Eric didn't anticipate that going with Icewolf meant transforming to his hybrid form again. And Icewolf wasn't a patient teacher. The white wolf wasn't happy with having Eric along and was even less happy to help him transform willingly for the first time. Eric wasn't very happy about having to be taught anything. All in all it wasn't a fun situation.

"If you can't get this you're not going with me," Icewolf grumbled.

They were hiding in a parking garage where Icewolf said it would be safe to leave the hummer. So far Eric had managed to get one hand to sprout an intensely blue fur, but no full body changes were even remotely close. Frustrated he shot the wolf a glare.

"You're not being very helpful. All you've told me is focus on the wolf inside, but I don't know what the hell that means!"

"Not my fault."

"Well, how do you transform?"

Icewolf shot him a brief amused look. "I focus on the wolf inside."

"You're an asshole," Eric grumbled. "How did you transform when you first got your abilities?"

"Meditation."

Eric balked. "You're kidding, right?"

Icewolf smirked, his amusement clearly showing. "Firewolf was big on spiritualism and meditation was part of that. I got my powers after him and he helped me learn to meditate."

"That's not—I can't meditate."

"You mean clear your mind of all thought and emotion? No, your inability to do that doesn't surprise me."

Eric growled then, shooting the wolf-hero a furious look. "You insult me a lot for not knowing me."

"I have the advantage for once. Excuse me for enjoying it," Icewolf retorted. "Now, you can either transform or stay out of my way."

Eric closed his eyes and slowed his breathing. At first the sound of traffic nearby kept distracting him. Then a helicopter flew overheard. Even Icewolf's breathing was too loud. Finally though he was able to focus his thoughts inward.

And he felt something. In his previous attempts the feeling had been much...quieter. He could barely feel the wolf before, but suddenly it was a very different story. He could not only feel the wolf he could hear it's howl. He latched onto it, pulling the wolf closer and embracing it fully.

"Well, I really didn't think you'd manage it," Icewolf's voice sounded loud and obnoxious in the silence of his mind. "Well done."

Eric opened his eyes and lifted his arms. Sure enough both arms were covered in thick vivid blue fur and his fingers ended in short, but sharp claws. Looking down at the rest of the body it was the same story, although the fur on his chest was a lighter shade of blue. His next realization was that he had grown something extra and twisting his neck around to look at his back he saw he had a tail.

More than all that were the sounds and smells he was suddenly assaulted with. What had been the fairly distant sound of traffic suddenly sounded like he was laying right on the road with the cars driving over him. The horns blared furiously and Eric had to cover his sensitive ears. Then he became aware of a sound much closer to him and sent a look that could kill at the white wolf leaning against the hummer.

"What's so damn funny?" Eric demanded.

Icewolf grinned slightly, white teeth flashing. "Oh, I'm not actually laughing at you, Delko. You just reminded me of the first time I transformed. Firewolf had already been through it and he decided to play a practical joke on me. He said he wanted to test my sense of smell, see if it was as strong as his. So he opened a vial and asked me to smell it at tell him what it was."

"And?" Eric asked, finding himself intrigued by the wolf's deep voice. He was pleasantly surprised to note his own voice had deepened.

"He'd sprayed that fake fart crap that you get in joke shops in there. I couldn't smell anything but that for days. He found it hilarious."

"Sounds like you were really close to Firewolf."

Icewolf's eyes darkened and the smile dropped from his face. If Eric had been trying to upset Icewolf it would have been a satisfying result, but he knew how it felt to lose a partner. So he didn't say anything else while Icewolf gave him curt instructions on what he was and was not to do during their investigation. Despite the blow to his pride at being talked to like a rookie, which he grudgingly admitted was what he was, he just stayed quiet and listened.

When they left the parking garage Eric was only mildly surprised to find Icewolf liked to travel across town by rooftop, street lights, stoplights, and anything else he could use to keep from touching the ground. It was exhilarating. Like the first time he went deep sea diving or the first time he solved a case all on his own. He felt powerful. More than that, he felt alive. Alive in a way he hadn't been since he lost his best friend.

