"Where's Scott gone now?" Virgil asked, realising that his oldest brother had done one of his vanishing acts. They had been becoming more and more frequent over the past few weeks as his stress levels soared. He could usually be found in one of two places, his office where he attempted to bury himself in paperwork, or "observing" Brains and The Mechanic as they worked to build the new T- Drive engine. Scott was driving The Mechanic insane by breathing down his neck every five seconds and making rather rude comments about his trustworthiness. Even Brains, who was the most placid person Selene had ever met, was getting sick of mediating between the two.
"He was here like ten minutes ago, who let him go?" Kayo groaned.
"Don't look at me, I was keeping an eye on him last night, I actually sat on him to stop him leaving the couch in the middle of the movie," Selene wasn't proud of the fact that Gordon had walked in on her laying forcefully across his brothers back while she flicked the back of his head and yelled at him to sit still, but she'd do it again if she had to. She was a team player like that.
"I took him out running last night, I've done my-" Virgil paused as John's holographic form popped up.
"We have a situation."
"You found Scott? What's he up to now?"
"What? No," John frowned, confused by the sudden turn in conversation. "I mean I just received a distress call, an arachnologist stationed in the Amazon has been bitten by one of the spiders he was capturing for study and an antivenom breeding program. They are notoriously hard to catch, let alone milk as they are decidedly fast and will bite without any provocation, so supplies are very limited."
"Sounds delightful, how do you even milk a spider?" Selene had to ask.
"Mild electric shock that not only paralyses them for a brief time but stimulates their venom glands, which is collected when it drips from their fangs," John answered as if it were the most normal thing in the world.
"So is there any antivenom available for...which spider is it?" Virgil asked.
"The Creeping Banana Spider, and yes, there is. Only it's a very limited supply. "
Selene made a face, she wasn't scared of spiders but didn't feel the need to get up close and personal with the poisonous ones. Give her a big, fluffy tarantula any day of the week over the smaller, evil little shits.
"So do we have to collect it, or pick up the scientist?" Virgil asked.
"A little of both, Dr Furnier managed to get out a call to the hospital where he works in their research lab and they sent some out by drone, but the drone has vanished and they have no way of tracking it. I've tried and it's giving off a weak signal but you're still going to have to go out there, find it and administer it before taking Dr Furnier to the hospital."
"On it," Virgil was on his feet in an instant, heading to his launch tube, but he stopped before he stepped on the foot plate. "Let's take Scott with us, he could do with an outing. Kayo, Selene, want to come with?"
"Sure, I could do with some action," Kayo was already heading for the hangers.
"What good am I going to be?"
"You're great at calming people down, plus Gordon said you helped him with a little healing before, I'm sure you could help me keep Furnier comfortable."
She thought about it for a second then nodded. "Sure, I'll come."
"Be careful," John warned her.
"You never say that to anyone else," she bitched as she followed after Kayo.
"You're different," he insisted, ignoring the middle finger she flipped at him.
"I'll look after her," Virgil promised as he stepped firmly onto the foot plate, the painting behind him starting to tilt.
As soon as they reached the area Scott and Kayo had been sent off on a drone hunt while Virgil and Selene continued on to help the Doctor.
Selene stayed in Two, making sure the medical bay was fully prepared while Virgil switched the huge craft to auto pilot, leaving it hovering above the treeline, and lowered onto the Doctor's observation platform.
It didn't take him long to return, carrying Dr Furnier as if he weighed nothing more than a bag of sugar. She moved aside, letting him lay the man down on the bed and handed Virgil the med-scanner.
"How's it looking?" Furnier asked, a little breathlessly and with a pain filled tinge to his voice.
"Not too bad," Virgil hedged, his eyes focused on the scanner screen.
"How do you feel?" Selene asked Furnier, "can you describe it?"
"The venom is spreading fast, I can't feel my legs, and my head hurts."
Selene leant over to look at Virgil's screen, seeing that his blood pressure was far too high and his temperature was climbing.
She soaked a cloth in cold water and laid it on his forehead to ease both the headache and mop up the beads of sweat that glistened on his forehead as Virgil wound a bandage tightly around his hand and forearm in the hope of slowing down the spread and splinted the arm to stop it from moving, any movement could make the situation worse.
Virgil handed her the scanner so she could familiarise herself with the details and turned away to talk to Scott, not wanting the Doctor to hear how bad it was.
"So, you study spiders, huh?"
Furnier coughed weakly but nodded. "Always been a…passion of mine."
"I took our younger brothers to the zoo a while ago, I freaked the smallest one out by holding a tarantula. Apparently it wasn't really the fact that I was holding it that was bad, it was the fact that I was talking to it like I would our cat."
Furnier managed a weak chuckle as she helped him to sit up and take a sip of water.
"They're on their way," Virgil informed them both, "don't worry, they won't let us down."
