A/N: Aww thanks guys! I am so flattered by the response I got to the last chappie…as u may have picked up I was just a bit nervous of the reception it might get, but not anymore thanks to all of u! I've got some really good ideas I hope u'll enjoy…and because the idea has extended the story there should be much more character development…which is always a good thing right? I am also frustrated over chem and history coursework (grr) so angst will abound…like it would have done anyway…ah well. As for the muse sustainers…otherwise known as reviewers (btw, I got two lovely peeps who reviewed twice, so they have 2 responses….its only fair!), in deference to one reviewer, I am now placing the responses at the end of the story:
Warning: They are men, they are in love…and it's with each other. If that makes you squirm there's always the back button.
Disclaimer: If I owned Vimes, I would use him for something other than writing fan-fiction.
Chapter 8
"Sir"
The word was laced with such venom it was a wonder the air that formed it didn't smoke. Vetinari turned to see Sergeant Angua, her body almost shaking with suppressed rage as she glared at him. He fought the urge to back up a pace, an angry werewolf tending to have that effect on even the most composed of people. He stared coolly at her, his leader's mask firmly back in place, waiting for her outrage to overwhelm her normal restraint.
"Igor told me what happened sir. I should thank you for saving his life sir. Except for the small fact that he might have preferred to die …sir."
Few insults could have sounded as vehement as those tightly controlled sentences. Vetinari welcomed them as the penance he so desperately needed. He realised Angua was speaking again.
"…and now you want me to find him sir."
Vetinari inclined his head in assent.
"Will it be difficult?"
"The scent should be easy enough to locate…it's following it that will be the problem."
Vetinari noticed Angua had dropped the venomous sir at the end of each sentence. He hoped this was a mark her anger was fading. He would need her full co-operation, unclouded by personal feelings.
"What do you mean?"
"Vimes is no fool. He knows you'll call me in to track him. The only good thing is…I'm pretty sure he won't go through Traitor's Gate."
Vetinari raised one eyebrow in a mute query. Angua moved towards the back room's open door as she answered.
"Because I don't think he's trying to hide."
Angua stepped past Vetinari into the room. She closed her eyes to focus on other senses, and then took a tentative sniff. The coppery tang of blood was the overriding nasal presence. It snaked beguilingly through her senses and seemed to caress her morphic switches, promising untold delights if only she surrendered and changed. With an effort of will Angua forced it to one side.
She slunk towards the bed, the coloured clouds of smell unfolding in her mind. She dismissed the purple and patchwork streaks of recent movement that were Lawn and Igor respectively. That left her with the two relatively still clouds by the bed. The first was collected around the chair and the bedside, a silvery, metallic drift that could only be the Patrician. She was surprised at the uncertainty and anxiousness coming from the smoke residue, but again she ignored it and focused on her task.
…there
On the bed, tainted with pain and betrayal, was the light-blue trace her nose had been questing for. It had collected in a pool, slightly ragged at the edges where Vimes had writhed and thrashed. Angua was about to turn and follow the thread that led to the window and out, when she caught something on the edge of her nasal sight. She sighed. She had hoped against hope that somehow the blood's curse would not have affected Vimes, but there, in the centre of that light-blue cloud, a navy patch of smoke coiled, tendrils winding out away from the centre. His scent was already beginning to change.
Angua opened her eyes and moved towards the door. There was no point in climbing out the window when she could easily pick up the trail under it on the outside. As Angua prepared to face the Patrician once again, it was all she could do to prevent her teeth lengthening. To know what he knew about Vimes and to let Igor continue…it was inhuman.
"And thanks to him Vimes will learn just how that feels" she thought bitterly.
As she stepped out of the room, Vetinari turned to face her. Angua spoke quickly, pre-empting any order he might try to give her.
"Yes, the scent is clear enough and yes I will follow it. But I will do so alone sir."
She prepared to verbally defend herself or even, as a final resort, to beat a hasty retreat, but to her surprise Vetinari simply nodded his agreement and walked out to where, Angua knew, an impassive Drumknott waited with the carriage.
Angua made her way though an alley to the back of Lawn's house and stopped under the window. It was only a first story, but to have scrambled out without reopening such a freshly closed wound meant Vimes must already be benefiting from the regenerative powers that came with the change. She closed her eyes once again and took a sampling sniff. Under the smell of the normal Ankh-Morpork detritus she had long ago learned to block, she smelt Vimes' odd dual smell. Angua knew that soon, Vimes original scent would be lost under the new, feral scent of what he was becoming.
Angua opened her eyes once more, careful to keep Vimes' scent imprinted on her nasal vision. The result of combining the two senses was she now could see the two-toned blue trail snaking out of the alley and into the next street. As she left the alley, Angua realised she must have been in the room longer than she thought. The sun was now high in the sky, and Angua hoped she would soon find the man she sought.
She followed the trail as it wound through streets and alleyways. At first it headed towards the marketplace, but both Angua and the trail balked in the same place as the taint of silver (however impure) tarnished the air. Angua shuddered. She had forgotten how painful silver was to encounter when you did it for the first time. As a werewolf grew older they grew more used to the taint of it in the air, but Angua could smell Vimes' reaction to the new sensation, and it magnified her own. The trail staggered into a nearby alley, and Angua could smell the panic of the feral dog that had been in it as it had fled to safety.
Angua followed the elusive scent of her commander all day, as it twisted and turned, often doubling back on itself to lead to other parts of the city. Angua concluded it was confusion rather than a desire to shake off pursuit; otherwise she would have come across a scent-bomb by now.
Finally, as dusk began to fall, the trail led Angua to the edge of the city. She followed it out into the cabbage fields until it ended at a wooden storage hut some distance away from the city, half hidden by some stunted trees that had obviously been overlooked by the farmer's compulsive clearing. Angua steeled herself, and eased open the door.
