Thank you to everyone reading this story. I am very happy that you're sticking with it. A special thank you to PCJanto and Badly-knitted for reviewing. You make my day.

Chapter 21 A consummate relationship

"Rhi… Rhiannon… Rhi, let the boy breathe. Seriously, let him go. He's turning blue." Johnny was saying to his wife, growing steadily more concerned as the boy's colouration turned decidedly bluer. In the end he had to wrestle the youth free of her fierce embrace. The boy sent him a silent thank you as he took in a huge gulp of air. Rhiannon wiped the tears out of her eyes and gripped the boy's shoulder, as if she couldn't bear to be separated from him again.

"Don… don't you EVER disappear like that again! You hear me, Orion Harkness-Jones?" She almost yelled at him and Orion sent her a big, charming smile, before throwing himself back into her arms and saying:

"I won't, aunt Rhi. I promise." She sniffled and moved him back, holding him out at arms length and attempted a stern glare at him. It was marred though by the happy glint in her eyes and the affectionate smile.

"See that you don't." She looked at Warwyn hanging back, observing them shyly. "Now, who's your friend?" Orion turned to look at Warwyn with a huge smile. He held out his hand, waiting for Warwyn to grab it. With only a slight hesitation, Warwyn stepped forward and took it. It was improving, getting over its shyness with every person Orion introduced it too. Staying on Hallow IV certainly had helped with that. But still. This was different. This was Orion's closest family, the people he grew up with. It wanted to make a good impression and not screw up with them. It was shaking a little with nervousness. That woman was intimidating. She loved her family and would crush anyone who hurt them. Then its eyes made contact with Orion's and a wonderful calm spread in its body. Orion was smiling at it, gazing at it with such love and pride in his eyes that Warwyn couldn't help but smile back.

"This is Warwyn, Warwyn Saiyaela." Orion said, still looking at Warwyn and wrapped his arm around its waist. "My mate." Both Rhiannon and Johnny startled upon hearing that.

"I'm pleased to meet you." Warwyn said, holding out its hand like it had been taught. No one took its hand to shake it though and it hesitantly withdrew its hand, glancing uncertainly at Orion.

"Your… your…" Rhiannon was astonished and couldn't seem to understand the reality of that statement.

"Mate. My MATE." Orion said, his voice getting a sharp edge now. He didn't appreciate how his relatives were treating his mate, ignoring it as if it didn't matter. Johnny blinked a few times and sort of shook his head, snapping out of his stunned surprise. He looked at the young … ehm… Boy? Girl? Youth … standing there, leaning into Orion seeking comfort from him. It looked so young and scared and Orion looked increasingly angry. He cleared his throat and put out his large calloused hand to the kid. It looked at him uncertainly, blinking those unusual amethyst eyes up at him and he felt himself go soft inside. The kid took his hand and he shook it.

"Welcome Warwyn. I hope you'll be very happy here." With our Orion, he added mentally. You've would have to be blind not to notice the love between the kids. The pride Orion had in showing off his mate and the love in his eyes when he looked at Warwyn. It was meant to be and who was he to stand in their way? The moment he had laid eyes on Orion again he could see the difference. He had grown so much. He was taller, older and more importantly more mature. He had almost grown up while away. He glanced at his wife, knowing she would not be able to see the difference. She would still see the little boy who had played on her lap.

Rhiannon and Orion were locked in a staring contest. She still had made no move toward greeting Warwyn, who was glancing from one to the other apprehensively.

"Do you have a problem with my mate?" Orion challenged her with a deep growl. Warwyn gasped in equal parts fear and pleasure. Fear because it didn't want him to fight his family, but also pleasure that its mate would fight for it. It flung its arms around Orion's chest from behind, pinning his arms to his sides. The gesture seemed to finally hit home with Rhiannon, as she saw the young person physically restraining her nephew and he was still growling at her. Orion was poised in a tense stance, ready to attack. She swallowed and flicked a glance at Warwyn. Very hesitantly, not wanting to provoke her nephew, she looked right at Warwyn and said:

"Hello Warwyn. I'm pleased to meet you." It looked at her from over Orion's shoulder.

"And I you." It said without hesitation.

