"Jay and I went to Boston after the outpost there reported some weird disturbances in the area. Based on his experience, and what he had told me, we were dealing with the constructs created by Barnabas Albright. His magic allowed him to change people into . . . well, almost werewolf-like creatures. Not necessarily werewolves. Some middle change where they always stay that way but keep the ability to decide and choose rather than attacking on instinct.

"The difference between Barnabas and his siblings is that ol' Barney liked to fight alongside his constructs. He was well trained in using knives, and at some point decided to learn how to create magical poison. We still haven't figured out who taught him, and last I heard, there were no leads at all.

"So, we go to Boston, we head to the outpost, and sure enough, we find some of these wolf guys slinking about I give chase to them, with Jay yelling at me not to. I heard a growl and scream behind me, but I kept up with the wolf I was chasing, trying to get to the bottom of what Barnabas was doing all the way out here. I was brash then. I had a bad tendency to go off on my own or make impulse decisions. Jay always joked that I would get him killed. At least, it seemed like he was joking.

"Anyway, I'm chasing these guys, trying not to lose them. Suddenly, I find myself in forest; can't see anything through the trees. I lost them, but I stop and listen to see if I can hear any movement from anywhere. And I do. Tons. I'm surrounded by at least a hundred of these wolf guys, and they're slowly advancing on me, toying with me. I put my shield up, summon my sword, and prepare to lose my life taking out as many of them as I can. They jump on me, and I start swinging.

"I can hear whelps as they're cut down and blood sprays over my body. They keep coming at me in pairs and trios, and I keep swinging until my shoulders feel like they're about to pull out of their sockets. And then suddenly, the rest of them are on me. Some are biting at my shield, but eventually, I hear a whistle. Covered in scrapes and bruises, they start removing themselves from , though one held me down to the ground. I could see us surrounded by all his dead friends. And slowly walking over the bodies toward me, was a dark haired, pale man wearing a long trench coat and circular sunglasses on his head. Casual as anything else, he swings his foot across my jaw and I'm out.

"I come to hanging upside down in some clearly man-made cave. A bunch of these guys are snarling, ready to pounce on me, but the pale guy is holding them back. He asks me what I thought would happen to me if he found a way to change me into one of his beasts. I say he'll full of it, but something in his demeanor and confidence sent a streak of fear down my side. He smiled, clearly drinking it in. All the research I put into joining Guardian and I let fear slip in front of an Albright. I needed to make sure that wouldn't happen again.

"He let his wolves circle me, but I tried to keep any fear from my mind. I had to center myself hanging upside down, knowing these things were going to tear into me whenever he got what he wanted. He never gave a monologue, just waited for me to slip again, but I refused to feed him. Suddenly, an explosion rocked the ground and I was swinging wildly. He starts yelling at one of his wolves, telling him that he thought it was taken care of. The wolf starts to reply, but Barnabas rips his throat out with his hand. I let some fear slip there, which ended up working out.

"As Barnabas drank in my fear, a brief distraction came when Jay burst through the roof, firing off balls of fire that he had prepared before his entrance. That's the ganger with Jay's power set. Everything had to be prepared in advance. He burnt several of the wolves to a crisp, but he was running low on them and there were still tons of wolves. He fired his last ball at the rope hanging me, and I dropped down. I took my blade to the throat of every wolf I could reach, kicking off of one fresh corpse to bury my weapon into another. I could feel claws and teeth bounce off of my shield, almost piercing, but not quite strong enough. At the end of the day, they're not real monsters like we are. But Barnabas was.

He lunged at me as I was covering Jay so he could summon some other offense, and instead of letting me take the hit of his knife to find if my shield would hold, Jay broke his concentration and dove in front of it. There was a flash of purple light from the wound as the magic in the poison on the blade began mixing with Jay's own magic. My partner went down and the few remaining wolves jumped on him. I heard the scream as the blade pierced, and knew it was the scream I had heard when I first started running.

"I turned my sword into a hammer and swung it into their sides until they were all thrown across the room. I went to check on Jay and saw his eyes wide, looking over my shoulder. I switched the hammer back into a sword and tucked it under my arm, stabbing behind me. I braced and let the gravity and momentum of Barnabas Albright's attack guide him down the blade, his own knife above his head. The knife clattered against the ground as he choked out words that never quite found their purchase.

