A/N: and here i am again with another chapter with the help form HowInMadeHowie.
This chapter took a bit longer than usual, because my first draft for it was a hot mess, as it is completly from scratch without any help from canon. I tried to make something completly new, and somehow we had to work trough a lot off issues, but the core is still the same. Thanks to HowInMadeHowie for having the patience with me and working on the issues
Thanks to you readers once again for liking this story so far. Have fun and be safe
Watching Greyback, Geralt held his sword at the ready while Michael stored the pistol back into its holster and grabbed a grenade from his belt. This grenade was a special one, specifically designed to fight werewolves if the UNSC would ever have to face one. This was the field test the UNSC had waited for, and Auntie Dot would record the results. Still observing the werewolf in the clearing, Michael was also watching the motion tracker on his HUD for signs that another one would try to sneak on to them.
Greyback sniffed the air, certain that he smelled someone outside the cave. He knew that the Ministry had hired a Witcher to take care of him, and he was sure that whoever they had sent would find him sooner or later. He had a feral grin on his lips, as he was sure that he could beat any Witcher coming his way.
"Come out of your hiding spot, Witcher. I know you are here somewhere, and I will find you. And after I kill you, I will find your friends and kill them too. And if you think of running away now, I am sure you know already that this is impossible as you are surrounded."
Michael looked over to Geralt, seeing him shaking his head as if he knew that Michael was looking at him. Michael assumed the better vision of a Witcher that could see more details like the diffusion of light around his armor. Michael had some pings on his motion tracker, but there were only three people sneaking around them. And as he had his active camouflage on, he was sure that he could take care of those three easily with his knife. Deciding to engage those three werewolves, he placed the grenade on a clamp behind his back and pushed himself out of his hiding place and sneaked around Geralt and Greyback.
Seeing his partner moving off to take care of the others, Geralt stood up sword in hand and a Quen-shield cast on him. He was sure that he could take Greyback on, but somehow his instincts told him that this rabid dog had almost made the change to a true Lycan, as his body had some signs to be more wolf than man. But as there was the need for another wizard, the ritual was not complete.
This fight would need all his concentration and all he could hope for catching him alive was cutting off his legs and arms. Geralt then saw that he held a wand in his right hand, so this would be his first target.
"Well, you were right about me dog, I am here. And according to my information, you are Fenrir Greyback. I was hired to find you and make sure that your pack will not attack anyone again." Lifting his sword, Geralt got into his fighting stance.
Greyback also took a fighting stance, wand pointed at Geralt. "You may be a Witcher, but I am certain that you have never fought someone like me. I embraced the wolf in me and because of that I am faster than any human. I hope you will be a better challenge than the last few who challenged me." Firing off a cutting curse, Greyback opened the fight between them. The spell was aimed at the Witcher's neck, but Geralt moved out of the way faster than it flew towards him, so the spell impacted a tree behind him. Said tree was cut clean through, telling Geralt that Greyback had put a lot of power into the curse.
Greyback was grinning as he could smell that the rest of his pack was ready to shred this Witcher to pieces. But he had to admit, this Witcher was faster than he would have thought, as Greyback had to evade a swing from Geralt's sword. Greyback was sure that he was stronger and faster than this Witcher, even if he did not know who he was fighting.
As Geralt scored a small cut on Greyback's right arm after evading another spell from the werewolf, he noticed how Greyback's wand work had become a bit sluggish and slower. Whatever he had hit with his blade, had to be something important to his movement. Geralt pushed his advantage, even using his Igni sign to blast some fire into Greyback's path as he tried to evade another swing. It caught the werewolf of guard, as Greyback fell on his back before rolling back up quickly.
Greyback began to breathe harder, he was not used to fighting this hard. Whoever this Witcher was, it was time to call his pack and attack the Witcher together. He howled like a wolf would, but there was no response. Blocking a sword swipe with a shield charm, he looked around to where he suspected the other werewolves were hidden. He still could smell them, but there was no sound from their breathing. Looking back at the Witcher, he thought that it should be impossible for him to come with backup without Greyback noticing them, as he was warned that the Ministry hired a Witcher to find him. He growled as he lifted his wand back up and fired a spell.
