AN: Bheith imithe is irish for 'Be gone'
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CHAPTER 11
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Ewen had remained wolf after Eliot's science experiment since there wasn't a need for him to change back, and he would need to be wolf when they went after the rogue. Hardison and Eliot had spent several minutes squabbling over how much tranquilizer was needed for each dart until Eliot won two rounds of rock-paper-scissors.
"There is no way to have a 'tell' in rock paper scissors." Hardison grumbled as he tossed a duffel bag into the back of Lucille.
"Sure there is, 'cause you do." Eliot chuckled as he slid the side door on Lucille closed.
"Your scent changed as you made your decision." Abby commented without looking at either of them since her attention was focused in the mirror of her compact as she applied her red face paint.
"How do you know that?" Parker asked from the front passenger seat.
"Just a guess. But that's what Ewen has told me when we've played similar games." Abby tried not to smile since she didn't want to redo any of the makeup. Ewen made a happy chuffing sound and leaned against her. "Ooof. Ewen! If I haveta wipe all this off I'll clout you over the head!" Everyone could tell she didn't really mean it.
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It was only a short drive from the hotel to the farm they had rented. The drive had been uneventful but not long after they arrived Eliot and Ewen heard the crunch of gravel as someone turned off of the highway and onto their long driveway. A moment later the rest heard the sound and they all turned to see who was coming. An old pickup truck that was fifty/fifty rust and faded green paint rolled to a stop a few yards away. Keme stepped out and walked slowly toward their little group.
"I tried to stay away but I couldn't. I heard about some trouble the other night and while I don't know exactly what happened I can guess some of it. Please let me help." A whine of distress that would have sounded more suited to a wolf slipped from him.
"Can you follow my lead? Obey my orders?" Eliot's eye were yellow as he looked at Keme.
"Yes. I can and I will." Keme kept his eyes down but the set of his shoulders straightened.
"Okay then. You'll need to change to your wolf. Turns out this curse can be passed to another wolf through a bite or scratch when they are in their human shape but you'll be safe in your wolf form. We've got a little while till dark so you don't have to change immediately." Eliot checked the time. "Right now we're going to set out a little bait and then Ewen and I are going to wait and see if we can track your brother back to his den. After that we'll see what we can do about the curse." Ewen sniffed along the truck and circled Keme. Something in the truck made him sneeze but nothing seemed too concerning and he returned to Abby's side.
Hardison had returned to his preparations in the van when he saw who had arrived. Stepping back around the van he handed Eliot the paper bag with the meat scraps in it and Keme the bucket that Eliot had also purchased at the butcher's shop. "If you have what I think you have in that bucket, that's just nasty." Hardison looked at Eliot as he handed the bucket to Keme. All of the wolves could smell the blood even with the lid tightly sealed.
"Smells fine to me." The corner of Eliot's mouth quirked up as his eyes flashed yellow for a second. "Y'all ready?" Eliot looked around at all of them before he headed toward the tree line.
Hardison made sure that Parker had her paintball gun and Abby had the tranq. He let his paintball gun hang from the strap on his shoulder as he locked the van, and followed after. They hadn't made it very far into the woods before Eliot dropped back letting Ewen take the lead. Eliot waited as everyone passed until he was at the back with Hardison, he had smelled how nervous Hardison was and he want to encourage him if he could. Eliot spoke quietly, even though he knew the wolves would hear him. "You know the rogue shouldn't be out yet. And even if he is, he isn't here. We," Eliot gestured at the wolves including him. "would smell him if he was within a quarter mile."
"I know. Don't worry, I got this." Hardison's smile was a little wobbly but Eliot could smell Hardison's resolve.
"I believe it." Eliot clapped him on the shoulder and moved out a little farther to the side of the group. Eliot scratched at his shoulder again and rolled his eyes at the pointed look from Abby.
Before long they made it to the top of the small draw where they had left the bait before. Eliot picked a rock a little higher up the side of the draw, to set their bait on, so that if they had more rain the bait wouldn't get washed down hill again. Hardison made a gaging noise when Eliot retrieved the rotted meat that had been left from the last time. Eliot added the rotted meat to the pile of meat scraps and took the small bucked from Keme. Prying the top off the bucket Eliot handed the lid back to Keme and poured a small amount of the blood over the meat scraps and began to drizzle a trail up the draw toward the top of the small hill.
