Howl at the Moon 18/?
Title: Howl at the Moon 18/?
Series: TDS, Countdown w/ KO.
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Language, Violence
Disclaimer: I do not own Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Keith Olbermann, Rachel Maddow, or any known political figures who appear in this story.
Summary: AU. Sequel to Rage at the Moon
Life seems to be going well for the werewolf pack of seven. Then comes the call from the leader of the French werewolves. What does he want, and what will he do to get it from our werewolves?
Author's Note: Please comment. Feedback is good.
Also, shout-out to my lovely beta tigris18
One / Two / Three / Four / Five / Six / Seven / Eight / Nine / Ten / Eleven / Twelve / Thirteen / Fourteen / Fifteen / Sixteen / Seventeen
Chapter 18
The van stopped near a forest soon after they left Rome.
“Thanks,” Keith said before he, Dan, and Shepard got out of the back of the van and ran to the trees.
Keith and Dan didn’t even bother with stripping off their clothes before transforming. These were already pretty much ruined with obvious bloodstains. They didn’t need any more reasons to be suspicious.
Shepard sat on a boulder as his two friends became large wolves. He had gotten most of the blood on his hands off by now. He stared at the little spots that remained.
The way the fight had ended hadn’t at all been his intention. He went in there wanting to knock Raniero unconscious. Killing him hadn’t even entered his mind.
Shepard spit on one little spot of blood on his palm and tried to rub it away with his finger. He stopped when Dan rubbed his head against his thigh in affection. Shepard slightly smiled and pet the top of the furred head.
Keith took a moment to stretch his legs before going to Shepard. He knew Ranerio’s death hadn’t been his intent. His visible feelings of guilt proved that. Keith placed a paw on the vampire’s thigh and looked into his eyes.
“I’ve done something terrible,” Shepard finally said. “I wish I could change it. I mean…” He took a deep breath. “I’m glad I got you two out of there, but couldn’t it have happened another way?”
Keith and Dan glanced to each other. They knew they weren’t going to do much good trying to comfort their friend in wolf form. They went behind Shepard’s back to change back to their human bodies and dress in the spare clothes from their backpacks.
“Shep, I know how you feel about this. I do,” Dan said softly.
“You did what Aldric wanted us to do,” said Keith. “We were hoping to negotiate with him, but-“
“He wasn’t going to go there?” Shepard finished. “Doesn’t surprise me. This superiority complex is just…” He trailed off into a sigh. “I didn’t want to kill him, though. We have no idea what the repercussions of this will be.”
“From our angle, it looked like an accident,” Dan consoled. “He grabbed your arm, and you both fell.”
“Yes, but I held one of the knives.” Shepard ran a hand through his hair. “What’s going to happen to me? There must have been security cameras in there. I had my hood down… What are the odds of one of those cameras not seeing my face?”
“We’ll protect you.”
Shepard looked up at Keith’s statement. He bowed his head and shook it.
Dan’s hand went to Shepard’s forearm. “You did your best to protect me a year ago, and you’ve saved us just now. You’re our friend.”
Shepard put his hand over Dan’s. “Okay.”
“Hey, you guys done yet?” came Alfeo’s voice. “We should go now.”
Keith, Dan, and Shepard exchanged looks. Keith called back to the brothers, “We’re coming.”
Shepard stood, and nearly collapsed from the flaring pain in his injured thigh. Keith caught him and supported him.
“What are we going to do about you? Dan asked.
“I don’t know,” Shepard winced as he hobbled along with his arm over Keith’s shoulders. “Fuck, it’s really starting to hurt now.”
“Delayed reaction?” Dan suggested. “We’ve all been on edge for awhile. All that adrenaline is fading off.”
“Yeah.” Shepard bit his lip. “Probably.”
Dario and Alfeo were speaking to each other in Italian when Keith, Dan, and Shepard got back to the van. Dario greeted them with a smile. The smile faded when he saw Shepard being held up by Keith.
“Looks like we’re going to have to patch you up when we get to our home,” Dario stated. “We’ve got supplies for that.”
“In all the excitement, I forgot to ask why you’re helping us,” Shepard responded as Keith helped him into the van.
“We run a werewolf rescue operation,” was Alfeo’s answer. “We help them out of Italy. We encountered your two friends when they arrived in Civitavecchia, and decided to help them get to Rome.”
