Pet Shop Of Horrors Fan Fiction ❯ No Good Deed ❯ No Good Deed ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

A/N Went back over this and updated the format to make it a little easier to digest. Couple of corrections here and there.

Disclaimers: Akita and Subu-chan own very little but a computer and a large collection of anime and manga (somewhat diminished by the lovely Hurricane Katrina) and lay no claim to any of Matsuri Akino-sama’s characters, nor to the lyrics of “No Good Deed.” Reviews are always welcome and flamers and other unpleasant people will be locked in a small room for three days with Akita (sans her Ritalin). Have a lovely day!


No Good Deed


“-No good deed goes unpunished
No act of charity goes unresented.
No good deed goes unpunished
That’s my new creed
My road of good intentions led
Where such roads always lead…
No good deed goes unpunished…”

“No good deed goes unpunished
All helpful urges should be circumvented
No good deed goes unpunished
Sure, I meant well-
Well, look at what well meant did-”


(Excerpted from “No Good Deed”Wicked soundtrack; Decca Broadway records)


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“Yo, D, you in here?”

D grimaced at the undignified yell. “And where else would I be, Detective? I do have a shop to run.”

D was a little startled by the sight that met his eyes as Leon Orcot shouldered through the shop’s doors. The blonde man was covered in mud and waterweeds. He stood dripping in the entryway, clutching something bundled in his jacket.

“What on earth happened to you?”

Without preamble, Leon shoved the bundle at him. “Here.”

As dismayed as he was by the soaked and mud-spattered appearance of the detective, D automatically accepted the bundle, grimacing at the squelch of cold water that soaked his silk robes. He felt movement and blinked at the soaked human across from him. “Detective?”

“I pulled that little guy out of a cage somebody decided to dump in the river. I didn’t know where else to take him.”

D unwrapped the soaking jacket and stared at the shivering bundle of fur thus exposed. Bright copper eyes met his for an instant before the creature collapsed. D hurriedly caught up a dry blanket draped over the back of one of the low couches and wrapped it around the small figure.

“You did well to bring him to me, Leon. He needs help.”

Leon shrugged carelessly. “I couldn’t think of anyplace else nearby to bring him. The animal hospital’s halfway across town and he needed help before that.”

D smiled at the poorly disguised concern in the detective’s voice. For all his eccentricities, Leon Orcot was a creature of great compassion, though he tried hard not to show it.

“I will take him in and nurse him back to health, my dear detective. Have no concern on that account. You should go home and change into something warm and dry before you take ill yourself.”

Leon looked ruefully down at himself, soaked and covered in muck. “Yeah, you could be right. I’ll come by later to see how he’s doing, okay? Tell Chris I’ll see him later tonight, alright?”

D gathered the bundle closer and nodded. “Of course.”

Leon left with only one quick backwards glance and D closed the door behind him. The click of the door brought movement from around the room as the other inhabitants of the shop ventured forward to see what the human had brought to the door.

One of the cats sniffed with distaste. “It smells.”

Another agreed loudly. “Like wet dog.”

One of the dogs glared at him. “Like you smell so much better, Fluffy.”

“Don’t call me that!” The cat hissed back.

D ignored the squabble with the ease of long practice.

“Who is it?” Entai called as she drifted down from a perch high on the wall. The hawk’s golden eyes flashed interest as she landed lightly beside him. She peered at the bundle in D’s arms with avid curiosity.

D unwrapped the small creature, to regard it with much the same look. “I confess I am not certain. At the moment he resembles nothing so much as a bunch of sticks wrapped in wet fur.”

Entai bent closer to the sodden lump of fur. “It’s a coyote cub. I haven’t seen one since I was fledged.”

D realized she was right. For all it’s current resemblance to a drowned rat, the awkward bundle of too big paws and drenched fur was a very young coyote cub. The damp fur outlined his ribs clearly and D could feel the protuberant ridges of his spine. D sent one of the still squabbling cats in search of towels and glanced around. “Has anyone seen T-chan?”

Neera, one of the iguanas, glanced up with a lazy yawn. “He was playing with Chris and Pon-chan in one of the gardens.”

“Thank you, Neera. Would you be a dear and go fetch him?” D said as the cat returned with an armful of fluffy white towels.

Neera rose with sinuous grace and went in search of the Totetsu. Entai took the cub from D and began to towel him dry vigorously. Copper eyes opened and he let out a wordless yawp of protest. “Hush, now.” Entai gently rapped him on the nose and he went silent, staring at her in wide-eyed wonder. She finished drying him, but he had begun to shiver again, so she wrapped him in a dry towel and cradled him.

Tetsu followed Neera out of the back. “You wanted me, Count?”

“Ah, T-chan. Yes, I need your skills in the kitchen. Our dear detective Orcot brought in a half-drowned young one. He’s cold and rather ill-nourished. Can you come up with something to warm him and help him gain his strength back? Preferably something light enough that he can keep it down without difficulty?”

Tetsu glanced at the cub cuddled in Entai’s arms. “What did he do to him?”

D shook his head. “Detective Orcot rescued him from drowning in the river, so do keep your comments to yourself, T-chan. He did nothing wrong. His first thought was to bring him here for help.”

Tetsu harrumphed. “If you say so.” But he did go into the kitchen.

Chris came out, followed by Pon-chan, who was wearing a braided flower wreath with pride. Chris’s unskilled hand was obvious in the weaving, but for all the dignity she wore it with, it could have been a diamond crown. She abandoned all said dignity to scramble up on the arm of the chair and peer at the cub in Entai’s arms. “Leon brought him?”

*Big bro?* Chris hurried to look. *He rescued him?*

D nodded as Entai lowered her burden so Chris could look at him. “Indeed. He said he’d be back later.”

Chris blinked and rubbed his eyes as the shaking cub took on a human appearance. *Hullo. My name’s Chris. The guy that brought you in here is my older brother, Leon.*

The shivering little one smiled at him. “The nice man is your brother? He was nice to me. He held me all the way here.”

Chris beamed. He took such pride in his brother’s accomplishments, D noted indulgently. *What’s your name?*

“Mama called me Luki.” The cub trembled and huddled into Entai’s embrace. “Mama-I want Mama! I miss Mama!” He wailed softly, clinging to Entai.

D knelt in front of Entai so he was eye-level with Luki. “What happened to your mother, little one?”

“Mama told me to hide. She said to stay hidden until she came for me, but she didn’t come back. I waited and waited, but she didn’t come back.” Luki answered between hiccupping sobs. “The noisy bad men came with smelly metal things and started to dig. I ran away. I didn’t want to, cause Mama won’t be able to find me, but they dug up my hiding place. I stayed close, in case Mama came back, but a bad man caught me. He put me in a box. It smelled bad, and Mama didn’t come back.” He wailed and clung to Entai. The hawk looked a little surprised, but gently patted Luki’s back until he settled down a bit.

*Smelly metal things?* Chris asked innocently.

“I would wager to say construction machinery, from his description. ‘Digging’ and destroying his hiding place all sound as if he was hiding in an area where there was construction going on.” D explained as he rested a calming hand on Luki’s head.

Tetsu came back in with a bowl full of rich broth. D accepted it with a smile and helped Luki drink some of it. The warmth stopped his shivering and as his belly filled, his eyelids drooped. He collapsed in Entai’s arms with a burp, falling asleep with the abruptness of the very young.

Entai smiled down at him. “How odd. He has no fear.” She gave D a sidelong glance and added in an undertone, “In the wild, I would be more likely to snatch him up for a quick meal. And yet, here I sit with a coyote cub trustingly asleep in my grasp.”

D smiled at her and rose gracefully to his feet. “You were always a remarkable creature, my hawk.” He accepted Luki from her and settled him on the settee.

“It sounds as if they were hunted. I think his mother hid him and led hunters off. If she didn’t return, it’s likely she was caught.” Tetsu said, dropping in a careless sprawl on a floor pillow.

D shot him a quelling glance and quickly chivvied Chris toward the bath. He did not need to hear this conversation. When he and Pon-chan were safely out of earshot, D nodded at Tetsu. “Yes. Human encroachment on their territory has forced the coyotes to become scavengers; lurkers on the edge of human habitation. Likely, his mother had denned in a construction zone. She tried to lead the men away from her cub. In all likelihood, she was shot and killed.”

Ten-chan roused with a yawn and grinned at the sleeping cub. “He’s done good to survive all that, as young as he is. He’s a tough one.” Even when he didn’t appear to be paying attention, Ten-chan was always alert to his surroundings. He leapt down from the perch where he had been napping and settled down next to Entai. “Hey, Doll. Looks like he’s taken a liking to you.”

Entai gave the fox a predatory grin. “Perhaps.” She leaned closer, golden eyes sparkling with keen humor. “Should I take a liking to you, hmm? You might make a nice little-” Her voice dropped. “-Snack.”

Several others laughed as Ten-chan leaned away from her. “Dollface, you’d have to catch me first!” He laughed.

“Mm, playing with my food… Sounds like fun.”

D shook his head, tucking the blanket more firmly around Luki. At least the arguments tonight were playful and full of good humor. Some nights it was all he could do to keep peace.

He was fixing dinner for a yawning Chris when he heard the soft chime of the bells at the front door. “D?”

“In here, Detective.”

Leon wandered in, looking much improved from earlier, though there were shadows under his blue eyes and he yawned repeatedly. He wasn’t alone. Jill offered D and Chris a cheerful wave. “Hello, Count. What’s up, kiddo?”

“Miss Jill, what a pleasant surprise. Will you join us for dinner?”

Jill sniffed the air appreciatively. “Much as I’d like to, Leon and I are off to see if we can get Squidge the Rat to squeak for his dinner. He’s been keeping tabs on a drug cartel for us and it’s about time he ponied up some info.”

“Do you have to share our assignment with everyone, Jill?” Leon scowled sourly at Jill.

She ignored him with aplomb, leaning over to ruffle Chris’s damp hair. “I heard about Grumpy’s heroics earlier. How’s the rescuee?”

D smiled at her and pointed to the settee where Luki had been napping. Their voices had roused him and he yawned sleepily. The cub raised his head to study Jill.

“He’s adorable. Is he alright?”

D nodded. “A bit undernourished and half-drowned, but he’s recovering well.”

“Good.” Leon nodded.

At the sound of his voice, Luki’s attention snapped to Leon and he sprang from the settee to bounce eagerly at the detective’s feet. Much to D’s surprise, Leon scooped him up and ruffled his hair. “Well, you certainly seem to be feeling better. Glad to see it.” He chuckled as Luki kissed his cheek and set him back down on the settee, draping the blanket over him. “You get some rest, okay, little guy? D’ll take good care of you.”

Jill grinned and elbowed him. “Looks like you got yourself a fan.”

