It was early morning, John triggered the base's lights as he walked in. He was earlier then the rest of the team but he wanted it that way. He wanted a chance to observe the wolf before the others, especially Oliver, arrived. He had a feeling that there was more to the wolf then Oliver was telling them and he had some questions. Like why did he stop them from killing the wolf, why didn't the sedatives work on it. It should have been out for hours, instead it was mere minutes. He walked over to to Med lab and pulled out a bottle of sedative from the refrigerated cabinet. Sitting it on the counter, he reached down and pulled the drawer open. Inside was a small air pistol and empty tranquilizer darts. He grabbed a couple and pocketed them. He might need more the one before he was finished.
He walked through the silent base and into the back room where the containment cells were. He saw the wolf as soon as he walked in. He could see it's form illuminated by the light spilling in from the door behind him. The wolf was sitting up, her ears forward and she was watching him with an unblinking gaze. As he entered, the wolf silently stood and turned to face him. Her lips curled up, revealing every tooth, a silent warning.
"Oh I have no doubt you would attack." he told her as he flipped on the light. When he turned back around, the first thing he noticed was a large amount of dried blood on the floor of the cell. "What the..." His eyes went back to the wolf. That's when he noticed Oliver's prone form behind the wolf. "Oliver!" In a swift motion, he had the vial of tranquilizer loaded and the door to the cell open. He raised the gun and fired. The needle hit the wolf in the left shoulder and stuck. He could see the liquid inject into the wolf but it didn't effect her as she lunges from a stand still straight at John. He saw Oliver, startled, flip to his feet and then nothing but dark black fur. "NIKKI NO!" The wolf landed on him, driving him to the ground. He managed to throw an arm up between him and the wolf as she snapped at his throat. Instead, her powerful jaws slammed down onto his arm instead. He screamed as the bones in his arm snapped. As soon as the wolf felt the give of his bones she instantly release his arm and once more struck out...only to bite down on a broom handle that had been shoved between them.
"Nikki, STOP!" Oliver reached over and lay his hand on the wolf's neck. She instantly backed away from her target, moving over to him and leaning heavily on his leg, her eyes boring into the man on the floor. "John, I..." He sat the broom against the wall.
"Save it Oliver!" Anger and pain made his voice shake as he carefully climbed to his feet. Not thinking, he moved towards Oliver, his broken, bleeding arm to his chest. "That creature is..." Nikki stood as the man approached, once more stepping in front of Oliver, giving him another silent snarl. John hesitated in his approach. "That creature is dangerous. It needs to be destroyed."
Oliver's eyes went hard. "YOU were the one that walked into her cell." He rested his hand on the wolf's shoulder. "You are responsible for this ..not her."
"Really man. You are defending a wolf over me?" John couldn't believe him.
"She was protecting me."
"Yeah well, " John shot back, "What if it had been Felicity, huh? Or Thea? You gonna choose the wolf over them?" John snorted in disgust. "Whatever man. Having that...thing...here is a danger to everyone." He just turned and walked out of the room.
Nikki didn't relax her guard until the man walked from the room. She turned to look at Oliver, her head dipping slightly and her ears against her skull. "You didn't know." Oliver said, shifting his gaze from the door to her. He sighed lightly and knelt down in front of her. "You are safe here. I know you don't feel like it right now ..but you are." He reached out and rubbed her ear as she leaned heavily into his hand. "Everyone here is a friend." He offered her a smile. "I promise." He sighed and stood up. "Come on, You should go back into the cell for a while."
Nikita threw one more glance at the door before turning and walking into the cell, She lowered herself to the ground, her eyes on Oliver as he once more closed the door. "You'll be out of here soon." Her tail lightly wagged. He looked like he had wanted to say something more, instead he tapped the door for a second with his finger before turning and walking away.