Selene secured the oxygen mask on Furnier while Virgil rummaged through the meds supply on board, including a box that he'd taken from Furnier's lab.
She was just checking his vitals again when, out of the corner of her eye she saw Virgil suddenly stiffen, standing as still as a statue.
Before she could even register what was happening, Furnier sat bolt upright and lunged in Virgil's direction, sweeping up a specimen jar. Two seconds later Virgil was in possession of a freaky looking spider, Furnier had collapsed back on the bed and Selene was wondering if she would ever sleep again without visions of that bastard thing haunting her.
"Thank you," Virgil breathed, beyond relieved. "You saved me."
Selene checked Furnier's pulse finding it to be far too fast.
"He's tachycardic," she warned as Virgil gently set the jar aside with the care one would give an unexploded bomb. "We need to work quickly, can we give him something to bring his heart rate down? That will stop the heart pumping so fast and spreading the poison even quicker."
"I don't know enough about this spider to want to risk introducing anything else into his bloodstream at this point," Virgil admitted, looking sideways at the spider.
"I swear that thing is looking at me," he shuddered. "It wanted a taste and isn't happy its plan was foiled."
Selene was prevented from answering by the rattling of Furnier's breathing. "He's getting worse," she laid her hands on his forearm and wrist, feeling the pain from the bite and the poison invading his system. "He needs them to hurry or there won't be any point in them coming back."
Virgil nodded, doing another scan of the Furnier's vitals, the Doctor having succumbed to unconsciousness. "I'm going to get them, it'll be quicker for everyone."
Selene stayed with Furnier, pumping out as much healing energy as she could into the Doctor to try to keep him stable, while Virgil returned to the controls of Two, John having located Scott and Kayo and sent Virgil the coordinates.
Thankfully it wasn't long before Scott and Kayo joined them, along with the precious antivenom.
They managed to rouse Furnier and Kayo administered the antivenom, helpfully prepared in an epipen style syringe.
The effect was almost instant, as colour returned to his cheeks, although they kept the bandage in place.
"You'll need fluids and possibly another dose of antivenom so we're taking you to the hospital to get checked out, along with this little guy-" Virgil paused, his eyes widening as he took in the empty jar that had once held the spider.
"I must not have put the lid on properly," Furnier groaned. "Nobody move!"
They all went still, their eyes frantic searching. It was nowhere to be seen.
"Scott, don't come in!" Virgil yelled through to his brother.
"What? Why? What's wrong?"
The sound of his footsteps echoed up the stairs.
"No!" Virgil dove for the door, trying to slam it shut. "Ow! Shit!"
Kayo dived down into a crouch and scooped the spider off the back of Virgil's leg and into a box, handing it to Furnier while Selene examined Virgil. The holes were small, but distinctive and definitely there, punchered right through his uniform and into his meaty calf muscle.
"Kayo! Get Furnier out of here and up to the cockpit, Scott, help me!"
She was up and wrestling with the clasp of Virgil's baldric, letting it drop to the floor and spinning him around to unzip his suit.
Virgil protested weakly but was already feeling the effects of the poison currently pumping through his blood stream. His eyes were unfocused as she eased the thick material off his shoulders and down his arms.
"John won't like you…" he paused to swallow rapidly, his mouth filling with saliva, "stripping me."
"John can deal with it, you need to get you out of this, now." She pushed him back onto the gurney that Furnier had recently vacated and made him sit down while she yanked at his boots.
One, then the other came off. Scott was there to help her drag the rest of the suit down his legs and off. They tossed it aside, not caring that he was sitting there in nothing but a vest and boxers.
"This is…embarrassing," Virgil groaned as Scott held his leg up while Selene pressed a gauze over the wound and bandaged it tightly.
"Let's try to get a splint on him," she instructed as she forced Virgil to lay back, helping him swing his good leg up on the bed. "And you, shushh, stop talking, just try to relax." Selene took his hand in hers, giving it a squeeze. "Deep breaths with me, deep calming breaths, breathe with me." She started a round of inhale, hold 1...2...3...4 and release, 1...2...3...4…. She continued to breathe with him as her eyes cut to Scott who was desperately relaying the information to John, who in turn was trying to locate another supply of antivenom.
"It seems that the hospital where were taking Furnier will be our best option, but we have to move fast. Kayo, get going, you drive!"
Two's engines kicked up a gear, going out of idle and into full speed in a matter of seconds although the big craft was the one of the slowest they possessed and just wasn't capable of the kind of speeds they needed at that moment.
Virgil's body was shaking, his hand trembling in hers as the poison viciously attacked his body, making it impossible to splint his leg without hurting him. Selene contented herself with pushing down on his leg with her free hand, trying to hold it in place, immobilising it as best she could.
"Why is it happening quicker than with Furnier?" Selene asked out loud, scanning his body with the monitor. His temperature was spiking, his heart racing, none of which made sense at that point. His bulk should have given him more time, more resistance, not less.