Evading the spell, Geralt used the sign Quen again to protect himself from an unexpected attack, as he was sure that Greyback was not alone in this forest. He heard something rustling in a bush, but nothing was coming from it. Focusing back on Greyback, Geralt held his sword back in his main stance and prepared another attack when he heard Michael through the earpiece that Michael had given him before the battle to communicate.
"Geralt, I took out the other werewolves that were ready to attack you. I also prepared to throw a grenade designed to hold off a werewolf, but if you think you can stop him yourself I will back you up with some covering fire." Hearing Michael's voice, Geralt told him that he would be thankful for the help, as soon afterwards gunshots ripped through the air towards Greyback, who evaded the bullets by diving away from it behind a tree.
Greyback wondered what was flying towards him, as he could not think of any spell that worked that way. It was similar to a piercing curse, as the tree he hid behind was penetrated by these projectiles, or so he thought. Greyback winced as the tree was hit by loud impacts. It was bad enough that whatever sent those projectiles was loud to his sensitive ears. He suddenly became aware of movement to his left as he saw the Witcher coming around the tree with his sword ready to strike. Being so close, Greyback used his lengthened nails to swipe at the Witcher, who blocked the hit with his sword. Moving forward, Greyback made more swings at the Witcher, but he soon found out that his opponent was faster than him. So he tried to gain some distance by jumping back just as more projectiles hit the ground he was standing on before. Greyback growled in frustration at being attacked by two opponents, worse he couldn't see where or whatever the projectiles were coming from.
Seeing that this did not work out as they had hoped, Michael took the grenade from its clamp and told Geralt to hide behind a tree as he threw the grenade right atGreyback's feet. It soon deployed its payload, a gaslike substance that was made out of silver dust and enveloping the werewolf in a cloud of smoke.
Greyback held his arms protectively in front of his face, but whatever this was it burned his skin and so he ran out of the cloud. But he soon found out that he now had problems breathing, as the smoke burned in his lungs. When he tried to call his pack to help him, it burned even more as he took in a deep breath to let out a howl, but no one responded to his call. As he fell to his knees, someone materialized in front of him. Coughing and gasping for air, Greyback looked up briefly to see a tall armored being standing in front of him menacingly.
"Geralt, please wait until the smoke dissipates from the air, we still do not know if it is only toxic to monsters, or if you could even be poisoned from the silver dust. As silver can hurt monsters, the possibility it would also poison you is too high. We cannot be sure that the only reason it affects him is because he has lycanthropy." Michael took out his pistol again and aimed at Greyback's legs. Greyback growled, or at least he tried to through his coughing.
"You will answer my questions, or you will suffer more before you die. I guess you were hired to attack those families, so you will tell me who hired you." As Greyback did not answer Michael's question, the Spartan pulled the trigger and shot a bullet into the werewolf's thigh. Hearing him howl in pain, Michael explained that these bullets were special as they were made from silver, specially made for putting down monsters just like Greyback. He asked his question again, only to be met with a low growl mixed with coughing.
Greyback gritted his teeth because of his pain as he lifted his head to see the armored being in front of him aiming its pistol at him. His instincts told him to run away, something he could not do now. Something about this man told him that he was a greater threat than the Witcher. But he would be damned to tell him what he wanted to know. He noticed that his breathing was becoming harder and harder as time got on, and he was now on both his knees and hands, coughing as gasping for air as if something was choking him.
Looking down at the werewolf, Michael lowered his pistol and put it back in his holster while putting his knife back in its holster after removing the blood on it. "It seems he does not have much time left, Geralt. I will have the results for the grenade reported and then we see if we can improve on it. Something you want to say before we kill him?" Michael turned around to look at Geralt, who had walked around and looked at the other corpses that laid around in the forest.
Geralt investigated one corpse with a clean cut on its throat, in awe at the precision the Spartan worked at. All the other werewolves were taken out with a precision that even he could learn from it. Still holding his sword in his right hand, he walked back to the soon to be dead werewolf.