The shaft of early evening light illuminated the figure, who slumped with his legs hugged to his chest in a heart-wrenchingly child-like gesture. As the light fell on him, Vimes raised his head off his knees and gazed at Angua's concerned face.
"My gods." she murmured softly. Never had she ever seen Vimes appear so lost.
Angua moved into the shed, and saw recognition dawn on his face as the light shining from behind no longer obscured her features. He turned away, and she moved closer and sat down beside him. Angua stretched out a hand, but Vimes flinched away. They sat in an awkward silence which Angua broke.
"Sybil knows you won't be home tonight, though not why. And the Watch think you're on a special assignment."
"Thank you" Vimes said quietly, after a long pause. He turned towards her and Angua cringed mentally at the look of helplessness directed at her.
"It's not the end," she ventured. "I know you sir, you have experience in controlling…inner beasts."
"How…?" Vimes tailed off, not knowing how to articulate his thoughts, but Angua understood. She gave a sad smile, which Vimes gratefully saw contained compassion but no pity.
"It's the way I was born" she said simply.
Angua put out an arm again and this time Vimes allowed it to fall around his shoulders and leant into the understanding comfort it offered. The two werewolves sat in companionable silence as the evening light faded, and then Vimes shifted and straightened, an unspoken signal that he was ready to get to work. They stood in the dim light and Angua turned to him.
"I should be here for the first time. It takes a bit of getting used to."
"Yes."
Vimes paused then continued, "But…not yet. I need some time."
"Can I get you to come back with me tonight?"
Angua read his expression. She recognised it from what she still occasionally saw in the mirror on bad days.
"Well at least I know where to find you then. I'll be back tomorrow sir."
Angua shut the door behind her and began walking away into the gathering dusk. As she headed towards the distant city lights she paused and looked back towards the building.
"You can go in, but I wouldn't. You may not like his reaction."
Then she left.
Standing in the shadows under the trees, Vetinari smiled thinly. He made a mental note never to underestimate the power of werewolf senses, then walked to the door.
Vimes turned at the sound of the door entered. Whatever he might have said died on his lips as he saw Vetinari standing in the dim light. Anger began to well up inside him, fuelled by the raw sense of betrayal he could not understand. Vimes felt his ears change and his teeth fight to lengthen, but he viciously repressed the urging to give in to the creature that was now part of him.
"Vimes, I…"
"No!" Vimes snarled, "Don't say you're sorry and don't you dare ask for my forgiveness!"
Vetinari drew himself up and looked at Vimes with all of his Patrician's hauteur.
"I am not sorry for what I did; only what it meant. I would not let you die, even if this was the only alternative."
"But the choice was not yours to make. Maybe the alternative to dieing was one I would not have taken. Life cannot always be under your control."
Vetinari was still, and Vimes felt a sudden need to provoke any sort of reaction from the impassive figure.
"One bite is all it would take. Then you could truly now the price of what you choose for me."
Vetinari still stood there, Vimes' previous words echoing in his mind. Control. It had always come down to control. But now, he somehow knew he had not to control but to trust. Vetinari extended one slender wrist towards Vimes.
"What you must."
Vimes stared at Vetinari for a long moment, then moved in grasping the proffered wrist. Time slowed for Vetinari as he cursed his misjudgement, but then sped up once more as he was pulled close and his mouth captured in a searing kiss.
Vimes poured all his anger, frustration, hurt and fear into the kiss, creating an intensity that left both men trembling. He could feel Vetinari's fingers in his hair as he held the slight figure close, and the slight tremor as both of them let out the tension that had previously gripped them. Vimes felt Vetinari's lips open under the kiss, and then their tongues met as it deepened.
Vimes reluctantly pulled away and stood back.
"Not yet, not until I know if I can forgive you."
Vetinari nodded and, with a last lingering glance, turned to leave. Vimes watched him go. As he left, Vetinari caught the almost inaudible murmur.
"This is not the end."
Tbc!...
Hope this chapter was worth the wait…and next is the one I hope you've been waiting for…the transformation! Now, the responses I promised you:
CiraArana: Glad I'm doing TP proud…apart from the whole slashing his characters thing. Hope this continuation is to your liking!
Elliot: Yay…my idea is liked!beams manically I think ure English is incredible…if the grammar of ure reviews is anything to go by u don't have too much work to do! Good luck with ure finals :)!
Deathwisher: Yes…I am kinda torturing them a little aren't I! But there may actually be a happy ending...I think.
Not Your Average: Now pipshkin…YOU WERE WRONG AND YOU KNOW IT! There, now that's out of my system…thanks for the review. As for the bottles…didn't make this clear but they r meant to be about litre bottles…suspend disbelief goddamnit!
Katie: Don't worry, Vimes' reactions will feature very highly in this chapter…and it ain't gonna be pretty.
Not Your Average: Another review for the same chappie…I'm honoured! Interesting thought…that'll show me to try and inject realism into TP's world. Don't worry; I'll say it for you…foolish luska!
Deathwisher: Another double reviewer! Again…thank you so much, ure babbling meant a lot…especially as ure condoning my method over the original, that's gratifying to say the least. And look…I'm writing too!
Iceintheink: Thanks for the praise…and the smut level should rise somewhat in this chappie, mainly because I realised I'm on chapter 8 and they've still only kissed once! This story will be continued…and there will be a sequel too!
H-Rose: I made u happy…and ure review made me vv happy! See stories really do spread the love ; ). Glad u like this…hope this next chappie was worth waiting for.
Fer-de-lance: Sorry, the comments won't stop…but I moved them to make it easier! The spelling was a little extreme…but I couldn't resist ; ). As for my spellings…I couldn't write it any other way, the americanese annoys me too.