Orion growled again, still not appeased. He had been getting feral episodes since leaving their Ravine. All the strangers around his mate, who he had yet to consummate his bond with, were putting a strain on him. His instincts were screaming at him to protect his mate, both from danger and from being stolen away by competition. Even though they had been bonded since Warwyn's birth it did not prevent others to move in and try to steal his submissive from him. As long as the bond was unconsummated it could be broken and the stolen partner could be wooed and convinced to bond with someone else. As a direct result most dominants were rather paranoid about their submissives – and the reverse could also be true – especially in the time from their first meeting to the consummation. That of course was normally a rather short time span, but because Orion and Warwyn had met at such an early age, the period was longer. The longer time they spent together without consummating their bond, the more frequent the feral episodes would get. And it wouldn't just be Orion who would go through them, but Warwyn as well, only its episodes would tend to be fixated on keeping Orion's attention.

"Stop it." Warwyn said and nuzzled Orion's neck. He broke of in mid growl and rubbed his head against Warwyn's, affectionately. A small smile spread across his features and their bond hummed contentedly.

"Maybe we should move this into the living room?" Johnny said, his tone of voice brooking no protests. He grabbed Rhiannon by the elbow and steered her out of the hall. Orion and Warwyn stayed in the hall, just hugging each other. The meeting had not gone the way any of them had wanted.

In the living room they could hear Johnny and Rhiannon arguing.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Johnny was furious. His wife could really be cruel sometimes.

"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you? Have you forgotten what that person did to Orion? How it almost killed him? How it rejected him?" she spat back at him.

"No, I haven't forgotten. But if Orion can forgive it, then so should we!"

"Are you mad?" she shrieked.

"Fucking hell, Rhi! Can't you see how happy the boy is? No, you listen to me for once," he added as she was about to interrupt. "The only thing you'll achieve by this grudge, is driving the kid away. 'Cause believe me, he won't be picking us. He will choose his mate and rightly so. I won't let you, you hear? I won't let you drive the kid off. We only just got him back."

Out in the hall the two youths in question held each other for comfort. Orion was shaking with anger and he wanted to storm in there and tear his aunt apart for hurting his mate. Warwyn was clinging onto him so tightly, that it was almost painful. It was shaking and he could feel its storm of emotions through their bond.

"Maybe… Maybe I should just go… leave you alone with your family." It said a bit louder than it had intended. Orion growled loudly and held on tighter. Warwyn squeaked a little in discomfort, but made no move to leave. Someone rushed to the doorway from the other room.

"No! No, please stay." It was Rhiannon. She stood in the doorway looking shaken. "Please." She sighed and took a step toward them. Orion's low growl made her stop. "I'm sorry. I'm being foolish. I…" her voice broke. This was exceedingly hard for her. She was never very good with apologies; her pride usually got in the way. She looked at Warwyn beseechingly. "Warwyn, I'm truly sorry for behaving that way toward you. I hope you'll give me a chance to make it up to you and I would really like to get to know you." Warwyn looked her in the eyes. She was sincere. It nodded.

"I'd like that." It sent a calming pulse through their bond and Orion responded by releasing it. He was still staring at his aunt.

"Orion, I'm sorry. I…" she said.

"Hurt my mate again and you will have to deal with me. Understood?" he told her. It was clear there would be no discussion. He was dictating the terms of their future relationship and Johnny felt a renewed respect for the kid. Not many could intimidate Rhiannon and live to tell the tale.

"Yes, I understand." She looked at Warwyn. "But if Warwyn ever hurts you, it will have to answer to me." Warwyn swallowed and nodded.

"Agreed." Orion said. Then Rhiannon surprised the both of them by gathering them both in a bear hug.

"And if Orion ever hurts you, Warwyn, come to me and I'll set him straight." She said, making Orion laugh. His good-natured humour trickled down the bond and made Warwyn sigh with relief. The tension had disappeared, like dew before the sun and it found it rather liked being hugged by this woman. It was almost like having a mother again. It shook off the sad thought, even as Orion glanced at it questioningly. It sent him a smile and he let it go, though he wasn't fooled for a second. Rhiannon let go of them and held them out at arms length.