And there was a rhythm to it. A beautiful sort of dance to the way Icewolf moved through the city. It felt natural. As if Icewolf had been embraced by the city and embraced it in return so that they were one. Eric was in complete awe as he followed the superhero, doing his best to keep up.

He was so concentrated on feeling the rhythm that he didn't notice when Icewolf stopped on a rooftop. He slammed into the white wolf's back and nearly pitched the ice-wielder over the edge. Luckily Icewolf got his balance back and then twisted to glare at Eric.

"Sorry," Eric mumbled, feeling somewhat like a scolded child even though the other wolf hadn't said anything.

"Just...pay attention, okay?"

"I will."

Icewolf then turned to crouch so that he could peer over the edge of the roof. The wolf looked down for several moments before turning and motioning for Eric to look as well. Eric noticed immediately that they were in a very shady part of town. A part of the city where vacationers didn't go.

There were people going in and out of building on the other side of the street. It was a small building, but as they watched a surprising amount of people were going inside. Two men were standing on either side of the door and were either turning people away or letting them inside. But the building wasn't big enough to be anything special.

"Our target will be coming out of there within the hour," Icewolf said. "He goes for a drink every night at the same time and leaves at the same time every night. Routines are amazingly helpful things."

"So we sit and wait?" Eric asked.

"He won't be long," Icewolf replied. He was staring intently at the building.

Eric sighed and watched the building, though not with the same intensity as Icewolf. It was taking too long. They knelt there at the edge of the roof waiting for someone to come out of the door for what felt like forever. Finally Eric couldn't take it anymore. He was just about to say something to Icewolf when the door to the building opened and a middle aged man walked out. Beside Eric, Icewolf tensed and as soon as the man entered a parking garage safely out of sight of prying eyes the white wolf took off.

Eric chased after Icewolf and followed the hero's every movement. Within minutes they were in the parking garage. By the time Eric fully caught up with Icewolf, the white furred hero had their target by the back of his shirt. The helpless human shrieked with fear that quickly turned to indignation when he realized who had him.

"Put me down you overgrown fleabag!"

"Now, now, name calling isn't nice," Icewolf taunted even as he placed the man's feet back on the ground.

"You sneaking up on me isn't nice," the man retorted. "And grabbing me by the back of the shirt is definitely not nice!"

"Calm down, Black. You know I just like to keep you on your toes," Icewolf said with a smirk. His face then grew serious. "I'm going to get right to it, Black, because you know I've never beat around the bush."

"No shit."

Icewolf's features turned positively fierce and Eric took a subconscious step away from him at the same time Black did. "Who ordered the attack on Derek Morris?"

"Who---."

"Now is NOT the time for playing stupid, Black," Icewolf snarled. "If you don't want me to bust your cover wide open and reveal how dirty you are, you had better give me a straight answer."

Black's brown eyes were as wide open as they could possibly get. In another situation Eric would have found it amusing, but there was nothing amusing about the pissed off white wolf. Eric, being the talented CSI he was, quickly put two and two together. Icewolf had known the victim, Derek Morris. Maybe even been friends. Icewolf knew that Derek Morris had a power amulet. Hell, Icewolf had probably given it to Morris to protect. And Eric was slightly frustrated that Icewolf hadn't told him anything of the sort.

"You think you knew Derek Morris?" Black questioned with a sneer. "He was a scoundrel and a con man. He was using you, Ice."

"You lie," the wolf growled. "I knew Derek Morris better than you or any other scumbag in this city. He was loyal."

"He was planning to sell the amulet to the highest bidder."

Icewolf snarled and took a threatening step forward. "Derek wouldn't betray me like that."

"Morris was corrupt and a backstabbing thief."

"Derek was my friend!"

Icewolf was too absorbed in his argument with Black to pay attention to his surroundings, but Eric heard the whisper of movement above them. Without thinking he threw himself at Icewolf's back and knocked them both out of the way as a car dropped where they had been standing. Eric pushed himself up in time to watch Black take off. Icewolf shoved to his feet and they both spun at the sound of mocking laughter and clapping.