“Really? That’s great. I wish there were more like you.”
“So do we,” replied Dario. “You guys should get the blanket ready, just in case.”
Keith and Dan nodded before Alfeo shut the door. Shepard said, “Blanket?”
“How do you think we made it to Rome undetected? It’s not state-of-the-art, but it worked,” explained Dan as Keith unfolded the blanket and spread it over them.
Shepard ended up lying down between his two friends, facing Dan. Keith pulled the blanket up and over their heads, completely concealing them.
“It’s, uh… kind of a tight fit,” Shepard stated. The van started to move.
Keith half-smiled. He put an arm over Shepard’s waist to hold him close. “I guess now would be as good a time as any to explain why you’re here.”
“Stephen called me, right after you had called him. He told me the situation, and asked if there was anything I could do to help.” Shepard winced as the van went over a sizeable bump in the road, which jostled his injured leg too much. “The only way I could was by coming here myself. It wasn’t hard to find out that Raniero had captured two werewolves, and where he had taken them. I knew talking you out of there was out of the question.”
“So, you fought us out instead,” Dan concluded. “You have no idea how relieved we were when you stopped Raniero, and when you took off your hood. It was great to see your face.”
“Yeah, I’m sure it was.” Shepard sighed. “Still, he’s dead, and everyone back home is going to, at the very least, suspect me.” He snorted. “As if I needed another reason to be. Oh, shit.”
“What?” asked Keith’s and Dan’s concerned voices.
“Murdoch’s one of the vampire leaders. Even if all this somehow slips past O’Reilly and the others, it won’t escape his notice.”
“Shep, how about we cross that bridge when we get back home?” Dan touched his forehead to the vampire’s.
“Okay, we’ve got enough things to worry about right now. We can take care of that when we get home,” Shepard agreed. Inside, he was still scared of whatever fallout would result from this. He closed his eyes and tried to let the low hum of the engine, Keith’s comforting arm around his waist, and Dan’s breath through his hair calm his mind.
**********
“Alright, we made it home fine,” Alfeo said as he hopped out of the van and went to his front door.
Dario helped Shepard out, then gave him to Dan when both werewolves climbed out.
The five of them hurried inside. Dario locked the door behind them. “Set Shepard on the couch,” he said. “I’ll get some supplies.”
They only had to wait a minute for Dario to come back downstairs with some first-aid supplies in his arms. Shepard took off his pants to allow his thigh to be treated. He hissed at the cleansing peroxide poured over the wound. Dario wrapped a bandage around it.
Shepard gingerly took off his blood-stained shirt next. He hissed again as the slash across his bicep was cleaned and bandaged. The last wound to clean was the gash across his jaw.
Dario handed the peroxide dampened cloth to Shepard. “Do you want to do your face?”
Shepard’s canine teeth elongated into fangs at the intense stinging pain he applied to the gash. They eventually went back to normal when the pain faded. “Getting cut on the face is really painful,” he stated. “When it happens and when you’ve got to clean it.”
Dario taped a strip of bandage over the wound and smiled. “That’s the most I can do. I know you guys heal faster than us normal humans, but hopefully this’ll help.”
“Thank you.”
Alfeo returned from upstairs with a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, and a zip-up hoodie in his hands. “You look to be about my size. Here.”
As Shepard got dressed in the new clothes, Alfeo said, “I also looked up when the next ferry leaves for France. It leaves in three hours. It’s probably best that you stay here until then.”
“I’m inclined to agree,” Keith replied.
Alfeo made everyone a quick lunch of sandwiches. He also discreetly asked Shepard if he needed to drink any blood. Shepard refused, saying that he didn’t need it. The younger vampire nodded in understanding.
Shepard couldn’t help but relive what had happened only a few hours ago. It was an accident, yes. But why did it have to go wrong? Especially as wrong as that?
Dan sat next to him on the sofa, and gestured for him to lay his head on his lap. Shepard sighed and laid on his side, using Dan’s thigh as a pillow.
“You’re thinking about it,” stated Dan.
“That obvious, huh.”
“Kind of.”
Shepard let his arm hang over the side of the couch. His fingers grasped at the denim of Dan’s jeans. “I’m afraid,” was all he could say.
Dan leaned over to whisper in his friend’s ear, “So am I, Shep. So am I.”
