It seemed like a long wait, but Akshay Malik had kept to his word; he never once left Emerald’s side. The sight of his girlfriend, in pain and being in a place that she really did not want to be in had given him all the strength he needed to stay by her side. Plus, he had a comic book to entertain himself whenever they had run out of things to talk about! Then again, it was a little hard to concentrate because of her growling at every passing doctor, nurse, or orderly.

But, they managed to make it through. Though Emerald growled, at least she didn’t bite any of the doctors. Akshay tried to keep her calm as best as he could, but she obviously did not like being around this place. It was to the point that the young wordsmith was feeling a bit bad because it was his idea to bring her here. Then again, she had had a bear trap on her wrist! He was not going to risk taking her to some self-proclaimed healer/professional who wasn’t a doctor. At least Emerald humored him by going to the hospital. Though he was fairly certain that she was now going to make him owe her for making her come here to begin with.

Whatever. At least she was seen by a professional and not some back alley healer he didn’t know. He would claim that as a tiny victory.

But what was worst was the waiting. They saw Emerald fairly quick and tended her wounds, but the waiting to be discharged was a bit longer than he would have liked. Emerald was on edge and he wanted to get her out of here. Thankfully, though, the doctor had finally reappeared. He was sheepish but at least he was sticking around.

>> "Miss Lupin, you should be fine as long as you let that wound heal, I would suggest no shifting though, mainly due to the fact it would probably reopen the wound again."

Akshay nodded and gave his thanks to the doctor as he made his way out of the room, he beamed as he turned back Emerald. But…one look at her face and it was obvious that she was not at all pleased with the doctor’s words.

>> "Damn it...no shifting, I can't wolf out for a few days now…At least I will be able to hold onto you now and you don't have to tie us together again. Also these bandages are going to be annoying…Why did they have to make it so tight?"

He smirked as he leaned over and gently kissed her on the cheek. Despite how serious everything could have gone, he had to smirk a little at the sight of Emerald. She really, really looked like she didn’t know what to do from here on out. He could only shake his head; what was he going to do with her.

“Come on,” Akshay smiled. “You can stay at my place. We can pick up your clothes tomorrow,” Akshay said as he snagged the prescription away from her. “Yup, you are DEFINITELY staying at my place. And I’m calling your boss, you’re not going into work either. These painkillers are not made to be useful in the workplace.” He explained as he handed it back to her. But he smiled softly as he took her clothes from a nearby chair and held them out for her to take. “I’ll take a couple days off from the shop just to keep you company. I’d hate to see you go stir crazy.”

The poor wolf girl, she really didn't know what to do in this sort of situation, she couldn't go back to the mansion, she would get asked so many damn question that it would make her head spin. Besides, too many people worried about her when she got hurt like this, her boyfriend included, so she figured it would be best to go elsewhere. She did always have the old dance studio she converted to an apartment a long time ago. That was easily her best bet when it came to hiding out or needing to get away from the mansion for a little while.

Of course, Akshay had another option, offering to have her stay at his place for a few days. While the wolf girl had been in his place before, she had never really spent the night for an extended amount of time. Sure, like every girlfriend, she would fall asleep on his chest during movies and he wouldn't wake her up until the morning, but that happened so very seldom that it barely counted as a sleep over. Not that he was going to do anything of that sort of manner, after all, he was a gentleman. That kiss on the cheek still made her blush a little and grin like a goofball.

"Alright, but I better not hear you complaining if I bite you in my sleep," Emerald teased him, that playful grin on her face. What she said was partially true though, she did bite in her sleep, but it typically was pillow biting more than anything else. For some reason, if she had a good dream, it usually had something to do with food. Why? The twenty-one year old had no idea, but it was something good in her dreamscape for once so she wouldn't argue with her brains logic.

The wolf girl took the clothes from Akshay and darted into the bathroom connected to the hospital room to change clothes. Once that was done, she came out in those clothes Akshay had given her to wear, happy to be out of that damn hospital dress to say the least.

"Come on, let's get out of here before they think I'm a permanent resident," Emerald told him, nervously looking from side to side.

***

The two had managed to make their way back to New York, getting to Akshay's humble abode as soon as possible. Once at the comic book artist's house, Emerald immediately took that chance to flop onto his couch without any other injuries to herself. The werewolf pulled the blanket he had over her body and looked up at Akshay with a small pout on her lips.

