The next day I sent word to everyone through Mikki's family connections that it was my fault, that I was sorry for causing all the trouble, and that I would pay for all the damages that might have occurred as a result of my unfortunate show of power.

There were still a few holdouts that didn't want to forgive me, mostly the ones with the night jobs that were 'outed' as were-animals because they had been forced to change in front of witnesses. The rest of them? They called me or told me personally that it was the most fun they'd had all week. Most of them wanted to do it again on the night of the full moon, which surprised the hell out of me.

I told them that I would think about it, because I wasn't sure if doing it could be duplicated in a more controlled environment. Then I thought 'why not?' and met them on the night of the full moon in a nice and secluded spot and did my best to do it again. To my surprise, thanks to Mikki's help sharing the same energy boost I had given her, it worked... and oh, boy... what a party.

Not only were all of the were-cats invited, every shape shifting person and animal in town got an invitation. I thought that it was the least I could do after what had happened by accident the last time. I was just glad that the collateral damage was kept to a minimum.

I knew that the last time I had touched all of the were-animals, with both my power as bridge and my essence as a catalyst, was a rush; but, with over a thousand of them gathered together in one place, I didn't have to work at trying to spread myself across the city to touch them all. Needless to say, a week later I could still feel the tingling in my bones from channelling so much energy.

After they released the animals for hunting, because there weren't enough wild animals for just the were-cats to eat, let alone everyone else, I did my little bit of magic. They all transformed instantly, with little or no side effects like dizziness or fatigue that they usually had. It had been like flipping a switch. One moment I was surrounded by a bunch of people and the next moment I was almost drowning in furry bodies.

If I hadn't known any better, I could have sworn that they were all a little drunk. Standing near me when I did what I did was apparently an even bigger rush for them than it was for me, especially since the last time I had done it, it was from a distance and only Mikki had been close enough to get a full dose of energy.

I had thought I had seen everything; but, until you've seen over a thousand were-animals burst their human skin and become furry, you haven't seen anything. I would never forget the sight or the sound for a long time, if ever. The best part of the whole evening was that for the first time in my life, it didn't bother me to be completely surrounded by a mass of furry animals.

*

It had been two weeks since the full moon party and I awoke to a familiar sound when my house phone rang. Mikki tussled under the covers, unwrapped herself from around me and grabbed the phone. After a moment or two she hung up and turned to me.

“Pack business.” Mikki said in a grumpy voice. Being half asleep like I was this early in the morning, she had a right to be grumpy. She had recently gotten a raise from work, and considering she was doing most of everyone else's jobs herself, she deserved it. Natalie woke up when the phone rang and didn't move until Mikki got out of bed.

“What time is it?” Natalie asked.

I looked at my alarm clock on the nightstand and sounded as tired as I felt. “Three thirty.”

Natalie groaned and asked what the call was about. Mikki just sighed and said it was another new were-cat in trouble. Having so many were-cats in the area was great and really helped out on the manpower front most of the time; but, it sure makes a lot more problems for the pack to deal with and Mikki was usually the one they called for help, since she was the next in line for pack leadership.

I turned over on the bed and reached out for Mikki's hand. She took a hold of it like it was a lifeline for a drowning victim.

“Before you say anything, there isn't anyone else. We only have a small number of alphas to deal with problems like this and they're all busy. So it's me or no one.” Mikki said with a sigh.

I squeezed her hand and the tension in the room dropped a bit, so Natalie took that as a hint to go put on some coffee for us. I knew this because she did it every time as if she knew we needed a little alone time. She hopped out of bed and slipped on her cute boy shorts and a t-shirt. She smiled at me the whole time because I was watching her like a hawk, then she left the room. Mikki and I were alone, or as alone as anyone could get with having several were-animals in the house.

“David...” Mikki started to say.

“It's okay. I know.” I said and gave her a kiss. “Even better than you do.”

“But, I don't even want to go.”

“Mikki, I said it was okay. You need some time away from me being so depressed anyway.” I joked and pointed. “Get me my chair, will you?”

“Sure.”

She opened the closet door and there it was, the bane of my existence. A lump of steel with wheels. She manoeuvred it into position by the bed, so I could get to it easily, or so I thought. Mikki turned away to finish getting dressed because she knew how much I hated it when someone fusses over me too much.

I adjusted myself to try and put myself into the chair, just like I had done dozens of times so far; but this time, instead of gliding into the chair like usual, my hand slipped on the hand pad and I started to fall face first to the floor. My power over the dead flared up, because it was always on now, and I was scared.

I saw Mikki in that ‘everything is in slow motion' view, and watched as she turned back to me and flung the wheelchair aside like it was nothing. She lunged to catch me and just before I hit the floor, she somehow managed to get her arms under me to save me. If I hadn't seen it for myself, I would have told you that nothing on this earth could move that fast.

