Transformation

[Acorn]

Leon, for one, was glad to be away from them all — especially Jackson. There was something brewing just beneath the surface between them, and he had enough foresight to expect that things would boil over eventually. He'd prefer it happen later, so he didn't have to be urged to leave. He kept up with Rita, also quiet as they walked to her apartment and even after, as she retrieved all the supplies she needed to patch him up as promised.

He smiled as he watched her begin to bandage his shoulder, and couldn't help but think about the first night they'd met when she'd cleaned and bandaged his other shoulder (the one she still swore she hadn't shot, despite the scar he bore as testimony). Her fingers were as sure and nimble as they had been then, and he was just as grateful for her assistance. But a lot had happened since then; they'd opened up to one another, were at ease and comfortable in each other's presence, and he was relaxed and mostly dressed instead of humiliated and entirely naked.

When she finished off the bandage, he pulled his shirt over his head and shuffled back so he was sitting in a more comfortable reclined position on the couch.

After his head made contact with the cushion, he took a moment to mull over everything Rita had said, his eyes unfocused and his eyebrows lifting and falling as thoughts flitted past. "Definitely don't think it was a werewolf," he agreed. "Thing bit me and just seemed like it wanted blood, didn't really chew on me much, but I guess I didn't taste very good. Should've seen his face before he tore off. Looked like he'd gotten a hold of sour milk or something."

Leon laughed, but then rubbed his shoulder and sighed, his expression becoming somber again as he thought about Jenny and how she'd rushed them out. "I have no idea what they're up to, but we could look, couldn't we? Can we get to all those files from here? Do you have a work computer or something?"

 

[Meraki]

"No, I'm not sure we could," Rita shook her head, not defeated but knowing all too well that they wouldn't get anywhere with it tonight. "If Jenny doesn't want us to see it, I won't get clearance. I could try to get in, but my laptop is still at work. I didn't even think twice about leaving it when Jenny snapped at us."

But Rita never forgot. Over the next two weeks, her and Leon spoke in the safety of her apartment about what they had witnessed that night. There was no follow up, no way for Rita to access files that didn't seem to exist on the database. All they had was what they saw and they just had to wait. They had to wait for the opportunity to dig a bit deeper, but Jenny was keeping them plenty busy. Between patrol and paperwork, the two of them had quite a bit to do over the next weeks and at the end of it all came the facility's annual investor's ball. Every year the Enforcers, their investors and donors were brought together to drink, dance and showcase the strides they'd been making in supernatural research and relations.

Last year, Rita's first year, they held the ball on the night of the full moon and put a werewolf on display in the foyer of the ballroom to greet the guests as they entered. It was all a big circus, a spectacle, and everyone was expected to attend. Rita, especially, as she often worked the room while others like Jackson and Jenny took care of security and logistics. People liked to talk to her and Rita used that to her advantage. The only reason Leon's research program was allotted the money to exist was because Rita had managed to score a view major investors last year. While she felt guilty about it, she was glad he was in control now. The end did not justify the means, but she had done everything in her power to make it up to him.

And judging by the fact she woke up entangled in his arms every morning, she would have guessed he didn't care much about how their relationship had stated – just that it had. She felt the same way.

That evening, Rita had barricaded herself in her bedroom and left Leon to the bathroom to get ready. They weren't necessarily running late, but Rita knew she had to move faster tugging the curlers from her hair. For the black tie occasion, Rita had pulled out all the stops with a form fitting black dress. It was floor length with a deep, cutting v down her chest. The fabric was adorned in glitter and geometric designs. It hugged every curve and Rita allowed her curled, brown hair to cascade down over one shoulder. With her makeup done and black heels slipped on, she was just fastening in two diamond studs into her ears to finish it off.

One could never get too dressed up for these things.

"Leon!" she called out to him as she slipped out into the living room and glanced around. The only sign of him was the shuffling coming from the bathroom. "Are you almost done? There's fashionably late and then there's lose our jobs late, and we're just barely teetering on the first."

 

[Acorn]

"No," he answered, his tone plaintive. He'd figured it'd be easy to get dressed in a tuxedo for the event, had imagined he'd be the one waiting on Rita to do whatever it was she did with herself when she wanted to look especially beautiful, but there'd been a hiccup.

The crisp white collar of his shirt was up and he was leaned over the sink counter, peering into the mirror and trying to tie his bow tie for the umpteenth time. He'd looked at guides online, watched videos on Youtube, followed every instruction, but he couldn't get his fingers to loop or pull when they should, and even when he managed, the resulting tie always looked off, lopsided or was puckered weirdly.

His ineptitude, he knew, wasn't entirely his own fault; his dad hadn't exactly been around to teach him and he doubted he would've been the sort to wear bow ties in the first place. He remembered that his grandma had called over their neighbor to help him tie it the one time he'd needed, just before senior prom. Since then, he'd mostly avoided situations where he'd need to dress more formally than in a suit, and even then, he'd found plenty of scenarios where he could avoid even a regular tie.

He undid his bow tie, pulled it off his neck with a sigh, and opened the bathroom door.

"Just how required are ties at a black tie event?" he asked, holding out the long strip of black material.

 

[Meraki]

"Considering it's a black tie event? I would venture to say yes, it's required," Rita laughed as she finished up with her earrings and walked towards the bathroom. No matter how much time they spent together, no matter how much of Leon Rita had seen, seeing him in a suit was a completely different experience. The crisp lines of his shirt accentuated his strong chest and arms, his curled hair tamed just enough to be considered professional, but there was one small snag – his exasperated expression and hand outstretched with a limp bow tie. Rita smiled as she took the bow tie from his hand and reached for his collar.

"Come here," she said warmly, tugging him so he was facing her instead of the mirror. She had been tying bow ties since college – the first ever formal her and Chase went to together. He had showed up to her dorm room wearing a suit and a stupid smile, tie in hand as he begged her to try and figure out what exactly his father was instructing him to do over the phone. Over the years, she got pretty good at it. Tied hundreds of them, really. It was the first time in a while, but it was like riding a bike – she never really forgot how to do it. "You know you can cheat with a clip on, right? They don't look much different so long as you keep your collar down."

But she really didn't mind tying it.

With quick fingers, she focused on his bow tie and expertly twisted and pulled the black silk until it was tied in a bow. She moved to adjust it, tightening the knot just a hair and straightening out either loop. Once it was finished, she moved to slip his collar back down over it, her hands coming down to smooth the shirt out like they always had. It was strange what memories lingered when someone passed away.

"There you go, one black tie for a black tie event," Rita took a step back and handed him his jacket, helping him slip it on. Was he was completely ready, she took a good look at him from head to toe. There was no doubt he was handsome, but Rita had the selfish desire to completely forget the event tonight and spend her time untying that bowtie. But, neither of them could afford to lose a job, so she resisted.

She smiled a bright and warm smile. "Someone cleans up nice."

 

[Acorn]

Leon groaned at her initial response but felt a wave of relief wash over him when she came to his rescue, turning him towards her and setting to work. Leon alternated between watching her fingers as she twisted and pulled the bow tie and looking at her face. He'd never been able to pinpoint what was different about her when she had makeup on, except that all her colors seemed more vibrant; her eyes somehow greener, her lips redder and begging to be kissed.

He smiled at her when she'd finished, and had almost snuck in a kiss to show his gratitude, but she was off and had his jacket. Leon breathed a laugh, a quiet, "thank you" and slid his arms in. After he'd buttoned up — or buckled in, it felt like — he grinned at her.