Series: TDS, Countdown w/ KO.
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Language, Violence
Disclaimer: I do not own Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Keith Olbermann, Rachel Maddow, or any known political figures who appear in this story.
Summary: AU. Sequel to Rage at the Moon
Life seems to be going well for the werewolf pack of seven. Then comes the call from the leader of the French werewolves. What does he want, and what will he do to get it from our werewolves?
Author's Note: Please comment. Feedback is good.
Also, shout-out to my lovely beta tigris18
One / Two / Three / Four / Five / Six / Seven / Eight / Nine / Ten / Eleven / Twelve / Thirteen / Fourteen / Fifteen / Sixteen / Seventeen
Chapter 18
The van stopped near a forest soon after they left Rome.
“Thanks,” Keith said before he, Dan, and Shepard got out of the back of the van and ran to the trees.
Keith and Dan didn’t even bother with stripping off their clothes before transforming. These were already pretty much ruined with obvious bloodstains. They didn’t need any more reasons to be suspicious.
Shepard sat on a boulder as his two friends became large wolves. He had gotten most of the blood on his hands off by now. He stared at the little spots that remained.
The way the fight had ended hadn’t at all been his intention. He went in there wanting to knock Raniero unconscious. Killing him hadn’t even entered his mind.
Shepard spit on one little spot of blood on his palm and tried to rub it away with his finger. He stopped when Dan rubbed his head against his thigh in affection. Shepard slightly smiled and pet the top of the furred head.
Keith took a moment to stretch his legs before going to Shepard. He knew Ranerio’s death hadn’t been his intent. His visible feelings of guilt proved that. Keith placed a paw on the vampire’s thigh and looked into his eyes.
“I’ve done something terrible,” Shepard finally said. “I wish I could change it. I mean…” He took a deep breath. “I’m glad I got you two out of there, but couldn’t it have happened another way?”
Keith and Dan glanced to each other. They knew they weren’t going to do much good trying to comfort their friend in wolf form. They went behind Shepard’s back to change back to their human bodies and dress in the spare clothes from their backpacks.
“Shep, I know how you feel about this. I do,” Dan said softly.
“You did what Aldric wanted us to do,” said Keith. “We were hoping to negotiate with him, but-“
“He wasn’t going to go there?” Shepard finished. “Doesn’t surprise me. This superiority complex is just…” He trailed off into a sigh. “I didn’t want to kill him, though. We have no idea what the repercussions of this will be.”
“From our angle, it looked like an accident,” Dan consoled. “He grabbed your arm, and you both fell.”
“Yes, but I held one of the knives.” Shepard ran a hand through his hair. “What’s going to happen to me? There must have been security cameras in there. I had my hood down… What are the odds of one of those cameras not seeing my face?”
“We’ll protect you.”
Shepard looked up at Keith’s statement. He bowed his head and shook it.
Dan’s hand went to Shepard’s forearm. “You did your best to protect me a year ago, and you’ve saved us just now. You’re our friend.”
Shepard put his hand over Dan’s. “Okay.”
“Hey, you guys done yet?” came Alfeo’s voice. “We should go now.”
Keith, Dan, and Shepard exchanged looks. Keith called back to the brothers, “We’re coming.”
Shepard stood, and nearly collapsed from the flaring pain in his injured thigh. Keith caught him and supported him.
“What are we going to do about you? Dan asked.
“I don’t know,” Shepard winced as he hobbled along with his arm over Keith’s shoulders. “Fuck, it’s really starting to hurt now.”
“Delayed reaction?” Dan suggested. “We’ve all been on edge for awhile. All that adrenaline is fading off.”
“Yeah.” Shepard bit his lip. “Probably.”
Dario and Alfeo were speaking to each other in Italian when Keith, Dan, and Shepard got back to the van. Dario greeted them with a smile. The smile faded when he saw Shepard being held up by Keith.
“Looks like we’re going to have to patch you up when we get to our home,” Dario stated. “We’ve got supplies for that.”
“In all the excitement, I forgot to ask why you’re helping us,” Shepard responded as Keith helped him into the van.
“We run a werewolf rescue operation,” was Alfeo’s answer. “We help them out of Italy. We encountered your two friends when they arrived in Civitavecchia, and decided to help them get to Rome.”
