Just a Walk in the Park

[OOG: Continued from The Kokomo Motel]

So they paired up in the same pairs they were assigned to in their rooms and headed off to the local park. This was where the body had been found and thus the easiest place to pick up a trail. Jay was running around with the resident hottie; meanwhile, Garret had been paired with Reggie, because it seemed like nobody noticed there was tension between them. Of course, if Reggie hadn’t said anything to him about C.C., and hadn’t said anything to C.C. about C.C., then why would Garret assume he’d told anyone else?

When it came to the search, the plan was simple. One of the pair would be human, the other in wolf form. The wolf’s job was to sniff and track. The human’s job was to run interference so nobody called animal control on them. Reggie having a preternatural sense of smell even for a werewolf meant he was doing it doggy style. That left Reggie to pretend to be taking him for a walk. OK, it was kind of gratifying. Right until he had made a “sit” joke and Reggie had nipped him in the Achilles. That freaking hurt!

At least with Reggie on all fours, Garret didn’t have to listen to him whine about C.C. OK, he could whine, but he couldn’t talk. And friends or no, Reggie and Garret hadn’t spent all that much time together in wolf form, so Garret could reasonably plead ignorance to what he was whining about. It may have been C.C., probably was, but it also could have been whining about being nose down in some townie dog’s offal. It was really hard to tell the difference.

As it was, Garret was ready to start whining, mostly about not finding anything. They’d been criss-crossing this park for what seemed like hours. Both teams working independently, calling back to Quinn periodically who was working in a command and control function. He was ostensibly working from the Expedition in the parking lot, but Garret hadn’t seen the parking lot in over an hour. For all he knew, Quinn had hightailed it over to a bar and was taking his phone calls while sucking on a longneck. It’s what Garret would have done.

In fact, Garret was starting to think of doing it now. If they were just going to walk aimlessly around the park, a cold frosty was a much better option. Not to mention it would give him a better shot at meeting a shapely adorable, which would hopefully make C.C. jealous, which was always a good thing - at least at this stage in the game. In later stages, it was only occasionally a good thing. Gotta’ keep ‘em on their toes you know.

Garret was just dialing in his sense of direction to figure out how to get back to the parking lot when Reggie yipped. Garret laughed despite himself. “Dude, are you a wolf or a Chihuahua? Yipe-yipe-yipe-yipe.”

That elicited a growl. Garret held his hands up to signify a truce. Reggie stared at him for a minute, then shook his head, and bounded off a few steps towards the bay. He walked back to Garret and bounded off again. He’d found something and wanted to follow it. Of course, Garret couldn’t let it be that easy. Where would the fun be in that? “What’s that Lassie? Timmy fell down the well again? Well lead on, girl!”

Reggie just stood there and stared at him. It was probably better that he couldn’t speak at that particular moment. Garret pulled out his cell and punched up Quinn. “Reg’s got something…well, he seems excited…yeah, everything but humping my leg…on it, bro.” Hanging up his phone, Garret turned to his partner and said, “OK, he says we follow the trail, call back if we find anything. So far, no action on the other side of the park yet.”

Reggie bounded off into the woods, leaving Garret to try and chase him on foot. About the third branch that hit him in the face took all the fun out of the chase.

C.C. shivered, dipping her chin into the high collar of the raincoat and glaring into the deluge. She and Jay had only been walking for a matter of minutes but she was already soaked. She'd started with the hood up, but found out all too quickly that the rain spatter against the waterproof fabric was too loud, and the decreased peripheral vision too great of a risk. Meaning the parka served essentially no purpose other than to conceal her gun. Worthwhile, sure. But no real comfort from the storm. She was dry from her feet to her knees, courtesy of her boots, but it was only a matter of time before her rain-sodden jeans wicked the moisture all the way down to her ankles.

"This blows," she muttered.

Jay gave a cheerful yip in answer, tongue lolling from his mouth as he grinned.

"Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up, Furball," she scowled. "That'll soak through eventually too."

They walked on.

Somewhere, Reggie and Garret did the same. But for all her senses could tell, she and Jay were on their own. Except…

C.C. froze, ears perked. There were footsteps on the path up ahead, around the bend to her left. Then there was light. Blinded, she lifted her hand to shield her eyes from the flashlight's glare. "You mind?" she called.

"Sorry," came the woman's voice. The footsteps came closer as the light was lowered. C.C. caught a glimpse of a badge over the shiny black of a PD-issue slicker. "Capra, right?"

C.C. squinted, then nodded, the voice and uniform finally registering a name. "Officer Cooper. What brings you out on a night like this?"

