t-to b-be with y-you!"

Remus refused to let himself cry, but it wasn't easy. "Shh… Harry. Shhh…." He rocked back and forth a bit, Harry in his arms, sobbing uncontrollably now. The sheer volume woke the other Harry, but she didn't know what to do, so she stayed where she was. "Harry, I know it's hard, but being with your parents in heaven is so much better than being here, cursed by that disease."

"Remus, what are you telling him!?"

Remus turned to look at his favorite cousin. "What I have to. It's better for him to know the facts and face them than to let him die thinking he's going to live."

"What makes you think he's going to die?"

"He is going to die. The bite of a werewolf is fatal."

"That doesn't make any sense! You're here."

"I won't subject him to that!" Remus yelled. "My parents were selfish! It's better to die than live with lycanthropy! You don't know what it's like! No one does!" He tightened his hold on the crying child in his arms. "I won't force my life onto him."

"You're going to kill him?" asked Harry hesitantly.

"Of course not. Greyback killed him."

"How did you survive?"

Remus took a deep breath. "I won't do that. I won't do that to him." He buried his face in the boy's hair and breathed deeply, trying to capture that scent in his mind forever.

Will Harry die? I'm not going to tell you. Give it your best guess.

Thanks for reading!

-MP