“Shaddup.” Leon scowled at her and hugged Chris goodnight. “You be good, okay? I’ll see you in the morning.”

Chris nodded as he buried his nose in Leon’s hair. *Okay. You want me to keep an eye on Luki for you?* Leon turned to follow his brother’s gaze to where Luki sat.

“You named him?” Leon grinned at his brother. “Sure. Make sure Luki gets some rest. Maybe he’ll feel good enough to play with you tomorrow.”

*Will do!*

Leon ruffled Chris’s hair affectionately. “See ya.”

D watched him go with a speculative look. Something was odd here, but he could not quite place it. Chris was excitedly telling Luki about his brother’s adventures as a detective with only minimal childish exaggeration. D shook his head and informed Chris that dinner was ready. Chris ate while Luki managed some more broth.

Chris was half-asleep over his dessert when D picked him up. “Come, Chris. It’s time for bed.” Chris protested only a little, wrapping his arms around D’s neck and drowsing as D carried him to bed. Tetsu helped him put Chris to bed, where he curled up next to Pon-chan. Luki had followed them and lingered in the doorway, looking wistfully at the small boy already sound asleep in the bed.

D smiled gently at the cub. “Luki, do you wish to stay with Chris tonight?”

Luki brightened up. “Can I?”

D picked him up. “Of course. Right after your bath.”

Luki made a face. “Don’t wanna.”

“Chris had already had his bath, so you must get yours. Tetsu, would you be so kind as to run Luki a hot bath while I get some more towels?”

Tetsu grumbled, but took Luki as D went in search of towels. He had just retrieved an armful when a frightened howl and a series of splashes brought him back to the bath at a dead run. Tetsu was struggling with a panicky Luki, who was thrashing around in the water and frantically trying to claw his way out of the tub. “Tetsu, what happened?”

Tetsu blinked at him through a sheen of water. “I put him in the tub and he went crazy on me!”

Entai shouldered her way past D and scooped Luki out of the water, shoving Tetsu aside. “Fool!” She scolded Tetsu angrily. “He nearly drowned today and you dumped him into a tub of water without a thought in your silly head, except to be annoyed that you had to do it!” She patted Luki on the back and soothed his terrified wails. “Let me handle this. You go dry off before I decided to see which of us is the dominant predator here!”

Tetsu slunk out of the room, thoroughly chastised. D was surprised to see Entai successfully cow the Totetsu so easily. Entai offered him a slight smile as she calmed Luki. “For all his time as hiding as a human, he’s still young. He just didn’t realize, but should have known to ask for help rather than scare the little one even more. He needed a bit of a scolding.” Entai patted Luki’s head. “Now, then, little cub, will you take a bath if I take it with you? I promise not to let anything happen to you.”

Luki sniffled and nodded, clinging to Entai’s neck. She laughed softly as she settled on the edge of the tub. “You should know better too, Count. For all your skills, you are no more a parent than Tetsu. Let those of us who have been parents help with the nestlings before you get in too much trouble. It’s all fine to do it on your own, but know when to ask for help.”

D chuckled. “I suppose I deserved that scolding too, my hawk?”

She smiled at him as she slipped into the water, still cradling Luki. “You are wise enough to know that, Count D. I have seen you put all manners of creatures in their place the same way.” She inclined her head toward the door. “Not all of them residents of your shop.”

D gave her a wry smile in return. “Point taken, my dear Entai. Scolding taken in the spirit it was meant. When you have gotten him bathed, will you be so kind at to bed him down with Chris? He wished to sleep in there with Chris and Pon-chan.”

“Of course.”

D left her to the bath and went to soothe a disgruntled Tetsu. By the time he had eased the Totetsu’s hurt feelings it was well after midnight and he fell into bed with an exhausted sigh. Why did Leon seem to bring nothing but trouble to his door?


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D woke late the next morning to the din of what sounded like a full-scale melee in the front of the shop. He hurried out and stopped with a shocked half-smile. Tetsu was fixing breakfast with a scowl as Chris, Pon-chan, Luki and several of the younger animals scrambled madly after the ball Ten-chan threw for them. They bounded after the ball with far more enthusiasm than skill, heedless of anything (or anyone) in the way.

“While it’s all very good to be so energetic in the morning, I do not think the shop will survive much more exercise. Take it outside, please. I will call you when breakfast is ready.” D called out but his voice was drowned out by squeals of glee as Chris caught the ball and tossed it back to Ten-chan for another throw. D was about to raise his voice for another try when Entai snatched the ball from the fox and darted out the door with a trill of laughter.

“Hey, give that back, doll!” Ten-chan shouted after her in surprise. He bounded after her, followed by the giggling young ones. D sighed as silence once more descended.

“Thank you for preparing breakfast, T-chan. I am sorry I slept so long.”

Tetsu shrugged, but the pleased blush that colored the tips of his ears was enough of an answer. “You needed the sleep and I didn’t mind. I haven’t cooked nearly as much as I used to before I came into the shop. It’s nice to keep in practice.”

D stood in the doorway, watching the impromptu game for a long moment. It had evolved into a variation of ‘keep away’ with Entai and the children doing their best to keep the ball away from Ten-chan. His acrobatic leaps and snatches for the ball were inspiring much laughter from the younglings. Entai laughed too, as she snatched the ball from the air and lobbed it back to Luki. The young one had regained a great deal of his energy and looked immensely better, if still a bit thin.

Tetsu glanced over his shoulder. “They’ve been at this for nearly an hour and they still look like they could go on for another two.”

D smiled back at him. “Let them play. If they wear themselves out, we can anticipate a quiet breakfast and perhaps a moment of quiet later if they are tired enough for a nap.”

Tetsu grinned. “Good thinking.”

D’s prophecy was right on the mark as Chris and the others straggled in to breakfast wearily, but in high spirits. D made sure Luki ate well, but not to excess. His stomach wouldn’t have been able to handle it. Ten-chan entertained them after breakfast with wild stories, during which more than half the little ones, including Luki, fell asleep.

Chris and Pon-chan were the only ones of the youngsters still awake when Detective Orcot straggled in the door. They both looked up from their coloring when the chime over the shop door sounded. *Big Bro!*

“Hey, Chris.”

Chris hesitated, worry creasing his face. *Are you okay? You don’t look so good.*

“Thanks for the vote of confidence.” Leon shoved a hand through his rumpled hair. “I’m okay, Chris. Just a long night.” His eyes were shadowed with dark circles and weariness creased his face.

D came out of the back with a tea tray. “Ah, my dear detective, just in time for tea.”

Leon settled on the low couch, rubbing his eyes with the fingers of one hand. “For once, D, I could use the caffeine. I’m beat.”

“Forgive me for saying so, but you do look a bit under the weather.” D observed as he poured Leon a cup. Leon accepted it with a yawn.

“I’m probably coming down with a little bit of a cold, that’s all. A really long shift following a nice dunk in the river is the perfect recipe for that. I’ll be okay.” Leon reached down to ruffle his little brother’s hair affectionately. “Speaking of which, how’s-uhm-Luki, wasn't it?”

Chris grinned and pointed to Luki, curled up asleep with some of the other young ones. Leon cracked a reluctant smile. “Looks like he fit right in, huh?”

D smiled as he sipped his own tea. “Indeed. He is welcome and I must thank you for bringing him to me. Apparently, he is an orphan.”

Leon rubbed the back of his neck. “I kinda figured as much. The foreman of a construction site down by the river said they found him lurking around the site. He trapped him with the intention of calling the animal shelter, but one of his workers tried to take care of the problem by himself. He’s currently cooling his heels in lock-up on animal cruelty charges, by the way.”

D nodded. “As it should be. Luki was already traumatized by his mother’s disappearance and his capture! I have half a mind to deal with the fool myself!”

Leon waved him off. “Ah, for once let the system take care of him. I’d have a hard time explaining away your particular brand of justice.”

D looked at Leon in surprise. He had long known that Leon desired nothing so much as to bring him up on charges of everything from drug trafficking to human slavery, but lacked the evidence to do so. This was the first time D had heard him admit to the knowledge that D did dispense his own version of justice on some of those who wandered into his shop. He said nothing as he refilled Leon’s cup, however. It was for the best, even though the ‘explaining away’ comment wasn’t in keeping with Leon’s normal mode of blaming everything short of the Kennedy assassination on him. He resolved to ask the detective later. Perhaps he could catch him in an expansive mode, and worm a few other truths out of him. D allowed himself a smile. That would be… interesting.

Leon yawned loudly, rousing a few of the little ones sprawled on the floor. Most merely cracked an eye open long enough to verify who it was and promptly went back to sleep. Leon’s presence in the shop was becoming commonplace to many of the youngest. They accepted him as the odd human who came in to talk to D as much as they accepted Chris as another playmate. Luki woke and bounded up next to Leon with an excited cry.

Leon offered a weary grin and ruffled his hair, much as he had done Chris’s earlier. “Hey, kiddo. You’re looking a lot better. D taking good care of you?”

Luki grinned widely and broke into a recitation of last night’s events. Leon smiled down at him and for all intents and purposes seemed to be listening attentively. As he described the morning’s game of keep away, Luki could not stop bouncing enthusiastically up and down, until even Leon was laughing at his antics. D watched them speculatively. If he didn’t know better…

He let the thought slide as Leon rose to his feet and affectionately grinned at Chris, Luki and Pon-chan. “You guys be good. I’ll try and drop in after my shift.”

*Bye, Big Bro.* Pon-chan waved goodbye from Chris’s shoulder and Luki bounced with undiminished enthusiasm as Leon reached for the door.

“See ya.”

“Detective?”

Leon turned to face D. “Yeah?”

D shook his head. No. Not now. Not until he was certain. “Don’t forget to take something for your cold. As poorly as you eat, you need all the help you can get.” The familiar sniping eased his troubled mind.

Leon offered him a sour frown. “What are you, my mother? I’ll be fine. It’s just a cold!” He scowled and hurried up the steps.

Chris grinned at Luki. *See? I told you he was a good guy! He put the man who put you in the river in jail.*

Luki grinned back. “He’s nice. I like him. He got me out of the water and brought me here. He held me all the way.” Luki stared wistfully after Leon. “I wish I could help him, like he helped me.”

D patted his head. “Perhaps when you get stronger, Luki-chan. You have to get well too.”

Luki smiled up at him. “I will. Then I’ll find a way to help him!”

D smiled at the cub’s unflagging enthusiasm, though something nagged at him. He couldn’t say what troubled him, so he dismissed the feeling. Perhaps he was only out of sorts because of Leon’s uncharacteristic behavior earlier. Maybe he should catch Leon when he was sick more often. He was by far more mellow when he was ill and short of sleep. Odd. Most humans would be irritable, but since irritable was Leon’s normal mode of operation…


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D scowled at the human seated across from him with ill-concealed irritation and worry. “I will take you to a doctor myself if I have to! Your poor health is worrying Chris and endangering my pets!”