Eric's heart skipped a beat. Standing only a few yards away was Takedown. Eric was not prepared to take on a supervillain.

"He may be a sniveling double agent, but he's quite adept at stalling, wouldn't you say?" Takedown said motioning toward the quickly retreating Black.

"You were behind it, weren't you? You had Derek Morris killed," Icewolf snarled accusingly.

The villain's mask hid his face, but Eric could hear the smirk in his tone. "Now why would I do that?"

"You have your hands in almost anything dirty in this city. I know you were behind it," Icewolf retorted. "You're going to go down for this, Takedown."

Takedown laughed. "You and what army, fleabag? This rookie pup? I'll skin him alive and hang his fur in my living room."

Icewolf howled with fury and lunged at Takedown. It was a rookie mistake. Even Eric knew that Takedown absorbed any form of kinetic energy which the villain used to augment himself. Icewolf's punches and kicks were just making Takedown stronger, which the villain proved by backhanding the wolf across the pavement. Icewolf managed to roll to a crouch just before he collided with Eric and a deep rumbling growl made Eric take one step back.

"Temper, temper, Ice. You're going to get yourself hurt that way," Takedown taunted.

Icewolf swept his arm forward and sent a line of ice spikes flying at his nemesis. Takedown laughed as he gracefully dodged them all. He then sent a motorcycle flying at the two wolves. Icewolf shoved Eric out of the way while flinging a sheet of ice under Takedown's feet. The villain slipped and fell hard and Icewolf moved to pounce when a new figure in black swung out of nowhere and landed a kick just under the white wolf's chin. The blow snapped Icewolf's head back and left him open to a strike to the chest that knocked the wolf back. Lockdown landed smoothly beside his partner and both villains assumed a "we're mocking you" stance.

Eric was frozen. He knew he should move. He knew he should do something. Normally it would have been to pull his gun and use his "obey me" voice. He didn't have his gun and he seriously doubted either villain would listen to him.

Icewolf used his agility to dance, duck, and dodge around his two enemies, but Eric was sure it wouldn't be long before they caught the wolf. Takedown lunged with a punch, but Icewolf grabbed his arm and used the villain's momentum to throw him into Lockdown. The two went down in a pile and Icewolf took the opportunity to bound over to Eric.

"Get out of here while you can," the wolf-hero ordered.

"I'm not leaving you to fight them alone," Eric argued.

Icewolf growled. "You're only going to get in my way."

"You need back-up."

"You--."

A bumper-from a large truck by the look of it-smacked into Icewolf's face and knocked the hero to the asphalt. At the same time Eric found himself facing Lockdown. And he was getting his tail handed to him. A kick to his knee threw him off balance and in one swift move that he couldn't follow Lockdown had him on the ground with both his knees locked up. Then Lockdown knelt so that one knee was pushing into Eric's sternum and both hands were pinning his shoulders to the ground and locked them up as well. Eric was completely at Lockdown's mercy.

"Ah, look Ice, your pretty little puppy is all laid out so nice and helpless," Takedown taunted. "Maybe now is a good time for a little skinning."

"No!"

Eric watched as Icewolf threw himself at Takedown with ice covered fists ending in long spikes. Takedown laughed and avoided most of Icewolf's furious attacks, but one lucky swipe cut a neat line across his chest. His amusement was immediately replaced with fury and the villain began to throw his own attacks. Icewolf dodged a right hook and stepped in close enough to slice the spikes across Takedown's face. That left the white wolf close enough to take a backhanded punch to the nose that was followed by a stomp to the foot. Takedown threw his forearm at the white wolf's face, but that proved to be a mistake. Eric smirked to himself as Icewolf sunk his teeth into Takedown's arm and yanked the black clad man off balance. Icewolf drove his knee into Takedown's stomach and then flipped him to the ground.