"I pulled my sword back out of him and his body slumped onto my back before falling to the ground. I listened, closer than ever, as his last breath left his body. I gathered Jay, found our way out of that cave, and contacted the outpost for a clean up job. They took Jay from me, sending him to their best healers.

"Turns out, the poison he used attaches to the victim's own magic. It started eating away at Jay's the second it touched his bloodstream. They worked on him for weeks before deciding he would live. Then another few weeks before they stopped his magic from deteriorating. I all but quit Guardians, because that's not really an option for the most part. At least not until Guardian became Traitor. Hanna checked on me, and was as worried as someone could be, but I couldn't talk to her.

"Not only did I fail my partner, I almost got him killed. I got some of his magic stripped from him due to my careless actions. Hanna told me he would live and would be out of the field. A ritualist shouldn't have been out in the field anyway, but he was Jay. he was more than just another ritualist. She told this to me as a way to make me feel better, but it made it worse. He loved field work. And now he would be out of it for good.

"The poison inside of him is still there. It's dormant, waiting for a chance to spread again. Too much magic or him trying to touch any of the abilities he has lost could potentially give it enough power to start spreading again. So, I stayed out of his sight until he cornered me and forced me to come back. The nice, friendly guy told me to get my shit together. Told me I had to get back out there and do the damn job for the both of us. That reality check was enough to get things moving for me again.

"Outside of that moment, Jay never let it be obvious that he was mad at me. I'm not sure he ever truly was. He said it was his decision to take that knife. But it was my fault we were tin that situation to begin with. I came back, worked some cases on my own, helped out around the office. Then one day, Lily joined Jay would tag along whenever we needed a ritual in his wheelhouse, but outside of that, he would do his office job like it was the greatest job he could ever have.

"Now, he's back in the field. I'm sure with Lily abilities, he'll be fine. But the poison isn't the only worry for him anymore. He's deteriorating in other ways, and it's pretty much a toss up on what will kill him first. I don't know how to help. I've done everything I can to not be that impulsive kid anymore, but I just want to walk up to him and shake him. He's just making the process of his death speed up, and I can't even talk to him. Not after what happened before I quit. Not with me quitting and never reaching out.

"After that, I saw a few Albrights. They always seemed to target me when our paths cross. At first, I thought it was because I killed Barnabas, but the only thing that kills more Albrights than us are Albrights. If anything, I did them a favor killing him. One less person vying for ultimate control. No, I think it's what he had said. What if he could turn me into one of his wolves? Is it possible? If I'm fair game, then any other monster would be too.

"His theory or plan or whatever it was never got to come to fruition, but I think the other members of his family sussed out what he was working on. Why he gathered every construct he made into one location, knowing we would show up. He wanted a Guardian. If we could be turned, anyone could. Hell, some of the other groups might have jumped at the opportunity.

"So far though, no one has managed it. At least not that we know of. Beatrice is currently on top of the Traitor's hit list as far as an Albright is concerned, but she's smart enough to send her creatures to do her bidding as she watches from her mansion. And that intelligence is why my money is on her."

Mark stopped and Natalie looked at him for a long minute before speaking, "I don't know what I can tell you that Jay already hasn't. It's been years. It's not your fault. Sure, it was a response to your actions, but he made a choice to protect you. And it sounds like the two of you stopped progress on a plan that would have devastated the world. So, I'll give you a non-professional piece of advice that I stole from someone else. Get your shit together, Mark. You can't let Boston or the other thing affect what is happening now."

Mark nodded, "Definitely. I'll work on that. But I think I'll need more time before reaching out to the others. I need to focus on making sure that Rylie's powers develop."

Natalie took a sip from her mug, "That sounds like a fine plan. The others have waited this long. They can wait some more. Go rest for a while. Watch some television or go work out. Make some new friends. Just work it out, and you'll be alright. Consider yourself cleared for the field."

Two two of them stood up and shook hands before Mark walked out the door He sat at his desk for a minute, before pulling out his phone and plugging in Rylie's number to text. He thought on it for a second, then began typing.

Hey rookie. wanna grab a drink?