Leon shot him a dark look when he stopped sneezing. “I told you, I’m fine!” He said thickly as he sniffled into a tissue.

“Oh, of course you are, my dear detective,” D spat sarcastically, “When you can’t even stand up without coughing! You are seriously ill and don’t try to convince me otherwise!”

Leon had started coughing again and didn’t protest when D shoved a cup of tea so thick with honey that the spoon very nearly stood up by itself into his hands. “Do me a favor; be silent and drink that! I will call Dr. Lee Sinhg. If you will not go see him, I will convince him to come see you.”

Leon gagged on the too-sweet tea and glared blackly at D as he picked up the old-fashioned telephone. “Give it a rest, willya? I don’t need a damned doctor!”

*Please, Big Bro,* Chris pleaded from his seat near Leon’s feet. The worry on his face got through like none of D’s arguments had.

Leon sighed and leaned back. “Fine, fine. I’ll go to the doctor tonight, alright?” He conceded with ill grace.

D shook his head as he hung up the phone. “Dr. Lee Sinhg is already on his way. You will go nowhere until he looks at you.”

Leon bolted to his feet. “Whoa! No frigging way! Is he another one like your psycho dentist girlfriend? I’m so out of here!”

D shoved him back into his seat. Leon was so weak and ill that it took little effort. D waved a hand and Entai and several of her cousins mantled, glaring at Leon out of sharp amber eyes. D picked up Luki and set him in Leon’s lap. “You have my permission to sit on him until the doctor arrives, Luki. Make sure he stays put.”

Luki looked up at Leon with a little half-hearted whine. It did the trick. He scowled, but stayed put, resting one hand on Luki’s head.

D heard the chime of the door and hurried to answer it. “Doctor.”

Leon looked up at the word.

D suppressed a smile at the surprised expression that dropped Leon’s jaw. It was hardly unexpected. The reaction was the same one everyone wore upon meeting Lee Sinhg for the first time. The doctor ignored Leon’s gape with dignity (and much practice), turning his gaze to D. “I confess to find myself a bit surprised to find you calling me on behalf of a human, Count D.” He said in perfect Mandarin. “What brought this on?”

D sighed. “It is a bit of a long story, Doctor. Perhaps we might discuss it later over tea. At the moment, I would be much obliged if you would take a look at Detective Orcot for me.”

“Detective?” Lee Sinhg raised a single eyebrow. “This gets more interesting all the time. For your sake, Count D, I will put my curiosity on hold for the time being, but I will insist on the full story at another time.”

“Of course.”

Leon was watching them with the scowl he reserved for anytime D started speaking in Chinese, but for once he had kept his mouth shut. Perhaps he was wiser than D gave him credit for.

Lee Sinhg strode over to the low couch where Leon sat. “You would be Detective Orcot then?” He asked in unaccented English.

“Yeah.” Leon covered his mouth as that single word brought on another bout of coughing.

Lee Sinhg glanced down at Luki, took a second, longer look, and asked him to move so he could treat Leon. Luki obeyed with a worried frown after glancing at D for approval. Lee Sinhg gave D an unreadable look before bending all his attention to his patient.

“How long have you been ill, Mr. Orcot?” He asked as he pulled a stethoscope from the pocket of his black trenchcoat. Leon flinched but at a stern glance from the doctor, froze and let his shirt be unbuttoned and the cold metal pressed to his chest.

“Couple of days, I guess.”

*A week.* Chris piped up immediately.

Leon shot his little brother a frown but snapped his gaze back to Lee Sinhg as he echoed, “A week?”

Leon’s scowl grew. “You are…”

“A doctor, Detective, and let’s leave it at that. You are well on your way to pneumonia. You should have taken better care of your cold when it was just a cold.”

Leon shot a half-guilty look at D. “Yeah, well…”

“Don’t ‘yeah, well’ me. If you had let this go too much longer, it could easily have killed you. And then where would your little brother be?”

Leon’s glare sharpened. “Who are you?”

“A very old friend of Count D and his family. That’s all you need to know.” He turned back to D, ignoring Leon’s offended, “Hey!”

Lee Sinhg switched back to Mandarin. “I find myself amazed by the diversity of your taste in pets, Count D. I will give him medicine that should have him feeling better in a few days but I leave the dispensing of the medicine in your hands. He is likely not to take it at all on his own. He needs much rest and care.”

D nodded. “I will see to it that he takes what is necessary. Even if I have to have Milford and T-chan sit on him while I pour it down his unwilling throat.”

Lee Sinhg laughed wryly. “That I would pay good money to see. You do that. I’ll leave it up to you then.” His sharp gaze darted back to where Luki and Chris frowned up at Leon in worry.

“You boast a Totetsu, a nine-tails, and even a Dragon-child within these walls and yet I am forced to wonder do you even know what you have all unwitting invited into your shop, Count D.” Lee Sinhg handed over a parcel wrapped in white paper. “Make sure he drinks a cup brewed of this at least three times a day. He needs rest for at least the next two days, perhaps longer. I will return to check on him in three days.” Lee Sinhg took himself to the door. “I will expect to hear the rest of this tale soon, Count D.” Without another word, he was out the door, leaving D to stare after him, bemused.

“Who the hell was that guy, D?” Leon’s growl snapped him back to the situation at hand.

“As he said, an old friend. He has prescribed medicine and rest for you. You would be well advised to follow his directions.”

Leon scowled at him. “I have a case.”

D gave him an exasperated sigh. “You have sick days, correct? You are sick. Even you can do the math, detective.”

*Bro?*

Leon sighed and his gaze softened as he looked down at Chris, kneeling by his foot and resting both hands pleadingly on Leon’s knee. “Fine. I know when I’m outvoted. I’ll call in sick, but I don’t know about that quack’s medication.”

D scowled at him as he prepared the first dose of the medicine. “I promised him you would take it if I had to have some of my pets sit on you while I pour it down your throat. I am prepared either way. Which method do you prefer?”

Leon growled and held out his hand for the proffered teacup. He sipped at the steaming tea cautiously. His expression cleared. “Not too bad. At least it’s not sweet enough to make my teeth hurt.”

D showed no annoyance as he handed the phone to Leon.

Leon scowled at him. “What’s this for?”

“To call in.”

Defeated, Leon accepted the phone and dialed the number for his sometimes partner.

“Detective Freshney. Can I help you?”

“Jill? It’s Leon-” His words ended in an undignified squawk as D took the phone from him.

“Miss Jill?”

Leon could hear Jill’s surprised voice.

“Yes. You are aware, I assume, that Leon has been ill? Indeed, he has been the only one not admitting to it. Well, I had a doctor friend of mine look at him and he advised Leon take some time off. I will be looking after him. You can reach him here at the shop.”

Jill’s delighted exclamation was nearly drowned out by Leon’s indignant screech. “Say what?!”

D favored him with a scowl but addressed his remarks to Jill. “Yes, since he will not look after himself, we do what we must. Hopefully, no more than three days. No, not quite pneumonia, but very nearly. Yes, I will tell him. Thank you. Goodbye, Miss Jill.” D hung up the phone and turned his gaze on the gawping Leon. “Miss Jill hopes you will get well soon. Is there something on your mind, Detective?”

“Why the hell did you tell her that? There is no way in hell I’m staying overnight here!” Leon started coughing again from the force of his outburst and Chris held up his cup of medicine. Leon drank from it to ease the spasm, glaring at D all the while.

“As much time as you have spent stretching my hospitality, one would think you could accept it when it’s freely offered. And it’s not like you haven’t stayed here before.” D turned from Leon to pour himself and Chris tea of the non-medicinal variety. “Though I must admit, at least this time you are sober.”

Leon scowled at the scathing reminder. “Dammit, D!”

“Do watch your language, Detective. Remember that there are young ones present.” D watched Leon glance down at Chris and stifle another outburst. D sighed and softened his own tone. “My dear detective Orcot, we all know you will not take care of yourself when left to your own devices. This way, we can be assured you will do as you are told. Chris is counting on you to recover, if not for your own sake, then for his.”

Luki glanced at D with a pleading whine. D smoothly went on. “And for Luki, to whom you have a responsibility as the one who rescued him.”

Leon’s scowl diminished as he looked down at his brother and Luki on the floor. “Fine. I’ll stay put, but I don’t have to like it.”

D accepted the grudging admission with a nod and rose to his feet. “Then if you will excuse me, I will see that a room is ready for you. Chris, make sure your brother finishes his medicine. After that, we will go to that dank cave he calls an apartment and bring back some clothes for him.”

Chris grinned at D’s unrelenting disgust for Leon’s apartment. *Sure thing, Count D.*

Leon scowled at him. “Hey, I’ll have you know, I cleaned my place just last week.”

D glanced back with a raised eyebrow. “So you have taken down those vile posters of badly-proportioned women?”

“Well-- no.”

“Then it remains a contemptible pit of depravity.” D swept out of the room, leaving Leon to scowl at his back.

He paused at a plain door near the beginning of the twisting hallway that led to many other places, all of them a part of his pet shop. He opened the door and it revealed a small, neat bedroom with a smaller door that led to a bathroom. As always, what was needed was provided.

“Would it do any good to ask you what you’re doing?” A quiet voice asked behind him.

D turned to face Entai as the hawk leaned against the doorframe with an odd little smile on her sharp-featured face. “What do you mean, my hawk?”

Entai sat on the edge of the bed. “You know what I mean, Count. I have been in this shop many years and I have never seen you express an interest in anything like you have that human out there.”

D sighed as he turned down the blankets on the neatly-made bed. “I know what you mean, my dear, and I confess, I do not have an answer for you. He puzzles and intrigues me, this human Leon Orcot. In some ways he is no different from the detestable mass of humanity that plagues this planet, and in other ways he has a moral code and understanding of the rules of the Kingdom that leaves me astonished. I still do not understand how he managed to insinuate himself into my dream of ages past, much less, how when we awakened-”

Entai smiled. “Let me guess. Saabra and Jabor?”

D smiled at her, though it was an effort. “Yes. How they came to be in my case, I do not know. Nothing like that has ever happened when I dreamed alone. And unlike dreams, they did not fade with the sunrise.” D frowned as he thought of the two saber-toothed tiger cubs left orphaned after Leon killed their mother. How they had survived the dream to arrive safely in the here and now was yet another mystery. They were thriving in the shop; in a place where the tundra was like that their kind had hunted in eon’s past.

D sighed and sat next to Entai. “Much of what he does confuses me, and yet there are moments, like when he arrived at my door, soaked to the bone and cradling a coyote cub he rescued, when I am forced to think that he may be worthy of surviving when the rest of his race should perish. I begin to doubt my purpose.”