"I do my best," he said, and took a moment to look at her in her full splendor. His eyes were initially drawn to the flare of her hips and then traced her curves upwards, where they paused to appreciate the open expanse of her dress before they shifted again, following the exposed length of her neck and then finally coming to rest on her face.

Leon didn't do as well as she did at resisting. He went to her, wrapped an arm around her and stole the kiss he'd meant to earlier, then leaned down to kiss the side of her neck not covered by a waterfall of curls.

"You're beautiful," he said, his cheek pressed against hers as he closed his eyes and wrestled with some of the same thoughts she'd had. "Let's say we don't go," he began, "and we get fired. I could get a job as a seeing eye dog or something, and you could be my publicist. Help me with my brand."

 

[Meraki]

Leon made one hell of a compelling argument.

When his lips moved from hers to her pulse point, Rita had to physically brace herself as the sensation hit. As much as she would have loved to spend the next two hours peeling off every single layer they'd just put on, she knew that it was best for them to go. This event was not a small one and their absence would be noticed. She pulled herself back to catch his warm gaze with her own. "A publicist for a seeing eye dog?" she shook her head with a bright smile on her lips, "We're going to have to work on that one. Unfortunately, while we are working on a practical application for your skills, we do have to go. The car's been outside for ten minutes."

She pressed up to capture his lips in another kiss, one that would have to last them the evening. Once they were inside the party, it was imperative for them to not come off too involved. He could escort her, sure, but they were still partners. Stolen touches and leading was fine, but they would have quite a bit of hell to face if someone found them exploring a closet somewhere. "And you're handsome," she breathed out, "and I meant what I said, you do really clean up nice."

That was an understatement. Cool down, Rita.

Slipping slowly from his hold, she slid her hand down to his and entangled their fingers. While they couldn't be too handsy at the event, she intended to get in as many touches as she could. She tugged him out of the apartment, one hand in his and the other wrapped around his arm. It was a warm night out, one that didn't require any semblance of a jacket and the air kissed her skin. They walked out front where there was a black car waiting for them, the driver standing and greeting them warmly before letting them in the car and starting off for the party.

The event was always held at the same ballroom downtown. One of the investors owned it and on nights like tonight it was entirely booked out for the facility's event. Rita let out a small exhale as they pulled up and she saw the familiar steps into the building. The last time she was here, it had only been a few weeks since Chase's passing, but here she was with a different man on her arm, about to make the same walk. It was a strange measure – reminding her that time did pass and while pain did not heal quickly, life went on. "I never get nervous for these things," she admitted, "but for some reason – with everything – I don't know."

She shrugged and pulled her hands from her lap where they had been picking at one another anxiously. "Just don't go too far, okay?" she asked Leon, both for his own good and for her sanity, "These investors are sharks. It's why they're multi-billion dollar company owners and shareholders."

"But," she added with a playful smirk, "there is plenty of wine at these things and if we can get through tonight? I might need a little help getting this dress off when we get home."

 

[Acorn]

The closer they got to their destination, the more he wanted the feel of Rita's hand in his to help keep him anchored and ebb the waves of anxiety he felt crashing into him. He'd never been to an event like the one they were going to, had never worn a tuxedo more than once, and had never mingled with billionaires, but he would likely have to navigate the waters by himself and needed to get used to not being able to reach for her when he needed comfort.

His lips disappeared into a thin line, his palms were sweaty, and he fought back the urge to run his hands through his hair because there was no way he would ever get it back under control if he touched it at all. He looked at Rita, trying to gauge how she felt so he could know how much to dial back his freak-out-meter, and she'd seemed calm enough, but then she mentioned her own misgivings and the dial went up, making him breathe out a puff of air before he looked away to watch the building grow larger as they inched forward in line.

He managed a smile at her when she suggested there'd be light at the end of the tunnel, and he'd be able to peel her out of her dress at the end of the night, but it faded when their car edged forward and stopped again, and he realized it was their turn to get out. The driver got out of the car and Leon took a deep breath that he exhaled out through his lips. The door opened and he looked up and at the driver through the window, though all he could see was the man's chest. There was no turning back now. He stole one last glance of Rita and then scooted out and stood so he could hold his hand out for her.

With her arm hooked through his and his other hand covering hers where it rested on his forearm, he felt calm again. He even worked up a warm smile that he directed at her as they walked up the steps. "I'll stay close," he said, reassuringly, and squeezed her hand.

It was easier said than done, because almost as immediately as they'd entered the building, Rita was swept away from him. He watched helplessly as she was swarmed and dragged away, pulled from one group to the other. Though, the more he watched, the more he realized she was actually working the crowd, pulling away to visit one group or the other.

"Oh, she's good." A woman's voice, husky. He could hear the smile on her lips before he could see it, and he felt the bottom of his stomach drop when he finally did. She had on a black dress with a plummeting neckline, and her red hair was curled and piled atop her head. He recoiled and turned away from her when she placed her hand on his arm, causing him to lose sight of Rita, and she clicked her tongue at him.

"I only wished to pay my compliments," she said, stalking a path around him and reaching up to run a finger along his back as she went, drawing a horizontal line just between his shoulder blades. He clenched his jaw and continued facing forward, trying to remain reactionless because a reaction was all she was there for and fuck her if she thought he'd give her one. "And to let you know there's quite the show lined up tonight. I hear it's transformative."

She was in front of him now, her blue eyes intent on his. "I'll see you then, puppy."

Then Lorelei was gone, and he breathed again.

When a waiter passed with a tray of wine glasses, he grabbed one and drank from it deeply, then started searching the crowd for Rita's familiar form.

 

[Meraki]

"What do you think Rita?"

Rita's green eyes looked up from the crowd and back to the group of salt and peppered men laughing in their little social circle. Without missing a beat, a smile found her lips. "If you're focus Is on an immediate profit, I'm surprised you've even invested at all."

"You really think this is not a lucrative business opportunity?"

"Well it depends on where you stand," she smiled, "Is the act of bringing the supernatural and natural world together lucrative? I'd have to say no, but through our research, we are privatizing the entire process. Perhaps you won't have a global audience, but think of the millions spent on things like hiring out contractors for facility expansion? Investing in us is essentially guaranteeing yourself business at the end of the day. We are always innovating, always changing, and there are very few in the business of providing what it is we need. So, yes, you are investing in a company who needs funding to continue buying your product, but you more than breakeven. In time, the profit far outweighs the initial spending."

The man let a wide smile spread across his face, "What did I tell you boys? Smart and beautiful. What does it take to get a woman like you on my payroll?"

"If you invest," she took a sip of wine, "I essentially am."

The group of men burst out into laughter and Rita let her eyes wander to try and find Leon. He had gone missing almost immediately after arriving and it wasn't his fault. She was pulled away, group by group and lost him in the fray. She had asked him to stay close and she was the one who accidentally strayed. "If you'll excuse me gentlemen," Rita smiled as she slipped past them and back out into the crowd. Rita looked carefully, avoiding any groups to try and keep herself free of conversation. It was only when she was about to give up did she see the familiar curl of his hair and her eyes moved to see his face, clearly uncomfortable. She took a deep sip of her wine and made her way over to him.

"Leon," she breathed out in relief as she approached him. There were hundreds of people in that ballroom, but for the first time all night she felt alone when she caught his gaze. "Sorry about that, they're just – I told you, sharks. All of them."

"Are you alright?"

