Disclaimer: Everything you recognise from the film series isn't mine.

Feedback: Always appreciated.

The Lone Wolf

Michael had never been entirely comfortable hanging out in bars even before he started to become more aware of the heightened senses that were a side-effect of his new state, and those senses just made this situation even more awkward.

It wasn't that he didn't appreciate the invitation to join some of his colleagues at the hospital for Jake's leaving drinks; the other man had been a useful mentor for him and Adam in helping them both find their way in Budapest, and it was good to see that he'd made an impression on other people.

It was just that… the more time he spent thinking about the revelation that he was basically immortal now, the harder he was finding it to really connect with people. He was still committed to the job, of course- if he wasn't going to die of natural causes himself it seemed like a good use of his time to help other people stay alive- but was it worth trying to form longer-term bonds with anyone? If Selene was right, he was potentially immortal unless somebody got lucky and tried to kill him the right way, which raised some very worrying questions about his future…

"Everything OK?" Adam asked as he walked over to join Michael at the bar, sitting down beside his friend with his drink. "You haven't even-"

"Just… pacing myself," Michael replied, making a mental note to work out a suitable system for dealing with his drink. From Selene's tales, he shouldn't actually be able to deal with regular food, but he was working out a careful system where he could have enough to at least look sociable without affecting his health.

That said, as far as his werewolf state went, Michael was starting to rethink a few details after his last transformation. The whole experience was still more of a blur than anything, and he wasn't sure how much of anything he recalled was true and how much was basically just him wanting it to be true, but he really felt like he had some… vague memories of what had been happening around him while he was in his wolf state, as opposed to the blank sense of rage he'd felt the last few times he'd changed. There was even some indistinct image of Selene helping him walk up the stairs, but it was hard to be sure how much of that was something he actually remembered and how much was just him imagining what that evening had been like…

"Probably a good call," Adam smiled at him before he indicated the others. "I mean, with Jake gone, we're going to have to step up a bit to make this work; get a better feel for what the other doctors are willing to let us get away with, that kind of thing…"

"Always tough being the new guy," Michael nodded tentatively.

"Y'know… you're not exactly doing yourself any favours hanging out on the edge like this," Adam looked at him with a sympathetic shrug. "I mean, if you want to be part of the team, you need to at least make the effort to fit in…"

"I'm… setting my own pace," Michael said, lost for anything better to say even as he recognised the point Adam was making. He didn't exactly want to live in isolation for the rest of his existence, but how long could he keep this kind of life up without someone realising he wasn't getting any older? Right now the only person who knew the whole truth about his current nature was Selene, and he still wasn't sure if either of them had a true long-term plan to keep him safe beyond making sure he didn't kill anyone when he was transformed…

He tried to keep himself aware of what Adam was talking about, occasionally making a brief response to what his friend was saying, but for the most part his mind was focused on trying to work out what he had gone through during that last change. Had he actually had some kind of control, or did he just want to make himself think he remembered something from that mess…?

"Doctor Corvin?"

"Selene?" Michael was so shocked to hear her voice that he momentarily forgot to use the surname she'd established on her last encounter with a work colleague. "I-I mean-"

"Oh, so this is the mysterious Miss Veneau, huh?" Adam smiled at Selene before Michael could finish his own sentence, although Adam's grin suddenly faltered as he looked uncertainly at the woman. "Uh, it is Miss, right? I mean, you didn't introduce yourself as a doctor, but-"

"'Miss' is fine," Selene nodded in understanding, once again putting on her slight accent, Michael shocked to realise that she was wearing dark trousers and a blue shirt rather than her standard all-leather ensemble. "I merely work for Ziodex as an affiliated operative; I do not take active part in their scientific research."

"Uh… right," Adam looked at her uncertainly. "What does… I mean, if you're an 'affiliated operative'-"

"My official duties are classified," Selene cut him off. "Mr Corvin had to sign considerable confidentiality documents to get permission to work with me on relevant projects, and I cannot provide further details for you at this time."