"Oh, just look at you. You've grown so much! And what a gorgeous tan you have, both of you." She patted Warwyn on the hair. "Why you're almost a man now. Much too grown up for my ice cream pancakes." Orion made a slight whimpering sound and Warwyn had to smile. "Oh very well," Rhi said with the air of giving in to incessant begging. "Get in the kitchen." As they walked there Johnny grabbed his wife by the waist and planted a solid kiss on her lips.

xxXxx

A few hours later found them still in Rhiannon's kitchen. They had eaten the pancakes and drunk tea as they shared the stories of all that had happened since Orion left so unorthodoxly. Both Rhiannon and Johnny had listened with rapt attention and had been very moved by the tale. Both expressed pleasure at the fact that Lartorc at last was dead and sadness that Rea was as well. Rhiannon was particularly interested in hearing how the kids had survived on their own. Warwyn confessed that it missed weaving baskets and such and that it found it very soothing. Rhiannon wowed she would teach it all she knew about arts and crafts, which was quite a bit. At one point she had supplemented their meagre earnings by selling her crafts. That was of course before Jack got her the job in the tourist office.

Suddenly there was a sound of the front door being opened and slammed shut and a herd of elephants stomping in. Then:

"Mum, we're home." David yelled.

"Why does the house smell of pancakes?" Mica asked with her higher voice.

"There's a surprise for you in the kitchen." Rhiannon yelled back at them. They could hear the kids stomping toward them. Then the door opened.

"Orion!" Moments later Orion was barrelled over by two rambunctious children. He laughed heartily as they hugged him and bombarded him with questions of where he had been and what had happened to him. Once again he launched into a telling of the story, only this time it was decidedly child friendly. When he got to the part of the story where he had found his mate, he moved over to Warwyn and put his arm around it. Mica's eyes widened and David asked him impatiently to tell what had happened next. As he concluded the story with them arriving back on Earth both children were excited. David couldn't get enough of the adventure parts and Mica was sending Warwyn curious glances. In the end curiosity got the better of her.

"Are you a boy or a girl?" she asked, never one to beat around the bush.

"Mica!" her father admonished. Warwyn just smiled. It was clear that Mica was very young and it had no problem with answering.

"I'm neither. My people don't have genders. At least not until they grow up and even then they can change it." Mica's eyes were the size of saucers.

"How can you not have a gender?" David asked, always the sceptic. Warwyn smiled at him.

"How can you have a gender?" The boy looked at it, as if he had never heard of something like that and had never considered how it would be to see things from a completely opposite perspective.

"Can you become an animal, like Orion?" Mica asked with an air of being impressed but not wanting to show it. Orion put his arm around her and smiled. Warwyn glanced at him, to see if it was alright and sensing no objections, it changed into a dog similar to the one it had seen the night before. A Rottweiler. Mica shrieked in delight and clapped her hands. David wanted to do the same, but with him being older and a boy, he had to restrain himself. He did tell them "Cool!" though.

"So Warwyn, do you know what gender you'll end up being?" Rhiannon asked later, when things had quieted down a little. Orion was busy explaining about some computer game he had learned on the way from the planet to Hallow IV to David and Mica was listening intently to Warwyn and her mother. The girl had widened her adoration of Orion to include Warwyn. Johnny had joked privately with Rhiannon that their daughter would be a fanatic fangirl when she grew older. Certainly her hero worship of Orion knew no bounds.

"I'm not sure, Rhi." Warwyn answered. "It's still too soon to tell."

"You don't have any clues? No inclinations?" Warwyn shook its head.

"No, ma'am."

"Seems so odd… not having a gender and not knowing what you'll end up becoming." She said. Warwyn shrugged a shoulder. It wasn't like it had ever known any different.

"Still I'm sure Orion will fancy you no matter what gender you are." She patted it on the arm in reassurance. Warwyn blushed a deep red.

xxXxx

Two weeks later they had settled into a new routine in the Hub. It had been a bit difficult at first. Meeting all those new people – and Myfanwy. She had been something in a league of her own. When she had spotted Orion she had flown down and hissed at him - challenging him to a fight. Apparently she was angry at him for abandoning her. In the end he had had to assume his dragon form and fight her and force her into submission. After that she had behaved towards him, even though she still held a slight grudge. When Warwyn had been introduced, she had made another fuss, causing Orion to reinforce his dominance over her. She had sniffed at Warwyn and smelling Orion's scent all over it, had huffed and backed away. She hadn't tried anything after that.

