Michael made it all the way to the HQ parking lot before he showed any signs of stirring. To tell the truth, falling asleep in the back of a car after a whirl wind adventure through a hellish dimension wasn’t the brightest idea. The dull aches that ran through the entirely of his body made sure he understood that. Stiffly he sat up when the car door opened. Giselle gave a small chuckle as she offered him a hand.

“Any better?” She smirked as Michael let out a low pained moan.

“Kiss my ass.” A grumbled reply was all he could muster. It didn’t bother her as she threw his arm over her shoulder and headed inside. It was at the front door that the trio parted, Ellen wanted to report the incident as soon as possible. Also she was curious if the monsters Hunter had tagged arrived.

So, the remaining two stumbled their way to the infirmary. Really the only one who needed a doctor was Michael. Giselle’s injuries had already started to fade. The envious glare he gave her did not go unnoticed.

“Look, you have your anti-magic constitution, I have my rapid healing. It’s just the way of life.” In a near giddy mood, Giselle continued to tease him, but Michael kept his mouth shut. Everything hurt too much to banter.

There was always one doctor on duty in the Hunters’ HQ. The operation employed a total of 4 doctors, each one scheduled on a rotating shift. At least that was how it was supposed to be. Around there though, the other three doctors were considered more legendary than the Florida Chupacabra. Only a hand full had ever actually seen them. No, when you came to the infirmary, there was only one doctor you would ever see haunting the small six bed area.

Doctor Wynne Redfield, called Doc by those who dealt with her the most, could be considered one of the tops in her field. A talented doctor and a gifted healer, some might wonder why she was the doctor for a group of backwoods hunters in the middle of nowhere. On paper she could easily work for the National Coven Board without even a single recommendation. The problem was paperwork was deceitful.

Dr. Redfield could be…well…She was eccentric, and it presented itself in ways that could easily get her license revoked and her ethics heavily questioned. From her monster experiments to some of the questionable, but successful, treatments she used on hunters, she was more than a handful to deal with. Even Leonard, an old hand at training the strangest of hunters, could barely handle with her and just stayed away.

Perhaps luckily or unluckily for Hunter, his resistance to her magical experimentations protected him from her odder interactions. Still as she looked over at the two of them, Michael felt a bit of a chill run down his spine.

This was going to be quite the checkup.

Giselle didn’t linger. With a swift goodbye and half-hearted smile, she ducked out. She never spent more than a minute in the infirmary, and she was happy to keep it that way. Hunter would be fine, no need for her to stick around and get probed as well.

Abandoned, Michael could only give agitated groan that quickly turned into a coughing fit.

“Impressive.” Dr. Redfield’s cool voice cut over his pathetic hacks as she looked him over from her chair. Stark white hair was bluntly cut at her chin as unnatural poisonous green eyes analyzed him. Though her face was young and sharp, blue veins pressed against thin deathly pale skin like marble statue of death. A set of glasses hung dangerously low on her nose as a razor-sharp smile cut across her lips.

“How are you not screaming in pain?” Long legs strode over as her white lab coat fluttered around her, revealing a black turtleneck and dark slacks that only made her look more unearthly and colorless.

“High pain tolerance?” Michael didn’t even have the desire to shrug his shoulders.

Doc didn’t reply as she moved about the room. From hidden places she collected a tablet and various tools of her trade. Michael sat and watched dumbly as he wasn’t sure if he could even move by this point that walk had taken a lot out of him.

“Well, I hope it lasts.” The sinister chuckle was not reassuring. While Doc had never killed a patient, her bedside manner left a lot to be desired.

Overall, the checkup could have gone better. By the end of it, Michael had racked up only a few serious injuries and a number of minor ones. The biggest items on the list were two broken ribs, six deep laceration on his side, puncture wounds on his forearm, a rabies shot, a minor concussion and a dislocated finger. He’d rate the night as a middling success when it came to fucking himself up.

Cleaned up and in a set of fresh patient’s clothes, he held back a hiss as Doc stitched the last cut along his side.