Thank God I was wrong. I thought as I looked up at her face and into her eyes. Lying in her arms was one of the best feelings in the world and I let her see that on my face. She looked down at me with tears brimming in her eyes.

“You almost fell.” Mikki said in a soft voice.

“Thanks for the save.” I smiled weakly.

“David, you could have really hurt yourself.” Mikki said. “You have to be more careful. I can't...”

“You can't what?” I asked with my mouth set in a grim line.

“No matter how much I want to, I can't stay with you all the time to protect you.”

“I don't need your protection, Mikki.” I said and my power flared a bit more. I guess any strong emotion could set it off now.

“You're doing it again. Distancing yourself.” Mikki shook her head. “Please David, don't shut me out, too.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, confused.

“Everyone here walks on eggshells around you. If anyone tries to help you, or even thinks about approaching you that way, you bite their heads off. I don't think I can take that kind of rejection all of the time. Not from you.”

Well, I've been waiting for the other shoe to drop, so to speak... and there it goes. It was time for damage control again.

“Mikki...” I slid my hands down her arms and she moved me just enough to sit me in her lap. “... the only thing...” I motioned for her to hug me. “... that matters...” I grabbed her hands and closed my eyes. “... is this.”

I moved her hands down over my abdomen to touch me between the legs. The sound she made was the sound almost any woman makes when she gets permission to do things she shouldn't be doing. Yeah, that sound. She had so much need and pain mixed into her feelings that she reminded me of... well, me.

Could we really be so much in sync that even with my body damaged we could... I didn't even get to finish the thought as my power flared up and touched her. It was almost like Mikki got its attention. I turned my head to face her and pumped power through the room. My power burst the last of my years of practised restraint and crashed into Mikki full force.

I realized with a shock that I could almost feel her hands on me. Mikki widened her eyes and her mouth made that little 'o' motion of surprise, because she could feel what I felt as well. Even though we were both naked and touching and it felt like I had a ski suit on... but... I could feel something! To say I was happy was quite an understatement. Natalie burst into the room just as my power peaked.

“What the hell was that?” Natalie asked, shocked. Nearly all of the hair on her head stood on end.

“Me.” I said, barely above a whisper.

“You're really happy. What happened?” Natalie asked.

“I felt Mikki's hands.”

“But, you feel them all the...” Natalie glanced down at us and the look on her face was almost pure joy. “Does this mean...”

“No, I can't really feel it; but, for some reason, my power can make a connection to Mikki.”

“Oh.” The look of joy on her face turned to sorrow.

“But, it's a start.” Mikki said.

My power ebbed and I lost the feel of her hands, which brought my happy mood crashing down. They tried to comfort me and reassure me, and I didn't say anything in response as they held me. What was I going to do? Keep this power level up constantly, just so I could pretend to feel things? How could I be so selfish? I would probably drain Nina to her second death in no time at all if I did that, and according to Jeanette, possibly Natalie as well through our supposed bond. I closed my eyes and thought it over.

As it was now, since Jeanette suspected they actually were connected to me and feeding me energy outside of her bond with me, she had ordered Nina to feed twice her normal diet to try and intentionally give me extra energy. Natalie had energetically joined in and was eating twice as much food as she normally did and I could almost feel the energy coming off of her. I couldn't tell if she was giving me any of it, though.

My little bursts of power might be a telltale sign that it was working, according to Jeanette. I never had my power flares happen to this degree before, even when my sacred necklace had been damaged and I lost control of my powers. I turned my head and noticed that the remains of my wheelchair was under a large dent in the wall across the room.

“I think I need a new chair.” I commented and both Natalie and Mikki looked at the mangled chair.

After a nervous laugh all around we all got dressed. Mikki took me to the living room and propped me on the couch, then she left to baby-sit the new pack member. Natalie went to get the coffee she made and brought me a cup, then she snuggled into my side and we sat there in silence.

Ah, delicious coffee. I thought and put an arm around Natalie.

Natalie let out a slight purring sound and sipped her coffee, then she looked at me with clear devotion in her eyes.

“You know it's not healthy to love me that much, right?” I asked her.

Natalie let out a laugh and gave me a kiss.

*

Thanks to a bit of phone tag with the hospital, I had a three o'clock appointment the next afternoon with a specialist in town for a custom wheelchair. I told the man on the phone that I had tried to get an appointment with the same company to adjust my current wheelchair and he said that they wouldn't touch ‘common' wheelchairs made by other manufacturers.