 

[Acorn]

Leon had tried moving through the clumps of people, hoping to catch a glimpse of her long black dress or her brilliant smile, but he'd moved from one side of the ballroom to the other and hadn't seen hide nor hair of her. Eventually, he'd found a wall to stand with his back to for the dual purpose of making it harder for witches to sneak up on him and because if Rita came looking for him, being stationary could only help. He'd exchanged his empty glass for a new one and was halfway through it when he saw her.

The relief on his face was palpable as she neared, but there was still an undercurrent of discomfort that remained even when she came to stand in front of him. He nodded reflexively when she asked if he was alright, but thought better of it, sighed and shook his head then looked down at his wine glass. Some of his curls fell onto his forehead — he hadn't been successful in keeping his hands out of his hair after his encounter with Lorelei — and he didn't bother pushing them away. This place wasn't for him. The crush of people in their finery, discussing things he had no background and no real interest in. At most, he'd be a brief spot of entertainment for them as he struggled to speak without stumbling all over himself, so he'd made himself as small as he could and waited for the storm to pass.

"Only an hour and a half left," he said and lifted his head to smile wanly at Rita. "I'll make it." Then he lifted his wine glass and his smile turned sloppy. "Sorry, I mean me and the wine, we'll make it."

Despite how much he wanted her to stay by his side, he encouraged her to return to her mingling and masked the distress he felt when she did finally leave by finishing off his glass in several painful gulps. She'd said she'd make it a point to stay closer, and he'd promised to keep holding the wall up, so now all he needed to do was find another tray of wine so he could make another exchange.

He'd been successful in finding another full glass, but now that he was feeling properly fuzzyheaded and he could see Rita, he didn't feel it necessary to do more than take an occasional sip. He fished his phone from his pocket and glanced at the time. One hour left. In the span of time it took him to check the time and return his phone to his pocket, Jenny had not only approached Rita, but she had her hand at Rita's elbow. The tall brunette was in a long, vibrantly blue dress, a slit up one side that went well up to her thigh and she flashed a long length of leg as she steered Rita away. For the first time ever, Leon saw Jenny with her hair down, and it was long and straight, falling well past her shoulders and down to the middle of her back. It would've softened any other woman's face, but the angles; the high cheekbones, the sharp edge of her nose, her unsmiling mouth, looked all the harsher amidst all that hair.

"And there she goes." Leon blinked, tearing his gaze away from Rita, and looked down at Lorelei. She had her arms crossed under her chest, pushing her ample bosom to gravity-defying heights. "Right on schedule."

"Schedule?" he asked and cursed himself for engaging with her, but she was talking about Rita and he needed to know what she meant.

"Mmhm." She extracted one of her hands and held it out to examine her fingernails, curling and unfurling her fingers and twisting her wrist. She made a disapproving noise and frowned. "Damn, chipped one of my nails," she said.

Leon shook his head at her. "No, you answer me. What schedule?"

She looked up at him, her mouth open in a laughing smile. "My, my. Listen to you! She's made you all gruff. I like it."

"Ladies and Gentlemen, may I have your attention, please?" Leon jerked his head towards the source of the sound — a speaker just above his head, but everyone's focus was on the front of the ballroom where a tall blonde man had taken up residence on stage.

"That's us," she said.

He didn't hear what else was said because Lorelei had his arm and he felt his feet propelling him forward to keep step with the witch despite his mind screaming that he needed to get away from her. It felt like a thousand tiny electrical pinpricks originated from each of her fingers, and shot up his arm, then down, down into his legs and feet. His body wasn't his own. He couldn't even resist when she tugged his wine glass from his hand and left it on one of the tables they passed.

The next thing he knew, they were going up the stairs to the stage, Lorelei holding onto his arm like Rita had earlier as they'd entered the building, and all attention shifted to them and his eyes grew wide, but he couldn't move anything else. What the fuck had she done to him? Where was Rita? Why couldn't he do anything but move his eyes?

"Shh, puppy. It's only temporary. Can't have you running away during your big debut, after all," she said through her smiling teeth and patted his arm.

 

[Meraki]

Rita felt terrible walking back to the social circles, leaving Leon on his own. He insisted that she needed to do her job but she just wanted to go home. She just wanted to take Leon by the hand and get in the car away from these people. They weren't here for any moral reason, they were hear because they wanted a circus and they wanted to have a hand in being the ring leader. Not a single person in that room actually cared about the relationship between humans and supernatural creatures and certainly none of them wanted to hear Rita's bleeding heart plea, so she did her job. She stood and talked and schmoozed until she was four glasses of wine in and felt her head grow a little fuzzy. She couldn't find Leon anymore, but she felt a hand on her elbow.

Jenny.

"If you all don't mind, I need to steal Rita away for a moment," she said cordially as she tugged Rita by the elbow away from the stage and floor. After a moment, Rita knew that they weren't going anywhere in particular. Rita yanked her arm away and turned to Jenny, eyeing her carefully. "I'm not going anywhere until you tell me where we're going."

As everyone started to move towards the stage, Jenny snapped her fingers and Rita felt a strong set of hands grab both of her elbows from behind. She struggled against the figure for a moment, her eyes wide as she looked back towards the stage where a man was now standing with a microphone. Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention please?

No. No, no, no. Rita yanked against the man holding her but Jenny just seemed unamused. She motioned for him to drag Rita along with them, but Rita wasn't going willingly. Especially not when she saw who was walking on stage. Leon. Lorelei was on his arm and she had a sickening kind of smirk that made Rita's blood boil. Something was wrong. No, something was more than wrong. "You're going to use him as entertainment? That's why you brought him here tonight. To use as a fucking circus act?"

Jenny motioned again for the man to drag Rita, but she brought her heel down on his foot and when her elbow broke free of his grasp it came down to land right in his stomach. Once, she was free, she ran as fast as her heels and dress would allow her through the crowd. She heard Jenny call out Jackson's name and she felt him only a few steps behind her, but Rita just needed to get to the front. She just needed to call this off. She needed to help Leon.

"Our main attraction here in the flesh. You may know werewolves, but what if I were to tell you that through our research – we can control the transformation? A werewolf capable of transforming at any time in any location just within our grasp. Lorelei? Why don't you do the honors?"

No, no, no.

Rita pushed through the dense crowd, not making nearly as much distance as she wished she could. "LEON!" she cried out, her voice carrying over the crowd.

What would they do if he didn't turn?

What had they gotten themselves into?

 

[Acorn]

"With pleasure," Lorelei said, waggling her eyebrows and smirking in a manner that had the crowd giggling and snickering. She moved to his front and reached for his neck, her red painted fingernails digging into and tugging loose the bow tie Rita had fixed for him earlier. The witch pulled it free, and with a flourish, spun and allowed it to flutter to the ground.

He closed his eyes against the glare of the lights that were focused on him, against the feeling of all those eyes, against the heat of humiliation that was rising in his face. They weren't even going to allow him the dignity of removing his own clothes before he changed — if he changed. He'd never agreed to anything. They could put him up there and they could strip him down, but he was still the one in control of when he changed forms.

When he heard Rita call his name, desperation loud in her voice, he opened his eyes and searched for her in the crowd. When he finally found her it was only because broad-shouldered Jackson was creating a path in the crowd to her, and he grabbed and pulled her back once he reached her. Leon felt impotent rage twist and boil in his gut because he couldn't do anything to help her.

"I've been told if you don't change," Lorelei said, as if they were carrying on a conversation over tea and biscuits, "Jackson will be granted permission to do whatever he wants with her." She unbuttoned his jacket and pulled at a sleeve, extracting his arm from it, and then did the same for the other, and then pulled it off entirely; it joined his tie on the ground.

