Chris sat in the kitchen, a cup of coffee in front of him, his eyes fixed on the small stack of papers. He had read them again and again, and again and again he had difficulty coping with it. It wasn’t that it had come as much of a surprise. Hell, he and Jo-Ann had parted ways nearly three years ago. She had moved out of their home, with their son Andrew, and taken up residence nearly on the other side of the country. Chris had sold the house and moved here, in this apartment. He had accepted the finality of their separation. He had come to terms with it.
Of course, he and Jo-Ann had seen each other now and again. Chris smiled slightly. He had visited his son, Andrew had come here for visits, and he and Jo-Ann had stayed friends.
Yesterday she had come to Salt Lake, had found him at Ezra’s new house, and she had presented him with the official divorce papers.
Chris sighed and drank some of the coffee.
His wife was planning to marry again and for that she needed the separation of three years to be an official divorce. He had signed it of course. Chris had never planned to get together with her again, but still… It was so final.
Another sigh escaped him and he folded up his copy of the signed papers. Yes, that  was it. The end of his marriage. Jo-Ann had found someone else who she would marry.
And he had found someone else, too, Chris mused as he dumped the rest of his coffee in the sink. A man. Ezra Standish. The vampire. He almost laughed at that and recalled the brief conversation at the townhouse. Jo-Ann had stayed for coffee, and they had made plans to go out for lunch the next day, to talk about the official divorce and whatever else came to mind.
 

Chris accompanied his wife to the car, noting how late it was already. The sun was down. It was strange how quickly he had come to notice these little things. Things he had never thought about before. Now it meant something different. Sundown equaled Ezra’s time to be able to move about freely outside, not in danger of suffering the vampire version of sun-stroke.
“You look good,” Jo-Ann remarked as they walked down the few feet to the Ford.
“You, too,” Chris returned the compliment.
There was a second of silence.
“So you found someone else again as well.”
Chris shot her a confused look. Throughout coffee they hadn’t talked about more than a few pleasantries. With Ezra present, it had been a bit awkward, but the vampire had excused himself a minute later, claiming he needed to unpack some more boxes. Knowing that there was no furniture to put stuff into yet, Chris had seen the excuse as what it was.
“I did?” he asked.
Jo-Ann smiled at him. “Chris, please. I’ve known you for how many years? Seventeen?”
He nodded wordlessly.
“Believe me when I tell you that I can see when you are in love. And you are. It’s him, right?”
Chris stopped dead in his tracks. “What?”
“Ezra Standish. The nice man who just moved into this house?” Jo-Ann’s eyes were sparkling. “I saw the two of you when you went into the kitchen. By accident. He hugged you. You kissed him.”
Chris felt his throat go dry. “Jo-Ann….”
She shook her head. “Chris. Don’t try that embarrassed look of imminent denial on me. It never worked. You know as well as I do that I was aware of you and Buck being together before we met. I knew you are bi from the beginning. It’s not much of a shock.”
“Oh.” Very intelligent, Larabee, he thought wryly.
“And he is a nice and handsome guy,” his wife went on.
“He is,” Chris heard himself reply.
“He works for the CSI as well?”
“No. He’s self-employed. Uh, he owns a business here.” And he’s a 154 years old vampire. Uh-huh!
“You love him? He loves you?”
Another nod.
“Good. Then everything’s okay.” She was still smiling. “You’ll pick me up for lunch?”
 “Sure. See you tomorrow, Jo-Ann.”
Damn, that woman could still overrun him. It was something he had loved about her. The challenge she presented, the way he had to be on his toes, ready to be broadsided and become unbalanced. But the marriage hadn’t really worked in the end. Jo-Ann had found another man and she had moved out. It had hurt, yes, but today he was glad it had happened this way. They wouldn’t have been able to part peacefully if she hadn’t made the first step.
Returning to the house, Chris found Ezra in the kitchen, looking contemplatively into the coffee mug he was holding. It still amazed Chris that vampires took in ‘normal’ food, even if it didn’t give them anything. Coffee was a habit, as was alcohol, Ezra had only answered when he had asked.
Now he gazed at his lover, wondering what to say.
“Your wife?” Ezra asked quietly.
“Ezra, I….” Chris sighed. “Yeah. We separated three years ago.”
The green eyes gave nothing away. “You never divorced.”
“No. It’s why she came today. She wants to marry again.”
Ezra hadn’t been there for this part of the conversation and Chris felt he needed to make him understand that this didn’t change anything between them.
“I’ll sign the papers tomorrow. She’ll leave after that. Doesn’t change anything, Ezra.”
A slow smile touched the vampire’s lips. “I hope not.”
Chris walked over to him and cupped the handsome face with one hand. “I love you, Ezra. Jo-Ann is my past. A closed chapter.”
He leaned down to carefully brush his lips over Ezra’s. Standish answered the kiss.
“There’s only you.”
 

Lunch had gone smoothly, he had signed the paper, and they had spent two hours talking and catching up on their respective lives. Jo-Ann had asked little about Ezra, but she had wanted to know about Chris’s plans for the future. Especially Andrew. Their son still visited him.
“You tell him about this relationship, Chris. I won’t.”
He sighed. Yep, he had to and he would. His son should know.
Chris walked back into the living room. Tomorrow he would be back to work. New  cases would be waiting for him and the others. He would deal with everything as it happened.

* * *

The night was warm for this time of the year and Vin Tanner stretched as he walked out of the apartment building, yawning slightly. Sometimes he wondered who had brought up the rumor that CSI agents worked Mondays to Fridays from 8.30 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. Today was Saturday, it was past eight p.m., and he hadn’t even had dinner yet. Okay, so he had been on standby duty. Vin sighed and leaned against the car, waiting for his colleague to appear out of the apartment.
A man had been found shot in the back by his room mate a few hours ago. The police had called them and since it had been Vin and JD Dunne on standby, the two agents had been paged and requested to go over and take finger prints after Homicide was through with the place. It hadn’t taken long, since they had only needed to remove the body, and while JD had hunted for viable prints, Vin had collected whatever else he could find. Fibers, hair, blood sample. All the usual. Nathan or one of the other coroners would have the body on their table by tomorrow.
“Ready to go?” JD called as he carried his gear to the car and threw it into the trunk.
“More than ready. Want to go by Daisy’s after we dropped everything off and have a late dinner?” Vin wanted to know.
„Sure. You paying?“
He rolled his eyes. “Okay.”
JD laughed and took the driver’s seat. Vin slid into the passenger seat and buckled in as JD pulled away from the curb.
“Think it’ll be our case?” the hacker asked curiously.
“Why not? The others are still trying to crack the mystery skeleton case. My bet’s on the missing person from a few weeks ago.” Vin shrugged.
“Chris still doing his weapons tests?”
“Uh-huh. I think he blew up several melons, dummy heads and some sandbags already. He still thinks the murder weapon wasn’t a normal gun, if it was a gun at all”
Both grinned. Chris had been at it like a dog on a bone. The case as such had looked easy, until Nathan had determined that the man must have died before he had been dragged out into the desert and left there to rot. The cause of death had been determined as a projectile that had entered the left temple, but it hadn’t left the cranium again. So far no bullet had been found. Buck had fine-combed the area with no result. Chris theorized that from the hole in the skull, it wasn’t a bullet from a gun. He and Nathan had poured over the medical data, coming up with all kinds of weapons that might have caused the injuries present.
JD stopped at a red light and then turned into the next street, accelerating slightly. The streets were mostly empty around here.
“Shit!” the young man suddenly exclaimed and hit the breaks, bringing the car to a sudden stop.
But not before there was a hollow ‘thump’.
“Did you see that?” JD whispered, staring wide-eyed into the darkness that was pierced by the car’s headlights.
Vin nodded slowly and unbuckled.
“I think I hit it,” Dunne added in a small voice. “Oh gawd….”
Something had jumped into the street, too fast for JD to react accordingly, and he had run smack into the shape. Vin suspected it was an animal, not a person, because of the size. And he thought he had seen something furry, eyes reflecting the headlights, just before the collision.
He carefully got out and walked around the front of the company car. Vin sighed as he took in the sight.
It was a dog. A large dog, about the size of a shepherd, maybe mixed with a husky. It was a brownish white, part of its thick fur now matted in blood.
“Gawd…”
Vin looked up and discovered JD, who was looking pale and slightly shocky. No wonder. Car accidents always rattled you, even if they were simple fender-benders. This was more than a fender-bender. The dog had been hit at quite some speed and from the looks of it, it had more than one broken leg and ribs. It whined softly in-between pants.
“JD, call Animal Control,” Tanner ordered firmly, drawing the younger man out of his trance-like state. “Give them our position and tell them what happened.”
JD nodded wordlessly and went for his cell phone.
Vin kept looking over the wounded dog. It apparently had no tag. Glancing around the dark street, he wondered where it had come from. There were few homes around here.
“They’ll be here as fast as they can,” JD interrupted his thoughts, eyes drawn to the dog again.
It was still whining in pain, panting more. It didn’t even try to move anymore, its chest rising and falling with the irregular pants. Vin grimaced to himself as he discovered that it was bleeding out of its nose as well now. JD took a few steps closer and hunkered down, about to reach for the brown head.
“JD!” Vin hissed. “Don’t!”
“Wha...?”
It all happened too fast. Vin jumped at his colleague, batting the hand that was about to touch the bloody muzzle away. The dog, scared, in pain, terrified by everything, reacted out of instinct and snapped at the object so close to him. Vin yelped as sharp teeth nicked his skin. JD fell back onto his butt, eyes wide.
“Vin?” he managed.
“Don’t ever touch a wounded animal!” Tanner exclaimed.
JD’s mouth formed an ‘o’, then he snapped it shut, blinking several times. Vin sighed as he touched the torn sleeve, grimacing as he discovered the trickle of blood. One of the canines had breached his skin, but it didn’t look too bad and his rabies shots were up to date. No problem there.
“Sorry,” the hacker murmured.
The kid was still under shock, Vin reminded himself. And he probably had no experience with animals. Vin had had a dog as a child and he knew what to look out for when it came to dog body language. This one was terrified and would try to defend itself. It was hurt and unable to run away, and as it looked, it was dying.
“No sweat. Nothing but a tear and a scratch.”
JD sighed. “We can’t just leave it here.”
“Until Animal Control comes, that’s exactly what we’ll do,” the geologist told him. “We won’t move it. You have no idea about how badly it’s been wounded and you saw that it’ll defend itself.”
Another sigh. “’kay.”
Vin pressed down on the scratch, which soon stopped bleeding. Animal Control arrived half an hour later and they efficiently took over the scene. Two men bound the dog’s muzzle and then carried it away. JD and Vin were briefly questioned, then they were able to leave.
“Get that scratch looked at,” the woman who had been taking their personal data advised.
Vin nodded. “I plan to. My shots are up to date anyway.”
As the van pulled away, the dog safely in the hands of animal control, Tanner turned to JD, who still looked very pale around the edges.
“I’ll drive,” he decided.
JD nodded wordlessly.
They stopped by the Clarion Tower, dumped their stuff and Vin washed the scratch with soap and water. It really didn’t look all that bad and it had stopped bleeding. A superficial wound. It wouldn’t even need stitches. After locking the office, Tanner took a still rather silent JD for dinner, though the younger man protested briefly.
“My treat. After this shock tonight, you need something in your system,” the geologist decided.
“Poor animal,” JD murmured.
“Yeah, but we can’t do anything about it. You did nothing wrong. It didn’t even have a tag, let alone a collar, and there was no one around. JD, it was an accident.”
The hacker sighed. “I know. Still….”
“It’s bad. Yep. C’mon.” He slapped him on the shoulder. “Food, then sleep. We have a job to do tomorrow and we better be reasonably fit to do it.”

* * *

Life went on as normal. Chris, Buck and Nathan solved their mysterious skeleton case first. Vin and JD employed Josiah’s help to catch the killer of the man in the apartment, while Buck was called to a new case that needed his talents as a drugs expert. A life with this job was never boring.
The dog JD had hit had died, as the hacker had found out, which had depressed him for a day or two. Since there had been no tags or even a tattoo in the ear, the owner couldn’t be found and though JD had tried to help find him, no search had come up with anything. There had been no ‘missing dog’ ads that fit the description of the dead animal and no one at the shelters had heard of anyone asking for this type of animal.
In the end, JD worked through his sadness and poured his energy into a computer fraud with murder case.

