Chapter Seven: Rescuing Penny

As Greg Parker worked his way through the suburbs of Toronto, he was keenly aware that he was flirting dangerously close to violating the Statute of Secrecy – again. But he wasn't about to let that stop him – not so close to his goal. Additionally, he possessed an edge that he hadn't had in any of the American cities. Toronto was his home turf, a territory he'd known all his life. He knew the city like the back of his hand – even moreso after his undercover stint.

Because he knew the city, he knew every patch of greenery and forest between himself and the barn. And where Toronto's few wild places failed, he also knew areas of the city where no one looked out their windows – the residents were more interested in keeping their heads down than spying on the neighbors. Sad, but it meant the gryphon could make his way through a busy, bustling city more or less unobserved.

Despite the driving need to get home, Greg forced himself to keep to his set travel pattern. Traveling by night was simply safer, particularly since he knew he could no longer avoid flying. To walk into the city was just asking for trouble.

And so, once the sun was down, Greg swung into action, ignoring the constant pain from his feet as well as the ache coming from his wing muscles. Almost…almost there. Then he could finally stop and rest. The Sergeant ignored his links as he made his way through the city, climbing on roofs and bounding over alleys. No, his goal was the barn, a location he knew well and much more efficient than turning up on someone's doorstep. By the time the sun started its ascent in the sky, heralding the start of a new day, Greg was in position, right near the employee parking lot. Whichever member of his team who showed up first was gonna get one heck of a surprise.

With that happy thought in mind, Greg settled in to wait, motionless as a sphinx, if not nearly so dangerous. He adjusted his talons and paws, keeping the painful digits from touching the ground. The air stung raw flesh, but less so then the ground. Greg had a nasty feeling he might've done permanent damage, but what choice had he had?

The Sergeant returned his attention to the parking lot, fairly vibrating in impatience. He was so close. To wait was agonizing, but to screw his homecoming up at the last minute was even worse. To go running off when a bit of patience would have him safely inside the barn…it would be the height of foolishness. As the sun continued to rise, he spied the members of Team Two arriving, but not Team One. A tiny whine escaped; were they on night shift? Gingerly, he prodded at the links, then let out a lusty sigh. Nowhere close by. Sorrowfully, he curled up, silently instructing his magic to wake him as soon as a member of his team got close. Then the exhausted gryphon went to sleep.

Greg's internal clock nudged at him, waking him as the sun's last rays winked out over the horizon. The gryphon stirred, glancing around hopefully, then he slumped in disappointment. Frowning, he inspected the links, noting with some dismay that they were all quite a distance from the barn. Worry joined the impatience – had they left the SRU? Had he come back to no team at all, their spirits crushed by his 'death'?

He couldn't wait any longer, the Sergeant decided. No, once more, if Mohammed would not come to the mountain, then the mountain must go to Mohammed. No matter how much his body was hurting. A thought arrested his rise. Throughout every aching, grueling kilometer back to Toronto, he'd traveled towards all his links, but he was too close now. Each link led in a different direction, though some seemed to be converging. Greg considered, then nodded to himself. He would go to the one man who'd never given up on him.

Eddie.

Ed's link did not lead where Greg had half-expected – his former team leader's home – but rather led in an arc across the city. Though discouraged by the distance, Greg persevered nonetheless, traveling through Toronto towards his friend.

Partway there, Greg stumbled on a stack of newspapers piled in front of someone's door. The top newspaper's headline and date helpfully informed him that he'd just slept through Sunday. The Sergeant kept moving, but he was rather relieved by the discovery. While of course crime didn't take the weekend off – rather the reverse, actually – the SRU had a rotating weekend schedule. Most weeks, the teams traded off who worked the weekends, the better to give officers a break. Oh, certainly sometimes you still ended up on a murderous ten day shift, but ordinarily not. If he'd arrived on Sunday, perhaps he'd jumped the gun a bit in his worry and impatience. Perhaps he could simply go back to the barn and wait for morning.

Except… Greg mentally frowned; he was starting to get a creepy-crawly, something is very, very wrong feeling. Just…instinct and yet… His magically enhanced sixth sense was rarely wrong. In fact, now that he was paying attention, it was practically shrieking in alarm. What on Earth had his team gotten into? Grim, the officer picked up his pace, determination powering through pain and exhaustion. He had to hurry and find Eddie before it was too late.

Frustration burned just under his fur. No sooner had he gotten close to his team leader, then the man started moving. Greg trotted across another rooftop, angling as best he could towards Ed and growing ever more frustrated because he was just too close to do anything more than follow his teammate's trail. And while a gryphon at the top of his game could keep up with a vehicle's inner city speed, that wasn't him. He was exhausted, hurting, and moving by sheer willpower. He would be lucky if he arrived at Ed's destination before the other man left.

