Z21

Zoe

The Lair

Sleep is a precious commodity to me, having five children, three of them babies, will do that to any woman. Staying up late is something I have done less and less since the triplets came. So when we got home and I had to go straight to the lab to nurse Hisao while Donnie conducted a blood transfusion between me and Noah, whose condition had worsened; I thought it quite the accomplishment that I had not passed out. Finally I showered, made it to bed, next to my sleeping baby and his still grouchy father, closed my eyes ready to drift off, and was pissed when my eyelids bounced back open only three hours later.

I lay there for another hour, tossing and turning, my mind full of Ansgar and his former teammates.

The Ansgar part didn't bother me so much. I was fairly certain I could control my animal nature, especially since everything Raph and I based my training on stemmed from that goal. Well the control part, but it carried over to controlling my body. I frowned, but I hadn't done a very good job of it last night.

I toss and turn, my mind cloudy with exhaustion and wandering to places I loathe. My thoughts drift to my history with Ansgar, my past with Raphael, to my children, to poor little Noah who's fading too damn fast, and King's gang of hybrids… If I could just find that lab, get the drugs for the baby, but what the hell do I do about King?

With a great huff, I slip from the bed, tug on a pair of yoga pants and a pink tank, and make my way onto the streets of New York. A quick glance at my phone places the time at five thirty in the morning. Surely the three hours of sleep I have managed will be enough.

Mornings are one of my favorite times of day, and as my worn gray walking sneakers scuff the sidewalk, I make my way to the coffee shop three blocks from the lair, enjoying the morning mist that seems to rise up before my path. The business people marching towards their places of work are as rushed as ever. But the man who jostles me as he passes by doesn't irritate me. I'm sure he has his own set of troubles and I'm ready to set to work on mine.

With coffee in hand I walk the last six blocks to the docks and lean on the railing that separates the sea from the sidewalk. I sniff the hazelnut aroma before taking a sip of one delicious decaf latte, and watch the barges trudge by, marring my view of the churning teal ocean waters. I turn, leaning my back against the rail and survey the block. I figure if I were King I'd want an abandoned warehouse, and blacked out windows, if not boarded up altogether. It'd have to be a low traffic spot.

As I look around I start to walk away from the sea, a few blocks inward, then down a particular area that Raph would have my hide for venturing into without back up. And the further I walk the more my senses heighten in agreement with what would certainly be his opinion. As I scan my surroundings in a steady clockwise pattern, over broken windows, boarded up doors, and littered alleys with overflowing dumpsters, it occurs to me that I haven't seen anyone in quite a while. I step into an alley and rest my back against the wall of what has to be a condemned warehouse. It's either that or one of those historic landmarks no one has any intention of restoring, but the city refuses to demolish.

Closing my eyes I make a conscious effort to clear my mind then take a deep breath in, sending energy away from me while allowing my surroundings to reflect impulses back to me. The familiar tingle of life forces seems to creep up from the ground beneath my feet into my toes before it rolls over me, spreading out like the limbs on a tree, and the energy of a vicious temper comes crashing up, hitting me so hard I lose a breath. King.

My phone chooses that moment to belt out the opening chords to 'I Will Come For You,' I rush to silence the device and shoot Raph a quick text.

Zoe: At the docks, doing some research. Be home soon.

Raph: WTF? Hisao is screamin' his head off and you ain't sposed' ta' be there without me!

Zoe: Hisao will be fine. I'll be home in an hour. If I'm not, send Karai and X after me. Noah can't wait Raph, we need to find King and that lab.

Raph: Don' tell me shit I already know. Get the fuck home.

As I shove my phone back in my pocket and drop my coffee cup in the dumpster, I notice biohazard symbols on some of its contents. What are biohazards doing here? Unless… I'm closer to my goal than I realize.

"Mmm, you look delicious as ever Zoe."

My stomach plummets and the hair on my neck stands erect at the sound of Kings voice.

It's broad daylight. I can't believe he'd come out while the sun is up. But as I turn to face the six foot seven lion hybrid, whose tail hangs low to the ground, twitching the way a housecats would as he readies to spring, he is very real, and very much standing tall in the light of day. Yellow sunbeams highlight his golden furred face, his blonde mane lay in neat corn rows, and his ear right ear bears a missing tip. He's every bit as terrifying as I remember. I swallow hard as I meet his amber eyes. They're lighter than a lions should be, but every bit as wild. As I run damp palms over my pants I realize I haven't packed a single weapon and my spine straightens as if someone is picking me up by the neck.

"King," I school my face into as emotionless an expression as I can manage and meet his unsettling gaze evenly.