"So you are going to take care of my injured self?" Emerald asked, letting out a soft yawn. Looked like she was still tired from before. Her red hair draped over her blue eyes, making her look all sad and injured. Well, she technically was injured but now she was playing up the silly damsel in distress for fun. "What do you want to do to make this injured, helpless ,young woman well again?"

The wolf girl really sometimes enjoyed teasing him about his love for comics. Even if she knew he liked playing the hero to her injured self a good deal, which is why he was probably enjoying this. Emerald didn't mind at all, she was happy to finally be taken care of by someone because more often than not the roles were reversed.

It seemed that Emerald was in a rush to get out of that hospital. Akshay was most surprised that she didn’t fight him on any of the rules that he had thrown down for her. Normally she fought him whenever he tried to take care of her, but maybe she was just too damn tired from the evening to really want to fight anymore about any of this. After all, she had gone through quite the ordeal so it stands to reason that she would want to avoid further, unnecessary fighting.

So, as soon as she changed, the pair of them had left the awful smelling hospital behind and stepped back out into the world. He had a wolf-girl to take care of and an apartment that was about to be invaded.

***

The ride through the streets of New York had been far easier now that Emerald was actually holding onto him herself. Strapping her to him with his belt was risky, but it was necessary in order to keep the woman alive and get her to a hospital as soon as possible. But this was much easier. Now with Emerald conscious and with some of her strength back, it was a far easier trek to make.

Weaving in and out of the streets, Akshay Malik returned to his own, meager apartment building. He building was pretty nondescript, red brick and easily could be lost in the multitude of other buildings that took over the city. But to Akshay, it was his home and the one place that he absolutely loved to be aside from his comic store.

After he had parked in his usual spot and helped Emerald up the stairs to his 3rd floor apartment, Akshay unlocked the door and allowed her to walk in first.

Now, this was not the first time that Emerald had ever been into his apartment. Many times she had come over but never for an extended stay. There were times where they fell asleep in front of the TV or such, but those were so rare that they didn’t count. This was going to be different though. She was going to be in his space for a least a few days while she recovered. And while Akshay had no problem with that, he hoped that Emerald was going to be okay with the switch.

Thank god she was already used to his place.

Opening the door lead into the living room. The living room was probably most telling part of his personality. Signed movie posters and comic art work hung on the walls, bookcases lined one side which held various graphic novels, comic books, and companion books to various TV show, movies, and video games. Against one wall, between a pair of these heavily laden bookshelves, was a flat screen TV (of modest size) on the wall, with a small desk underneath it. Atop that say his PlayBox 180, blu-ray DVD player, and other electronics that seemed far too complicated, yet looked increasingly cool.

A large window overlooked the street and in front of his window was Akshay’s drawing table. A small plastic shelf next to it looked to be covered with ink wells, cups of drawing pencils, ream upon reams of paper, and various drawings tapped up on the walls surrounding the window. This was obviously the haven of a comic book fan and artist…

Stepping into the room after Emerald, Akshay tossed his backpack into the corner, after he fished out Emerald’s prescription, and closed and locked the door behind him. He chuckled as Emerald flopped herself down on his couch, which faced the TV and pulled up the blankets he always left on the back of it.

>> "So you are going to take care of my injured self?"[/color]

He smirked as he wandered into the kitchen to grab a glass. The kitchen was probably the most normal part of his apartment. It was plan, white, a combination of linoleum tiled floor and cool, faux-marble countertops. He pulled a glass from the cupboard, flipped on the cold water faucet and returned to Emerald. Both glass of water and painkiller was held out for Emerald to take.

>> "What do you want to do to make this injured, helpless ,young woman well again?"[/color]

“Anything that she asks,” he said sweetly. “So long as it’s within reason and doesn’t result in her butt leaving that sofa until she is well again.” A playful smirk on his lips, he scooted next to her on the sofa and sighed as he shook his head and tucked some of her red hair behind her ear. “How are you feeling?”

Once Akshay sat next to her, the blanket that Emerald laid over her body started to move up and down. It would seem that her tail once again had a mind of its own. That said, Emerald was more than content to let her boyfriend sit next to her tired body on the couch. After all, he said he was going to keep her company, which was something that he tended to do very well.Emerald grimaced a little when she shifted to grab the water and the pain pills, hating the fact that she had to take them. Normally,she would just tough her way through the pain, but Akshay wanted her to feel better so for once, she would let him feel like the big hero.

The werewolf downed the pills quickly, letting out a "Blech" in response to the fact she had to take 2 of the horse pill like objects. Emerald's doctor had realized the amount of painkillers it would take to work on the wolf girl, but he also knew how fast they would work on her. The she-wolf nodded to Akshay a little smiling as he tucked her hair behind her ear.