Still, the Sergeant persisted, ignoring the sun rising off in the distance. Screw it – he was too close to back down now. He was sick and tired of being stuck in his gryphon form, sick and tired of traveling… Sick and tired of not being home.

I'm coming, Eddie. Almost there, almost home.

The weary, travel worn gryphon regarded the apartment complex in some confusion. What on Earth was Eddie doing here? He surveyed the parking lot, hoping for clues, and spotted two SRU trucks, but no patrol cars. No Command Truck. Perhaps Team One was keeping a low profile for some reason? Only…if that were so, why hadn't he spotted them at the barn or sensed their arrival? Something simply wasn't right about the situation, but Greg wasn't sure what.

The gryphon worked his way around the building, trying to stay somewhat out of sight as he tried to figure out what was going on. If his former team was on a hot call, the last thing he wanted to do was get in their way, but if they were in trouble, as his instincts were insisting, then he had to help, but how? A quick check of the links informed him that his entire team was inside the building, lending weight to the hot call theory, but if it was just another hot call, why only two trucks?

An explosion brought him snapping around on full alert, but still unsure of what he was facing. Seconds later, another explosion rent the air, sending a shockwave cascading through the apartment building. Fire followed it and Greg watched in horror as the building shook under the force of the assault. His team had still been in there!

Determination surged; he couldn't leave them hanging, no matter how badly he felt. The sound of sirens recalled him – trapped as he was in gryphon form, he could end up hampering any rescue efforts. With an awful reluctance, he pulled back, watching as the fire began to spread. Instincts keened, pleading for him to go in, to fight for his people, but reason and prudence stood firm. His team was tough and he needed to let the firefighters do their job.

Then he saw Lou dragging Spike out of the building, both of them covered in dirt and debris; fresh horror wrapped around him at the realization that they'd been that close to the bomb. How had they survived? The bomb's shockwave should've cut right through them, killing them instantly, and yet they appeared virtually unharmed. Was this yet another example of Wild Magic's sheer power?

"Lou, let me go!" Spike yelled, fighting against his friend's grip. "We can't let him die!"

Above them, gryphon muscles tensed. Can't let who die?

"Spike, man, it's too late!" Lou yelled back, refusing to loosen his grip. "If Wordy couldn't get to him, we sure can't!" Even as he spoke the words, Greg could see the tears streaming down the constable's face, already grieving yet another loss.

"No, we have to save him!" Spike insisted. "We can't give up on him!" Fighting even harder against Lou's hold, the bomb tech screamed, "Ed!"

Eddie? Eddie was still in there?

"Spike, don't make me knock you out again," Lou snarled. "We go back in and we'll just get ourselves killed! You saw the same thing I did; there's no way in!"

Greg barely heard the words, his entire being focusing on his team leader, his best friend – his brother by spirit, by heart, by magic. Rationality whispered – it was too late, but at least his teammates would have him back; his response to that tiny, nasty whisper was blunt, straightforward: shove it. Then the gryphon backed up, judging the links and the distance. Hazel focused on a massive window almost directly across from him and he raced forward, pushing off the edge of the building he was on to fly towards the window.

Brute strength and his own internal resolve scarcely made note of the glass shards cascading around him as he smashed through the thick window and plunged inwards, tail feathers narrowly whisking out from under falling pieces of ductwork and a metal supporting beam. Inside, the fire roared, smoke rising to obscure Greg's vision, but he hardly needed it. This close, his link to Ed fairly sang, guiding him to the semiconscious man's side.

"Greg?" the team leader whispered faintly, before slumping down.

Alarmed, Greg squalled, but the link remained steady – Ed was only unconscious. The Sergeant forced himself to pause, examining his team leader's position. The tall man was pinned under a hefty support beam and the beam itself was weighed down with debris from the building. At first, Greg was afraid his friend had been crushed, but a closer examination revealed that Ed had gotten lucky – he was only trapped. The gryphon would have to be careful, but so long as he maintained the beam's angle, Ed was in no danger.

With no time to waste, Greg worked his way in as close to Eddie as possible, pressing against his team leader as he fought to gain leverage against the debris. As man and Animagus made physical contact, Greg felt his link to Ed unfurl, suddenly unbound by the collar around his neck, and he knew. He could command his friend if he needed to. Grim, the officer returned his attention to the beam, snarling as he brute forced it outwards, slowly freeing Ed's trapped body. Each second ticked by with agonizing slowness as he fought, refusing to give up.

