Hybrid Chronicles 02: Micah & Declan

"I...I didn't mean to...." His father stood there, gun pointed at the ground now.

"You shot your own son!" Declan shouted. He would have torn the gun from his hands in a heartbeat if he wasn't so afraid to leave Micah. After all the people his father had killed, it was strange for him to have this reaction.

Suddenly, the sound of a dozen loud footsteps on hardwood floors came up through the thin floor beneath them. The door swung open and a bunch of armed cops poured into the room. Guns were heard being cocked and aimed.

"Freeze!" One said, as the many police surrounded Micah's father. He got down on his knee's with his hands in the air, as one cop took his gun. Another stepped forward and handcuffed him quickly.

"We need a medic!" Declan shouted. Several other cops looked over and one ran out to get a medic while another crouched next to Declan to help Micah, who was still moaning in agony.

"Do you know who that is?" One cop asked, pointing to the body.

"A local drug dealer, Christian." Declan said, not really paying attention or caring for that matter. The cop seemed to relax, glad it wasn't some Innocent bystander. The medics came up and began helping Micah. They lifted him onto a gurney and carried him down the stairs carefully, and into the ambulance, leaving Declan alone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Don't move," Declan said. He rushed to the passenger side of the car and opened the door. He reached across Micah and carefully undid his seatbelt. "Alright, lean on my arm."

Micah smiled. "Declan, I'm alright."

Declan sighed. "You said I could take care of you. Now be good and let me help you to the door. You're going straight to bed."

Micah groaned. "I've been in bed way too long."

"Well, you ruined the couch, remember? So your ass getting in bed."

"The one time that I don't want to hear you say that," Micah grumbled.

Declan smiled and targeted Micah's one weakness. He started to massage the base of Micah's neck and his boyfriend became much more agreeable.

"You suck," Micah said, but his words lacked all venom and were weakened even further by the loud purring.

Declan opened the front door. "Welcome home, babe," he said. He kissed the side of Micah's head and then started to help him to the bed.

Micah smiled and allowed Declan to help him into the bed. "Well, if you're going to make me stay in bed, you'd better fetch me my paper, dog boy."

Declan rolled his eyes and left the room for a moment to grab that day's paper off of the kitchen table. "Babe, check out this headline."

Micah started to tear up a bit as he read the short piece about a heroic former criminal who had been cleared of all charges by saving the life of one of the police force's best detectives.

~~~~~~~~~

Micah rolled his bad shoulder carefully. It had finally healed well enough for him to try what he had been planning for weeks. He checked for the last time to make sure Declan was asleep. He kissed his boyfriends forehead lovingly before climbing out of their bedroom window. He pushed off the wall and grabbed the edge of the window of the house across from them. He pulled himself up onto their roof and started running.

He reached the end of his trip shortly. He peered into the window and saw the older man sitting in a reclining chair with a blanket over his lap. Micah's eyes glowed in the moonlight and he leaped silently to the targeted house. He slid down the drainage pipe and looked into the window on the other side of the house. The old man wasn't asleep, but he wasn't doing anything. The T.V. was on but he wasn't watching it. Micah searched the house for an open window and finally found one in the master bedroom. He crawled through and stepped softly onto the ground.

His paws were silent as they moved across the carpeted floor. His claws were sheathed and his silvery fur was standing on edge, sensing any change in the air around him. His tail was still in the air, not swishing. He crept through the hallway silently and stood in the opening to the living room. The old mans back was to Micah and he was about to step forward when he spoke.

"Take what you want." He said, without turning around. Micah's ears went up, shocked. He had never been heard if he didn't want to be.

"I'm not here to take anything." Micah said.

"Then why sneak in?"

"Because, I didn't want you to slam the door in my face." Micah raised an eyebrow.

"Who are you?" The old man asked.

"My name's Micah." Micah said.

"The thief from the paper?"

"You read the article." Micah said.

"I did."

"And?" Micah asked.

"And what?"

"Your son is a hero." Micah said.

"With help from a criminal? I don't think so."

"He was right. He was right to give up trying to please you." Micah said coldly. "All he does is try and make you happy. The reason he's a cop is to make you happy. And you treat him like shit." Micah said.

"Watch your tone with me." Declan's father snapped.

"No!" Micah jumped over his chair and stood on the coffee table in front of him.

"All he wants is your respect and you cant even give him that. Do you know how much it hurts him? For you to repeatedly turn him away?" Micah asked.

"Well then maybe he should grow the hell up." His father snapped.

"You should cherish your son while you have him. I'm living proof that not all father son relationships will last. You two are lucky to have each other, and you're just throwing it away." Micah said quietly.

"Just because you and your father were criminal dumb asses who couldn't be reasonable, doesn't mean my son and I are the same." Declan's father spoke.

"Well, Declan thinks you don't love him. You should fix that. Because, even if you don't think so, you're losing him. Fast." Micah said. Declan's father was silent. Micah stood there for a few more minutes before jumping off the table gracefully and stepping towards a window. He opened it and glanced one more time at the old man, before climbing out and disappearing into the night.