"Freaking exhausted, but glad I'm with someone I care about, rather than being alone in that cave all by myself," Emerald admitted to him. She shifted her position enough so she could hug him lightly, leaning her head on his shoulder. "I'm probably going to fall asleep soon, you know that right? Because these pain pills are going to probably knock me out, I will say I can't be held responsible for anything I do while I'm on these."

***

The Alpha female was out like a light, long before she and Akshay knew it, but that wasn't of course before she let out a triumphant, drug induced woof and hugged Akshay close as if he was some sort of teddy bear. Surprisingly, the wolf girl wasn't doing it harshly or with her full strength, just tender and loving enough to make Emerald seem sort of cute. Speaking of that, despite how she would never admit it, she did make small, (oddly adorable) barking noises in her sleep on occasion and while she wasn't as an adorable sleeper as Ruby was when she was sleeping seemed to be one of the only times she was really at peace.

The way she breathed in deeply and just the way she was curled around her boyfriend so tenderly, in a protective yet wanting to be protected sort of way, was uncharacteristic for her. But Whether it was the drugs, or otherwise, only she knew.

>> "Freaking exhausted, but glad I'm with someone I care about, rather than being alone in that cave all by myself…I'm probably going to fall asleep soon, you know that right? Because these pain pills are going to probably knock me out, I will say I can't be held responsible for anything I do while I'm on these."[/color]

“Duly noted,” Akshay replied with a chuckle.

He smirked as Emerald snuggled up closer to him, after she took her painkillers, and yawned into her blanket. It was obvious that she had been through far more than she was normally up to. The shifting, the pain from her predicament, the hospital visit, Akshay was sure that all of it had been a massive drain on his girlfriend. He was at least thankful that he was able to help out. Though, he still did feel bad. He initially ignored her phone call, well, not ignore, he felt the phone vibrate but he didn’t know it was her. What if he had not checked his phone when he did? Emerald…well…she could very well just not be here right now.

He sighed as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and very soothing rubbed her arm as he rested back against the comfort of his couch. He had to admit, his eyes were definitely starting to get heavy but he wanted to stay away as long as possible.

Before he even realized it, Emerald was passed out, sleeping soundly as she hugged him tightly to her. It was not uncomfortable or enough to break bones or anything. It was comforting, like the hug that two people in a relationship should give one another. But even as he began to drift off to sleep, Akshay could not help but smile at the tiny sounds that came from Emerald’s lips as she slept. Though she would never admit it, she definitely sounded adorable.

Gently he reached over and tucked more hair out from her eyes and made sure that she was really passed out. She needed her rest after everything that she had gone through. But as he tucked her hair away, he sighed when he caught sight of that wound again. That tip of her ear that missing. She always tended to hide it and, though Akshay had caught sight of it more than a few times, he had never asked her about it. He had no idea where such a wound could have come from but he did not want to pry. Instead, as he sat there, eyeing the wound, Akshay pressed his lips to his index finger and very gently pressed it against her ear.

Maybe, one day, she’d tell him. But at this time she needed to sleep and he needed to take care of her. Eyes blinking, head drooping, Akshay finally succumbed as he sat back against his couch and let Emerald cuddling up as close as she wanted. Softly he ran his fingers across her shoulder, in a soothing gesture, but the speed decreased more and more until finally it stopped all together. With that, Akshay’s head drooped until finally, he too had passed out.

It had been a long night…

The couple's slumber went uninterrupted for a time. Maybe it was the painkillers, or maybe it was the fact that the company was good, but the two slept very soundly. If there was one good thing about those painkillers, it was the fact that they made Emerald sleep well after a third form transformation. Over half the time, right after her transformations into her werewolf form, the girl could barely sleep due to the pain she was in, but that night was a wonderful, pleasant surprise. It might have helped, too, that she was sleeping next to someone instead of alone like she often did. While being alone wasn’t a new thing for her, she preferred to be sleeping close to someone else to keep an eye on them, as an alpha should, in her opinion.

For Askhay, though, things seemed to be different. She wanted to be close to him, not just to protect, but because she wanted to feel the warmth from his body and revel in the sensation of being locked in someone’s arms again. It had been an awfully long time since she had just been so content in her slumber.