"Could ask you the same question," the other woman said. C.C. could barely see her face, but the puzzled frown was clear in her tone.

"Oh, you know," C.C. shrugged. The M4 she'd been so sure she'd concealed suddenly felt largely conspicuous. "Walking the dog."

"You don't think you're maybe forgetting about something?"

Shit. C.C. felt in her pocket for the warrant she'd printed out. A real warrant, trumped up by fake rumors. It was there, but that didn't explain why the cop was asking. Even with it, the gun was just barely legal. But she had been so sure it was covered... "Uh, look, Officer…"

Cooper moved to one knee in front of Jay, holding out her palm before running her hands through the thick scruff of fur at his neck. "I don't want to give you a hard time on this; he seems like a sweetheart--" she paused to chuckle as Jay licked her neck. "-- but it's for his safety too, you know? There's some dangerous wildlife this far into the grounds."

Lady, you don't know the half of it. "You're right. I guess I just… wasn't thinking."

Cooper nodded, giving Jay a final pat before rising. He wagged his tail. "No ticket this time," she told him. "But next time, I want to see a leash on you, Buddy." At that, he hunched his furry shoulders, pouting, his ears flattened against his head.

"Thanks, Officer," C.C. said. "I'll be sure he wears one."

With a tip of her plastic covered cap, Cooper was on her way. C.C. lingered, fiddling with her cell phone, waiting to establish the other woman's direction, then headed off on her own.

* * * * *

It was getting late, and the search was getting nowhere.

In her pocket her phone buzzed.

"Thank god," she muttered, looking at the caller ID. "Quinn. We calling this thing or what?"

They weren't.

C.C. listened, silent, then grunted her goodbye and pocketed the phone. When she still didn't move, a cold nose nudged against her hand. She looked down, meeting Jay's questioning gaze. "Reggie and Garret found something..."

Jay stamped his paw against the path, urging her to finish her sentence. She ignored him, her eyes fixed on the darkness of the path ahead, and the dark shadow at its center. The six-foot-plus hulk of a shadow that hadn't been there moments before, that stood as still as she, and was unmistakably wolf in scent. Not pack. Jay noticed a moment later, hackles rising along his spine to prickle against the tips of her fingers. "Yeah, I see him too," she murmured. Her heart thundered in her chest. Despite Jay's presence at her side, without someone capable of verbal reassurance, she couldn't shake the feeling of isolation and danger that burrowed into her like some foreign and unwelcome thing.

The winds shifted, and suddenly they were upwind instead of down. She froze, hand reaching for her gun, bracing herself for the inevitable attack, when, to her surprise, the stranger turned on his heel and ran, sprinting back the way he'd come.

Instinct kicked in, a switch thrown that she'd been unaware she had. Predator turned to prey, and the wolf in her lived for nothing more than the chase. The stranger ran, and C.C. followed.

Jay was faster. On four legs, the massive wolf passed her easily, and C.C. could see he had almost closed the gap to their quarry as the pair rounded a bend in the narrow trail. She lost sight of them for only seconds when a sharp yelp came from just out of sight. She sprinted forward, caught a glimpse of Jay getting back to his feet, shaking himself off, and the stranger ready to turn. In a flash, she pulled the M4 from under her coat, the stock ready at her shoulder. "Don't move," she barked, charging the weapon. "Don't you fucking move."

When he obeyed, she was almost disappointed.

"Down on your knees," she ordered, moving forward. Jay fell into a defensive crouch at her left, teeth bared.

"You're making a big mistake," he growled, but acquiesced, sinking slowly to the ground with a grace she wouldn't have expected from a man his size.

Another swirling gust of wind sent a sheet of rain into her face. She shook her head, blinking the water out of her eyes, while the man turned his face to it, head upturned. Fucking weird. She didn't like the idea of taking the gun off of him, but someone needed to call Quinn, and she somehow doubted it was going to be Scooby-Doo.

"You got this?" she asked Jay. He barked and inched forward. Suppose we'll call that a yes. She shrugged, lowering her weapon, and reached for her phone.

The stranger was a blur. One second, he was on his knees, the next, he was up. Something solid, either his skull or an ACME brand anvil, connected with the solid bone over her eye, followed by a shoulder check that sent her stumbling backwards, and then she was falling, her footing lost to wet leaves and a steep decline. Amid the clatter of branches as she fell, she heard Jay snarl, a shout, caught glimpses of light-coloured fur, and then she hit bottom, and everything went black.

