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Realistic or Modern Fairweather Communications - Urban Fantasy

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Percival shifted once more, and the embarrassment was clear in his voice when he answered.

"Ah, that is probably not a good idea," he said. "I am... near the clinic. In the janitorial storage room on the first floor."

He made another sound of effort, then sighed when it seemed he had finally managed to get comfortable.

"I'm a little... Stuck," he admitted finally. "I-- this is difficult to explain."

He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. He was rather nervous, and this was a humiliating situation.

"My mother's species are shapeshifters, and I think something is affecting my control. I can't call my brother or my father, they'd both be so angry after what happened last night."

He sounded resigned more than anything. Tristan would likely pin it on Wade, because Wade being at the company upset their father and made life on him, as the eldest, so much more difficult. But Percival knew Wade would never be able to do something like this.

He was lucky he'd made it to the storage room, really. It would have been terrible if he'd shifted in the middle of the hall. Not many people working Saturdays did not mean nobody working Saturdays.

He just wished the supply closet was a bit bigger.

He hadn't had time to take his pants off before losing control of his shape, so they were shredded and shoved into the corner somewhere. His jacket, shirt and tie were all surprisingly ok, though dishevelled. He was certain one of his buttons was missing off his jacket, and he was sure he'd be angrier about that later when he wasn't wedged into a closet.

He was not the largest naga he'd ever met. His mother dwarfed him with her impressive sixty foot-length, and could easily take up an entire room if she wanted to. Opulence was a good excuse for why the halls and rooms in the Fairweather mansion were so large, but the company was not designed for people like him.

Thirty feet of tail curled up into a small space was terrible. He felt squished and uncomfortable, and if he was stuck in here much longer the cramping would be ridiculous.

His real form was quite different from his human guise, and he hoped Azrael would recognize him. His eyes had shifted colour, from blue to a reddish lavender, and his hair lightened to a faint, nearly white blond with a hint of pink. He was much paler, moreso than even the stereotypical vampire. The light, reddish-pink scales of his tail started at his waist, though there were a few smatterings across his arms and back. If his face weren't the same, he could easily pass as an entirely different person.

But, well, there was only one supply closet on this floor. It wasn't like she could go somewhere else by mistake. Still... He was dreading this, a little. Nobody who didn't already know about his heritage had ever seen him like this, and it was nerve-wracking. He knew she of all people would understand, but still.

"Oh," he said, a little out of breath. "I should. I should warn you, erm. Before you open the door. You don't have issues with reptiles, do you?"



Wade rolled his eyes.

"I am not too loud. And I don't even have curly hair!" He shook his head - much like a dog, ironically - to make his point. His hair was always a bit of natural bedhed, but it certainly had no curls.

But then Azrael was coming back in a rush, and Wade's eyes widened.

"Is everything ok?" he asked, because it was always the first thing to ask. But, well, she was a doctor so she probably couldn't say. "Can I do anything to help?"

"You're not trained for that," Lev admonished. "But yes, go. It's no problem. We can talk again later."

He smiled brightly at her, because he could tell she felt bad. She really shouldn't. Helping people was important.

Speaking of. He knew that he shouldn't get involved when Azrael had said to let her handle things. But, well, he was worried, especially with the way the guy at the other table had shot up like that.

"You guys go on ahead," he said, reaching into his pocket for his phone. "I just need to call my parents and let them know I'll be over a bit late. I'll catch up with you, promise."

He smiled until Thea and Wade had left, at which point it dropped and he sighed. He turned to the table with the man who was doing an incredibly poor job of hiding, and put one hand on his hip as he looked down at him.

"You ok, mister stalker?"
 
He was stuck. In a closet.

Azrael frowned. How was he stuck? He was not a large person. But then. Shapeshifters.

Oh that poor dork. No wonder he was so nervous.

"Alright, it's okay, Percival," she said, switching to her calming voice. "I'll be there in just a minute."

She pushed into the building, nearly flattening the half-fae kid. "Sorry Mr. Shephard."

"Hi Dr.--oh. You're in a hurry. Right. See you around!" Rowan waved, feeling a little stupid for doing so.

Azrael waved at him over her shoulder. She chortled at Percival. "Mr. Fairweather, if I did not like reptiles, do you really think I would have wrapped you in a blanket in my office?"

She paused outside the closet and glanced around. There was no one around, but that could change. Azrael drummed her fingers on her thigh.

"I'm right outside, can you hear my voice? Give me just a second. I'm going to hang up."

Flipping her phone closed, she dropped it in her pocket and drew one of her ever-present scalpels. This was going to need more blood than she'd used in a while. She would probably need blood after this.

Before she could talk herself out of using her magic, she pulled up her right sleeve and drew the silver blade of the scalpel across her inner forearm. Sucking air through her teeth, she held her bleeding hand out and drew the blood from her vein. With a flick of her left wrist, the blood dispersed in a thick deep-red cloud. The eyes of anyone passing should skitter right off of it, hiding them from view.

Rolling her sleeve over the wound, she fixed her doctor-face on. The last thing she wanted to do was make Percival any more uncomfortable than he was. Wrapping lightly on the closet door, she said, "It's me. Can I come in?"

She opened the door.

Well. That was not what she had been expecting. She decided to think over the very unusual color Percival's snake form was later. For now, her face remained her usual mildly-inconvenienced neutral.

Meeting his eyes, she gave him a firm nod. His eyes were not their usual color, but neither were hers as she was using her magic. But it was him, she'd recognize his heartbeat anywhere. "Alright, no one is going to see you, but we're still going to hurry. Do you need help getting out?" Stepping back, she flicked her fingers and the red cloud grew larger to accommodate Percival's size. "Also, I won't ask questions if you don't ask questions. Fair?"




Thea nodded. Calling parents was important. They had texted their own parents the night before just to let them know where they were.

They slapped Wade cheerily on the shoulder. "C'mon, Poodle-Boy, I'd better get to work before my boss fires me."



Garth had not really heard what had happened after the witch had dropped his blood pressure as he had been too busy not passing out. That was a dirty, dirty trick and it wasn't fair. It had been a really long time since blood magic had worked on him. He had forgotten how violating it felt.

But he was finally able to contact his limbs when Lev spoke to him.

"What?" he said, his words still a little off.

With a groan, he pushed himself to seated and blinked up at the speaker. Oh, it was Smiley. He frowned as Lev's words registered.

"Stalker? Is that what that witch told you?" he asked. He would have gotten to his feet but he was still feeling a little dizzy. He was pretty sure he was taller than this guy anyway.

Garth huffed and pulled his badge out of his coat pocket and flashed it at Lev, hopefully too quickly for him to read the "Cleveland, OH" part of the badge. "I'm Detective Garth Dekker, and I'm trailing a criminal. I don't know who she's told you she is, but she's not that person. She's dangerous, and you'd do best to stay away from her."

Garth squinted at Lev, trying to tell if he were bewitched. Actually, he'd never seen blood magic bewitch anyone, but he thought that sounded like a thing a Dreix could do. He figured he wold look kinda... red or something.

"You don't look bewitched," Garth muttered to himself. "Seduced, then."
 
Percival could not deny that he was nervous.

He didn't think Azrael would react badly. He knew, intellectually, that she would not. She wasn't that kind of person, and the trust he had in her had grown over the past few months. The other day had been a bit of a turning point, and after spending the night at her apartment, he was confident that maybe, maybe, he could rely on her.

But it was still frightening, to be stuck and not know what somebody's reaction would be. When she opened the door and seemed completely normal, he let out a breath that he didn't know he had been holding.

"Yes, thank you," he sighed, happy that the door was open at least. He hadn't been able to leverage himself to open it, and he was still wedged in there rather firmly. But by putting his hands on the doorframe to brace, he was able to squirm and wiggle around a little bit, eventually getting loose.

Like a spring uncoiling, he spilled out of the closet with a startled noise. He managed to catch himself on his hands so he didn't face-plant into the hallway floor, but it was a near thing.

So much better than the closet, though.

"I won't ask," he said, because it wasn't his place. "I am... curious. It seems a useful ability to have. But if you want to keep things private, I will respect that. And... I appreciate you handling this so well."

He imagined most people would not be able to handle it nearly as well. Luckily, there were quite close to the clinic, so getting there would be easy. It was a good thing, because his tail was cramped and sore, and he just wanted to settle down somewhere warm and relax.

"These floors are terrible," he grumbled under his breath to himself. They had been waxed recently, and that was bad enough to navigate when you actually had feet. But it wasn't difficult to find a rhythm, and getting to the office took no time at all.


Wade snorted and rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. I guess I'll let you two medical folks handle the medical problem. But if you need help, just gimme a shout, you know? Just not literally. If you shout in the halls the security guards'll get mad at me again."


Lev raised his eyebrows, because this detective already seemed like a real piece of work.