"Whatever," she pulled his tucked shirt free from his pants and began freeing buttons from the collar down, "he wants."

She had her lip caught up between her teeth as she undid the cuffs of his shirt, then slid it off his shoulders and tugged it off his arms. Lorelei took a step back and then ran her spread fingers up his chest, over his shoulders, then back down his arms.

"And you should see how he looks at her." She chirped a laugh and then stepped forward to unbuckle and slowly slide his belt out one loop at a time.

Her fingers were on the buttons of his pants when he heard the man clear his throat and he looked to see that he had his hand cupped over the microphone.

"That will be enough, Lorelei," he said.

Her fingers froze and her mouth bore a pout, but she stood and faced the other man, her hands on her hips.

"You're no fun," she said. Those closest to the stage booed and jeered their agreement.

The tingling stopped and he was able to move again, and the first thing he did was take a step towards Rita.

"Remember what I said." Lorelei's eyebrows were arched warningly.

Leon remembered and he stopped. He could see Jackson's hands on her, rough and demanding. Just like they'd been the day he'd walked into the facility as an Enforcer for the first time. If he did what they said, then Jackson would have to let her go. He leaned down to remove his shoes and socks, pushed them aside and stood clad only in his pants, resignation in his eyes.

"Attaboy," he heard, but he didn't look at Lorelei again. All he saw was Rita; everything else faded away until it was only them in the room.

And he changed.

The lights were blindingly bright on him, and all he could hear were their gasps and titters and the shuffling of feet as they moved away from the stage, he could smell their fear, their excitement.

Ladies and gentlemen, your monster.

 

[Meraki]

Rita wanted to scream. She wanted to rip her way through the crowd and wrap her well-manicured fingers around Lorelei's throat. Rita wasn't really capable of dealing with rage, but it still bubbled up uncomfortably in her stomach as she watched the agonizingly slow way they humiliated Leon in front of the crowd. She was just about to break through when she felt a strong hand grab her and yank her back, two hands strong on her elbows as she crashed into his chest. "Don't think so, Rita," Jackson's voice said over the sound of the crowd, "We can't have you ruining the fun."

"Get off of me, Jackson, I swear –"

"You'll do what, Rita?" he whispered into her eat, his breath hot on her skin, "Take a good look around. We've got every vantage point covered. If we can't get him to turn, then what use do we have for your little wolf? So I wouldn't make any sudden movements, if I was you." Rita looked up to see Enforcers at every entrance and exit, each with their hand behind their back, fingers presumably on the concealed weapons they carried. "Just let him play the hero and change for you. You must love that, huh? The attention?"

"Is that why you came after me?" Rita asked, trying to keep her voice even.

"He only changes for us when he thinks he needs to change for you," Jackson said matter of factly, his lips hovering over the pulse point just below her ear where the curls had been swept away.

"What did Lorelei tell him? What is she doing?"

"She told him that if he doesn't change, I get to do whatever I want with you. But you wanna know the truth?" she felt his hands loosen on her elbows so that his fingertips could slide agonizingly slow down her bare skin. His lips pressed there, a smirk on his lips, "Even if he does change? I have the same orders."

"Jackson, you're better than this," she said finally, trying to reason with him, but instead he only twisted her in his arms so he could snake a strong hand around her waist. She was pressed flush up against him, her hands on his chest as she tried to push away, but he kept her there firmly, his free hand slipping to cup her cheek and run his thumb over her skin.

"Better than what?" he asked, gazing into her eyes with such intensity she felt her heart start beating wildly. But it wasn't an attraction, it was fight or flight. Adrenaline coursed through her veins as a warning. "I don't know what he has that I don't, Rita. I sure as fuck have no clue. He's a werewolf. A fucking werewolf and you're going to let him touch you like that? Look at you like that? I bet you liked it when he fucked you, didn't you?"

"Stop it," she commanded, but her voice was small.

"You need a real man, Rita, not a dog," he explained, "Have you looked around? I have been here, standing and waiting for you to take notice and I realize now that I can't wait anymore. I have to make you see me. Do you see me now, Rita?"

"Yes, please just let me go," Rita begged, fear settling into her heart. "Jackson, just stop. Please."

"Let you go when this could be my only chance? I don't think so," he smirked, "that mutt is going to have to rip you from my cold, dead fingers if he wants you back. But after I'm done, I'm sure he won't even want you back."

He crushed his lips against Rita's. It was a bruising hold and she couldn't breathe. He held her head there, his other hand with a bruising grasp on her hip. She could feel the pain radiate throughout her body as Jackson took what he wanted and her hands fought uselessly against his chest. Overwhelmed, she could feel the tears pinpricking in her eyes, all attention on the spectacle gone because she feared for her safety. Jenny had sold her out to Jackson like some sort of – god, she was going to be sick.

If she could find the strength to breathe.

 

[Acorn]

Leon stood on stage, his pointed ears upright and swiveling as he caught and processed dozens of different voices and sounds. Most were frightened of him, but some were running high on exhilaration because they were standing so close to an unconfined werewolf. There were so many smells, mostly various perfumes — sweet, sickly sweet with an undertone of adrenaline. He still couldn't see beyond the stage and kept his eyes slits until they adjusted and he could make out the crowd. There was a large gap where people had been standing before, and just beyond that gap was Rita with Jackson. He focused on them, on her body as she was crushed against Jackson's larger one.

Every muscle in Leon's body was tense, and he was absolutely still except for the heaving of his chest as he breathed and listened with his ears pricked forward and his eyes fixed on them. He could hear Jackson's voice now, deep and terrible. Need a real man, not a dog. He snorted, the loose skin of his snout flaring up. Then, Rita, her voice tiny and fearful. He'd never heard her like that before, not even when she'd taken on a vampire and it'd absorbed her bullets like they were nothing. She was scared. Jackson was scaring her. Jackson wasn't listening to her. She'd told him to let her go, to stop, but he held her and forced his mouth on her and Leon growled.

There was movement in his peripheral, and he barely registered that Lorelei had darted off to take cover behind the tall blonde man who watched him impassively.

He was off the stage in two large strides and hit the ground in the midst of screams, cries, and the sounds of tables and chairs overturning as people fled from him. Leon paid them no mind, and made for Jackson, increasing in speed as he went, his ears back, his lips drawn to expose his bared teeth, the hackles of his neck up, snarling. He was overcome with a desire to take the man by the arm, drag him down and tear his throat out. He had Rita, he wouldn't let her go, and he would fucking make him let go.

Leon moved forward at a breakneck speed, so fast that he skidded past Rita and Jackson when he tried to stop, and ended up on all fours temporarily before he pushed himself back up to his feet. Unintentionally, he'd put himself in a flanking position, and he approached Jackson, growling and snapping at the air, but he came to an abrupt stop when Jackson spun and leveled a gun at his face.

Shit.

 

[Meraki]

It all happened in an instant.

One moment, Jackson's lips were on hers and the next she heard screams. The crowd moved back as Leon charged from the stage and when his claws skidded against the floor she felt Jackson pull away and push her back. Rita nearly fell to the ground, her lungs gasping for air, but one of the men in the crowd caught her. He helped her to her feet and steadied her, but Rita's eyes never once left the scene in front of her. Leon flanked Jackson and in a split second his gun was drawn.

The barrel leveled at Leon with his finger on the trigger. He slowly clicked the safety off and Rita saw a malicious smirk cross Jackson's face.