Geralt commented dryly as he looked down at the defeated monster. "It seems that you did not get any useful information out of him." Both men glared down at the werewolf with disgust, as both knew what Greyback had done to children. Thinking about it, Geralt told Michael to investigate the cave Greyback came out of, to see if there were more werewolves inside it.
Michael activated his active camouflage again and walked over to where Dot pointed out the entrance of the cave was. It was just a precaution, in case there were more combatants inside the cave who waited for the order to come out and attack Geralt. His pistol raised and aiming down the sights, he walked slowly into the cave.
Turning around a corner, he found some people huddled together. They were shaking in fear, as if they were afraid of Greyback's return. There were also three children in different ages, but no one could be older than ten years old. Seeing them, Michael was reminded of the time when he became an orphan during the war against the Covenant, and anger rose inside him. Looking around if there was a guard nearby, he holstered his pistol and took his knife out again when he found one just in the back of the cave.
But before he moved on, he told Dot to contact Captain Lasky about the situation. Michael waited patiently to be given the order to change the search and destroy operation to a rescue operation. While he waited for the order to arrive, Michael told Geralt what he had found inside the cave and that the Witcher should call Yen if possible. A short time later, Dot gave him the go ahead to save the children and kill every enemy without mercy. So, Michael was once again on the move.
The small girl was afraid to be hurt again if she did not follow the orders of the big scary man, as well what would happen to her on the next full moon. It was explained to her when the scary man had bitten her and kidnapped her, that she was now a werewolf and an outcast in the magical society. She could not believe that magic existed and hoped that she could soon return to her parents, even if she would have to be locked up during a full moon. She was also getting used to her heightened senses that somehow gained after the bite.
When she heard a body falling to the floor, the other two children by her also reacted to the sound; she knew that it was not her imagination. Thanks to her new eyesight, she could see a bit better in the dark; she then noticed the smell of blood in the air. Afraid that the scary man had returned with another corpse, she closed her eyes, but the voice she heard afterwards was a different one.
Decloaking, Michael let the dead werewolf fall to the ground without glancing a second look. He then turned towards the children and spoke with a voice as soft he could make it. "Don't be afraid, I mean you no harm. I and my comrade are here to hunt down the werewolves who did this to you. Now I need some information from you all, so please answer my questions while I look for any injuries on you." He knelt by the first child, while Auntie Dot was scanning them with the sensors in his armor. She was also compiling the report and was prepared to send them to the Infinity when she was finished with it. She also contacted Geralt who was still with Greyback to update him about the situation in the cave while scanning the children for any injuries.
The little girl in the cave looked at Michael curiously seeing an armored man. She couldn't help but ask innocently, "Are you a robot?"
Michael chuckled softly at the irony of the question; many in the UNSC early in the Human-Covenant war thought that very same thing about Spartans. "No kid, I'm just a soldier."
Geralt stood up straight as he listened to Michael's update of what he found inside the cave. Grimacing at the thought of what those kids were now going to have to go through; he glared down at Greyback coughed even more as he looked up again to look Geralt in his cat-like eyes.
"Kill me already Witcher, what are you waiting for?" Greyback was angry, but he would not show any weakness. Looking at Geralt defiantly, he tried to stand back up, only to be hit down again by the Witcher's fist.
Geralt stood back up, still glaring at the werewolf. "You should consider yourself lucky that my wife is not here. If she was, you would be roasted alive. You do not deserve a fast, painless death; that would come to you when I would strike you down with my sword. Not after everything you had done to children and innocent people alike. I killed many of your kind who submitted to their wild instincts, but you took this to a level where I even would deny a reward for killing you; just because you are like a monster I would meet at the side of the road." Geralt's eyes met Greyback's one more time, before he told the werewolf his name.
"Remember this in hell, as there will be many who fell by my blade. My name is Geralt of Rivia, Witcher from the Wolf school and the protector of the line between monsters and humanity."