The rest of the people, Gwen, Toshiko and Owen, were less troublesome. At least outwardly. Owen had pulled Warwyn aside at one point, and warned it to never hurt Orion again, but that was the extent of it. They had accepted Warwyn into their midst with little difficulty and it had soon been included in the daily goings-on. It was clear they loved Orion, each in their own way and wanted only the best for him.

Classes with Xarion had started up again, this time for the both of them. But it was only for a little while. Soon his new baby would be born and he would be too busy to travel to Earth every day. There had been talk about getting a new teacher to come instead, but no decision had been made yet. They also helped out in the Hub and in the tourist office. Warwyn had already proven invaluable in its knowledge of alien technologies, courtesy of its parents. Toshiko had been ecstatic when she learned of Warwyn's background and soon the two of them were holed up in the meeting room with bits and pieces of tech strewn across the table. Orion had exhibited symptoms of jealousy and Owen had put his arm around him and joked that their girls were shacking up together. Orion had stalked in there and physically dragged Warwyn out of there and down to their room. Owen later apologised and they were all wary of Orion's bouts of feral possessiveness after that.

On this particular day Orion was up in the tourist office, while Warwyn was assisting Toshiko with yet another piece of tech. It was similar to a Califraxian power conversion unit or a Macarian Hyper spool, but still different. It was a puzzle and they had been at it for hours. Toshiko had noticed that Warwyn was behaving slightly odd. Every now and again it would rub its hands all over it self, as if it was uncomfortable in its own skin. She thought nothing of it, when it removed its sweatshirt and was left in a t-shirt it obviously had borrowed from Orion.

"Warwyn, would you…" she broke off as she saw the youth in the process of stripping naked, while clawing its hands all over its body. "What are you doing?" she said loudly. Warwyn groaned painfully and mumbled:

"Hurts." It raked its fingers along its arms, leaving bloody streaks behind. Toshiko grabbed its wrists and it squirmed, as if in pain.

"Stop that." She told it. "Owen!" she yelled. "Owen, get in here!" she heard a metal clang and thought maybe he had dropped the tray again. He did that sometimes, she had noticed. Moments later she heard him thundering up the stairs and the door flew open.

"What's going on?" his eyes widened at the sight of a very naked Warwyn trying to wrestle free of Toshiko's grasp. His eyes immediately flickered toward the door. She knew what he was thinking. Orion would kill them if he saw this.

"Something's wrong with Warwyn." She said. He responded instantly.

"Warwyn? Can you tell me what's wrong?" he put a hand on its forehead to check if it was hot.

"Hurts." It squirmed and tried to pull out of Toshiko's grasp again. But she held firm, not wanting it to scratch itself any further. It whimpered loudly.

"Where does it hurt?" Owen asked patiently. Warwyn whimpered again, almost keening.

"Hurts!" it said more insistently. "Let me go." It begged.

"No, tell us where it hurts. Is it your arms?" Owen looked at the scratches on the arms. They were shallow and wouldn't scar, but they would need to be cleaned up to avoid infection.

"No… let me go!" Warwyn's struggles against them were increasing. When they didn't release it, it sent out a high pitched keening sound. Both Owen and Toshiko covered their ears at the painful noise. Then it stopped. They both gasped in relief, but then they saw the reason. Orion had arrived and he was not looking happy.

Orion growled at them both and they hurriedly backed away, putting a few steps distance between them. Orion continued to glare at them as he knelt by his mate and gathered it into his arms. It squirmed and writhed and made a pitiful keening sound. Then Orion focused entirely on it, rocking it soothingly like you would comfort a child.

"Hurts." It cried.

"Shhhh, it's okay. Just change." Owen and Toshiko shared a look. Change?

"I... I can't." it whimpered.

"Yes, you can." It cried a little more and hid its face in his chest.

"I can't." it whined. Orion grabbed its chin with one hand, firmly but gently.