Keme held the lid up to his nose and probably would have licked it if he hadn't noticed the looks on the faces of the humans around him. He let the lid hang from his fingers at his side and tried to pretend the thought had never occurred to him. Ewen on the other hand didn't hesitate and began licking the blood off of the lid.
"Ewen McEllen! Sometimes I would swear you grew up feral, if I hadn't met your mother!" Abby shook her head.
Eliot came back with a pleased look on his face, sliding a little as he made his way down the draw. Eliot took the lid and snapped it back on the empty bucket. Absentmindedly he licked blood off the back of his fingers as he turned to face the group.
"Eliot Spencer, it's no wonder Ewen gets on so well with you!" Abby sounded absolutely disgusted with them both.
"You love us." Eliot winked at her. At Abby's glare he tried again. "You love Ewen at least." Ewen shook himself and grinned at her with his tongue lolling.
"Unrepentant devils." Abby shook her head and turned to make her way back the direction they had come.
Once they got back to the van Eliot stripped out of his shirt as he went around to the other side of Lucille to complete his change. Eliot was almost finished with the change when Parker rounded the end of the van. "I think I should stay." Parker waited a moment but Eliot was in no shape for any kind of response. "Someone should be able to talk on the coms and you can't when you're all wolfy." Parker waited another moment since it looked as though Eliot was finished with his change.
Eliot shook himself and turned a yellow look on Parker. Very carefully Eliot shook his head side to side. Parker glared at him. Eliot glared back. "Fine!" Parker stomped back around the van.
"She's just worried about you." Hardison's voice came from right behind him and it took all of Eliot's control not to jump at the suddenness of it.
Eliot turned to Hardison and heaved a sigh. Eliot trotted to the back doors on the van and pawed at them trying not to leave claw marks in the paint.
"Hold up. I got it." Hardison opened the doors and Eliot hopped in. After some rustling and a loud crash Hardison climbed in through the side door. "Hey! That's it! Out! Out before you brake something!" Eliot sneezed at him but backed out of the van.
A moment later Hardison stepped out of the van holding the Kevlar vest. Eliot yipped at him and Hardison held the vest up above his head. "And who's a good…ooof" The last of Hardison's question ended in a wheeze as Eliot rose up on his back legs and planted a paw in Hardison's middle. As Hardison bent forward at the impact Eliot snatched the vest and with a smug look headed for Parker.
Parker had walked toward the trees in the opposite direction of where they had left the bait. She just needed a minute to sort out her feelings where no one would interfere or make her feel like she was doing it wrong. She had almost made it to the trees when she heard a soft noise behind her. Turning to see who had followed her she was surprised to see Eliot dragging the Kevlar vest toward her. She knew that Hardison or Abby could have helped Eliot with his vest so he was making a point of having her help him.
Eliot waited until Parker had stopped and turned to face him before he closed the distance between them. He dropped the vest at her feet and took a step back and waited.
Parker picked up the vest and stared at him for a minute. "Fine." She gathered the bulky material up and would have put it on him but she noticed the raw patch on the front of his right shoulder. "We need to put something on that silver burn or the vest is going to rub on it." With a sigh she started back toward the van.
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Hardison, Parker, and Abby were driving slowly toward Bowers along highway eleven. Hardison had two trackers on Eliot's vest. One tracker was inside the vest lining and the other was Eliot's own earbud in a pocket on the back of the vest. The wolf's ears were sharp enough that all of the wolves could hear Hardison over Eliot's earbud. Now they had a way to communicate with the wolves but there wasn't much they could hope for in return.
Parker was driving and Hardison and Abby were both keeping tabs on Hardison's tablet screen. "Just a few more minutes before full dark. How long do you think it was between night fall and when the rogue attacked Lucille last time?" Hardison bit at the edge of his thumb but didn't wait for an answer. "Do you think Eliot's bait idea is really going to work again? Do you think last time even counts since the only one that ate the bait last time was Eliot?"
"Hush." Abby set a comforting hand on Hardison's arm. "All of our wolves are safe. Ewen got scratched up plenty and we even found a bite mark when we got back to the hotel last time but he wasn't affected by the curse. Everything will be just fine."