Of course not everything that good lasted for very long; Emerald began to stir a little as the night went on and around one o clock, the she-wolf woke up, blinking her blue eyes sleepily. The alpha stole a glance at her boyfriend and smiled when she noticed he was still asleep. Very stealthily, she slid out from underneath his arms and made her way over to the kitchen with soft footsteps. The werewolf grabbed a glass of water from the fridge and made her way back over to the couch, drinking a little as she did so.

Flopping back onto the couch, Emerald took the chance to notice her hair was pushed behind her chewed up ear again, which caused her to cringe when she touched it to replace her hair. Akshay must have messed with her hair while she was sleeping, something she didn’t mind but she hated it when he saw her ear. She was always worried he would get that concerned look for her again and be upset. Hell, she hadn’t even shown him the rest of her scars, not out of shame but out of her concern for his well being. Akshay had a good heart, similar to that of her father and her younger sister. They always seemed to be in pain when they saw the ones they loved hurting, which could cause them to do stupid things. While she herself wasn’t the spokeswoman for smart decisions, especially when it came to the ones she cared about, there was a small difference: she was able to take care of herself, while her boyfriend and family… Well, they could care for themselves, but they tended to be less durable than she was.

Emerald settled on the couch next to Akshay, again, and picked up one of the various comic books strewn haphazardly on the coffee table. The werewolf glanced at the cover and noticed Akshay’s name, and she smiled a little. While she wasn’t going to read it at that moment, she did decide it would be a good idea to flip through it, just to see what her boyfriend wrote about. The comic did look very interesting, to say the least. It didn't have very realistic fighting styles, but Emerald didn’t expect much from comic books in that sense. That was when the wolf girl stumbled across a newspaper clipping hidden within the pages of the comic. Its headline read. “Gang-Violence rises in New York!”

Emerald read over the article and noticed that whoever wrote the article got very deep inside the case that they were using as an example. They were getting so deep, in fact, that they could potentially ruin the investigation that the police were doing. The werewolf growled a little at this; criminals were hard enough to put away with all the laws in the way, but these guys were making it even harder. Before she could seethe any more, she tossed the newspaper clipping and leaned back against Akshay to continue flipping through the comic. Somehow, even while sleeping, the older boy managed to calm her down just with his presence and warmth near her. Maybe not being able to sleep anymore, that night, wouldn’t be all that bad.

Akshay had slept rather soundly. He was not bothered at all in his slumber by the events of the night: finding Emerald in the cave, the horrible bear trap, the blood loss, and then the nerve-wracking motorcycle ride back to the nearest hospital. As terrifying as the whole thing was, Akshay actually managed to get away with undisturbed dreams. Maybe it was because he was just overly tired, or it could be because he had faith that Emerald was going to be okay, but whatever the case, the man slept like a baby at the moment.

It was so much so that when one o’clock in the morning rolled around, the young wordsmith had not felt Emerald stir, nor did he notice that she had slipped out from the sofa and wandered through his apartment. The comic fan instead continued to sleep soundly, head lolling back in silence as he snored and mumbled absolute nothings into no one’s ear.

Not until he felt the presence of someone returning to couch did he finally beginning to stir. It was obvious now that Emerald was up and moving around but it took a second for his mind to really comprehend of it. When he finally did, his thoughts began to flood with whether or not she was okay. She was his responsibility right now, especially after everything that she had gone through, so he needed to wake up!

But damn, it was so hard to right now. It just felt far too comfortable to remain in his state of sleep. Gradually, though, his need for wanting to make sure that Emerald was okay won out; the man stirred, stretched his limbs, and blinked his eyes to notice Emerald now leaning against him again, reading through one of his comics.

Not just a random comic, though, it was one that was actually of his own creation. He didn’t know if Emerald had actually taken the time to read his comics (Lord knows he gave her a few free issues) but he truly didn’t know if she would be interested in them. Maybe that was why it was so interesting to wake up, finding her sitting there, flipping through the pages of his latest issue.

He smiled a little groggily as he gently ran his fingers across her arm.

“Emerald? You feeling okay?” he finally managed in a hazy, sleep heavy voice. “Oh, heh, that’s my latest issue,” he said as he nodded to the comic in her hands. “Publisher just set me that copy so I can approve it.”

Emerald flipped through the pages of the comic book, now vaguely interested in what it had to say. She wasn't exactly a fan of comics, but they were entertaining enough to read. Besides, she remembered Akshay mentioning something about an eventually surprise guest appearance in one of them, so she was curious as to which issue it would be in. He said she would recognize who it was, but it looked to her like he was going to just going to up the ante in this issue.