* * *

For Ezra Standish, the two weeks following the attack on him, his near-death, were anything but normal. Not for Chris either, actually. The two men were still very fresh into their relationship and a lot of things still had to smooth out or needed acceptance. One of the largest points were their different work schedules. Chris was at work around eight in the morning and normally off around four or five. That was unless a case interrupted normalcy and he stayed late; or was on call. Ezra was a night person. He was a vampire. It didn’t mean he couldn’t get out into the sunlight, but it sapped his strength and so he avoided it.
Chris had started to change his daily routine to accommodate the new circumstances. He dropped by the Grotto for dinner or just for a drink. The others followed his example and the night club, one of the most expensive ones in Salt Lake, saw a group of six individuals as its regular patrons. While drinks were expensive, a beer ranged among the normal-priced libations. Chris suspected Ezra had something to do with that.
It was both strange and warming to see how the team had included Standish into their midst. For someone who had only helped out on one case, he had quickly been made part of them – without actually being a member of the CSI or The Branch. It could be because he was a vampire, because of what had happened throughout their first case, because Chris kept on hanging out with him. Larabee actually didn’t know. He didn’t want to either. He was simply thankful that the others fell in step behind him.
Well, of course, Nathan was very much interested in the vampire nature and he had so far not missed a chance to interview their newest ‘team member’ on the life and time of vampires. Ezra always answered the questions, some to a lesser degree than others, but he had so far declined on-person experiments. He was no one’s guinea pig.
Both men had reached an early balance in their relationship, which meant neither Chris nor Ezra reacted like a hormone stricken teenager when the other was around. It didn’t mean that Ezra wouldn’t push Chris against the wall and kiss him senseless. Or that Chris wouldn’t lock the door to the office and spend some quality time with his lover. Pheromones be damned. He didn’t care who smelled what on him. Ezra was his, he was Ezra’s, the rest of the world could know it.
The rest of the world also included his team, but so far only two other men knew. He would have to tell them one day, but he had yet to figure out how to breach the subject. Josiah, Nathan and JD knew about Vin and Buck’s relationship, of course, but if Chris presented them with the revelation about him and Ezra – he had no idea what would happen. He wasn’t ashamed of it, but it was a more unusual kind of partnership.
Chris sighed and ran a hand through his hair, watching the people milling around the Grotto. He had chosen one of the more private seating arrangements, which let him watch without many people watching him. It was rather early for any of the regular patrons of the night to be here and only some early birds were talking to each other, most of them businessmen. Some had their laptops out and were working or talking on their cell phones.
An arm slipped around his waist and he turned into a soft, sweet kiss, opening up under the gentle pressure. Chris wondered when he had decided that he couldn’t care less who saw him here. Outside he had to be careful. Not even Travis knew of this relationship and he and Ezra hadn’t talked about it yet. Then again, it didn’t change anything. Ezra wasn’t a member of his team. He was an outsider, though a good and long-time friend of his boss.
“You’re here already?” Ezra murmured, green eyes twinkling.
Chris wrapped his arms around the smaller man, pulling his closer to him. “Hm. Slow day. Testimony in a criminal court case, write reports, search through old files, look at photographs. The usual stuff.”
“Nothing to get the blood going,” Ezra said huskily.
“Hm-mh.” He stole another kiss, feeling himself react to the other man. It didn’t help that Ezra suddenly slipped his hand down the front of his pant. He bit his lower lip as the teasing fingers ran over him. “It was rather… mind-numbing, boring…” Another kiss. “So I thought I’d call it a day and see what you’re up to.”
“Paper work,” was the reply and Ezra smiled. “Mind-numbing, boring paper-work.”
“Not good.”
“No,” was the breathy reply. Ezra pulled away and the invitation was clear in his eyes.
Chris grinned and raised an eyebrow.
The moment the door closed after them, Ezra was all over Chris, but still taking it slow. Chris groaned softly as the talented mouth nibbled along this jaw and down his neck to the collar bone. His shirt was untugged and pushed open.
“Your new bed would be more comfy,” he managed, biting back a cry as Ezra teased one nipple into hardness.
“Do you really think we could make it there?” Ezra wanted to know, eyes alight with mischief.
Chris chuckled. “We could try.”
“And become a public danger.”
“Probably.”
The vampire kissed his way down south and teased Chris’s belly button. Larabee started to squirm. His pants were undone and shoved down his hips. He stepped out of them. Chris gasped loudly as Ezra wasted no time to get to where he had wanted to go. And from there on he took it slow. Chris felt his breathing quicken, his heart hammering in his throat, and he felt his fingers thread into the short, chestnut hair. It was more to have something to hold onto than the fear that Ezra would simply stop. The vampire’s tongue licked and twirled and teased and wrapped around his hardness, dipping in, sliding, tickling, and the sinful mouth sucked expertly down his whole length.
“Ezra!” he groaned.
Hands ghosted over his thighs, skimming over bare skin, up to his hip bone, down to his knees, and Chris was slowly starting to tremble more. One of those maddening finger touched the cleft and it was barely more than a feathery caress, but Chris widened his stance.
“Ezzzz!” he hissed as the finger took the invitation, slicked up with saliva, still not doing more than just teasing.
Ezra gave the hard length a quick lick. “Yes?” he whispered roughly.
“I need to…..”
“No stamina today,” was the chuckled response.
“Gawd, Standish, do it!” Chris demanded, eyes falling onto the kneeling man, who was grinning up at him, knowing fully well he had his lover at his beg and call.
“As you wish.”
Ezra nibbled along the hardness, then took him in again. Chris threw back his head and when he felt the invading finger wriggle inside, hitting that perfect spot, he cried out hoarsely. Ezra massaged the spot, teasing him more. Chris whimpered, but the whimper transformed into a gasped cry when he was given release as a second finger scissored into him.
“Gawd,” he murmured as he sank down the wall and into Ezra’s embrace.
Warm lips met his and Ezra’s tongue thoroughly explored his mouth.
“You’re a mess,” Standish muttered.
“Oh, really?” Chris chuckled against the mouth. “So are you. And the floor.”
Ezra grinned. “Better than the bed.”
“Get a cleaning lady.”
That resulted in soft laughter. Ezra rose and the box of paper towels he kept in his desk, tossing it at Chris. Larabee caught it, cleaning himself up. He raked his eyes over the still fully dressed form of his lover as he got to his feet and refastened his pants. Ezra tilted his head, eyes glinting, and Chris found himself drawn to the green depth.
“Love you,” he murmured as he kissed him.
Ezra’s dimpled smile warmed him. Chris pushed him against the desk, fully intent to give his lover the same gift he had just received.
“And you need a bed in here,” he added, grinning as he cupped Ezra’s straining hardness.
The vampire closed his eyes as he squeezed gently. “Not really,” he managed.
“It’s your back,” was all Chris said, then started a sensual attack on his lover.

*

Outside in the Grotto, Luther had witnessed his boss and his lover interact in the secluded booth, had seen the expressions in their faces, and he had to smile.
“Enjoy, you two,” he murmured, smiling, as he grabbed his laptop and walked to the small office at the other side of the Grotto.

*

“So, did you tell the others by now?”
Chris sighed and looked at his lover, who was inspecting the rumpled remains of his shirt. He let his eyes roam over the toned, muscular body, smiling to himself. He liked to just look at the compact frame, let his eyes wander, and sometimes his mind did the rest.
Ezra turned and caught the hazel eyes, smiling himself. “Chris?”
“Hm?”
“Did you talk to the others? Tell them about us?”
Larabee shook his head, busying himself with his own clothes.
Ezra sighed, mildly exasperated. “I thought you had decided that secrecy wasn’t good for the team.”
“I have and it isn’t.”
“So?”
“The right moment hasn’t come up yet.”
Standish rolled his eyes. “Chris, you’re not facing my father to ask for my hand in marriage, for crying out loud! These are your friends and colleagues!”
Chris blinked, then chuckled, embarrassment lighting up his eyes. “Yeah, I know. It’s just… oh well. I’ll tell them.”
Ezra tilted his head, clearly skeptical, but he let the subject drop.

*

It came up again three days later. The team had gathered for a Friday evening get-together after they had successfully solved two separate cases. They were celebrating at the Grotto. Luther had arranged a more secluded area for them where they could have their privacy from the normal patrons. And not scare the locals, he had commented dryly. The six men were swapping tales and stories from the different cases, Buck claiming he had seen the guilty expression in the victim’s girl-friend’s eyes, while Josiah needled him about how long it had taken him to come to the right conclusions and find the murder weapon.
Chris watched his team, smiling. He had decided that tonight was the night to tell them about him and Ezra. No excuses, no calls to interrupt him, no sudden retreats. He would do it. Tonight.
Well, two hours into their celebration he still hadn’t lost a word about it. Vin and Buck both knew what he wanted to say tonight, but except for shooting him encouraging looks, which soon turned into silent urgings to get it over with, they hadn’t said anything.
“Guys,” Chris started, playing with the piece of cardboard from his beer glass.
The three uninformed members of the team gave their boss their undivided attention.
“As you know, I’d always like to know about changes in my team’s lives if those changes or occurrences might influence your work. You know I always have an open ear for everything.”
Josiah nodded, Nathan looked a bit confused, and JD was plain mystified.
“Recently, something happened that changed my life. Profoundly, I have to say.”
Chris chewed on his lower lip. Damn, this was difficult.
“I was trying to wait for the perfect opportunity to tell you, but so far... I kinda chickened out every time.” He smiled wryly.
“And you’re about to once again,” a new voice announced.
Ezra Standish had silently appeared behind Larabee, smiling pleasantly. He caught the quizzical gazes of Nathan, JD and Josiah.
“Sorry, won’t interrupt for long. There’s just something I need to do.”
With that he leaned forward, catching Chris completely by surprise as he kissed the blond man openly right in front of the whole team. Chris, too overrun to think straight, found himself answering the kiss, feeling Ezra’s fingers thread into his hair. The vampire swiped his tongue over his lips and Chris opened them, letting him in.
The moment the kiss ended, Chris became aware of what had just happened. Oh hell… that hadn’t been his idea of revealing it to the team! He turned to look at the three men.
JD blinked once, then elbowed Josiah and held up his hand, palm up. “You owe me twenty, Sanchez,” he declared, starting to grin widely.
Josiah grudgingly pulled out his wallet and slapped a twenty dollar bill into the younger man’s hand.
Nathan arched an eyebrow. “You bet against them?” he wanted to know.
“No, I said it would take Chris at least another month to get it out in the open,” was the psychologist’s reply.
“You… you knew?” Chris sputtered.
Buck started to laugh and Vin didn’t even try to hide his mirth. There was an ‘I told you so!’ expression in both men’s eyes.
“’course,” JD answered lightly. “Hell, after the way Ezra behaved around you since you first met, the way you stared at him… Chris, it was so obvious!”
“It was?” Chris echoed weakly.
“Yup,” Josiah answered. “At least to us. Chris, we’ve known each other long enough, worked with each other long enough, to see it. We just wondered when you would realize what had happened.”
“Ah hell,” Larabee moaned and buried his head in his hands. He gazed at Nathan through the gaps between his fingers. “You too?”
“Not really right away, but when Josiah asked my opinion…”
Chris’s eyes danced over to Sanchez again, who just shrugged. A hand squeezed his shoulder and he looked up into the sparkling eyes of his lover.
“See? Wasn’t so hard,” the vampire declared with a wide smile.
“Hey, we’re way cool with it,” JD added.
“Oh. Good.” Chris felt like he had been overrun by an eighteen-wheeler.
Ezra squeezed his shoulder again. “I need to take care of a few things. I just thought I’d drop by since Chris was about to make a complete idiot out of himself.”
Chris glared at the other man, receiving a mischievous smile in return. Then Standish was gone again, leaving him with a mixture of embarrassment, relief and a slight stirring that had been ignited by the rather hot kiss.
The conversation turned to other topics soon, but not before some curious questions had been asked.

* * *

This was hell.
Pure and simple.
Chris lay on the couch, one arm thrown over his eyes, wishing the painkillers would kick in and fight off the murderous headache that resided just behind his eyes. As if to add to his misery, he started another coughing spell that had him curl up onto the side, groaning.
Great. Just great. What a way to spend the weekend. The cold that had been going around the office in the last few days had finally homed in on him, hitting him dead center, and now he was suffering.
He started to doze off after a while and was only woken when he felt the couch dip under an additional weight. His partially clogged sinuses took in a strange smell, which was unfamiliar but still appetizing, and he blinked groggily. Warm, green eyes met his watery ones.
“Ez?” he croaked.
“Hey,” the vampire answered, running a hand over his warm skin.
Chris sighed softly. When they had come home last night, well, early this morning, after a great time at the Grotto – after they had had their coming out, so to speak – Chris had simply collapsed into bed. He had felt the muscle aches and the faint on-and-off headache again. It had plagued him all day yesterday, but he had forgotten about it, mostly, throughout their little celebration. It had hit again after leaving the Grotto. Ezra had been driving and Chris had almost fallen asleep on the way home. His home. He didn’t know if Ezra had seen it or sensed it some other way, but Larabee had been up to nothing more than sleeping.
When he had woken in the morning, feeling worse, there had been no sign of his lover. Of course, it was after sunrise, but the weekends belonged to them. Instead he had found some medication, the Tylenols, and a short note that Ezra would be back later because he had something to take care of on his nightstand.
“What time is it?” Chris muttered.
“Past seven.”
“P.m.?!”
A smile. “Yes. How do you feel?”
“’Like shit’ would be the mild way to put it. I hate colds! They seem to single me out this year. It’s the third one, for crying out loud!”
Ezra chuckled. “You up to some food?”
Chris pushed himself up and discovered the blanket that someone – Ezra most likely – had tossed over him. He didn’t feel cold, but he didn’t feel very warm either.
“Yeah, I guess so. What’s that smell?”
Ezra reached for a bowl he had placed onto the low couch table. “Chicken soup.”
Chris’s eyebrows rose. “You can’t be serious!”
“Best recipe when down with a cold there is,” was the amused answer. “Try it.”
Larabee carefully took the bowl and spooned some soup into his mouth. It smelled delicious and,
“Whoa!” he exclaimed and swallowed convulsively. The soup left a burning trail down his throat. “What the… What did you put into it?” he gasped, eyes watering.
Ezra chuckled. “Nothing that shouldn’t be in a Cajun Chicken soup… Luther style.”
“Luther? Our Luther? Big, dark guy? Piercing?”
The vampire grinned widely. “The very same.”
“He cooks?”
“Secret passion.”
“But…” Chris shook his head. “Why? I mean, he doesn’t eat…”
Ezra chuckled and nodded at him to keep on eating. While the soup burned, the burn was brief and it really tasted good.
“Luther worked in a kitchen before… well, before he was turned. He knows some really good recipes and he sometimes does a dish or two in the Grotto’s kitchen. Not all our patrons are vampires. As for not eating anything… you know we do. It just doesn’t do anything for us.”
Chris nodded, already getting very much attached to the spicy soup. “’s really good,” he mumbled around the spoon.
“I’ll gladly let the chef know of your compliments, Mr. Larabee,” Ezra teased.
Chris grinned. He finished the bowl and placed it on the table, then leaned back into the couch. Despite his nap, he felt still very tired. A small sneeze escaped him.
“Sorry,” he sighed.
Ezra leaned back as well and Chris followed the unspoken invitation and sank against him. It felt good. Real good. Ezra wrapped an arm around him, tugging him into a comfortable position.
“No your fault,” the vampire murmured into his ear, rubbing over one arm. “Just let yourself get better. Anyway, what more do I want? You’re here, in my arms…”
Chris snuggled a bit deeper. “Uh-huh.”
“Half asleep,” Ezra went on, voice light.
“Am not,” came the muffled protest.
Gentle fingers ran through his hair. “Sure.”
An hour later found Ezra sitting with his legs up on the couch table, watching a movie, Chris sleeping soundly in his arms.