Icewolf then turned and lunged across the distance at Lockdown. Lockdown backflipped away and assumed a fighting stance. Icewolf moved so that he was standing in a defensive stance directly over Eric. Eric watched as Takedown got up, cradling his injured arm, and moved so that he was standing directly across from Lockdown. It made guarding Eric a lot harder for Icewolf as he couldn't keep a good eye on either villain. Then they began to circle and Icewolf had to continually shift his stance to keep up with them.

"You bit off more than you can chew this time, fleabag. And we're going to make sure you watch your puppy die first," Takedown sneered.

Eric wanted to move, but his joints were still locked up. No amount of tensing or wiggling would get them to bend or move. There was no way for him to help Icewolf. All he could do was watch and hope the white wolf could protect him. And didn't that just hurt his pride.

Lockdown feigned a kick which drew all of Icewolf's attention. At the same time Takedown lunged from the other direction and got the white wolf in a headlock. Icewolf snarled and struggled as Lockdown moved in from the front.

Eric held his breath as he watched the scene unfold.

Takedown yelped suddenly and jerked away, shaking his arms to try and clear off the ice. Lockdown managed to get a kick into Icewolf's ribs, but the wolf-hero caught a second kick attempt. Icewolf then used one hand to grab Lockdown's hip and lifted the villain into the air before slamming him through the asphalt. Lockdown disappeared into the level below. Icewolf then spun just in time to take a fist to the muzzle. Icewolf reached out blindly and managed to grab and squeeze Takedown's injured arm. The supervillain roared with pain and jerked away, taking several steps back so that he was out of grabbing range. The two enemies faced off, both breathing hard and each waiting for the other to make a move.

"Not bad, furball," Takedown grumbled. "But it's not going to be enough."

Eric wondered what Takedown was up to as he held his arms out to his sides and then made a kind of swiping motion. At first Eric wasn't sure if the villain was using his magnetism powers or his terra-powers. He found out at the same time as Icewolf. The air was suddenly filled with small metallic things that Eric recognized as screws and hood ornaments and other things he couldn't quite make out but were clearly metal. Before Eric could wonder what the point was the things began to dive and zip and buzz through the air. They swarmed Icewolf and it quickly became apparent that they were traveling fast enough to do damage. Spots of blood began appearing all over the white wolf's fur and when the ice wielder tried to bat them away one of them shot right through his palm.

That's when Eric realized they were in real trouble. Icewolf simply couldn't move fast enough to dodge the bullet-like objects. His white fur was almost completely stained red and his movements were getting slower. What worried Eric the most was the trail of blood from Icewolf's head along with a few neck wounds.

Oh god. He was going to see Icewolf killed right in front of him. Takedown was going to kill Icewolf and there was nothing Eric could do.

Suddenly thick sheets of ice surrounded Icewolf and the things couldn't get through to him. Takedown laughed until he realized the ice was covering the floor and had started to crawl up his foot. The villain tried to get away, but his feet were already frozen to the floor. The ice continued to crawl up his body despite his struggles and eventually he was covered head to toe in ice.

The ice around Icewolf cracked and fell away and the white wolf slumped to his hands and knees. For a moment the ice wielder was completely still, but his deep gasping breathes were loud in Eric's ears. In the sudden silence Eric could hear the wolf-hero's heart beating rapidly, yet gradually slowing down as Icewolf recovered.

In the silence Eric also heard and felt the air shift before Lockdown appeared out of nowhere and tackled Icewolf. The blood stained wolf struggled, but Eric could see the villain swiftly locking down all of Icewolf's joints with one hand while the other locked in an unforgiving chokehold.

"I'm done playing with you," Lockdown snarled. "You've got in our way one too many times, furball."

Icewolf couldn't even move to struggle. And Lockdown had him on the ground facing Eric. And Eric could literally see the life fading from the white wolf's eyes.

No! He wasn't going to lose another partner. It couldn't happen. He wouldn't let it happen. No more!

Fury exploded within him and out of him. There was a bright flash of light, a scream of pain, and then darkness.