Flynn's Apartment

[Flynn]

"Mica, you little thief!" The last thing Flynn needed at that very moment was a hyperactive cat playing keep away with his watch, but that was what he found himself with. The calico always seemed to have the most energy in the morning and, as of late, her favorite game to play was seeing how long Flynn would actually chase her through the apartment in an attempt to get the watch back.

Emerging from the bedroom and into the living room, his dark blue dress shirt untucked and his rather shaggy hair a bit disheveled, Flynn scanned the room quickly. Almost as if she was daring him to do something, Mica sat on the back of the sofa, her tail swishing and the watch lying directly beside her. With a sigh, Flynn decided that it was time for a little sweet talking. "Mica, what a good kitty. Just stay there for a second and let me get my watch."

In response, Mica picked up the watch, leaped from the back of the sofa and darted past him, back to the bedroom. "I don't have time for this, Mica!" As much as he loved the calico, she could be exhausting at times. "I need to get to work." Still, he turned and headed for the bedroom, finding the cat curled up on his pillow, the watch in the center of the bed.

With a chuckle and shake of his head, he went over and picked up the watch, putting it on his left wrist before reaching out and scratching the cat under the chin. "You're a brat, Mica," he said affectionately as the cat purred in content, slowly closing her eyes. "I've got to get going. Don't destroy anything while I'm gone." With that, he turned and headed back to the living room, tucking in his shirt as he went. With a little luck, there would be no major incidents with the computers today.

Continued at: Central Community Police Station- Break Room

[Flynn]

Flynn lowered the novel he was reading in order to look over it and at Mica, who had decided that since he was lying stretched out on the sofa, she had every right to lie on his stomach. He wouldn't have minded the calico's choice if she would just lie down rather than feeling the need to soften him up with her claws first. "Either quit that or move because your claws in my stomach doesn't feel very good." The cat stopped what she was doing and turned her yellow-green eyes to him, almost asking how he could possibly say such a thing to her. Considering that he was currently in sweatpants and a rather thin undershirt, Flynn was well within his rights to make such a demand. After all, those claws were sharp and were biting through the shirt's material like it wasn't even there. Giving a little meow, Mica settled down and Flynn gave a nod before raising his novel again and pushing up his glasses. "Good cat."

[Flynn]

The peace didn't last long. Mica, apparently bored with lying around like a nice, normal cat, leapt from his stomach to the floor and went tearing around the apartment like she had gotten into some sort of drug or something. Flynn couldn't help but lower his book and watch her for a moment before commenting, "What are you on, where are you hiding it and why haven't you shared?" The cat stopped in mid-run and looked at him. She blinked once and then went back to what she had been doing, causing Flynn to laugh and shake his head.

[Flynn]

Flynn had picked up his book again and had read just a paragraph when he put it down again. "I forgot coffee at the store." Shaking his head, he got up, tossing the book onto the coffee table in annoyance. Mica gave a plantive meow; he knew that tone well. "Okay. I'll call Ms. Davis and see if she'll come stay with you. Brat." The last word was said affectionately as he headed for the bedroom, picking up his cell phone on the way and dialing a number.

As the phone began to ring, he pulled open his closet door and pulled out a pair of jeans and a black button down shirt. Hello?

"Hi, Ms. Davis. It's Flynn. I've got to run to the store and Mica is in one of her moods. Would you mind coming over and staying with her? I shouldn't be more than a few minutes."

Of course, Flynn. Can't have her lonely, now can we? I'll be right over.

"Thanks, Ms. Davis." They hung up and Flynn tossed the phone onto his bed and dressed quickly, pulling on the first pair of sneakers he got a hold of. Not bothering to grab his phone or tuck in his shirt, he headed back for the living room just as a knock came on the door, which he immediately pulled open to greet his elderly neighbor.

"Thanks for coming," he told her, allowing the nice older woman in, Mica going straight to her. "I really shouldn't be that long. As always, you're welcome to anything in the kitchen."

"You know I always love taking care of the sweet kitty," she said with a smile. "Take your time, dear." Flynn gave a grin, grabbed his wallet and headed out the door, closing it behind him.