Greyback was in his last moments, but this name caused him to look at Geralt with almost unbridled fear. But just as his last breaths were coming, Greyback grinned. "The white wolf had come to kill me? I think I should be honored that such a Witcher had decided to take my life, but I will curse your name in my death, and I will wait for you in hell." With these last words Greyback collapsed and laid on the ground, lifeless. Geralt looked over to the cave, wondering if he should join Michael or remain outside to wait for Yen after he sent her the signal that he needed her to join him. Sighing in resignation as he did not know until Yen would be able to answer the call he lifted his sword and beheaded the dead werewolf and put the head in an enchanted bag from Yen, which would prevent the head from decomposing before he would have gotten his reward. Leaving the body for now, as Michael may need something from it for his organization, sheathing his sword on his back, Geralt walked over to the cave and asked Michael if everything was all right in there.
Michael answered that Geralt should come to his position and help him with the children. Geralt, who just came around the corner, could barely hide his anger when he saw the three children in their situation. It was obvious that both adult men had the same thought about the matter.
Michael stood back up, saying that he had to update his commanding officer about the development on the operation, and to receive new orders on how to proceed. He suggested that the children be brought to a safe place where the children get medical care and his people find their parents or, if the parents are dead, for another solution. Michael had the foresight to make this last point, with the rest of his thoughts directly to Geralt's earpiece, as he did not want to alarm the children of the seriousness of the situation. He soon stood outside the entrance to the cave and told Auntie Dot to contact Captain Lasky and report that the operation was a success. As she had told him that she was already on it, Michael had to suppress a groan at the behavior from his AI. But he was a professional, so he just waited until Lasky would accept the contact. Inwardly, Michael wondered if John had to deal with this kind of behavior from Cortana.
Geralt knelt down in front of the little girl to take a look at her injuries, if any. While the girl was looking up at the Witcher she noticed Geralt's cat-like eyes. The girl frowned in confusion as she had never seen eyes like that in a human. "Are you related to cats?" Geralt smiled at the girl and shook his head, explaining that he's a special kind of human who dedicates his life to protecting people.
In his office on the Infinity, Thomas Lasky received a message from Roland that Michael was contacting him again and asked if he would have time to talk with the Spartan. "Roland, you know how my appointments are, so you can answer this question yourself next time. Put Spartan B312 through, I want to hear how the situation with the children has concluded." Lasky leaned back in his chair as Roland saluted and changed the projection to a small ball, as Michael could only communicate through his helmet's communication suite and that meant that it was audio only."Alright Spartan, you got my attention, now report. How are things down there."
Michael explained the situation and asked the captain to send someone to his position to gather the children. Getting a positive answer from the captain for the transport, but as for the provisionally housing for them, he was told to ask Geralt if they could live in Kear Morhen for a short while until they had sorted this situation out.
Thanking the captain for the instructions, Michael ended the transmission and walked back into the cave. "Good news Geralt, we will get a lift back home, as long as Captain Lasky can contact Yen for a portal back home. As for the children, the captain would like to request your people to look after them in Kear Morhen for the next few days. He needs to sort some things out before we can try and send them back to their parents. Since the full moon is not for a few weeks, so keeping them in the castle for a short time should be good for them to work over the shock." Michael walked over to them, taking a small water flask out of one of the compartments from his armor and handed it to the youngest boy. The boy thanked him and took a big gulp from it, while Geralt was looking over one of the older children. Looking at the children, Geralt noticed the same things that Auntie Dot reported, so he did not repeat it for Michael to hear. Being a bit too cold was nothing dangerous for the time being.
While they waited, Geralt told Michael that he would *get rid of the trash* outside and that the Spartan should keep the children inside the cave for now. Michael understood, as they were the werewolves, they would smell the burning bodies if they waited outside. But before Geralt headoutside, Michael brought the dead werewolf that he had killed in the cave and Michael offered to take it outside while Geralt distracted the three children.
In the clearing, Geralt used his sign, Igni, to burn the corpses laid out before him, while the Greyback's body was still laid on the side. Michael had told him that he would collect it later for the scientists in ONI, so they could investigate the effectiveness of the grenade that Michael had used. After the bodies were burned to ashes, Geralt checked the direction of the wind so the ashes would not be carried towards the cave. He was lucky that it blew away, as this would also mean that the smell would not be so potent for the children to notice. Geralt walked back to the cave and called the children and Michael out to the entrance, so they could warm up a bit in the morning sun.
