Author: Asuka Kureru
Warnings for this chapter: violence, allusions to a possible G+J (dun even wanna imagine if it was GxJ or JxG >o<), syringes and blood takings (brrrrrrr, dunno for you but it makes me ill), half-naked Heero...yeah I know, that's not what's gonna make you run for the hills ^__^

Garou + Part 10
Secession

"Don't come any closer!" commanded Trowa in the most authoritative voice he could muster without shouting.

It wasn't the moment to further unnerve the Were, when he was still struggling on the edge of the transformation. It really wasn't. All the pilots could see it... but J seemed determined to interfere.

"Doctor J, he is not thinking like a soldier at the moment, he's thinking like a wolf. You're advancing toward what he considers his prey... he could very well attack you to keep it."

The man frowned behind his strange bionic goggles.

"I thought that he could think like a human even in lupine form?"

"He CAN think at the moment, but his instincts have a tendency to prevent him from paying attention to his thoughts," declared Quatre in a soft voice, discretely putting himself between the scientist and the still growling boy.

"How is that?"

Quatre put a hand on his chest without even being aware of the gesture, instinctively correlating what they had learned before and what he felt from the boy.

"He knows what's happening, he knows what the consequences will be. It's just that, at the moment, he... doesn't care. He's oscillating between two totally different systems of thoughts. He can push himself to think in a human way in either of them, but for the moment, he's unstable. His instincts would take control of his reactions before he has the time to get used to thinking in animal form. How to say it..."

"The animal will's weaker but faster," announced Trowa. "Give him some time."

"Hey, Hee-buddy, let yourself go," suggested Duo. "Transform. The need won't disappear before you do and it seems like the more you resist, the worse it will be. You'll never be able to relax enough to make the pressure drop without transforming..."

Heero briefly closed his eyes and his growls became lower, less firms.

"No..." he growled between his clenched teeth. "Going to... attack you... Can't..."

"No, Heero, you won't do anything to us," whispered Trowa. " As long as we don't move... Let yourself go, Duo is right."

With a feeble shout halfway between a pained whine and a ferocious snarl, Heero began to tear off his shorts and to get rid of his shoes. He was still dislodging the second shoe when his spine bent so brutally he fell on the ground, an atrocious creak resounding in the little room. He stayed there, racked with spasms of pain, his shoulders shaken by waves as if he was ill, curled up as much as possible. The transformation came suddenly, like an explosion. In a few seconds the fur was covering him whole, and his limbs were transforming. He grunted when his ribs and guts changed shape and place, then stayed on the ground, panting a moment, once it was finished.

This time the professors didn't need an incentive to stay put. The too-big wolf was yawning by reflex to stretch his muscles, and his white, saliva-glistening fangs looked very prominent under his dark chops.

The four human pilots had slowly moved while he was changing so as not to alarm him, putting themselves between him and the scientists. They waited with bated breath to see if Heero had taken his control back.

The wolf slowly got up on his feet, first pushing on his forepaws then on his hindquarters, and shook himself before lifting his muzzle to sniff at the air. He lowered his head in the direction of the group and growled to remind them to stay put. Once sure they weren't going to move, he began to walk around his corner of the laboratories, slow and cautious. He sniffed at the cadaver for a few seconds before solidly driving his fangs into his nape and dragging him under the metal-covered table in the corner farthest from the door.

"It isn't logical," breathed J. "Unless he has hollow bones and no internal organs, this animal's mass is at least twice superior to the human version of Heero... Where did he get the surplus mass?"

Duo shrugged to show that he didn't give a damn how it worked as long as it did work, and glared at him warningly: the human voice had made the brown wolf whirl around in less than a second, and he was staring at them, without growling, but with his chops shivering from the need to bare his fangs. The American had seen them enough to know they would be much too white and pointy to his tastes.

"Oi, Heero, you in there?" he asked in a low and calming voice. "Heero...? Answer me, buddy..."

The Were looked at him for a while, and Duo saw a gleam of recognition in his eyes. Then the wolf nodded slowly. Duo snickered; it was too funny to see an animal use such a human gesture. Heero growled at him, but it was more like the annoyed grunts he gave him as a human rather than the violent threats from the Wolf. Carefully, he slipped closer to the little group, his body language tense, but not truly menacing anymore.