The wolf girl's ear twitched a little bit when she heard Akshay talk, sort of happy that he was partially awake. The Alpha would let out a content mummer as he ran his fingers across her arm. Emerald, leaned over and kissed his sleepy cheek, nuzzling her head against him a little.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I'm sort of used to not being able to sleep well, but that was the longest sleep I have had in a while so that was nice," Emerald told him, trying to make him feel a little better about her waking up.

She didn't want him to feel like it was his fault that she had woken up or to be worried about her. The werewolf flipped through the last few pages of the comic book, seeing a figure shrouded in shadow at the very end, probably that guest appearance that Akshay mentioned to her, the mysterious figure having saved the main protagonist from certain doom against vampire gang-bangers.

"I like it, I guess this shadowy figure at the end is the one that saved you main character, from these gangsters? Speaking of that, are you trying to do research on criminals with newspaper clippings from the Daily Snitch?" Emerald asked him in a sort of curious way. She wasn't angry at him for it, she was just curious.

The Daily Snitch was a newspaper that published all the stories that the public really shouldn't be reading. They had messed up a lot of police investigations in the past and Emerald was surprised they hadn't been shut down yet, especially with the extremely graphic details they explained the crimes in. However, freedom of speech and good lawyers had managed to keep them above the law. They had also been reporting on a certain Vigilante, Shred, which caused Emerald a little bit of worry, she would have to watch her back now as the masked helper of justice.

Emerald snuggled against Akshay a little bit, relishing in his warmth, somewhat hoping it would lull her back to sleep. The redheads hair fell in her face as she let out a soft yawn, tail thumping dully against the blanket.

>> "Yeah, I'm fine, I'm sort of used to not being able to sleep well, but that was the longest sleep I have had in a while so that was nice,"[/color]

Akshay beamed happily as his grogginess began to wear off. He was still, obviously, worried about Emerald but there was little that he could do other than what he was doing now. He needed to be there for her, to hopefully nurse her back to health (if she’d let him), and to do his best to make sure that she was safe. Though clearly Emerald knew how to take care of her herself, it meant a lot that she was going to actually allow him to try and be there for her. That was why he cared about her so much; even though she was strong, she knew it made him feel better to at least try to care for her sometimes.

Arm wrapped around her, he blinked as he took in a heavy breath and glanced over at the comic that she had been reading. He actually really enjoyed this issue. His friend over at the Daily Snitch was awesome and occasionally slipped him story pieces that seemed interesting. Akshay would then take small details and put them into his comics. Mainly they were background things or instances that he transformed for his own purposes; not that he was ripping off from real life. Only the keenest eyes probably would be able to pick them out.

And even then, he had changed things enough so he wasn’t liable! Besides, an artist needed to grab inspiration from somewhere.

With her cuddled up against him, he sighed a bit contentedly as he slowly tried to work through his hazy mind. When she finally got to the end of the comic, he waited for her review…

>> "I like it, I guess this shadowy figure at the end is the one that saved you main character, from these gangsters? Speaking of that, are you trying to do research on criminals with newspaper clippings from the Daily Snitch?"[/color]

He tilted his head. Research on criminals? In a way he guessed that she could definitely see it like that but it was not like he was obsessively trying to figure out the criminal mind of any real purpose. They were just stories that he occasional drew inspiration from. Nothing more than that. He wondered why she would thing such a thing.

He shook his head as he gently ran his fingers through her hair.

“Nah,” he said with a shrug. “I…have a friend from high school who works there. Like…years ago, I was struggling to come up with a storyline for one of my comic projects and he slipped me an old buried story that, I dunno, just inspired me. So occasionally he’ll send me a story he thinks will interesting me and sometimes I use it in one of my comics. By changing certain things around, first, of course.” As he said this he nodded to the newspaper clipping on his coffee table. “I just took that vigilante story and threw in some vampires. Comic nerds eat that stuff up.”

The good thing was Akshay was at least just getting inspiration from the horrible newspaper and not explicit information. The stories were slightly similar though but not enough for Emerald to rag on him, she wasn't the type of person to do such a thing. The wolf girl leaned forward, tail playfully swatting at Akshay as she did so. She would pull several more comics toward her and removed the small newspaper clippings that were inside.

"Well your friend seems to be getting information he shouldn't be privileged to and you never know if you might get in trouble for it," Emerald teased him, though part of what she said was true. Not only was she concerned about his own safety but, His friend really shouldn't be interfering with investigations like this and no doubt he would endanger more investigations if he realesed them to the public.