Continued at: Alleys and Streets; Backstreets

[Blu]

Continued from: The Parking Garage with Miles

She looked over her shoulder, flashing a smile at Miles as she did so, key finding the keyhole without her even needing to look. “Just because I have a key to get in doesn’t mean you can’t accidentally fall over things to destroy them if you really want to,” Blu announced, smile becoming slightly wicked at the thought. The young woman was fighting hard mentally to keep her composure, and not just because of her worry for Flynn. Her whole body was aching now, tired and worn down by the stress of the day already.

Blu was starting to worry she might have to take a risk and buy some drugs if the pain progressed from the aching – which too most people would have been terrible pain, Blu simply used to higher doses than most.

The door opened smoothly and silently under the turning of her key. Knocking had proven pointless, apartment silent but even so, Blu acted automatically when the door opened, stepping inside before Miles, without even thinking about it.

There was an enraged hiss and meow from inside the apartment, a bundle of fur streaking towards them. Mica completely ignored Miles for the moment, her target the person she knew best out of the couple. She meowed again, a loud, demanding wail, tail swishing backwards and forwards as Blu bent down, letting the cat leap into her arms. The first room appeared empty and she clutched at Mica, trying to placate her and let Miles do whatever cops did when searching.

[miles]

Miles hopped out of said kitty's way when it bolted at the both of them. Who needs a dog when Flynn had that thing guarding his damn apartment? Miles snorted at the thought of the cat attacking a robber if someone had broken into the place. But sadly and much to his worry...there was no signs of a struggle. Like he had left and simply not came back. Miles pursed his lips together for a moment...time for work.

"Alright...you stay right here. Anything happens, just run out into the hall alright?" He doubted anything would happen though. He gave Blu's shoulder a quick rub. She looked tired, a smile couldn't hide that. Not from Miles at least. His hand was swiped at by the cat and he pulled away quickly, shaking out his arm with an annoyed growl. He hated animals and Flynn's cat just reminded him of what it was. Stupid frickin' cat... He glared at it...and he kinda swore the cat glared right back. Which freaked him the hell out. Maybe it was the scent of werewolf on him. That's what a person got from being hugged by Violet.

"What if it was a family emergency? He left without having a chance to say good-bye?" Nope...unlikely. Miles circled around the living room, scowling deeply. Nothing. Absolutely fricking nothing. This was going to turn out bad. Miles could just feel it; a small feeling growing at the pit of his stomach warned him as such. Blue eyes fell over to Blu again, offering her a small smile. Change the subject to make her feel slightly better. That was the best choice of action right at the moment.

"What's the cat's name?" What he didn't know was that unconciously he was going to want to take the cat home until Flynn was found. Otherwise that question would never be asked in the first place. Miles? Wasn't as bad a person as some people pegged him for.

[Blu]

There was no way Blu would have just run out into the hall if there was danger. The cynical part of her pointed out that freezing to the spot in surprise and shock was the most likely reaction but she liked to think that she would have been able to defend herself. The now purring cat in her arms was probably just as dangerous as Miles and his gun if there was any trouble.

“No… it couldn’t have been a family emergency,” Blu offered softly, eyes downcast and fixed on Mica’s fur. It wasn’t her story to tell but Miles had to know the full facts if he was going to bring her back her coffee monkey. “Flynn doesn’t have any family, he grew up in an orphanage…” It never failed to make her feel a little guilty, talking about Flynn without a family and knowing that she had made the choice to cut herself off from her own. At least she had them to run back too.

The technician busied herself petting Mica and generally making a fuss of the cat who seemed delighted to be with a friend again. “This is my partner in crime, Mica. She and I are planning to take over the world aren’t we buddy…”

Mica purred her agreement, still appearing very smug at being cuddled by Blu.

[Blu]

Before Miles could react to her statement about plots to take over the world, his phone rang and with a frown he turned to the side, fishing the instrument out. Blu took a few steps away from him as he began to speak in order to give him a little privacy while he spoke on the phone. She continued to fuss over Mica, the cat soaking up all the attention, conveying with her eyes exactly how she felt about being left alone for however long and not getting the attention she was used to.

