"Sid? Are you home?" Aki called, barging into her mentor’s apartment. She gave no thought to the fact that he might not want her there, having never considered that he might have a life outside of the lab. (He didn’t, really, but he tried not to advertise the fact.) Seeing that he wasn’t around, she shrugged and proceeded to open every cabinet in his apartment, whistling cheerfully. Where did he keep his shampoo, she wondered? She didn’t have time to run to the store before her dear Eli-poo picked her up. Did Sid even keep shampoo anymore? Aki opened the cabinet beneath the sink, and immediately forgot the shampoo.

"Why, Doctor," she murmured, pulling out a bottle of Chardonnay that had nestled with a dozen similar bottles. "What have you been hiding?" The bottles were all full, and each was carefully corked. He must have been hording these for quite awhile, and he’d done a good job of concealing his habit. She’d had no idea he had a drinking problem.

Aki glanced back into the vacant apartment, then carefully stuffed the bottle she’d grabbed into her bag. He wouldn’t miss one bottle, would he?

Pleased about her little act of theft, Aki ran back to her apartment. This stuff was impossible to find for a reasonable price; there were so few orchards left that wineries were too expensive to maintain. To find a bottle of wine without having to pay in the triple digits… Aki laughed with delight. Eli would be thrilled.

Eli… shoot! Her date! He was going to be at her apartment in twenty minutes, and she hadn’t even showered…

She barely made it. She was just adjusting her dress when she heard a knock at the door, and she rushed to answer and let her beloved inside. The major looked dashing in his tuxedo and he eyed her dress appreciatively. He was the only man she’d ever met whose gaze never came to rest on her cleavage, though that was probably because, thanks to the chest plate, she didn’t have any. Fortunately, he was creative enough to find other ways to amuse himself…

"Ready?" he asked. Aki nodded, a little breathless from her dash to the door.

"Look what I found," she said, pointing to the bottle she’d purloined from Sid’s cabinet. "We can drink it after the movie."

Elliot grinned. "I’ve got the keys to the general’s office," he purred. "He’s having another one of his ‘nights out.’" The major looked momentarily baffled. "I wonder what he means by that, anyway?"

"Who cares?" Aki grinned. "I love that leather chair of his."

Unfortunately, their plans were not to be… After the movie, they’d barely been in Hein’s office five minutes when they’d heard… something at the doorway. Aki and Elliot slipped out, leaving the bottle of Chardonnay behind.

If she doesn’t stop giggling, I am going to hurt her. Dr. Sid smiled at his protégé, who, blissfully unaware of his destructive thoughts, smiled back at him, letting loose another giggle. Dr. Sid sighed, wonder why Aki had to lose her mind right now. This experiment was important, and here she was acting like a complete bubblehead.

"Have a good night last night?" Dr. Sid asked, making his tone as innocent as possible. Aki blushed and turned away, finally trying to focus on the computer screen before her. At least I know they weren’t in the lab last night. It was locked up tight. There was no way she and Major Elliot could get in.

Still, he seriously wished their relationship would end, or at least come out into the open. Aki seemed to be one of those people who got off on the fear of discovery. If they made their relationship publicly known, then that thrill would be gone and they’d break up. Dr. Sid suddenly wondered if he could arrange for that to happen without her knowing he was behind it.

When he saw Aki’s spine stiffen, Dr. Sid jolted out of his insidious plotting and became aware that someone had entered the lab and was standing behind him. He didn’t have to look to identify the intruder; General Hein exuded an aura of menace that was almost a physical sensation. "General," the doctor said, turning slowly. "To what do we owe the pleasure of you company?"

Hein waved his gloved hand irritably. "The military funds your little experiments, Doctor. I reserve the right to check in on this waste of money when I choose to."

Dr. Sid frowned. Hein was normally an unfriendly person, but this was more brusque than usual. Great; he’s in a lousy mood, so he’s here to take it out on us. Maybe he’s fighting with Corporal Fleming. Dr. Sid smirked at the thought. Aw, a lover’s spat… This could be fun, actually.

"Something amusing, Doctor?" Hein snarled.