As a mutant with visible abilities, Emerald knew all too well about how awful it could be to swarmed by police. In some of these articles they even gave out the names of the victims or at least some sort of "clever." alternate name. More often than not, Emerald would listen to the police scanner she had at home and she heard about a lot of these cases from that. She didn't know the intricacies of the whole thing, but she did know that during investigations when anything popped up on the news, the officer in charge would get blamed for it. This was why Emerald really didn't want to become a cop anymore, things were just to easily tampered with by the "free press". If it was up to her some of the free press would be punched in the face.

Emerald straightened up a little as she looked through the articles with mild curiosity; the cases were particularly brutal in their descriptions of the crime, for they were doing things that other newspapers wouldn't dare to reveal not if they didn't want a lawsuit on their hands. But it looked like The Snitches lawyers were particularly good at their jobs.

"Look at all of these, half this stuff didn't even get to the cops before these hit the racks, I'm glad you only draw a little inspiration from this stuff, cause these are really graphically describe-" Emerald stopped mid rant while she looked through the clippings, coming across a particular one. When her eyes scanned through it, it locked onto several specific phrases,

"Cannibal in New York Strikes again, Victims of horrible violations never get out alive, werewolf madman's first victim has been found."

The werewolf's blood suddenly ran ice cold within her veins, her teeth clamped down on her lip. It looked as if Emerald had just seen a ghost, but not just a ghost a poltergeist, a horrible vengeful spirit made it's way back into her life. She would toss the clipping on table, just as a wave of nausea hit her body, an horrible taste returned to her mouth.

"I'll be right back," She blurted out, just before she ran to the bathroom, closed the door behind her, but she did not lock it. Emerald knew she should have but she didn't, not that she had much time to think about it because before she knew it, she had lost the contents of her stomach (which was absolutely nothing) as she vomited in the toilet, her body reacted so negatively to what it believed it tasted in her mouth so it forced her to purge it as soon as possible

The werewolf groaned pathetically, leaning her head against the toilet seat with a panicked whimper, fighting desperately with her memories, she tried her best to rope them back in as she clutched both sides of her head. She couldn't let this ruin her relationship with Akshay,she just couldn't what would he think of his big strong werewolf if she couldn't even handle her past?

>> "Well your friend seems to be getting information he shouldn't be privileged to and you never know if you might get in trouble for it,"[/color]

Akshay smirked but nodded and said nothing else about the matter. He knew that Emerald’s fears were not unfounded. People got in trouble for this type of stuff all the time, but Akshay labored under the belief that what he was doing really wasn’t against the law. After all, it was not like he was selling this information to the highest bidder or anything. He was simply drawing inspiration from events and he was not even using any names. They were just stories he altered that had barely any connections with the actual stories that were sent to him.

But that did not mean there was not a chance he could get in trouble. He thanked the luck he had thus far that he had evaded trouble. Hopefully that would continue, at least until he could find his own, constant fount of inspiration.

>> "Look at all of these, half this stuff didn't even get to the cops before these hit the racks, I'm glad you only draw a little inspiration from this stuff, cause these are really graphically describe-"[/color]

Akshay arched a brow. Suddenly Emerald had stopped talking when she reached an article that had been in one of his comics. It was a particular gruesome one about a possible werewolf devouring people in the city. Akshay found it a bit too disturbing to use as a main story arc in one his issues of Slaggathor so instead he only used a mention of it in some background news reports in his comics. Other than that, there was no real connection to the article.

But the look on Emerald’s face disturbed him just a tad. Was she okay? She looked like she had seen a ghost or something.

“Emerald?” he asked with slow concern…

>> "I'll be right back,"[/color]

She was up and gone. It was so sudden that Akshay was actually startled to move to his feet. He turned towards the bathroom she had run into and immediately heard the retching that had followed. A swift panic washed over him as he feared that maybe she was having an adverse reaction to the medicine she had taken so he dashed over, crawling over his sofa until he was at the bathroom door.

He then heard the whimper. A whimper that made his heart break.

Slowly he pushed open the door and found Emerald, kneeling on the ground, head resting on the toilet seat; it had to be probably the most vulnerable that he had ever seen this woman. Trying to keep calm and not startle her, Akshay slipped in quietly, concern flashing across his face, until he was kneeling next to her.

“Emmy?”