Parker made the turn in Bowers that would take them down Bray Rd. "Hardison have you been able to find anything that would tell us where the rogue dens for the day?" Not seeing any cars coming toward them Parker flipped on her high beams so she could see more of the countryside and a little farther down the road.
"Nah. There just isn't enough information out there." Hardison leaned back and grabbed a laptop. "I estimated that the farm we rented is near the center of his territory by tracking reported sightings, and reports of animals attacked or killed by large predators, like a wolf." Hardison pulled up his map that marked the location of each report. "The rogue's territory seems to be in a four to six mile area. At least for the last fifteen years. Any reports from the Department of Natural Resources older than fifteen years are all hard copy, and you know how I feel about dust mites." Hardison shivered at the thought.
Parker was almost to the backside of the property they had rented when she saw something large dash across the highway almost too far away to really see. "Take us off mute." Parker pulled to the side of the road. Hardison tapped his tablet screen and pointed at Parker in silent signal that Eliot and the wolves would hear her now. "Eliot I think I just saw the rogue cross Bray Rd. It looks like he is headed right for you."
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Eliot, Ewen, and Keme, had all settled down to wait in the underbrush. The night was chilly and the vest that Parker and Hardison had gotten him itched. His shoulder itched almost painfully and it made him want to roll to ease the sensation. The three of them had spread out so that they would have a better chance of spotting the rogue on the way in and following him on the way out. If he went for the bait. If he didn't smell them and spook. If he didn't just attack them, and force one of them to kill him. Eliot knew there were an awful lot of 'ifs' in his plan. More than he had wanted to tell Parker about. But it was still the best plan they had come up with.
Parker's voice coming from right between his shoulder blades startled him, but he appreciated the warning. He wished there was a way to communicated with the team but for now at least they had this one way system which was better than nothing. Eliot hunkered down and waited.
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Parker swiped a finger across her neck to signal Hardison to mute the earbud again. Since they knew the other wolves could hear Eliot's earbud too she didn't want to risk giving away the wolves location with a stray transmission. Hardison nodded and tapped on his tablet screen. "Until we pick up movement from your nanobots or some kind of signal from Eliot I'm going to keep circling." The plan so far was for the wolves to track the rogue on foot while the humans circled Bray Rd and highway eleven until a direction in which to follow the rogue became apparent. Parker pulled back onto the road and continued to head towards Elkhorn.
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Eliot heard the crunch of twigs behind and to his right. Holding as still as possible Eliot waited and listened. He could just barely hear the almost silent pad of paws on soft earth as the rogue drew closer. A light breeze blew across him and for a moment he could smell Hardison and Parker. He didn't think the old scents would startle the rogue. With the curse driving him the rogue was no timid puppy and many people lived inside the old wolf's territory so a few more people shouldn't give him a second thought. The rogue picked up the scent of the blood and began to trail it toward the stronger scent of the meat. Eliot waited until the rogue had almost disappeared down the slope of the draw before he quietly broke cover and followed the rogue to the top of the draw.
Eliot could just make out Ewen through the underbrush on the other side of the draw. It was hard to hide a wolf as large as Ewen but the darkness and the ragged outline of the plants were doing an okay job. A twig snapped to Eliot's left and the rogue and Eliot both looked in that direction. From Eliot's higher vantage point he barely caught a glimpse of the large white wolf that was Keme, melting back into the darkness. He didn't think the rogue would have seen Keme from where he was at but it was smart of Keme to move back. Eliot dropped low with his belly almost touching the ground as he held his position.
The rogue nosed around the meat pile scouting back and forth picking up any available scents while he decided whether or not to eat the meat that had been left for him. As Eliot peered over the edge of the draw he could see when the rogue made up his mind. Nosing through the pile the rogue pulled out a couple of the steaks that had been cut incorrectly and had been consigned to the scrap pile. The stakes provided some of the best meat of what was available and had been coated in Hardison's nanobots. The rogue ate his way through most of the meat pile before deciding to move on.
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"Alright we're in business. Looks like some of the nanobots just went hot!" Hardison started tracking the signal
"Which way?" Parker wanted to gun the engine but with no direction yet she might just be taking them farther away.