“I’ve got to get back to the station.” The words made Blu jump, glancing up from the cat to where Miles stood, looking uncomfortable. She wanted to ask him what was wrong, but her voice wouldn’t work and instead she simply nodded, receiving a smile and a pat on the shoulder in return, along with a promise that he would set up the search for Flynn.

“Well… looks like it’s just you and me buddy,” Blu whispered, voice wavering slightly now she was alone, Miles vanishing out the door and down the hallway. It was only just starting to really hit her – Flynn wasn’t where he was supposed to be and she didn’t know how to find him. Didn’t know what to do except look after Mica and try and push on as best she could.

Sighing softly, Blu let Mica jump to the floor as she began to move around the apartment, collecting the water and food bowls, as well as anything that could possibly belong to the cat. She was going to spoil Mica rotten until Flynn came back and told her off for that. Blu nodded sharply, peering up the bed a moment later. He was going to tell her off because he was going to come back.

A headless toy – that could have been any type of animal – stared back at her as she looked, prompting a startled giggle to escape. “Been practising your torture techniques I see,” Blu called out, grabbing the toy and adding it to her rapidly growing collection of items. It was going to take her at least two trips to move everything needed to her own apartment but that was good because as long as she was busy she was distracted.

And as long as she was distracted she wasn’t worrying about Flynn, wondering what was going on with Miles or letting the steadily increasing pain in her body overwhelm her.

Continued at: Building A: Blu’s Apartment

[Flynn]

^{POST TIMESKIP}

The only reason he hadn’t argued with Cole sending a couple of the others along to watch out for him was because he had known that he wouldn’t get to go back to work if he didn’t. At least, that was the official reason. He wouldn’t admit that he felt a little better knowing that they were there, simply because he didn’t want to take the chance of running across Katrina again without someone close. He didn’t want to think about how such an encounter would go, especially considering that the vampire most likely thought he was dead and Flynn was more than content to let her continue thinking that if she did. If she didn’t know that he was alive, then the chances of her popping up to cause him trouble were significantly slimmer than if she knew otherwise.

When he had gotten back to the apartment and found Mica, along with her things, gone, he had been in a near panic and had gone straight to the neighbor who had been watching his cat to ask where she was. When he heard the description of the “odd young woman” who had taken Mica, relief had washed over him. Knowing that Blu had taken care of Mica for him had made things a great deal easier to handle. He had yet to retrieve Mica, though he had really not had the opportunity to do so. Part of him was afraid to, uncertain as to how his wolf would react to her or how she would react to the fact that he was no longer actually human.

It had taken a lot of quick talking to explain why he hadn’t been at work for so long, but he had managed to keep his job, which was a plus. Another plus was the fact that he had managed to keep his apartment, which had, thankfully, not been deemed abandoned because, while he had promised to consider membership in the pack led by Cole Stanton and his mate, he was nowhere near to actually making a decision and wanted a place to stay on his own while he attempted to decide. Whether those who followed him to work were hanging around the apartment complex somewhere, he didn’t know, nor did he care. He needed a place of his own until he could figure out what he was going to do.

On his first day back at work, he had thought that Blu was close to taking his head off for not having gotten in touch with her, especially when he had not been able to come up with a good excuse as to why he had not been there. All he had been able to say that things had happened beyond his control and that he never would have left had he actually gotten the choice, which was entirely true on both counts. There was no way he could have controlled the situation and he most certainly never would have gone through it had he had any sort of real choice about the matter. He didn’t know what Blu really though of his explanation, but she had, thankfully, seemed to accept it. At least she had stopped giving him the third degree.

Looking in his refrigerator, he realized just how desperately he needed to go shopping, though he had absolutely no intention of leaving his apartment that night. It didn’t matter that he had been forced to throw away practically everything that he had had before because it had gone past the expiration date. He would last through the night and shop as soon as he could manage to during the daylight hours.

All the same, it was nice to be home.