"What's going on?" Scott asked, grabbing the scanner to check the details himself. She didn't know, had no clue, but something didn't feel right.
She squeezed his leg tighter, opening her senses to allow some healing energy to trickle out just as she had done for Furnier and almost all of the brothers at one time or another.
Everyone had their own unique energy signature, she could recognise any one of the family without having to look.
John was generally a calm, cool energy but one that could easily spike into an anxious buzzing when he grew uncomfortable or nervous.
Scott was all high octane, hot energy that was full of passion and adrenaline, he was hardly ever calm, hardly ever relaxed, constantly tense.
Gordon was all chaotic energy and fun, his aura seemed to ping with little bursts of happiness that made him the best person to cuddle when you'd had a bad day.
Alan was like a shot of pure confidence, near him you'd feel like you could climb any mountain, conquer any foe.
Virgil was softness, he was beauty and peace, his aura field stroked against your own like a purring cat. Well, usually it did, but now it was something totally different. Now it felt spikey, like a cactus, and hot, very very hot, like reaching into a flame that would burn you with a simple touch. It felt aggressive, wild, and nothing like their placid Virgil.
Something was wrong, very wrong.
"Scott! Somethings happening, I can feel it."
Virgil's body was reacting in a way that it shouldn't, far too much, far too fast. His limbs were a twitching, sweaty mess yet he was shivering like he had hypothermia. His eyes were unfocused, darting here and there and his chest was heaving as he panted for breath. She fumbled for the same oxygen mask she'd used on Furnier but couldn't get it over his head to strap it on. His limbs were rigid, locked tight.
"What is it? Is he getting worse? I thought you were keeping it at bay?"
"I trying! But this is different, this doesn't feel like him, this is…I've felt this before I'm sure I have."
"Well what is it? Is it bad? Think, Selene!"
"It feels natural and…oh, oh shit."
Virgil lurched up right, his spine contorting painfully. She heard a cracking sound, a popping like a cracked knuckle but a hundred times louder. The twitching kicked up a notch, his muscles vibrating with the strain. She knew this. The last tumbler rolled into place in her mind and unlocked the knowledge she needed. Crap balls!
"What's wrong with him?" Scott demanded to know, his voice rising.
"What's going on, why are you two yelling?" John's holographic form popped out of the wall near her head, his eyes growing wide with horror as he took in the scene in front of him.
"Selene? Scott? What's wrong with him? This isn't right."
Virgil jerked wildly, his body spasming as if he were in the midst of a full blow seizure, the violence of his movements sending him crashing down off the gurney to the floor.
"Scott get back!"
"No, that's my brother!"
"Get the fuck back, he might be dangerous!"
"He what?"
Selene didn't take no for an answer. She'd seen this before, knew exactly what was going to happen, she just didn't know why or how. How could she not have known about this? How could she have missed it?
Virgil flopped over onto his front, managing to get his hands under him enough to raise his torso from the ground.
"Shit!" Selene shoved Scott aside, pushing him behind her before he could argue and try to move her. She held her ground, standing in front of him, one hand holding him in place, the other is raised in defence, ready to cast should she have to.
"What's going on?" John called out, worry evident in his voice, scared for both his brothers and Selene.
Virgil grunted, his muscles trembling from the strain. Scott tried to push past her but she stopped him, blocking him physically with her body, trapping him against the wall.
"For the love of the gods, listen to me! For once in your life, listen to someone else. This is my area, my knowledge, my experience and you will fucking do as you are told!"
Scott blinked, shocked at her outburst but wasn't silent for long.
"Tell me what's happening, now," he was using what the others referred to as his Commander tone, the one that he pulled out when he was issuing orders that he expected to be obeyed.
Selene looked over her shoulder at Virgil, hearing his harsh panting. His spine bowed, vertebra popping along his back like pistol shots, the sound echoing around the room.
"He's shifting! Why didn't any of you tell me before? This isn't something you should hide from me!" She looked Scott dead in the eyes, anger and hurt warring with worry. How could they not tell her? She was supposed to be part of the family. She, more than anyone, would have understood.
Scott, for his part, looked more confused than she felt.
"What? Hide from you? Shifting? What the hell are you-" his eyes grew wide. "Oh fuck!"
She spun around, hand raised.
Virgil groaned, the sound long, low and deep, morphing into a growl that rattled the medical equipment on the walls.
Scott's arms looped around her waist, trying to drag her back behind him but she was having none of it.
"Just stop! Let me help him!" she struggled out of his hold, ignoring John's urgent demand that she stay put.
She advanced slowly, not wanting to spook Virgil who was still writhing on the floor, his limbs stiff and awkward.
"How can we help him? Please, Selene, I don't understand what's going on!" Scott's desperate plea reached her ears as she dropped to her knees.
"He's stuck, he doesn't know what to do! Back away, please!" She laid a tentative hand on Virgil's sweaty back, flinching with the lash of power that sparked between them. "Fuck."
