A Life Beyond Love

Chapter 2: First encounter, fist impression, to say the least

I was curious as to whom that dark figure was leaping across my home like that, it appeared to be large and bulky, but moved quick enough that most wouldn't see it. Leaping to the roof I noted the large claw marks on the roofing tar, showing both power and weight. I knelt down to have a quick whiff and found the scent to resemble a canine's, this intrigued me even more as I leapt after it in pursuit.

The tracks were scattered left and right up and down and it seemed to me, either this creature was drunk or that it didn't do well trying to coordinate at high speeds. Of course this only gave me a greater challenge as I quickly found the trails ending halting just short of a smashed window with a small trace of blood on it. Taking another whiff I was surprised to find that there were two blood scents this time, the dark canine was there and then there was a faint feline scent in there as well. He was cut but the other was most likely scratched. Listening closely I could hear a fight taking place, animal bellows were countered by the obvious struggle of a woman. Making haste I dropped in through the window and ended up coming between the two of them.

"Am I interrupting something?" I asked as he struck at my chest. "I take that as a yes."

Slashing at me again I backed up and dodged it, only to ball a fist and drill him right in the snout sending him flying back against the concrete wall that lay behind him. I then watched as he got up and decided to take a run for it, my face that is, and again I caught him. I this time used my claws and slashed him across the chest leaving deep four deep gouges that soon began to bleed. Falling back to the floor he began to writhe and whimper like a young pup who got pricked by barbed wire or something. It was then to my astonishment as the wounds began to fill and the guy started to calm down and slowly began to get up.

"What the fuck, can this guy heal on command or something?" I questioned.

"He's a werewolf, they can regenerate as long as the heart keeps beating and not too much blood is lost by the wound," the mysterious woman told me.

"How do you know about that?" I asked.

"These things have been tracking me for a while and the way that they acted seemed kind of fictional like something that I had read in a novel and sure enough the wolfman commeth," she informed me. "But I should really be going so, catch ya around blue boy."

"Wait! I never got your name."

"The name's Catwoman and just for the record you might be?" she suggested ready to leap upwards toward the glass.

"Wolf, my friends call me wolf," I replied grabbing the werewolf by the neck.

"Sure thing pup, ya know thanks for the help but your barkin up the wrong tree if you think the whole damsel in distress thing is gonna get you laid."

"Wasn't even thinking about it, you were just someone in trouble that's all," I told her whipping the creatures head into the concrete of the wall making a rarely heard snap followed by a squishy mushy sound. Considering that the body went limp I would have taken it that I killed it. "Whoops."

"Don't worry about that there's plenty more where that came from," she said leaping out of the window and out of sight.

"Shit, oh well, if I see her again I hope we'll be able to chat some more," I told myself leaving the scene as the faint whine of police sirens filled the air around the area. Leaping up and out I headed for home.

Morning was dull and I ended up spending most of it trying to wake up, but I was happy because Janice my secretary told me that there were no appointments for the day and tomorrow would be Kate's first day back to school. I was just thanking whoever for giving me the strength and the wallet to shop for a ten year old girl with social issues. She needed everything but a house to store it all in. I should look at it this way there could be more expensive things in the world that a child could desire but thankfully she doesn't have an eye for any of them. I send her to a private school, which is conveniently located on route with the office and not far from Patience's place. I have found so far that the private school has been easier for me to keep her mutation hidden in, there are less people and that mean there is a less chance that people will see through the holographic projection. Of course I will have to start thinking about junior high soon but that won't be for a few more years yet, thankfully that's a whole new set of problems.

The day seemed to blow by and soon enough we had finished our shopping and were still good enough for a stroll through the city for a bit. I would say we were about ten or twelve blocks out when I heard the squeal of rubber come from just ahead of me and then a large crash as smoke and flames began to erupt from the hood of a car that had collided with another on the street corner. As the crowds began to gather I noticed that there was still a younger male inside with her head on the wheel. I pulled Kate into the alley with me and instructed her to head to the roof where she wouldn't be seen and then I could help the people in the cars. Quickly I removed my shirt and my image inducer discarding my socks and shoes.