[Blu]

It had been over a week since Flynn had come back to her - complete with ear piercing shrikes and hugs as tight as her frail little body would allow, and a few days since he had come back to work. Blu wanted to think that he was healing, if not already healed but she wasn't quite that naive, that stupid. He had come back in such a state, even if his wounds were starting to heal but then as far as Blu was concerned, a single cut was far too many for her coffee monkey. He didn't deserve whatever had happened to him, whatever it was that made him vanish and whatever it was that he didn't want to talk about. She wanted to know, because how could she hope to help her friend if she didn't know what had happened to him, what had hurt him? It took so much to keep quiet, to bite down on the questions once it became clear that Flynn wasn't comfortable with talking about it, but she knew how powerful words were, how saying something aloud gave it power it was otherwise denied. And she certainly wasn't an innocent when it came to keeping secrets.

So she held her tongue, just tried to be there for her friend, to support him and that was one thing. Not giving him back his cat was quite another. She was more than fine with keeping Mica for longer, it was nice to have company for a chance, even if that company was a pet, nice to come home to a warm bundle of fur that occasionally was happy to see Blu if the food dish was empty or the litter tray needed cleaning but otherwise would ignore her at first before slowly sauntering over and pressing close. Company was nice and all, yet Mica wasn't her cat and it wasn't fair to keep her, even though Flynn hadn't made any effort to get her back yet. If the mountain wouldn't come to Mohammed...

Mica had hissed at first, telling Blu in no uncertain terms that she was no used to this manner of treatment, it did not befit a cat to be placed in a box and then manhandled around as if she was just some kind of luggage. Her hissing and flattened ears were enough to tell the young woman that the cat did. not. approve. Luckily however it didn't take long for them to reach Flynn's apartment, the cat thankfully quietening down and settling upon arrival as if she recognized the building, knew that her real home was inside. And as far as Blu was concerned, why shouldn't she? Mica was a smart little critter, her main ally in taking over the world and the one she told so many secrets to, secrets about herself, about her worry for Flynn, her worry for Clay and Duck when they too vanished on her and Mica knew how to keep those secrets. So it was time to go home, Blu carefully placing the cat carrier down on the ground and ringing her friend's doorbell.

Blu - and more importantly Mica - had waited long enough.

[Flynn]

He didn’t know how long it had taken him to figure out what to tell Blu, but it had seemed like ages. He had wanted to tell her absolutely everything, but he had refused to do so, not wanting to potentially put her in harm’s way; it had been all he could do to silence the part of his mind that insisted that she would be safer if she knew everything. He hadn’t known how to explain the ordeal to her and that had made it easier to make the decision not to, though he supposed that he would probably have to tell her eventually. She would notice if he seemingly dropped off the planet every time the full moon came around and he knew that she would question it at some point. It was a matter of when rather than if where that was concerned. What he would tell her when the topic came up, he had no idea, but he supposed he would figure it out eventually, but whether or not it would be the truth, he had no idea. How did you tell your best friend that you had been turned into a werewolf? And, along those same lines, how did you tell them that you had been turned into a werewolf and held prisoner by a vampire? While Blu knew that he had been injured, she knew nothing about the brand and the ugly scars that now surrounded it. That was something else he couldn’t figure out how to bring up and hoped he’d never have to. Considering the only way it could be seen was when his shirt was off, Blu actually seeing it would probably never happen. That, at least, was one less thing on his mind.

Blu’s reaction to his return had been a surprise to him. Having never really had anyone before who might actually miss him, he hadn’t known what to expect. The third degree and more questions than he could keep up with had been things that he had expected and known were coming. Her shrieks of delight and numerous hugs had been something else entirely. That more than anything had made him want to sit her down and tell her absolutely everything, but instead he had apologized and swore to her that it hadn’t been his choice to leave like that.

Starting a little when the doorbell sounded, Flynn swung the refrigerator door shut and moved towards the living room, wondering if he should open it or pretend that he wasn’t home. It was a silly thought, though. Anyone meaning any harm wasn’t likely to announce themselves by ringing the bell… Were they?