[OOG: From Storm Front]

Victor faced a serious trick he had to pull off. First he was a large man chasing a rather petite, and cute, woman. He knew exactly what everybody that saw this little show would be thinking - and it sure wouldn’t be in his favor. If you people only knew what I was chasing. The roads were luckily mostly clear, but he couldn’t count on that. All it took was one car with a cell phone driving by and the jig was up. He’d lose his opportunity having to save his own neck. So instead he hung back, keeping at least a half block behind her while she ran through town. He counted on his ears and nose to find her when she turned a corner before him. In these easy streets it was pretty easy stuff.

He bided his time as he kept the pursuit just hot enough for her to keep running. He wanted to keep the pressure on. Most people crack under pressure and sooner or later make a mistake. This mutt bitch would do the same. She’d run home, giving him all the time in the world to come up with a plan to get her out. She’d run into a busy building. He had plenty of time to wait her out.

Or she could do worse for herself. She could run into the dark, wet, empty park. The park he’d learned rather well the night before running from those damn police dogs. Victor had to keep from whooping in delight. The bitch was playing right into his hands.

Victor kept following her, picking up his pace to match hers. He heard and smelled the people she ran into before she got to them, so he was able to hang back and avoid looking to suspicious. It was just enough to keep him out of trouble. Finally, she cut off the paths and into the forest. It was just what he needed. He picked up to a full run and went wide of her, remaining downwind so he could find her but not the other way around.

A quick side path he remembered from the other night led him into a collision course with her. He came up as quietly as he could to the clearing where she was standing, managing to sneak up on her as she gazed at the empty path behind her. As she turned back, he reached out to grab her. He was done playing chase.

“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” he growled at her, not really expecting an answer.

He could see it all in her eyes. The terror of what he would do to her. The resignation of prey realizing it’s about to be eaten. The glimmer of hope as she looked over his shoulder. The recognition as she called out, “Help!”

Crap. I thought we were alone. Victor had to loosen his grip some to not look like he was in the middle of assaulting her (the fact that he was notwithstanding at the moment). He turned over his shoulder to see someone running at them. Zoe jerked her arm free and ran off, Victor frozen by the approaching rescuer.

It took a moment for him to realize the rescuer was not actually a rescuer. It was a stupid jogger. He seemed lost in thought and singing along to Rick James in his earphones as he jogged by and actually smiled at Victor. He was human, supposedly, so Victor just let him go, despite every nerve in his body telling him to rip the man’s throat to shreds. Instead, Victor waited until the man went around another bend in the trail and then picked back up on the trail.

The rain wasn’t making it easy. She was out of sight and sound range already. This time she had been smart enough to run with the wind, so he had only her trail to follow, and the rain wasn’t making that easy. It was smearing the trail, making it indistinct and running it together with other, older trails through the forest.

Victor did his best, however, but the trail made no sense. It went around in circles, doubling back on itself like she was trying to get away, but it never went back out of the woods. She must have been panicking. He’d almost caught her once and it had sent her over the edge. As long as she was panicking, she’d make another mistake. He just had to follow and wait.

As he followed the trail, the wind abruptly switched directions. New scents hit his nose - two wolves, neither of them her - and they were standing just at the top of the rise. One was in human form, a woman, and the other in full-on wolf mode. Two together, it had to be Pack. Mutts rarely got together and certainly not in any real organized fashion. Pack was trouble he wanted nothing of, certainly not tonight. He froze for a moment, hoping they hadn’t seen him.

He saw the woman reaching for something hanging off her shoulder. It looked like a rifle. So much for not being seen. Victor took off. He had a head start and had to pray it would be enough, pray the wolf would not leave the woman alone, pray he could escape tonight like he had from the dogs before.

Victor ran as fast as he ever had before, reaching for freedom and comforting darkness once again. He reached too far though, trying to take a corner his foot slid in the mud, dumping on his back. He got back up to his feet just in time to hear the wolf pounce. He tried to duck, falling back to the mud-soaked ground. But he managed to use the wolf’s momentum against him, turning the pounce into a throw that ended in the trunk of a tree.

The wolf yelped in some combination of pain and surprise, but didn’t stay down. He got up, just as the woman came into the clearing. The woman brandishing the military hardware from her shoulder.

“Don’t move,” she said. “Don’t you fucking move.”

Victor contemplated taking off again, counting on the rain and poor footing to throw off her shot. The look in her eyes convinced him this was a poor idea at best. He didn’t fucking move.

She ordered him down on his knees. Slowly he sank back down to the mud once again. He was really starting to hate that mud as the wet and cold began seeping through his jeans. “You’re making a big mistake,” he tried to explain. I’m out here doing what’s supposed to be your job, cleaning out the mutts.

The wind changed again, bringing rain and cold into his face. It brought a new scent as well, though. Or rather, an old scent, her scent. He looked in that direction as he longed to pick back up the chase.