"No," Dr. Sid said calmly. He was about to say more, then hesitated when he saw the expression in Hein’s eyes. His face was paler than normal, and his eyes seemed abnormally bright. His mouth was twisted into a grimace. In fact, now that he thought about it, Hein hadn’t been looking very well the past few days. He nearly asked if the man was all right, but stopped himself in time. The general wouldn’t take the question very well coming from him. "I think you’ll find everything is in order, sir," Dr. Sid said

Hein just grunted. He walked away from Dr. Sid and Aki, off to terrorize the other scientists. Major Elliot, who was nearly inseparable from his superior when he wasn’t glued to Aki, it seemed, lingered to place one hand over Aki’s. Dr. Sid pretended not to notice. "I apologize if he bothered you," Elliot murmured. He was obviously trying to speak too softly for Dr. Sid to hear, but he didn’t know about the doctor’s unnatural sense of hearing. "It’s awful, I know." Good God, you’d think Hein threatened her, when all he did was speak a few words to me. It made him sick. "He hasn’t been feeling well these past few days. That’s why he came back to the office early last night."

Die, die, die… I don’t need to hear about this! Stupid werewolf senses! If he stuck his fingers in his ears, would they notice? Do they think I don’t see or hear this? How can they expect to keep it secret when they’re practically making out right in front of the entire lab?

Disgusted, Dr. Sid turned away. As he did, his eyes found General Hein, who was supporting himself against the wall as though his legs could no longer take his weight. What was wrong with him?

Any problems the general may have had were forgotten later that night. The moon was full, the corridors were empty, and Sid had had a brilliant idea to improve his hunting. That rat that had eluded him the last time wouldn’t be so lucky in their next encounter. For Sid carried with him the ultimate weapon and best friend to one whose teeth were too worn for tearing flesh: A blender.

Come out, come out, wherever you are, Sid thought as he slunk along the walls, seeking any sign of his prey. He’d encountered rat spoor a few hallways back, but his nose insisted the vermin made their nest somewhere around here.

General Hein would be pissed if he knew the exterminators had somehow managed to miss a colony large enough to take on the whole USMF. Maybe they were poised to take over if the human race lost to the Phantoms. Disturbing thought.

Well, he was here to prevent that. That rat may have won the first round, but this time, Sid was hunting with a secret weapon. He grinned, baring uneven yellow teeth glistening with saliva, as he caught a particularly fresh scent of prey. He set down the blender he carried, then crept forward, keeping as quiet as a body that creaked and groaned with every step allowed. He could scent that it wasn’t the same rat, but it smelled similar enough to be one of its kin. He licked his lips in anticipation. Rat puree; what a delicacy that would be.

He saw his prey as a dark blur in the shadows and sprang forward, jaws wide, ready for the grab. The hapless rodent was only a foot away when a large, dark shape flowed out of the darkness and brought one clawed foot down on the rat, which squealed in pain as it was crushed beneath razor sharp talons. Sid skidded to a halt and nearly slammed into the vision of darkness before him.

It was a nightmare made flesh. Waves of thick black fur covered a muscular lupine body, and the pointed muzzle parted to reveal rows of perfect white teeth bared in a demonic grin. Its eyes caught what little light there was and reflected it red, as red as the blood oozing from the rat’s body as it casually flipped the corpse into its maw. It crunched down, chewing and swallowing, then using one ebony claw to fish the rat’s tail from its teeth and flick it towards Sid.

For the first time in his life, Sid suddenly understood just why people were afraid of werewolves. For that was what this unholy hound of hell was; a lycanthrope, like himself.

Crap… I am so dead…

"You," the beast growled. "I know you. You’re that mangy mutt…"

Sid, who’d been cringing like a good submissive inferior wolf with his eyes closed, cracked one yellow eye. Oh, good, conversation. Maybe this is a fight I can win.

"I didn’t know another werewolf had moved in on my territory," Sid said, drawing himself up and trying to look as fierce as possible.

"What the hell? I understood you!" The wolf flicked its – no, his – ears around in confusion. "Wait, what did you call me?"

As Sid absorbed the beast’s obvious bafflement, he suddenly realized that this creature was newly made; going through his first change, in fact. But… how? Who was he? Who had made him? "A werewolf."

There was something almost familiar about the expression on the beast’s face as it regarded him. "A werewolf. Uh-huh." He sounded as if he were humoring Sid.

"You have to tell me who made you. Do you have any idea who attacked you?" The threat of another werewolf in Sid’s territory wasn’t something to be taken lightly, especially not one who had no qualms about making others. Sid had hunted and killed, but he’d never made another of his kind. Well, except for that door to door salesman who hadn’t left Sid alone, but he’d honestly meant to kill that man. He hadn’t expected that he’d be fought off with the man’s silver fillings. But that didn’t count!

