[Lance's POV:]
Few and far between number the men with scientific knowledge whom I trust, and Dr. Emile Dorian is at the top of the list. So it was to him I had a call placed as we raced back to the mansion, Eva slipping between consciousness and unconsciousness the entire way. For the first several tries the signal remained dead, and finally I decided to give up until we'd reached my estate, where I was sure to get a call through to him. We arrived there in a short amount of time, though it truly felt a great deal longer, as time was of the essence. I went ahead and sent Rook to lead Waylon Jones around the grounds to the back door. None of the servants dared to stop me when I was moving as fast as I was, and only faithful Gerard latched himself to my side, ordering the others away.
"Do I want to know what is occurring, Mr. Pendragon?" he asked.
"Thou shalt see soon, Gerard. I require thee to vacate all entities from the rear entrance and ensure a private way up to my penthouse." I answered quickly, breaking into a run.
"Right you are, sir." Gerard answered, whipping out a small device resembling a palm pilot from his belt and rapidly pushing at its screen. I slowed down enough to wonder about it; this was something I'd not seen before.
"What is that?"
"A Mobile Security System Menu," Gerard replied, not removing his eyes from the screen even when his long, curly blonde ponytail started to smack his face, "Just received it earlier from Wayne Enterprises." He turned and gave me a pointed look, saying, "You have an upcoming meeting with Mr. Wayne tomorrow, if you will recall!"
I lifted my lip and growled in reply.
This wasn't the time to be griping at me about such trivialities! Wayne could—and would!—wait until tomorrow!
When we arrived at the back door, the hall was already devoid of people, and I could see two yellow eyes staring at me through the glass. A keypad was mounted on the wall beside the doorframe, awaited a passcode, which I punched in without bothering to see if I was hitting the right keys or not. I must have, for there came an approving beep, and Gerard swung the door open to admit Killer Croc, holding Eva tightly against him, and he had to duck to enter. I glanced over and saw my secretary's eyes widen before he turned and gave me a look that said he'd drill me for questions later. Rook came in behind Croc, still watching the grounds with a practiced eye to ensure no one had seen anything, and once he'd shut the door, we raced to one of the employee elevators and took it up to the penthouse level. Instantly I whipped out my cell phone and dialed Dorian's number again, hoping against hope that this time he would answer.
"Answer, damn it all!" I growled.
There were three rings, a click, a shuffle, and a tentative, "H-hello?"
It certainly wasn't the voice I'd been expecting, but it was still a relief.
"Tygrus? Tygrus, this is Lance! I need you to get Dorian, straightaway! This is an emergency! I need him at the headquarters of Dragon's Blood, Inc!" my breath came out all at once, and I half-feared he wouldn't understand.
"Emergency?" I heard both his questions in that one word.
"Silver poisoning, Tygrus! I'll explain more later! I need Dorian here right away! No telling how much time is left!" I nearly shouted into the phone as the elevator doors slid open at last.
"Hang on, Lance," was all he said before hanging up, and I was left to escort my unlikely houseguests into the living room. Croc immediately went for the couch, gently setting Eva on it and brushing back her hair from her face. Gerard, hardly missing a beat, went straight for the linen closet and ordered Rook to assist him. It's a sign of how much respect my secretary commands when he can order Robert Greene to help him. Myself, I rushed to fetch something for Eva to drink. It's vital to keep fluid in a werewolf's system when you're racing against the clock to cure silver poisoning.
Thankfully, as annoyed as I get with him, Gerard keeps me well-stocked in whatever I may need, as I found plenty of Ice Mountain spring water in the refrigerator when I opened it. Perfect. Pouring a glass, I made my way back to the living room, where Croc automatically stepped aside, watching me carefully as I offered the water to Eva. She frowned at me, still sweating, like there was some hidden trap in the drink she couldn't see, but at last, with a little help, she pushed herself up on her elbows and started to drink.
"Not too fast," I said, when she nearly choked. "Take small sips at first. You're going to need a lot of fluid but too much at once isn't going to do you any good."
"Why?" came the croak.
"Obviously you'd choke, but you need to let the first few glasses or so get down. Your body is so desperate to fight off the poisoning, the first few glasses will become absorbed almost immediately into your bloodstream, to try to flush out the poison. After that, you'll need to keep drinking in order to keep fluid in your body, because your core temperature will spike to help your immune sys—"
"No." she murmured, waving me off in midsentence, "Why are you helping me?"
I hadn't been expecting that, and before I could formulate a proper answer, Gerard tapped my shoulder.