"Pull over for a minute. So far the rogue isn't really moving yet." Hardison waited to see which way the blinky light on his tablet might move. She pulled to the side of the road again and waited for Hardison to figure out where they were going.
Parker drummed her fingers on the steering wheel and kept an eye on what little of the tree line she could see in the dark. Abby moved to the front seat next to Parker and had to remind herself that holding her breath wouldn't make anything happen any faster.
"Okay babe looks like the rogue and Eliot are both on the move. Don't go anywhere yet though." Hardison was waiting until the rogue seemed to be going in a more definite direction before he started Parker on their wild goose chase.
"I think I see them!" Abby pointed toward the tree line.
"Looks like they might be headed toward Scott Bray's farm." Hardison couldn't be sure but at this point a guess was better than nothing. Parker pulled back onto the road and headed for the farm.
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Eliot had thought that the rogue would have scented Ewen when he passed Ewen's hiding spot but the rogue didn't hesitate as he moved past. When Eliot came to Ewen's hiding spot he waited a moment keeping the rogue in sight. In seconds Keme and Ewen flanked either side of Eliot and they followed the rogue out of the trees.
The rogue moved light and swift over the rough ground near the trees. Eventually the terrain changed to a rough ploughed fallow field. The wind blew in their faces and Eliot caught a stronger whiff of the rogue and sheep somewhere ahead. Something about the scent of sheep seemed to be nudging at his memory and even though Eliot couldn't bring that memory out where he could get a clear look at it he remembered Hardison showing him where he had killed the farmer's sheep. Eliot followed for a while more, wanting to be sure that was where the rogue was taking them before he alerted the rogue to their presence.
When Eliot and his companions came to the edge of the field he could see the light near the back door of the house on the other side of the field. The sheep bleated in panic when the wind shifted and took the scents of the wolves to them. Eliot saw the rogues ears perk at the sound of the terrified sheep. Stopping, Eliot yipped to draw the rogue's attention. Ewen and Keme moved farther out in an attempt to flank the rogue.
The rogue spun at the sound, raising his hackles, and snarling. His attention was focused on Eliot but he turned to get a better look at Ewen when the sound of a snapping twig gave away Ewen's position. When the rogue looked back Eliot was gone. A low, rumbled, growl came from the other side of the rogue. The rogue could, now, clearly see that he had been flanked and there were three werewolves between him and the sheep. In a fit of rage the rogue made a lunge for Ewen but dogged away at the last moment and made a dash for the woods.
As Eliot watched the rogue disappear into the thicket he had to wrestle down the instinct to chase prey that was running from him. Keme seemed to be losing that same battle and as he started to dart away Eliot gave him a nip on the flank to get his attention.
"Eliot it looks like the rogue is headed back to our farm. I let you know if he moves on from there." Hardison's voice from the earbud was great reminder that they couldn't hunt down the rogue just yet.
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"Should I take the turn off for our farm? It's just up ahead." Parker asked over her shoulder.
"It's still five hours until dawn." Hardison checked the time. "Eliot estimates the tranq will only keep the rogue down for three hours because of the high metabolism so I think we better wait." Hardison and Eliot had both been concerned about overdosing the rogue on the aggressive tranquilizer solution that Eliot had mixed. Hardison had wanted to put less of the tranquilizer solution in each dart and just tranq the rogue more often, but Eliot was concerned that there wouldn't be enough initial knock out power to subdue to rogue. Eliot had won the game of rock-paper-scissors so they had gone with the one time shot instead of multiple smaller doses.
Parker passed the turn off and continued toward Bowers on highway eleven. All of them silently hopping that they would get such an opportunity again.
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After a couple of hours the opportunity they had been hoping for finally presented itself. The three wolves had been working to keep the rogue away from people's homes or livestock and had also manage to keep him inside of his known territory or at least what Hardison had figured was the rogues territory.
The rogue had manage to break through the fencing around a chicken coup and kill several of the chickens before Eliot and the others drove the rogue off. This seemed to be the last straw and the rogue decided to challenge them in the next open field they came to. The rogue spun to face them and bared his teeth. Eliot faced down the rogue with a growl. Ewen and Keme spread to either side to offer support and help contain the rogue.