Michael looked at the bag Geralt carried with him now, knowing full well which head was inside of it. Auntie Dot then told him that he should ask Geralt if they could have the head for a short time, so they could scan Greyback's brain and thanks to their technology, they could play back his memories and find out who hired him to attack the families. Michael thought about it, deciding that he would ask this when the children were not so close as they were now.
In London, the Wizengamot meeting was dragging on a bit about some other motions with the aim to change some rules, but luckily not as big as the one they had discussed earlier. How they could talk about those things for so long was still a mystery to Yen, but she soon heard a small beep in her ear, signaling her that Doctor Halsey or Captain Lasky tried to contact her. She could not take the call right in the ongoing session, but luckily it was adjourning shortly after, so she walked out the door while saying goodbye to Dumbledore and Madam Bones. Turning around a corner before opening a portal back to Kear Mohen, she tapped the device in her ear to hear the message left for her while walking out the portal in the main hall from her home.
Yen frowned as she heard Lasky's calm yet urgent voice. "Miss Yen, we have received an urgent call from Michael, asking for an evacuation at his location. It seems that they had found some children in the cave where Fenrir Greyback was hidden and we cannot send a transport because we still need to keep a low profile. Could you please make a portal to them and get the children to the infirmary inside the castle? Doctor Halsey is already informed and should be prepared by now." Lasky explained the situation to her as straightforward as she was used to hear from him, so she opened another portal as soon as she could, understanding that the situation was serious. Thanks to the small addition she and Geralt had added to his medallion, she knew exactly where he was, and that also meant that the children would also be at the same place.
Hearing a portal opening, Geralt looked up from one of the three children to see his wife coming out of the golden circle in the air. He could hear the children gasping at the display of magic, but as the oldest boy was from a magical family he knew what Yen was using in a way. The younger two meanwhile were just a bit afraid, being only told what magic was by the others a few days before, they still could not understand how this all worked.
Still, as much as Geralt hated portals, he was getting used to it and the children needed medical attention as soon as possible. Urging them to walk through, they soon did find themselves in the main hall from Kear Mohen, where Doctor Halsey and some other doctors from the FOB walked over to them to examine the children.
In the infirmary, the children were lying down in their beds and were astounded at the machines next to them, beeped and printed paper with numbers on them, which the doctors seemed to understand as if it was their natural language. Frowning at the blood samples the doctors collected, Doctor Halsey was going over the reports herself to see if the children were healthy.
Halsey and Yen were reading over some things that Auntie Dot had sent them already beforehand, so they already knew what to look for. Geralt placed his swords at the entrance to the room so the children would not be curious on why he walked around with them even in an infirmary.
"Hey Yen. I hope you are not angry that I got you more children to look after while I do my work. How are they holding up?" Geralt stood next to Yen, looking at her with a warm smile while reading the reports about the health of the children and waited until she turned around.
As Yen finished with her reading, she looked up at Geralt with a smile still on her lips. "A lot better than we had thought initially. It seems that you saved those children just in time before they were hurt even more. Sadly, they were bitten by a werewolf during a full moon, but they had not transformed for themselves. But as one boy and the girl are muggles, at least to the DNA markers Doctor Halsey found thanks to her machines, we would have to explain to the parents that magic exists. " Yen looked over to the children now sleeping in their beds and shook her head sadly.
Frowning in thought she explained for Catherine's benefit rather than Geralt as he already knew the stigma of being a werewolf in wizarding society. "People with lycanthropy are still shunned by society, so I fear that those children will be mistreated by their own parents as soon as they transform for the first time. I was beginning to think if it would not be better to keep them here, so they would at least know some love even when they are transformed into beasts and we could teach them to control themselves. Now you want to visit someone and tell her the good news? Should I open you a portal after Doctor Halsey has done what she is doing to the remains from the werewolf?" Geralt smiled at her, still in awe how adaptable she is when needed. Thanking her for the suggestion, he would rather ride a horse in London than traveling there in a portal, so he would take the car.