* * *

Vin hadn't felt well in the last few days. There was a strange churning in his stomach and now and then a faint pain seemed to ripple along his muscles. Every time he was ready to seek out Nathan, let the medic check him in case he had caught the every-present flu bug, the pain stopped and he was left puzzled and feeling strange. He chalked it up to catching the bug from Chris, who had suffered through it just a week ago, but somehow it also didn’t come across as a typical cold.
Now it was back. The pain.
It had woken him in the middle of the night. And it was bad. His head hurt, every nerve ending seemed to be on fire, and he was sweating and freezing in one. Hot and cold shivers raced through him. The blanket was soaked in sweat.
Stumbling out of bed, his stomach heaving with nausea, barely able to coordinate his limbs, Vin staggered out of the bedroom.
Bathroom, he thought fuzzily, having the feeling like he would get rid of his lunch and dinner very soon, very violently.
He never made it.
Something ripped through him and he screamed involuntarily. His skin rippled with it, as if something beneath it was alive and then the pain hit him full force. It was mind-numbing, deep inside his body, and he collapsed with a gasped whimper.
The world around him faded, but he wasn't losing consciousness. His sight dimmed and then blurred. Vin whimpered, twitching faintly.
 

Buck lifted his head at the sound coming from Vin's apartment and threw the book he was currently reading aside. He had left the connecting door between their apartments open, knowing that  Vin wasn't feeling too good and wanted to be left alone in cases like that. On the other hand, something had bothered Buck and he wanted to be close by. From what he could hear, Vin was awake and wandering around ... a scream and the sound of something heavy hitting the floor could be heard. Buck swore, reached for his gun and rushed over to his lover's rooms.
"Vin? C'mon, answer me... Vin!"
Buck carefully walked around the half-lit room, looking around for whatever. A sound behind the couch caught his attention. A whimper, something like a suppressed scream, a hand clawing in the carpet ...
"Buck ... help ..."
"Vin..."
Buck gasped in horror and staggered some steps back at the sight of that - something - that looked at him out of terrorized blue eyes. Vin's eyes! Something rippled under the thing's, skin – no this is Vin, a saner part of his mind screamed at him, and then... Buck had to steady himself against the wall or he would have keeled over. He desperately tried to keep a certain part of his digestive system under control at the creaking, grating sounds of breaking bones, something like a shadow running over the creature that was writhing in pain, whimpering in clear agony - that was Vin, the man he loved!
"Good lord ... "
Buck had no idea how he managed to get to the phone or dial the number, but somehow he must have done just that, because a soft southern voice answered.
"Ezra," Buck stuttered, his eyes never leaving the squirming  form on the floor, "we have a problem here ..."

* * *

The moment Buck opened the door Chris and Ezra knew it was not good. It was bad ... really, really bad. Wilmington was looking as pale as a man could look without being dead, the dark eyes horrified. There was a wild expression lurking underneath the horror and the man had his gun drawn.
Chris briefly looked at Ezra. The vampire was tense, eyes holding the eerie light that told Chris that the vampire was close to the surface, ready to act if Buck should show a tendency to become violent – for whatever reason. Larabee approached Buck carefully.
"C'mon, pard, give me that," he soothed, removing the gun Buck was still holding carefully out of the tight grip.
“Chris,” Buck stammered.
"What happened here?" Chris wanted to know, voice soft.
Ezra had rushed past the shocked man  and his eyes were roaming around the apartment. Chris shot him a look, watched his lover tilt his head in a peculiar listening manner.
"It's... Vin ..." Buck croaked. "He... I don't know what happened…." He sounded helpless and had started to shake by now.
"Where is he?" Ezra asked briskly.
"In the bathroom."
"C'mon, pard, let's sit you down here before you slide onto the floor." Chris led Buck to the couch, went over to the liquor cabinet and poured him a generous amount of whiskey.
"Here. Helps calm you down a little." Chris noticed the trembling hand as his friend took the offered liquor and downed it in one gulp. The man had reached his limit.
Chris sat down at his friend’s side, waiting. Buck inhaled deeply.
"He wasn't feeling so good lately, wanted to be left alone tonight. Said it was the same bug you had caught, Chris. I... I got an odd feeling, can't describe it. He went to bed early, and I left the door open, just in case. And then..." he swallowed," I heard him ... scream."
Chris saw Buck shudder and wondered what exactly he must have seen. It really must have been something to shake a man like him that badly. On the other hand, he and Vin had been lovers for a long time now, and he could very well imagine how he would react himself should Ezra... Hell, he had been going up the walls when the man had been kidnapped and left to die in the desert just a few weeks ago.
Buck looked at him, dark eyes wide in horror and disbelief. "God, Chris, I never heard something like this... and I never saw something like this. He... oh, shit!"
Buck buried his face in his hands, but Chris had noticed it nevertheless. In all the years he had known the man, even in their earlier years together, he had never seen it: Buck Wilmington was fighting the tears. Chris wrapped an arm around the other man's shoulders and squeezed slightly, a silent gesture of comfort and understanding. Whatever there was to understand, he had no idea.
He exchanged a look with Ezra and received a short nod, then the vampire headed toward the bathroom door. Since they had met, since Chris had learned about the existence of vampires, witches and other creatures, nothing seemed to be impossible. And whatever had happened to Vin Tanner, Ezra was the most qualified to find out.
 

Ezra stood in front of the bathroom door and wondered what the hell he was doing here. Just because he was a vampire didn't necessarily mean he was qualified for ANY case of weirdness around these guys. Nevertheless he had a hunch concerning what had happened to Vin, as he had sensed it the moment he had entered the apartment. Remembering the injury Vin had received nearly a month ago when trying to save the animal JD had run over with the van, and adding the fact that it was a nearly full moon right now - whoa!
Oh dear, he mused, could this probably get any more complicated? If his suspicions were correct, they would have trouble jumping at them in a few minutes.
Ezra carefully tried to open the door, listening to the sounds from the other side.
"Vin?" he called in a soothing comforting tone.
The vampire knew that Vin could understand the words, but at this moment probably only the animal was present. Something behind the door growled. A clear warning.
"Vin, it's me, Ezra. I know you must be frightened at the moment. Hiding in here won't help."
Another growl.
“I’m coming in now.”
Ezra opened the door wider, continuing to soothe his friend, talking in a soft voice. Some light from the living room fell into the bathroom and Ezra saw the predator’s eyes glow. Yes, his assumptions had been correct. Ezra sighed inwardly. This team was definitely accident prone. Accidents of the more - unusual kind. Thank goodness he knew these men better.
"Vin, come out of there, please? Buck is as afraid as you are."
All right, not fair, he knew. But whoever had claimed he played fair?
"He needs to see you are all right."
This time the frightened animal that was Vin Tanner whined and ducked his head.
“Vin? Please?”
Another whine.
“I know what happened is a shock. I know you are scared. So is Buck. And I know what you are, my friend. I’m not going to run away.”
And hopefully Buck won’t either.
After a moment’s hesitation, Vin carefully crawled out of the shower.
“See? That wasn’t so bad.” The vampire’s voice was still gentle and soft. He crouched down and held out a hand. “Vin?”
Tanner came closer, almost hugging the floor, ears laid back, eyes wide. Ezra kneeled beside the big, light-gray Timber wolf and patted the trembling body, trying to comfort the animal instincts as well as the human inside. Vin whined again and leaned against the vampire, clearly afraid to let himself be seen by his lover.
"Come with me, Vin. It's okay now."
Vin balked, almost shaking his head.
“You can’t hide in here forever,” Standish went on, letting some amusement leak through. “Buck’s worried, you know….”
A whine.
“And very scared, too.”
With a reassuring hand on the wolf’s neck he led Vin into the living room.
 

Buck looked up as he heard Ezra return. His face fell completely in utter shock at the sight of the large wolf that was accompanying the vampire.
"What the ..."
The wolf hesitated, then stopped and looked as if he wanted to crawl under the carpet, giving a pitiful whine. The vampire touched the furry neck, soothing the animal.
"Chris, Buck." Ezra announced and nodded at the animal. "Vin."
"WHAT??"
Buck’s exclamation had the wolf flinch, trying to cower behind the man at his side.
"What does that mean, Ezra?" Chris asked, eyes just as wide as Buck’s.
"You once asked me about vampires, werewolves and witches. Now you know two of the above," was the simple answer.
"Huh?"
"Vin is a werewolf," Ezra explained calmly.
"A werewolf?"
"My Vin?" Buck’s voice rose slightly.
"Yes. Obviously the 'dog' JD ran over four weeks ago was one. And he bit you, right?" Ezra addressed Vin. The wolf yelped once and nodded.
Chris rose and headed toward the liquor cabinet again. "If you don't mind..." he murmured into the wolf's direction.
This was still Vin's apartment ... even if the inhabitant had turned into an impressive specimen of Canis Lupus lately. He asked himself for a split second if they should found a  self help group for partners of paranormals. Chris watched the body language of the wolf change slightly as he hesitantly crawled onto the couch, laying his head on Buck's thighs. The presence of his friends might be comforting for Vin, but right now he needed Buck. Vin whined again, placing a huge paw on Buck's thigh, looking up at his lover and Chris could see  Buck had tensed. The shock of what he had just seen was still too present, too deep.
Get a grip on it, Buck, Chris thought, or you're going to lose him.
Vin's whole demeanor spoke clearly of how confused and lost he felt, and if Buck wouldn't be able to reach his lover, it might destroy Vin.
Chris looked at Buck, looked into his friend's eyes and tried his best to transmit just that. And then, slowly and carefully Buck lifted a hand and started to stroke the fur on the wolf's back.
The tension immediately left the animal's body, Vin giving a little sound of relief.
"So," Chris asked, "what now?"
He saw Buck swallow as he continued to stroke Vin's fur. "Buy dog food?" he joked weakly.
A deep growl answered that suggestion.
"Or rather not."

* * *

Chris yawned and stretched, blinking his eyes open. Damn, he had fallen asleep. In the couch chair, his aching back and neck informed him. He was getting too old for that. Someone had thrown a blanket over him and he untangled himself from the brown piece of cloth, looking around.
The living room was empty. The connecting door to Buck’s apartment was open, but the faint sounds he heard were coming from the kitchen. Chris rose, feeling his muscles protest and his spine was having second thoughts about straightening. He grimaced and rolled his shoulders, then stretched some more.
Definitely too old for that, he sighed.
Walking into the kitchen, Larabee discovered Ezra. The vampire had left the blinds down, but they were transparent enough to allow some light inside. A quick look at the kitchen wall clock told him that it was just past seven a.m. Considering the long night from before, Chris was surprised he had woken already. That Ezra was awake wasn’t much of a surprise anyway. The vampire didn’t need much sleep and sometimes went a stretch without ever closing his eyes.
“Morning,” Chris greeted his lover, smothering a yawn.
“Good morning,” Ezra answered smiling.
Chris leaned down slightly for a kiss, which Ezra was only too willing to give. Their bodies melted together and arms came around each other.
“Slept well?” the vampire muttered.
“Like hell,” was the answer and Chris nibbled at the ear. “No bed, no you….”
Ezra chuckled. “The sacrifices you make astound me,” he murmured. “Coffee?”
“Sounds wonderful. How’s Vin?”
“Well, after you fell asleep on the couch chair, we moved the whole party to the bedroom,” was the mischievous answer.
Chris quirked a smile. Ezra turned serious again.
“Buck seems to be able to deal with it for now. Vin’s just confused and scared. Actually, both are. Most of the reactions are due to shock.”
Chris sighed and ran a hand through his tousled hair. He accepted the mug of coffee from Ezra and leaned against the kitchen counter. “What now?”
“I haven’t heard from Luther yet and somehow I doubt we’ll get any news any time soon.” Standish shrugged. “I’m no expert on werewolves. I met only one in all my years, but that was decades ago. It was a brief meeting and I didn’t even realize what he was until much later. There was once one in Salt Lake, but I never met him face to face. Were almost always move alone, never announce their presence to the community, and they are shadows that quickly disappear.”
“Doesn’t really help us,” Chris agreed. “We have to deal with this ourselves for now.”
Ezra nodded.
“I have to be in for work today,” Larabee went on, looking drawn between duty and friendship. “I’ll put Vin down on sick leave for the next days for now. Buck as well.”
“Good idea. It might also be a good idea to keep the others away for now. Vin and Buck don’t need it.”
“Agreed. I’ll take care of it all. Will you be okay here?”
Ezra chuckled. “Of course, Chris.”
“Supplies?”
“No, I’m fine. You might want to make a run for something to feed to Vin. He will be hungry soon.”
Chris emptied the mug. “I’ll grab a quick shower, then head over to the 24/7 store and get some things for you guys. Any preferences?”
Ezra shrugged. “Like I said, I’m no expert. We can try everything from canned pet food to raw meat.”
“Okay.”
Chris headed for the shower and when he came out again, Buck was reasonably awake, but he still looked as confused as the day before.
“Morning, Buck.”
“Hey, Chris,” was the mute answer.
“Vin?”
“Uh…. awake, but… I don’t know.” Wilmington looked helplessly at his friend.
Chris walked carefully over to the bedroom, aware of Ezra following him. “Vin? You in there?”
There was a soft noise from inside and Ezra pushed past him. “Let me,” he said softly. “You go and get what we need.”
Chris looked reluctant to leave, but finally he nodded and left. He returned an hour later with two bags, depositing them on the kitchen table. He noticed Buck’s slightly despairing expression immediately as his friend joined him.
“Vin?”
“With Ezra.”
“You?”
Buck sighed softly. “Dealing.”
They unpacked the canned and freshly packed food in silence. Wilmington regarded the raw, red meat in the ceran-wrapped package, biting his lower lip.
“He should have gone back human this morning,” he said softly, still staring at the meat.
“Huh?”
“Ezra told me. He has a rudimentary idea of Were. Says the movies always hold a grain of truth when it comes to the paranormals, like vampires. Werewolves have to be the wolf at night throughout the full moon, then turn human again when the sun rises.” Buck exhaled shakily. “Vin’s still a wolf.”
Chris briefly squeezed the broad shoulders. “Buck, we are fishing in the dark here. Maybe it’s something that happens the first time, maybe Vin doesn’t know how to…. We have to wait and see.”
“What if he stays like this forever?”
Larabee met the dark eyes with a firm expression. “Then we, and especially you, have to find ways to deal with it.”