"She didn't say that, actually," he explained. "I just noticed you tormenting her at the bar last night, and here you are again today. So I just thought I'd stop by, say hello, and see how we can work this out."

He smiled, though it wasn't entirely pleasant.

The badge he had been expecting. Azrael had mentioned he was in law enforcement, so his face remained unchanged as Garth threw his weight around.

"She's my doctor," he said, because that was what was important. "She doesn't hurt people, she helps them. And whatever may have happened before, I really don't care about it."

He had suspected criminal activity. She was far too nervous about her secrets and her identity to be completely above the board. But he had meant it when he told her the past was the past, and it didn't matter. As long as she spent her life doing good and trying to make up for whatever wrongdoings she had committed, he would never hold her past against her.

He opened his mouth, about to continue about how he would really like the detective to please stop bothering her, and if he was really running an investigation, to go through the proper channels. But then he was muttering about seducing and being bewitched, and Lev couldn't help it.

He laughed so loud he snorted.

"Wait, seriously?" He asked, trying to get his giggles under control and failing. "You think--? Dude, I don't think Azrael is capable of seducing somebody on purpose."
 
Azrael reached for Percival when he started to swan dive towards the floor but backed off once he caught himself. She wasn't sure of the etiquette here, anyway. Don't step on your friend's tail was always a good bet, though, regardless of species.

Azrael flicked her fingers like she was conducting and the red cloud kept pace with her. That meant that she nearly left Percival in the dust at first, and she winced in sympathy when she noticed the reflective floor. Right. No place for purchase for the ventral scales. Maybe they had a technical name. She clearly needed to grab a snake anatomy book from the library. She might even be able to find a naga book if she really dug for it.

She blinked at his comment and then scoffed. "Yes, well, it can be a curse."

Azrael paused, pulling her keys from her coat pocket. She didn't think the Percival she had first met would have admitted to being curious. She stuck the key in the lock and made a face while she tried to find the peevish lock's sweet spot. "I'll tell you what, if you're nice to me, I'll let you ask a few questions."

She found the spot and pushed the door open before stepping back and gesturing Percival inside. "Go back to my office. It's not big, but it's the only place I can promise won't be disturbed."

Azrael wasn't really sure how she was going to explain her very locked office with rustling inside to Thea, but she'd come up with something.

She drew the blood back to her once Percival was fully in the clinic. Leaving vampire blood laying around was stupid, even if the magic had drawn the life from the blood cells. But it was also dead and useless, so she solidified it into a tiny ball. She almost dropped it in her coat pocket before she realized she would most definitely forget about it and find a bloody pocket later. On her way to her office, she dropped in into an autoclave box to be sterilized with the rest of the blood tubes.

"Make yourself comfortable, I'll get the heat turned up in a moment," she called back to Percival.

And then they were going to talk about how he had been drugged so she knew whom to go after.




Thea grinned and elbowed Wade in the side. "Oh, I will let you know. You will be the first person I shout for."

They paused. They probably should not mention this to Wade, of all people, but it was bugging them. "Who do you think it was? I'm serious when I said I thought I was the only person with her number. Think it's like... family?"




"Tormenting her?" Garth echoed, sounding genuinely offended. "I wasn't tormenting her. I was--"

Okay, so maybe it had a been a bit mean. But what else was he supposed to do? She was surrounded by people and he had needed her to not be surrounded by people. In fact, she had gotten away and Mr. Smiles was in his way.

"Doctor?" Garth stared at him. "You let her like... examine you? Willingly? Are you sure you're not a science experiment?"

Garth laughed--it sounded a little forced even to his own ears but he hadn't slept in like 36 hours so in his defense he was doing great.

"You don't care? She could be a mass-murderer or something. And you'd be okay with that?" Garth looked him up an down. He looked pretty nerdy. "No offense, but you don't really look like the hardened type."

Garth was feeling a little weird staying sitting, but he also didn't really want this guy to think he was being aggressive by standing up. So he just sort of leaned forward in his seat. It was a compromise. Yeah. Sure.

He scowled when Lev laughed. "What, so I'm supposed to believe you just like her? Because... why? She has a great personality? Or do people usually make googly-eyes at their doctor?"

Ok, maybe she wasn't the seductive type, but his father had warned him that vampires were extremely seductive. And, to be completely fair, he actually didn't know her that well. They hadn't even really spent that much time in the same room--he wasn't counting that one time his father had brought him along to their house because the little witch hadn't even looked up from her textbook once.

"And don't let her little smiling act fool you. She doesn't like you. She's using you." Garth tapped the table with the tip of his fingers in annoyance. "Look, I'm just trying to help you here. That little parlor trick of dropping my blood pressure? That's not even the beginning of the horrors she and the rest of the blood mafia can do. You're in danger. Has she touched you--worse, has she touched your blood?"
 
Percival breathed a sigh of relief when they got to the office. The floor in here, at least, did not seem to be waxed.

Getting into the office was much easier than getting out of the supply cupboard. It was bigger, for one, even if he ended up pushing the rolling desk chair into the corner with his bulk.

He sighed as he curled up into a neat pile, resting his torso on his coils. He propped his elbows on his bulk so he could keep himself upright without expending effort.

"Most useful abilities are like that," he said wistfully. As a naga, he wasn't venomous, but the lamia subspecies was. Their venom was a powerful sedative, and his grandmother had spent the better part of her life processing it into illicit street drugs. His mother carried on her legacy, and Normandy would likely take it from her once she passed. Percival hated that the burden of criminality fell to her, but he was secretly relieved he did not have to get involved in that business. The selling of drugs was not something he agreed with, and if he weren't terrified of retaliation, he would have pressed his mother about it more.

But as it was, all he could really do was go quiet during family dinners and nod weakly when the topic shifted to illicit dealings.

When she turned the heat up as promised, he sighed in relief. He was even more sensitive to temperature in this form, with the amount of him that was exposed. He hummed as he flopped, no longer bothering to hold himself up and instead resting his head in his folded arms.

"I don't want to make you uncomfortable," he said when Azrael offered to answer his questions. "And I'm sure you have questions as well. I could answer some of them. Trade information, if you'd like."

Although, really, now that his adrenaline had worn off, he was more sleepy than anything. The cold outside combined with the amount of energy used in a shift had taken a lot out of him.

Maybe he should ask Azrael if she had any spare blood. But he had already bummed off of her once, and he didn't want to make it a habit.



Wade frowned, because he wasn't entirely sure.

"I mean, doesn't work have her number?" he asked, one eyebrow rising. "Everyone at work has my number. I assumed it was, like, an issue at the office."

But that didn't entirely make sense, and his brow wrinkled as they neared the Fairweather building.

"But then they could just call an ambulance? I don't know. It is kinda weird, honestly."


Lev was starting to regret coming over here. He had been hoping to settle this without any further trouble, or at least see if he could talk the guy down. But he had also been a bit impulsive.

He wasn't even surprised when Garth went on about how she could be a mass murderer. His mouth twitched, and he crossed his arms. Mallory at the counter was glancing at them boredly in between customers, but she didn't really seem too invested.

"I don't really expect you to get it," he said, because not a lot of people shared his opinions on forgiveness and redemption. "But even if she was a mass murderer, which I seriously doubt... I mean, it would bother me a bit, but I'm certainly not going to judge her without hearing her side of things. People make mistakes, detective. I'm sure you're not perfect either. The important thing is that the woman you're following and making extremely uncomfortable is, without a doubt, the best doctor I've ever seen in this city. She helps people, and she makes the world a better place. I'm not going to judge her by something she did before we met, when I see the kind of person she is now."

A second after he said that, he felt his ears turn red. That had been kind of embarrassing really. He was glad neither none of the others had been around to hear it.

But this detective was really starting to annoy him.

Who was he to decide who Lev, a complete stranger, could be friends with? Who was he to make these huge, sweeping judgements? The way he acted like some kind of hero made the muscle in Lev's jaw twitch.

The part about the blood magic and the mafia was new, but... well, he could see it. She was a very good doctor, and also a vampire. Vampire gangs did exist, though he didn't know a whole lot about them. She didn't really seem the criminal type, though.

"I'd like you to stop talking about my friend like that," he said, trying to keep his voice level. "Whatever you want to believe about Doctor Drake, she's a good person. But you don't care what I have to say about that, so I'm not going to bother trying to convince you."

He sighed, massaging his temples. This had been a terrible idea.

"I came over to ask you to please stop sneaking around. If you have a problem, then you can go through the proper channels. Following a woman around at night and staking out her place of work isn't ok. She asked us not to get involved, but... I figured I would at least try to talk to you, to see if we could come to an understanding."
 
After setting her bag down, Azrael got out the electric blanket and then eyed Percival. This was a little too small. With a shrug, she dropped it over top of his torso.

"If I offered, it won't make me uncomfortable," she said, removing her coat and rolling up her sleeves. She dug around in her bag--she always kept first aid supplies in there--and pulled out an antiseptic and bandages. As she dressed the wound on her arm, she considered his proposition.