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Hardison had been tracking the nanobots but their signal was begining to fail and he was having to rely on Eliot to give him a better idea of the rogue's location when they were farther away. As they made the loop yet again and turned onto Bray Rd. Hardison got a ping that let him know they were nearing the rogue as the tracking on the nanobots came back in range. With as week as the signal was from the nanobots Hardison began looking out the windows because he knew the rogue had to be nearby. He leaned forward between the front seats and pointed at something moving in the field ahead.
As they drew closer Keme's bright white fur became very easy to spot. Eliot's light tan coat also showed pretty well in the light cast from the van's high-beams. Ewen and the rogue melted into the shadows with their darker fur. "I see them!" Parker pulled onto the shoulder and Hardison hopped out the side door with the tranq gun.
Hardison aimed the tranq gun and fired. The dart fell short and very far to the right. Keme hopped back with a yelp of surprise when the dart nearly hit his toes. "Ooops." Hardison muttered and aimed again. His shot was closer this time but not close enough and the dart lodged itself in Eliot's vest. "Sorry man my bad." Hardison was about to try again when Parker snatched the gun from his hands and sprinted toward the field.
Parker saw the fencing just in time and was able to clear it in a sideways jump and roll that she had practiced in her parkour. Landing like a cat on the other side Parker took a moment to line up her shot. As the rogue made a lunge for Eliot, Parker squeezed the trigger and managed to hit the rogue in the side with the dart.
The rogue yelped and spun. Seeing Parker he went after her with a howl. Ewen jumped between them and was rolled by the force of the rogue colliding with him. Parker was knocked down under the furry mass before she had a chance to retreat.
Hardison hopped the fence when he saw the rogue turn on Parker. By the time his feet landed on the other side Parker had disappeared under a mass of wolf fur. He called for Parker as he ran toward the writhing snarling mass. Keme was about to leap into the fray as well when Eliot let out a roar that Hardison was pretty sure a wolf shouldn't be able to make. All the wolves froze for just a moment before life seemed to resume and the rogue leapt away from them. Leaping over the fence the rogue came nose to nose with Abby.
Abby had been ready and batted the rogue across the nose with a sachet that spilled powder all over. "Bheith imithe!" While the wolf shook to clear the powder from his face Abby sprinted out of sight on the other side of the van.
The rogue sneezed a couple of times and whether it was Abby's directive to 'be gone' or his own choice the rogue loped down the side of the road before hopping another fence.
Ewen rolled off of Parker and nosed all around her, checking for injuries. When he stuck his nose under her armpit it surprised a squeak out of her and she thumped him on the head. Ewen gave her a wolfy grin and hopped the fence to find Abby. Hardison had tripped over something on his way to Parker and stopped to rub at his shin for a moment. Eliot nudged Hardison on his way past causing Hardison to take a staggered step to regain his balance.
"Watch it man!" Hardison sounded indignant as he straightened his shirt and went to offer Parker a hand up. Eliot sneezed in Hardison's direction. "I know, I know, Dammit Hardison. I got it." Hardison mumbled as he reached for Parker. Parker held his hand and looked around for a moment.
"I lost the tranq gun." It was still too dark to see much and the van's head lights cast strange shadows across the uneven ground. "Do you think we'll need it again tonight?"
Eliot shook himself and looking at the other two wolves yipped, hopped the fence and trotted after the rogue. "I think Eliot's right. We need to get back to tracking the rogue. Don't worry about the tranq. We'll come back for it later if we need to."
With all the humans back in the van Parker made a u-turn and followed the pack of werewolves the best that she could. "Our next job should be a bank heist or maybe we could steal another potato. I think I'm done with wolfy things for a while." Parker sighed and rubbed a sore spot on her knee.
"I'm on board with that. I think Eliot will be very on board with that too." Hardison pulled up the tracking on his tablet. "Maybe that dart is starting to take effect…." Hardison flipped back and forth between a couple of screens. "Take a right on bowers road and head south."
"Finally!" Parker was thrilled not to be driving in the same endless circle.
"What makes you think the dart is working? I didn't see anything that made me think it had any effect." Abby shoved trembling fingers into her coat pockets.