Entai tipped his chin up to face her. “Do not do that. Your purpose is and will remain a valid one. But it is the method chosen that troubles you. In short, what your father and even your grandfather before him advocates is nothing less than genocide to match what humans perpetrated on your kind and many others. In a way it is as much a crime as what was done to many of us and that troubles you.”

D met her amber eyes, warm with an uncommon understanding. “My hawk.”

Entai sighed. “I have had much time to think on this, Count D. I am the last of my kind as much as you, but I bear no ill will. As long as there is wind on which to fly, I am content. I cannot hate an entire race for what a tiny portion of their population did.”

D smiled again, but there was more life to it now. “Thank you, my dear one.”

“For what?”

“Reminding me that I cannot let emotion rule my head.” D offered her another smile as he left the room.

Entai sighed as she watched him leave. “Mother, I could hate you for leaving this job to me. I am hardly cut out to be the voice of reason for this place.” She settled her feathers before following the Count back to the main room of the shop. “It’s like trying to fly in a hurricane and herd an entire flock of unruly fledglings all at once to be the sole reasonable one in this madhouse.”


000000000


D made sure Leon was safely asleep in his bedroom before he took Chris, Pon-chan and Luki to retrieve a change or two of clothing for his temporary guest. He scowled at the shrine to pornography on the walls but had to admit the place was indeed cleaner than the last time he had ventured in here. Chris dug a much-battered duffel bag out from under the bed and helped him gather some clothing for Leon. Chris was thrilled to have his brother staying at the pet shop for a few days and talked excitedly to Luki and Pon-chan about being able to spend more time with Leon.

The prospect thrilled Luki too, and even Pon-chan was a bit excited. D smiled indulgently at them and led them back to Chinatown. He made a stop in the market for some supplies for dinner and even went so far as to purchase as some fish for Tetsu to prepare. He wrinkled his nose distastefully but understood the need to properly feed his two human guests. He would never touch the flesh of another living creature himself, but living in a shop full of carnivores, he did what he must.

Tetsu was in a vile mood when he returned. Just having the detective in the shop made him cranky. He had despised Leon from the start. “Why is he here?” He rounded on D as soon as they walked in the front door.

D shot him a quelling glance, flicking his eyes toward Chris and the others. “Detective Orcot is ill. He is under orders to rest and take medicine regularly. Do you honestly think he would do that without supervision?”

Tetsu growled softly, keeping his tone low so Chris wouldn’t hear it. “And that’s a bad thing?”

“T-chan.” D reprimanded softly. He stroked Tetsu’s hair with a gentle hand. “Doctor Lee Sinhg wished me to look after him.”

Tetsu’s grumble stopped abruptly. He had been hunting with Saabra and Jabor while the good doctor had been here. “Lee Sinhg? He came here? For that?”

“Indeed.”

Tetsu sat down rather suddenly. His voice was the cry of a child. “Why?”

“Because I asked him to come.” D sighed and knelt next to Tetsu. “T-chan-the doctor’s motives are his own. He had every right to decline my request. However, he chose to come and treat Detective Orcot, even though he was under no obligation to do so.” D rose to his feet, pulling Tetsu up with him. “Now, I would like your help tonight preparing dinner. I purchased some fish, but-”

Tetsu relaxed a little. “In other words, you can’t bear dealing with it any longer, right?”

D offered him a half-smile. “You have the right of it, my T-chan. I can purchase it, but the thought of preparing it…” He shuddered distastefully.

“Right.” Tetsu accepted the basket containing the fish and other groceries D had purchased. “I’ll see what I can make.”

“My thanks.” D smiled at him and turned to go check on his newest houseguest.

“Count?” Tetsu called after him.

“Yes?”

“Are you sure I can’t eat him and save us both the trouble? It’d be a lot less of a pain.”

D laughed. “Quite sure, if you don’t want to face Lee Sinhg’s wrath when he comes to check on Detective Orcot in three days.”

Tetsu made a face and disappeared into the kitchen.

D opened the door to find the detective still asleep. He still had a fever but it had gone down a bit. D removed his hand from Leon’s forehead and studied the sleeping human. He looked younger in his sleep; with an innocence he had lost long ago. His face was an older, more sharply-defined version of Chris’s. “Why are you here?” He asked softly. “What is it that brings you back to my shop, time and again? I do not truly believe your protest that you want to ‘bring me in’ as you have said time after time.”

Leon’s only response was restive movement and a soft cough as he turned over. D sighed and left the room, closing the door after him. He had better things to do than ponder the mysteries of one human’s odd behaviors.

D returned to the front, where Chris and Pon-chan were teaching Luki the finer points of coloring. He smiled at them as he made another cup of Lee Sinhg’s medicinal tea for his houseguest. “Chris, would you be a dear and take your brother his medicine? Make sure he takes it all.”

*Sure, Count D. I told him Tetsu would sit on him if he doesn’t take it. Since Tetsu’s more likely to bite him, he drank it all without complaining.* Chris grinned at the Count, pleased at his own invention.

D had to smile. “Clever child. Make sure he knows the threat still holds.”

*You bet. C’mon, Luki. You can help me make sure he drinks his medicine.*

D called after them. “His is the second door on the right. The plain wooden one.” He didn’t think the corridor would lead Chris astray, but it never hurt to make sure.

*Okay!*


000000000000


Three days later, D wasn’t sure whether to kill Lee Sinhg or offer him one of his rarest pets. He was still undecided when he let the odd doctor into his shop to check on his patient. Leon had been remarkably good-natured about his confinement to the shop. D had noticed a tendency for Leon to be rather loquacious immediately after taking his medicine. He had even joked with D, and not with his usual wry and slightly insulting turn of phrase. He still annoyed Tetsu, but not nearly as badly as when he was himself. D wasn’t sure whether he liked how relaxed and unconcerned Leon was when medicated.

“Lee Sinhg.” He greeted the doctor politely.

“Count.” Lee Sinhg responded with a polite bob of his head. “How is my patient?”

“To be honest, I am not sure. His fever is mostly gone, though the cough lingers. What concerns me is his reaction to your medicinal tea. He becomes rather… odd.”

“Odd, how?”

“Talkative. Cheerful and relaxed. Altogether unlike himself.”

Lee Sinhg’s mouth quirked upward in a wry smile. “And you prefer him as a cranky bastard?”

D jerked and gave the doctor a sideways glance. Sometimes Lee Sinhg was no less annoying than Detective Orcot, and a good deal harder to deal with, especially since D dared not irritate him overmuch. “Not so much that, Lee Sinhg, but certainly more himself.”

Lee Sinhg surprised him with a good-humored laugh. His dark eyes sparkled with vibrant humor. “How much you remind me of your grandfather, D. He was much the same when first I met him.” He chuckled again. “Relax. You try very hard to be like him and yet you diverge a little more with each passing day.”

D gave him a quizzical look.

Lee Sinhg shook his head. “You forget, that unlike most, I know the truth of your family. As much as you look alike, each of you changes by virtue of those you meet and places you visit. Is not you own estrangement from your father proof of this?” Lee Sinhg led the way into the back of the shop as if it were he that was the proprietor, rather than D. D followed him, bemused.

“You wished that he would be mellower, like he was when he was ill. You never said it aloud, but those of us with ears to hear it understood you. I knew when you called me as did one other.”

“Other?”

Lee Sinhg shook his head. “I cannot tell you. One of the laws imposed upon me is that I cannot tell you; only point you in the right direction and offer hints. Any more and I risk the wrath of those far more powerful than I. I can only tell you when you guess the truth.”

“The truth of what?” D asked in bewilderment. Talking to Lee Sinhg sometimes was like walking a maze. Each turn led you further astray and often doubled back on itself. You could never know exactly where you stood with him. And that was the way he liked it.

“Truth is a blade, with two edges and often more than one side. It cuts both ways and like a knife, it can cost far more than merely life. When you have the truth, I will have nothing left to hide.”

D caught himself rolling his eyes. “Is the verse really necessary?”

“My apologies. A habit that old is hard to break.” Lee Sinhg stopped in front of the plain wooden door leading to the detective’s room. “Think on it a while. The truth of the matter is already within your grasp. You have had inklings and moments of unease that pave the way, but you haven’t set foot on that path yet.”

D forced himself not to scowl. To do so would only invite further comment, all of it designed to irritate him even more and keep him off-balance. One of the oldest of the tricks Lee Sinhg would use and by far the least harmful, if one only had the sense to keep their mouth shut.

Speaking of keeping their mouths shut… D grimaced as Lee Sinhg opened the door. He never knew when his houseguest would say something that, in the usual Leon Orcot mode, would either amuse or anger Lee Sinhg. He could only hope it was the former.

Leon was sitting up in bed, reading. It had surprised D to learn that he was an avid reader, and not only of Penthouse Magazine and the backs of cereal boxes. His tastes were odd, but then so was he. He had convinced D to go buy him a novel, since D “-wouldn’t join the rest of the twenty-first century and get a TV!” He was a little more than halfway through a thriller that rivaled Tolstoy’s ‘War and Peace’ for sheer thickness. The book was a thousand pages if it was one, and Leon was completely absorbed in it. He glanced up as they entered and put a finger to his lips with a half-smile, using the book to point at the foot of the bed, where Chris, Luki, and Pon-chan had all fallen asleep in a tangle of limbs and picture books.

“Chris was reading to us,” He said with a quiet laugh. “We made it through ‘Green Eggs and Ham,’ and ‘Hop on Pop,’ and about halfway through ‘The Cat in the Hat,’ before the narrator put himself to sleep.”

Lee Sinhg chuckled. “And how do you feel, Mr. Orcot?”

Leon put his book down. “Better, but D still won’t let me out. I’m the cop, so why do I feel like the one in jail?” His complaint was tempered with another half-smile.

“And would you have continued taking your medicine if he had?” Lee Sinhg asked with a smile as he sat carefully on the edge of the bed.

Leon grimaced. “Probably not.”

“Better to say, ‘not a chance,’ right?” Lee Sinhg said with a smile. He brought out his stethoscope and listened to Leon’s breathing. “Well, you sound quite a bit better. The congestion’s breaking up and your breathing is easier. How’s the head?”

“Not as stuffy. It doesn’t feel like my brain is wrapped in cotton anymore, but I’ve gone through three boxes of tissues and working on a fourth.” Leon gestured at the box of tissues on the bedside table and the wastebasket half-full of wadded up tissues.

Lee Sinhg just shook his head. “That’s good. You’re getting rid of the illness. You should be good as new in another day or two. I recommend that you stay here, at least until you are well enough to go back to work. Another day, at most. Just take your medicine and you should be fine.”

Leon grimaced, but didn’t protest, which frankly astounded D. He had been expecting an immediate denial. “You’re the doctor.”

“Indeed I am. Stay put for another day, Mr. Orcot, and you should be fine.” Lee Sinhg rose and led the way out of the room. D followed, a little bemused.