She had plenty of questions, but she doubted he would be able to answer some of them. How many chromosomes did he have? How on earth had his developing cells decided which species' pattern to follow? She assumed there was epigenetics involved but still. It was fascinating. Other questions were stupid--like could he unhinge his jaw and had he hatched from an egg? It was the sort of stuff Thea would ask.

Maybe with a few more minutes she would think of some questions that weren't either impossible to answer or stupid.

"First, I need blood," she announced. "I haven't had much recently and that took a lot out of me. I'm getting you some, too."

Because that's what she would do with a vampire who had been drugged, so surely it would work on a vampire-naga hybrid who was starting to look sleepy.

Azrael slipped from her office and into the lab. She took two bags of blood from the expired shelf and dumped them into two mugs. After snickering to herself when she thought about what Wade had said, she put the mugs in the microwave. She grabbed straws for them both and returned to her office.

"Here's some blood," she said, setting in on the edge of her desk closest to Percival.

Azrael perched on her desk and eyed him. "More important than my questions about your mother's species, I would like you to tell me about how you think you were drugged, Percival. Then we can trade species secrets. But right now, I need to help you navigate that."



Thea was shaking their head before Wade had finished. "Nah, bro. Nobody gets a doc's personal number. I think the hospital may have it, but they only call it when they need her or she has a patient she wants to be informed about. The higher-ups probably have it," they added after a pause.

Thea shrugged. "Not really. I usually assume medical emergencies of that sort are species specific. Y'know. Non-humans and stuff. I mean, it makes sense knowing she's a vampire, but our non-human patients often come to her for stuff they should see a specialist for. She also does a lot of referring for the specialists she trusts or other non-humans."

"I'd say I'd report back but that's HIPPA stuff." Thea grinned. "But I will be telling the receptionists that you're actually a were-poodle on Monday."




Garth made a face. This would be a lot easier if this guy didn't sound sincere. Smiley really did believe that Azrael Dreix was the best doctor ever. But she had ulterior motives. They all did. The Dreix family was evil. He didn't care if they had a foundation for orphaned fledgling vampires, they were devils.

He worked his jaw back and forth for several seconds. "She's a crim-in-al," he repeated as if emphasizing each syllable would help Lev understand that he was justified in tailing her. "And her name isn't Drake."

But this guy seemed really determined to make sure he wasn't going to go after her and clap her in irons or whatever. Besides, he was starting to wonder if somehow in her cold twisted way she did care about this guy. And also, there had been that time over three years ago when that thing happened, but he was not paying her back because he did not owe her.

Garth made a face like his words tasted like vinegar as they formed in his mouth. "Look, you seem like the decent sort, so I'll level with you. I'm not after her, alright? I just need to talk to her, but I didn't particularly want an audience. I'm on a case and she's the only lead I have."
 
Percival hummed, only half paying attention to the conversation. His eyes had drifted closed, but when Azrael returned, he took the mug and slurped from the straw.

It combined with the warmth of the blanket made him feel a little more awake. A little more like a person.

"This isn't the first time this sort of thing has happened," he said with a sigh. "I mean, it is the first time this has happened, the loss of control, but I've been drugged before."

His mother had a lot of enemies, and she had not hesitated to show him off as a child. A male naga was rare and would certainly be a huge bargaining chip in the future. More than a few people who opposed his mother's rule had tried to take advantage of that.

"It was more frightening when I was a child. Right now I'm just frustrated I let my guard down."

He pressed the heel of his hand to his forehead, letting out a hiss of breath. When had it been? He had gotten coffee this morning, but he watched the barista make it. His mother's assistant had brought him the warming pill last night. She had been new, so it could have been that. He hadn't noticed anything wrong with the pill when he'd taken it.

Ah.

"The cabbie," he said with a sigh. "It was dry last night on the cab ride home, he offered me a bottle of water. It could have been then. I was feeling ill when I woke up, but I chocked it up to the weather."

The bottle had been full, so he had just assumed it was sealed as well. Stupid. It was a stupid mistake, but he had been tired and feeling more than a little fuzzy inside that he had gotten to spend private time with Wade. Maybe Normandy was right, and Wade made him stupid and reckless.

What he didn't understand was why somebody would drug him last night with something that would take so long to take effect. It couldn't have been to kidnap him. He was more than capable of protecting himself as a full grown naga now, anyways. Could this have been the goal? To make him shift at work?

He laid his head down on his arms again, groaning.

"Father would be so disappointed if he heard of this."



Wade raised his eyebrows, a little surprised.

"Huh. I mean, I guess I didn't think of it that way. I know Lev hated going to the doctor, but he was ok with going to her. I guess it would be kind of traumatic, going to see a human doctor when you're not human."

He frowned, his face turning pensive.

"I mean, I already respected her as a doctor, you know? But that kinda makes me see her... not in a new light. But with more respect. It's hard pretending to be something you're not, but it's harder to do that while still remaining compassionate, you know?" he mused, tilting his head back. It was a weird thing to think about, but knowing that Azrael was willing to take on patients that weren't even her specialty just because she knew they trusted her made him trust her a little more in turn. Not that he didn't trust her already, but...

She could keep a secret, and all she cared about was helping people.

He wondered if maybe one day he could come clean to her about the truth.

But then Thea ruined his musings and he glared at them.

"No! Tell them I'm a were-rottweiler if you have to tell them anything," he complained, but they were already at the building. He nodded to the security guard on detail, and then eyed the clinic. "Anyways, I guess we part here. See ya later, Thea."



Lev gave Garth an unimpressed look.

"Her name is Drake," he said. "It's the name on her office, and the name she introduced herself as. Whatever her name might have been before, she doesn't use it now. So she's Dr. Drake, and I won't call her anything else."

He said it sternly, but he was surprised that Dekker seemed to be giving in. He had expected more blustering and insulting. He had even been prepared for this to end in a fight, though he had hoped it wouldn't.

He didn't trust the guy, not as far as he could throw him.

But he was thinking maybe he really did just need her help.

"Ok. I'm not one hundred percent sure I believe you're just here to talk, but I'll take you at your word. BUT. She doesn't want to talk to you. She certainly does not want to talk to you alone, and I'm not comfortable leaving you alone with her after what you pulled at the bar," he warned. If Garth pulled something, Lev would feed him his own teeth. "If you really need to talk to her, give me your phone number. I'll relay the message to her. If you meet with her, though, I'm going to be there. I won't share any of your police secrets or anything."

He trailed off. He could try and think of a legal reason he had to be there and bullshit, but he wasn't that good at lying. He would probably be worse at lying to a cop. He was already surprised he had managed to be this calm, considering how much his hands were sweating. Panic could come after once he got to the company building and locked himself in a bathroom stall.

"I'll try to talk to her, and see if she's willing to help you. But if she's not, you need to leave her alone. She's doing good things here, and good work. She saved my mom's life."

Ok, that was an exaggeration. He didn't think you could actually die from stomach ulcers, but a little dramatic effect wasn't actually lying.
 
Azrael frowned. Percival had been drugged before? That wasn't normal. He knew that wasn't normal, right? She should probably make sure.

She opened her mouth to say as much when he said it was more frightening when he was a kid. Azrael could feel an aneurysm forming in her head.

"That's not normal," she said. "You realize that, right? People don't just drug other people. And not kids. That's crazy." Ok, maybe they did, but that was usually in bars and things. Not by taxi drivers. And that raised so many questions--like how had the cabbie known to drive around there looking for him? Who had sent them?

"I'm not going to tell your father, so I don't see how he'll find out," Azrael said, deciding to comfort him in the way she could immediately and figure out how to track down the driver and beat the daylights out of him later.

She drummed her fingertips on her knee, the mug of blood growing cool on the other knee. "I would like to take your vitals, but I don't know a baseline for this particular form. You wouldn't happen to know your baseline oxygen saturation, blood pressure, pulse, and temperature in this form, would you?"




Thea nodded wisely. "Yeah, I mean, a human doctor is going to try to treat you like a human--even if they're progressive and all that. But human treatments don't always work on non-humans. A non-human doctor is going to be a little more aware of that. Like, I don't think transfusions work on vampires like at all. If you give them another vampire's blood, it could kill them--kinda like if you have A blood and you get B blood. But vampires don't really have blood types I don't think. Turns out you have to shoot them up with erythropoetin, which is the hormone that tells your body to make blood cells, and then feed them human blood. I totally didn't know that until we had a random vampire off the street come in with a knife wound."

Thea's grin only widened. "Nah, rottweilers are couch potato dogs. You're not a couch potato. You're a French poodle for sure." They waved. "See ya, Wade. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."




Garth's eyebrows raised and then lowered. He was regretting the Bloody Mary, he really was, but mostly because it hadn't worked. It almost had. He was starting to think that if she had been with anyone other than this guy and that other one then she would have bolted.