She tried to calm her mind, tried to breathe for him, projecting calm as she gathered every spare scrap of energy and power she hand inside her.
"It's OK, Virg, I got you. Just hold on for two more seconds, then let go, OK? You'll be fine, I'm here. I won't let anything happen to you."
She lifted her other hand, feeling the energy crackling between her fingers, she let it build, growing more and more until her hand was vibrating with the force of the power she held back.
"OK, with me, on three." She looked over her shoulder at Scott. "Whatever you do, don't come closer, don't touch him, no matter what happens. Promise me!"
"I can't do that!"
"Fucking promise me! I don't have time to argue!"
"Alright, alright, I promise! Just help him!"
She nodded. "OK darling, one...two… THREE!" She touched her hand to his shoulder, completing the circuit, giving him a jolt of energy as one would use a defibrillator to kick start a heart.
He jerked, his head thrown back by the force and an inhuman scream filled the air. The effect was instant, giving his body the push it needed.
His limbs stuck out straight from his body, bones cracking as they shrank , twisting into a new and completely inhuman shape. His ears grew longer, pointy tipped. His facial features contorted, stretching, morphing into something different, his nose and mouth merging to form one snout, the only thing remaining the same were his eyes. Eyes that were wide open, pain filled, staring up at her, begging without words for help.
The vest top and shorts he still wore ripped at the seams, falling from his body in a flurry of fabric.
His smooth skin rippled, pricking and pulsing as fur sprung from his pores, replacing the dark sprinkling of hair he usually had with a thick, furry pelt.
She heard Scott and John's shocked inhalations but ignored them, she couldn't lose focus now. She continued to pump energy and healing calm into him as he lay panting on the floor, his ribs heaving with the strain.
"It's OK, sweetheart, you're OK, you're safe, we're here." She risked moving her hand, fingers gently petting his soft fur.
Bad move! The wolf twisted, its fangs snapping at her hand. She jumped back out of the way, but not quick enough.
Moving faster than she could track he was up, his shaky limbs barely holding his weight, but with enough energy to lunge at her. The force of his front paws hitting her chest sent her flying backwards, landing flat out on her back.
"Selene!" John's horrified yell filled the small room.
Scott dived forward but she held up a hand to halt him in his tracks.
"No! Stop!"
Scott paused, desperate to help but remembering his promise.
"Scott, help her!"
"No! Trust me! He's still in there, he just has to remember!"
She felt Virgil's hot breath huffing against her cheek, felt the sting of his teeth as they grazed her flesh, but she stayed still, unthreatening.
"Virgil, Virgy, listen to me, listen to my voice, you know me, you know yourself, just stop and think."
Those too human eyes set in a face where they didn't belong, blinked rapidly at her. His nose tucked in against her neck, his rapid inhalations showing her that his wolf instincts were waring with his human ones. How the hell had this happened to him? This was obviously the first Scott and John had known about it, and by the looks of it the first time for Virgil too. Which begged the question of why now?
She held still, waiting, holding her breath…please let her instincts be correct.
"Ooof!" the breath was forced out of her lungs as the big wolf collapsed down on top of her. His whine broke her and she wrapped her arms around his large frame, hugging him tight.
"It's OK lovely, it's OK, you're safe." She lifted a hand and beckoned to Scott, he'd be the one that Virgil would really need.
Scott's legs gave way, his back sliding down the wall he was resting against, shock and horror finally getting the better of him. She gave him a moment, petting the big wolf head as it nuzzled her shoulder.
She heard Scott take a deep breath, physically and mentally pulling himself together. It took him a few minutes until he felt ready to crawl across to join them.
The wolf lifted his head, nose twitching as he sniffed the air. Scott held out a shaking hand, slowly as one would approach a frightened dog and tentatively stroked down the length of his brothers head. Virgil leaned into the stroke, his eyes closing.
"What the fuck just happened?" John's voice was tense, demanding. "If you ever do that again, ever put yourself in danger like that I will divorce you."
"That's my threat, not yours, you can't use that," she twisted round to locate his hologram.
"I'll use anything I want," his epic frown was firmly fixed in place. "I'm coming down, I'll deal with you when I get there."
"You'll deal with me? Like I'm a naughty child?" Oh no he did not just say that.
"If I have to!"
"I just saved one of your brothers from being ripped to shreds and the other from possibly turning himself inside out from an unfulfilled turn and you're bitching at me?"
"Guys, can we not do this now? I need to know what to do here. Kayo just messaged to say we're almost at the hospital, luckily the sound proofing in this craft is good. What do I tell her?"
"Well we can't bring a wolf into a hospital. He'll be OK now, I think I know what's happening, just get Furnier unloaded and get us back to the island as quickly as possible, I'll stay with him."
"Will you be OK?" Scott's worried frown was back.
"I'll be fine, it's not like I'm going anywhere with this lump on me." She was starting to relax, knowing that now Virgil had calmed he would be OK.