Lee Sinhg glanced back at him with a smile. “We still haven’t discussed my payment for services rendered, Count D.”

“Payment?”

“I do believe you owe me a story.”

D acceded with a polite (if somewhat strained) smile. “Then let me offer you tea and we will speak of it.”

It was nearly an hour later that D finished his (only slightly edited) narrative. Lee Sinhg watched him with an odd smile on his face as he wound the story up. He let the silence stretch to the breaking point before he spoke. “A very interesting tale, Count, though I’m sure I’m only getting the high points. You are more like your grandfather than you know, and more than he would care to admit.” He stared at a point in space somewhere past D’s left shoulder while D reached up to the same shoulder to scratch Q-chan’s ears. “He too collected a few odd pets, not the least of which was an attempt to take me in. Of course, that was a mistake he wouldn’t make twice.” He laughed while Q-chan squeaked in response to D’s caressing fingers.

“You are what you are, and he is human, Count D, but I’m sure you never forget that.” Lee Sinhg said at last. “So it is not for me to offer advice on. I am what I am and more besides. I can no more change that than turn the tides. You cannot cease to be what you are made to be, but you can change as can he-”

“You’re speaking in verse again.” D reprimanded softly. He did not want to hear what Lee Sinhg would have to say if he really got started.

Lee Sinhg had the grace to look abashed. “Sorry. Old habit, you understand. It’s hard to break, but at least I’ve managed to lose one or two of the other unpleasant tendencies that went with it.” He shook his head. “My point, and I do have one, is that you tend to collect oddities. It’s as much a part of you as your nature. And I suppose if you come down to it, humans are animals as much as anyone else in this shop. You have forgotten that as much as they have. But so has all your kind, after so much time. Your own father would be the first to deny that humans are any relation to animals.”

Lee Sinhg rose. “I have overstayed my welcome, I fear. Keep your detective one more night and make sure he takes his medicine. He should be back to himself after that.”

He bowed politely and let himself out, leaving D to ponder his words in silence and try to forget just what had spoken those words.


0000000000000


It had been a week since Leon had recovered from his bout with illness, but nothing else was going right. He was fuming as he slogged through a sudden downpour toward the pet shop. An easy collar turned out to have a high-priced lawyer in his pocket who promised to make the trial as much of a media circus as the Anna Nicole Smith thing was becoming. Two busts had been just that. Absolute busts. How those two had managed to be squeaky clean on the one day they could bust them for more than jay-walking, he would never know, but it had turned what might have been a record bust into a slap on the wrist crime, and he was royally pissed.

Jill had taken a fall on a case and wound up with a sprained wrist and ankle, so he was taking the heat for these himself and to say he was not happy was majorly understating the case. And to top it all off, the downpour ceased the moment he reached the pet shop’s front entrance. Leon had just about resolved to go back home and hide under the covers for a year or two or until this blew over when the door opened and a woman cradling a small kitten hurried past him with the dazed look that was characteristic of yet another of D’s weird sales.

He stalked into the shop, dripping on the rugs. “What was she on?”

D smiled at him, offering a towel. “Nothing that I am aware of, Detective. Will you join me for tea?”

Leon shook his head as he accepted the towel and dried off a bit. He dismissed the woman to the back of his mind. He had more to worry about than one of D’s weird customers. He plopped down in his usual seat and accepted his tea as Chris and Luki hurried from the back of the shop to greet him. Despite his sour mood, Leon summoned up a smile and greeted both of them pleasantly. Pon-chan dashed into the room and pounced on Chris. *Sorry, Pon-chan. We didn’t mean to leave you behind.* Chris apologized with a sheepish look. Tetsu followed Pon-chan and growled at Leon before seating himself at Count D’s feet.

Leon grimaced back at the man-eater and turned his attention back to Chris and Luki. “How you guys doing?”

*Good. I was just telling Luki about the time you caught the bank robbers at the park.*

Leon chuckled, his mood lightening considerably. “Oh, I remember that one.”

*You tell him the rest.* Chris pled. *You tell it much better than I do.*

Leon ruffled his hair. “Naw. I’m not much of a storyteller.”

*Please?* Chris begged. Even Pon-chan added her vote, clambering up onto Leon’s knee.

Leon caved. “Okay, okay. Where did you leave off?”

*You found the ski mask outside the entrance to the park.*

“Oh, there, huh?” Leon sipped his tea and began the narrative where Chris had left off, playing to his rapt audience. Chris sat at his feet and Luki clambered up on the low couch next to him. It was obvious that Chris had wanted to hear the story again too.

D watched with narrowed eyes as Leon ruffled Luki’s gray-brown hair. “Mr. Detective,” he interrupted mildly. “Would you do me so great a favor as to tell me how Luki-chan appears to you?”

Leon shot him a disbelieving look. “The same way he always did.” He turned his attention back to the story he was weaving for Chris. Luki listened avidly.

D sipped his tea and considered the figure across from him. Several times Leon had absentmindedly answered a question that Pon-chan had posed, completely unaware that he had heard and understood her. D had noticed it before but wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. Leon was so determinedly blind to things he did not want to see. When he had been rather drunk, he had seen several of the pets in their human forms but had refused to believe it when he had sobered up.

D watched him speculatively. He was beginning to believe the detective wasn’t as blind as he pretended to be. He himself had manipulated Leon’s perceptions a time or two, but never more than that.

After he had finished the story, Leon glanced at his watch. “Damn. Sorry, Chris, I gotta go. I’ll see you tomorrow, ok?”

“Whatever is the rush, my dear detective?”

Leon scowled at him. “I’m helping out on a bust tonight. Narco is shorthanded and they’ve got a major line on a crystal meth lab. They need every available hand.”

Chris was wide-eyed. *Wow. Is it going to be dangerous?*

Leon’s gaze softened. “Don’t worry, Chris. I’ll be fine.” He shot a glance at D, silently pleading with him not to say anything. D knew how dangerous an illegal lab could be. Most of the chemicals were flammable and no few were highly toxic. If a firefight broke out, things could get very dangerous very fast.

Leon nodded and hurried out the door. “Be safe, Detective.” D called after him.

Luki glanced at Chris. “Will he be okay?”

Chris’s big brother worship was tempered by the fact that he had seen Leon wounded on more than one occasion. *I hope so.*

“Is a bust exciting?” Pon-chan asked innocently.

Chris, who had only seen the sanitized for TV cop shows, nodded.

Luki grinned at him. “He’s gonna be okay. I hope things are exciting though.”

Chris nodded back at Luki, but there was still worry in his blue eyes.


000000000000


Flames and heat and desperate screams filled the air. D knew this dream. He had had it many times before. A wildfire and desperate animals left with no way to escape the blaze, begging him for help. Every time yet another brushfire had raged through the southern hills of California, the dream returned. For all the flames, a chill raced through his blood every time he revisited this nightmare.

A shrill scream cut through the cries for help and D sat up abruptly, gasping. The shrill sounded again and he finally recognized it for the phone. He glanced at the antique-styled timepiece an unknown benefactor (re. Leon trying to be sneaky) had gifted him with last Christmas to find it was a quarter to three. D’s first thought was that something had happened to Leon.

“Count D’s,” he answered with a stifled yawn.

“Count, it’s Jill.” The chill left from the dream intensified.

“Miss Jill, what is it? Has something happened?”

“Yeah. I assume you know Leon was helping Narco out tonight?”

“Yes, he did mention something of that nature. A bust on a meth lab, I believe is what he said. Whatever has happened?”

“The lab blew up.” Her voice was grim.

“Oh, my. Is Detective Orcot alright?” D was fully awake now.

“He’s one of the lucky ones. He’s in surgery right now. He took a couple of pieces of debris in the back.”

D rose to his feet. “Would you like me to bring Chris to the hospital?”

“He won’t be out of surgery for another hour or two yet. It’ll be another hour before they move him out of recovery. I just wanted to let you know so you could break it to Chris gently. Say six or seven-ish, just to be on the safe side.”

“Thank you. I understand, Miss Jill.”

Troubled and unable to return to sleep because of it, D sat in a courtyard with some of his more nocturnal pets for company until dawn lightened the sky. He woke Chris and helped the sleepy child get dressed.

Tetsu roused from where he had been curled on the foot of the bed and watched D help the nodding child into his clothes. “What’s up?”

“There was an incident last night. Detective Orcot is in the hospital. He was injured in an explosion.” D said as he steadied Chris, who was struggling with the straps of his overalls. Tetsu came to his aid, helping the only half-aware child find and put on his shoes.

Tetsu, for once, kept any disparaging remarks about Leon behind his teeth as he helped Chris, who was a little more awake now, into his jacket. D thanked him as he took Chris’s hand and led him to the door. “Take care of the shop, T-chan.”

“You got it.”


0000000000000


The hospital was quiet in the early hours and D found Jill waiting for him by the desk. She leaned wearily on her crutches and waved at him and Chris as they came through the sliding glass doors. “Hey, D, Chris.” She offered with a weary smile. “You’re just in time. His grouchiness woke up a few minutes ago.” She grinned cheekily. “He’s something of a hero at the moment. He saw one of the suspects light the pipe bomb and called for the retreat. Most of them got out because of that, though there were a couple that weren’t so lucky. Leon was herding two cops ahead of him when the bomb went. He saved their lives.”

Chris, who was fully awake by this time, tugged on D’s hand. *Is he going to be okay?* There were tears welling in his blue eyes.

Jill interpreted the look, if not the wordless thoughts behind it and patted Chris’s head with her bandaged hand. “Don’t worry, kiddo. Your brother will be okay. Leon’s too stubborn to be out of action long.”

She led them to a private room where Leon was resting on his stomach, talking quietly to another cop. His bare back was swathed in bandages. What wasn’t hidden under the white linen was turning several shades of purple and black. One shoulder in particular was swollen and painful to look at.

*Leon!* Chris flung himself at the bed.

“Chris? What are you doing here?” He spotted D and Jill and groaned softly. “You just had to call him, didn’t you, Jill?”

She shrugged with studied unconcern. “You know as well as I do that I have to notify family when a cop is hurt. Chris needed to know and as much time as you spend in his shop, D is practically family too.”

Leon shot her an evil look. “Take it easy, Chris. I’m okay.” He soothed his little brother, refusing to look at D.

The other cop had wisely taken himself out of the room, so D insisted Jill take his seat near the head of Leon’s bed. She settled into it with a sigh of relief to be off her sprained ankle as D gave Leon a look of arch disapproval. “How like you, my dear Detective, to make Chris worry.”

“Shaddup, you…” Leon threatened. He winced as one of the bandages across his back pulled and settled back down with a frown.