"You sure she wants you there?" Garth said, though it wasn't a jibe. "I'm guessing she didn't tell you about the whole criminal thing."

He made an annoyed sound in the back of his throat. He was not giving this guy his number and then waiting patiently for him to ask the witch if she would pretty please talk to him. Especially when he'd bet his badge she'd say no. And anyway, she didn't get a say because she was a criminal and people were dying.

"Sorry, I don't really have the time to wait for that. Tell you what. I'll head over there now and you can come along." Garth paused. Sighed. Somehow, he didn't doubt she had saved his mom's life. "Well, I'm glad for your mom. But I'll warn you. I'm not going to hurt her, but you might not like what you learn if you go through with this."
 
Percival just sort of shrugged his shoulders. He supposed it wasn’t normal, really.

”People tried to kidnap me a lot,” he explained. “It doesn’t Happen much anymore.“

Which really begged the question of what the cabbie’s purpose had been. Maybe it wasn’t him? But he struggled to think of who else would drug him. He didn’t think he had an excessive number of enemies or anything.

When she asked him medical questions, he couldn’t help but sigh.

“I don’t have that information memorized,” he said. Whenever he saw a doctor it was somebody employed by his mother who was trained to deal with naga and lamiae. “I think my blood pressure is a bit lower and my pulse is slower. I don’t know the specifics, though.”


Lev pursed his lips, frustrated that Garth had a point. Azrael hadn’t told him anything about her past, so she wasn’t comfortable with it. Forcing the issue was going to cause problems. But he wasn’t going to leave Garth alone to terrorize her.

He made a startled sound as te detective decided he had enough talking and took off. He quickly rushed to keep pace with him, a frown on his face.

“Look,” he said with a sigh. “I don’t know what you’re expecting from me. I would prefer she tell he things herself rather than having you explain them for me. But I’m not leaving you alone with her unless she asks me to, so you’re stuck with me.”
 
Azrael stared at Percival. "You do know that attempted kidnappings are not also the average citizen's everyday experience?"

She figured he probably did, but Azrael was starting to get the feeling that Percival brushed things off because he assumed they happened to everyone. Really, this whole thing was starting to worry her. She sort of wanted to march up to Charles Fairweather, inform him she was relieving him of his son, and take Percival home and take care of him.

She rubbed her temple. Most people didn't have a clue what their baseline was, so that was fair. But still, she felt a bit in over her head. "Well, I'd like to take your vitals anyway. Just... I don't know, it would give me data, anyway."

She rose and went looking for her pulse-ox. As she stepped out of her office, Thea was walking into the bathroom, their scrubs over her arm.

"Oh, heya, Doc."

"Don't go in my office."

Thea raised their eyebrows, unspoken questions on their lips.

"I mean it, Thea."

"And keep other people out?" Thea asked, shrugging. If there was a reason the Doc wasn't bringing them in on this, it was a good one.

"Thank you, Thea, you are an angel." Azrael paused, remembering Dekker had been in the cafe she had abandoned them in. "Are the guys ok?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah. Lev stopped to call his parents, but Wade walked over here with me."

Azrael couldn't help imagining Dekker going after Lev, thinking he was a co-conspirator of hers of something stupid. But Lev was fine. Maybe she'd text him later and check on him. Just to make sure. And maybe he'd think she was crazy and paranoid or clingy or something. Or, maybe not. Thea didn't seem to mind texting her to say they had gotten home safely when they left work when it was dark.

Azrael returned to her office, closing the door behind her. "Thea is here, but they won't come in here. And they may be a gossip, but they wouldn't mention anything to anyone if they see you walk out. They're a really good medical assistant."

She hesitated for a second. She was pretty sure snakes had like really long lungs but she had no idea if naga did as well. She'd just guess where they normally were on humanoids and readjust the stethoscope if she needed to. "Can I examine you? I'll just need you to slide your suit coat off and roll up your sleeve."



Garth slowed a little, realizing he was leaving Smiley in the dust. He was tall and lanky--the doctor on staff said he needed to eat more vegetables and drink something besides coffee--and had a long stride.

He glanced down at Lev. "You got a name, kid?"

Smiley was probably the same age as Garth, but he called everyone "kid".

He huffed. "I just want you to know she's dangerous and she's not who you think she is, but you see determined to fixate on that one time she did that good thing. Ulterior motives are a thing, you know."

He pushed into the Fairweather building and made a bee-line for the clinic. He'd already cased the place. It had a back door, but somehow, he figured Lev's presence might once again stop her from bolting.

He pushed into the clinic. The medical assistant looked up, and he recognized them from the bar and cafe. They blinked at him.

"Drunk doughnut guy?"

He scowled. "I wasn't drunk. I need to talk to Ms.--uh, Dr. Drake."

Thea glanced at Lev and then back at Drunk Doughnut Guy. Lev looked worried. At firs they thought Drunk Doughnut Guy was here for medical attention, but Lev looked too worried for that. Oh. Oh shit. This was the stalker. Alburn hair, grey eyes. He looked like a cop. Their heart pounded in their ears. Composing their face to their medical assistant deadpan, they asked, "Who?"

Drunk Doughnut Guy raised his eyebrows. “Dr. Drake. The doctor who works here.”

“I have no idea who you’re talking about,” they said, their face entirely blank as their blood roared in their ears. They needed to get this under control or Dr. Drake would hear it and get worried and come out to check on them.

Drunk Doughnut Guy rolled his eyes. “About this tall. Brown hair, brown eyes. Freckles on her nose. Has the temperament of a peevish bat.”

Thea seemed to think about this, but really they were trying to remember how to breathe. “No idea.”

“Her name is one the door, kid,” he finally said, jerking his thumb back towards the door. “I know she’s here so cut the crap.”

“Oh, you mean Dr. Drah-kay,” Thea said.

Garth rubbed his head. How had that witch surrounded herself with decent people who seemed to determined to protect her. "Sure, whatever. I need to talk to her."

Thea flicked their eyes to Lev, wondering if they could lock the door between the waiting room and the back faster than Stalker Guy could stop them. "Uh, Lev? What is going on? Should we... uh... should we do something?"
 
Percival made a small huffing sound that could have been a laugh.

"Both of my parents are influential and have a lot of money," he pointed out, as if that explained it. He figured it did. As a small child, he was helpless to resist and made a good bargaining chip. "I'm also a rarity, as a cis male. I prefer they go after me over Normandy, anyways."

He had done a lot as a child to try and protect his little sister so that she wouldn't be the target of those with ill intentions. He still worried about her daily, even if she was on her way to becoming a crime boss in her own right.

When Azrael returned with the stethoscope, he nodded. He sat up with a fair amount of effort, shifting so that he was leaning on his own bulk. Staying upright as a naga when he wasn't moving was a pain. It was much easier to lean against something.

"Yes, that's fine," he said, slipping off his jacket. He finally had a chance to lament that the buttons were missing. "I apologize for not knowing more. As I said, the species is undocumented. We... Naga tend to prefer to keep their existence a secret."

He sent her a pleading look, though he didn't actually ask. He had a feeling she would get mad at him for even having to ask. But if his mother found out he was exposed, it would cause so many problems.



Lev had to speedwalk to keep up with Garth, and he frowned at being called 'kid'.

He had the feeling that Garth was very good at making people dislike him.

"It's Lev. And I judge people based on what I see of them in the present, not their past," he said tersely.

He was worried when they got to the office, and he hoped his tension wasn't making Thea too upset.

They were handling it surprisingly well, though. He applauded them in his heart.

"We had a chat," he said. "He says he just wants to talk, so he can talk in the open with us present, as long as Azrael's ok with it. I didn't... I recognized him from last night, and I didn't want him to follow her home or something."

He kept his voice low for the last part, his mouth pressed into a thin line. The more he thought about it, the more he was sure he had just massively overstepped. Maybe he should have thought this through better. His mom would have his hide if she heard about this.
 
Zorion sat at his desk flicking through papers while Alistair, sitting in a chair next to him, quietly tried to read the book. He could tell he was having trouble with it. More than once his expression changed to one that was frustrated most likely with a bigger word than he could manage. He could manage smaller words the most being four lettered ones. He was definitely struggling. However, he never asked once for Zorion to help him. He probably didn't want to distract him from his job which was sweet.

Zorion really wasn't paying much attention to his work. He was too nervous about Alistair to even think about work. He mindlessly thrummed through papers while worrying about if the bought of sickness could mean a hospital trip. Even though the symptoms were minor he had quickly learned that it could turn into something bigger.

He noted the time and thought it would be best to head to the clinic now. He put down his papers on his desk and looked over to Alistair, "Hey, its time we go get you checked up. The people here will make you feel all better, I promise."

"Ok." His voice was hoarse most likely from all the coughing he had been doing.

"Let's leave the book here, ok?"

"Ok.. But can I take Pan?" Alistair held up his plush.