"Sir, if you please, I'll go downstairs, to await Dr. Dorian's arrival." he said gently. Rook appeared at his side and gave me a slow nod to indicate he was going to go with my secretary; my young friend still didn't quite trust Dorian.
"Ah'll go with ya. Ah wanna see this 'Dorian' fella for mahself." Croc growled.
"You'll just try to eat me!" Rook cried indignantly, and Croc lunged, snapping his jaw shut a good foot and a half away from Rook's chest. However, he did seem to get his point across.
"Ah got more important mattahs to worry about than teachin' ya mannahs right now." he said in a low growl. And in moments, Eva and I were left alone in the room.
"So why?" she asked again, still sipping at the water. I was astonished she was holding on this long. I murmured a silent prayer for Dorian to reach us with speed before I answered; no telling how much time she had left before her condition was incurable.
"Thou art lycanthian," I replied, a tad ingenuously, "The first other lycanthian I've ever met before in Gotham. And call this presumptuous of me…but this makes thee pack."
She stared at me as though stunned, and then started to laugh.
"Seriously?" she said in a weak chuckle.
"I fail to see what thou hast found amusing in my declaration." I remarked.
"Geez, you're really new at the whole werewolf thing, aren't you, rich boy?" she laughed, coughing slightly. "Calling me pack when we hardly know each other! Besides, you grow up with the pack. They're your family. That's the way it's always been, with true wolves and werewolves."
Well now, I'd not been expecting that. Truth be told, I felt a little crushed. Here I'd finally found another werewolf, someone to empathize with about my…monthly problem…only to be told that I was intruding, in a fashion. All things considered, what she was saying made sense in a way.
But I still felt somewhat crushed by it.
She must have noticed, because I was silent for quite a time after that, and the quiet spoke volumes. She set the glass down, looking at me skeptically, eyes still phasing between brown and yellow. I didn't care to broach the subject of pack again, so instead I silently rose to my feet, took the glass and went back to the kitchen to refill it. I was on my way back when she addressed me.
"Er…Lance?"
"Yes, Miss Eva?" I answered, a little heavily.
"…How did you become a werewolf, anyway, since you don't know about basic lycanthian knowledge?"
I cannot pretend that remark did not sting a bit.
"Not in either of the conventional ways that may come to your mind," I replied, "Nor is that a subject I'm willing to discuss at the moment, if you'll forgive me. It brings back painful memories."
She stared at me for a long while, but clearly she respected me enough not to bring the subject up again. For a time, all that occurred was her drinking water and me refilling her glass a number of times. I felt like the wait was going to drive me mad; what was taking Dorian and Tygrus so long? I knew they had their own ways of moving about Gotham City but still…
"The silence is bugging the crap out of me." Eva said at one point, somehow still collected and cool despite her high fever and poisoning. I had to admire her for that; I doubt I would have been so laid back.
"Perhaps we could find something to discuss to ease your feeling?" I said warily, and when she gave me a consenting nod, I decided to try a subject that I'd been wondering at for a time. "If I may be so bold…what is your relationship with Waylon Jones?"
At this, her face grew bright red, and I had a distinct feeling it wasn't from the fever.
"I…I'm not too sure." she said slowly, "I mean…It's been a little less than a year since I came to Gotham and we met. If anything, we're friends at the moment…I don't know. I'd like us to be more but he's got the hots for some chick orderly that works at Arkham." She ended in a growl, her expression becoming murderous, and I felt somewhat sorry on behalf of this female orderly she spoke of. Lord knows, I wouldn't want to see what Eva might do if she got her hands on the woman.
"What about you?" she asked abruptly.
"Wh-what about me?" I stuttered, taken aback.
"Normal by lycan standards or not," she said, managing a weak grin, "You've got to be considering mating by now. I'm guessing you're about my age now. 25, right? That's the normal time when lycans start seeking out a mate, you know."
Considering the events of yesterday and this morning, I truly found myself at a loss for words. Surely my attraction to Miss Harker didn't stem entirely from a primal instinct…? No, this had to be a morbid coincidence, if what Eva was saying was true.
"So there IS a girl!" she said, her eyes lighting up as she coughed a little more.
What? How had she figured that out?
"How in the world did you…?"
"I have my ways, and you might learn them one day, when you figure out how to be a proper werewolf," she replied, expertly dodging the bullet, "So what's her name?"
"…Jeanette Harker." I answered, feeling somewhat embarrassed to be mentioning this again, especially to another woman.