"I’m not a werewolf," the other snorted derisively.

"Oh? So talking to dogs and eating rats is normal for you?" Some werewolves took to the change by becoming vicious monsters. Some, like Sid, embraced their beast and became one with it, after the traumatizing first change. Sid had never met one that hadn’t even noticed it had changed.

"This is a dream. I had too much to drink and I passed out." He cocked his head as he considered. "It wasn’t a good drink, come to think of it. I didn’t even get that nice little alcohol buzz, and it tasted awful. Huh, maybe it made me sick and I’m hallucinating. Or dying." He began to examine his paws with an unconcerned air.

Oh, good… And here I thought this was going to be difficult.

He had to find a way to get through to the other wolf. Because when the reality of his situation finally sank in, Sid had no doubt the other would freak. "All right," Sid said cautiously. As long as the other was being calm about this, Sid saw no reason to alarm him just yet. It would make getting information easier. Maybe. "Did you have any… dreams about being bitten?"

The black werewolf unconcernedly began to lick the blood off his claws, and Sid threw the rat tail at him to get his attention. The other caught it in his teeth with a move like a striking snake; sinuous and lightning-fast. His reactions… Dear God, he’s faster than I ever was!

"This grows tiring, mutt," the other said, getting to his feet. "I’m not going to waste a perfectly good dream talking to a senile old hound like yourself. Werewolves…" The other made a barking sound reminiscent of a sarcastic laugh. With a fluid twist, he turned back the direction he’d come and broke into a lope, claws ticking loudly on the tile. Within moments, his shadowy pelt was lost in the darkness.

Sid groaned as he realized it was his duty to catch the other before he got into serious trouble. Sooner or later, the truth would sink in through his thick skull, and the young wolf would react in the only way his kind knew how on the night of their first change: by lashing out at the world. Maybe I’ll get lucky, and someone will shoot him before he becomes a problem. No, he decided after a moment, as he trotted down the hall after the black werewolf, while the other’s death would mean there was less threat to the human population or to Sid’s position as Alpha wolf, he needed to know who had bitten the other. Hopefully, it happened to him on some visit or mission outside the city, or something. He was going to have enough trouble just dealing with this one wolf; he didn’t want to think what would happen if there were two of them here.

Tracking the younger wolf was easier than Sid had hoped. He was making no effort to hide himself by laying false trails and backtracking. The heavy musk of the other’s scent was like a signpost to Sid’s sensitive nose. Only the coppery tang of blood where the corpse of another rat lay distracted Sid for a moment as he sniffed to see if it was his rat. Wonder why he didn’t eat this one; maybe something I said got through to him. Sid picked the body up in his jaws, since leaving the mangled corpse for someone to find in the morning wouldn’t be wise, and his pride (as well as his lack of teeth) wouldn’t allow him to eat another wolf’s kill. He’d dispose of it in the kitchen dumpster, since the trail seemed to be going in the same general direction.

And it was in the dumpster where he found the young wolf. He’d crawled halfway in, with his rear hanging over the edge, tail thumping happily as a crackling noise carried clearly to Sid’s ears. The youngster had found something else to eat, apparently. From rats to trash… whoever this guy is, he’s going to be mortified tomorrow when he realizes what he’s been eating.

Still, it has to be better than waking up to realize he was snacking on human beings all night. Unless he’s eating a hobo that was living in there. Sid crept up behind the other, suddenly feeling mischievous. He set the rat’s body on the ground, then threw back his head and howled.

He was rewarded with a startled yelp, and the black wolf scrabbled at the edge of the dumpster, before falling forward into the garbage. After a moment, the werewolf raised his head up, giving Sid a fierce glare. Or at least, as fierce as anything could look with a bag of potato chips stuck over one ear and coffee grinds on his muzzle. Sid’s barking laughter only made the other angrier. This is fun! I’ve never met another werewolf as moronic as this one is!

"You again," the other snarled, pulling himself over the edge and plopping down beside Sid. "Why do you keep following me?" He flicked his ear, and the chip bag drifted gently to the floor.

"Because I need to know why you changed," Sid said. "If there’s another werewolf around here, I need to know."