"Of course." He took the book from Alistair and put it on the desk. He stood and picked him up making sure they didn't leave the fox plush behind before walking off towards the direction of the clinic.
 
Azrael sighed. She supposed that made sense.

She took his vitals, making a note of them on a spare scrap of paper. His lungs sound good, his heart sounded fine, she presumed a low blood pressure and heartrate made sense for Naga.

"That's understandable," she agreed when he said Naga kept their species a secret. She frowned over the top of her glasses at his pleading look as she wrote down his oxygen saturation. "Even if this weren't HIPPA protected, I wouldn't mention anything to anyone. You know that or you wouldn't have called me."

She sighed and set the paper down. "Well, you seem in good health."

She didn't really know what else to say. She couldn't really tell him not to get drugged again, it wasn't like he was at fault. She wanted to hurt the people who had drugged him, but that wasn't a helpful thing to express, especially since she planned to drain their blood slowly.

"I'm glad you called me instead of dealing with this by yourself. How else can I help you? You have the use of my office for as long as you need, of course."



Garth made a face, and almost said he wouldn't follow her home--except that he would. Instead, he kept silent. She was back there, he was pretty sure. If nothing else, so would come see what her medical assistant was doing.

Thea looked between Lev and Drunk Doughnut Guy. Maybe it was better this way. They could make sure he didn't hurt her.

Their eyes drifted to the clock on the wall. Crap.

"Uh, she's... y'know. With that patient--"

"Is that patient safe?" Garth cut in.

Thea stared at him, their fear dissolving when they realized Drunk Doughnut Guy was nuts. "Uh... she's a doctor, dude. What do you think she is? Hannibal Lector?"

Garth raised his eyebrows. "Yeah. Pretty much."

"You're broken," Thea informed him, and Garth looked extremely insulted. "And we have another patient coming here in a few minutes so--ugh hang on."

Thea slid from their chair and disappeared back into the exam rooms. They knocked on the Doc's office. "Hey, Doc?"

"Not a good time, Thea."

"Yeah..." Thea sighed. "Uh, Drunk Doughnut Guy is here?"

There was a pause from inside and then, "What?"

"Um... y'know... he was in the cafe. And... the bar."

"Blood and silver," Azrael spat from inside.

"Yeah, he's with Lev?"

The door flew open and Azrael nearly bowled Thea over in her rush to get out. Thea saw a flash of pink before Azrael pulled the door shut and practically sprinted down the hall, pulling on her lab coat.

"Wait, Doc!"

Before Garth had time to prepare, she was there, protecting Lev with her body, teeth bared. He threw up his arms in a placating motion.

"Oh, hell! I didn't touch him! Calm right on down, witch. I just want--"

"What did you do to him?!" she snarled, and he could safely say he'd never seen her this angry. "Because so help me, Dekker, I will make what my aunt did to you seem like a mild tickle."

"I didn't touch him! He approached me!" Garth insisted. Damn she was scary when she wanted to be.

Azrael eased slightly, but then she rounded on Lev, resting her hands on his shoulders looking him over with worry. "Are you okay? Did he hurt you? Oh, Lev, I'm so sorry."

Garth knew he should probably not let her touch Lev, but... "Aw, hell, you actually like this guy, don't you? He's too good for you."

"I am fully aware of that Dekker. One more word out of you and I turn you inside out."

Garth shut his mouth, standing there awkwardly while she kept looking Lev over.
 
Percival rested his head in his arms so only his eyes were visible.

"I know," he said, his voice muffled. "I trust you."

He wouldn't have called her otherwise. Even Wade hadn't seen this form, and didn't know the whole truth.

He thought over her next question. He didn't really know the answer to that.

"I think I'll be better once I sleep it off," he said. "And the blood helps. Drugs like this don't affect me as strongly as they would a full-blooded naga. It might be why it took so long to take effect."


Lev rolled his eyes so high they practically disappeared into his head.

"She's a good doctor," he said again, because Garth seemed intent on thinking Azrael was some kind of insane evil wizard or something. He eyed the clock, then realized it was, indeed, almost 9. His lips pursed. Maybe they should do this in the back room?

But then Azrael was running in to save him, and he didn't have a chance to get a word in edgewise before she was threatening Dekker.

He held up his hands as well, reaching to put a hand reassuringly on her arm before he stopped. He didn't know if she was comfortable with touch.

"Hey, hey, it's ok," he said, his voice soothing. "I'm sorry, I know I overstepped, but I just wanted to see if I could talk to him. See what he wanted and mediate, you know? So he'd stop harassing you. I'm sorry, I really should have asked you first."

He did feel bad, but not too bad. Because they were making some kind of progress, even if it wasn't much. And was kind of messy.

He couldn't hold back his chuckle when Azrael threatened to turn Dekker inside out. Even knowing she used blood magic, he didn't think she could do something like that.

"Hey, I'm fine, I promise," he said, finally reaching forward, squeezing her forearm reassuringly. "I'm a tough cookie. If he came after me I'd just eat his liver, you know that."

He grinned, but then it faltered as he gave Dekker the stink eye.

"Just so you know, that was a joke," he clarified so the guy didn't arrest him or something. "You're too oily for me."
 
Azrael sort of wanted to hug Lev and then burst into tears. First there was last night--which, that was just so much between Dekker and Wade and the Fairweathers and telling everyone she was a vampire--and now Percival had been drugged and she didn't know if he was okay because she didn't know enough about Naga, and then Thea tells her Dekker had Lev.

As Lev spoke soothingly, she reminded herself to breathe. He was fine, Thea was fine. They were fine.

She laughed a little. "Don't say that, he has no concept of jokes. He believed me when I said I bathed in the blood of virgins."

Garth bristled. "You could bathe in the blood of virgins, I wouldn't put it past you."

Azrael turned around and glared at him. "Get out of my office."

"Not until I'm done talking to you," Garth said, his jaw setting stubbornly.

"Look, I don't want to be that guy," Thea began. "But our 9 o'clock is probably on the way. This is an actual doctor's office, Doughnut Lord."

They glanced at Azrael, who looked pissed, but they remembered how freaked out she had been. She might be standing in front Lev and protecting him, but they knew she was a afraid of this guy. And they didn't want her to do this alone. "Doc, take Lev if you do talk to him, please."

Azrael set her jaw. That would make things worse.

"If it makes you feel any better, he already knows you're a criminal," Garth said helpfully.

Azrael felt like the floor had dropped out from under her, and the roaring in her ears was wind as she fell. This was her worst nightmare. Why hadn't she listened to her gut and not let them too close to her? Now they had to find out that she wasn't a good person, and in the worst way. "I'm not a criminal."

Rolling his eyes, Garth began ticking off her crimes on his fingers. "Scrubbing your record, lying about your species, unlicensed use of magic--and those are the ones I can prove."

"Wow, you must be fun at parties," Thea said. "Doc? Doc. Doc!"

Azrael's chest inflated, and she flicked her eyes up to Garth's. He wasn't going to leave this alone, and now he was dragging Thea and Lev into this. "If I talk to you, will you swear to leave them out of this?"

Garth shrugged. "As long as they're not like your little cronies or something."

"I'm her crony," Thea said.

"Joke, Dekker, they're joking."

Garth eyed Thea suspiciously for another moment before turning his eyes back to the actual criminal. "Sure, I'll leave 'em out of it as long as you tell me what I need to know."

"Doc, please take Lev--we don't care what this guy says. He's an anus, and we want you to be okay."

Garth threw his hands up in exasperation. "I'm the good g--you know what. Whatever. You're all brainwashed. But yeah, Smiley can come, I don't care. If you're fine with him knowing all your dark secrets, then that's on you."

"Sounds like you already blurted them like a stool pigeon," Azrael shot back. She glanced at Lev. Did it really matter? Clearly she had already destroyed all her friendships in less than twenty-four hours after they had felt like they were going somewhere."I mean... if you don't mind? It would be nice to not do this on my own but also... I'm really sorry you had to find out like this."

"Yeah, shoulda had a 'So your doctor's a criminal' pamphlet," Garth said dryly. Seeing her actually act like a person was making his insides crawl, and this poor guy was taking it hook, line, and sinker.

"Hogarth." Azrael snapped, flicking her eyes to him. "Do you like your spleen? Because I can make it crawl right out of your body if you keep talking."

"Don't call me that, you--" Garth clamped his mouth shut when she turned and glared at him.
 
Lev rubbed her forearm, hoping that the repetitive action would soothe her a bit. He would rub her back, but that might be a bit too much.

He was starting to regret talking to Dekker at all, but he told himself that this was better than him cornering her at her home.

"He's being an asshole," Lev said. "He didn't tell me any specifics. I told him before and I'm telling you now, whatever happened in the past, in Cleveland or whatever, it doesn't matter to me. Who you are now is what matters."

He hoped she would believe him. When they were out of this, he would sit down with her, and if she wanted to tell him everything, he would listen. If she didn't, well, he'd wait. He was good at being patient.