“Really? That’s great. I wish there were more like you.”
“So do we,” replied Dario. “You guys should get the blanket ready, just in case.”
Keith and Dan nodded before Alfeo shut the door. Shepard said, “Blanket?”
“How do you think we made it to Rome undetected? It’s not state-of-the-art, but it worked,” explained Dan as Keith unfolded the blanket and spread it over them.
Shepard ended up lying down between his two friends, facing Dan. Keith pulled the blanket up and over their heads, completely concealing them.
“It’s, uh… kind of a tight fit,” Shepard stated. The van started to move.
Keith half-smiled. He put an arm over Shepard’s waist to hold him close. “I guess now would be as good a time as any to explain why you’re here.”
“Stephen called me, right after you had called him. He told me the situation, and asked if there was anything I could do to help.” Shepard winced as the van went over a sizeable bump in the road, which jostled his injured leg too much. “The only way I could was by coming here myself. It wasn’t hard to find out that Raniero had captured two werewolves, and where he had taken them. I knew talking you out of there was out of the question.”
“So, you fought us out instead,” Dan concluded. “You have no idea how relieved we were when you stopped Raniero, and when you took off your hood. It was great to see your face.”
“Yeah, I’m sure it was.” Shepard sighed. “Still, he’s dead, and everyone back home is going to, at the very least, suspect me.” He snorted. “As if I needed another reason to be. Oh, shit.”
“What?” asked Keith’s and Dan’s concerned voices.
“Murdoch’s one of the vampire leaders. Even if all this somehow slips past O’Reilly and the others, it won’t escape his notice.”
“Shep, how about we cross that bridge when we get back home?” Dan touched his forehead to the vampire’s.
“Okay, we’ve got enough things to worry about right now. We can take care of that when we get home,” Shepard agreed. Inside, he was still scared of whatever fallout would result from this. He closed his eyes and tried to let the low hum of the engine, Keith’s comforting arm around his waist, and Dan’s breath through his hair calm his mind.
**********
“Alright, we made it home fine,” Alfeo said as he hopped out of the van and went to his front door.
Dario helped Shepard out, then gave him to Dan when both werewolves climbed out.
The five of them hurried inside. Dario locked the door behind them. “Set Shepard on the couch,” he said. “I’ll get some supplies.”
They only had to wait a minute for Dario to come back downstairs with some first-aid supplies in his arms. Shepard took off his pants to allow his thigh to be treated. He hissed at the cleansing peroxide poured over the wound. Dario wrapped a bandage around it.
Shepard gingerly took off his blood-stained shirt next. He hissed again as the slash across his bicep was cleaned and bandaged. The last wound to clean was the gash across his jaw.
Dario handed the peroxide dampened cloth to Shepard. “Do you want to do your face?”
Shepard’s canine teeth elongated into fangs at the intense stinging pain he applied to the gash. They eventually went back to normal when the pain faded. “Getting cut on the face is really painful,” he stated. “When it happens and when you’ve got to clean it.”
Dario taped a strip of bandage over the wound and smiled. “That’s the most I can do. I know you guys heal faster than us normal humans, but hopefully this’ll help.”
“Thank you.”
Alfeo returned from upstairs with a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, and a zip-up hoodie in his hands. “You look to be about my size. Here.”
As Shepard got dressed in the new clothes, Alfeo said, “I also looked up when the next ferry leaves for France. It leaves in three hours. It’s probably best that you stay here until then.”
“I’m inclined to agree,” Keith replied.
Alfeo made everyone a quick lunch of sandwiches. He also discreetly asked Shepard if he needed to drink any blood. Shepard refused, saying that he didn’t need it. The younger vampire nodded in understanding.
Shepard couldn’t help but relive what had happened only a few hours ago. It was an accident, yes. But why did it have to go wrong? Especially as wrong as that?
Dan sat next to him on the sofa, and gestured for him to lay his head on his lap. Shepard sighed and laid on his side, using Dan’s thigh as a pillow.
“You’re thinking about it,” stated Dan.
“That obvious, huh.”
“Kind of.”
Shepard let his arm hang over the side of the couch. His fingers grasped at the denim of Dan’s jeans. “I’m afraid,” was all he could say.
Dan leaned over to whisper in his friend’s ear, “So am I, Shep. So am I.”