He could hear the wolf behind him, but he kept his eyes on the bitch with the gun. It looked like an M4, a cut off version of the standard M16. If she hit him, the bullet might never leave his body. In his rib cage it could ostensibly bounce around of his bones like a gory pinball game until its kinetic energy was spent. He really didn’t want to get shot.

Eventually she decided that the wolf could cover him. Even then he didn’t take his eyes off her. The wolf was a known entity. His chance would come with the human. And come it did. She lowered her weapon and reached into her pocket. Her hands away from the instrument of death he sprung. He didn’t care to catch himself, only to lay into her. He connected with the top his head into her temple, following through with his shoulder.

The hit got her just right and she was sent rolling down the hill unable to catch herself. Right behind him he heard the wolf pounce again, this time Victor rolled onto his back to try and catch him. He managed to reach out with one hand and keep the chomping jaws from his throat, but had no defense for the claws starting to tear up his chest and shoulders. With his off hand, he risked loosening his grip and reached down for the knife on his belt.

He could smell the wolf’s fetid breath as he pushed his jaws closer. Just as his hand on the wolf’s neck started to slip, his knife came free. He ducked his head to the side as he rammed the knife into the wolf’s shoulder. He twisted it as he tried to scramble to his feet. The wolf yelped and jumped back.

Victor wasn’t wasting any time. It was time to get the hell out of Dodge. He hated to let that mutt bitch he’d been chasing go, but he didn’t know how long it would take the woman or her wolf friend to recover, and he couldn’t take any chances. Tonight he had to settle for saving his own skin.

In the days to come Jay would relive the events of the night. Wonder where he went wrong, how he could have fucked up so huge. They had found their target, a huge line backer sized mutt with a mug not even a mother could love. There he was, on his knees in the mud, his throat exposed and theirs for the taking. So where did it go wrong?

In wolf form Jay was a force to be reckoned with. The threat of his sharp canines and lightening reflexes should have been enough to keep the mutt in line. But then who ever said mutts were smart. Still Jay should have been on him, when he lunged at C.C. Jay should have been on top of him and had him eating mud. Was it distraction? Did a ghost of a memory tap him on the shoulder and whisper to him about a picnic that had occurred under these very same trees so very long along. Was it the sound of the wind through the bushes that demanded for a split second to turn his gaze away from his adversary? Or had nature and the earth betrayed him with its slick muddy surface. Deep down Jay knew it was because he was no longer the wolf he used to be. And because of this he let down his pack mate.

In that split second when the mutt sprang at C.C. Jay was a flash or two behind him, for whichever reason, but he was too slow and he watched in rage as C.C. was knocked back and down. With a snarl of fury Jay fell upon the mutt, who had rolled onto his back as he followed through on his lunge and fell upon the ground.

Sharp teeth snapped inches from the bare white throat. Only the mutts quick reflexes kept his larynx intact. As Jay strained to fix that his claws raked and dug into the werewolf's clothes and beneath that his stinking carcass. A red haze filled Jay as he mauled him causing him to miss the knife that came towards him.

Pain blistered through his shoulder and into his chest. He could almost feel the muscle tear as the blade twisted. With an agonized yelp Jay jumped back before more damage could be done. His legs gave out as he hit the mud where he landed, his body unable to right itself as it convulsed from the shock of the violation.

Free of the wolf the mutt quickly scrambled to his feet and ran quickly taking a corner out of sight. Jays eyes fell to C.C. who lay unmoving a few feet away, it took a moment but he caught the delicate rise and fall of her chest. Biting off a growl Jay rose and took off after the mutt on all fours. He had a head start though and as Jay ran his front right leg screamed in agony. Impotent rage forced him on though, demanding blood payment for the attack on his packmate and himself.

Taking a corner on the wet cement path his prey came into view and the sight urged him to move faster, but his leg was wobbly and before his could stop himself it gave out beneath him and he went down hard crashing into a bench along the path. Jay laid there stunned for a few moments and cautiously moving each limb. It didn't seem he had sustained any further injury. As he rose slowly a wave of fear swept through him. What if the mutt doubled back? C.C. was still there unconscious. Whimpering as he put weight down on his leg Jay moved in a limping run back to his fallen pack mate.

He was relieved to see she was there alone but disturbed to see her still unmoving. She lay on her side, her arms and legs askew and her hair plastered to her face. Dipping his head Jay pressed his cold nose to her cheek but she didn't even twitch. Watching her chest for the familiar raise and fall he assured himself she was still breathing and hadn't stopped in the time he had taken off in his failure to catch up to the mutt. Throwing back his head Jay let out a deep sonorous howl, letting loose his fury and pain.

