Chapter Text
Jonathan entered the apartment that he shared with Geoffrey McCullum. It had been about four months since the pair started to live together: at first, the arrangement had been out of necessity. The hunter had been severely injured in a fight with a Vulkod shortly after the end of the Epidemic. Having realised that maybe Reid was true to his word about not killing humans, McCullum didn’t see any reason not to ask the Leech Doctor for help. At least he wouldn’t question the origin of the injury. He didn’t have to lie to this Doctor, not like he did to the other Pembroke staff.
The Ekon had patched the Leader of the Guard up as he instructed the Irishman “You will need rest, your arm is broken, you can’t use it for at least six weeks. Have one of your men stay with you.” Geoffrey rolled his eyes and flipped the Doctor off grumbling about how he was old enough and big enough to look after himself. He didn’t need a babysitter.
Seeing as the Irishman was being stubborn, Reid promised that he would pay the human regular visits to be sure that Geoffrey didn’t cause himself any further injury while at home ‘resting’ (provided the hunter could work out what rest was). That was how Jonathan found the Irishman home alone, climbing on a chair to reach something on the top shelf of his kitchen cabinet. He was only struggling because he was trying not to pull against his stitches too much. Reid rolled his eyes as he gently helped the hunter down and then retrieved the box of tea bags that the human had been trying to reach.
Jonathan folded his arms as he scolded the other man. “Do you want to be stuck in the hospital, McCullum?” The hunter sneered at the Leech as he snapped back, “I don’t need looking after.”
“Perhaps you usually don’t… But right now you’re injured, you need your broken arm to heal. You need your stitches to heal. If you won’t ask your men for help, then-... Then allow me to stay here to help you, at least while I’m not working at Pembroke.” Reid was sure he was going to be shot or staked for suggesting such a thing. But at least this way, the hunter would have someone to help him around the house while also allowing him to keep some of his independence.
After that-... It turned out that McCullum had his men look into where exactly the Ekon usually slept. Geoffrey couldn’t imagine a toff abandoning one of the West End manor houses to stay with him in his crappy Whitechapel apartment. Even if this leech claimed to care about humans, why would he leave his friends and family behind? The reports that the Leader of the Guard received told him that Reid didn’t hold a permanent or consistent residence. The good Doctor would stay in whatever abandoned, run-down, bombed-out, old house in need of repair that he could find. Priwen didn’t understand it. In all honesty, neither did McCullum. A West-End-born gentleman like Jonathan Reid shouldn’t have that much trouble finding a house, not even as a vampire.
So, the next time the Leader of the Guard saw the Doctor, he confronted him about his sleeping habits. A Westie like Reid living in shitholes was even stranger than a Leech that refused to kill. Who was the Ekon trying to punish? Jonathan hadn’t expected this, he tried to avoid the conversation and tell the hunter that he was just acting in the best interest of his patients. The safe houses that he had collected throughout the Epidemic were closer to Pembroke than his family home was. But his words did little to convince the Irishman and when he was cornered and threatened, he broke… He finally confessed to what happened the night he reawoke as a vampire, he wept as he explained how he had killed his beloved sister not once but twice, a mistake he could never forgive himself for. That was why he felt unable to return to Reid Manor, why he couldn’t bring himself to face his mother. Not even when his best friend Clarence Crossley had begged him to speak to his mother before it was too late.
Emelyne passed about three weeks before Jonathan fought the Red Queen, her sickness had overwhelmed her and Clarence swore that he wouldn’t tell Avery that Jonathan was alive. The Doctor believed that it would be better if the Butler thought he died before he arrived back on London’s shores. That, however, meant that Avery inherited the manor house. Reid told Geoffrey that he couldn’t face Avery and his questions about why he had avoided the house and to the understandable judgement (even if he knew he deserved that judgement for avoiding his mother for selfish reasons). He lived where he could. Things were better that way… He couldn’t pose a danger to any unsuspecting humans.