King's lip curls and he lifts his chin to sniff the air, his head moving from side to side as he does so and I realize how far he's surrendered to the beast within him. "You're in heat Zoe," He breathes in again and I grit my teeth. Damn Ansgar. All I have to do is stand next to him and I come right in season like a fucking horse paraded by a stallion, every damn time. Raph will be pissed. But as King stretches his neck out, his eyes close as his lips curl away, he inhales again, and I realize I'm in enough trouble at the moment and discard all other worries and irritations from my mind.

"Not available King, so knock it off." I shuffle back a bit as he steps forward laughing. It's an unsettling sound, his laugh, one that reminds me of ominous music playing at the scariest horror flick I've ever seen.

A loud rumbling sound, a purr, fills the alley and the noise bounces off the walls wrapping around my body like an unwelcome caress, and I shiver. I haven't had to fight King before. He'd always been away on a mission, but his reputation precedes him, in one word. Deadly. He drops his head back and opens his mouth letting out a roar that sends vibrations over my chest, and I'm pretty sure my hair blowing back wasn't from a breeze. Shit.

"Calm down King," I glance around me. I can't find a damn thing to use for a weapon. But the fire escape fifty feet behind me will offer me some chance of escape. King's muscles coil as his knees bend and he readies to pounce.

With every ounce of cheetah speed I possess I break into a sprint for the dangling metal ladder. I can sense his body mass just feet behind me as jump up and wrap my fingers around the rusty metal to make my ascent. I keep missing rungs as I scramble to go faster. Collect yourself Zoe. But as I take the last step and leap for the rooftop I hear the fabric of my shirt rip and feel King's razor sharp claws dig into my flesh, ripping down the length of my back.

I let out a scream that can be heard for blocks, and run full out, leaping rooftops, jumping distances I've never attempted before. One thing is certain. I'll die before I let King rape me. As I reach in my pocket, flip open the phone and speed dial Leo, I manage to catch sight of the significant blood trail I'm leaving in my wake.

"Zoe?"

"Uh, Leo, I'm in trouble!" I pant, looking around me, catching sight of King two buildings back moving steadily towards me. I groan as my legs burn and I gasp for air, but press on trying to keep distance between us.

"Where are you?" Leo asks as clear and cool as if we are discussing the weather.

How can he be so calm?! Well, he isn't being chased by a horny hybrid lion Zoe!

"Zoe? Where are you?"

Good he's a little more insistent this time, I like that he's considering getting on my, freak-the-fuck-out bus!

"Uh," I look around trying to gauge my location. I see the Brooklyn Bridge ahead of me to my left, and about ten blocks away.

"Zoe, we're already out looking for you. Stay put, Donnie will track you." Leo's clear and focused disposition seems to help me collect myself, especially when Raph is flying off the rails and as I hear my lovers voice releasing a string of profanity that would make a pimp blush, I know I've called the right brother.

"Uh, I can't Leo. I'm kinda leaving a blood trail."

"How bad?"

"She's hurt?!" I hear Raph yell more than ask.

"Can't," I gasp for air but nothing is getting in. Shit. I haven't had an asthma attack in years. But then I haven't run like this in ages either.

I glance behind me, and place one pissed off lion on the same rooftop I stand panting on. Fuck. When did I stop running? The phone falls from my hand as Leo says something I can't hear and I struggle for breath amid a fog creeping into my head, blurring the edges of my mind and I blink and try again. King roars again, his huge paws spread wide, razor sharp claws ready to strike. He's at least three hundred pounds of cat to my hundred and he comes to loom over me casting a shadow so dark I thought the sun had burned out. With my eyes on my predator and my shredded back against a roof ledge I try to plan a pressure point attack. It will be my only chance.

The massive cat sends a blow to my stomach that flattens me, my already wounded back scrapes against the bricks as he yanks me to the side, throwing me to the ground in a curled up heap. I try to focus, draw in air, demand my lungs to work, force my freaked out muscles to relax, but not a damn thing functions. As the cat moves to drop his body on mine I wiggle my fingers to see if they work, when they do I lift my arms.

What I haven't counted on is King's companion. The horned buffalo hybrid snatches my wrist, his split hooves digging into my flesh like a vice. Teppo. I look from his bull face to the green foot that goes flying over my head, attached to one pissed off Raphael, as he lands it square in the center of Kings chest, sending him flying backward in a tumble. All battle sounds fade away as I lie there, open mouthed like a fish out of water. Donnie's face appears over me and I watch his lips moving but I can't hear a damn thing for the sound of blood rushing through my ears. The outline of his face blurs and black paint-drop like spots seem to splatter, in the middle of it until my world falls away.