Except when it came to detective Dekker.

"It's Lev," he reminded him. It was fine when Wade forgot names. It was not fine when some stupid detective who was stalking his friend did it just to be annoying. "And I'd prefer to come. Just in case you need backup."

He was sure she was a much better fighter than he was, but he also did not trust Dekker as far as he could throw him.

"Whatever he says, know that I'm not gonna judge you without hearing your side of things," he said, and he turned to Dekker and rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, Hogarth," he said, because it was a terrible name and he seemed to hate it. "Shut up for a second."

He turned to Azrael again, considering the best thing to say. Eventually he decided it would be better to figure it out after this was done with.

"Let's go to the back then, ok? Thea can tell you when your patient arrives. And when the patient comes, Hogarth will either leave or wait until you're done to keep talking."
 
**TW: Anxiety Attack**


"It's a family name," Garth snapped.

Azrael smiled weakly at Lev. Sure, he thought that now, but he didn't know about her family. He didn't know about what Garth could accuse her of. Still, the physical and verbal comfort was nice.

But Dekker's annoyance at being called by his full first name was funny and she chuckled a little bit. There was a hitch at the end of the chuckle, and Azrael bit back the emotion that tried to escape.

"Alright, let's go to my office," she said.

"Not there," Thea reminded her.

"Right, the lab then."

"I got everything here, boss," Thea said with a salute.

Azrael gave them a tired smile as she pulled open the door and motioned them all through. She lead the way back to her lab, and cursed quietly as she remembered the ball of blood in the autoclave box. She quickly shoved that in the autoclave and slammed the door.

Garth glanced around. It was a lot smaller than he thought it should be. He had been picturing some massive underground lab. It just looked... sterile, though not tidy.

"Knives," he said as he closed the door.

Rolling her eyes, Azrael pulled out her scalpel and handed it to Lev. Garth arched an eyebrow, and she patted the lab coat and found a second scalpel, which she also handed to Lev.

"Arms," Garth said, leaning on the counter across from her.

"Gun and phone, Dekker, it's your turn."

Scowling, he pulled a gun out of his shoulder holster and set it on the counter. Then he set his phone and wallet down. "Happy?"

"Are you bugged?"

Garth huffed. Were that he was. "No. Arms."

Sighing, Azrael pulled her sleeves down, showing him there were no knives there. Garth eyed the bandage. "What's that."

"It was to help a friend."

"I could arrest you for that."

Azrael leaned forward, her eyes narrowing. "Do it. I dare you."

When he scowled, she held her wrists out. When he made no move to cuff her, Azrael leaned back with a smirk. After a second, she folded her arms across her chest and sighed. "Is this about your hypertension?"

Garth opened and closed his mouth. "My what?"

Azrael frowned as if she expected him to know. "You're pre-hypertensive."

"You're distracting me--"

"No, I'm serious. I could hear it from over here even if you hadn't coughed blood in my face. Your doctor didn't mention it? You have enough cortisol in your blood to kill a horse. If you don't do something, you're going to have hypertension and that increases your risk for heart disease dramatically."

"You're screwing with me," Garth said, glaring at her.

"No, I'm serious. I'd estimate your blood pressure around 134/86. I can get a cuff if you don't believe me."

"I don't need you to diagnose me, Dreix. I'll go see a real doctor if I think I need to," Garth growled.

"If you don't, I'll call your doctor. I wasted too much energy on you for you to die slowly by your own stupidity. If you were my patient, I'd put you on some gentle medication and make you take a sabbatical." Garth made one of those wincing faces that people made when they were guilty of something. Azrael set her hands on her hips. "You're on sabbatical! They made you take a sabbatical and you came here to pester me! You idiot, I swear. You--"

"This isn't about me, it's about your family," Garth interrupted what was probably about to be a long lecture on proper diets and sleep habits.

Azrael folded her arms across her chest again. "I'm not your nark."

"Where are they?"

Azrael shrugged. "I thought you were the expert, but I'd guess Cleveland."

He fixed her with a glare. “No, they aren’t. They’re gone. Disappeared. Where did they go?”

Azrael frowned. That was... concerning. “I don’t know. Isn’t that your job, Detective?”

“They didn’t contact their darling girl?” he asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Not all of us have great relationships with our criminal parents like you, Dekker.”

He stiffened. “That was below the belt, Dreix.”

She scoffed. “Not at all. Did you check Columbus?"

"I'm not an amateur," he said, rolling his eyes.

"Then maybe consider getting a new hobby that won't involve you getting all the blood drained from your body, because I'd think you'd have learned by now. Stay away from them."

"They haven't killed me, yet."

Azrael rolled her eyes. "Wonder why not," she muttered sarcastically as if she didn't know exactly why they hadn't succeeded in killing him yet.

"People are dying, 'Doctor'. Where are they?"

Azrael was starting to feel the ground shift under her. "I don't know! You've talked to them more than I have in the past five years."

"You're lying." Garth leaned towards her, using his height to loom. "People are getting the blood pulled out of them and getting sucked dry and you're hiding your evil witch family!"

Azrael leaned away from him. "I'm not!"

"Aren't you a doctor? Don't you care about people? The people your family are murdering?"

"I can't save everyone!" Azrael shouted, her voice creaking as it was unused to going to such volumes. "I can help you with your hypertension but I can't--I can't--"

She couldn't breathe. She couldn't think. And she could barely see.

"Lev?" she said, reaching blindly for him. "I'm, uh, having a minor anxiety attack. It's fine. I'm just going to--" She slid to the ground, her back bumping painfully against the drawer handles of the lab cabinets. "--sit right here."

Garth quickly backed up to give her space. Oh, crap. This was like when he made the witness cry in front of the whole court. He hadn't meant to upset her, he had just thought she was lying.

Maybe she hadn't been.

"I'm okay," Azrael said between shuddering breaths. The last thing she wanted was Lev to worry about her. "I'm fine."
 
Lev squeezed Azrael's hand as she led them to the lab. He had a feeling he was going to learn a lot, and he wasn't entirely sure how he felt about that, but he would deal with that bridge when it came.

He was quiet at first, because he was not here to talk but more as moral support. But then Dekker pushed things too far.

"Enough," he snarled, his fangs bared as he reached out and squeezed Azrael's hand. His ears were visible and pressed back against his head, and he hated that he couldn't focus enough to put them away. "This is not an interrogation, detective."

He squeezed Azrael's hand again, then crouched down next to her.

"Hey, do you need to count with me?" he asked. "Wade finds it easier to calm down if I count breaths with him."

He glanced at Garth out of the corner of his eye, his shoulders tense.

"I am going to say a few things, detective," he said, his voice clipped. "Somebody's family being terrible does not, in turn, make them terrible. It doesn't matter what relationship they have with them. You don't get to judge somebody based on what they were born into. You have no idea how tempted I am to call security and kick you out right now. But I don't think..."

He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I don't think you have bad intentions. I think you're just..."

His mouth twisted unpleasantly, and he set his shoulders in place.

"Here's how this is going to work. You get one question at a time. If Azrael feels comfortable answering, she will. If she doesn't, she won't. She has no obligation to you. She is talking to you as a favour."

He took a deep breath then. His tail was out as well, and it was puffed up with his anger, fur standing on end.

"And another thing, because this has been ticking me off since I met you," he said, turning around and storming over to Garth, shoving one finger in his face.

"Just because somebody is criminal does not mean they're a bad person. The law is strict and unfair and is designed specifically around one very small subset of people. It's in place to protect power structures more than citizens. Somebody using magic without a license? Changing their name? Lying about their species? Maybe people wouldn't have to do those things if the world was fair and good to everyone, but it's not. You, as a human, do not get to judge people like us for trying to survive."

Oh, he was mad now, he shoved his finger in Garth's face again, his eyes blazing.

"And another thing. Did they never teach you how to deescalate a situation when you were in the police academy? Because this entire time you have been mishandling this situation and causing stress. Following somebody around when you're off-duty? That is stalking, and I don't care how you justify it. You claim to be the good guy here, but you are harassing a woman for information she doesn't even know. If you keep up this attitude, I swear, I will--"

He cut off, because threats were bad. He drew in a deep breath through his nose, and then out through his mouth. "I will call your work and tell them that you're here, misusing your badge. Don't think I haven't noticed every single breach of protocol you've made since coming here, too. So either you calm down, behave like an adult and discuss this in a civil way, or I will make sure you regret it by giving every single civil rights lawyer I know your name and badge number. Do you understand me?"
 
It was one thing to watch a very dangerous vampire announce she was having an anxiety attack and then sit on the floor, but it was a whole other thing to watch a previously polite and gentle sort of guy sprout ears and a tail and bare his fangs.

Garth took a step back, bumping into the counter.

Azrael squeezed back, eternally grateful that Lev was there. She nodded, not trusting her voice to speak. She counted breaths with him, focusing on the sound of his breathing and heartbeat.