'Eddie, go,' he ordered without thinking. 'Come on, get out from under this thing.'

Magic surged within him and he felt Ed start to move, crawling out from under the beam as Greg maintained his position, keeping the beam up and away from his friend. One of Ed's hands touched his flank, maintaining contact, as if that was all that was keeping the lean sniper on his feet.

'Don't get trapped again,' Greg commanded, warily letting the beam back down before squirming backwards and out from his own precarious position. The metal groaned, but held up as the gryphon freed himself from the tiny space. Ed remained motionless, still touching his friend's fur. Through the links, Greg could sense the reason; Ed's conscious mind had shut down, leaving only his subconscious and the magic within him to deal with the situation.

About to issue his next magical command – and he was so not thinking about the implications of Eddie obeying him, even while completely unconscious – the gryphon turned his head at a tiny cry. Feathery, furry ears pricked, catching the faint sound of a child's sobs for help. A low growl built in his chest, fresh determination surging to life. Both wings partially spread, just enough to grant access to his back.

'Ed, get on my back and hold on tight.'

Mechanically, Ed's body obeyed, clambering aboard and wrapping his arms around Greg's neck to maintain his position. With Ed secured, the gryphon made his way through the debris and rising smoke to find a young girl, trapped between the fallen ductwork and what was left of the stairs. Her cries had fallen silent during the trek as heat and smoke continued their deadly assault. Eyeing her location and the ruined stairs, Greg gulped mentally, understanding why none of his teammates had been able to reach their fallen team leader. The window he'd crashed through had been the only way in.

Turning his attention back to the sooty child, Greg was relieved to note that he wouldn't have to dig her out. 'Eddie, get off my back, then go over to the girl and pick her up,' he ordered, keeping his commands as simple and straightforward as possible. With his friend unconscious, he had no idea what Ed would do with a complex command.

Just as mechanically as before, Ed released his hold and slid off the gryphon's back, moving forward to pick up the small brunette. The girl mumbled as he lifted her, but didn't react in any other fashion, too far gone to realize she was being rescued.

Greg eased forward, pressing against Ed's side. 'Put her on my back,' he commanded. As soon as Ed obeyed, he added, 'Now get on again and brace her with your body when you grab my neck.'

Once again, the team leader followed his Sergeant's commands. Aside from a mental nudge for Ed to tighten his grip, Greg turned to the next challenge. Escaping the death trap around them. He focused on his links to Lou and Spike, following them back to the window and the ductwork that blocked it. With a furious snarl, he hefted the metal out of his way and threw it aside. Rearing up, he slashed at the window with what was left of his talons, knocking glass free and creating more space for himself and his passengers. A second blow widened the hole still further and the gryphon realized it would have to do. Ducking down, he threw himself forward, only spreading his wings once he was through the glass. There was an instant of panic as they began to fall, then his wings caught the wind and he shot out of the building.

Behind him, the fire boomed, flames scorching the third floor balcony and bringing the precarious platform crashing to the ground. But Greg was already clear, soaring towards the parking lot and a familiar Team One SRU truck. Beside the vehicle, he could see Spike still fighting against Lou's inflexible hold, shouting insults as he fought to get free.

With a sharp growl-hiss, he landed in front of both men, inwardly smirking at the stunned expressions on their faces.

Author note: He's baaack!

I hope everyone enjoyed today's chapter, but I'm afraid I have some bad news going into the weekend. There may be a time, very soon, when I have to drop updates down to once a week. I must be honest and admit that this is not due to a lack of content on my side. Rather it is due to the fact that while I have been posting two chapters a week, of late, I've had a lot of trouble writing even one chapter per week.

That means I am burning through my pre-written chapters more quickly than I'm filling the backlog. This is not a problem now; if I keep up my posting pace, it won't be a serious problem until next year.

However, I've always been very...cautious. And perhaps I'm being overly cautious in this instance, but if I can't turn around the trend of 2 chapters posted vs 1 (or less) chapters written per week, then I'll eventually reach the point of deciding between posting or finishing my stories prior to posting. I tried that in college and it did not end with very many stories completed. I don't want to do that to this series.

So, bottom line, I would rather work to reverse the trend now, when I have plenty of leeway, than wait another year to put measures into place, long after I've posted most of the chapters I have in my reserve. I'm giving myself the rest of this story and the whole of the next story to turn things around, but after that, there may be a second announcement that posting will drop to once a week.

I apologize for the bad news, especially going into the weekend. I sincerely hope I can turn things around and this plan won't be necessary, but if the past couple months of wasted weekends have been any indication, it will take me quite a bit of time to get out of the writing slump caused by my hard drive failure and other events.