She watched his finger grow taut, ready to pull the trigger and Rita felt her heart labor in her chest. Whatever trauma she experienced with Jackson was pushed aside and she moved from the man who caught her.

"Stop!" She cried out and ran until she reached them again, her slender body slipping in the space between them until the gun leveled at Leon was leveled at her. The crowd gasped around them as Rita turned her back to Leon, showing more trust for him than Jackson, with her arms outstretched. She had never looked down the barrel of a gun before, but it seemed like the perfect time. "If you want to kill him, you'll have to go through me first."

She would not and could not watch Leon die. Not him, too. She wouldn't survive it this time.

Her breathing was ragged, short as she stood there eyeing Jackson. His brow was furrowed, anger powerful in his expression and she wondered for a moment if he thought about shooting her. Slowly his hand peeled away from the trigger and he raised his gun up in defeat. As he did, Rita heard Lorelei over the microphone calling out what a great show it all was. Rita could hear her heart beat in her ears, the tears prickle behind her eyes, and Jackson winked at her as he stepped back. "You made your choice, Rita," he said quietly, "Hope it's worth it in the end. I'm going to enjoy this."

She had no idea where to turn, or what to do, or what Jackson meant but when she turned to see Leon she noted that the Enforcers had not moved from their vantage points.

They weren't going to be able to leave, were they? They all started in towards the scene as people cheered and started to gather their things for the end of the evening. Rita stepped closer to Leon, "Don't attack them. If you do they'll kill you – and I can't watch you die." Her voice was quiet, broken and quick as she watched Jenny, Lorelei and the other Enforcers close in on them.

"It'll be okay," she reassured him, but she didn't know. Not really.

 

[Acorn]

The gun clicked and he winced away. It occurred to him as he closed his eyes and turned his head that he should've ducked and scattered, but now it was too late to do anything but brace for the pain. Would there be any pain? He'd never been shot in the head before. Maybe it wouldn't hurt. Maybe it would just be over. Then he heard Rita, and he opened his eyes expecting the gun again, but instead all he could see was her. He felt his heart seize up when he realized what she'd done; he wanted to push her aside, swap their places again, but he was too afraid to move, afraid to trigger something that hadn't happened yet. Seconds passed and still nothing happened. He watched in stunned amazement as the man lifted the gun away from them. He didn't understand Jackson's comment, either, but like the gun's click, his words felt ominous.

Almost as ominous as all the people gathering around them; stern-faced Jenny, smirking Lorelei and all the Enforcers he still didn't know the names of. One of his ears rotated independently towards Rita when she spoke, but the other remained turned towards Jenny as she talked quietly to Lorelei. He couldn't make out what she'd said, but the witch went from smirking to grinning at them and Leon's ears laid back flat. It wouldn't be okay, not when she smiled like that. He made a low, worried sound and his eyes darted from the witch to Rita, then to the Enforcers that had circled them.

Jenny and Lorelei stepped into the circle, and he realized Jenny had clothes in her arms. He snorted. Did everyone carry a spare set of clothes but him? Tonelessly, the doctor instructed him to shift back and he hesitated because he didn't want to be caught in the middle of all them between forms, but she reassured him in the way only Jenny could: she pointed out that if they'd wanted him dead, then he would already be dead.

Once he was back in his human form, he pulled the sweatpants and shirt on and reached out to grab Rita's hand and hold it tightly. He'd expected that they'd separate Rita from him, then, pull them apart so they could wrangle and take him back to the facility to shove him back into a containment unit, but they were looking at her with the same distrust they looked at him with. No one seemed to care that they continued holding hands except Jackson (who looked unhappy about it but didn't say or do anything, so Leon put it from his mind) as they were escorted through the ballroom, farther into the building, where they were taken through a back door and led into an alleyway where two separate black cars were waiting.

Then, they separated them.

He was held back by two Enforcers as they bundled her away in one of the cars, and then Lorelei, stupid smirking Lorelei, came around his side, something that rattled and shimmered in her hands.

"Hey, puppy," she said smilingly. "Got a present for you."

Before he could even wonder what she was talking about, his arms were jerked behind him by the two Enforcers and he felt hands on his, then there was the touch of something cool and snapping sounds followed by searing pain around the span of his wrists, like acid had been poured on his skin. He hissed and tried to wrest his hands free, but it only made it worse.

"The fuck is this?" he ground out, his breaths coming in bursts. The pain was unbelievable, and radiated from his wrists to his hands and arms, burning always with the same intensity. There was no ebb and flow like normal pain, it was overwhelming, all encompassing, constant. He could fucking taste the metal, rolled it around in his mouth and tried not to gag.

She'd started towards the car, but stopped at his question and turned to look at him with an inquisitive tilt to her head.

"Have they never used silver on you before?"

He shook his head wordlessly.

"Oh honey, I just didn't want you going all wolfie on the ride over. If I'd known this would be your first time I would've taken things a little slower, eased you into it. Candles, wine, some classical music. Do you like classical music? I do. I'd put on… hmm. Tchaikovsky, and then I'd snap those silver handcuffs onto your wrists and oh, it'd still hurt, but it would be beautiful."

Leon scowled and she laughed, and it was then that Jenny narrowly avoided being the first person he'd ever hated.

When they got to the facility, Lorelei took off and he was led by the two Enforcers to a containment unit like they one he'd spent over a month in; it had a viewing panel and door that required keyed access, but once they shoved him in and closed the door behind him, he realized it was different. Instead of three gray concrete walls, there were only two. The wall that was normally solid concrete was solid glass, probably made of the same impenetrable stuff as the front viewing panel and door.

He could see into the next containment unit.

There was a metal chair bolted to the floor in the center of the room facing away from door, and they had Rita sitting there, her hands and legs tied to it. What the fuck were they doing? She was an Enforcer. They both were, now. He understood why they'd been so quick to turn on him, given that he hadn't even been one for a full month, but Rita? She'd worked with them for years, given her life over to them. Now they had her tied to a fucking chair? Why? Because she'd helped him? Because she'd kept Jackson from shooting him?

Then he remembered Jenny's warning. If you fail at this, you'll both be held responsible. He'd failed. He'd gone after Jackson. They were punishing her because of him.

His hands still cuffed behind his back and pain still his constant companion, he went to the clear panel that he shared with her and slid down to sit next to where she was tied, turning his forehead against the cool glass so he could look at her.

"I'm sorry," he said miserably, though he knew she couldn't hear him. "So fucking sorry."

 

[Meraki]

Rita knew the moment she stepped in front of Leon that she made her choice.

The facility had done so much for her – it gave her a purpose when she was floundering, introduced her to Leon, and given her Alice as a partner. Sure, her and Alice didn't always see eye to eye, but the woman was a ray of sunlight and she was too good for the facility. Rita gave her life to them, still, and she knew the moment the other Enforcers started moving in on them, that none of it made any difference. She had shown clear as day that her loyalty was to Leon. Did she regret a moment of it? No, but she also knew she had to endure whatever punishment they saw fit.

She hoped they wouldn't imprison Leon again, but she couldn't be sure. There was no turning back now and they had to deal with the fallout. From here on out, they were on their own. Jenny coaxed Leon back into his human form, gave him clothes, and she felt his hand grasp hers so tightly that it made her heart break. She knew he was scared, she was too, but if there was one thing Rita had learned to become over the years, it was a survivor. They would survive this, no matter what. He held onto her still and they walked down and out the back where there were two cars waiting for them. Immediately Rita felt hands on her, prying her hand from Leon's and dragging her into the car. She fought back a bit, unwilling to just go, but the men were stronger than she was and they loaded her in.