He glanced over at his little brother. “I am okay, Chris. Really, I promise. I just got hit in the back with a couple of chunks of concrete my bulletproof vest wasn’t up to protecting me from. They had to pick bits of rock and glass from my back for a couple of hours, but that’s all.”

A doctor had come into the room while Leon was soothing Chris. He caught D’s eye and motioned for him to join him. D touched Jill’s shoulder and slipped away while Leon was distracted. The doctor closed the door behind them and glanced at D’s black hair and exotic silk with a raised eyebrow and a half-smile. “Are you family, then?”

D met the doctor’s warm brown eyes and was surprised when one of them dropped closed in a wink. “Ah, close enough.” The doctor continued with a smile.

Before D could even begin to be offended by the insinuation, the doctor glanced back at the room they had just left. “Don’t let his tough guy act fool you. He’s got three cracked ribs and a dislocated shoulder, not to mention all the debris we had to pick out of his hide. He’s one lucky sonuvabitch. One of those chunks of masonry came real close to putting him out of his misery permanently. An inch higher and he’d be the newest visitor to the Pearly Gates.”

D blinked at the doctor’s candidness. “I see.”

“Look, I want you to understand that I’m telling you this because in my book, you qualify as family. Maybe not in the strictest letter of the law, but, hey-I saw the worry in your eyes when you came in.”

D blinked. “I am afraid you are quite mistaken-”

“Yeah, yeah. I know.” The doctor waved off his protest. “Listen, we’ll probably keep him for a couple of days for observation, but then he’s going to need a lot of help until that back and shoulder heal a little. Will that be a problem?”

D thought of what Leon would have to say about being confined to the shop again and allowed himself a wry smile. “No, I don’t believe so.”

The doctor grinned at him. “Will you be the one picking him up when we discharge him?”

“Most likely.”

“I’ll give you his prescriptions for his medication and instructions then. He’ll have to stay prone for a while, but don’t get any ideas. He won’t be up to anything like that for quite a while.”

D was groping for a suitably vehement reply when a nurse hailed the doctor and he hurried away with a friendly grin. D was left standing in the hall, for once in his long life utterly speechless. The very idea! Where in the world had that idiot human doctor gotten the idea that he and Leon Orcot were lovers? With an indignant huff, D turned on his heel and returned to Detective Orcot’s room.

Chris had calmed down and was sitting quietly in Jill’s lap as Jill and Leon spoke quietly about the bust. It was Leon’s opinion that someone there had been sampling a little too much of their own product. “You weren’t there, Jill. You didn’t see the look in his eyes. He was grinning like a loony when he lit the fuse. It was like he was having a hell of a good time. He said, ‘You fuckers want some excitement? How’s this?’ ” Leon glanced down at his brother. “And you didn’t hear that word, Chris. Cause if I ever hear you use that word, that damned goat is going to have a hard time finding a piece of you big enough to play with, got it?”

Jill glanced from Leon to Chris with a slightly befuddled look as Chris swallowed and nodded. She was clever, but she still had no idea that Leon and Chris could understand each other perfectly. To her, Chris was still mute.

D ignored her confused expression and frowned. Something about Leon’s words had struck a chord. What was it? He was still pondering when the doctor came back in. He was so deep in thought that he didn’t even notice or feel annoyance at the continued assumption that he and Leon were a gay couple. Leon noticed though, and raised enough hell for the both of them. Chris just looked utterly confused while Jill convulsed with helpless giggles.

Leon was still scowling at a snickering Jill when a nurse ushered them out so he could do some blood work on the detective. She grinned at D as they left his room. “That was too funny, Count! I don’t think I’ve ever seen Leon turn that many shades of red before.”

D summoned up a small smile, pushing aside his concerns. “Be that as it may, Miss Jill, it is not you who will have to put up with him when he is released. I fear the doctor has remanded him into my care yet again.”

“Ooh, you have my sympathies. He’s enough of a pain when he’s injured and with that on top of it all-” Jill shook her head. “I wish you luck putting up with him.”

“I fear I shall have need of it.” D told her ruefully. He took Chris’s hand again and nodded farewell. Chris was quiet almost all the way back to the shop until D noticed and asked him what was wrong.

*I’m scared.* Chris answered frankly. *I’m afraid one day Leon will go to work and not come back.* His lower lip trembled and a single fat tear escaped his brimming blue eyes. *I don’t want my brother to die!* The last word was a wail and Chris flung himself at D.

D knelt to embrace him. “Shush, Chris.” He felt a pang for such an innocent child having to deal with such a trauma again and again. Chris wept against his shoulder, dissolving into incoherent thoughts and emotions. With a sigh, D scooped him up and carried him the rest of the way to the pet shop.

Pon-chan and Tetsu met him at the door. Pon-chan’s eyes were wide with fear at the sight of Chris crying helplessly in D’s arms. “Is Leon…?” She ventured in a timid voice.

“No,” D reassured her. “Detective Orcot is injured and will remain in the hospital for a few more days, but is otherwise fine. You will see him when they release him, because the doctor has placed him back in my care.”

Pon-chan let out a sigh of relief, but remained worried about Chris. Luki came running at the sound of Chris’s sobs, copper eyes wide. D hastened to reassure both of them. “Chris is just overwrought. He has been worried about his brother.”

Luki leapt up onto the arm of one of the low couches to look into Chris’s tear-streaked face. His own face crumpled and a low whine of worry built into a full-scale howl. Tetsu clapped his hands over his ears with a grimace and retreated. Many of the others were disturbed and moved restlessly in the shadows. Entai swept down from the perch atop a lacquered cabinet she had been sharing with Ten-chan, crooning softly. She tapped Luki on the nose, surprising him into silence.

She held out her arms to D, who gratefully relinquished Chris to her care. She gathered him close and retreated to a low couch. She soothed Chris’s distress with gentle words. Luki crept up onto the couch next to her and she welcomed him with a smile and an open arm. Very soon, the hawk had settled both youngsters down and Pon-chan joined the three of them. Entai welcomed her and called to Lai-Lei, one of the more exotic songbirds. “Come and soothe the fears of these little ones with your beautiful voice, sister, please?”

Flattered, Lai-Lei perched on the arm of the couch and began to sing, a liquid cascade of sound that evoked the open sky and the freedom of flight. A couple of others joined her, providing a lovely descant that wove around Lai-Lei’s main melody. The little ones listened, enchanted. Chris had quite forgotten his dismay.

Ten-chan leapt lightly down from the cabinet and joined D. “Quite the rare bird there, isn’t she?”

D turned and smiled at him, pleased by the effect Entai had. “Indeed. She is quite unique, and not merely because she is the last of her family.” D said meditatively. “Her kind is one of the rarest of all, and it is well that humans thought they destroyed her race many years past.”

“Why?” There was avid curiosity on Ten-chan’s vulpine face.

“I leave that to her to tell you if she wishes, Ten-chan. It is not my tale to tell.” D smiled at the fox shapeshifter. “You have been good for her loneliness. She had withdrawn from all of us after the death of her mother and only recently has begun to join the rest of us. She might be willing to tell you.”

“I doubt it.” The nine-tail shook his head. “I think the little ones had more to do with her opening up again than me.”

D laughed lightly. “Don’t doubt your own charms so much, Ten-chan.”

Ten-chan flashed him a mischievous grin. “I never doubt that, Count. My charms are abundant and absolutely irresistible.”

D smiled and ruffled his hair much the same way Leon did Chris’s. Ten-chan grinned and went to join Entai’s little group.

D stared after him for a moment before returning to the room Leon had so recently occupied. It remained much the way the detective had left it and D picked up the paperback lying open on the bedside table. D glanced through it and replaced it before stripping the bed and remaking it with fresh sheets. He was a little surprised at how easily the shop had accommodated the human. The magic of the shop was ancient, gifted to his ancestors by unnamed powers. In the oldest writings of his ancestors, it was only stated that those who gave them the magic were immensely old and powerful, but gave no names for the mysterious benefactors.

In all his years here, the shop had never failed to provide what was needed. From a tundra for the two orphaned saber-toothed tiger cubs to a small room for an ill human, the magic provided. For all his wisdom, D still found himself surprised by this place at times. He smoothed the sheets absently, thinking hard about what Leon had said. There was something in it that had struck a chord of memory in him and he would not be satisfied until he tracked the errant thought down. Something the children had said, too. Something about a bust being exciting if he didn’t misremember. And then Leon’s mimicking the words of the one who had blown up the lab. “-Want some excitement?”

The answer remained just out of reach until he threw his hands up in frustration. Sighing, he returned to the front of the shop. Several of the other songbirds had joined the chorus and he smiled at the melodies they created. The impromptu concert was just the thing Chris needed to soothe his battered heart. D smoothly went about making some tea and a bit of late breakfast before realizing that the sweet melody had soothed his frayed nerves as well. He glanced back at the gathering and Entai met his eyes, closing one of hers in an unmistakable wink. D laughed aloud and brought out a tray of teacakes and dainties as well as the freshly brewed tea.


000000000000000


Leon cursed softly at every bump the cab went over. His painkillers were wearing off and every jolt sent a wave of searing pain through his bandaged back and throbbing shoulder. D steadied him and continued to ignore him otherwise. Leon shook his head. So what if he’d gone off on the doctor who continued to assume that their relationship was that of a gay couple? It wasn’t true, dammit, and he’d be damned if that idiot was going to continue thinking that. He glanced sideways at D through his shaggy bangs. He could see where the doctor had gotten that assumption, sometimes. Not that he’d ever admit to it out loud.

D was feminine in a strange way. For all the weird, heavily embroidered dresses (though D would get mad at him and call them Cheo-something-or-others) and the long claw-like fingernails, D was a man, and Leon had known that from the moment they met. He, unlike many others, had never mistaken D for a woman.

Finally, he sighed and relented. “Look, I’m sorry I yelled at that idiot doctor. I know he meant well, even if he was under a seriously wrong impression about our non-existent relationship. I just was hurting and he pissed me off, okay?”

D glanced at him, though his back remained stiff as a board. “I am not the one to whom you owe the apology, though I will accept it in the spirit it was meant. You are forgiven.”

“So why do you still look like you’re pissed at me?” Leon stifled a gasp at a particularly hard jolt and blinked away tears of pain. Damn, that hurt. He hoped D would fill those prescriptions soon.

D steadied him against the jostling of the cab as it hit a series of particularly bad potholes. His face softened at the look on Leon’s face and the fingers that unconsciously dug into the skin of his supporting arm. “I am not ‘pissed’ at you, Detective. I am concerned. You were badly injured and that scared Chris half to death. He is still frightened of losing the brother he adores.”