Geoffrey took pity on the Leech, feeling sorry for him in a way. He waved his hand at the other man as he said dismissively. “If I thought you were a danger, I wouldn’t let you into my private residence, would I? Maybe-... Maybe having a Doc here wouldn’t be so bad… At least until I’m healed.” he agreed to let the Ekon live with him, provided he promised to keep to his current diet of rats and Skals.
The Leader of the Guard explained it to his men as keeping an eye on the confusing Leech. By allowing Reid to stay in his home, under his roof, then he could make sure that the Leech didn’t suddenly change his opinion on eating humans.
The pair fell into a comfortable routine, even after Geoffrey was completely healed. Having a Leech around wasn’t as bad as the Leader of the Guard had first thought it might be. It’s not like Jonathan took up a lot of space, he had a bedroom where he kept himself to himself, most of the time. Socialising with McCullum in the kitchen over a cup of tea before the two men headed out to their respective jobs. The apartment was small but it provided them with a place to sleep and for Geoffrey, a place to eat which was all they really needed.
Jonathan was ashamed to admit that he hadn’t realised how lonely he was until he started spending prolonged periods of time in the apartment with the hunter. He tried not to show just how fond of the other man he had gotten. It was harder to hide on his nights off, nights when he had nothing else to do other than sit in the house and rest for a night. Sometimes, their days off lined up and Reid and McCullum would spend the night playing cards or going over old Priwen research.
Tonight, when Doctor Reid tried to clock in for his shift at Pembroke, the current administrator, Doctor Ackroyd had apologised and informed the Ekon that he must have missed the message that Jonathan wasn’t needed tonight. He was free to take a well-deserved night off. In all honesty, Reid wasn’t going to complain, it had been two or three weeks since his last night off, he had been trying to cover some shifts for the human staff members who were still showing signs of exhaustion. Although by doing so, he too was now growing exhausted.
“Geoffrey?” the Ekon called as he entered their shared apartment. It was weird to him that the lights were on, as far as he was aware, McCullum was supposed to be working with Priwen tonight. His eyes scanned the entryway, it was possible that the Irishman had left in a rush and simply forgotten to turn the lights off. Jonathan took his coat off, hanging it by the door, that's when he noticed that Geoffrey’s coat was missing, implying that the hunter had been in a rush, nothing more.
He moved through the apartment, entering the kitchen. Tea and a good book sounded like a good idea and it might be just what the Doctor ordered (no pun intended).
Reid put the kettle on the burner to boil, locating his favourite mug from the cupboard above the sink as he placed a teabag and one sugar cube into the cup. He moved across the kitchen to the dining table, it wasn’t much but it was where he had left his book earlier. Reaching for the book, the Ekon paused, hearing movement from somewhere within the apartment. He was alone, wasn’t he?
Jonathan’s eyes narrowed as he allowed himself to fall into his blood sense. He could see the red pulsating light of a heartbeat in the general direction of Geoffrey’s bedroom. Was-... Was McCullum home and ignoring him? Since they started to live together the hunter had been civil towards him, even when calling him a ‘Leech’ the name didn’t hold the same bitterness and vitriol that it used to. If anything, it had become something of an affectionate nickname. One that Reid quite liked if he was being honest with himself.
Whoever the heartbeat belonged to, it was worrying for Jonathan, their heart was beating so rapidly that the Ekon was sure they were going to enter cardiac arrest. Something in the back of Reid’s mind warned him to be cautious but-... Surely… It had to be Geoffrey, he was the only one with a key, and before he left for work Jonathan had locked the door. Perhaps the Irishman was distracted and he hadn’t heard him enter.
Reid followed the admitted familiar sounds of cursing until he reached the door of the Leader of the Guard’s bedroom. He knocked carefully, calling out to his housemate, his voice a little louder than the last time he called out to the human “Geoffrey? Is everything alright?” it seemed like an obvious question, even if he knew by the other man’s heartbeat that something was wrong he asked on impulse.