Duo grinned at him and squatted slowly in front of him. Blue-violet eyes met icy, steel-blue ones and the wolf tensed again, but Duo lowered his eyes first and Heero-wolf came nearer, going to sniff his comrade's face to reacquaint himself with his scent. The American heard the scientists' alarmed whispers about the way he put his face and neck just at the right level for a snap of fangs, but he didn't listen. He knew what he was doing. Heero would never hurt him, he was sure of it. They were of the same pack after all...

With a snort, Heero walked past Duo toward Wufei, Trowa and Quatre, making sure they were ok. Passing near the boy, he brushed against Duo with all of his side, and nearly jumped out of his coat of fur when a hand slid through the messy hairs. But the feeling was strangely comforting and finally, he let the boy do what he wanted. Duo continued to rake his hand along the wolf's back, scratching his skin before smoothing the hairs in place.

It was... calming, reassuring... Made him recall that feeling he had when he groomed himself, that funny tickle, except that here, it was a more social activity, something he authorized because he trusted. Something pleasant. That he liked. Yes, he liked that Duo would caress him.

Quatre stretched his hand out toward Heero's muzzle and the wolf carefully sniffed it before blinking at him, giving him the Ok as for touching him too. Quatre too was authorized; Quatre wasn't a danger. He was from his pack too. More so in a way, because his scent was closer to his own. Like a... hard to think in human terms.

/litter mate. hunt brother./

"In control, Yuy?" asked Wufei, relaxing and letting his hand slide away from his sword's handle.

The wolf glanced at him before turning his head to look at the two pilots who were caressing his back. He suddenly realized that he was letting himself be approached; they were too near. The Soldier stepped back, warily, a whole life of training pushing him to get away from the two boys who were totally violating his vital space, even if his wolf side was entirely relaxed in their close presence and appreciated the contact. He couldn't get away with relaxing, not in other people's presence. The soldier in him knew that. And if Doctor J learned to which point his training was beginning to wear away, he would find himself submitted to reconditioning faster than he could say the word. Not on his list of favorite things to do during his idle hours.

"Heero?"

The wolf looked at his mentor, happy that his appearance made his expression totally unreadable by the old man.

"If you are fully in control now, I think it is time for some examinations..."

He heard himself growl before fully realizing the bad mood he felt rising inside. He shut up in the middle of the sound, trying to stay in control of the bubbling emotions, too violent and to unusual, that the Wolf side was awakening. He shook his head briefly, as if he could chase away his mood this way, and with an irritated sigh, he stalked to the examination table J was pointing out to him.

The table's metal put him ill at ease and he realized he had stopped short just before stepping on it. He lowered his head and forced himself, jumping on and staying unmoving in a stiff and nearly unnatural position. Even when trying with all his might to find again the objectivity and the non-emotional state he could attain before, he just couldn't detach himself from the moment. He didn't want to be on that table and wanted even less to play Guinea pig. He wanted it less and less, he thought, glancing from the corner of his eye at the scientist who was coming to him, an empty syringe and a bottle of disinfectant in hand.

"First some blood takings..." he announced, searching a place amongst the thick fur where he could stick the needle.

The bitter and prickly disinfectant smell made his eyes tear up and he twisted his nose, for once disgusted with his senses' new acuity. He tried to relax his muscles, which were strung like cables, while the doctor cleaned a little bit of skin under his shoulder, conscious of the fact that his tenseness would prevent the needle from entering his skin like it should.

The syringe approached his skin and the next second, he was in the opposite corner of the room, crouching low and ready to pounce on the man's throat, growling ferociously, his fangs apparent up to the gums. He hadn't even consciously decided to move.

"That's quite enough, Heero!" said the exasperated doctor in clipped tones. "Get back on the table at once! You are acting like a five year old, it is more childish than you ever acted!"

"You really wanna get your throat torn out," remarked Maxwell with a despising smirk. "It's the wolf who's dominating at the moment, and the wolf doesn't want to have sharp, pointy things approach him. If you unnerve him, he will never be able to stay calm enough to control the wolf too. That's the Wolf's body, there, he can take control more easily. You can't even begin to imagine the difficulty it presents for Heero..."