Leon sagged as the ride smoothed out, only then noticing the death-grip he had on D’s sustaining arm. He pried his fingers loose with a muttered apology. “Crap, that hurt.” He sighed. “I know he’s scared, D. Hell, sometimes my job scares me. When I saw that freak light the fuse, grinning at me like a loony, all I could think was ‘game over.’ That this was it and I was a dead man. I don’t even remember unfreezing enough to yell a warning. I remember running like hell and pushing Parks and Adams in front of me and knowing that any second I was going to feel the shock wave from the bomb biting into my back.” Leon suppressed a shiver, wincing as even that made his injuries scream fresh torment.

“I was terrified.” He admitted frankly. “I never worried that much before, cause I didn’t have anyone who cared about me to leave behind, but now I do and the thought of dying scares the crap out of me sometimes.”

D was more than a little surprised by the frankness of the detective’s answer. Leon kept a fairly tight guard on his emotions, especially the softer ones. It wasn’t the medication this time, because at the moment, Leon’s painkillers had to be wearing off. The way his face went white as the taxi negotiated the narrow streets of Chinatown was proof enough of that. Leon clung to the door handle with white-knuckled fingers. D frowned worriedly at him and glanced up to see how far they were from the shop. He sighed as he sighted the pet shop not far from where the cab had been forced to stop by a cluster of chattering tourists who made no move to get out of the way.

“It’s just down the street. Do you think you can walk that far?” He asked with concern.

Leon let out the breath he was holding with a sigh. “I’d walk further than that for a chance to sit on something that’s not moving. My back is killing me.”

D paid the cabbie and helped Leon out. His face was as pale as a waxwork mannequin as he painfully straightened up. D steadied him until Leon waved him off. Much to his surprise, Leon put a hand on his shoulder for support as they carefully negotiated the crowded street as far as the pet shop. Leon winced with every step he went down but made it to the door.

Chris opened the door with a grin. *Leon!*

Leon offered his brother a strained smile. “Hey, Chris.” He tottered a little and Chris hurried to help him to one of the low couches. When he was safely seated, Leon ruffled Chris’s hair and smiled again. Luki and Pon-chan hurried up to greet him. The obvious pain on Leon’s face tempered Luki’s enthusiastic greeting. Leon ruffled his hair too, reassuring him.

Chris tugged on D’s sleeve. *Did you call the doctor to be here? He arrived just before you did. He’s with Tetsu in the kitchen.*

D nearly dropped the prescriptions he was holding. “Lee Sinhg is here?”

Chris nodded and pointed toward the kitchen. *I thought you must have called him to help with Leon again. Did I do wrong to let him in?*

“No.” D summoned up a smile. “No, you did not. I had forgotten, that’s all.”

Chris nodded and released his sleeve, reassured.

“Stay here with your brother. I will go speak to the doctor. Thank you for telling me, Chris.”

*Sure.*

D watched Chris returned to his brother’s side and hurried his steps into the small kitchen area. Lee Sinhg was seated at the table, talking with Tetsu. The Totetsu was subdued as he answered Lee Sinhg’s questions, but he spoke eagerly enough.

“T-chan, Doctor.” D greeted politely, hiding his confusion. What had brought Lee Sinhg to the shop today of all days?

Lee Sinhg looked up with a smile. “Totetsu-san here was just telling me that your pet detective had gotten himself injured. Altogether not a lucky creature, is he?” Lee Sinhg rose to his feet. “It appears I timed my visit well. Shall I pay a courtesy visit to your human?”

D was taken aback. “If it would not inconvenience you overly much.”

Lee Sinhg gave him a smile that rivaled any of Ten-chan’s for sheer puckish drollness. “Since I am already here, it would hardly be an inconvenience for me, now would it?” He nodded politely to Tetsu. “We will speak again later, Totetsu-san.”

D glanced at Tetsu, but he just shrugged. Mystified, D followed Lee Sinhg out into the front of the shop. Tetsu followed them.

“Hello again, Mr. Orcot.”

Leon glanced up, going white as milk when the sudden movement hurt his back and shoulder. “Ow! Shit, shit, shit!” He exclaimed breathlessly. “Damn, that hurt!”

Lee Sinhg glided silently over to where he sat. “You seem to be in need of my services yet again. Not unexpected, for some one so closely involved with D. What happened?”

Leon took no notice of Lee Sinhg’s comment as he slowly tried to catch his breath. “I-ow, crap-got a little banged up on a bust. I’ll be good once I get some of those painkillers they prescribed for me.”

D started and glanced down at the forgotten prescriptions in his hand. Lee Sinhg noted the glance and held out his hand for the pieces of paper. D passed them over without protest. Lee Sinhg glanced down at them and shook his head with an amused smile. “Humans and their chemicals and drugs. You may fill these for him, D, but I would not give him more than a little of those. They are little better for him than the injuries they are to treat.”

Lee Sinhg glanced back at Leon as he handed the prescriptions back to D. “If you are willing to trust my advice again, Detective Orcot, I will give you some medicines that will help you heal and ease your pain without the side effects of those drugs.”

Leon looked sideways at the doctor. “I’ll take advice from the man-eating goat there if it will do something for the pain right about now.” He said through gritted teeth.

Lee Sinhg chuckled at the look Tetsu gave the human. “Well enough.” He patted Chris on the head. “Would you be a dear and fetch my bag from the kitchen. That’s a good child,” He said as Chris nodded and hurried to retrieve the bag.

D nodded at the doctor and hurried to the kitchen after Chris. If he knew Lee Sinhg, there would be call for hot water to steep his medicines in. He did not know what had prompted the doctor to visit, but he knew well enough not to protest when he agreed to treat Leon.

Sometime later, Leon was much happier as the stabbing pains in his back faded to a very distant and strangely detached echo of what they had been. Even the shit they had him on at the hospital hadn’t worked this good. Lee Sinhg measured several packets of his medications and handed them to D. “Give him that in the red packet every few hours for the pain. The blue is for the swelling and should be taken twice daily. The green is an antibiotic and should be taken every morning with breakfast. Only give him the-” Lee Sinhg gave a disdainful sniff. “-Other medication for pain if he needs it to sleep. The others I would not bother with. They are far inferior to what I have given him.”

Lee Sinhg turned his attention back to Leon. “These are by far better for you than all the chemicals and by-products the others would leave in your system. Speaking of things in your system, I recommend you do not smoke until you are well. Your blood is already thick with toxins from those things and while my medicines will clear a good deal of it out, they cannot do so effectively while you continue to add to the problem. You may return to your vile habit when you are well enough to leave the shop without assistance.”

Leon scowled, but knew better than to argue. “Whatever you say, doc.”

Lee Sinhg smiled at him. “Better. I will take my leave of you, then. Count D, if you need more of his medications or his condition worsens, you know how to reach me.”

He patted Chris and Luki on the head and swept out the door, leaving a bemused D and Leon staring after him. “Kinda like a hurricane, isn’t he?” Leon observed wryly. “Blows in, stirs up everything and everyone and then blows out. You’re left looking for the pieces and he’s long gone.”

D shook his head and nodded thoughtfully to Leon. “You have the right of it, my dear detective. Lee Sinhg is rather unpredictable. The nature of his kind, I suppose.”

“His kind?” Leon looked as if he had swallowed something sour. “You’re not going to try and tell me he’s some sort of strange animal, are you? I admit he surprised me at first, but he’s a human, D.”

D sighed and glanced down at the human sprawled on his couch. “And you remain willfully blind, Detective Orcot. Let us say, he is different from any animal you will find in my shop and at the same time unlike any human you will meet. He is-” D shook his head again. “Never mind. You would neither understand nor wish to know what and who he is. We will leave it at that then.”

Q-chan squeaked vigorous agreement from D’s shoulder. D stroked the little one’s folded wings and sighed. “I will make us a bit of a late lunch then. Rest for now.”

Leon nodded, shifting to ease his back. Though it was obvious Lee Sinhg’s treatment had eased his pain considerably, he was having a hard time finding a position in which to sit that didn’t put pressure on his back. Leaning forward made the bandages pull uncomfortably and he didn’t dare lean back even against a pillow. Sitting up straight seemed to be the only position he could find that was marginally comfortable, but from his restive shifting, Leon could only bear to sit that way for a few moments. D sighed after a few repeats of the search for a comfortable position had Tetsu snarling at the detective.

“Would you sit still, damn you?! You’re driving me crazy!” The Totetsu barked at Leon.

D stuck his head out of the kitchen and frowned at both of them. “Detective, if your back is bothering you so much, do lay down on your stomach as the doctor instructed you. I can bear to put up with you sprawled on the furniture if it will end your incessant shifting and T-chan’s complaints.” He gestured to take in the rest of the room. “You will hardly be the first creature to lay on the furniture. And my pets have better manners than to jump on you when you’re already injured.”

Leon scowled at him, but eased down on his stomach, waiting for the throbbing in his shoulder to subside before replying. “Only when they’re doing the injuring, huh?”

D scowled at him as Tetsu grumbled under his breath. “Are you sure I can’t eat him, Count?” The Totetsu complained.

D shook his head at Tetsu and blinked mildly at Leon. “If any of my pets have injured you, it’s no doubt because you deserved it.”

“So I deserved the damned goat biting me in the ass?”

D chuckled as Tetsu growled. “T-chan has more reason to be annoyed with you than most. I think perhaps the only ones you annoy more are poor Miss Jill and of course, your chief.”

Leon managed a credible laugh. “What, not you?”

D blinked, surprised. “No. You only manage to annoy me when you’re awake.”

Tetsu laughed, delighted. “Good one, Count!”

“Very funny, D!” Leon glared at Tetsu. “I know that damned thing is laughing at me.”

They all looked up in surprise as the chime above the door tinkled. D frowned. “I was sure I locked the door.”

D whirled as Luki fled into Entai’s arms with a frightened yelp. Entai mantled over him protectively, amber eyes flashing. “Power…” Her voice was a hunting screech. Ten-chan leapt down from the cabinet where he had been napping, bristling. He placed himself between Entai, Luki and whatever was at the door, making it quite clear that to get to them they would have to go through him first. Pon-chan hid under the couch where Leon lay, clinging to his wrist with a frightened shriek. Leon looked confused, but reached instinctively for the gun he wasn’t wearing.

Tetsu flashed into full attack mode, teeth bared and fur standing on end. “There’s something out there! D, Chris, get back!” His growl was working its way up to a full-throated roar. “It’s a power like nothing I’ve ever felt before.”

A calm voice spoke from the foyer. “Ah, but you have felt its like before, Totetsu. You just failed to realize it, since it was as yet so weak and unfocused. May I come in?”

Tetsu snarled. “Who are you?”

D rested a calming hand on Tetsu’s shoulder. “If you mean no harm, you are welcome. Otherwise, I will not guarantee your safety.”

“Well said, Count D. I swear on my life I offer no harm to any in your pet shop.”

“Then enter and be welcome.” D said calmly, tightening his grip on Tetsu’s shoulder.