Her brain had been ticking over, trying to fathom what had happened in the short space of time between the spider bite and now and she thought she had the answer.
"I'll meet you back at base, be careful," John's hologram blinked out and she breathed a sigh of relief.
"Well, he's pissed," she kissed Virgil's nose. The wolf whined, lowering his head. "Don't you worry, it's just because he's worried, it's not your fault, you had no control over this."
"Will you be OK with him? And will he be OK?" Scott's tone demanded honesty as he hauled himself to his feet.
"Yes to both, go deal with Kayo and get us home ASAP."
He nodded, heading to the door, but he paused instead of going through it. "Do you really think you know what happened here? I mean, it's not normal for your brother to turn into a wolf, is it?"
She shrugged as best she could with the heavy lump of wolf spread out on top of her. "I don't know for definite, I'm going to need to do some serious research and look deep into your family history, but yes, I think I know what happened."
"Were you lying to John?"
"What? No! I'd never lie to him, why would you even ask me that?"
"Because these are my brothers, it's my job to protect them and watch out for them, and this happened. I need to know that he'll actually be OK, that you weren't just saying it to stop us worrying, I need the truth, Selene."
She sighed and poked at the wolf.
"Move, bub," she struggled to sit up and with a great deal of effort, and a little help from Scott who grasped her under the arms and hauled her out from under his brother, she was free.
She got to her feet and, ignoring his protests, pulled Scott into a hug.
"I promise you, on everything I hold dear, that I would never lie to any of you and that I'm not lying now. He'll be OK, the change will have neutralised the poison from the spider bite, I think that's what happened, his body acted in self defence and that was the quickest way for his healing to kick in."
"So I don't have to worry about this right now?" His blue eyes, almost the exact shade of her own, begged her to tell him that everything would work out.
"Babe, you won't have to worry about him much at all, if what I think is correct, that he's a werewolf, or a shifter as we call them, then they are pretty hardy. It means that somewhere in your family is a shifter gene, and I intend to find out where."
Scott's eyes searched her face for any trace of dishonesty but she didn't take it personally, he'd been through a lot in a short space of time. It was one thing to accept that your future sister-in-law was a witch, but another to find out that your brother was capable of changing his entire body into that of an animal. It would take some getting used to, for all of them.
It took him a moment before he nodded and hugged her back, a bone crushing hug that said more than words ever could.
She kissed his cheek and unwound her arms, giving him a little shove towards the door. "Go deal, give us a little time, we'll be fine."
Selene sat back down on the floor. Virgil lifted his head in greeting, his big brown eyes sorrowful. She patted her lap and he crawled over, still rather uncoordinated, and flopped his head down for her to stroke.
"It'll be OK," she fondled his ears, bending to kiss the top of his head. "I promise. Once you get used to this you'll love it. When we get home I'll explain all I can and we'll see what we can do about helping you. But for now, you just need to relax as much as you can, your body is still in defensive mode and you won't turn back until you are calm enough and can visualise it. So for now just try to rest, take a nap, I'm not going anywhere."
Scott returned to find Selene on the floor with the wolf curled up beside her, his head in her lap, fast asleep.
"We're almost home, is he OK?"
"Yeah," she stroked the big head of the wolf, "he's just exhausted, shifting takes a lot out of you at the best of times and this wasn't one of them. It's painful, it's intense and if you don't expect it I'd bet it's damned scary too, he'll be OK but it'll take some time."
"It looked painful," Scott sat down beside them and ran his hand gently down the length of his brothers spine, smiling just a little when the muscles twitched beneath his hand and the wolf huffed in his sleep, rolling onto his side to present his belly. "He's no stranger to pain, of all of us he's the one that gets hurt the most, but this was different, it looked like torture."
Selene made a sympathetic face. "It kinda was, his bones have to stretch and reform, sometimes even break, his ligaments, tendons and muscles stretch and alter, his internal organs will rearrange and adapt. Not to mention all his senses will be heightened and that's disturbing in itself. He's been through it."
Scott winced at her very vivid and honest description. They sat in silence after that until Kayo expertly piloted Two into its hanger and came to fetch them.
The look on her face when she rounded the corner and saw the scene before her was one neither Scott or Selene would ever forget.
"I know you told me what happened, but I don't think I really believed it until now."
"I know, it takes some getting your head around."
"Selene! Scott!"
John's running footsteps clattered up the stairs to the medical bay. He burst through the door and was by her side in an instant, dragging her to her feet and into his arms.
"Fuck, don't scare me like that again."
Selene squirmed, trying to get him to relax his grip a little, just enough for her to get her arms around him in return.
"I'm sorry, but I didn't have much of a choice."
"Yes, you did, you had the choice not to throw yourself at a wolf!"