"Yes you can, Zuuva. Now change." It was an order, given without the option to refuse. It was the first time Orion had ever used the rank on Warwyn. Until then the word Zuuva had been a nickname, a term of affection. But now it became something more. It became a display of dominance. It squirmed. There could be no denying its mate. He wanted it to change, so it would. What it could not do for it self, it would do for him. It closed its eyes and allowed the change to occur. Slowly it felt its body change. Hips widened slightly, chest broadened a little, both a penis and a vagina formed. When the change was complete the pain was gone as well. It gasped a few times. Slowly it became aware of lying naked on the floor in Orion's arms. Its eyes fluttered open and its gaze met Orion's. He glanced fleetingly down its body and then looked back into its eyes.

"You're beautiful." His voice was so tender and so loving, it made Warwyn choke. A small patch of red spread across its cheeks as it smiled back at him. Orion caressed its hair and looked down its body again.

"Kiss me?" it asked. Orion smiled softly and complied.

xxXxx

Fifteen minutes later found Warwyn dressed in a hospital gown undergoing a physical. Owen was currently scowling at Orion who was watching him like a hawk and ready to pounce if Owen made a wrong move. His feral possessiveness was running rampant now that Warwyn finally had settled on a gender. Or rather genders. The youth was now a hermaphrodite. S/he was a mixture of both genders and when looking at him/her, it was difficult to tell if one was looking at a girl or a boy. The hair style and the clothes would be the best give away and still it would get confusing.

Warwyn's brown hair remained the same: shoulder length and gathered in a pony tail at the nape of the neck. A very unisex style. The androgynous body was caught sort of half way between the hard muscular lines of the males and the round, soft lines of the females. It didn't have breasts, but as it said:

"I can be anything Orion wants me to be." Owen had nearly choked upon hearing that and Orion had growled ferociously and told him to not get any ideas. Warwyn had just sat still and sent a flirtatious smile at Orion. Toshiko was hard pressed to refrain from laughing loudly at that. Oh, Orion would have his hands full with a mate like that, she was sure. Owen continued with his pocking and prodding.

"Hmm, I'm not sure, but I think you have a uterus. I would have to give you a gynaecological examination to be sure though."

"That will not be necessary!" Orion growled and only just managed to restrain himself from attacking the doctor. Warwyn was his and his alone – and no one else would look closely at his mate's genetalia if he could help it. "Warwyn is a carrier." Owen frowned at the term. Being a carrier in human terms meant something entirely different that it did to Saluvians and Micurii'ans.

"How can you tell?" he asked sourly.

"I can smell it." Warwyn had been looking from one to the other, but stayed looking at Orion after that. S/he sniffed the air. S/he could tell that his/her scent was different and could also tell that Orion was sending out a different scent than normal. S/he sniffed again, leaning closer toward him. The scent was enticing.

"You smell different." It said alluringly. Orion looked at it and smiled.

"Pheromones." He said, as Owen was staring at them.

"Of course!" he burst out, startling the two youths and prompting Orion to grab him by the front of his coat and bodily lift him of the ground and slam him against the railing of the stairs. Orion snarled loudly, as Owen grabbed his wrists and tried to get free.

"Oi, I'm only trying to help!" he screamed.

"Orion! Put him down!" Toshiko screamed and was joined moments later by Jack, who had only just returned.

"Orion, put him down NOW!" Jack ordered. Orion didn't bat an eyelash. Ianto came running up to Jack and Toshiko, having been busy parking the SUV. Gwen was behind him over by the workstations, setting down her bag.

"Orion!" Ianto shouted. No response. Then Warwyn daintily hopped off the examination table and moved over to stand behind Orion. S/he plastered his/her body against Orion's back and put his/her arms around his waist.

"Please put him down, Ziwa." s/he breathed into his ear and kissed his cheek. Orion growled another warning at Owen and complied.

Warwyn kissed his cheek again and backed away, pulling on Orion's hand. Orion allowed the manipulation and followed quietly. Once on the far side of the medical bay he stopped and with a swift move claimed the lips of his mate. The kiss was fierce and demanding. He was staking his claim, showing Owen what was his. In the background they could hear Jack demanding to know what was going on. Explanations were offered, but the two youths ignored them in favour of a heated make out session in front of every one – something they would later be quite embarrassed about. In the end it was Ianto, off all people, who sighing resignedly, told them to go have sex already so things could go back to normal around the place. They broke away from each other panting, as they heard Jack telling Toshiko to vent the place.