“Thank you.” A man stepped into the room. Except for the unmistakable aura of sheer power, he looked like any other human. He was dressed in dusty blue jeans and a faded blue chambray work shirt. He pulled off a battered baseball cap and grinned at them with very white teeth. His hair couldn’t seem to make up its mind whether it was black or dusty gray and wavered oddly between the two. “Hello, Count D.”

D faced the man squarely. “You seem to have me at a disadvantage, sir.”

“And that doesn’t happen often now, does it?” Humor glittered in the man’s odd yellow eyes. “My true name is unpronounceable in either of your tongues, but you may call me Ky.”

He stepped a little further into the room and glanced down as Tetsu’s growl deepened. “Pull your teeth back in, little one, before I’m minded to do it for you. I have given my word that I offer no harm to any here, so don’t make me break that vow.”

“T-chan.” D’s quiet voice reinforced the order.

Tetsu snarled a last time and slunk away to stand zealous guard over Chris. Leon was struggling to sit back up when the stranger who had named himself Ky waved a hand at him. “Rest yourself. You are injured.”

Leon’s scowl was black. “Just who are you, buddy?”

Ky laughed. “I expected no less from the man who saved my son from death.”

“Huh?”

“Not long ago, you saved my beloved son’s life, detective. For that you have my thanks.”

D stepped back as the man seated himself opposite the couch where Leon sprawled. He offered his hand to Leon, who painfully shifted around so he could shake the outstretched hand. D watched with a vague feeling of alarm as the suspicion faded from Leon’s face. It bore altogether too much of a resemblance to his own methods of allaying fears, something he had rarely attempted on Leon. The detective was far too suspicious by nature for him to soothe easily.

“My son means the world to me, Detective Orcot. Thank you for his life.”

Leon muttered something, flushing red.

Suddenly that disarming smile was turned full force on D. “And thank you, D, for looking after him until I could come for him.”

D took a startled step backwards. “I beg your pardon?”

The smile was directed at the rest of the room. “Thank you all for looking after him.” Yellow eyes centered on Entai, still mantled protectively over Luki. “Most especially you, wind-rider. Your care for a fledgling not of your own, nor even your own kind, marks you as a most remarkable creature. Even more remarkable than your species is by nature.”

Entai straightened up, still cradling Luki protectively. “I know you…?” She said uncertainly, tilting her head curiously. Ten-chan kept glancing between her and the stranger, unsure of what to do.

“Not personally, Wind Lady, but of me, assuredly. Our kinds are acquaintances of old.”

“How…?” Entai looked him in the eyes. Suddenly her eyes went wide and she gasped. “You are the Old One! The trickster god! My Lord Coyote!”

“Clever bird.”

Entai bowed, still holding Luki to her breast.

D frowned. “Entai?”

That sparked a laugh from the strange man. “You still do not believe, Count D?”

“Believe? What is it you would have me believe?”

“A human said it best. ‘There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.’ For all you know, for all you understand, there is still more you do not.” The man who called himself Ky chuckled again. “You see nothing beyond your own limited understanding. It is a flaw of your family.”

“My family?” D was perplexed. “You speak as if you know me.”

“Oh, I know of your kind, D. It is not the first encounter my kind and yours have shared. Once, long ago, your own grandfather tried to bring one of us into your pet shop. It was a noble attempt.” He laughed, baring sharp, white teeth. “Futile, but noble.”

“You speak of Lee Sinhg? He is one of your kind?”

“Lee Sinhg? Is that what he’s calling himself these days? How clever.” Ky laughed. “Yes. Your grandfather thought to add him to your collection. He and I are of a kind. You could no more hold me than your grandfather could have held Lee Sinhg.”

“You are…?”

“In times long past, the native peoples of this land called me Coyote, the trickster god. I was one of the great spirits that they called upon.” He smiled at Leon, who was watching and listening with befuddled bewilderment. “My son tried to help you, but as young as he is and quite untrained, his abilities got away from him. We are first and foremost, tricksters, and his power, without proper training and guidance, did what he asked, but in a manner as twisted and convoluted as a river.”

“Huh?” Was all Leon could manage.

“You wished to capture certain people, and you did, but because of my son’s budding power, you cannot hold them. You sought to bring in someone and you did, but again, because of his untamed abilities, the one you brought in has a lawyer who promises to make as much trouble as he can. Cause and effect, Detective Orcot.”

“I don’t get it.”

“You saved him, so in his own small way, Luki was trying to repay you. But because he has so little control over his powers, his good deeds went wrong. You see?”

“No.”

Coyote laughed and rose. “It would seem so. Rest then, human, and understand that I will fix things before I go in gratitude for what you did.”

“Uh-” That was as far as Leon managed to get. His eyes rolled up in his head and he collapsed bonelessly on the couch.

“Leon!” D gasped in alarm.

*Big brother!* Chris echoed him, trying desperately to push past T-chan, who was snarling with renewed fury. The Totetsu held him back protectively.

“Relax.” The single word had the force of a command. “I gave you my word and I have done him no harm. He merely sleeps.”

Chris wasn’t listening. Crying and struggling against Tetsu’s protective hold, he sought to reach his brother. Coyote stepped closer, eliciting more snarls from the Totetsu. He knelt and rested a hand on Chris’s head. Tetsu snarled furiously. Serene amber eyes regarded him and his growls choked off in his throat.

“Listen to me, little one.” Coyote said, his voice rich with power. “I have done your beloved brother no harm. He is sleeping. I will do him no ill, as I promised. Let him rest. Remember, he is hurt and needs his rest.”

Chris hesitated and stilled in Tetsu’s hold. *Will he be okay?* He asked uncertainly.

“Yes.”

*Okay. You promised.*

“Indeed I did. He will be just fine.” Coyote rose and regarded D. “Again, thank you for looking after my son. His mother died to protect him. You succeeded where my beloved failed. You have kept him safe.” His glance expanded to take the entire room. “All of you.”

Entai stepped forward, still cradling Luki. “P-papa…?” The cub asked hesitantly.

Coyote rested a hand on Luki’s head. “Yes.”

“Papa!”

Entai relinquished her hold of the cub, letting the Trickster god take his son into his arms. For a moment, he looked like any father would, cradling the child close. “My little one.”

He lifted his head and smiled at them. “Thank you all. As promised, I will take care of the problems my son has inadvertently caused. That is my gift for the human who rescued him. What can I offer you?”

D shook his head. “I need nothing.”

Coyote’s eyes went to Entai and he shook his head sadly. “I cannot grant your wish, Wind Lady. It is not in my power to undo what was wrought.”

Entai lifted her head. “I know. I still hoped.”

The Trickster god shook his head. “There is a great measure of happiness due you. You will find a reason to go on, a joy to leaven the sorrow. Trust in this knowledge. That is all I can tell you.” He regarded Chris. “For the extended hand of friendship, that asked no more than friendship in return, a gift. Remember this, even as the years pass. There is always a place to come home to. Home is and remains where love is. There is always love, even when separated by time and distance. Love will not fail.”

*Thank you.* Chris said uncertainly.

“For words you do not yet understand?” Coyote laughed. “Never mind. Just remember what I told you. Someday you will understand.”

He turned to D. “I have a gift for you too, Count D. There is trouble ahead and sorrow also. This I cannot prevent. There will be much sorrow and anguish to bear, a weight to bend the strongest back. But you will go on, as you must; as you always have. You will wish not to, but your duty remains. But there is hope. As they sang to me of where my son was, the winds will sing a new-old song for you. It is a long time in coming, but when it does, there will be joy to lift the sorrow.” He smiled sadly at D. “I could wish for your sake that it would not be so long in arrival.”

Power gathered around him and where he had stood, there was a pair of rangy coyotes, full-grown male and cub. As Chris extended a tentative hand, they were gone, leaving only silence and the echo of power behind. Leon awakened as suddenly as he had fallen asleep. “Wha-? What the hell?”

D had to gather himself for a moment before he could trust himself to face the detective. “What do you mean?”

Leon’s eyes narrowed and he levered himself up on his elbows. “Don’t screw around with me, D. There was a weird guy here and all the animals acted like he was the devil himself. Now he’s gone! What the hell happened?”

Chris looked up at D, who sighed and seated himself. “Luki’s father came to pick him up. That is all.”

“Luki’s father-? But wasn’t he a-?” Leon hesitated and shook his head. “No. Never mind. It’s the weird shit that doctor friend of yours gave me.”

D restrained himself from shaking his head. It seemed Leon was still deliberately blind and would remain so. “Perhaps so. Perhaps it reacted badly with the drugs they gave you at the hospital.”

For a moment, he could have sworn there was disappointment in Leon’s expression, but relief replaced it so quickly that he was unsure of his own eyes. The shrill of the phone was a welcome distraction.

“Count D’s.”

“Hey, Count!” A cheerful female voice greeted him. “How’s the detective-sitting going?”

“Hello, Miss Jill. As well as can be expected.”

“That bad, huh?” Jill laughed. “Is he awake? I’ve got some news that might cheer him up. Maybe that will help.”

“One can only hope. A moment, please.” D handed the phone to Leon, who had resumed his prone position.

“What’s up, Jill?” He listened for a moment and began to laugh. “That’s great! How dumb can you get? Oh? There’s more?” He laughed again as he listened to what Jill had to say. Finally he said goodbye and handed the phone back to D.

“Good news?” D asked mildly.

“Get this,” Leon chuckled. “Two idiots that I busted a few days back for a minor possession charge just made bail. Not an hour later, they were picked up by Jill herself. They helped her when she dropped a crutch and then turned around and tried to sell her crack a second later. She had the cuffs on them before they could blink.”

D smiled. “That was hardly very smart of them.”

Leon chuckled. “Really. That’s the last good deed those two will be doing for a while. She got them with enough on them for a good ten-to-twenty.”

D smiled but his thoughts were elsewhere as he remembered what Coyote had promised. He had vowed to take care of the mischief his son had caused.

“D? Were you listening to me?”

“Of course, my dear detective.” D reassured him absently. It was Leon’s good deed that had started the whole thing, he thought. And that had brought Luki’s father and his disturbing ‘gifts’ to the door. “It seems no good deed goes unpunished…” D said softly.

A/N

Subu-chan: Here’s another installment in our little ode to “Wicked.” Hope you enjoy it. It’s building up to the end of the series. The timeline on this particular one is some months prior to the events of “Dynasty” when events start snowballing toward the end. Ten-chan is one of my favorite critters, so he had to have a part. Entai was a bit player in something we wrote years ago, who decided she had had enough of being forgotten and pretty much demanded she would be included in D’s menagerie. And she took on a life of her own. I think we’ll be seeing more of her in days to come.
Akita: For those of you who can't see this, Entai is perched on top of Subu-chan’s computer and threatening to eat us both if she doesn’t get more time in future fics.