#//the real ben is someone wolf would think is pathetic. they'll die and cry if their friend thinks the same.

[oneandahalfwolf]

Wolf couldn’t quite hear Torcarya over their pained wheezing and racing thoughts, but they did catch her accusation at the end. Anger gave them a moment of clarity as their head snapped up towards her, grey orbs flashing yellow as they glared with a growl. They rose out their seat and took a step towards the other teen, baring their teeth (regular sharp ones rather than fangs as their body was still too tired from the previous night to allow for anything more than an eye change) at her. Yaz didn’t pull them back into the seat, able to sense there wasn’t a need to just yet, and instead simply placed a firm hand on their collar bone. Surprisingly, though they did flinch slightly, the taller teen did cease further forward movement.

“How dare you,” they snarled, pointing an accusatory finger at Torca before turning it towards themself. “I am Wolf. I am! I…” They faltered, brows furrowing as doubt wormed its way into their mind. “No… I’m…” There was another word. A name? It started with… something. It was theirs. Maybe? Then it was gone but the confusion remained. “Yes, I am. I am?”

Yaz could tell they were in pain, both physically and mentally, but there wasn’t much she could do other than project calm until Theo and Missy arrived for the debrief. The Doctor had been working tirelessly to synthesise new medicine for the werewolf that would help them but not hinder them like Her Majesty’s had. He said it would be ready for when they moved the teens to their new rooms, so the kid just had to hang on. The empath gently ushered them back into the chair, the werewolf not fighting it as they shifted their hands to the sides of their head. It felt like their skull was splitting as conflicting information fought for dominance in their brain – their Mistress’ training beating back the uncertainty and flashes of barely there memory. Maybe if they pushed hard enough, they could keep their head and therefore their mind together.

“You’re right,” Jane said as she turned her attention back to Torcarya. “They didn’t let us take it off at first. I believe they threatened to break all of our doctor’s limbs and eat his intestines when he tried on intake.” Her smile faltered. “But there was a complication,” she said, eyes straying to the werewolf and focusing on the area where she knew under the clothes were barely healed scars from where they tried to claw it off themselves, “and we were forced to remove it for their safety.” She snorted softly. “They definitely weren’t happy about it. They wanted it back, but we’d already disposed of it.”

The blonde swallowed and took a breath before moving closer to the girl, dropping her voice so her words were solely for Torcarya.

“What you are seeing is a Wolf who is closer to who they should be. Who doesn’t have…” She paused. It was wrong to say they had none of the Queen’s influence in them since that bitch was still heavily in their head. “as much of your old boss in them.” Her mouth drew into a thin line, hatred for the red head in her eyes as she recalled reading the Theo and the Osgood’s report on the medicines and audio files, not to mention the tattoo she had so recently glimpsed. “We may be able to give you more details on that, should your mother and father deem it a good idea seeing as your friend can’t advocate for themself right now, but right now all you need to know is that is them. And they’re going to need you as they heal. You’re gonna be their bridge between who they were and who they are.”

Jane cleared her throat and raised a brow.

“Sorry, that got really heavy there.” She chuckled. “What I mean is, both of you are going to be doing a lot of healing. And we can all help you, but you’ll probably help each other the most.”

The thing that surprised Torcarya the most was the hug.

When Wolf wrapped their arms around her, she froze, unsure how to react. She couldn’t remember if they had ever hugged her before; the pair of them both tended to prefer not to be touched. She gingerly patted their back with one hand when she noticed how emotional they were. She softened a little, managing a close-lipped smile in return for their greeting, though they sounded different than usual too. Gentler? Less gruff, less grumpy…more relaxed. At least, for a few moments. She frowned when their grip tightened on her arms.

“Ow! Wolf you’re hurting me, wha-?”

Her discomfort turned to shock when they moved, giving her a fleeting view of their neck as they lunged at hers. It was good that Sunny and Yaz stepped in, dragging the other teen off of her, because Torcarya was still processing what she’d seen and her reflexes weren’t ready.

Wolf wasn’t wearing their collar.

Her emotions were a mix of approval and disbelief, their growled insults not even sinking in. She was glad to see they were no longer wearing it (it had always given her theories as to what went on behind the Queen’s closed doors an uncomfortable weight of probability). But either the rebels were better at breaking the Queen’s thrall than she’d expected, or this wasn’t Wolf. The Wolf she had come to know over the years would threaten people for even suggesting they take it off (and she had no doubt they would have followed through on those threats). She didn’t know how, but that wasn’t the same person she knew. She watched, eyes narrowed with suspicion, as Sunny and Yaz got them to calm down in one of the seats.

“What did you do?” Torcarya asked softly. Sunny looked at her, brows furrowing in confusion.

“How d'you mean?”

“What did you do to them?” the girl repeated, pointing at Wolf, who was now curled in on themself. Her voice wavered a little as she tried to make sense of things. “They’re…different. Wolf isn’t a hugger. They don’t let their emotions get the better of them, like I do. And the Wolf I know would never ever let you take off their collar.”

The look on Sunny’s face went from concern to sadness as the woman realized the attack had been the most “normal” part of the whole interaction for the girl.

“So who,” Torcarya asked. “The hell is that?”