"There's enough pheromones floating around here, it's a wonder we're not all fucking like rabbits."

Oddly enough Cardiff would experience an unusual spike in the birth rates nine months later, seeing as an extraordinarily high number of children had been conceived around the same time. The scientists had been unable to pin a cause to the sudden urge to reproduce, but Jack quietly felt guilty, assuming he knew the reason was Torchwood and a certain pair of hormonal youngsters.

xxXxx

The kids had been driving the adults up the wall during the next five days. Warwyn would try to seduce Orion, flooding the air with pheromones and Orion would try to comply, but was rebuffed each time. Exasperatedly Jack and Ianto had begged Xarion to come and do something about the madness, but the man had just laughed and told them that it was a natural thing and wouldn't last long.

This afternoon Warwyn was feeling particularly warm and was soon shedding the outer layer of clothing, until s/he was only dressed in a pair of boxers borrowed from Orion. S/he grabbed an empty pizza box from the coffee table and started fanning him/her self with it. The adults were staring at nim/her in concern, no doubt remembering what happened last time s/he stripped in the middle of the Hub. Gwen came over with a frown on her forehead.

"What are you doing?"

"It's hot in here." Warwyn said fanning him/her self even more.

"What? No it isn't." Gwen pulled her jacket a little tighter. It was actually rather chilly today; the first glimpse of winter.

"Yes, it is!"

It was then that Jack, Ianto and Orion chose to walk through the door at the top entrance. Orion was in front and stopped so abruptly that Jack walked into him. He didn't blink. Instead he sniffed the air like a bloodhound and in a quick flurry of motion he vaulted over the railing and jumped down onto the floor of the Hub. A jump that should have killed or seriously injured him. Instead he landed on his feet in a crouch; sniffing the air again he moved quickly. To the people looking on he looked like a predator stalking a prey. Then he spotted Warwyn. He slowly strode over to him/her and proceeded to walk in a circle around him/her. Owen shouted for Toshiko to step away and she grabbed Gwen as she did so. It was clear that something new was at foot.

Orion inhaled his mate's scent, taking a deep whiff of the pheromones s/he was sending out. They finally smelled the way they were supposed to. They smelled… perfect. He kept circling, ready for when Warwyn would make the next move. He didn't have to wait long. It giggled and Jumped. Orion immediately went into tracking mode, delving into their bond to feel the location of his mate. There! In the archive. He Jumped there. It laughed and ran a few steps, before Jumping again. This time he found it in Jack's office. He Jumped after it. This repeated itself as he chased his mate all over the Hub.

After the ninth Jump he managed to catch him/her by one flailing arm and Warwyn immediately stilled. They were in the locker room in the basement. Warwyn was staring at him with wide amethyst eyes, as if s/he couldn't believe he had caught him/her so soon. They were both breathing hard from the chase.

"No more running." Orion told him/her. "You are mine, Zuuva." Orion held up his hand in front of his chest in a ninety degree angle. It was a traditional proposal. Warwyn smiled beautifully. S/he knew the answer without a doubt.

"I am yours, Ziwa. As you are mine." S/he grabbed the hand in a similar position, thus accepting the proposal. Orion smiled back at it.

"As I am yours, Zuuva." With formalities out of the way he lent down and kissed his mate. Their bond sang with joy as they relinquished the restraints childhood had imposed on them and their emotions soared. Orion released his own pheromones, targeted at the young nubile creature in his arms. Warwyn felt them flooding his/her system and responded in kind. Their kiss grew passionate and demanding. Orion moved his thigh in between Warwyn's legs, to rub against his/her crotch. S/he groaned at the sensation it caused.

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Sex scene removed to comply with site censorship. The un-censored chapter can be found on my homepage: www . freec . dk / 2910leiv (just remove the spaces). It is in two parts, due to the chapters length.

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Orion regained consciousness first and gingerly pulled himself up, so his weight wasn't resting fully on Warwyn. He realised he was still lodged inside him/her and he smiled. They had consummated the bond! Warwyn truly was his now. No one could ever tear them apart again. Warwyn stirred beneath him and soon opened those beautiful amethyst eyes to look up at him. They both smiled.

"I love you." They said as one.