* * *

Chris glanced at his desk clock and sighed. It was just past two p.m. and while he had work for the next millennium stacked on his desk, he felt driven to leave and drive over to Vin and Buck’s place, check on them. He had called Ezra frequently in the last five hours and his lover had given him brief reports, his voice filled with amusement. Everything was okay, Vin had eaten all the packaged meat – ignoring the canned food – and Buck was getting better at dealing with the wolf. Still, the tension remained. Especially since Vin’s frustration was growing. He couldn’t communicate in any way the others understood and the wolf inside him was feeling caged in. Then there was his inability to change back. It wasn’t helping either.
The call came at 4.07 p.m., startling Chris out of a blood splatter analysis on a case he had been asked to look at. Five minutes later he, Josiah and Nathan were on their way to a murder-suicide scene. He briefly called Ezra on the cell, letting him know that work had interfered.
 
 

Ezra hung up the phone and looked over to where Vin and Buck sat in front of the couch, the wolf curled up next to his human lover, watching TV. The day had been… interesting, he had to confess. Vin had been completely unaccustomed to his body and he had first needed to coordinate his limbs. Walking on four legs was difficult enough already, especially since his center of balance had shifted as well.  As if this wasn’t enough, there was also the tail, which inexplicably moved under its own volition as it seemed. Buck had rescued several folders, plates and a vase already when an overenthusiastic wolf had bumped into the couch or coffee table, his tail swiping over it.
The vampire chuckled and shook his head. The two men, well one wolf, one man, had carefully approached each other, had learned, had touched, and it was slowly getting better. Buck was dealing with the fur-form of his partner, didn’t shrink away from him as he approached, and Vin was accepting the change of perspective, down to the fact that he had to feed on raw meat.
But this wasn’t over yet, Ezra knew. It had only just begun. Not only had yesterday been the day before full moon, which meant tonight would be the peak of this phase, but it wasn’t a once-in-a-lifetime experience either. Vin was a werewolf and he had to deal with. Once every month he would have to change.
The cell phone ran again and Ezra walked over into the second apartment. “Yes?”
“Ezra, it’s Luther,” came the reply.
“Anything?”
“Not so far. Harriet asked a witch friend and she dug up an ancient tome,” the other vampire answered. “It’s not much, but maybe it helps. It say there the werewolf has to transform a day before, throughout and a day after the full moon. At least at night. He can shift shape any other day as well, but he doesn’t have to.”
Ezra nodded to himself. He had guessed that much already. “Anything else?”
“Nope.”
He sighed. “Thanks anyway, Luther.”
He hung up again and wondered whether he should contact the witch he knew. Thea might know something about Were as well, though her area of expertise wasn’t really shape-changers and whatever else connected to them. He filed the idea away for later.

* * *

Chris efficiently lifted and preserved various types of evidence, then walked over to where Nathan was examining the dead body. It wasn’t a pretty sight. The woman’s throat had been cut and she had bled onto the cream colored carpet, a large puddle of dried blood surrounding her head and neck. She lay on her stomach. The man had been found in the bedroom where he had killed himself with a shot through the head. According to the police currently taking names and numbers of neighbors and witnesses, there had been a loud fight before the shot had been fired.
Josiah walked out of the bedroom and nodded at the coroners that they could bag and tag the body inside. He was carrying the camera he had used to take detailed pictures of the crime scene and the position of the body in relation to the objects in the room.
“Looks like suicide,” he commented and held up the weapon he had bagged as well.
Nathan rose from his crouched position. Josiah had earlier documented the body of the woman and the two men who would transfer it to the morgue were ready to take it away as well.
“Slit throat. It’s all I can say. Some visible bruising. I’ll get at it tomorrow.”
Chris nodded slowly, eyes wandering around the small apartment. Small for two people. “According to the police, loud voices had been heard, there was a scuffle, then a scream, followed a few minutes later by the gun shot. No one was seen leaving and the door was locked.”
The three men walked to their car and Josiah stowed everything they had used away. They would start on he case tomorrow morning, getting the statements the police had taken, seek out those who had been imminent witnesses of the fight, interview relatives and friends. If this was a murder-suicide, it would be over in a few days. It was almost routine.
Josiah took over driving and Chris sat down on the passenger seat. They had just arrived at the Clarion to file away the evidence and take care of everything when Chris’s cell phone ran.

* * *

Night came and darkness fell. Ezra watched Vin pace the apartment, restlessly circling around the rooms. Buck followed him with a worried frown, shooting Ezra a questioning look.
“It’s full moon, Buck,” Ezra told him. “He feels it. It makes him edgy. And I think he needs to get out.”
“Out? But… he can’t! Not like this!”
“Why?”
Buck sputtered. “He’s a wolf!”
“Well, yes. But he might also just be a very large dog. And anyway, he’s too big for the litter box.”
Buck gaped, then found himself chuckling slightly. “Oh, that… But… at this time the parks still have many people strolling around.”
“There’s always the desert.”
Vin padded over to the two men and gave Buck a pleading look, whining softly.
“Chris is still at work. I’ll call him and let him know,” Ezra went on. “Then we go out into the desert.”
Vin pricked his ears, excitement clear in his whole body language. The vampire had to smile. For all his size and human age, the wolf was still young and excitable. An overgrown puppy one minute, a dangerous creature the next, he mused as he dialed Chris’s number.

* * *

"Well, desert comes from deserted," Buck murmured as they drove out into the night. "Thank goodness."
Vin was bouncing around in the back of the car, eager to get out and stretch.
"I think this is far enough," Ezra suggested, watching the wolf carefully. One more mile and Vin would wreck the back seats.
"Okay," Buck stopped the car. "Vin, buddy, I think it'll be the best you just stretch a little ... you know, enjoy the night life... Vin? ... TANNER!!"
Buck swore as he realized he was talking to thin air.  The moment Ezra had opened the door Vin had just jumped out of the car and was up and running, leaving just a faint dust cloud behind.
“Tanner!” Buck grumbled to himself. “I’m gonna wring his neck when he gets back! And I thought Chris was bad back then….” He glared at a hapless piece of dry wood.
Ezra, who had been studying the silent, dark landscape for any trace of their missing wolf, turned to look at the other man.
“Come again?”
“Hell, by now you should know how that man can keep you on your toes! If I had known earlier, I think I’d never have started anything with him,” Buck went on, not even looking at the vampire. “He was a handful back in college, and he hasn’t changed a bit!”
Ezra blinked once, then felt a slow smile cross his lips. “How long were the two of you together?” he asked casually, still scanning the desert.
A sigh. “Lemme see… two years? Back in college. Before he even met Jo-Ann.” Buck shrugged.
“You separated because of her?”
“Hell no. We just discovered we’d be better friends than lovers. It was fun, it was a great time, but… well… wasn’t anything of the lasting kind.” Buck suddenly turned to look at him. “You didn’t know, right?”
Ezra shook his head. “Nope. Then again, Chris and I have a lot to talk about, catch up to, and it isn’t done in just a few weeks.”
“Yup.” Wilmington gave him an inquisitive look. “Does it bother you?”
Ezra returned the look. “You?”
The same slow smile crossed Buck’s lips. It was answer enough.
That was the moment a small cloud of dust came up to them. Ezra laughed as he discovered the center of the cloud, which was a very dust-covered wolf, eyes sparkling. A large piece of wood was dropped in front of Buck and Vin gazed expectantly at him, tongue lolling.
“What the….”
“I think that’s an invitation,” Ezra chuckled.
“What?”
“To play.”
“You can’t be serious!”
Vin bounded toward Buck and licked over his lower face. Ezra nearly fell off the boulder with laughter at the expression of disgust and surprise on Buck’s face as he sputtered.
“Vin! What do you think you’re doing?!”
“I think it’s a gesture of affection,” the vampire commented, unable to contain his laughter.
Buck glared at him.
“I doubt you normally complain about him doing that…”
The glare intensified. “Normally? This is not normal, Standish! My partner is a wolf and he just washed my face with his tongue!”
“It’s called kissing, Buck.” Ezra just couldn’t stop himself. “You know how it goes…”
“Oh shut up!”
Vin approached him again, pushing his hands with his nose.
“C’mon, Buck. Play with him.”
“Vin Tanner is a thirty-four year old man!” Buck argued.
“Vin Tanner is a wolf.”
And Vin Tanner the wolf was happily pushing at the piece of wood, inviting his partner to play along. Buck threw up his hands in defeat and grabbed it. He tossed it as far as he could and Vin raced off after it.
“I don’t believe it,” Wilmington murmured.
“Get used to it,” was Ezra’s only advice.

* * *

Chris arrived at Vin’s apartment shortly after nine p.m. He had dropped by Ezra’s place, to which he had a key, and had taken care of the small, black cat that lived with the vampire. Shawn had been very insistent at demanding attention and he had given her a lot. The poor little kitten had been alone all day. At Vin’s place Chris was greeted by a smiling, green-eyed man, who welcomed him with a kiss.
“Hey. You made it,” Ezra said, one arm still slipped around his waist.
“Yeah. Ran into Thomas Mendelson. Heads a team as well. He wasn’t easy to get rid of.” Chris shrugged, enjoying the hard body pressed against him. “Vin and Buck?”
“Watching a crime series or something in Buck’s apartment.”
They walked into Vin’s living room and heard the muted noise of the TV through the open connection door. Chris stole another kiss from his lover.
“How was the day?”
“We’re making progress. Vin killed a few plates and vases today. His tail gets in the way.”
Chris chuckled and now noticed how some of the lower shelves had been cleared of breakables.
“We went out into the desert just two hours ago to give him some space. Vin needed to stretch his legs, follow the call of nature…” Ezra shrugged. “Tonight being a completely full moon, we might have to repeat the procedure again in an hour or two.”
“Full moon incontinence?” Chris joked, unable to bite back the remark.
Ezra elbowed him, grimacing. “No, wolf instincts.”
Both men walked over to the other apartment and Chris had to smile as he discovered Buck stretched out on the couch, Vin curled up next to him as best as was possible. The pointed ears swiveled into his direction and he was greeted by a noise that sounded like a mixture between a growl and a whine.
“Hey, you two.”
“Hey, Chris. How was work?”
“Boring. You know how it is. See one suicide-murder, know them all,” Larabee answered. “The others send their best. Nathan gave me a whole list on ‘What to do’s’ concerning stomach problems. JD only said to keep Vin away from the donuts and he should be fine.”
Vin rumbled and Buck almost automatically patted the large head. Chris suspected his friend didn’t even know what he was doing.
Ezra and Chris joined their two friends for another hour of TV, Chris almost automatically leaning into Ezra as the vampire settled down next to him on the two-seater. Buck glanced at them once, smiling as he caught Chris’s eyes, then they concentrated on the series again.
As Ezra had suspected, Vin started to become restless again after two more hours.
“We’ll make a visit to the desert again,” the vampire told his lover. “You go home, get some sleep. If you don’t and show up exhausted in the morning, the others might start piling up around here.”
“Good idea.”
“I only have good ideas, Mr. Larabee.”
“Uh-huh.” He nipped at the tempting lips. “One of them include you and me and a nice, warm bed?”
Ezra made a show of looking very thoughtful. “Let me check my current schedule if I can find a free spot I can squeeze you in.”
Chris pulled him close, then turned them so Ezra was pressed against the wall of the apartment. He plundered the willing mouth, Ezra grabbing his hips and pulling him closer. His hands slid over the ass, gentle digging in. Chris moaned into the warm cavern of his mouth.
“Hell,” he murmured, breathing hard.
“I think I just found an open spot,” Ezra managed, looking a bit glazed as well. “Vin first, though.”
Chris nodded, smiling. “Priorities. You go take care of them. I’ll see you tomorrow…”
Ezra cupped his cheek and traced Chris’s lower lip with his thumb. “Promise,” he said huskily.