"No," she insisted gently, knowing how worried he'd been, "I didn't, I took a risk to help protect both your brothers, that's not just a wolf, that's our Virgil, that's him in there and I had complete faith that he wouldn't hurt me on purpose. I don't know if he would have managed to shift without help and I was the only one that could do it."
She felt his arms tighten around her once more before he relaxed, letting out a hard breath.
"We're all OK, we're safe," she ran her fingers soothingly up his back, her fingers sliding into the hair at the nape of his neck, holding his head in place as she gave him a soft kiss.
"It'll be OK. I promise."
He nodded and stepped back, letting her go, his eyes going to Virgil, who had woken abruptly when his pillow had been yanked out from under him. He got to his feet, stretching low and padded over to his younger brother, nudging his hand with his nose.
John startled, his hand jerking away, just for a second but it was enough to make Virgil whimper. John caught himself and dropped his hand firmly onto his brothers head, curling his fingers into the thick fur there, receiving a lick to the wrist in return.
He'd never have believed it if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes. He couldn't begin to describe the terror he'd felt for the past hour, first from hearing that his brother had been bitten, then the subsequent horror of his shift and what had come after. Not for the first time he cursed the fact that he wasn't one of the ones actively out there on the front lines like his brothers. It meant that when the shit hit the fan he was usually forced to watch and pray.
He'd wanted to be there, wanted to help and to protect his family in any way he could, but instead he'd had to sit and wait, unable to join them while they were flying. Their priority had been to take Furnier to hospital and get Virgil back to base, waiting for him to dock his elevator nearby and join them would have been time they couldn't afford to waste.
He'd been pacing the hanger for the last twenty minutes, unable to sit still until he'd seen for himself that everyone he cared about was safe.
Selene squatted down, getting to Virgil's level. "Do you feel up to going for a walk and getting out of here? The others are waiting for us, but they'll understand if you want to be alone."
"Can he understand you as if he were human?" Kayo asked.
"He is human," Selene wrapped her arms around the wolf's neck, hugging him tight. "His body has changed, not his mind. He can understand everything, can't you, love?"
Virgil huffed and tossed his head in agreement.
"So you coming?" Another nod. "Good."
She got back to her feet and reached a hand out to John, who took it gratefully. They walked as one group, slowly, giving Virgil time to get used to moving in his temporary form.
Gordon, Alan, Grandma and Brains were waiting in the lounge. Both boys were instantly on their feet, crowding around Virgil, hands stroking every part they could reach. Their instant acceptance a testament to the unconditional love the family had for each other.
"Oh my god, is that really him?"
"That's so cool, I've always wanted a dog!"
Virgil growled, just a little and Alan leapt back.
"Is he going to eat me?"
Selene snorted. "Dude, it's your brother, of course he's not going to eat you, but you just said he was a dog, of course he's arguing."
"Can he understand us then?" Gordon wanted to know, looking up from his spot on the floor, his fingers vigorously rubbing his brother's belly.
"Of course he can, he's still him, he's still got a human brain, just with more canine instincts while he's in that body. He's not different."
Virgil's tongue lolled out of his mouth as he gave her an upside down wolfy grin. He waved his legs in pleasure at the attention he was getting and everyone laughed, his antics diffusing the tension a little, everyone that is, except Grandma.
Selene let go of John's hand and made her way over to the elder Tracy.
"You OK, Grandma?"
The older lady's eyes were shiny with tears, and a knowledge that made Selene pause.
"You knew about this, didn't you?"
She hadn't meant to say it so loud, or to sound accusatory in any way, but John was instantly beside them.
"Grandma?" his tone was gentle but authoritative, the same voice he used when dealing with a distress call. "Is there anything you can tell us about this?"
Scott joined them, leaving the younger boys with Virgil.
"What's going on?" his radar for drama was right on point. He was as bad as John for wanting all the information about a situation, they both hated being out of the loop.
Grandma stood still, her arms wrapped around her torso as if she were holding herself together.
"I do know something."
"What? Grandma, you need to tell us, right now," Scott insisted, his tone, while still respectful, allowed for no arguments.
Grandma pushed past them, sitting down heavily on one of the couches. Selene moved to sit next to her bur Scott got there first, taking her hand in his.
"Whatever it is, you can tell us."
Virgil rolled over with a heavy thud and got to his feet, shaking himself out and padding over. Laying his head on her knee he looked up at her with his big eyes, so expressive and human, the look at odds with the canine face they rested in, yet eerily beautiful.
Grandma reached out a shaking hand and gently stroked her finger down one ear, making him shake his head, brushing off the tickling sensation.
Selene moved closer, not wanting to step out of line, but feeling the older lady needed a push.
"Grandma, can I ask you something, please?"
Grandma looked at her, then nodded.
"It's in the family, isn't it?"
She nodded again.
"But it's not on your side, or you would have told them, wouldn't you?"
Again, that nod.
John's arm slid around her waist, giving her a squeeze, either for comfort, acknowledgement or as a warning to stop, she didn't know, so she went with her instincts.