In her laboratory, Catherine placed Greyback's head on a device where it was then enveloped in blue light. The body, collected by Michael after he had received a bodybag from one of the guards stationed around the castle after asking Yen to open the portal back to the cave, was lying on a table and had a scanner hovering above it. "Kalmyia, scan the brain of this individual for every nerve connection and record everything you find. If the process is successful, we can recreate his memories just like we make an AI from a human brain. Ask the Huragok if you need any help in the process. Also, take a few samples from his DNA, I will have the scientists on the Infinity making a few flash clones, hoping that his transformation is genetic, so we can examine the effectiveness of our future weapons on werewolves. This monster does not deserve our sympathy." It was as she could hear her AI questioning her moral compass before Kalmyia had spoken. Catherine was sure that Kalmyia would do what she was telling her, but Catherine just wanted to make sure that she got her point across.
Kalmyia activated the scanner as well as some surgical instruments on mechanical arms, as the blue light around the head became more intense, showing that Kalmyia had activated the hard light shield around it to prevent further contamination of the samples she was gathering.
"Yes Doctor Halsey. Do you also want to make an AI with all the memories, so we can interrogate him to prepare for the war ahead? I am sure that you already planned for this eventuality. Also, I got a message from ONI top brass, they are allowing you to stay here and help Harry Potter forever. I am sure that Parangosky still hates your guts and is happy for you to be gone." The last part regarding Paragosky was spoken rather dryly. While the AI did her work, the Huragok floated down to the device and typed on the interface to help Kalmyia as it could.
Catherine was smiling at this interaction, she finally convinced her AI that becoming more human was good for her. She was happy that all her creations finally became what they were always meant to be; the next step in human evolution. Soon she heard that the scan was finished and the samples were gathered so she walked over to the device while Kalmyia lowered the shield. Placing the head back into Geralt's bag, she walked out the laboratory while her AI saved the reports and made sure that the samples were preserved.
When Catherine reached the main hall, she saw that Geralt sat with Michael, who had removed his armor in the armory as the operation was over, on one of the tables with a boy that was, beside the scars from the bite, uninjured and was allowed to walk around in the castle. The little boy still wore his torn clothes, but he wanted to wait until the others were allowed to come with him before getting new clothes.
"Geralt, here is your stuff back. I take it that you are on your way to the Ministry?" Seeing the Witcher nod, he stood up and said his goodbye to the others as he left the castle.
Catherine felt something pulling at her coat and looked down at the girl. Catherine lowered herself so they were at the same height.
The girl took a deep breath and thanked the doctor for sending someone to save them from the bad man, she then asked if they could go back to their parents soon, as she missed them.
Catherine smiled kindly at the little girl to reassure her. "I am sure that we will find your parents, but first we want to make sure that you are healthy. So how about we get something to eat while we wait?" Seeing the girl smile even after all that she was going through, made Catherine sure that whatever would happen to her, she could fight it with a can-do attitude.
A few hours later in London, Geralt parked the car in a car park just opposite from the hidden entrance to the Ministry. Walking up to the telephone booth, he opened it and stood inside it while dialing the number that was necessary to enter the Ministry. After hearing the female voice and telling her why he was here, the booth lowered itself while he placed the nametag on his chests. After arriving in the atrium, he left the platform and walked over to the security wizard who was reading his newspaper, looking rather bored. .
The bored wizard was looking up from his newspaper when he heard the visitor coming up to his desk. Seeing Geralt, he was preparing himself to tell them the procedure for them to go forward, but Geralt pulled something out of his pocket and showed it to him. "Ah, a Witcher. It has become rare that someone from your kind comes in here, so I guess you want something? Who do I have to summon for you?" The wizard folded his newspaper together and prepared a memo to send.
Geralt told him that he did not need to summon anyone as he will go and meet and deliver it personally. After noting down his name, the wizard let Geralt through the gate, so Geralt could go to his destination. He was curious on what kind of face Amelia Bones would make when he told her that Fenrir Greyback was dead.