She didn't get to see Leon again, at least not right away.

When they arrived at the facility, they unceremoniously dragged her down towards the containment units and brought her inside. She had seen these rooms before, but never used them. They were concrete on two walls, with a door on the third and the last being a glass partition that connected the two rooms. The lights were blinding and Rita was in her heels and dress still, being yanked to and fro, but she managed to keep calm. Most of all, she knew that any retaliation would be met tenfold. When Jenny was pissed, there would be hell to pay. And they had only given her one guideline – if you fail at this, you'll both be held responsible. This was their punishment – for her loyalty and his protective nature. That made them enemies of the Enforcers.

The men dragged her in and set her down in a cold metal chair. Their hands were strong and painful as they tied her hands and feet to the metal, each movement tightening the binds until the rope cut into her skin so painfully she nearly cried out. She could only be glad that they hadn't searched her, or the small gun she kept concealed under her dress. It was standard for Enforcers to be armed at all times, but when Jenny had made the order to come unarmed, she assumed Rita would listen as she always did. But Rita didn't, not when she knew the kind of situations that occurred at those events.

She'd wanted to pull it all night, but she knew that they would have been killed on the spot if she had. It was useless to her, though. Just up strapped against her lower inner thigh, she couldn't reach it with her hands tied painfully behind her back and to the metal bars lining the back of the chair. She couldn't see the door either, which she knew was a fear tactic. She had been a part of this mess for long enough to understand what happened next, but it still didn't ready her for when she felt a reverberation in the chair from the door across the way slamming. She looked over to see Leon being dragged inside with his hands cuffed in pure silver handcuffs. She felt her heart beat uncontrollably in her chest.

Whatever Jenny and Lorelei had planned, it wasn't going to be pleasant.

She turned to see him crumble against the glass, his forehead against it as he looked up at her apologetically. She didn't need to hear his words to know what he said and it broke her heart. There was nothing he could do, all she could be happy about was that he listened to her. If he had moved on Jackson or anyone else, that would have been the end of his life and she couldn't deal with that. Not again. Her only solace in this whole situation was that he was alive, mostly unharmed, and that she could see him. He was there. Leon was still with her.

Just as she let a sad smile find her lips, the door opened behind her and slammed shut. She couldn't see who it was, but the moment she felt sharp, well-manicured nails slip up into her curls and latch down, she knew exactly who it was.

Lorelei.

"I figured you'd be more creative," Rita mentioned through the discomfort, "Tied to a chair in an evening gown? Seems a little textbook villain if you ask me."

 

[Acorn]

Lorelei smiled widely as she looked down at Rita, briefly revealing both rows of her teeth before she clicked her tongue and shook her head sadly. She released her painful hold of Rita's hair and her touch became gentle as she smoothed Rita's hair away from her face.

"Am I boring you? I'm sorry." She continued petting at Rita even as she looked up, lifted her free hand, and wiggled her fingers in the direction of the door. It opened almost immediately and one of the Enforcers that had helped tie Rita up rolled an aluminum gray cart into the room and pushed it in front of them. Lorelei beamed at him after he turned and asked if she needed anything else.

"Such a darling, isn't he?" she asked Rita. "But no, nothing else for now. Leave us."

As soon as the man left, she untangled her fingers from Rita's hair and went to the stand to open the laptop that had been left on the uppermost level. As she clicked around on the screen, she hummed quietly but stopped to glance over her shoulder at Rita, her lips puckered prettily.

"I'm curious. If I'm the villain in this story, what does that make you? The heroine? And him?" She looked over at Leon, who had pushed himself onto his knees and had his shoulder and against the glass panel, his eyes tracking back and forth between Rita and Lorelei, his expression strained. "The hero? Please." She laughed disbelievingly and returned her attention to the laptop, but continued speaking as she resumed clicking through various screens and typing in passwords when prompted.

"If that were the case, then you wouldn't have pulled the stunt you did tonight. You forget why we're here, what our purpose is. Jenny wanted me to remind you, so here I am." She huffed a sigh. "I really should've put this on the desktop, but then again, I wouldn't have had time to share my villainous thoughts if I had. Ah, here we go." She clicked a final time, adjusted the screen of the laptop, and then went over to Rita to crouch next to her, making her head level with hers.

Lorelei peered at Rita, a small smirk on her face, and tapped the center of Rita's forehead with her pointer finger.

"Something to help you stay focused," she said of the spell she'd cast that would render Rita incapable of looking away from the monitor.

A video started; it was one of their standard containment units, and the feed came from a camera that had been placed in one of the uppermost corners of the room, giving them a high-angle view. At first, the room was empty, but then Lorelei entered with a large leather-bound book, and shortly after, Jenny with a clipboard and Leon, his hair shorter than it was now, but in the same uniform of sweatpants and a white t-shirt. The doctor guided him to the chair in the center of the room, identical to the one Rita sat in, and then she took a position in the corner, pulled a pen from her lab coat pocket and then began writing.

"Proceed," she said without looking up.

Leon shifted to look at Jenny, but turned to Lorelei when she started chanting.

"Tch, that's not the right one," Lorelei said to Rita from where she was still crouched next to her, "but let's watch. Don't worry, it gets better."

There were dozens of clips, each from the same perspective. The first with any real movement was when Lorelei threw down her book, retrieved it from the floor, said a few more words and then Leon went slack and slid from the chair, his eyes wide. His whole body became rigid, and then he began to seize, foamed spit and blood coming from his mouth, and Jenny rushed to him to pull him onto his side. His seizure continued beyond that for nearly a minute, Jenny keeping him on his side and periodically chastising Lorelei for pushing him too quickly.

"A week. It only took a week. That's the fastest we've ever broken the seal on a werewolf curse," Lorelei said. "Normally it takes months, but our boy? He handled it like a champ. Heh, except for the seizure, but you helped him through that, didn't you?"

She leaned forward to smile and wink at Leon when she mentioned him, and he'd returned to his slouched position with his forehead pressed against the glass. His face was a sickly shade of white and he stared unblinkingly at RIta.

All the following clips were of their attempts to push him to change. The earliest ones, Lorelei would have him sit cross-legged on the floor in front of her and she'd visibly break bones; he'd cry out and moan pitifully as he clutched at whatever area she'd gone after first, until she leaned down to hold a glowing hand over him and he'd relax, only for her to do it again, over and over, until he was curled around himself protectively, begging her to stop. She never did. The further they progressed, the more frequent Leon's vocalizations became until he would scream his agony in the face of whatever Lorelei did to him. But eventually, he stopped. She'd hurt him, and he would make small sounds, but his eyes had grown distant and Lorelei grew visibly frustrated with him.

"Jenny thought the dear had built up a pain tolerance, but do you know what? She was wrong. I know, I know, Jenny is never wrong, but she was this time. You see, when he stopped screaming, when he looked at you with those sad, empty eyes, he was broken. He didn't care about what happened to him anymore. That's when we brought you in. Well, not you, you, as you understand now, but a copy of you. See, even if he didn't care what happened to him, he still cared about what happened to you."

She clutched her hands to her chest and made a swooning sound. "It's all so sweet."

Then she pushed herself to an upright position, brushing off the front of her dress, and returned to the laptop.

Lorelei moved to the side of the stand and narrated a grainy grey and white security feed from a subway line.