There was a pause as everything in the apartment fell deathly silent. Almost as if the other man believed that he could hide from the Ekon if he remained quiet for long enough. Jonathan wasn’t that easily fooled. The smell coming from behind the closed door was that of sweat and-... wet dog? He shook his head, trying to concentrate looking into the room with his blood sense alone.
Hearing no reply from his housemate, Jonathan tried again. He knocked against the door a little harsher, as he said firmly “McCullum, I know you’re home. I can smell you.” even if the hunter’s scent wasn’t quite right. He wasn’t going to be pushed away that easily “What’s going on? I thought you were going to be busy tonight?”
“I am-... I am busy-...” the reply of the hunter came, slightly muffled by the door. To Jonathan’s enhanced sense of hearing he was able to tell that it sounded like Geoffrey was speaking through gritted teeth, his voice pained. Reid pressed his ear to the door, as if it would help him to hear better or understand more of what was going on with his housemate “I need the house to myself tonight, Reid… Just-... Just fuck off!”
That was more concerning than Geoffrey ignoring him. Ever since their fight in the Pembroke attic, the Leader of the Guard had never told the Ekon to leave him alone. He was sometimes grumpy when on the receiving end of the good Doctor's mother-hen tendencies but he seemed to have formed a certain amount of respect for Jonathan since the Ekon spared him. Not even when McCullum was sick and he just wanted to rest did he actively push the vampire away.
Against his better judgement, Jonathan opened the bedroom door, taking a step inside. If he wasn’t mistaken, Reid heard a feral snarl, not the usual snarl that the Irishman treated his men to when they pushed their luck, but an animalistic snarl… His instincts immediately didn’t like it. The Ekon’s eyes searched the room to try and find the source of the sound. Why was the room pitch black if Geoffrey was inside? While the hunter wasn’t the sort of man who was afraid of the dark, he was human and he preferred to keep a light on so that he could see what he was doing and where he was going.
The Ekon took a step inside without thinking about the action, the bedroom door slamming closed behind him.
Reid let out a startled yelp, cursing when the door slammed unexpectedly. Normally, he wasn’t as easily spooked, he shook his head as he looked around the room, despite his natural ability to see better in the dark than a human, he was still struggling to find his housemate. The hunter’s scent surrounded him but it was hard to pick out, perhaps that was because this was the Irishman’s personal space and everything in here would smell like McCullum “Geoffrey? Please-... Answer me… I’m worried…”
“GET OUT!”
That voice didn’t sound like it belong to McCullum, an animalistic snarl underlined the words, causing the hairs on the back of the Doctor’s neck to stand on end. He swallowed his nerves with effort and took in a deep breath to try and steady himself. This was more important than his fear. All sorts of macabre scenarios entered his mind, had some supernatural monster broken into their house and cornered or worse, killed the Irishman?
What had gotten into the Ekon tonight? He cursed himself, shaking his head; he wasn’t this easily shaken. He cleared his throat as he tied to speak to the other man. “I am not going to leave you when I know that you need me, dear hunter. I would have thought that you knew me better than that by now. What is going on, let me turn on a light.” perhaps a little light in the room would help Jonathan to feel less anxious.
Reid reached for the lamp on the bedside table, feeling a warm hand take hold of his own to stop him. Jonathan looked to his left, able to see that the hand belong to Geoffrey, the Irishman was reaching out from beneath his bed. Although that wasn’t the most surprising thing about the hunter's current appearance.
Geoffrey pulled himself out from beneath his bed, he remained in a crouched position, almost as if he were physically unable to use his legs at the moment. His lips were pulled back in a snarl, his upper and lower canine teeth sharper, pointed and more fang-like than they had ever been before. Blood pooled in the Irishman’s mouth and ran down his chin as the rest of his teeth sharpened to points looking distinctly more canine. Jonathan’s gaze flickered to the human’s legs, noticing that they had changed shape… They were also more canine, his feet extending to create a paw shape.