Panic, so much panic, that's what was going through Emerald right now. Flashes of the event that had happened almost a year ago now was still fresh in her mind. Everything was hurting, her body, her mind her very spirit felt wounded somehow by this travesty that was commit ed on other human beings because of her. If she had let him get her, none of that would have happened to those women, then again, she probably would have died from blood loss if he had his way, or worse.

Emerald ran her hands through her hair, pulled lightly at it as it hit the knots that were tangled. The wolf girl felt as if she was loss in a abyss that she couldn't get out of. She kept hearing his laughter, his words, everything he said, to her his taunts as he tore through her flesh with teeth and claws. Telling her what he was going to do next, what a perfect mate she would be to bare his pups.

It was like she was there again, in the back of her own cold truck in the truck bed, laying on her back and covered in the scent of blooded, tortured for hours on end by a madman who wanted nothing more than to make her suffer. She remembered the pain, the humiliation, the feeling that her body no longer was her own and the feeling of liberation what she managed to drag her half destroyed self away from him while he slept off some of his exhaustion. If it wasn't for that and the fact that Sapphire had intervened, she wouldn't have been here right now.

Those blue eyes were clouded with memories but once Akshay spoke those memories shattered and found herself on the floor, her head against the toilet seat with Akshay trying his to snap her out of it. Embarrassment flooded her face as her cheeks turned a distinctive shade of pink. She didn't want him to see her like this, he was never supposed to see her like this, not now, not ever.

"Akshay...I..." Emerald trailed off before she realized that she would eventually tell her boyfriend what happened to her so she finally managed to finish it after some moments. "I was supposed to be number one and the last one. "

Emerald would then grasp the end of her shirt and pulled it up to reveal her tummy, flat and strong but marred by an awful scar from her hip gong all the way up to her upper rib cage.Akshay would no doubt remember part of the article where it said the man would disembowel his victims before eating them from the inside out. The wolf girl reached up her shaking hand and tucked a piece of hair behind her chewed ear, before allowing her shirt and hair to fall back over the injured parts.

"I didn't want you to worry about me, I never wanted anyone to worry about me so I usually don't say a word," Emerald explained, her voice softer and far more vulnerable sounding than normal. She hated him finding out about this, this way with her eyes watering, and her entire body looking so damn venerable . This was why she would tense sometimes when they would hug, why every once an a while, she would act too paranoid while they were going out to places.

Without any sort of encouragement, Emerald hugged Akshay, the warmth of his body warming her own clammy one. At the moment, Emerald just needed to feel the warmth of another person one that she knew she could trust someone she knew she didn't have to be secretive around.

And that person was Akshay.

He had never seen her like this. She looked absolutely destroyed to the point that he was terrified that if he touched her, she would just shatter into tens of thousands of pieces. Just what was going on? This was obviously more than just the fact that he was getting a few news clippings early. If that had really been all, then she was having a hell of a reaction to it. But it quickly became apparent that that simply was not the case. There was something dipper here, something that Akshay had never witnessed in Emerald before, probably something that she did not want him to ever see.

Unfortunately, now, he was getting a full view of it. He was seeing something that Emerald never wanted him to see and Akshay really did not know how to react to it. He remained silently as he knelt next to her and simply waited for her to make the first move.

He could not have to wait long.

>> "Akshay...I...I was supposed to be number one and the last one. " [/color]

Akshay, in no way, expected what Emerald was going to reveal. She had yet to see her, really, without any clothes on and quickly he understood why. The second that he saw the disfiguring scar that ran up the length of her body, Akshay himself winced in pain. It looked like something from an absolutely horrible experience.

Then Emerald told her tale of its origin and he too began to feel just a tad bit sick to the stomach. She didn’t have to go into detail. Just the fact that she had lived through that experience, an experience that he read of others going through that he was close to passing out. Just the very thought that Emerald could have gone through something like that was maddening. How was he supposed to react? He felt sick, queasy, angry and sad. Not towards Emerald or any of her actions, obviously, but completely because she had gone through it.

Nobody deserved to go through that.

Nobody deserved to have to tell such a tale.

>> "I didn't want you to worry about me, I never wanted anyone to worry about me so I usually don't say a word," [/color]

Her words implored him to not feel sorry for her. As if Akshay could ever feel “sorry” of Emerald Lupin. The woman was a strong and power force of nature. Sure, to most people believing such, this scene would come off as world shattering but not Akshay. Even though Emerald had gone through such an ordeal, to him she was only stronger than most people would have thought. She survived, and survival always equals strentch.