"But Leon, as you might've guessed by now, wasn't the first werewolf I broke the seal for. Here's John. And oh, oh dear. What day of the month was this? I can't remember. Oh, right. The full moon. He'd already made it through one, so we didn't anticipate he'd change this time, but he did. Sadly, so very sadly, it was on this subway train." She winced and sucked a breath through her teeth. "That poor man."

There was a malicious glint in her eyes as she observed Rita. "I believe you knew each other, didn't you?"

She reached over, hooked the corner of the laptop monitor with her middle finger, and then slowly pulled it closed.

"That is why we do our research. To prevent things like that from happening. Perhaps now you'll understand everything we've done and everything we will do. The greater good, love; it's for the greater good. Don't forsake your opportunity to continue being part of it. You've already contributed so much and there's still so much you can do. Consider for a moment why you found Leon the way you did that full moon. Without you, we wouldn't have made the progress we did."

Lorelei lifted her hand to the door again and it popped open. The Enforcer came back in to retrieve the cart, and as he rolled it away, the witch walked over to press her index finger to Rita's forehead, so she would be able to move her eyes again.

"I'd tell you to dry your tears, but that might be a little difficult for you." She gathered a handful of Rita's curls, pulling them over her shoulder so they draped all along one side of her neck as they had earlier in the night. "Now, I mustn't spend all night with you, though I desperately wish to. Poor Leon hasn't had any attention from me at all."

And then with a smile, she left the room and the door locked behind her.

 

[Meraki]

Rita expected physical pain. The moment Lorelei's hand went to her hair, she had already braced herself for whatever they threw at her. She was tougher than she looked, even in a gorgeous evening gown and with her hair and makeup done, but there was something in Lorelei's words that she never expected. For so long, people at the facility had kept their mouths shut to protect her feelings, but she realized in that moment they weren't protecting them. They had been manipulating her all along, waiting for the right moment, and when Lorelei brought the laptop in – she knew what was coming next. When Leon's showed up on the screen, her heart seized in her chest and she attempted to look away but Lorelei was quick.

In an instant, Rita's eyes were glued to the screen, unable to move their focus or blink for longer than a millisecond. Her teasing meant nothing at first, but while Rita watched – they grew heavier and heavier. She knew what they did to him, not entirely but she had an idea. It was completely different to see it, though. To see every single moment of footage that they had on him. She watched his seizure, the blood foaming out of his mouth and Rita felt hot tears building in her eyes before they slipped down her cheeks. She held in her sobs, though she could feel her entire body shake. Leon was alone, she had left him alone with them and if she had known – god, how did she not know? How could she not tell the darkness that was brewing within him? She just walked out of that room when he pushed her away, but she should have stayed.

But she was so confused. They exploited her pain, her confusion, and they knew from the get go that Leon and Rita were something special. Fuck. She tried to close her eyes but she couldn't. A panic swept through her, her heart beating so painfully in her chest that it disrupted her breathing. Then, there was her. She watched as Lorelei killed her, slowly, and she had to watch Leon's expression as he transformed for the first time of his own accord. She could feel the pain, she the agony, and she felt her anger towards Lorelei grow and grow in the depth of her heart.

He was broken, she told Rita, he didn't care about what happened to him anymore.

Rita felt nausea bubble up in her, but Lorelei stood and made her way to the monitor. Just as she moved to touch the keyboard, Rita assumed it was all over. But then the clip changed with Lorelei's touch and Rita stopped breathing.

It would have taken anyone else a moment to see through the grainy resolution of the black and white tape, but Rita recognized him immediately. It was the first time she had seen video of Chase since he passed and there he was. A sob bubbled up in her throat and choked out, her tears pouring from her eyes as she looked on unwillingly. God, she missed him. She missed him so much it ached in her veins and she noted the way he sat as he always did. He was scooted forward a bit, his back relaxed with his phone in his hands. It was only when the man across the subway car started groaning did he look up. It was just as they told her – a woman and her child, Chase, and this man – John.

It was a quick transformation and all of a sudden there was a raging, deadly werewolf on the train going straight for the woman and child – until Chase threw his phone at the creature and it's head snapped around. He didn't stand a chance and Rita wanted to cry out for him to run, as though it would do anything to help. The beast took him to the ground, his teeth tearing open his chest and Rita watched as Chase was torn apart, inch by inch of skin, until she recognized organs being yanked from his chest. A lung, his heart – and there was so much blood. So much that Rita stopped feeling.

It wasn't that she didn't hurt, it was that her mind shut down. It was the only way to protect herself, to stop herself from falling into a dark, deadly spiral. Leon was nearly killed because of her – tortured within an inch of his life – and Chase died. Was this her fault?

Lorelei said it herself – consider for a moment why you found Leon the way you did that full moon.

Had she even healed? Was this all some convoluted attempt to bring purpose to her life? She couldn't breathe, her heart beat so loudly in her ears that she couldn't even make out the sound of Lorelei's voice before she left. The tears just kept coming, her entire heart shattered into pieces. The greater good. What the fuck good was this? What the fuck good was any of this?

It was only in her absence did Rita realize what she had said. "We didn't anticipate he would change," she said and then Rita's eyes went wide. Lorelei and Jenny were the reason that Chase was dead and she had just watched on the screen that they were willing to do whatever they had to in order to break Leon – and she felt rage bubble up inside of her. Everything in her ignited and she turned to see Lorelei toying with Leon, his expression so broken as she went after him and took control of him.

Rita had to protect him. She was not losing Leon to Lorelei too. No fucking way.

It took a few moments, but with the pain coursing through her veins, Rita didn't even feel as her bloody wrists slipped through the bindings. She tore and fought against the bindings as quietly as she could, the friction breaking the skin but she kept moving. As slowly as possible, Rita tried not to pull attention to herself as Lorelei toyed with Leon. Rita untired her ankles and placed her hands on the fabric of her skin tight dress. She tore it up the right leg, just up to her thigh so she could pull out the gun that she had hidden on her person.

She knew the glass wouldn't break, but Rita hoped with every ounce of her being that it shattered and the bullet found its way into Lorelei's skull.

Rita didn't move to wipe any of the tears from her face, instead she placed both of her bloodied hands on the gun and aimed perfectly at Lorelei's head, and without hesitation, Rita fired three shots. Just enough to break her concentration and give Leon a chance.

The sound was deafening as they all settled and cracked into the glass, but Rita kept the gun raised.

Like hell she would lose Leon, too. Over her dead fucking body.

 

[Acorn]

Leon had thought it'd bother him to see footage of what Lorelei had done to him, but as he watched the video alongside Rita, he didn't initially feel anything. It was like he was watching it all happen to someone else. He recognized that it was him, he could vaguely recall those things happening, and he knew it'd brought him low, but he couldn't remember anything beyond that. If he pressed, he only hit a void in his head where the memory should've been. The first days, and even weeks after, he'd remembered, he'd had nightmares, but that too seemed distant to him now. All the time he'd spent with Rita, focusing on them and the happiness he felt when he was with her had allowed him to not only bury the bad experiences but build over them.

What did hurt, what caused his stomach to clench and the color to drain from his face, was seeing Rita's reaction to the recordings. Her tears started when she saw his seizure and they never stopped. The last time he'd seen her face crumple and her body shudder with sobs, he'd been able to go to her and he'd been able to hold her until they'd subsided. He couldn't do either of those things, and he couldn't reassure her, let her know that what they'd done didn't matter to him anymore. All he could do was watch helplessly as more and more clips ran and Lorelei's mouth kept moving, taunting, picking at scabs the way he knew she did. She was probably telling her he was still fucked up because of the whole thing, that the only reason he'd pursued anything with her was because he was fucked up. Sure, he'd leaned on her, sought her out for comfort, but she'd leaned right back and reached for him when she needed. There had always been equal exchanges between them. He'd never felt like one of them had taken and not given back.

