Blood.

It was everywhere.

Pouring out of the bodies surrounding him.

Smered over blank white walls of the hospital corridor.

The foul metallic stench of it filling the air around him.

The lights around him flickered and the only sound that he could hear was the child hunter's laboured breathing.

It was obvious that nothing could be done. The kid would die tonight. A victim of a war he had been pulled into by fear, manipulation and envy.

Of course he had some fault in the situation. He could have said no, he could have gone on with his life and ignored the disasterous war brewing around him.

Would that have changed anything? Maybe. It doesn't matter. Nobody would ever know. What is done is done.

For some unknown reason Theo felt sympathy and pity for the kid. No, not pity and the reason wasn't unknown.

Theo wanted to go up to him and take his pain away but Mason's words echoed in his head.

You can't take pain if you don't care

He did care but he had also cared when Mason had been hurt, at least he thought he had, and it hadn't worked then.

You can't take pain if you don't care

Maybe he was broken. Maybe the dread doctors, hell and all the other bullshit had broken him. Maybe that's why it didn't work.

You can't take pain if you don't care

Theo groaned. He didn't want to make a fool of himself Infront of them all but Liam seemed to be making no move towards the kid and everyone else was rooted in spot, not like they could have done much anyway. He had to at least try...

You can't take pain if you don't care

Making a quick decision he lurched forward and made his way towards the kid... Gabe.

He could feel the confused looks of the smaller child hunter, Mommy McCall and the three musketeers (Liam, Corey and Mason) boring into his back but he ignored them in favour of sitting down infront of Gabe.

You can't take pain if you don't care

Theo shook his head slightly with new found confidence. He reached for the kid's arm and closed his eyes.

I do care

He gasped slightly, as pain made its way up his arm. It was working. He wasn't broken.

Finding his voice he asked "Does it hurt anymore?"

Gabe looked at him and simply said "No" but the apology and the gratitude were painted clearly on his face.

"Good" Theo replied honestly, as Gabe took his final breath.

This seemed to start a chain reaction, as the others all scurried away to wherever they were going.

Sighing he put Gabe's arm back down and walked into the elevator, giving the child hunter one last look.

--;)--:)--:(--

He was almost out of the hospital, when a hand grabed his shoulder.

He spun around and was face to face with one Mason Hewitt.

"Congrats. You did it" was the first thing out of the human's mouth.

"Thanks" Theo replied, not really caring. He just wanted to leave, to run through the forest, away from the moral crisis the puppy pack had started.

"Why? I mean you didn't have to do that." Mason asked not unkindly

Theo hesitated but eventually relented "He... he reminded me of me. The Dread Doctors made me an offer. Power, health, strength... the chance to never be scared again. Huh, they failed on most of those. But the same situation applies to Gabe or whatever his name was..."

He took a breath and looked Mason in the eyes. "I did care, that you were hurt."

"I admit I was wrong. I'm sorry." Mason said, sounding generally apologetic "You've changed. I see that now. Liam saw it a lot earlier though.

"I doubt it." Theo said thinking about the amount of death threats he had received from the young beta.

Mason raised an eyebrow at the look that passed over the chimera's face, it was a mix of regret and longing. A smirk formed on his lips. Theo may not notice his own feelings but Mason could see it clear as day and if Liam's hour long rants where anything to go by Theo's feelings were certainly not one sided.

"He sees it." Mason said confidentiality remembering the time Liam had gone off on Malia when she had called Theo some choice words.

Theo smiled, a genuine smile. Something he hadn't done in a long time. He wasn't convinced but for now Mason's words were enough.

"Well, I gotta go. Corey is waiting." Mason said.

"Yeah. See you around."

"See you." Mason said with a grin.

With that the conversation was over and Theo left making his way into the forest.

Maybe eventually he would be part of the pack and maybe he would become friends with Liam and the rest of the puppy pack. He knew he still had a lot of amends to make but for the first time he could see the light at the end of the tunnel.

One thing was certain though:

He did care.


A/N: It's a bit shorter but I kept thinking of this scene and had to get it out of my system.