Once she seemed to be calming down, she squeezed his hand again.

She leaned her head back against the cabinets and watch as Lev apparently decided he was going to take on Dekker.

Garth wished he could step back, but he had nowhere to go. He was starting to think maybe Lev was scarier than Azrael. She just threatened to eat his heart, but this guy was going after the only thing he cared about--his job. He stared at the finger in his face with so much shock, he started going cross-eyed.

He opened to mouth when Lev said "people like us" to say he had nothing against people like Lev, just people like her, but that was sort of shitty, wasn't it? After all, as far as he knew, Azrael hadn't murdered anyone. And she had been going on and on about his supposed hypertension.

And she had saved his life.

Letting him die would have been so much easier for her, and he didn't know how to deal with that.

He hadn't been handling the situation well, he knew that. It was one of the reasons they had taken him off the case. He was too close to it. But the mention of misusing his badge was what really got to him. He winced.

Working his jaw back and forth, he remained silent for a few minutes. He glanced over Lev's shoulder at the seated vampire and found her staring at the fox-guy with admiration in her eyes. She was just a regular person. A regular person with evil parents and creepy magic, but just a regular person.

Garth sighed.

"I've kinda been a dick," he said after a minute or so, staring at his shoes.

"Little bit," Azrael agreed.

"I didn't mean to upset you."

"You just didn't think you could," Azrael said.

Garth shrugged.

"You can make it up to me by going and seeing your doctor and then taking a break from police work."

He looked up at her, and she was smiling slightly. He scowled. "You're not going to let that go, are you?"

"I spent a lot of energy and risked a lot to see you die of an aneurysm, stupid. If you do, I'll dig you up and strangle you."

Garth huffed air through his nose. Digging his toe into the floor, he said, "I never, uh, got a chance to thank you."

Azrael stared at him. "Lev? What did you do to him? Did you bewitch him?"

"Ha, ha. Just take the thank you, Drake."

"Doctor, and I'm not sure what you're thanking me for."

"Saving my life," Garth muttered under his breath.

Azrael smirked. "Wow, I must be having a fever dream."

Garth snorted. "You really don't know where they are?"

Azrael shook her head. "Last I heard, they were terrorizing Cleveland."

"Damn."

"Ok, but you really need to drop it. You're on sabbatical. Act like it." Azrael pushed herself to her feet and opened a drawer. She pulled out a blood pressure cuff. "Take your coat off and roll up your sleeve."

"Are you freaking kidding me?"

"Now, or I'll let Lev yell at you some more." She shot Lev a wink.

Garth pulled his coat off and rolled up his sleeve. "Are you going to threaten people with your boyfriend, now?"

"Yup. Sit up on the counter." When he did, she slid the cuff on and stuck the stethoscope in her ears. "Have you been seeing your therapist?"

"How--"

"The nurses pulled your medical records."

Garth scowled. "Look, just because I feel bad for stressing you out, that doesn't mean I want you asking medical questions."

Azrael shrugged. "I'll take that as a no."

"I don't like her, ok. She... she doesn't understand."

"Then switch. Want me to recommend you? I know a few good ones in Cleveland."

Garth scowled. "Yeah. I guess." He glanced down at her as she removed the cuff. "Why are you doing this?"

She raised her eyebrows. "You try to catch the people your dad helped, I try to help the people my parents hurt. We each atone in our own way." After a pause, she added, "But take a sabbatical or I will ask Lev to call your department."

He glanced at Lev and grimaced. Lev would totally do that. He didn't doubt it.

"You did something to my blood, didn't you? Their magic hasn't affected me since... y'know." When she nodded, he asked, "Why?"

"Because I knew you would keep going after them."

"But you can still screw with my blood."

Azrael shrugged.

Garth stared at the floor for a moment before asking, "What do I need to do for the hypertension."

"Stop eating stake-out food." Garth gave her a betrayed looked, but she continued, "Eat more vegetables, stop drinking caffeine. Take vacations. I can have Thea get you our hypertension packet."

"You sure they'll do that for me?"

Azrael snorted. "You aren't the first asshole I've treated, and you won't be the last."

"You really haven't had contact?"

Azrael shook her head. "I confirmed a insurance law with my aunt--the younger one, not the one that got you--a year or so ago, so I guess my mom knows I'm here, but that's it." She eyed him. "You talked to your dad?"

"You a therapist, now, too?"

Azrael shrugged. "Just thought you might want someone who gets it."

Garth grunted. "Can I go, Doc, or do you want to bang my knee with a hammer, too?"

She sighed. She didn't expect everything to be fixed. But she wished he would let someone help him work through all that. So she pulled open the door and called, "Thea?"

"Yeah, Boss?"

"Do you have a packet on hypertension handy?"

"You're treating Hogarth? Why am I not surprised. Yeah, sure. Let me find it."

Several moments later, Thea appeared, a folder with paper inside in their hand. They looked over Azrael and Lev. Satisfied they were okay, they turned a smile on Garth. "Alrighty, Mr. Hogarth--"

"It's just Garth."

"Mr. Hogarth--"

Azrael pulled Lev out of the lab and into the hall while Thea explained the hypertensive diet to Garth. "I'm a little hopped up on oxytocin and would sort of like to hug you, but that's alright if you don't want to. But, uh, I don't know how to thank you. You--you were amazing. Thank you."
 
Lev had to admit, he was a little surprised that had actually worked. He had been worked up and angry and needed to vent, because he hated cops with the attitude that people were lesser just because they broke the law a few times. But he hadn't expected Garth to actually back off.

He blinked, then took a step back, clearing his throat. His cheeks flushed a little, because he had kind of gone off there. Maybe he went a little too far.

"Well, it's good that you know," he said awkwardly.

Maybe Garth wasn't that bad of a guy after all. Just... awkward. Kind of like Wade.

Oh no. He could not let those two meet. That would be a nuclear disaster waiting to happen.

He listened to Garth's questioning, his lips pursing. He remembered the radio playing the other day, talking about Cleveland. Azrael had been tense then, too. It didn't take a genius to put two and two together.

But then Garth referred to him as her boyfriend, and before he could correct him, she was just... agreeing with him.

Lev's face turned the colour of a tomato. Oh no. She was, like, a blood mage, right? He had to chill out. She hadn't even meant it, it had probably just been a slip of the tongue. He shouldn't be blushing and smiling about that. Oh god, was he smiling? He was totally smiling. Like an idiot.

"Yes," he said, his voice cracking a bit before he got it under control. "I will definitely yell at you again. But it seems like you learned your lesson, so I'll let it go for now."

Maybe, if the situation were completely different, he would sit down with Garth and talk to him more about his issues with criminals. The law wasn't always good or right, and as a police officer especially it was important to address that. But he had already read him the riot act.

And anyways, Azrael was checking the man's blood pressure, of all things, and Lev felt a little vindicated.

"See?" he asked, sounding far too proud for his own good. "I told you she was a good doctor."

He couldn't think of many other women who would willingly take care of their own stalker.

He decided not to comment on the rest, waiting until Azrael called Thea in. Once she took him out into the hall, he let loose a big whoosh of air.

"No, that's fine! Hugs. Hugs are really good," he said, hesitating for a second before he decided to throw caution to the wind and pulled her into his arms. "I was kind of scared I really overstepped, but he didn't seem dangerous you know? So I figured I would try to help, but I totally should have asked you first. But, well, I'm really glad everything worked out, for better or for worse. And, I mean, you still totally don't have to tell me anything you don't want to, ok? But..."

He frowned, chewing on his lower lip. He really didn't want to overstep his bounds here, but it was important for her to know.

"I'm not going to say I totally get it or anything, because I don't. But..." He paused for a second, chewing over his thoughts. "I really meant what I said, about not judging you. What your family does, or whatever past you had with them, it doesn't affect the person you are now. I've been telling Wade that for four years now, so if I have to tell you too, I'm not afraid to repeat myself."
 
Zorion carried Alistair down the hall and towards the direction of the clinic. He hated when they waxed the floors. He was used to it at this point, because he had lived in the big city for years now, yet he still hated it. He had to put in extra effort not to slide especially since he wasn't wearing any shoes. None would fit onto him anyway, because of his hooves. He was ok with that though. He never liked to hide his inhuman identity. He knew there were lots of racist assholes in the city, but that didn't stop him from showing who he was and being proud of it.

He did have to admit, it was jarring the first time someone had been an ass about his species. He wasn't used to it. He had grown up in a relatively small town in the countryside where basically everyone was accepted. Which was why he was able to proudly walk around in his half human form. Alistair did the same, though he could tell sometimes that his son would rather look human than be who he was. He hated the people who looked at Alistair like he was some kind of horrible monster.

He clopped along, making sure Alistair was ok and had his plush, and got up to the the clinic where he saw Lev and Azrael, "Ummmm, I'm here for the 9'o'clock. " He felt embarrassed because he felt like he was interrupting something between the two of them, "This is the clinic, isn't it?"
 