~~~~~~~~

"Micah!" Declan ran up to him, phone in hand.

"Yeah?" Micah struggled with his old enemy, the crossword puzzle.

"You'll never guess who just called." Declan had a huge smile on his face.

"Who?"

"My dad!" Micah smiled.

"What did he want?"

"He...he wants to make amends! He called and said that he was sorry for being so hard on me. And that he wanted me to know he loved him." Declan sat on the bed with a wide smile.

"That's great!"

"Yeah...I'm meeting him for lunch...He never leaves the house."Declan smiled even wider.

"I'm happy for you." Micah kissed him. Declan stared at him for a second.

"What did you do?" Declan asked.

Micah smiled and kissed Declan. "That's my secret."

"Micah, what did you do?" Declan smiled and tackled his boyfriend to the bed.

"I didn't do anything. Just opened his eyes a little." Micah shrugged. Declan sighed and kissed him passionately.

***

Epilogue: One year later

Micah was sleeping soundly against Declan's chest when he heard a crash. His hand flew to the scar of his gunshot wound and he woke the snoring man beside him. "Declan," he whispered. "Declan!" he shouted again, when his lover refused to wake up the first time.

Declan groaned. "What?"

"I heard something." He ran his hand across his scar, remembering.

Declan yawned. "No you didn't." There was another crash and Declan couldn't pretend he hadn't heard that one.

"See." Micah whispered. Without another word he stood up and moved his way over to the door to their bedroom. He peeked out the door but couldn't see anything. He had no trouble seeing in the dark, in fact he saw better in the dark than he did in the light. He stepped out into the living room silently.

"Micah, get back here," Declan said. "Curiosity killed the cat and we don't know how many of your nine lives you have left." Micah did not appear to be listening. "Micah, get your ass back here. Micah!"

Like a cat hunting it's prey, Micah stepped silently past their coffee table, and their still shredded couch. He tuned out Declan as he heard him fall out of bed in his attempt to chase him. Micah heard a crash in the kitchen and turned his ears that way. His padded feet moved quietly across the padded floor and he hardly noticed when Declan joined him in their hunt, although he was much louder. Micah turned the corner and saw the figure stooped over a fallen plate. Micah pounced and grabbed the shirt of their intruder, holding up the small figure at his eye level. Declan turned on the lights and they both gasped.

"Down, kitty," Declan whispered. The child couldn't have been older than seven. Her brown hair was matted to her forehead. Small, round ears stuck out from her matted hair. Micah set the girl down and she started to cover her face with hands tipped with tiny, pointed black nails. She was crying and the hair on her tail was standing on edge.

"I was just hungry," she shouted.

Micah stared down at the girl, wide eyed. Declan stood behind him and was just as speechless. Micah stared, mouth open, for a moment before blinking and coming to his senses. "Declan, get her some of the leftover pizza, please?" he asked. Declan looked up at him and then moved to the fridge, stepping over the broken glass of the plate she had broken.

Declan put a slice of pizza in a skillet and started to warm it on the stove.

Micah raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing?" he whispered.

"I'm warming up the pizza," Declan replied in a whisper.

Micah shook his head. "You're so weird."

"It keeps the crust from getting rubbery," Declan replied.

"Who the hell does that?" Micah laughed.

Declan rolled his eyes. "Now isn't the time to question how I warm up pizza." Declan glared at Micah in mock anger for a moment and then smiled at the very confused looking little girl. "What's your name?"

"Uhm..." she stared at the two men for a moment. "Sydney," she whispered.

"What were you doing in our kitchen, Sydney?" Declan asked.

The little girl gathered her tail in her hands and twisted it. "I just wanted something to eat."

"Where are your parents?" Micah asked. He sat down at the table with her while Declan continued to warm up the pizza in the weirdest way.

"I don't need parents." Sydney turned up her nose.

"Really? Then what did you do with yours?" Micah asked, playing along with her game.

"I gave them away!" She tried to look tough.

"Really? I think I would miss my parents too much if I gave them away." Micah said. Declan looked up and saw the sadness in Micah's eyes. It had been awhile since the big blow out with his father, but he still caught him looking out into space or crying at night.

"Really?" Sydney asked. Micah nodded.

"Don't you miss yours?" Micah asked.

"They didn't want me." Sydney said quietly. She picked at the edges of the deep claw marks on the wood of the table.

"Why not?" Declan asked, as he set the pizza down in front of her.

"I heard Daddy telling Mommy I was sick, and when I grew my tail they started acting funny. I woke up one morning and they were gone." She said. Micah looked at Declan, exchanging a silent message.