"He's been averaging about twenty miles an hour tonight hit forty a couple of times but mostly he's been moving about twenty. Now he's down to fifteenish. Even though he's traveling in a kinda straight line he seems to be slowing down some." Hardison tapped at a few more things on his tablet. "They oughta be crossing in front of us any minute now."
With no warning Parker slammed on the brakes and the van fishtailed. Abby clung to her seatbelt and Hardison caught a death grip on the back of Parker's seat before he tumbled all the way into the front seats. There was a thump and a yelp from outside the van before Parker managed to bring it to a full stop.
Abby took a moment to breath and assess any possible injuries. Finding no new injuries she popped her seatbelt and ran to the front of the van. The sky was beginning to brighten the tiniest bit and with the glow of the van lights behind her she could make out Keme and maybe Eliot as they leapt a fence on the far side of the pasture. Turning back she could see a blood smear on the front of the severely dented van. She climbed back in to find Hardison complaining about the rough landing and what it probably did to his electronics.
"Hardison is your tablet too broken to tell me where we're going next?" Parker blew her bangs out of her eyes with and exasperated huff.
"You think after all these years of working with Mr. Punchy, and the rest of you, that I haven't invested in a quality case?" Hardison realigned the image on his tablet. "Stay on this road for now. Make a left on Hospital Rd. in a minute or two."
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Eliot, Ewen, and Keme, had gotten into the rhythm of the hunt. Eliot and Ewen had hunted together before but Keme had shown himself quite adaptable and was blending in well into this ad-hock pack. The rogue was ahead of them but it seemed like he was moving a little slower than he had been earlier. They had already jumped several fences and when Eliot saw the next one coming, he didn't hesitate to follow the rogue over it. He didn't hesitate until he saw the bright lights to his left. With a surge of adrenaline he pushed himself harder to make it across the road that he hadn't seen until he was on it. Ewen was hot on his heals but they both spun around when they heard the yelp. Keme hadn't made it across the road in time. Eliot started back toward Keme who was lying in a sprawled heap on the near side of the road. Before Eliot got to him Keme sprang up with a growl. His back left leg wouldn't bear his weight and he turned to growl at his own leg for a moment. He kicked the leg out behind him and Eliot heard a cracking sound. While Eliot was standing there Keme started to walk past him. On the first step the leg still wouldn't bear Keme's weight but he still continued on. By the fifth step he was putting his weight on the injured leg and by the tenth step he sped back up into a run.
Eliot had always heard that old wolves could heal quickly but he'd never seen anything like that. He was absolutely sure that had the van hit him like that he would have been too injured to walk for several days even with as fast as he already healed. No doubt Nati would have some interesting information for him if he called her about it later.
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"I hope Eliot has eyes on the rogue 'cause my nanobots are dead." Hardison rubbed a hand over his face.
"Do you still have tracking on Eliot?" Parker glanced at Hardison in the rearview.
"Yah mama. Eliot's vest and earbud aren't meant to be disposable and unless he swims with them they should keep tracking."
Parker took a left onto hospital road and slowed a little in anticipation of new directions. Just as they came to a thicket on either side of the road Hardison let out a yelp of surprise from right behind her.
"No! No, no, no! Ah dammit!" Hardison shoved his tablet into the closest bag. "Pull over."
"What's going on?" Abby turned in her seat to get a better look at Hardison.
"Hardison jinxed Eliot's tracker." Parker said with absolute certainty.
"I didn't jinx nothin'!" Hardison threw his hands in the air.
"So Eliot's tracker, which was our last link to their location, didn't just die?" Parker quirked an eyebrow at him in the mirror before she put the van in park and turned to look at him directly.
"Yes, dammit, it died, but it's not my fault."
Hardison and Parker both jerked slightly at the same time. They stared at each other for a moment and Abby split a look between them. "What's going on?" Abby asked hesitantly.
"Eliot was just surprised by something." Hardison sounded like his statement might be a question and he never took his eyes off Parker.
"A very bad kind of surprised." Parker said with certainty. "So that's what Sparky meant when he said he could feel us sometimes." Parker climbed between the seats and grabbed a duffle bag, before hopping out the back doors. "Come on. He needs us."
Abby and Hardison got out of the van and followed Parker into the thicket. "Where are we going?" Abby asked.
"That way." Hardison pointed slightly south east of their location. "I don't know why, but I'm sure it's that way."