* * *

The third day of Vin’s lupine existence passed like the other two. Chris went to work, spent his time figuring out crime sites, following clues, interviewing witnesses, and typing reports. Buck and Vin stayed home, learning more about themselves, while Ezra stayed with them. He passed most of the time running up his cell phone bill by talking to all kinds of contacts and informants, but so far there was still little on werewolves. Chris called it an early day and arrived at Vin’s place at five p.m. The sun was not yet down, but Ezra still opened the door.
“Are you nuts?” Chris hissed and pushed him into the apartment.
Ezra smiled and shook his head. “Chris, I can tolerate the sun, y’know.”
“Don’t care,” Larabee snarled.
The vampire gave him an impish grin. “I love you, too, Chris.”
Chris blinked. “Wha… Ezra, that’s not the point!”
“Really?” Standish turned and walked into the living room, grinning from one ear to the other.
The blond sighed in exasperation and pushed the door shut. “Where are the others?”
“Out. Desert. The day’s cool enough and Vin wanted out again. The wolf in him isn’t happy about the confines of the room.”
“In broad daylight?” Chris exclaimed.
“Chris. Blood pressure.”
He ran a ran through his hair. “Damnit! It’s too dangerous!”
“Well, as far as I understood Buck, he said something about a nice little canyon he knows. He and Vin explored it before and it’s secluded, shady… just perfect.” Ezra gave him a calming smile. “Relax, Chris. If I had thought it would be dangerous, I wouldn’t have let them go.”
Chris sank down onto the couch and sighed deeply. Ezra held out a beer to him and he gratefully took it.
“How was your day?”
Chris grimaced. “Routine.”
Ezra made himself comfortable next to him. “Welcome to the club. Well, I had some interesting conversations with Buck.”
Chris raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”
A shrug. “Yes. About this and that. You and him.” Ezra didn’t look at Chris, but he could tell that the man was shocked for the third time in an hour.
“Me and him?” he echoed faintly.
“Yes.”
“About what exactly?”
Ezra smiled again. “How you met, college, the academy… you two being an item.”
Chris paled slightly, but he quickly had his reactions under control. “You have a problem with it?” he asked, voice carefully neutral.
“Does Vin?”
“Vin? What does Vin have to do with it?”
The smile stayed on the vampire’s lips. “He and Buck are together now. Surely he must know about the two of you.”
Chris nodded. “Yeah. Buck told him early on.”
“Buck and you are over?”
“Of course!”
Ezra grinned. “Good. Problem solved.”
Chris stared at him and the vampire rolled his eyes.
“Chris, I’m too old for jealousy and imaginary past liaisons flaring back into former passion. You and Buck were an item in college. That’s been a long time ago. It’s over. Now we are together.”
A slow smile spread over Larabee’s lips.
“Anyway,” Ezra went on, a sly expression in his eyes. “I’ve staked a claim here and I can be very territorial.” The cat-like eyes seemed to glow and Chris shivered, though what he felt was far from fear.
“I’m not one of your possessions, Standish,” he growled, readily falling into the game.
“But you are mine,” Ezra declared huskily, moving gracefully and smoothly to suddenly sit on Chris’s lap, facing him. “Mine,” he repeated.
Chris hooked his fingers in the waistband of the jeans his lover was wearing. “Mine,” he murmured.
The ensuing kiss was slow, sensual, far from a battle of wills or for dominance. Both just savored the other, exploring, tasting, touching. Teeth nipped at lips, traced soft trails down throats and toward earlobes. The only sound was the silence of the room that was broken by the soft noise of two people kissing. Chris’s hands slipped around the vampire’s ass, sliding deeper, fingers spreading, and he pulled. Ezra moved closer automatically.
“Whoa, guys, are we interrupting?”
Buck’s jovial voice made Ezra pull back slowly, not at all startled. And not in a hurry.
“Hello, Buck,” he drawled lazily, not moving from Chris’s lap.
Larabee still rested his hands where they had been holding Ezra tightly to him. “Knock,” he only muttered.
“Uh, boss, news flash: we live here?”
Wilmington was beaming all over. Vin’s head came around the jeans-clad legs and he rumbled. Chris shot him a dark look.
“But don’t get up because of us,” Buck went on, eyes sparkling.
“Wasn’t planning to,” Ezra replied, smiling sweetly.
Chris sighed and shook his head. But he had to confess that the warm weight on his thighs felt good, that he enjoyed the closeness, simply being together, and though he had no sexual intentions right now, he didn’t want Ezra to move.
“Well, we’ll be over there,” Buck gestured vaguely toward the other apartment. “You just… proceed.” There was an audible leer in his voice.
“Wilmington, shove off,” Chris growled good-naturedly.
Vin followed his partner, almost bouncing after him. He was really in a good mood at the moment.
“He’s drawn between frustration, fear, acceptance, and the wolf’s nature,” Ezra answered the unspoken question in his lover’s eyes. “The human side is not yet able to comprehend it all, but the wolf is there and he enjoys himself. Especially when they go out.”
“According to what little your contacts found, he should be back to normal tomorrow.” Chris played his hands over the small of Ezra’s back, rubbing little circles as he let his mind wander through the possibilities.
“Mh-hm. If the information is reliable, and I have no idea if it is, the change should start with dawn.”
“I’ll stay the night,” Chris decided.
“You don’t have to.”
Hazel eyes met green ones. “But I want to. Vin’s my friend, Ezra. I won’t leave him alone.”
The vampire smiled warmly and bent down to kiss him again.
“This could become an addiction,” he sighed against the parted lips.
“It already is,” was the whispered reply.

* * *

From Vin's body language the three men could tell he was becoming more and more nervous. The wolf paced around the apartment, as if waiting for something. The moment the moon set and the sun rose, they knew. Vin shuddered and started to roll on the floor, giving a pitiful whimper.
Buck watched the scene unfold in front of his eyes, and understood what they were about to witness: the changing. Again.
Oh no.
One part of his mind cried out at him in relief; his partner would be human again, he would be able to touch and be touched, could talk to him and get answers other than just a growl or a yelp. Another part just screamed in panic, the part that didn't want to witness, watch and hear, the ripples of the skin, the sound of bones, muscles and tissue being forced into another shape.
Vin whined in pain, the wolf's terrorized eyes never leaving Buck's face. Buck just stared back, not moving a muscle. This was the moment the tremors set in, shaking the animal's body violently. With it came the sounds; and the screams of an animal in agony. Buck closed his eyes and turned away.
A firm grip on his arms held him back. He turned to look into a pair of glowing green eyes.
"Don't you dare turn away from him now," Ezra said in a calm voice. "How do you think he feels right now?" With that Ezra pushed a blanket into his arms. "He will need that in a few. Be there."
Ten merciless long minutes later it was over, and Buck let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding at the sight of his lover, now all human again.
 

Vin lay on the floor, visibly exhausted, his breath shallow, a small sheen of sweat covering the naked body. Buck was at his side in no time, wrapping a blanket around him. Ezra almost held his breath as Vin moved slightly, looking up into Buck's eyes – and his heart clenched painfully. He knew that look. It spoke of exhaustion, yes, but there were other things as well. Embarrassment of what he had become, what he had done during his time as a wolf, and that his friends had to watch. But there was something more subtle, something that went far deeper than that: disappointment, loneliness, betrayal.
Ezra inhaled deeply as he understood. Vin had seen Buck's reaction to his change, had noticed how his lover had reacted when he had become a ‘monster', and he had noticed that Buck had been reluctant to stay by his side. All of this must be one hell of an emotional turmoil for the man.
Vin rose carefully, wrapping the blanket around himself.
"Thanks, guys," he murmured. "Think I'll sleep a little. I’m tired."
With that he just turned, not even bothering to shake off Buck's hands from his shoulders, simply slipping out of his lover's embrace. He disappeared into the bedroom. Buck only stood there as if he had just lost his best friend. Which could  very well be the case. Ezra exchanged looks with Chris.
Not good. Not good at all.
"Buck?" Ezra mouthed and pointed toward their friend, and Chris nodded. Ezra returned the nod and went after Vin.
 

He didn't bother to knock because Ezra knew only too well Vin wouldn't invite him in. The bedroom was only half lit, but the vampire could see nevertheless. Vin was laying on the bed, blanket around him, one arm covering his eyes, and very much awake.
"Whoever you are, leave me alone," he murmured.
"No chance."
"Ez?"
"Yep."
"Leave me alone."
"I hate to repeat myself, no chance. I'm not going anywhere."
Ezra approached the man and sat down on the bed, watching him carefully. Vin wasn't exactly crying, but he wasn't far from it. No wonder. His whole world had been shattered, including his faith into the man he was together with, the man who loved him came hell or high water. Or so he had thought.
Ezra knew that Vin had to deal with a lot, but he had to come to terms with it, and soon.
"Vin, Buck isn't afraid of you."
"Really," was the flat reply.
"No."
"He better be."
"Why?"
"Hell, Ez, I don't have to explain that to you, do I?" Vin snapped angrily.
"Hm. Do it anyway."
Vin uncovered his eyes and looked at Ezra, all the emotions clear in his eyes. "He shied away from me, Ez. He didn't want to be with me. Why should he? I'm a goddamn monster, a freak."
"Well, thank you, Mr. Tanner. Now I know what you really think of me." Ezra kept his voice carefully mixed between humor and sarcasm.
"Huh?" He blinked, then his eyes widened. “No! Ezra, no, I don’t think you’re a freak. You’re human. I….”
"Vin, you are a werewolf. The times you have to go through the change are few. Actually only three days a month. The rest of the time you are a normal human being. You can eat whatever you like, can play if you want to. You can walk among others twenty-four hours a day. You don't have to rely on special sustenance like a junky, becoming a lethal danger even to the ones you love if you don't feed on time. You don't have to hide from the sun. And you can decide if you want to be the 'monster' or not. I can't."
Ezra waited a few seconds, watching Vin closely. The other man hadn't moved, but the vampire could tell that his words had sunk in.
"Buck is outside,” he continued calmly. “At the moment Chris is talking to him. And when he's finished with him, I'll send him in. You two will talk, even if it takes the whole day."
Vin showed no reaction, and Ezra hadn't expected any. He rose from the bed. The vampire smiled faintly as he closed the bedroom door from the outside. Maybe one would think he had been a little rough on his friend, but damn, he was getting too old for subtlety.

*

"Damn, Buck, what were you thinking?"
Chris was fuming. Not that he couldn't understand his friend. The sight of Vin changing back into human form had been hard on him, too, and he had had to swallow hard to keep his stomach under control. Being confronted with something like this unprepared... but Vin hadn't been that prepared either. And now he needed Buck, his reassuring presence and love, more than ever. Needed to know that he was still loved and wanted.
"Chris, I ... "
"Don't give me that shit, Wilmington."
Buck whirled around and glared at his friend. "You're not my boss here, Larabee!" he snarled.
"No, I'm not," Chris replied more softly, "but I'm your friend. I know you and I know him, and I care for the both of you. Hell, I don't want to do it again."
"What?"
Chris almost bit his tongue. Shit, had he really said that?
"What is it you don't want to do again, Chris?"
Chris sighed. Ah hell, these were the days of revelations anyway, right?
"Remember when Vin joined the team?"
"Yes?"
"You were ogling him."
"I wasn't..." Buck started to protest.
"Stop that, Buck. I know you well enough, and you acted around that man like a love-struck teenager. You simply were too shy."
"I wasn't ..." he tried again.
"Oh, yes, you were. Until the day you received that love letter," Chris continued.
"Never told you about that. How do you know?"
"He received one, too," was the smug reply.
"Huh?"
"From you."
Buck stared at him, confused. "But I never wrote ..."
"For him you did."
"Oh?" Buck blinked. Once, twice. "Oh! You?"
"Yep. Me. And you have no idea how many poetry books and stuff I had to work myself through. Jo-Ann was getting really suspicious back then." Chris grinned. "It wasn't actually my usual kind of behavior. But I knew he would be good for you, and you for him. I could see that you were about to become," he coughed, "lone wolves. The fact that you two are still together proves me right."
Buck sank onto the couch, trying to digest every bit of information he had received during the last days. Chris, his former lover, his best friend and boss, falling in love with a vampire. And being happy with it. His own lover turning into a werewolf. The same lover he wouldn't have without said best friend's intervention some years ago, wouldn't have been happy with for ... aw hell!
"Say, Buck," Chris asked softly," do you love him?"
"Hell, yes!"
"He's still the same man? He hasn't really turned into a psychopathic mass murderer?"
"No... "
"Then what are you waiting for? Vin needs you now. And you need him now. Go." Chris made a shooing motion.
Chris had looked over Buck's shoulder and he had seen Ezra coming out of the bedroom, signaling him Vin would be ready to talk to Buck. Well, whatever the vampire might call 'ready'. When Buck still hesitated, Chris growled, "You go in there on your own free will or Ezra'll drag you."
Buck looked from Ezra to Chris and back, than smiled faintly. "I'm shakin' in my boots, Larabee."
But he went.
 

Ezra watched Buck enter the bedroom and close the door behind him before he turned to his lover.
"Well, thank you very much, Mr. Larabee. I always wanted to take the part of the local bogeyman."
"It worked, right?" came the bright reply.
Ezra just glared at Chris, which didn’t faze his lover the slightest. “Don’t you have somewhere to be? Like… oh, I don’t know… work?”
Chris grinned more. “Yep.  You staying here?”
“I just might, but I guess they’ll be okay now.”
Larabee nodded. “See you.” He stole a quick kiss, leaving a smiling Ezra Standish behind as he drove to work.