"You've seen this before?"
This time Grandma didn't nod, she began talking, and once the floodgates opened, there was no stopping her.
"Jeff introduced me to this beautiful young lady, your mother," she traced the lines of Virgil's muzzle, letting him lick her hand. "She was wonderful, the most polite, kind, sweet and loving girl, everything a mother could ever want for her son. But there was something about her I just couldn't put my finger on, something different, otherworldly almost. She was special, but I didn't know how much until it was too late."
She paused, as if gathering her thoughts and a tighter rein on her emotions.
"He told me after she was gone that he didn't know how he was going to cope, I thought he meant the fact that he was now the sole parent to you five beautiful boys, but he didn't, he meant this. He didn't know any details, just that it was in her family, that some inherited the gene and some didn't, she hadn't developed the ability to change but she still had enhanced senses and reactions, her intuition was razor sharp, just like with all of you. Jeff hoped that it had missed you all as it had her, but he had no way of knowing for sure. When none of you seemed to show any signs of being anything different he let it go. And then of course, things just started rolling and after he was gone I never thought much more about it."
"Selene, can you shed any light on this?" Scott asked. "You said you thought you knew why this happened."
Selene sat back, resting against John's arm where it remained wrapped around her.
"It's just a theory," she warned.
"Your theories usually prove to be correct when it comes to the metaphysical side of things," Gordon pointed out. "You were right with John and with me."
"My theory is that this is a dormant gene, one that needs a time of extreme danger or stress to trigger it."
"Then why has this never happened before?" Alan asked.
Selene shrugged. "My only guess is that his inner beast just never felt truly threatened before. You all live pretty high octane lives, so what would count as dangerous or stressful for the general population is just a Tuesday for you. But the introduction of the venom to his bloodstream was a very real threat, one that his body couldn't ignore. It went into fight mode and reacted the only way it knew how, to shift."
"B-But how does sh-shifting help?" Brains asked, having stayed quiet and the entire time, his focus solely on Virgil, but now his need to understand had pushed him to join the conversation.
"Shifters, or weres have enhanced healing abilities, they can get hurt, yes, but it's a lot harder to do permanent damage as they can heal at more than three times the speed of a human and are almost five times as hardy. The venom would have been neutralised almost instantly once his alternative form was released, allowing his healing to kick in."
"So this saved him?" Scott needed to know.
"Without a shadow of a doubt."
"What about the rest of us?" Alan wanted to know. "Do we all get to do this?"
Selene made a face. "I honestly don't know, if the gene was dormant in your mother and your father is fully human that dilutes things and changes them a lot, so I really wouldn't like to say one way or another. I mean, I've got friends we could talk to about it and, with permission of course, I'd like to look into your family history and see what I can discover."
They all nodded as one.
A sudden, violent hiss made them all jump. Armstrong was perched on the top of Virgil's piano, his back arched in full Halloween cat mode.
"Armie, stop that, it's just daddy, you be nice," Selene warned, patting Virgil when he whined, upset. "Ignore him, he'll get over it. You just smell and look weird, he's confused, you smell like you, but different. Once you change back he'll be fine."
"I'll take him," Gordon volunteered, scooping up the still yowling cat and carrying him out of the room.
Virgil flopped down on the floor, yawning, his mouth opening so wide he looked like a snake unhinging its jaw. He was exhausted, which wasn't surprising,emotionally rung out, confused and aching.
"Want me to help you change back?" Selene reached out a hand to the wolf, who donked it with his head.
She nodded, getting up.
"We'll be back later."
Selene had Virgil stretched out on his bedroom floor, where she had been brushing his fur for the past twenty minutes, until his eyes had closed in blissful relaxation and his body had melted into a contented puddle, all trace of tension gone.
"I need you to see yourself in your mind's eye, how you are in human form. Recall how it feels, to walk, to run, to lift, to sit, to eat, everything you can. I need you to really focus on it, to see the wolf retreating and your human self coming forward. You can do this. I know you can. Just focus, relax and let go."
The wolf strained, she could feel it under her hand, feel his muscles tensing. He let out a frustrated huff and sagged.
"No, don't give up, you can do this. You're the artist, use your imagination, feel it, see it. Think of it this way, if you don't turn back you aren't ever going to play your piano again or pick up a paintbrush, Gordon will take your piano and probably play it with his feet!"
Virgil growled low in his throat as he tried again, hunkering down, his eyes tightly closed.
It was subtle at first, just a little tingle, but then it swept in full force.
"Yes, that's it babe, you got it. You can do it, push through."
His limbs began to tremble, stretching, morphing, slowly at first but there. He whined, his head bowed.
"I know, darling, I know it hurts, but you have to keep going, just a little more. It'll get better, it'll get easier, just don't stop."
He clenched his teeth, baring them in a snarl. The breath sawed in and out of his lungs as he panted for breath. His limbs elongated, stretching out to transform from paws to human arms and legs.