Then her arms suddenly wrapped around him and all Akshay could do was sigh as he hugged her back. It was not a sigh of discontent or anything, but that of sympathy; earned sympathy. Resting his cheek against the top of her head, Akshay hugged her tightly, letting his arms warm her just a tad. Softly he ran the palm of his hand against her back tenderly, and kissed the top of her head. She was a mess at the moment but, Akshay Malik didn’t care. He cared about her so much that, even after hearing this, all he could do was hold her as gently as possible.

Warmth, love, comfort, all things that Emerald was familiar with from those that she was close to. With that sad, she hadn't felt these things from someone other than family in a long time. They were feelings that she needed, feelings that every person needed really. No one could go through this world now without feeling like the needed someone some where. It would seem that presently, Emerald finally found someone who was genuinely good for her, someone that she needed and she would like to think that he needed her.

The werewolf wasn't used to this, pouring her heart out to another two-legged creature. Sure she had done it before, but she hadn't done it to a male in quite some time. Whether it was what happened to her in the past or what could happen in the future she didn't know. Maybe it was just a fear of hers? She didn't want to be left alone again but in that same sense, she was terrified of others getting too close, then she wanted them to. It was all so confusing to her, but at the moment she would take a moment to hug Akshay tightly, letting her emotions dictate her actions.


"You know what that son of a b*tch, said to me, well one of the many thing at least? That I wouldn't find anyone who would want feral minded, damaged beast like me besides him, "Emerald growled a little her head hurting at the thoughts of that day beginning to rush back. She would hug Akshay a little tighter for that warmth again and the thoughts slowly went away. "Found out, not feral minded and it looks like I somehow fond someone who finally likes me for who I am, werewolf or otherwise."

Emerald broke away from the hug, right after she nuzzled Akshays cheek in a sort of friendly wolf-like gesture. She wasn't going to kiss him because she had just hurtled in his toilet and even this werewolf knew that her mouth was now nasty. So she swiped the mouthwash from the side of the sink and gargled with it several times, making sure to get every single taste from her mouth. The Alpha would glance down at the stitched up wound on her arm, grimacing a little as it started to hurt again. The werewolf turned to Akshay with curious eyes.

"Wanna go to bed in your bed? It might be a little more comfortable than sleeping on the floor." Emerald asked, as she tried to keep the slight anxiety from her eyes. In truth, she wanted to sleep in his bed to stay warm and to stay close because somehow, how much he cared about her warmed her to her very core and she didn't want to loose that, not tonight.

>> "You know what that son of a b*tch, said to me, well one of the many thing at least? That I wouldn't find anyone who would want feral minded, damaged beast like me besides him…Found out, not feral minded and it looks like I somehow fond someone who finally likes me for who I am, werewolf or otherwise."[/color]

"I do, Emerald," he replied. "I like absolutely everything about you. He...didn't know what he was talking about."

Akshay tightened his hug on Emerald, in a way that promised that he would never let her go again. Just hearing what had happened, what she told him, made his blood boil. Whatever this person was, he wasn’t a person. Nothing even resembling it. Whoever did this was a monster that deserved nothing more than a silver bullet between the eyes.

But Akshay did not get so mad that his anger boiled over onto Emerald. Instead he kept his cool as he hugged her tight. She definitely did have someone who cared about her; deeply, and who appreciated every part of her, even the werewolfy parts. Akshay had decided that he did care about this woman and he wanted to do whatever he could to prove that. With a lifetime thus far of failing at romantic outings, he finally found a woman who liked him, for him, and to whom he could reciprocate. He was not going to let that go easily.

Emerald leaned in and nuzzled against his cheek. He smiled a little. He did watch at least one of those wolf documentaries that she pointed out to him and he knew that that was a caring gesture. Awkwardly, Akshay did his best to copy it for her, and nuzzled her cheek back, but it came off kind of silly (in his eyes anyways) since he was not a wolf all his life. But he sighed as he loosened his grip once she finally decided to stand.

Akshay stood as she rinsed her mouth out with mouthwash before she finally turned back to face him, looking just a little more put together after her mini breakdown.

>> "Wanna go to bed in your bed? It might be a little more comfortable than sleeping on the floor."[/color]

He smirked in a understanding manner.

“I was going to bunk on the sofa. But…so long as you don’t mind,” he said with a nod. “I don’t take up much space. You probably won’t even know that I am there,” he smiled. But he nodded. He doubted that she really wanted to sleep by herself tonight, which was why he agreed. Slowly he opened the door to the bathroom and waited for her to exit first.