Declan nodded and sat down across the table from the child. "How long ago was that?"

"I dunno," she said through a mouthful of pizza. "But I'm doing just fine." She resumed her tough act.

Declan smiled. "I see that." He was just playing along. In addition to severely matted hair, Sydney was dressed in clothes barely a step up from rags and she was obviously thin.

"I break in to stupid houses and I take stuff. No one ever finds me. Except for you, but that's just...your plates are stupid."

"Right." Micah smiled, trying not to laugh. "I think you just picked the wrong house, sweetpea." He smiled. "Declan here is a policeman." He nodded at his partner, watching Sydney's eyes widen.

"Declan, could I talk to you for a second?" Micah stood up and walked to the hallway in front of their bedroom. They could still watch the hungry girl, but were far enough away that they wouldn't be heard.

"Declan-"

"No, Micah." Declan frowned. "It's not like we're picking up stray animals here, this is a little girl!" Declan said.

"She needs us!"

"We can bring her to an orphanage. Someone will adopt her."

"You know they won't. Look at her, Declan. Who would adopt an infected?" Micah asked, and he was right. Declan looked at her as she gnawed on the crust, which wasn't rubbery, just as Declan had promised.

"Micah..."

"She's alone. Just like I was." Micah whispered, looking at the ground. Declan stared at him a moment before breaking into a soft smile.

"You're too nice for your own good, Micah." Declan hugged him tightly.

They held hands and returned to the kitchen. Sydney quickly stopped licking her plate and waited quietly for them to speak. After a moment she asked, "Am I gonna go to jail?"

Declan shook his head. "No, you're not going to jail. Micah and I decided that it really isn't fair that our plates are so..."

"Stupid," Sydney said.

"Right, stupid," Declan said with a smile. He glanced at Micah.

"We decided you can stay here if you want to," Micah said. His face was lit up with happiness. "And well...since Declan is a policeman he really can't let you keep breaking in to houses."

"Oh," Sydney whispered.

"But you could stay here for a long time, if you wanted," Micah said.

"Really?" Sydney asked. The two men nodded. Sydney thought for a moment. "Is there more pizza?" She asked, face lighting up. Micah laughed and took her plate, going to get her more pizza.

Declan sat down. "Look, I know you're tough, but most kids need parents. Micah and I need a kid. Now, you seem to be pretty smart, so I'd say you should take advantage of this."

Sydney nodded. "I'm very smart." She kicked her feet under the table. "Yeah, I guess you can be my Dads."

"You don't mind having two dads?" Micah asked, as he brought in a plate with pizza on it.

"That was fast." Declan said.

"Yeah, cause I microwaved it like a normal human being." Micah winked at him.

Sydney giggled at their conversation. "I think I will like two dads because you are both funny and also got tails like me." She started to eat the pizza and wrinkled her nose when she got to the crust. "Why is this one funny tasting?"

Declan laughed. "That's one point for Declan."

"It tastes fine, your dad is just starting to spoil you already." Micah glared at Declan.

Declan shrugged. "I've got to spoil her now because there's no way she's bringing any boys in this house."

Sydney giggled. "What would I want boys for? They're smelly."

"Yes they are." Declan nodded in agreement.

"Jesus Declan. We've known her for ten minutes and you're already brainwashing her and about ready to bring out your shotgun." Micah stretched and yawned.

Declan shrugged. "Gordon setters are very protective."

"And Egyptian Mau's are sleepy." Micah stared at him with his slightly creepy unblinking cat eyes. "Get the spare bedroom set up, for me?" Micah blinked his eyes innocently and walked to their bedroom, climbing onto their soft bed.

Sydney followed Declan as he put sheets onto the twin sized bed in the back bedroom. She rubbed her eyes sleepily and wiped her mouth on the back of her hand. She looked so remarkably small and young and for a moment Declan worried that he wouldn't be good enough to be a father.

"You'll sleep here from now on," he said.

Sydney yawned and held her arms up to Declan. He stared at her for a second, confused, but then he snapped out of it and lifted her in his arms. He set her in the bed and covered her with the blanket.

"It's going to be alright," he said.

She yawned and nodded. "I think I like it here."

Declan turned off the light and went to join Micah in bed. "You think we can do this?" he whispered.

"We caught a serial killer, got shot in the shoulder, impressed your father, escaped an abusive boyfriend, got out of the criminal life, and became one of the best cops in the city...Yeah I don't know if we can do this." Micah sighed heavily. "But we sure as hell are gonna try." He smiled over at Declan. He snuggled into his chest and began purring loudly. Declan's tail thumped against the bed quickly.

"I love you, baby." Declan said.

"I love you too, Declan." Micah smiled into his chest, and began drifting off to sleep.

The END