Dark eyes gazed at him, unblinking. "You’re not going to let this go, are you?" he said irritably. "Look, I told you. There are no werewolves. This is just an alcohol-induced dream that I’m having. Believe me, if this were real, I wouldn’t be eating garbage or marking territory. I haven’t seen any animals for months, except you, of course. And no human has bitten me, either, before you say anything. Now, leave me alone. I want to enjoy this before I wake up and spend all morning kneeling before the porcelain god." He flicked his tail at Sid, sending the greasy, unidentifiable chunks that had stuck to it flying.

This makes no sense! He’s not acting like any werewolf I’ve ever seen, as if the curse isn’t working quite right with him. And he’s adamant about not having been bitten; I’m tempted to believe he’s not lying about that. So, what’s going on here?

Sid absently tossed the rat body into the dumpster, then began to follow the other’s trail, which had become even more obvious now that the younger wolf had bathed in garbage. He racked his brain for any clue to what was happening. What could cause this… A thought suddenly occurred to him. Oh, shit…

The other had said he’d been drinking, something that had tasted awful and hadn’t even given him a buzz. The werewolf curse passed through saliva, something which Sid had a lot of stored in wine bottles under his bathroom sink. Aki! He’d scented her in his apartment the other day, and had known she’d come in while he was gone. But he hadn’t known why… and he certainly hadn’t expected her to go poking around in his bathroom. If she had taken it, then she likely would have shared it with Major Elliot.

That meant that they were werewolves. Temporarily, anyway. But if this younger wolf was Elliot – and Sid had no way to really tell, since its scent matched no humans and its words were expressed through growls and body language, not a recognizable voice – then where was Aki? Sid groaned, and his shoulders slumped. He really didn’t want to think about the possibility of another new wolf causing trouble. Then again, she hadn’t shown up yet, so maybe Elliot had drunk alone.

And what if Elliot reports this to General Hein? I really don’t need him to figure out I tried to kill him that month… and if he found out about werewolves and knew we’re invulnerable to Phantoms, he may do something drastic…

Maybe it would be better to go on letting him think that this was all just a dream. He could encourage the other to continue believing that, and no one would be the wiser. All he had to do was make sure the other didn’t do anything that would have serious consequences. Which meant… Agh, I’m going to have to baby-sit the young idiot… The sun just isn’t going to rise fast enough.

He stepped up his pace, following the young wolf’s scent back they way they’d come. Sid paused to pick up his blender. It was expensive, after all, and the only means he had of eating his kills.

Where was the moron, anyway? The trail lead past a bathroom, and the antiseptic fumes confused his senses and he lost track of the black werewolf. He went further down the corridor, but could find no trace of the wolf. Growling, Sid backtracked towards the bathroom.

Oh dear God… Tell me that he isn’t really drinking out of one of the toilets… "You are giving our species a bad name!" Sid growled, grabbing the younger wolf by the scruff of his neck and yanking him away.

"Dogs do this all the time," the wolf said reasonably. "I just wanted to see what it was like." A disgusted look crossed his features. "I don’t get it."

"Look; why don’t you just go back to your bed? The night is almost over, and there’s not too much more you can do around here with all the offices locked up and even the night shift is gone by now. You won’t be missing anything." Sid put himself between the black wolf and the door, giving him no choice but to listen.

The other wolf appeared to consider this. "No, I think not." The look on his face was suddenly savage; the first true werewolf-ish expression Sid had seen since he’d first ran in to the other wolf. "You just don’t want me to have fun, do you?" He leaped, his powerful legs carrying him up and over Sid. He landed gracefully, flashing a grin full of razor-sharp teeth in Sid’s direction. "You know, I don’t have much time left until I wake up, and there’s something that I’ve been wanting to do. There are some people I’d like to see. One of them told me to… ‘bite him.’ I think I’ll oblige."

Sid didn’t think; he flung the blender at the other wolf’s head. He expected the other’s superior reflexes to kick in and dodge the blow, but there was a satisfying clunk as it brained the younger werewolf. The expression on his face was comical to behold.

He yowled. "I… I felt that!" He sat heavily on his rump and rubbed his head with his paw.

"You can’t go around biting-" Sid began.

The other ignored him. He was staring down at his paw as if seeing this for the first time. "This is a dream! That shouldn’t have hurt!" Before Sid could stop him, the wolf raked his claws across his own forearm, watching the blood well up with a morbid fascination. "I felt that, too. This… this is real! What the hell is going on?!" He whirled on Sid, a deep growl escaping from his throat. "You did this to me, didn’t you?" He took a step towards Sid, then another. "Make it go away! I can’t be like this!"