"What's she do?"
"She's a librarian."
Eva winced, and I wasn't sure whether it was disapproval or pain from the poison.
"Is something wrong with librarians?" I asked innocently.
"Normally you'd pick a more…thrilling choice, were you raised in a pack. Librarian seems rather tame." she said dryly.
I tried rather unsuccessfully to picture Miss Harker striking the Joker over his head with a book, but the fact remained the same. Sometimes being a librarian was far from tame, especially in this city.
"Geez, you're touchy!" Eva said, making me jump, and I realized she must have taken my silence for disapproval again. However, I'd barely begun to open my mouth when she held up a hand to forestall me. "Look, I get that you're a little different…so for the time being, I'm not going to judge. Have you talked to her?"
"I thought you had been suffering from silver poisoning." I couldn't keep the growl out of my voice completely.
"Still am, and it hurts like a bitch," she smirked, "Have you talked to her?"
"Not extensively, no. But I did manage to talk her into having coffee with me on Wednesday. I was truly hoping we could talk then…"
To my utter astonishment, this time Eva raised her eyebrows and gave me an approving nod.
"Not bad, not bad," she said, wheezing a little and taking another small sip of water, "Not bad at all."
"You wouldn't call such a get-together a 'date', would you?" I asked, thinking of Rook's earlier comment.
"Ha! A date? If you wanted a date, you should've asked out to dinner and the movies or something. No, this is a strict getting-to-know-you kind of thing. Why, did you think it counted as a date?" she gave me a rather queer look, and I shook my head immediately.
"Perish the thought! I was telling the monochromatic friend of mine about it, and he said it counted as a date."
Eva went through another series of coughs, then pulled a face. "What, does he only think with his balls?"
"Sometimes I wonder…" I muttered, frowning a tad. "If it's not his genitals he's thinking with, I daresay it's his firearms."
"Someone talking about me?" Rook's voice asked as he opened the door, admitting not only himself and Croc, but two other figures I knew well. Eva pushed herself up to a sitting position again, wheezing a little as they made to surround her, and snarled at the sight of Tygrus.
Tygrus is the only other person in the world I consider a brother, though for different reasons than I do with Rook. He's roughly seven feet tall with yellow cat eyes and silky gray-black fur that flows over his entire body like a dark waterfall, from muzzle to tail. He's a man-panther, a genetic experiment of Dorian's to see if he could create the ultimate life-form from 'scratch', so to speak, and he has been like a brother to me since childhood.
"Calm yourself," I whispered, reaching out to put a hand on Eva's shoulder, which was tense and slick with sweat, "Tygrus won't hurt you."
"Smells like cat." she growled, eyes wide.
"You smell…like wolf…and silver." Tygrus said softly, his mouth taking time to form the words as his large black nose sniffed Eva. He glanced at me, yellow eyes widening slightly in confusion, but he didn't pursue the question.
"What is this, then?" came a low, soothing English voice as a tall, redheaded older gentleman with a catlike face and a cane in the crook of his arm walked around the couch. The words were like a balm on a burn; not because Dorian had arrived at last or was saying anything of spectacularly profound insight, but because his voice can silence an entire room. I've never seen or even heard of anyone being able to interrupt Dorian when he speaks, as though nobody can bring themselves to do so. His voice is simply far too enchanting to hear.
"I'll explain later, Professor, but right now Miss Eva requires your help. Silver poisoning, and I've no idea how long—"
"Relax Lancelot, my boy," Dorian cut me off gently, placing a hand on my shoulder as he turned to look at Eva. "Thankfully the poison hasn't gone too far. You've done an excellent job keeping her hydrated, and I daresay you have quite the fighter's immune system, young lady."
Eva only watched him, relaxing back on the couch. Tygrus handed something to Dorian and my mentor began to fill a small syringe with a vermillion liquid, his antidote for silver poisoning.
"However, I cannot pretend to promise that this treatment will work for you as it always had for Lancelot. He's a special case in the realm of werewolves, and this antidote was designed with his genetic structure in mind. You may already have permanent damaging in different areas of your body, you may not. I'll administer this dosage to you, but I may need to bring you to my laboratory in the future, to follow up on how you're doing. Perhaps at that point, I'll be able to develop a better cure." Dorian explained to Eva calmly, and she was watching him with wide eyes. I clenched my fists on my knees, grinding my teeth.
Damn Emile Dorian! He would look to gain advantage when he's helping someone!