Apparently, I was getting a wheelchair like one of those Olympic sport deals with cloth and racing wheels. I told him that I really only needed one like my last one, and he said that if I was going to spend the money that I might as well get a really good one. He also warned me that I was probably going to need a few more. I told him I really didn't want to think about having a wheelchair so long that I would need to replace them, and he said it took me less than a month to ruin the one I had. He had a point. I still didn't like to think about it, though.

The next day, Mikki easily loaded me into the jeep. Did I forget to mention that were-animals were strong? Oops, my mistake. We headed out to 238 Alexander Avenue and it was clear across the city from where I lived out in the suburbs. It was quite a ways to go for a wheelchair; but, Jeanette had said the night before that Mr. Spelmann was the best and to not be late. So, away we went. It was quiet in the jeep as we drove. It was an easy quiet, not hushed or forced, thank goodness. We were comfortable not talking, even though we could if we wanted to.

“I can't believe we haven't been able to repeat what we did last night.” I said, slightly disgusted.

“Me, either.” Mikki said, sadly. “Once we did it the first time, I thought we could keep doing it. I guess that isn't so.”

“Yeah.” I said and couldn't keep the disappointment out of my voice.

All this time with no feeling in my lower body, to finally get some reaction... only once... seemed like cruel and unusual punishment. I might have been better off not having that glimpse of normality.

Mikki must have guessed what I was thinking. “Everything is so wild with you. I don't think you've ever duplicated anything you've ever done. You've done things more than once, except not in the same way each time. Maybe that's true for this, too.”

“Maybe.” I said, noncommittally.

“Now it's time for me to tell you not to worry and that everything will work out fine.” Mikki said.

Yeah, and my day job is being the Tooth Fairy. I thought. Sometimes I wished I had Mikki's calmness, then I realized that I would have been dead a dozen times over if I did. In my old life, anyway. Now? Well, I guess a little calmness couldn't hurt.

We continued on into the outskirts of town in my jeep. When we came to the turnoff we were supposed to take, we found it cordoned off by police. They had their cars in the basic ‘block the road' pattern to discourage passersby from even thinking about crossing the barrier. So, down the block we went and circled around to the other end of the avenue only to find another police car. This officer was a little more on the ball and walked towards us as we pulled up.

“Sorry folks. You'll have to turn your vehicle around. This street is blocked off for official police business.” The officer said while I read his name tag.

“Officer Stanton, I've got an important appointment on the other side of this road block that I have to get to before three o'clock.”

Jeanette had told me it was very important to keep the appointment and I didn't think I could reschedule, because getting one this quickly with a specialist was almost unheard of. The cop tried to give me that seasoned cop stare and I stopped my laugh before it escaped. After seeing the top brass giving me cop eyes while they tried to stare me down, this guy's glare was a piece of cake in comparison. He would need a lot more practice in order to pull it off like a professional.

“Sorry, no exceptions.” Officer Stanton said.

I thought about mentioning that I was a bounty hunter and had previously worked freelance for the department, then I realized with a bit of a shock that I didn't have my ID with me. I had left it on the dresser, not thinking I'd need it for a simple appointment. I almost sighed as I thought about how I was going to convince a police officer, that I had no authority over, to allow an armed civilian and a were-animal to cross a police blockade.

Let's try sympathy. I thought. “Officer, I'm... handicapped, and I need to get to my appointment. It was a last minute deal and if I don't see him now, I won't get to see him.”

“Sir, I've asked you nicely to leave. If you don't turn your car around right now, I'm going to give you a ticket for blocking traffic.”

“I've helped the squad out on a lot of cases...” I started to say and he continued on as if I hadn't said anything.

“If you still don't leave, then I'll have no choice to arrest you for trying to interfere with a police investigation.” The officer said and rested his hand on his belt near his holstered gun.

His attitude really got on my nerves, mainly because he immediately went to threats instead of politely convincing us to move along, which was what he was supposed to do.

Who is training these new people? I asked myself. He's the second officer of the law that I've met with horrible interpersonal skills. This time I actually did sigh. How am I going to get by this guy without shooting him? I asked myself, then smiled. Maybe a call from one of the top brass would settle this, so I called Sanchez.

“Who are you calling?” Mikki asked, curiously.

“Sanchez. I really don't want to have to shoot this guy for being impolite.” I said.

Officer Stanton chose that moment to chime in with his pearls of wisdom. “Excuse me, sir. I think you can make your call after you move your vehicle away from here.”

“No actually, I can't.” I said.

Sanchez picked up on the second ring. “Sanchez.”

He must have taken some phone lessons from Rick because I guess saying ‘Sergeant Sanchez, City Supernatural Investigation Squad' every time he answered his phone would get a bit monotonous after a while.

“Hi, Sanchez. It's David.”

“Holy Hanna, is it really you? I haven't heard from you since...”