* * *

“Ezra Standish?”
Ezra looked the man in front of him up and down. He had noticed his entrance into the Grotto, had seen the reactions of the regulars, and he had known that the new-comer wasn’t a normal guest. The vampires in the room had been carefully sizing him up, and they hadn’t made a single move to approach him. No speculative eye had been directed his way. Which either meant he was a vampire himself, which Ezra could discard. He would have noticed. Or he was someone… or something else.
“Yes,” Standish answered carefully. “And you are?”
“Constable Paul Cross. RCMP.”
Ezra raised an eyebrow. Cross was about Vin’s size, with blue eyes, shoulder-length, dark hair, and his age was hard to determine. The hair was bound into a pony tail. The Canadian wore a pair of hiking boots, jeans, and a sleeveless vest over a dark blue shirt.
“I think you called for a wildlife expert. On wolves,” Cross went on.
Now it started to dawn. “You are him.”
It wasn’t a question. Letting his senses take in the man, Ezra found there was a strange kind of similarity between what he felt around Vin by now.
“Yes.”
“It’s been nearly two weeks since we asked for assistance. I had already given up hope to find someone for our… problem…”
Cross smiled tightly. “I’m quite aware of what you are, Mr. Standish. Now, at least. I know you will understand that I had be sure that this isn’t some kind of elaborate trap to catch one of my kind.”
Ezra shot him a brief, unreadable look. “I see.”
“Probably not,” was the honest reply.
Ezra had to smile.
“You see, there are more of us, but we don’t live in communities. We are loners by our nature. Not because of our other side, but because this side is so hard to accept for outsiders. We go out of our ways not to be in the way. We keep to ourselves. We try to survive.” He shrugged.
Standish nodded. “I think I understand, Mr. Cross.”
“So you stumbled across a newborn?”
“More or less. He’s a friend of mine. Someone I sometimes work with. He was bitten by a werewolf.” Ezra saw no reason to go into detail about the how and why. There was time for it later. “We didn’t know about it until two weeks ago when he … changed.”
Cross looked thoughtful. “How many know about his condition?”
“Including me, there are three. Why?”
“Friendship means stability,” was the serious answer. “Many of our kind don’t have the necessary back-up when they go through their first few times. Partners are scared, parents freak, children see the monster. Neighbors might try to shoot you. You are a vampire, Mr. Standish, so I conclude that you won’t be freaked.”
Ezra smiled slightly. “Not freaked, but it was… slightly unsettling.”
“Wife? Children?”
“Partner,” was the careful answer.
“And she accepts?”
“Yes, he does.”
Cross’s eyebrows rose a fraction, then he smiled. “Who’s the third?”
“His friend and boss.”
“Okay, another obstacle solved. Work related problems come right after home related ones.”
“Can you help him with it?” Ezra wanted to know.
“That’s why I’m here, Mr. Standish. I won’t say I’m the perfect teacher, but there is little a wolf has to know. The change, the side-effects, control, centering. It’s easy to learn if you want to.”
Ezra nodded. “Then I think it’s best if we introduce you to your student.”

* * *

Buck eyed the stranger carefully, unconsciously placing himself between Vin and the newcomer. Ezra had to hide his smile at the protective gesture.
Cross’s eyes went from the larger CSI agent to the man he had come here for. He smiled disarmingly.
“Paul Cross,” he introduced himself and held out one hand.
Vin took it, smiling as well. “Hey. Vin Tanner. So, you are… too?” he asked slowly.
“Yes, Vin, I’m a werewolf.” Cross smiled slightly as he was invited into the apartment, his eyes briefly scanning over everything assembled on the shelves.
“And you can teach me how to control this?”
He nodded. “It’s not hard and if you follow a few basic rules, you will do just fine.” He gratefully accepted the coffee Chris held out to him. “There are a few things you have to understand about our kind,” Paul continued slowly, looking at the three men. “I mentioned this to Mr. Standish already, but you, as his friends,” he fixed Buck and Chris with an intense gaze, “have to know as well. First of all, werewolves are loners. It doesn’t mean that Vin will become a solitary figure at the fringes of your group, but he might experience the need to be out by himself. Let him be then. It’s nothing personal, the wolf just wants to be left alone for a while. Among you, he is unique. Vampires are more frequent in this city than wolves.”
Chris nodded slowly. “Okay.”
“There is no community like the vampires have. Werewolves are always suspicious of who wants to know about them. We don’t keep in touch with each other and I’d be hard pressed to name at least five wolves I know and have talked to lately,” Cross went on. “Many leave their homes forever, some even decide to ‘lose themselves’, become the wolf and never try to be human again. They might not survive for long, but they can’t survive among humanity either.”
Buck swallowed hard and unconsciously touched his lover. Vin gave him a reassuring smile.
“Not planning to leave,” he said softly.
Cross smiled. “You have the incredible luck to be among friends who know and accept that there is more to this world than they always believed. It helps immensely. It will insure your future, Vin. Suicide is not uncommon. You can get killed by your own relatives or neighbors, too.”
Buck looked sick at the harsh words, his grip tightening.
“Nothing of this has to happen to you,” Cross calmed them.
“It won’t,” Buck declared softly but firmly.
The Canadian gazed thoughtfully at him, then smiled. “Now let’s get down to the basics. Three days every month the call of the wolf is the strongest. At the full moon, you will inadvertently change. The days before and after are up to you. The more you grow accustomed to it all, the better you can stop a change before it goes out of control.”
Vin shuddered. “I’d rather not shift at all,” he confessed. “It’s… painful.”
“Only in the beginning. Your first time was the worst. Let me assure you, the next few times might be uncomfortable, but after maybe six months, you should be able to go through a change without pain and without feeling exhausted afterwards. It will go smoothly.”
Vin looked doubtful and Paul smiled again.
“Vin, I’ve been a werewolf for thirty years. I know what I’m talking about.”
“Thirty?” Chris exclaimed. “How old were you when you were bitten? Five?”
Cross laughed. “I take that as a compliment. No, Mr. Larabee, I was eighteen.”
Even Ezra looked surprised, though only mildly, compared to the others.
“Uh… you are like vampires, then? Immortal?” Buck stuttered.
„I don’t know about vampires and their lifespan.” Paul shot Ezra a questioning look.
The vampire gave a half-shrug. “Not immortal. Slow aging,” he said by ways of an answer.
Chris shot him a brief look, but Ezra just gave him a smile.
“Well, you see,  no one knows how old we can get because we keep to ourselves and many die young,” Cross went on. “I might be considered old for my kind, or young. I have no idea. The oldest werewolf I met was way beyond one hundred, but I last saw him ten years ago. I live and work in the Northwest Territories, Vin. For a reason. It’s lonely, it’s open country, and the wolf doesn’t have to be afraid. I have friends among the Inuit who know what I am, one of them my teacher. I wasn’t taught by another werewolf. I wasn’t that lucky.”
“So, Vin will age slowly,” Buck picked up that train of thought again.
“Yes.”
“Oh.”
“About these transformations,” Vin tried to derail whatever Buck was thinking about. They would have time for it later. Much later. “You said I can control them?”
“Yes. You can even change shape when there isn’t a full moon. Actually, if you had some training already, you could change right now as well.”
“He can change whenever he wants to?” Chris clarified.
“Yes. Your human self will not be affected by the wolf. You’ll be your normal self whenever you are in this form, whether it’s a full moon or not. You don’t have any extraordinary hearing or sense of smell. You’re just Vin Tanner.”
“Good to know,” Vin muttered. “So… what are we gonna do?”
Paul leaned forward, placing the mug of coffee onto the table. “We’ll find a nice and quiet place and I’ll give you a few pointers for starters. Then we go from there.” He gave the other three men pointed looks and while Chris and Ezra just nodded, Buck looked rather reluctant.
Vin gave him a friendly pat. “I’ll be fine, Buck.”
“Sure. I know that.” He didn’t sound convinced.
“Really.”
Paul’s blue eyes met Buck’s. “Don’t go too far, Mr. Wilmington. You are needed later on.”
“Oh?”
The Mountie smiled. “You’ll see.”

* * *

It was a warm and clear night. Chris stretched his legs and leaned further back into the warm embrace, looking out over the cityscape before him. The sun had set only thirty minutes ago and it still cast a faint orange hue over the inky blue sky. Only the occasional car disturbed the silence. A hand played with the hair over his ear and he closed his eyes to the gentle caress. He loved sitting on the balcony of Ezra’s townhouse, gazing out over the houses and gardens from here, far from the city center.
And he loved to do it from the embrace of his lover as Ezra sat behind him in the large and comfortable fold-out chair. Chris hooked an arm around one of his lover’s jeans clad legs, running his fingers over the denim over one calf. Ezra briefly tightened the arm he had wrapped over Chris’s chest and placed a kiss against the skin behind his ear.
“Have you told Orrin yet?” the vampire murmured.
Chris sighed. “No.”
“You know that you should.”
Larabee nodded, sinking deeper into the warm hold. Ezra wrapped both arms around him, resting his head on the blond hair. By now the last hues of orange had disappeared into the darkness of the approaching night, the first stars twinkling in the dark bluish and black sky.
“I will,” Chris said softly. “I just want to wait till Vin is more secure, till Paul has taught him everything.”
“Mh-hm,” Ezra rumbled.
He let his hands run down his lover’s arms and they were taken into Chris’s. Then he wrapped their arms into an embrace around the slender form that leaned against him.
“Do you think it’ll be trouble?” Chris asked into the silence.
“I don’t know. Orrin knows about the community. He knows that there’s more than just vampires. I think he met a witch once.” Ezra chuckled. “I’m not so sure about werewolves.”
Chris grinned.
“But he has a very open mind,” the vampire went on, running a thumb over Chris’s hand.
“How did you meet?” Larabee suddenly asked.
Ezra snorted, disturbing the fine hair. “Orrin had just left the academy and worked for the Las Vegas PD. He was a rookie cop, partnered with a guy called Charles Mason. We ran into each other when someone I knew was killed. I ended up in interrogation.”
Chris twisted his head a little. “You ended up in interrogation?”
Ezra shrugged. “For an hour or two.”
“Why?”
A sly grin crossed the vampire’s features. “I owned the casino and hotel the man was murdered in. So they asked me a few questions as well.”
Chris sank back again. “And he found out about you being a vampire how?”
“The killer was a vampire and when Orrin ran into him, there was only me between him and certain death.”
“You killed the other guy?”
“Yes. I had to,” Ezra said softly. His head sank onto Chris’s shoulder for a second. “It saved Orrin’s life.”
Chris freed one hand and reached up to cup Ezra’s head, threading his fingers into the short, chestnut hair. Ezra raised his head and kissed the inside of his lover’s wrist.
“Orrin wasn’t amused,” he continued. He kissed the hand again and Chris lowered it once more. “I explained some things to him and he told me it was too outrageous to end up in a report.” A chuckle.
“Sounds familiar.”
“Kind of, hm? Well, Orrin was with the Vegas PD for eight years, then made his detective. He was always sharp and quick on the uptake. He was one of the youngest detectives and transferred to a new department, here in Salt Lake.”
“And you?”
“I was in Vegas for a few more years, then moved on. I ended up here as well.” Ezra nuzzled one ear, teething the lobe. His tongue traced the outer shell, making Chris squirm a little. Ezra relented and they silently watched the darkness deepen, the lights of the city popping up, bathing the area before them in a new light.
“I don’t want Travis to put Vin off the team,” Chris murmured.
“He won’t if Vin learns to control his new ability. If he proves to be difficult, I’ll have a talk with him.”
Chris snorted. “Ezra, I can take care of my team’s problems.”
“I didn’t mean to imply anything else,” the vampire answered softly. “I was just offering.”
Larabee sighed. “I know. Sorry. I appreciate it, but… let me handle it for now.”
“So when will you confront him?” Standish picked up the former question again.
“When Vin is ready, and after I told the team.”
Ezra nodded and tightened his hold slightly when Chris shivered in the now rapidly cooling air. “Want to go inside?”
“No, it’s nice out here.”
Ezra leaned slightly to the left and grabbed the folded blanket. He draped it over them with some assistance from Chris.
“Very nice,” Chris all but purred. “Ezra?”
“Hm?”
“Something you mentined today…”
“Yes?”
Chris hesitated. “Vampires age?”
“Yes, we do. Very slowly.”
“I thought you were immortal.”
He chuckled. “Movie, Chris,” he murmured into Larabee’s ear. “Just movies.”
“They don’t get anything right, hm?” Chris murmured.
“Sometimes they do. We make sure they don’t overdo it.”
“Vampires make movies?” His lover twisted slightly to look at the vampire.
“We also write horror novels.” Ezra’s eyes twinkled. “Where do you think all those myths came from?”
“Vampires?” Disbelief swung in Chris’s voice.
“Yep.”
“Whow.”
He laughed softly. “It’s the best protection there is.”
“I believe that.”
Both men stayed cuddled together under the blanket until the chill permeated even that, then finally went inside.

* * *

Vin yawned and stretched.
"I think I’ll go to bed. You coming, too?"
"In a few."
Vin frowned at the tone. Buck hadn't exactly avoided him, not really. They had had talks, lots of them lately, with and without Paul, who had explained everything he knew about being a werewolf to them.
It had been throughout those talks that realization had taken out the sledge hammer and hit Vin. He had finally come to think of the fact that the wolf JD had run over had been human once. Like him. Maybe someone was still waiting for him, a partner, a mate, a friend…. family? They would never know.
Paul had rather bluntly told him that that was most likely the fact. When a werewolf died in fur-form, he stayed the wolf. He wouldn’t miraculously change back into his human form. Whoever might be waiting for him would never know. It was depressing and Vin had felt downcast the rest of the day.
Unfortunately Paul didn't know anything of being an werewolf and living in a relationship that had been established before. Buck had felt insecure about how to deal with the new part of their life; with the fact that his lover and partner was now able to turn into a large Timber wolf except for the time of the full moon, when he had to change. Or the thing that Vin would age much slower than the average human male.
Vin sighed. This would take time.
"All right," he murmured. "Don't wait too long, okay?"
"Uhm-hm."
Vin sighed again and turned toward the bed room. Buck hadn't even looked up from the TV screen.
 

Vin undressed and curled under the blankets, shivering slightly. He felt cold without the warm presence of his lover at his side. Though Vin knew Buck still loved him, with heart and soul, he wasn't so sure about the rest. Buck hadn't so much as touched him since his first change, and that hurt. Vin pulled the blanket tighter around his body and closed his eyes. Maybe he would drift to sleep soon.
 