He sighed and shifted his arms, then scrunched his eyes closed when new parts of his wrists came into contact with the cuffs. When he looked up again, a new video was being played, and it wasn't in a containment unit like all the others; it was a subway train. He was confused why they'd be showing it until a werewolf appeared and tore a man apart. Leon recognized that it wasn't just a man based on the location and Rita's visceral reaction. Rita had told him about her fiancé, about Chase and how he'd died after Jackson had all but forced her to, and though she hadn't gone into great detail and he hadn't had the heart to look at the case file, he knew what he was looking at.

Instead of the sadness he'd felt when she was forced to watch him with Lorelei, anger rolled up on him in waves, making him ignore the pain of his contact with silver to push himself to his feet. He wanted to rip his hands free, break through the glass and smash Lorelei's face into the wall. How dare she make Rita watch that? It was bad enough she'd seen him after, had to identify his body, and now she had to live with the image of his death? What purpose did it serve? Was it supposed to be a reminder? Was Lorelei doing the same shit Jackson had, trying to create space between them by reminding her that her fiancé had died in a werewolf attack? Did they really believe she'd ever forgotten?

His thoughts stopped and he froze when he saw Lorelei approach Rita again, but he breathed a relieved sigh when she pressed her finger to her forehead and all that happened was that Rita blinked. He tried to catch her attention, so he could communicate in some way that he was okay and see if she was, too, but Lorelei left Rita's room and then she opened the door to his containment and he blanched.

She had the goddamned book with her. He backed into a corner between the glass panel and a concrete wall as she approached him, but she curled her finger at him and his feet shuffled him towards her at her magical command. She walked around him, a sour look on her face.

As soon as she had his silver cuffs off, she returned to his front and brought him to his knees with another spell. "I'm tired of talking, puppy. Me and you? We're going to do things like we used to. All you need to remember is that I fucking own you."

He'd been delusional to think that he'd forgotten everything; it all came pouring back the moment she cracked open the tome and started reading from it. He hung his head dejectedly as he awaited the inevitable pain, and when it arrived, it tore a gasp from him. She spoke and his body started tearing itself apart like it did when he shifted, and it was happening slowly — he could feel each ligament, muscle, and bone moving. He opened his mouth to bellow his pain, but nothing came out because he couldn't gather enough air into his lungs to force any sound from his lips.

He dimly registered three loud pops, and just as suddenly as the pain had rolled through him, it stopped and he fell forward, catching himself with his palms just before he hit the ground face first. Leon's chest heaved as he breathed hard and he coughed dryly before he lifted his head to see Lorelei sprawled on the ground, her book face down next to her. She was mumbling incoherently, her head rocking back and forth as she stared up at the ceiling.

Leon clamored to his feet and looked behind him, from where the sound had originated and saw the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen: Rita in her long black dress, gun up and face determined. He smiled at her, but there was movement in the hallway as an Enforcer reacted to the sound of a gun and it served to kick his ass back into motion, because there was a chance to get away from Lorelei, and to get them both out of there, but he needed to fucking move before the whole facility came down on their heads.

He went to Lorelei who was still muttering and staring sightlessly at the ceiling and kicked her book away, then he kneeled down next to her and began searching around for the keycard he knew she had. She'd come into the containment unit alone, had to heft her book to one side of her body so she could use it. He fucking remembered, so where was it? He looked at her dress for pockets, but dresses didn't have pockets because dresses didn't make sense. He stared at her heaving chest and groaned in disgust as he slid a hand in between her breast and bra to search for the thin plastic card that would get him away from her.

Fortune smiled upon him because his fingers made contact with his first attempt, then he was up and out of the room, then around the corner and to Rita's door. His hands were surprisingly steady as he slid the card through the reader and when the door opened he was greeted by the second most beautiful thing he'd witnessed that night: the Enforcer down on the ground and Rita alive and well.

"You alright? Ready to get the fuck out of here?" he asked, holding the keycard up.

 

[Meraki]

There wasn't enough time for Rita to feel anything. The adrenaline coursing through her veins was too much and they needed to go. It was just easier to shut down her feelings, to keep herself together and focus on their need. Rita needed to find a way out of here, she needed to get Leon out of here. They couldn't stay in the city, not with the facility going to this length – torturing them because they didn't comply. It was too much. They didn't matter to the Enforcers. Lorelei's words rang true – maybe they needed Rita and Leon but not the people. They needed a werewolf in control and someone who could handle them, bring them back just in case.

It was never about them as people and Rita wasn't sure she could live like this anymore.

The door to her unit opened and in came one of the other Enforcers, gun drawn and ready to attack, but Rita was faster. She managed to disarm him, leveraging his weight over her shoulder as she sent him to the ground with a painful sound. He was unconscious on impact and Rita moved to grab his gun. By the time she got ahold of it, she heard the door open again.

But this time it was Leon and she wished they had time for her to run into his arms. She wished she could collapse and hold him, but his safety was more important. They needed to get out of here, they needed a plan and if there was one thing that Rita was good at – it was compartmentalizing her pain for the sake of getting a job done.

"I'm fine," she said, knowing that the lie hung between them. This wasn't the time for her not to be fine. She probably looked a mess – her curls tousled, dress ripped up the leg, tears still streaking her red rimmed eyes, guns in hand with bloodied wrists from where she fought against the rope. "Here," she handed him the gun from the Enforcer who attacked her and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek on the way out. "We've got to move fast. There's only about a three minute window before the security system kicks in and we're stuck here."

"And if Jackson find us this time, something tells me he's not going to hesitate to take us down this time."

Rita took Leon's free hand and pulled him after here. Rita ran expertly in her heels and for once she was grateful for her track background. She could have run forever and they wouldn't catch her if she didn't want them to. It took them about a minute to get up to ground level, but she heard the sirens go off and she sped up. "Come on!" she called out over the sound, "We have to make it out before they lock down."

It was a little too easy to get out of the building – just as they were coming up, everyone was heading down to check the research containment units. There was no doubt in Rita's mind that they were being let go – but not by much. There was still a tracker in Leon's shoulder and from the sound of all the intel they gathered, there was probably a wire or two at her apartment – put there while she was in sick bay. As they ran, Rita formulated a plan and cycled through their options.

They needed go to – where? She had no idea, but they needed to get to her place, pack the essentials, and get the fuck out of dodge. They could take her car, not that she ever used it, and then they would have to find a less trackable car. If they made it out of state, Rita could exchange it at a non-franchise car dealership, not leaving a trail of her credit card. There was also the issue of Leon's tracker, but they were implanted so shallow in the skin she was sure they could manage a bottle of whiskey between them and get it out.

But first they just needed to get back to her place.

Once they broke out into the open air of the city, it was only a half a mile to her apartment. Once they were inside of the elevator, she took a deep breath and turned to him. "We don't have much time," she explained, "When we get inside, don't talk. Just grab whatever you need and we'll put it all in a bag. They can't know where we're going or what we're doing – just that we're leaving."

And she would grab the first aid kit, so she could take a look at his wrists. But there would be plenty of time for worry later when they were safe at some motel somewhere with a better idea of what to do.

"They let us go," she clarified, "Jenny let us go. That means they're watching out every move from here on out. They're not done with us, not by a long shot."