“Since before I got kicked off the team, yeah.” I responded.

“Hey, sorry about that. I tried to pull some strings, but... Rick and a few other guys were adamant about getting you out of the cop helping business now that your... um... incapable of doing a lot of the work we needed you for.”

“Ha. I wondered why I got the boot so quick.” I said, understanding that bureaucracy was the bread and butter of the police department. “That's not why I called, though. I'm out here on Alexander Avenue and I'm having a bit of a problem with Officer Stanton.”

“Stanton? I put him on the far end of the street... blocking traffic.” Sanchez said with a chuckle. “All right. I'll be right there.”

The officer in question had listened to my side of the conversation and drew his own conclusions, without realizing that Sanchez was walking up the street towards us.

“That wasn't really Sergeant Sanchez you were talking to. You're just trying to intimidate me into letting you into this crime scene. Well, it isn't going to work.” Officer Stanton said. He was about to continue his little speech when Sanchez's voice startled him.

“Just what the hell do you think your doing harassing my friend?” Sanchez asked in his best 'Rick' voice.

“He didn't say he was your friend when he pulled up.” The officer said in his defense.

“Did he present you with his ID when you asked for it?”

“I... didn't ask for it.”

“You didn't ask for their ID when someone was trying to come into a crime scene? Really?” Sanchez asked, his voice full of scorn.

“No, Sir. Sorry, sir.” Officer Stanton said.

“Geez, kids these days.” Sanchez responded and shook his head.

“Sir, I don't need the person's ID to tell them that they can't come in.” Officer Stanton said. “He said he's helped on cases before, but...”

“Are you a detective on this case?”

“No, Sir.”

“Then how do you know this isn't a crime that could use his expertise?”

“I... uh... don't.” Officer Stanton said, then quickly added, “Sir!”

“Right. Now get your ass back to your patrol car and do your job, only the right way this time.” Sanchez said and pointed over his shoulder with his thumb.

“Yes, Sir.” Officer Stanton said in a defeated tone and walked away. When he was far enough away to not hear us, Sanchez turned on me.

“Why did you just make me chew out a rookie?” Sanchez asked, a little angrily.

“Me? He's the one being a total ass.” I said.

Mikki leaned over me to look out of the jeep at Sanchez. “David's right. At no point did we raise our voices or caused a scene. He threatened us right from the beginning.”

Sanchez took off his sunglasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. “I've been trying to keep him on a short leash, but it's hard. I don't know how he passed the psych test to get on the force. He's a little short on his temper and has no compunction to not take it out on the public.” He sighed and then glared at me. “You didn't hear that from me. That's all I need right now is to have the guys find out that I'm airing our dirty laundry to you.” He said, then the glare disappeared and he grinned at me.

I rolled my eyes and held in my laugh, because we both knew good and well that Sanchez didn't give a rat's ass what the other guys said about him. I was obliged to respond, though.

“Our lips are sealed.” I said and Mikki nodded.

“Good.” Sanchez said and leaned against the jeep. “Now, what are you doing here? I didn't call you about this crime.” He said and let the unspoken accusation hang in the air between us.

“Sanchez, do you really think I'd invite myself in on an investigation after being dismissed?” I asked. In my current condition. I added in my head.

Sanchez read the thought in my eyes. “No, I guess not. But, off the record, I sometimes wish you did. It's been... hard without your help on a lot of these cases.”

“Gee, Sanchez, I didn't think you cared.” I said, then I sighed. “I've been out of the loop so long that I might not be any help to you anyway.” I said with a lilt of unhappiness to my voice. Wow, I really was unhappy about it. I thought in surprise.

The whole time that I had been doing this thing and helping the police, I had thought that I needed to get away and take some time off. Now that I had to stay away because I physically have to, I really didn't want to. It really was like they say. You don't know what you've got until it's gone.

During my retrospective Sanchez asked us what we were doing there if I wasn't trying to invite myself into whatever case was there. Mikki told him about my appointment at 238 Alexander Avenue and he widened his eyes as he looked at me.

“It wouldn't happen to be with...” Sanchez riffled through his crumpled notebook to a specific page, “...an Arthur Spelmann, would it?”

I successfully managed to not take in a sharp breath. Apparently, we were all headed to the same appointment. Lucky me, huh? Now that we knew we were going to the same place, we had to decide how we were going to get there. With the street blocked off, I needed a wheelchair. Mikki would have carried me if I didn't have a shred of personal decency.

I was for damn sure not going to be carried around like a doll for the rest of the day, especially around a crime scene. Sanchez had the novel idea to get me a chair from the shop. I guess he figured I was going to get one from Mr. Spelmann anyway, so I might as well have it now.