lavandarlizard2 | zzzzzzzzzz.......

The weather cools off, my brain returns to life. Perhaps I need a bigger cooling fan. ^.o

Anyway. It's been a while since I had any BFB ready, but now it's back. ^__^ Wonder if anyone cares? *snerk!*

BFB – Part 097(a) – Under Fire

It happened so fast....

One moment everything was normal; a normal day, a normal case. Just routine.

Then, in the blink of an eye, everything changed.

We answered a request for a referee between a Mundane Human and a Were-Tiger. We get these calls every so often. It usually involves nothing more than a lack of communication between the parties. We try to sort things out and make everyone happy. It usually works out fine.

This time Inazuma and I went with Wufei. Since Zuma and I are the "kids" of the office, we still need a babysitter on some things. Annoyed? Not at all. I've been out with everyone except Estaban, and that's only because he and Enrique usually take the cases that involve Spanish or Portuguese-speaking Humans, and I don't speak either.

I like the opportunity to learn from the pros, and you don't get much more professional than Tiffany, Heero, Wufei and Trowa. And Moira; can't forget her. She's closer to our age, though, and a little more... um... fun-loving; not so much like a teacher as the others. Enrique is a little disconcerting sometimes; Tiffany says he has a uniquely Elvish way of looking at the world, but he's always been patient with me.

At the moment in question, the female Were-Tiger (Ovalia was her name) and I were standing next to the stone wall that divided her property from that of her neighbor. Inazuma was talking with the Mundane Human male; he seemed to be making progress. The guy was still stiff and angry-looking, but he was nodding and looked as if he might finally be willing to bend a little.

The problem was that Ovalia kept chickens and pigs, partly for her table and partly to sell to the local natural foods market. The neighbor happened to see her in her animal form with a chicken in her jaws a while back, and apparently couldn't get past that image. She doesn't eat raw meat, in spite of it being more natural for her tiger form; she was just transporting the bird. It wasn't dead, wasn't even injured.

Since that time, though, the neighbor had taken to harassing her at random and making complaints to the county authorities. She has all her permits; the relevant agencies were quite aware of what she is and what she does. It finally came to a head when the guy threw a dead chicken at her and called her some nasty names a few days ago while she was in her animal phase. She called the sheriff and us, so here we were, trying to explain to someone who really didn't want to hear, just what Weres are.

The Were-Tiger – don't ever refer to a female Were as an 'ess', as in Tigeress; you'll probably get disemboweled – still had her long tail and delicately swiveling ears, as well as a slightly elongated face and the faintest of tiger markings. She looked like an anime character.

"I hope this works," she sighed quietly to me as she watched Wufei watching the Human from a few meters away. If Wufei wasn't so unrepentantly homosexual in his tastes, he could probably have a whole harem of females, of all stripes and origins. Then again, he gets the same scrutiny from gay males as well. It must be the Dragon thing again. "I love this area," she continued, "and everyone else has been very nice to me. Even he never bothered me or seemed to pay any attention to me until he saw me with the chicken. I just don't know what his problem is."

"Well," I began, not because she expected an answer, but just to pass the time; "Maybe he's one of those 'if I don't look, it isn't there' types. Some Humans just don't mind us, but others don't want to know, and if they have to know, they get mad for some reason." We had already established that I am a Banshee.

"I don't see why he's suddenly going out of his way to be nasty," she fretted. "It's been almost five years—"

Suddenly Inazuma yelled "*Gun!*"

Ovalia screamed and hit the dirt behind the wall like a pro. Inazuma dived for a tree as a rifle shot whined past his head. The sheriff's deputy yelled something and ducked behind his car, drawing his weapon.

Me? Oh, I was just standing there, frozen solid, watching the barrel of the rifle – a bloody *huge* barrel – swinging in my direction in slow motion. My heart was pounding so loud in my ears, I couldn't hear anything else, and I couldn't move. I could *not* fucking move!

I watched him sight in on me. I watched his finger slowly squeezing the trigger.

And I wished with all my heart that I was home in bed with a cup of hot chocolate and an armful of hot Wyvern...

Then Wufei was in front of me, his mouth moving, his black eyes snapping dangerously, and there was a feeling... An impact. And another. He stumbled and clutched at my shoulders. I staggered under his weight, clinging to him.

Everything snapped back into realtime.

A single shot still echoed, and the angry neighbor with the rifle was falling.

I looked down at Wufei. His eyes glared at me still, but... he wasn't behind them...

"Wufei!" I grabbed onto his jacket and got a handful of wet, sticky.... "*Wufei*!!"

I don't know what happened. One moment I was holding a bleeding body; the next I was sitting on the floor of the Castle infirmary, screaming for help with Wufei a dead weight in my lap.

...tbc...