The fur that covered his body began to recede, sucked back into his body, revealing smooth skin.
She couldn't see his face, but knew that it too was shrinking, snout and fangs returning to a nose, mouth and blunt human teeth.
He collapsed down on the floor, fully human and she tossed a blanket over him to cover his naked body, lying down beside him and pulling him into her arms as he began to shiver, the heat of the transformation gone leaving him chilled.
"Oh, you were so great, you did it sweetheart, you did it." She kissed the top of his head as she hugged him tighter.
He didn't speak for a long time and when he did his voice was husky, raw.
"I remember it all."
She stroked the hair back from his face, giving him as much comfort as she could.
"Yeah, I thought you would. Do you want to talk about it?"
"Not really, but I probably need to."
"I'm always here if you do."
"I know, thanks."
"Do you want to have a shower while I get you some food? You need to eat."
He nodded and she got up, leaving him to his privacy.
It took him a few minutes to gather enough strength to get his shaking limbs to respond to his commands to move, and another five before he'd managed to stagger to his feet and make his unsteady way to his bathroom.
The water was blissfully hot and hard against his sore muscles, the massage feature as always a godsend. His skin felt too tight for his bones, which ached like his arm had after he'd broken it, which made sense. He'd felt bones snap, each one sending fresh waves of agony through his body, making him pray for an end, pray for anything to ease it, to make it stop, even death.
He closed his eyes, leaning his forehead against the shower wall, unwilling to admit, even to himself, that he has wished for death, but in that moment he'd just wanted peace. Just wanted the pain to go away.
It had felt like a giant pressure inside his body, building up and up, unable to find release, not until Selene had intervened. It had felt like a lightning bolt striking his body the second her hand had made contact, but it had been enough to break through whatever barrier had been holding him back.
Feeling his body change had been the scariest experience of his life. He didn't do well with lack of control, especially when it came to his physical self, he knew his body inside out and could always rely on it to get the job done, but this time it had failed him.
He'd been uncoordinated, it had felt so different, hard to focus, hard to move, hard to really think. His senses were so heightened they were overwhelming.
He knew he'd practically attacked Selene and felt nothing but remorse, but she hadn't blamed him, she'd stayed calm, reached out to him and been a rock when he'd needed it. He knew he'd scared his brothers, not the younger two, but Scott and John, and he wished he could take that back.
But there was nothing he could do about it, he had no control over it, he'd been invaded by something he didn't know or understand. And he hated it.
What if it happened again? What if he got stuck and couldn't go forward or back? He'd have to ask Selene, maybe get her to help him practice or something, because he did not want to be unprepared if it happened again.
A knock on the door made him jump.
"You OK in there, love? Need me to get one of the boys?"
"No, I'm… I'm good, I'll be out in a minute."
He shut off the water and dragged his aching body out. Not bothering to towel himself dry he simply pulled on a towelling robe and tied it tightly closed.
He opened the door to find Selene standing there with the biggest sandwich he'd ever seen, at least four types of meat and three varieties of cheese visible. She'd also brought along an entire family bag of chips and a massive milkshake.
"You need calories, eat up."
He hadn't felt hungry but the second the smell wafted under his nose he was ravenous. He grabbed the plate, just about managing not to choke as he practically inhaled the sandwich, each bite followed by a handful of chips and washed down by a big mouthful of milkshake.
He collapsed back against his pillows when he'd finished, physically exhausted, but his hunger sated. His limbs felt heavy, like dead weights and he just wanted to sleep.
Selene didn't bother asking his permission, she just lifted his legs onto the bed and pulled back his covers, tucking him in like he was a child. He wanted to protest, insist that he was a grown man and didn't need putting to bed, but for once he didn't. It felt nice to have someone care for him for once, for him to not be the one looking after everyone else, so he simply smiled, accepted her kiss on his forehead and got comfortable.
"Thank you."
She squeezed his hand. "There's never a need for thanks, not with me."
She crossed to the door, her hand on the light switch, but paused without flicking it.
"I'm here, no matter the time, you need me, you call and I'll be there. Tonight, tomorrow, a month or a year from now, I'll be here. Try to sleep, but if you can't, or you have too much in your head, promise you'll call me? You won't just suffer alone?"
He nodded.
"Promise me."
"I promise. But, before you go, I have to ask, will you help me get to grips with this? It's a lot to take in alone."
"Of course I will, that was never a question you needed to ask."
She blew him a kiss and switched off the light, closing the door gently behind her.
Virgil lay in the dark, his head a jumbled mess of thoughts and emotions tumbling through his brain, unable to stop thinking. Twice he had to stop himself reaching for his comm to call her, or Scott, or Grandma, but he knew it wouldn't do him much good. He needed time to process.
Eventually exhaustion overwhelmed him and he slipped into the blissful oblivion of unconsciousness. He'd deal with it all tomorrow.