"Stop bandying about, Dorian! She could die if you don't treat her!" I blurted out, and Croc growled his agreement, only to be silenced by a hiss and a glare from Tygrus, whose tail coiled about Dorian protectively.
"And she could die later if she doesn't agree to let me work on a better cure for her," Dorian said, to Eva as much as to me, "You must be thinking ahead, Lancelot." He turned back to Eva, and asked, "Are you willing to agree to those terms to save your life, Miss Eva?"
Her breathing had grown shallow again, and I was truly becoming frightened for her. Her eyes were phasing faster than ever as she looked from Dorian, to Croc, to me, and back to Dorian again. Finally, gritting her teeth, she gave the tiniest of nods.
"Just give me the damn shot." she growled.
"Ah don't like this—" Croc started.
"Be that as it may, my reptilian friend," Dorian spoke over him as he leaned forward and put the syringe in Eva's shoulder, depressing the plunger, "The choice was hers and not yours to make."
For a moment, Croc stared at him in astonishment, as though not believing the Englishman could have just cut him off, but then he began to lift his lip and growl again, irritated. Tygrus was up in a flash, ears lying flat against his head as he gave a warning snarl, the fur on his hackles rising.
"Be at ease, Tygrus!" I said, jumping up from my seat and placing a hand on his soft shoulder. "Now is not the time."
"But he—!" Tygrus protested.
"Lancelot makes a point, dear Tygrus." Dorian said, withdrawing the syringe. Eva wrinkled her nose, then slowly her eyelids began to flutter as the sleep overtook her. Color was already returning to her pallid face, and I breathed a sigh of relief as I knew she would be alright.
"Doesn't mattah." Croc growled, still scowling at the man-cat. "Ya'll dancin' on a beehive."
"I find it fascinating you threaten me so," Dorian said as he stood, "Truly remarkable, like a genuine crocodile, and territorial too, if I might add. Perhaps you wouldn't mind accompanying your lady friend on her visit to my laboratory? I should like to…get to know you both better."
At this, Croc roared and lunged forward as he had with me, snapping his jaw shut inches from Dorian's face. But Dorian was even less fazed than I; he merely smiled coldly, dark eyes narrowing.
"I'll take that as a 'yes', then." he said. Croc snarled and huffed, turning and leaving the room, doubtless going back to his sewer tunnels for the time being.
"I don't like him…" Tygrus rumbled in his deep barrel-like chest.
"One wouldn't expect thee to." I said softly, stroking the fur on the back of Tygrus's neck to soothe him.
"Lancelot," Dorian spoke curtly, "While I realize you are most likely battling mixed emotions concerning my course of action in saving your new friend's life, I do expect a full explanation of these events later. In the meantime, however, Tygrus and I must make haste and return to my refuge. I spotted Batman overhead on our way here, and there's no telling what he may be thinking if he saw us. I daresay I wouldn't like him to swoop down upon Tygrus as if he were one of these monstrous rogues of his."
"Of course, Dorian." I replied, following as he and Tygrus swept from the room. "Rook, please keep an eye on Eva until I return."
"Oh, sure. Give me the boring jobs." He muttered, going over to take a seat where he could better see Eva.
"Pleasant to see Mr. Greene is as charming as ever." Dorian muttered.
"Indeed." I answered.
"He also mentioned something about you going on a date the day after tomorrow?" he added in a much too-casual voice, and suddenly Tygrus was all ears, leaning in really close and making hissing snickers. I huffed and walked a tad more dignantly.
"Tis but a beginning of a courtship. Robert is deluded. I've only asked the woman to have coffee with me." I said icily, taking note to smack Rook's head against a wall later.
"Ah." Said Dorian. "She must be a rather remarkable young lady to attract your attention, then. I should like to hear more about this fair princess of yours when we see each other next, Lancelot."
So Dorian also thought I was oblivious to the opposite sex, did he? Strangely, I was starting to pick up on a pattern…Still…
"Of course, Dorian."
He gave me an approving smile. "Don't forget to give her flowers, Lancelot. It's a good way to start opening a woman's heart to you."
"Thank you, sir. Perhaps I could send flowers to her tomorrow…Oh! But I have that meeting with Wayne!" I hissed and ground my teeth in frustration. "Damn it all!"
"Why not make Robert deliver the flowers then?" Dorian suggested innocently.
By God, the man may be a manipulative bastard, but he was a genius!
"Not a bad idea, Dorian, considering Rook doesn't seem to believe that Miss Harker actually exists," I said, allowing myself a small smile. "I think I'll have him do just that!"