With his shoulder still bleeding Jay lay down next to C.C. and lay his head on her side, trying to keep her warm until the others found them.

***************************************

Pain slowly pulled Jay from sleep, when he moved he found himself stiff and sore. He rubbed his eyes trying to clear them of sleep. He looked over to the bedside where the dimly lit digital clock claimed it was 7:23am. Rubbing his forehead Jay run through the events of the night.

The rain finally started to lighten up when a figure appeared down the path. Jay growled as he rose to stand protectively over C.C. It wasn't until the man drew closer that Jay backed down. Quinn went directly to C.C. and gently started to examine her. A small whine escaped the wolfs throat.

"I think she's okay. Just knocked out." Quinn assured him over his shoulder.

Running steps echoed behind them and Jay turned his head already knowing it was Reggie, the wind carrying his scent to him this time, Garret wasn't too far behind him. Dropping to his knees Reggie gently cradled C.C. Jay hung his head as Garret stopped next to him. "What happened?"

Jay huffed, not being able to answer. Weakness and failure happened.

"I'll look around. Make sure we're alone." Garret stepped back and moved towards the trees.

Satisfied for the moment that C.C. was okay Quinn came over to Jay and started to look him over. He made a noise as he found the wound on his shoulder. "You'll have to Change before I can look at that." He looked around at the woods. "Did you want Garret to run back and get your clothes from the truck?"

Jay whined and stepped back and sat on his haunches. He didn't want to Change in the cold wet woods, he didn't want to explain how he had let C.C. get hurt.

Quinn nodded. "Okay we'll wait till we get back to the motel."

Garret returned giving the all clear and Reggie rose to his feet with C.C. in his arms. They moved as quickly as they could back to the SUV and after Jay jumped in the back they took off for the Kokomo.

When they had returned to the motel Jay had changed in the bathroom, more precisely the bath tub as it had more room. The knife wound had shifted with his Change and was on his lower back shoulder. It burned and when Jay moved his shoulder it zinged with pain.

Quinn had patched him up as Jay recounted to the others what had happened. When he got to the part of letting the mutt get the jump on C.C. he didn't hide the fact that he had been too slow to react. Quinn had merely watched him quietly. After that Jay had been ordered to sleep and so he had.

Now Jay stared up at a large splotchy brown stain on the ceiling, he didn't want to know what was leaking from the room above. Raising slowly as to not to jostle his shoulder he looked over at the other bed in the room. C.C. lay quietly. The night before she had finally come around. Just in time for Quinn to reset her dislocated shoulder. That had earned him a few choice curses.

A chair was pulled up close to the bed. Reggie's legs stretched out before him, his arms crossed and his chin touching his chest as he slept. Jay hadn't realized he had stuck around last night but he supposed Quinn didn't want to leave two injured without protection.

A noise caught Jay's attention and he saw that C.C's eyes were blinking open as she started to stir awake.

"Hey." She said drowsily catching sight of him.

"Hey." Jay responded with a small smile that quickly disappeared. He turned and moved to the side of the bed, sliding off it onto his knees as leaned over to reach for C.C's hand, she frowned at him.

"C.C." He breathed, guilt churning through him. "I'm so sorry...."

"Jay!" C.C. pulled her hand out of his. "Stop. It wasn't..."

"It was." Jay stopped her, his eyes looked down at the worn green comforter. "I was supposed to have your back and I fucked up and that mutt got to you." His voice was quiet and harsh at the same time.

"I said stop." She gripped his hand roughly. "Listen to me, I'm the one who fucked this up, alright? I never should have taken my gun off of him in first place. He caught me off guard. I slipped. None of this was your fault.""

He stared at her aghast and disbelieving all at once. It was his fault. He screwed up and got them both hurt. She was either suffering from a concussion or just trying to make him feel better. Before Jay could argue a yawn drew both their attention.

Reggie eyed them both blearily noting C.C's hand holding Jay's who just happened to still be on his knees. "Something I need to know about?"

"No, just talking politics." C.C. spoke up. He caught them exchanging a look but Jay couldn't decipher it. It was probably something like "don't upset him, he's so fragile". A sick feeling pooled in Jay's stomach. It was true and it left him feeling helpless and angry and just a bit lost.

Reggie nodded. "Well in that case I think I'll make a run and pick up some breakfast." He rose to his feet and stretched. "And after some pancakes, donuts, croissants, eggs, bacon and cinnamon rolls we'll figure out how to take that son of a bitch mutt down."

[OOG: Continued back at The Kokomo]