McCullum tried to push the Doctor away, but the action caused the Ekon to break from his momentary daze. Jonathan could see the hunter’s nails had elongated, sharpened and darkened, turning into claws. The hair on the hunter’s arms was starting to thicken, turning into dark brown fur.
Jonathan didn’t know what to say or how to react, he found himself staring at his housemate… A word coming to mind that he never believed he would consider… It was insane but then-... if vampires were real what was there to say that werewolves weren’t also real.
Geoffrey closed his eyes tightly, gritting his teeth as he brought his hands to his hair, his fingers curling around the strands and pulling as he curled in on himself. As if the mild discomfort caused by tugging on his hair would distract him from what he was going through, as if this would be enough to hide him from the Ekon. “You need-... You need to get out, Jon!” he demanded, hating the growl that underlined his words.
The Doctor shook his head, crouching beside his friend and placing a gentle hand on his arm, speaking softly but firmly, strangely sure of himself despite the confusing situation he had found himself in. “Not until you tell me what is going on? What-... How did this happen?” this was new, wasn’t it? Jonathan could say that he had saw something like this from the Irishman before today. He had never suspected that Geoffrey might not be human.
McCullum opened his mouth to speak but cursed. Pain shot through his body enough to render himself silent, he could see his bones cracking and breaking, the shift from man to beast slowly but surely taking over him. He groaned and whimpered, swallowing past the lump that was forming in his throat, or perhaps that was just his vocal cords tearing; it was hard to tell the longer this went on. He didn’t have time to explain any of this to the Leech… He needed to be alone, why tonight of all nights, did Jonathan have to be home!? He desperately wanted to tell the Doctor to run, to flee to leave the apartment and barricade the door but all he managed was a snarl. Noticing the Ekon flinch away from him for a moment.
Jonathan’s courage was rather quickly dwindling. That being said, he was still determined to help Geoffrey. He took hold of the hunter’s wrist, the fur on the other man’s arm feeling strangely soft under the vampire’s fingers. McCullum tried to slap Reid away, claws easily tearing through the flesh of the Ekon’s cheek as Geoffrey tried to get his housemate to leave him alone.
The Doctor cursed, blood slowly running down his cheek despite the wound already starting to heal. Reid could see the guilt in the Irishman’s eyes, and the pieces were starting to fall into place, it was a strange realisation and he wanted to question why his so-called friend had hidden this from him. From how Geoffrey was reacting, this wasn’t new but it also seemed like something that the hunter could control “What can I do to help?” the Ekon prompted.
Geoffrey wanted to reply but he couldn’t, his throat was still impossibly tight and this time the Irishman knew it was because of his vocal cords reforming, that was usually the final step in his shift. All the hunter could think about was trying to protect his housemate. If Reid didn’t leave soon, he was going to see first-hand just what was going on. Not that he was going to like it… McCullum had to force himself to speak as he felt his face, mouth and nose starting to reshape, forming into a canine muzzle. “Go-... Go Reid… I can’t-... Can’t stop-...” he knew he wouldn’t be able to stop his beast from attacking the Doctor. Even if the vampire only had the best of intentions.
Jonathan shook his head, knowing that staying here when he had been asked twice now to leave was one of his more foolish decisions “I am going to stay with you.” he promised, even as his throat tightened on him, hating to see the other man in pain “Whatever that means, I’m going to be here for you.” realising that vampires weren’t the only supernatural creatures roaming London’s streets shouldn’t be that much of a revelation, at least it shouldn’t feel this surprising. If all he could do for McCullum tonight was to keep him safely contained in their apartment, then that was what Reid would do.