During his little speech, he had slowly stepped nearer to him, and was now standing a few steps away, a hand stretched out to him. Heero grunted and authorized him to pass his hand along his spine.

"Hey, buddy," whispered Maxwell just for his ears, "I know you don't like that, but the faster you'll let him do his thing, the faster we can get the hell outta here... For me, man? This place gives me the creeps..."

The wolf snorted in a way that could be translated as "no kidding?" and came back to the table. This time he tried not to look at the approaching needle. But he couldn't prevent himself from growling low, at the tone between a growl and a whine of distress.

Duo went to stand in front of him and began to scratch his skull and the dip behind his ears, and Heero thought he was going to melt. Lord, he understood better now the animals who let themselves fall flat on the ground when someone caressed them there! It was more than nice... He half-closed his eyes and pressed his head against the hand that was cajoling him, demanding more pressure.

"It's ok now, Heero," laughed the American. "Yanno, it's been thirty seconds already since he finished taking blood ..."

Wufei snickered and elbowed Trowa.

"His tail is wagging..." he mocked gently, amused by the sight.

Heero, annoyed, growled a growl that went louder when Trowa dared to let a small smile appear on his face. Even HE was laughing at him... He wondered if he should get angry. He hadn't even felt his tail begin to move. It was totally automatic.

The doctor was taking his measurements. He let him evaluate his height from paw to back without problem, but squirmed when the old man wound his arms around his torso to measure his thorax depth...

/not my belly don't want to show my belly /

"Calm down," grunted the doctor, showing the number to G so he could write it down on a piece of paper. "Straighten your tail behind you, in the line of your column."

And before an alarmed Trowa could get to the old man and prevent him from pushing on the wolf's muzzle to make him lower his head, the frightening jaws had already clamped down on his arm with a great tearing sound. The wolf jumped on the ground, half dragging his mentor over the table, making the papers fly messily everywhere on the floor.

Half panicked, Duo jumped around the table, already wondering how he was going to make his friend let go before he bit off the scientist's arm... and sighed in relief when, through the torn up lab coat, he glimpsed metal instead of flesh. He had forgotten that the old bastard was cybernetized.

Now, to calm down the beast...

But the Soldier had taken back control nearly as soon as he had lost it. He unclenched his teeth and quickly backed up against the wall. He stayed there, growling loud and clear, head near the ground, tail arched high in the air, ears forward on his skull in a aggressive fashion, fur standing on end.

"Doctor, I think you should leave him alone for the moment," advised Wufei in a strong voice, straightening up the old man who had stayed across the examination table, too stunned to move.

The Chinese pilot made J move away without asking for his opinion on the matter and pushed him back amongst his colleagues.

"Doctor, we told you to be more considerate than that. Do you know what it means for a wolf to let his muzzle be manhandled like that? It's a submissive gesture."

"I am his superior officer!!" protested a pissed off J.

The American lost what little patience he had for the old, bastard scientist.

"You're the Soldier's superior officer!!" hissed Duo. "The Wolf doesn't give a shit about that! All that he knows is that you're just an old bag of bones while he's a male in his prime and he could kill you with one snap of fangs!"

"A wolf obeys only his superior pack members," added Trowa when he saw the puzzled looks the scientists were sending his way; obviously, they had never taken the time to wonder about animal behavior.

"Do you know how dominance conflicts are straightened out in a pack?" asked Quatre, smiling politely. "With teeth clamping down on jugulars. You fight if you want to stay on top. You're too old to fight, a younger one takes your place. Next time, doctor J, I cannot advise you enough to ASK him to lower his head instead of making him do it," he added, pulling up the torn sleeve to show the metal arm, completely crushed and with sparkles dancing where the cables had been cut. "You DO realize, that if that had been flesh and bones, he would have bitten it off?" finished the boy in a low and deadly serious voice.

Considering that they had made their point, the pilots turned back to Heero.

"Weeeeell... you're definitely not ok..."

Quatre could feel / Heero / himself getting oppressed. Putting a hand on his torso, he glanced up to the little, covered window.

"The wolf is feeling trapped..." he whispered. "Come on Heero, we're going out. If you run a little, you'll be able to go back to human more easily. Ok?"

With a grunt, Heero walked out after him, without looking back. He didn't care for the old bat for the moment. What was important was his pack's advice.

* * * * * *

[cont]