"…Check," Adam nodded, an expression of tentative understanding on his face as he walked off.

"Huh," Michael looked thoughtfully at Selene. "So… is that actually what your job title is?"

"The advantage of being one of the people who own the company is that I can essentially make up whatever title I wish," Selene observed. "So long as it looks good for tax purposes, the important thing is that we don't draw attention to ourselves."

"Must… have its benefits," Michael said with a brief nod. Since the topic had come up, he was frankly ashamed that it had taken him this long to even start to think about just how Selene's alleged organisation funded its activities; hunting werewolves wasn't exactly the kind of skill you could easily advertise. "Uh… do you… do anything with… what you hunt?"

"What do you-?" Selene began, before her eyes widened. "Do you think-?"

"I mean, I don't seriously think that you're just going to dissect me or something like that, but… well, why would a major company be hunting lycans if you weren't using them for something?"

"That is… a fair theory," the dark-haired woman nodded thoughtfully, before she looked more solemnly at Michael. "The reason why we do what we do is a complicated one, but I promise you this, Michael; whatever my superior's wider motivations, I have always done what I do to protect innocents from suffering the same fate as my family… and regardless of what you become on the full moon, you are an innocent."

"…Thanks," Michael said, turning to look uncertainly at his gathered colleagues drinking at the other end of the bar. "But it's… hard to think that way, isn't it?"

"Think what way?"

"That we're just… innocent," Michael clarified, waving a hand between Selene and himself. "I mean, I'm not saying either of us are bad people, but what we know about the reality of the world… we can't just act like the lycans don't exist and everything's fine even when we're not out there hunting for them. I've been stuck with this… curse… for the rest of my existence, and you lost your whole family to them…"

Selene sat in silence, but reached out to hold his hand with a sympathetic smile.

"I… know what you mean," she said after a few moments. "When I started in this life… my brother-in-law was away when the lycans attacked, so he was spared even after I lost the rest of my family… but I never bothered to get back in touch with him after I began hunting them in earnest."

"Was he-?"

"He wasn't a bad husband to my sister or anything, but it was more… what could I say to him in such a situation? I wasn't sure how he'd cope with the knowledge of what was really out there, and on a personal level, he and I…"

Lost for a good way to conclude that sentence, Selene just shrugged. "You know how it is with some people; it's not that you dislike them, and you can talk with them when you're alone together, but it's more that you…"

"Just don't click with them, right?" Michael finished for her.

"…Yes," Selene nodded in a contemplative manner. "I… didn't click with him…"

As she gave Michael a brief smile, Michael was suddenly struck by the thought that he wished he could see her look at him like that more often, and quickly pushed the thought aside.

He already appreciated how much Selene had done for him when her training should have led to her just shooting him in the head the moment she'd confirmed what he was; the idea that she could… that there could be anything more between them than this weird friendship was just a happy dream at best and a dangerous delusion at worst.

They might be able to share moments like this when time allowed, but eventually Michael would have to find some way to adjust to his immortality in a world that would soon notice he wasn't aging any more… and he would have to face the fact that Selene would grow old herself.

It wasn't like he was going to try and ask her to stop hunting lycans- he knew enough about her to realise doing that would be stupid at best- but the thought of her growing old while he stayed young…

Typical, Michael mused bitterly to himself. As though my luck couldn't get any worse, the only good thing to come out of this mess so far is a friendship that suddenly isn't enough for me any more…

When he noticed Selene looking curiously at him, Michael just smiled back at her and hoped that she wouldn't ask him any 'dangerous' questions; he really didn't want to talk about anything he'd just been thinking about…

AN: For what it's worth, after this chapter- unless anyone has anything else they'd particularly like to see- Michael is going to learn all about the details Selene hasn't shared with him so far when the two of them become aware of Lucian and Kraven's schemes at last…