Azrael smiled and hugged Lev back. Oh, that felt good. It probably felt too good.

She just couldn't believe Lev hadn't taken off running. Dang, Wade wasn't wrong. But then she wasn't really sure how much of that he had followed. She figured a good amount.

"Well, I wouldn't say he's not dangerous, but he's not really a bad person. He's an asshole for sure, but most of it is unprocessed trauma and guilt." She smiled because he was babbling a little bit again. "Well, you must have built some rapport with him or something, because he respected you."

Azrael found herself smiling. That stupid soft smile that Thea had teased her about.

"Well, thank you. And I think you deserve the truth. Which I will tell you when we have more time. But one thing I want you to know for now is that I've never hurt anyone. The things that my family did--I was never a part of that. I've only ever used my magic to help--ok, except earlier in the cafe, I might have dropped Dekker's blood pressure but I was in a hurry. That was not a normal thing."

She turned as someone approached and smiled, wishing Thea hadn't had to come and deal with Dekker.

"Yes, you're in the right place." She smiled at the little one. "Alistair, yes?"

She strode over to one of the exam rooms and pushed it open, flipping on the light. "Go ahead and have a seat. I'll be right with you."

Once Zorion and Alistair were inside, Azrael hesitated. "I'm sure you have much better things to do, but could you just... keep an ear out, make sure Thea's alright? Just because he's playing nice that doesn't mean I trust him. Oh, and please don't go in my office. I have a patient recovering in there."

Azrael shot him one last grateful smile over her shoulder and stepped into the exam room. Turning her eyes on Zorion and his son, she smiled. It was probably good she was hopped up on oxytocin.

"Alright," she said, taking a seat and pulling out all her vitals-taking instruments. "I'm going to take Alistair's vitals, and while I do that, what's going on? Why are we in today?"

Crouching, she pulled out the stool and then patted the exam table. "Can you hop up here for me, buddy? I'm going to take a look at you, alright?"
 
Zorion watched as Alistair nodded and gave a small wave at Azrael. He seemed a bit nervous to be here, since it wasn't the regular doctor's office that they went to.

He followed Azrael into the exam room and stood with Alistair still in his arms while he waited for Azrael. Once she had come in he set him down and gave Alistair, who still looked a little uneasy, a reassuring nod and smile. Zorion watched as he climbed up onto the exam table and sat while he hugged his fox plush. He then sat down in a chair he assumed was for the non-patient.

"Well, last night, he started running a fever. It seemed to be worse then, because when I checked his forehead this morning it didn't seem as hot." He paused then added, "And he was able to move around a lot more than he was able to last night. He's also been having a lot of coughing fits and his voice sounds kinda raspy."

He felt a little silly for bringing him in since his symptoms weren't as bad as other times, but whenever he had any symptoms of any kind he always went into worried dad mode. "That's all I think."

He was pleasantly surprised that Azrael seemed so nice. He had heard that Thea was the upbeat one and that Dr. Drake was more serious. He felt guilty for believing those rumors. It was so easy for him to believe them since he hadn't had the best experience with doctors when it came to Alistair. He was also surprised that she wasn't giving his son any dirty looks considering he did look like a cross between a satyr and kitsune. Though his horns were still budding which he always thought was strange considering he was ten now.
 
Lev chuckled.

"You would not believe the experience I have with assholes struggling with repressed trauma and guilt," he said. Maybe that was part of why Garth had been so willing to listen to him. He was used to dealing with Wade, who hid all his feelings behind violent blustering.

He nodded when she asked him to look out for Thea, and he hesitated for a second. Then, figuring that he might as well throw caution to the wind, he pulled her in close and kissed her on the cheek.

"I'll do that. I'll talk to you later, promise," he said, trying to keep a straight face even as he blushed.

Once she was in with her patient, he took a deep, calming breath. Then he silently pumped his fist into the air, jumping with excitement. Yes. He had helped deal with the stalker problem, and she was talking to him. He was absolutely giddy, and so glad he hadn't made too much of a fool of himself with her earlier.

Realizing he was still in the waiting room and kind of looking like an idiot, he quickly headed back to the lab.

He knocked lightly on the door to announce his presence before entering.

"Hey, she's with her patient," he said to Thea so that they didn't worry. "I figured I'd come in, see if you needed any help with anything."
 
Oxytocin, dopamine, endorphins, epinephrine, and estrogen.

Azrael would have a felt a little more sane if that were the rational part of her brain analyzing what was happening, but that was the irrational part of her brain throwing neurotransmitters like confetti and chanting their names like drunk frat boys. And worse, the rational part of her brain just shrugged and asked what she thought they were supposed to be doing about it. And anyway, didn't it feel nice?

Yes, but there was work to do.

"What's your friend's name?" she asked, nodding to the fox plush as she took his vitals. She nodded, listening to Zorion. She glanced at the thermometer and nodded again. "He does have a low-grade fever. Nothing to worry about, though."

Setting the thermometer down, she pulled a tongue-depressor from the jar on the counter. "Alright, bud, I'm going to look at your tonsils. Those are things in the back of your throat that help you stay healthy. They can tell me what's going on. Can you stick that tongue out for me? Like this." She stuck her tongue out, though keeping her mouth closed. The last thing she wanted was to make a kid cry because of her teeth. But kids usually thought a doctor sticking her tongue out at them was funny. Thea had taught her that trick. "Good, now do that but open your mouth real wide. I'm going to push your tongue down with this stick. Raise your hand if you feel like you're choking, alright?"

Azrael nodded to herself as she looked at Alistair's tonsils. "They're inflamed, but no puss. It's not bacterial."

She tossed the tongue-depressor in the trash and turned back to Alistair. "Alright, bud. Tilt your chin down a bit. I'm going to feel your neck. You have lymph nodes in there, and they're kind of like clubhouses for the hero cells in your body that fight the bad germ. If they're big, your hero cells are all in the clubhouse making plans because the bad germ is mean." She felt his lymph nodes and smiled. "But they're normal, so the bad germ isn't that mean. They'll be able to fight him off soon."

She paused. In kids, it was tempting just to stimulate their white blood cells. With a little burst of magic, the inactive white blood cells would be activated and would know what to look for. His symptoms would be gone in a few hours, and he would never get sick with that particular pathogen again. But that would require either her blood or his as well as breaking her main rule.

Sitting down on her rolling stool, she smiled. "We'll get him a fever reducer--anything over the counter is fine. Actually, let's do a children's Motrin for him. Just don't use it too much. The NSAIDS can mess with his stomach, and ulcers are a concern for him. But as long as he gets rest, drinks a little ginger tea, and we keep his fever down, he'll be right as rain in no time." Making a few notes on her clipboard, she asked, "Do these illnesses happen often?"





Thea sighed when Lev walked in. "Yeah, tell this idiot he does not need caffeine to live."

Garth was looking mutinous, leaning sulkily against the lab counter.

"And yes, energy drinks have caffeine," Thea said in the tone of someone repeating themself.

"What are you so happy about?" Garth grumbled at Lev.

Thea got a better look at him and then went, "OoOoOo! Well then, Mr. Choi!"

Garth looked really confused for a moment until his face contorted into the expression of a teenager reminded that their parents had been a little frisky and that had brought them into the universe. "You sure you want to do that with a blood mage."

"Hey, bend down," Thea said. When Garth obeyed, Thea flicked him on the forehead. By the look of shock and betrayal on his face, this was not the first time they had done this.

"He's been trying to convince me the Doc has been secretly screwing with my blood for the past two years. I told him I was fully aware and authorized it."

Garth scrunched up his nose. "I seriously can't tell if you're joking."

Thea was not sure if they were joking, either. Azrael had once asked if she could try something when they confessed their oncologist was scared of a cancer resurgence based their recent lab work. Thea had been a little freaked out at so had let the Doc draw some of their blood. She had then put them on a low-inflammation diet. All Thea really remembered was Azrael driving them to the hospital and them squeezing her hand while the doctors took a bone biopsy. But now that they thought back, they remembered Azrael drawing her fingers along the inside of their upper arm, where the cancer had been when they were little.

"Well, he's pretty much good," Thea said with a shrug. "I already told him you told me not to beat him up, so."

Garth eyed them. "You're not making your case for not being a minion of hers."

"I am her minion. Which is why I just explained that whole folder to you. If she had said, 'help me bury this body', I would have done it." Thea paused. "That was a joke. She doesn't kill people and we don't bury bodies. Just know that if you keep stalking her, you and I are going to have a problem."

Garth held his hands up in surrender. Azrael Drake was starting to seem like the least scary of her friends.

Thea turned back to Lev. "Did she seem alright? There's been a lot today besides the medical emergency and this guy and now the kiddo is here. It's been a day and it's only 9am." They paused. "And how are you holding up?"
 
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