The hunter’s limbs were trembling as he stayed on his hands and knees, his claws dug into the wood below him deeply, creating deep gouges in the floor. He bared newly formed fangs at the Ekon in front of him. Jonathan stood up from his position crouching on the floor, taking a few cautious steps back as he prepared to leave the room and block the door. It was possibly the best to keep McCullum contained if that were at all possible. Knowing any lore from the stories he’d heard about werewolves, it was possible that Geoffrey might try to hunt innocent humans to feed his bloodlust. Until the Doctor knew what was true about the hunter’s condition, he wanted to air on the side of caution.
Jonathan watched as Geoffrey’s limbs finally failed him, and he collapsed to the floor. The changes that were happening to his body seemed to have stopped. While he remained mostly humanoid, his head now resembled a canines, his legs were more muscular and more suited to moving around on all fours rather than bipedally. His arms had elongated, also gaining more muscle to help him support his weight while on all fours. The parts of the hunter’s body that had been exposed as his clothes tore were covered in thick, dark brown fur, so much so that it was safe to assume that McCullum’s entire body was now covered in fur.
As the Leader of the Guard looked up at the Ekon, muzzle wrinkling as he snarled, Reid saw that the other man’s once blue eyes were now glowing a brilliant golden colour, the whites of his eyes black.
For a moment, the now wolf Geoffrey lay still, watching the vampire from his position sprawled across the floor as he snarled, a clear warning that he was not happy about Jonathan’s presence. The Doctor’s mistake was trying to take a cautious step forwards, wanting to check on the transformed hunter.
Hearing movement, the werewolf’s pointed ears twitched as he suddenly rose to stand on all fours, crouched low in a predatory stance, clearly ready to strike. McCullum snarled, baring sharp teeth at the Ekon in front of him. Reid cursed himself, doing his best to remind himself that he should have known better. This wasn’t Geoffrey he was dealing with-... Perhaps deep down he was but in front of him right now was an animal that most likely felt cornered. Jonathan tried to make a dash for the floor, but the wolf seemed to anticipate the action; the wolf grabbed him by his legs and pulled him back, causing the Doctor to let out a startled noise.
Jonathan allowed his claws to form as he tried to fight against the werewolf’s hold, scratching and clawing at the floor as he tried to gain some sort of purchase to pull away from the other. It seemed that while in this form, the Irishman was stronger than him. Something that Reid hadn’t been expecting. He was gracelessly pulled across the bedroom floor, the Ekon rolled onto his back so he could keep a wary eye on the wolf.
The werewolf snarled viciously at the vampire, baring those horrid teeth and fangs at Jonathan.
Reid was trying to fight against the werewolf’s hold but he was pinned as the beast took hold of both of his wrists with one hand, using his legs to keep the Ekon’s legs pinned to the floor with his weight. It would seem that he was rather effectively pinned to the floor beneath the hunter. Panic sparked in the Doctor’s chest as he tried to kick at the hunter in a desperate attempt to escape. He could barely squirm in the other man’s hold; the most he managed to do was apologise silently as he worked one of his hands free and punched the werewolf in the nose.
Geoffrey immediately let go of the Ekon, yelping in pain as he backed away and ducked his head. Jonathan felt guilty for hurting the wolf, but he took his chance to stand up, not wanting to be grabbed or pinned by the beast again. He pulled on the shadows around him to conceal himself, fleeing out of the hunter’s bedroom and closing the door behind him. Pressing his back to the solid wooden frame as if that would be enough to contain the werewolf.
Jonathan could hear the claws of the wolf scratching at the door as Geoffrey snarled and howled inside his room. He could feel how the beast threw his weight against the door as he tried to fight for freedom. The Doctor pushed a bookshelf in front of the door, just in case the other man regained enough of his rational mind to remember how to use a door.
With the barricade in place, the Ekon leaned back against the wall opposite McCullum’s bedroom, he lowered himself until he was sat on the floor, his eyes closing as he released an exhausted sigh. At least for tonight, his housemate was contained… They were going to need to talk about this tomorrow when they were both calmer. Reid was worried about his friend and how this happened.
So much for a cup of tea and a good book.