"Outta my way!" I called out darting through the crowd and shocking many as I headed for the wreck.

They were bound good and I only really had time to get the passengers out. As I approached the one car the conscious passenger started freaking out and struggling to get away. "Just stay calm, I'm hear to get you out alright, just listen to my voice and don't struggle. What's your name?"

"Rebecca," she answered.

"Alright Rebecca, this man here is he your husband?"

"No, it's my brother, is he dead?"

"No, he's just unconscious," I told her taking hold of the door and ripping it from it's hinges.

The car was fairly crushed but we wasn't stuck so that made my task a lot easier, once he was out she came out the same way and both of us moved over to across the street where I could lay him down. He was beat up but breathing so I took that as a good sign, just then a guy come running from the other side of the crowd.

"Hey we got a woman out of the other car but he kid is still in the back seat and none of us can get to her."

"Nuff said, you gonna be alright with your brother?"

"Yeah I think so," she told me.

"Good, I'll be right back," I told her. "SOMEBODY CALL AN AMBULANCE!!!"

Rushing to the other car there was a child of no more than two in the car seat. Grabbing the door I ripped it off and pulled her out. It was then, just as I turned, that I heard it. It was the distinctive sound of a line fire and that only meant that the flame was heading up the fuel line and into the tank. It was one of those moments that gave you only enough time to say two words "Oh fuck!"

The heat from the blast engulfed me and the young one in my arms, but I kept her close, not to let the harsh lick of the flames touch her soft skin. It actually rocked me hard enough to knock me on my knees and left me a bit dazed, that was of course until that chunk of steel wrapped around and cut me down that center of my eye. There were people screaming and running, the sirens of the fire trucks and the ambulances wailed away. But as the smoke cleared, there was I, battered and bruised with a chunk of steel sticking out of my shoulder, but I was there and so was she, the woman's daughter I had left to save. Two paramedics came up and one took the child from my arms as the other brought me a blanket.

"You know the world has few people like you," he told me eyeing the steel in my shoulder.

"It must be the hair," I replied chuckling a bit. "Oh don't worry about the metal just pull it out and I'll be fine. But now that you're here you wouldn't mind pulling it out would you?"

"We better have a doctor remove it," he tried guiding me to my feet.

"Fine I'll do it," I told him pulling the four inches of imbedded steel from my fur coated flesh. "Owwwwooooooohhhhhh," I howled dropping it to the ground.

"Holy shit it closed up," he told me looking a bit shocked.

"Told ya, I'm a fast healer, just help the others I really need to get back to my kid,"

So the firemen put out the cars, or what was left of them, and I proceeded back to the alley from whence I came. Taking a quick peak for Kate I was shocked to find that my midnight friend Catwoman decided to join in on the fun as well. Quickly and quietly I gathered my things and leapt onto the roof, where I met a concerned Kate (without her image inducer) and a sassy feline.

"Daddy are you alright?" she asked jumping into my arms and feeling my back.

"Yeah I'm fine darlin'," I replied setting her on my shoulders.

"So, ms. Catwoman what are you doing here?"

"Oh nothing much, heard a crash and got curious that's all," she explained walking along the edge of the roof. "I'll let you two be, see ya around pup."

"Sure thing."

It was then just as she fell out of sight that Kate got my attention, "Did she call you a pup?"

"Yeah, why do you ask?"

"Well I don't think being 116 years old makes you a pup still. That's a geezer's age."

"Yeah you watch it, I can still run circles around you," I told her picking her up.

"Daddy?"

"Yeah babe."

"How long will you live?" she asked looking me in the eye.

"I don't know, Grandpa is still goin and he's older than I am. Man, he'll be 140 this year. But I guess I won't know until one of us croaks, eh?"

"Yeah I guess so," she answered getting comfortable as I began to leap from roof to roof on our path home.