Buck squeezed his eyes shut when he heard the bedroom door being closed from the other side. All he wanted was to jump up and run after Vin, take him into his arms and comfort him, kiss him senseless and feel his hard body against his own. But he couldn't. Every time he had wanted to make an attempt in that direction, something had pulled him back, and he had hesitated. Sure, they had talked the events over and over and over again, and he knew Vin loved him and needed his reassurance. But he just couldn't.
Every time he looked at Vin he didn't see the man he loved, the blue eyes that sparkled with amusement and affection, but the frightened animal that whined in agony, terrorized eyes seeking out his, pleading for help that wouldn't come.
 

When Vin looked at the clock on the bedside stand again it was two hours later, and the other side of the bed was still empty. From the living room he could hear the sound of the TV.
"Goddamnit, Wilmington. Enough is enough."
Vin threw the blankets aside and walked into the other room. He found Buck had fallen asleep on the couch, the TV showing the shopping channel. Vin sighed and switched it off, then looked at his lover. Buck was laying outstretched, his shirt half open, the movement of the chest indicating he was fast asleep. Vin smiled as he carefully swung one leg over his lover's thighs, coming to sit on Buck's lap. The other man didn't move. Vin started to unbutton the rest of the shirt, his hands wandering up and down the smooth skin he knew so well, enjoying the sensation he had been denied for too long.
Buck stirred slightly and Vin bent down to nibble at the other man's mouth while he let one hand slide into the loose sweats. Buck moaned as he slowly woke, his arms came up and he started to stroke Vin's sides while he reacted to the double stimulation, hips arching into the touch of Vin's hands.
"Vin?" he murmured.
"Yeah. Did you expect somebody else?"
"Actually I ... no, but ..." Buck shivered under the strokes Vin gave him.
"Buck?"
"Hm?"
"Stop babbling and kiss me."
Vin was moaning himself as Buck did just that, enjoying the feeling of his lover's tongue on his lips and neck, talented hands seeking out the more sensitive spots the other man knew so well, as Buck let his hands roam over his naked body. Vin started to nibble at Buck’s neck, paying special attention to the earlobe and was rewarded with a hiss of pleasure. He felt the other man’s heartbeat increase, the breathing becoming more shallow and Buck moaned deep in his throat as Vin worked himself down his body, sucking at the nipples. Buck's moans turned into gasps, his hips bucked into Vin's touch and he pulled him up and close into a deep passionate kiss and Vin could feel a shudder running over Buck’s body as his lover reached completion.
Vin placed some light kisses on his lips. "Now, was that so hard?"
"Uhm... ?" Buck looked at him quizzically and slightly dizzy from the experience.
"You haven't touched me since I became a wolf, Buck. We talked about everything, but not about our sex. As you can see, I'm still the same, and I still want you, the same way as ever."
"I thought... I mean, the way you acted... it gave me impression you didn't want to be touched."
"Me??"
"Yep."
Vin rolled his eyes. Classical misunderstanding, he thought. And we were talking.
"All right, let me make it clear: I want you, I love you, and I definitely like to feel you right now."
"Oh. That was what you meant earlier. "
"Wil-ming-ton..." Vin moved in Buck's arms to kiss his lover firmly.
"Why didn't you just say so?" Buck complained.
"What else should I have said? Let's fuck?"
His lover chuckled. "That would have been one way."
"Buck Wilmington! One day you're gonna be the death of me. You've been to college, goddamnit! "
"So have you."
"Okay, if you want it this way: let's go to bed and have a real nice, real slow, good, old-fashioned fuck."
"Tanner, you really have a way with words, you know that?"

* * *

It was a week to full moon, eight days after Paul Cross had taken over teaching Vin everything about his other side, when the Canadian shocked them for the very first time. Deeply shocked them, that is. So far, every revelation had been a miniature shock, but nothing Vin hadn’t been able to go through. With Buck finally back on track, their love life on an even keel once more, Vin had found it much easier to follow the lessons. That the next full moon wasn’t that far in the future proved another form of anxiety rising.
“Don’t be afraid of the full moon, Vin,” Paul told him as he caught the younger man staring at the calendar. “It’s not your enemy.”
“I know, I know. It’s just… I remember last time and it was painful.”
“Like I told you, it’ll get better. Your body has to adjust to this shape-changing ability. Soon you’ll be able to control it.” A sly grin crossed the man’s features. “We are better off than women in that regard. Three days a month and with time and age, we can control it to our liking. Only one night forces us to submit to the other side.”
Vin stared at him, then heard Buck snort with laughter. He turned and watched his lover, who was leaning against the door.
“He’s right, pard,” Wilmington agreed, eyes dancing.
Vin chuckled. “Yeah.”
“But to prepare you for the time, there is an exercise that will increase your ability to shift more fluidly.”
Cross started to take off his shirt.
“I told you, you can change whenever you want, even without the full moon.”
The pants followed. Before either of the two lovers was able to see much, the human shape flowed into that of the wolf. It was large, with a dark gray back and lighter belly. Paul looked up at them, grinning the way only a wolf could.
“Ah….” Buck stuttered.
Paul gazed intently at Vin, rumbling.
“Oh no….” Vin breathed. “You can’t expect me to…”
A sharper growl.
“I can’t do this!” He took a step back. “No!”
The wolf gazed at Buck, who was still leaning against the door, then at Vin. Both men were an equal shade of white. It rumbled, then yipped.
Vin swallowed hard and looked at Buck, seeking comfort, encouragement, anything…
“Vin,” Buck stuttered. “I… he knows what he’s talking about,” he then managed.
“But…”
The wolf watched him.
Vin inhaled slowly. “Okay,” he breathed, seeking eye-contact with Buck again, silently asking him to be there.
Buck’s lips were a thin line, but he nodded.
Vin started to take off his clothes and then concentrated just like Paul had taught him before, trying to center himself, shutting out everything. He knew he had hit the right trigger when the first spasm hit. He gasped softly, more in surprise than pain.
It really didn’t take as long as last time. The pain was bad, but not excruciating. Laying on the floor, panting, Vin blinked his eyes open. He felt stronger than after the first change, but still shaky. A soft rumble reached his ears and he discovered Paul sitting not far away, looking pleased. Turning his head more, Vin sought out Buck. His lover looked decidedly sick, holding on to the door frame, knuckles white. His eyes were wide.
Buck?
Vin knew he couldn’t speak, but the question escaped as a whine. He staggered to his paws and padded slowly over to the shell-shocked man.
Buck?
 

Buck stared at the Timber wolf, trying to get his rolling stomach under control. The whole change had taken about five minutes, but it had still shown him more than he had wanted to see. And the sounds… gawd!
Now he looked into the clear eyes of his lover, saw the need for reassurance, the question, and he sank down the wall. Vin came closer, cautious as if he expected something terrible to happen.
“Hey,” Buck whispered, holding out a hand.
Vin licked over the extended fingers, then pushed his head under them. Buck smiled shakily as he ran a hand over the thick fur.
Paul watched them with satisfaction. In the same blur of motion, the Canadian was back in his human form, startling the two men.
“Well done, Vin,” he complimented his student. “It’d be best if you stay in this form for an hour, restore your strength. After that, shift back. You should do it every day. Really every day. In time, it’ll become easier, painless, smoother.” He smiled as he shrugged into his shirt. “And Buck, you should be there when he changes. It will help you, too.”
Buck nodded, still a bit shaky. “Yeah,” was all he managed.
 

A week later, Vin was forced to undergo the lunar change. Buck was with him the whole time, still appearing rather pale after Vin was in his fur-form, but he was also getting much better. With Paul coaching him, Tanner managed to become human twice throughout the first night, then again in the morning. To everyone’s relief, he stayed human the whole day and was able to work just fine. Chris put him into the lab to analyze soil samples and help Josiah with some tests.
The night of the foll moon proved to be too much for the young werewolf and he couldn’t manage to change back into human form at all. Paul, the more experienced wolf, showed Buck that it was really possible to beat the moon’s influence, though he had to admit that he wouldn’t be able to stay human a whole night either.
“Rumors have it that others can, others who are younger than me, too.” He shrugged ruefully. “You see, I don’t have to become human on those nights. I work in the Territories and I can stay the wolf without problems. My normal posts are remote. Your partner might just manage a full moon reverse change in time, but for now, this is it.”
Ezra had dropped by just around sunset, silently staying while Vin transformed. He smiled encouragingly at the gray Timber wolf.
The third night went smoothest. While the change still took close to five minutes, the pain grew a lot less. Paul stayed human the whole time, talking to Vin, coaching him through several reverse changes until the geologist was too exhausted to do any more. The wolf fell asleep next to Buck and neither woke until the next morning, which saw Vin change smoothly back into his human self at sunrise.
Buck touched the well-known features and planted a light kiss on his lips. “You did fine, love,” he murmured.
“Thanks,” was the soft answer.
Both men lost themselves in gentle kisses and caresses, Buck running a calming hand over the familiar body. “I love you, Vin Tanner,” he whispered against his mouth. “I want you to know that. And I will get used to this. Every detail.”
Vin wrapped his arms around Buck’s neck, smiling into the dark eyes. “I know that. I wish you didn’t have to, but I’m grateful you are here for me.”
It’s more than most have, he added silently, his thoughts clear in his eyes.
Buck caressed his face, ran his hands through the short, dark hair, smiling warmly. “Shower?” he murmured.
“Sounds wonderful.”
Neither moved for a while nevertheless. Finally Buck pulled the smaller man up and they padded over to the bathroom.

* * *

The insistent ringing of the phone drew Ezra out of the study of the daily newspaper spread on the couch table. He gazed over at the small, portable device, wondering what to do. It wasn’t his home, which meant it wasn’t his phone. The owner of the home was currently not in this room and despite his familiarity with both the apartment and the man in question, Ezra was reluctant to do anything about the phone.
A shout through the half open bathroom door resolved the problem.
“Ez! Answer the phone, will ya? If it’s Buck, tell him we’ll be there in ten!”
“Quite an understatement,” Ezra muttered. It would take them another half hour to be on their way and maybe twenty minutes through Friday night traffic to reach the Sanchez residence.
The team had planned a barbecue evening and Josiah had volunteered his place, since he had a large garden and back yard. Ezra had simply been invited along without much fuss. His place with the team and at Chris’s side had been readily accepted and approved. He was part of it. No one was bothered by the fact that, despite his ability to eat, he wasn’t the barbecue type.
“Larabee home,” he answered.
“You’re not my Dad.”
Standish felt his eyebrows rise. The voice at the other end of the line sounded young and male, but not like a little kid.
“Quite correct, young man. I presume you’re Chris Larabee junior?”
There was a snort. “Nope. I’m Drew. Who’re you?”
“Ezra Standish. I’m a friend of your father’s. He’s currently…” Ezra stopped as he discovered a dripping wet Chris walk out of the bathroom, a towel slung low on his hips. “Here he is.”
He held out the phone to Chris, who shot him a bewildered look.
“For you,” he said sweetly.
“Hello?” Chris called carefully. “Oh, hi Drew!”
Larabee leaned against the black leather couch. Ezra took the opportunity to let his gaze wander over the revealed skin, following drops of water down the nicely defined chest. The vampire secretly wondered if it was a Larabee genetic trait that the male offspring, while muscular and well-built, also were so slender and narrow-hipped. Not that he had anything against it. He loved every inch of the man, loved to wrap his arms around the slim waist and hold on to him. He could lose himself in that body.
Ezra listened to the conversation between father and son with half an ear, smiling as Chris argued that no, a motorbike wasn’t due on Andrew’s 17th birthday, then questioned his son about his latest girl-friend. Chris caught the heated gaze and smiled seductively at the vampire. Ezra’s eyes fastened on the towel and he stepped closer, catching a rogue water drop and running his fingers over the warm skin of one arm.
Chris raised an eyebrow, but he continued talking with Andrew, chatting about this and that. Ezra used his mouth to lick at the moisture forming between his lover’s shoulder blades. To Chris’s credit, his voice didn’t change.
“Sure, you can drop by sometime throughout summer,” Larabee said and shot Ezra a dark look as the vampire’s hands played with the edges of his towel. “Just call ahead so I won’t be stuck in some case or something.”
He hung up two minutes later, looking into the glowing, green eyes of his lover. Ezra’s fingers still skimmed over the towel.
“Are you planning on finishing that?” he asked.
“By all means, Mr. Larabee.”
With a simple pull, the towel dropped to the floor, revealing Chris to him in all his glory.
“And I hope you plan on doing it… completely,” Chris added huskily, dropping the phone onto the nearby couch chair. “Seeing it through to the end.”
Ezra looked at him, eyes hooded. “Indeed.”
He unfastened his jeans and Chris worked him out of his simple, black shirt.
“We’ll be late,” Standish growled as he melted against his lover.
“So?” was the breathy reply.
“My sentiment’s exactly.”
Ezra kissed him hard, demanding entrance, as his fingers slipped to the place he wanted to bury himself in. Chris complied. Neither was in the mood for much foreplay.
“You wanna do this over the back of the couch?” Chris teased breathlessly.
Ezra’s eyes gleamed ferally. “I was thinking more of ‘on the couch’,” he answered. “But if you prefer….”
Larabee grabbed him and they both tumbled onto the couch, Ezra ending up on top.  “Stop talking!” the blond demanded.
“Yes, Sir.”
End of foreplay as it was.
Ezra dove into another kiss, one hand returning to its former place. He heard Chris inhale sharply at the intrusion, starting to squirm.
“Ezzzra!”
“Impatient,” the vampire rumbled, but he complied.
Chris groaned in pleasure as he entered, using saliva and precum to smooth the entry. Both men lost themselves in the waves of pleasure. Chris gasped in tandem with his lover as they both reached their climax.
The ringing of the phone made Chris groan. Ezra chuckled and moved to reach toward the couch chair. It put him into easy reach for Chris’s mouth and he hissed as a rather sensitive area was lightly kissed.
He moved back, pushing the phone into Chris’s hand, glowering at his smirking lover.
“Larabee…. Hey, Buck….yes…. yeah, right… we’ll be over soon… no, had a call from Drew… yeah…” Chris rolled his eyes. “Yes, Mom.” With that he hung up, looking up at the vampire. “Buck. He said to quit playing with each other and come over to Josiah’s.”
Ezra laughed. “But playtime was so much fun,” he purred.
Chris drew him down into a gentle kiss. “It was. We’ll keep the rest for later…. When we can take our time….”