Shaking his head, Flynn stopped at the door and disengaged the locks, trying to tell himself that paranoia wasn’t going to get him anywhere. It was silly to see monsters everywhere, but it was hard not to when all he had to do was look in the mirror to be reminded that they existed. Yes, there were human monsters, but there were things out there that were supposed to only exist in legends and movies. He was proof of that now. He wanted to take comfort in thinking that he might be some sort of match for anything nasty that might show itself, but he knew better than that. Despite what he had learned while recovering at the pack’s home- and then during the full moon- he still felt lost, completely adrift out in the open sea with no land in sight and no paddles. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do, but he guessed that taking it one day at a time was a good start.

Pulling open the door, he relaxed immediately when he saw that it was Blu. “I wasn’t expecting you to come over tonight.” He moved aside and pulled open the door, catching sight of the cat carrier. He knew Mica was in there. What was he going to do if she freaked out? How would he explain that? He was about to see, he supposed. “Come on in. I’d offer you something to eat and drink, but the cupboards are bare right now.”

[Blu]

Blu could wait. It wasn’t something she was overly good at or something she really enjoyed doing, waiting was so often boring, it was a waste of precious time too often, but she could wait for Flynn to come to his senses, to share whatever had happened, to help him in any way she could and it didn’t matter to her how crazy it might seem, how insane or impossible. Blu believed in a lot of things, believed in the power of words, of thought. She believed in werewolves, vampires, demons, even angels, although heaven for some reason always seemed a belief too far. She would wait until Flynn was ready to tell her, would try and show that she would be supportive, that she would listen and believe and help in any way that she could. She only hoped that he didn’t wait too long, that he told her the truth before she was gone, so that she could actually help, acutely aware of how short a time she might have left.

For now though, she would smile and be a friend, would comfort and tease and try and be normal around him, show him that it was okay to be normal again. Maybe they would never be able to go back to the way they were, experiences and events changed people, Blu couldn’t deny that, couldn’t hide from it but she could and would hope that they would make a new sort of normal that he could be comfortable and happy in. Smile grew larger as she was invited in, carefully carrying Mica in over the threshold, a smile that dimmed a little at the admittance from her friend that he didn’t have food and drink in his home. That meant he wasn’t take good care of himself, and Blu needed him to do that.

“You need to eat and drink to get stronger Flynn, I can’t force feed you cookies every day you come into work. Well… I could, but you might get bored of cookies after a while and start to run away from me and then I’d have to chase you and threaten you with tickling so really, you need to eat better,” she rambled lightly, the cat carrier placed down in the centre of the room, Blu carefully unhooking the locks and letting the door swing open for Mica to take her time in coming out.

[Flynn]

If Flynn was going to tell anyone any part of what had happened to him, it would be Blu. He knew he could count on her to not only sit down with him and listen if that was what he needed, but he also knew that she wouldn’t call him crazy. He doubted there were many who would believe his story, even if he showed them the scars that proved he wasn’t completely making up stories and trying to pull one over on them. Some people refused to believe such things, no matter how much proof was presented. He knew that Blu would believe him though, so, when he thought he could actually talk about what had happened, she was the one he would sit down with and explain everything to. Not to mention ask for forgiveness for not telling her sooner.

He wished things could go back to the way they had been. That would have been nice. He knew that it couldn’t happen, but it didn’t mean that he couldn’t wish for it. There could be a new normal though, he supposed, and perhaps, since he had gone back to work and was already trying to get his life put together in the best way he knew how, it would be all right.

“I don’t think I could ever get tired of your cookies,” Flynn told her, shutting the door. “I’ll make sure to go grocery shopping soon, though. I don’t want you to have to tickle me into agreeing or anything.” He knew that he needed to stock his kitchen, but, unless he waited for a day off, he would have to go to the store after work, which would mean it would be getting close to nightfall and would probably be dark by the time he finished shopping. While he wasn’t expecting anything to actually happen, he just hadn’t quite gotten up the nerve to wander around the city after nightfall again. He knew it couldn’t last forever- he wasn’t going to let it- but he just couldn’t quite convince himself that it was a good idea to wander around the city at night.