"It’s not permanent!" Sid said, his words sounding shrill to his own ears. "The alcohol you drank, it was Chardonnay, right?"

"Yes," the other said. "Though it didn’t taste like any Chardonnay I’ve ever had. It must have been a bad year."

"What you actually had was a bottle of werewolf saliva. Mine, actually… I drool a bit excessively. Old age, you know. And werewolf venom is passed through the saliva."

"This isn’t doing a lot to assure me." A dangerous gleam entered the other’s eyes, and once again, Sid saw red flicker in the depths of his night-dark eyes.

"The venom must enter your bloodstream," Sid said. "At the moment, it’s in your stomach, being digested. While some will diffuse into your bloodstream, it will be a more dilute form, due to digestion. Basically, what you drank gave you a temporary curse, but once it passes through your body, you’ll be fine."

The other wolf considered this. "So, it’s just for tonight?"

"Unless you bit yourself or licked a wound," Sid assured him. "Um, you didn’t, did you?"

"No." The wolf stared at him. "How can you be so sure about this?"

"I’ve done experiments," Sid said smugly.

"Experiments…" Dark eyes narrowed. "A scientist, are you?" His eyes suddenly widened. "You’re Dr. Sid, aren’t you?!"

"Ah…" Crap, what had the other pulled that conclusion from? There were several scientists based in the USMF buildings alone!

"I should kill you," the wolf whispered.

"Ah… you could," Sid said weakly, "but the moon is going to set soon. If I were you, I’d go back to your room before you changed back. Do you know how embarrassing it is to change back in public and run back to your room naked?"

He hadn’t realized how close to moonset it was, but now he could feel its hold on him diminishing. They had maybe fifteen minutes before they changed back. Sid pushed past the other wolf, grabbing his now-dented blender before turning to the other. "We can discuss this later," Sid said, then set off at an awkward lope. The other wolf looked ready to pursue him, then thought better and turned to head in the opposite direction.

Hopefully, the major would be easier to deal with tomorrow.

"Oh, good, you’re here." Dr. Sid said the next morning as he entered the lab. He smiled at Major Elliot, who had been talking quietly to Aki. Guiltily, they moved away from each other, as that could hide the fact that they’d been groping each other moments before. They must think I’m slow, if they think I wouldn’t notice anything that obvious. "I want to talk to you about last night." He gave Aki a significant look and jerked his head towards the door. She didn’t get the hint and stayed where she was, staring blankly at him. "Last night was an accident," Dr. Sid continued. "It only happened because of the drink. I promise you, it won’t happen again. What went on was between you and me; so let’s keep it our little secret, okay?" He patted the major on his shoulder.

Aki’s eyes almost popped out of her head as she heard this. Her gaze darted back and forth between Elliot and Sid, and her lips moved soundlessly for a moment. Finally, she managed a strangled "Eww!" and ran out of the lab.

Sid thought about chasing after her and correcting her before she thought too much about that horrifying image, then reconsidered. If she thinks Elliot would actually… well… with me, then maybe she won’t be too eager to see him again any time soon, and my lab will be safe.

He turned away, completely missing Elliot’s befuddled expression. If he’d seen it, he’d have realized the major had no clue what he was talking about. And it would be much, much later before he remembered how the younger wolf had greeted him – "I know you. You’re that mangy mutt…" – and realize that Elliot had never seen him in his wolf form.

But someone else had.

"So what’s the news?" Hein asked curtly as the doctor finally deigned to return. He considered having the man shot for keeping the highest ranking military officer in New York waiting for two hours. He didn’t need this. He’d spent a lousy morning regurgitating rat remains and coming to terms with the fact that he had in fact been a werewolf the previous night. As well as coming to terms with the fact that the horrible, horrible dream he’d had several months ago after first encountering that mangy mutt about waking up with Dr. Sid naked on top of him was a very real incident.

"Nothing serious," the doctor said, perhaps sensing his danger and getting straight to the point. "You’re suffering from a stomach ulcer. Not unusual in a man with as strenuous job yours, sir. All you have to do…"

Hein didn’t hear the rest of what the man had to say. An ulcer… An open wound in my stomach… An open wound… And he’d been suffering from this condition for days, which meant the wound had been there for awhile… giving Sid’s saliva the opportunity to fully enter his bloodstream.