Ten minutes later they were dressed and on their way.

* * *

“There’s nothing more I can do or say or teach,” Cross said as the five men sat in the Grotto, each nursing a glass of beer, soda or a hot drink. “You know all there is to know and a lot you still have to discover on your own. Some things are different in every wolf.”
Vin played with a peanut. It was a week after full moon and Cross had announced his departure a few days ago. He had no idea how the Mountie had explained his absence from work anyway and he had expected the man to leave a lot earlier, but as it was, he was grateful for every day they had spent training. That he had had to work normally had helped as well. Chris had not taken him off the regular schedule, something Paul had particularly requested. It was important that Vin was confronted with his normal life in addition to the training.
“Thank you for everything,” the geologist said softly. “It’s appreciated. More than I can tell you, actually.”
The Mountie smiled. “I know how important training is to a young wolf. You are a very lucky man, Vin. You not only have a partner who knows what you are, but you also have friends that support you.” He looked at Ezra and Chris, nodding his thanks.
Chris shrugged. “Vin’s my friend.” That was all there was to say for him.
“Many say the same, but when confronted with the reality of the change, the words are nullified. You had the advantage of knowing Mr. Standish prior to the events. It opened your mind.”
“When will you leave?” Vin wanted to know.
“My flight’s tomorrow around noon. You have my number and an address where you can most likely reach me. Vin, if you ever feel like you need some distance, you can drop by. The Territories are a vast open land. If you don’t mind the primitive conditions, they make a great vacation spot.”
“He’s the outdoors type,” Buck said, a fond look in his eyes. “Give him a rock and he’s happy.”
Vin chuckled. “Thanks for the invitation. I might just come back on it.”

· * *

“This is not a good idea. Have I mentioned that it isn’t a good idea?”
Vin paced the length of the briefing room, turned, paced back, turned. He shoved his hands into his pockets, pulled them out again, fumbled around, pushed them back in. Buck, who sat in his usual chair, watched his lover silently. He had known the man long enough to see when Vin wanted the comfort of someone else, a touch, a reassuring smile, and when not. Right now, it was the latter. He wanted to pace, he needed to pace, and he needed to talk to himself.
“Won’t work,” Tanner went on, stopping. “It’s not like with Ezra… or Chris telling them about him and Ez…”
He exhaled explosively.
“I won’t be able to through with this!”
Now was the time. Buck smiled slightly. “You will, Vin. I know you will. They are our friends and colleagues and they need to know. This is crucial.”
“I know, I know.” Wide, blue eyes met Buck’s. “I’m just… you know… it’s difficult!” Another exhalation.
Wilmington was somehow reminded of their coming out years ago, when Vin had been likewise nervous, but for completely other reasons.
The door opened and Ezra walked in, giving the two men a brief smile. “Chris is here as well,” he answered the unspoken question. “The others are coming.”
Chris was next into the room, taking in the nervous geologist, who still hadn’t sat down. “Vin?” he questioned softly.
“I’m fine,” was the immediate reply.
“Uh-huh.”
Ezra grinned and Buck mirrored the grin. It was quite clear that Vin was everything but fine. Tanner almost jumped back when the others filed into the room. Nathan looked curious, Josiah held an expression of quiet expectation, and JD was tagging along. He appeared like someone had forced him out of his beloved cubicle and away from his precious computers. Buck chuckled to himself. It was probably what had happened.
“What’s the crisis?” the hacker wanted to know, chewing on a gum.
“Sit,” Chris only said, shooting Vin a pointed look.
The geologist shook his head and remained standing. Larabee hesitated, then nodded almost imperceptibly toward the chair again. Vin finally slid into it, appearing like he wanted to melt into the floor.
“Okay, people. We lately had some changes here, some of which you are already aware of.” Chris shot Ezra a look and the vampire raised an eyebrow. He was sitting in one of the extra chairs, suspiciously close to where Vin was fidgeting around. “But some of which you aren’t,” he added.
“Ezra becoming a member of the team?” JD hazarded a guess.
Standish laughed. “Good heavens, no!”
Josiah grinned. “Having Chris 24/7 can be a bit taxing.”
Chris shot him a dirty look while Ezra just chuckled. “I assure you, it’s not that. I just have enough to do without having to follow the rules and regulations of law enforcement work.”
“As if you would,” Chris muttered under his breath.
It earned him a bright smile. “Try me,” Ezra remarked.
Chris cleared his throat. “No, it has nothing to do with Ezra, or the vampire community for that,” he said out loud. “JD, you remember the accident you and Vin had on your way back from the Miller case?”
JD nodded. “Yeah. I ran over that poor dog,” he sighed. “Why?”
“Wasn’t a dog.”
“Uh, it looked like one.”
Chris smiled wryly. “JD, it was a wolf.”
“What?” the younger man exclaimed. “But… A wolf? In Salt Lake?”
“Maybe from the zoo,” Josiah guessed.
“No, not from the zoo. This wolf was no one’s pet or some kind of live exhibit.” Chris gazed at the table top, then faced the three men. “It was a werewolf.”
Stunned silence reigned the room. Nathan was the first to find his voice.
“Werewolf? C’mon, Chris! That’s… it’s… legends and myths and stories told to children! Werewolves don’t really exist….”
Ezra coughed slightly, smiling as the pathologist looked at him.
“Okay, so there are vampires,” Nathan conceded. “But you are human and it can be called a blood condition…” He shook his head. “You want me to believe that there are animals that can change their shape to look human?”
“No, there are some humans who change their shape into a wolf,” Ezra corrected calmly.
“Ohmigosh! It bit Vin!” JD suddenly exclaimed, wide eyes coming to rest on the to still very silent man.
Josiah and Nathan followed his gaze and Jackson frowned.
“This is a joke, right? You can’t in all honesty want to tell me that….!”
Josiah’s hand on his arm stopped him. The psychologist had watched Tanner shrink back at the words and tone of voice.
“It is true,” he only stated.
Buck nodded as Sanchez shot him an inquisitive look. “It is,” he said softly.
JD gaped at Vin. He tried to say something, but no sound left his mouth.
“Vin was bitten by a werewolf and he went through the change the following full moon,” Chris explained. “He was a wolf for three days.”
“That’s why you called in sick.” Josiah looked at Buck. “Both of you.”
Wilmington nodded.
“We just had full moon again,” JD managed, finding his voice.
Another nod.
“Oh.”
Vin sighed softly as silence fell. “I know this is a bit much for you,” he finally spoke up. He visibly steeled himself for their reactions.
Nathan looked thoughtfully at him. “A complete bodily transformation?” he queried.
Vin nodded. “Yeah.”
“Fascinating.”
Buck rolled his eyes. “Come off it, Mr. Spock, you won’t be poking and prodding him!”
Nathan shot him an indignant look. “I wasn’t….”
“Uh-huh.”
Vin gave him a small smile. “It’s not something I would want others to see,” he confessed. “It’s… not nice.”
“At least now,” Ezra spoke up calmly. “With time and more training, it’ll be smoother, faster and soon completely painless.”
“Nothing has changed, guys,” Vin added, almost pleading. “I’m still me.”
“No one said otherwise,” Josiah told him calmly. “It’s a change, but you are our friend, Vin Tanner. Thank you for telling us.” He smiled.
Vin ran a hand through his hair. “Didn’t want you to find out the wrong way. Thinking I’m some kind of… monster.” He gazed at the table.
“So you’re a wolf.” JD chewed on his gum some more. “’Kay.” A shrug. “Ezra’s a vampire.” Another shrug. “Cool.”
Buck gave a snort of laughter, but relief was in his eyes and he shot the youngest of the team a grateful smile.
“Collect the whole set, hm?” Ezra remarked, amusement audible.
Chris chuckled, but there was still a serious expression in his eyes. “People, this is important. No one outside this team knows yet. I’ve to talk to Travis about this as well, since Vin can’t be on sick leave three days every month.”
Everyone nodded.
“You know,” Josiah remarked with a grin, “I kinda have to think back to when you two came out… somehow rings a bell here, hm?”
“That was easier,” Vin sighed, but he had to grin, remembering that occasion as well.
They had met at Chris’s place, neutral ground, as he had called it. And while the others had shown equal reactions – surprise, mild shock, curiosity – Vin had felt much less nervous back then. Their coming out had simply meant telling the others that he had been bi and had recently discovered that the bi had a tendency to the same-sex relationship, namely Buck. That they had a steady relationship. The whole werewolf aspect didn’t really compare.
“Okay, everyone,” Chris broke the reminiscent mood. “I know there will be more questions in the future and Vin will answer them, but don’t crowd. If you discover any problems you have, talk to me first. Understood?”
The three men nodded.
Vin sank back into his chair after they had left, exhaling softly and closing his eyes. Buck placed a hand on one thigh and rubbed it gently.
“I’m fine,” Tanner murmured. He opened his eyes and gave his lover a smile. “This went a whole lot better than I thought. Though I still think Nathan’ll be on me like flies on a corpse the moment the had time to think it all over.”
Buck grimaced at the analogy. “Well, if he bugs you, tell him to push off,” he remarked.
Vin chuckled. His eyes turned to look at Chris, who was watching him closely. “I’m fine, cowboy,” he told his friend. “When will you tell Travis?”
“I have an appointment tomorrow.”
Vin sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face. “Well, good luck then,” he muttered.
The hand on his knee squeezed. “It’ll be okay,” Buck murmured.
He could only pray it would.

· * *

Orrin Travis looked around the townhouse, nodding to himself. He had only once been at Ezra’s old place, which was now nothing but a burned out ruin and probably already torn down. This was place wasn’t much bigger than the former house, but with a larger main room and a smaller kitchen. What a vampire needed a kitchen for had always been a mystery to him. A spiral staircase led from the middle of the living room to the upper floor. There was a terrace and a small garden out back. All windows had blinds.
“Nice place.”
“Thank you, Orrin,” Ezra replied and held out a beer to him. Travis had declined anything stronger. “So why are you here? I doubt this is a social visit.”
The Assistant Director sipped at the cold brew. “Chris Larabee had an appointment with me this morning,” he said calmly, letting his gaze wander out the large floor to ceiling windows that made up part of the main room. The blinds were open and the sunset was breathtaking from here. “He told me something quite remarkable about a member of his team.”
Ezra raised both eyebrows, silently waiting for more. Travis smiled slightly.
“I take it you already know what happened to Agent Tanner.”
“Yes, I was… very involved in the events as of late,” Ezra said calmly.
Travis snorted. He was still trying to cope with the revelation of this morning when one of his team leaders, namely Chris Larabee, had revealed to him that Vin Tanner had been bitten by a werewolf. That Vin Tanner had become a werewolf. That he had already gone through two forced changes. Travis smiled as he remembered the expression in the hazel eyes, the set features, how Chris was ready to bring up a volley of arguments and threats should Travis so much as try to take Vin off the team.
“Involved, hm?”
“Orrin, I didn’t bite him,” the vampire said with a small smirk.
The AD looked at the very relaxed man and shook his head.
“And even if you had never asked me to help out with the vampire murders,” Standish went on, “JD might still have run over that wolf and Vin would still have been bitten.”
Travis sank into a seat and ran a hand through his hair.
“Do you have a problem with Mr. Tanner’s condition?”
He laughed softly. “His condition? No. I don’t even rightly know what it means.”
“It means that your agent can shift his shape willingly to a wolf form. It means that he has to shift shape every full moon, and, in the beginning, also the day before and after. It means no change for Mr. Tanner or the team. Orrin, he is still himself.” Ezra tilted his head slightly, giving his old friend a narrow-eyed look.
Travis answered the look, holding the green gaze for a while, then he nodded. “Okay. It’s funny, you know. I’d feel much better about this if Vin Tanner was a vampire.”
Ezra chuckled. “Only because you know a bit more about vampires than werewolves, Orrin.”
“Seeing that I know zilch about werewolves…”
“…and zilch plus one about vampires,” Standish teased.
Travis smiled. “I guess I have to wait and see.”
“I guess so, too.”
“You’ll hang around to keep an eye on things?”
Ezra nodded. “I intend to, yes.”
The AD emptied his beer. “Good.” He planned with the empty can. “I still have no clue as to what to do, really. What are his limits? Where can’t I use him?”
Ezra chuckled. “Neither does he. Vin has to learn his own limits, too. And as I told you already, he is still the same. See it as a challenge.”
Travis laughed. “It’s a challenge alright.”
Ezra only smiled brightly.

* * *

It was two weeks after the revelation of Vin’s change and work had gone on as normal. There had been a few awkward moments when curious questions had been a bit too much for Vin, but Chris thought that everything was going to be fine. It was throughout those ten work days that he had had the idea to change their annual weekend vacation as a team to an earlier date.  They needed some off time, as a group, especially with Vin among them, and it was the best idea he had to do just that.
Vin’s eyes lit up at the proposal. “I know the perfect place,” he announced.
Buck groaned. “Uh-huh. If junior here has a go at it, we’ll end up in a cave again, digging for whatnot!”
Vin elbowed him, eliciting a yelp. “You confessed later that it was fun.”
“Later. After I had my knees scraped raw, my hands had been skinned and I nearly drowned.”
“Wuss.”
Josiah shook his head with a fond expression in his eyes.
Chris just smiled. “Well, let’s hear that idea, Vin…”
 

To be continued in Memento Mori