For the time being, though, he wasn’t going to worry about food or leaving. As Blu allowed the carrier door to swing open, Flynn was more concerned with what Mica’s reaction to him would be. When Mica finally emerged from the carrier, taking her time, he felt himself tense. If she attacked or ran, he would have to either explain everything or make up some story, though he didn’t know what the latter might be. Kneeling down, he held out his hand, deciding that it was probably best to let her approach him first.

“Hey, Mica…”

The cat seemed to suddenly spot him and trotted over, though she stopped just in front of his hand, which made Flynn think that she had gotten his scent and didn’t like what she was smelling. Just as he thought that it was probably smart to pull his hand back, Mica gave a sharp, sudden hiss and nipped his pinkie finger. As hard as the nip was, it didn’t draw blood, something Flynn was glad about. He didn’t know what would happen if his cat was exposed to werewolf blood and, honestly, he didn’t want to find out, just in case the results were unpleasant. The nip, he noticed, seemed to calm Mica down though and she rubbed against his hand, almost as if she had been angry with him and had gotten it out of her system. If that was the only punishment he got for being gone so long, he would be able to consider himself lucky.

[Blu]

Blu had always had one hand in the other world, watching her own through wide, excited eyes, eager to believe in so much more than she could see. There was little doubt in her mind that things like werewolves, vampires and even ghosts existed and it was just a matter of being able to see them. It didn’t make sense for the world to work in any other way, how could such an amazing planet, with so varied animal and plant life only have humans as the so called intelligent species? It made no sense to her, it was hard enough wrapping her head around the idea that after everything they had done to the world as a whole, that humans still considered themselves the smartest creatures going. There had to be more, more in the world and more after it.

Perhaps it was partly her current state, that inevitable slow free fall towards a D word that she refused to say and thus name, give power, but Blu had to believe that there was more than this.

“I’d have to think there was something weird going on if you didn’t want my cookies. Maybe a pod person or something,” Blu joked lightly, light smile on her face as she stepped back from the subject, avoided the obvious comment that something weird was clearly going on and had been since Flynn had vanished. Blu wasn’t stupid enough to think that whatever was going on was just magically finished, as much as she wished that it was the case, but she would wait, eyes dropping from him to watch Mica as the cat slowly slinked her way out of the cat carrier.

“Aww, she’s forgiven you.” For now at least, Blu was show that Flynn was going to find decapitated teddies lying around or something similar for a while yet, symbols of the cats displeasure but what mattered now was that the cat had decided to forgive, unable to help a small bounce on the balls of her feet at the mere thought.

[Flynn]

Flynn rather wished that he could go back to more or less doubting that things like vampires and werewolves really existed. He supposed that he had never really completely written them off as myths, but believing in them- truly believing in them- had been hard without any proof. Historical accounts of them had been enough to make him not completely dismiss them and the occasional reported sighting always caught his interest, but he would have gladly kept things as they had been. Even if he had just seen one and knew that they were real, it would have been a great deal better than what had happened. He didn’t want to be proof that such things existed. What he became during the full moon terrified him as much as everything that had happened at Katrina’s had, even if he couldn’t get out and cause someone harm. Just knowing that he was honestly dangerous was enough to make him want to move to the middle of Antarctica.

He couldn’t help but give a quick, small smile at the pod person comment. “Definitely not a pod person, so I’m glad you don’t have a reason to think I am one.” He couldn’t hide that there was something different about him, no matter how hard he tried. Blu knew him too well and was far too perceptive to miss the signs that something had been off with him ever since he had come back. Telling her everything was so tempting, but he didn’t. As much as Flynn didn’t like hiding such a thing from her, he really did believe that it was the best for the time being. He just had to keep reminding himself of that.

Now that Mica seemed to have forgiven him for everything, she was purring happily, demanding as much of his attention as she could possibly get. He didn’t understand why the cat wasn’t terrified of him, but he was extremely glad that she wasn’t. “It seems so. I’m surprised she was so quick about it.” He considered for a moment before asking, “Have you had anything to eat yet? I could always order us something.” He had noticed his significantly increased appetite, but as long as he was careful, he thought he could hide that. At least, he hoped he could, because he didn’t know how he’d explain himself if he couldn’t.