“Your pain tolerance has improved drastically.” The compliment felt weirdly intimidating as Michael gave her the side eye.

“If I didn’t have a high one, I don’t think I would have made it through the night.” It was a breathy response, but the humor still clung to it as Doc returned the side eye.

“Consider yourself lucky all you got was this.” She finished off her stitch and leaned back on her stool. Quickly she peeled off her set of blood-stained gloves and pulled over her tablet. “There’s little I can do as a whole. The ribs will heal on their own and the rest will need to be monitor for signs of infection. Other than that, pain killers and bed rest are my only prescriptions.”

It wasn’t like there was a lot she could do. Healing magic was pointless on Hunter. His anti-magic wasn’t something he could turn on and off. Even if the spell was friendly it still had a high likelihood of being canceled out. Michael theorized that the only mage who could do anything to him at this moment was Ellen and this was because she was the original main character. Her magic was busted to high heavens and no anti-magic on a side character was going to stop that. But for Wynne, she could only treat him traditionally.

With a yawn, Michael half heard the rest of the scolding as he began to nod off.

Seeing that her words weren’t getting through, Doc gave up on the wasted effort and left him to his own devices.

He just wanted to sleep. The pain killers were good, and the bed was soft. Though at the same time he felt a bit chilly as agitation crept in. He missed Alexander. It hadn’t even been a day, but the events that had filled had left him lonely and uncomfortable. Finally, he reached for his poor phone. The thing had taken more than a few hits as a complex spider web of cracks dominated over half the screen. He would have considered it an art piece if not for the fact it was damn near impossible to read part of it.

Though the massive number of messages and missed calls could not go unnoticed. A bit of guilt blossomed in his heart as he shifted up in bed. Doc hadn’t said anything against him stretching his legs, and while he still wanted to sleep, calling his husband was more important.

The best place he could think of to chat was outside as he pushed through the front doors to find a secluded spot to call. His light blue tie shirt fluttered open in the wind to reveal the collection of white bandages and bruises that obscured even the slightly bit of skin. It felt uncomfortable to close it as everything was stuffy or sensitive to the touch.

After stumbling around outside, Michael finally found a nice shaded bench to the side of the building.

The phone didn’t even have a chance to ring before it was picked up.

“Michael?” The word was breathless as exhaustion clung to it. Still, hearing Alexander’ voice made Michael’s heart warm as he nodded.

“Darling.” It was a soft reply, but still he couldn’t hide the slight wince as he exhaled a little too deeply. “Sorry about the missed calls. Last night was crazy.”

“Crazy?” Alexander tried to control his tone as he clenched his fist. “You nearly broke character.”

“Look, it wasn’t like I wanted it to happen.” Really, Michael had tried to keep relatively low key. But he had bad luck when it came to that. “Just take a deep breath, I didn’t die so it’s fine.” His voice lowered as he noticed a tall figure walk past.

But Alexander didn’t catch it as his tone spiked up. “Fine!” Now it was his turn to be angry with Michael’s nonchalant attitude to the whole situation. “I almost blew up a world root, you nearly destroyed your setting. How is that fine?” It had been ages since something like this happened. Hell, it was back when they first started dating. A shiver ran down Alexander’s spine, if it weren’t for Old Goat, he wasn’t sure if he would still be alive.

The passerby stuttered for a moment as he heard the yelling. A pair of brown eyes looked over as Michael gave him a half smile and small head shake before turning away slightly. “It’s fine because everything is still intact.” The placating tone wasn’t enough to cool his partner.

“Baby, I can’t just be happy with that!”

“I know, I know. But it’s all I got right now.” The stranger was wearing out his welcome as Michael glared at the other man who seemed to be eavesdropping. He muted the call and turned. “Can I help you?”

“No.” When called out, the man shook his head and finally moved on. Meanwhile Alexander kept it up on the other end of the phone. All his fears and worried that had grown over the night spilled out. It was impossible to control flow as heat flushed Alexander’s face.

“Can you please understand?” He ended off the emotional rant half breathless as he fought off his own tears.

“Alexander, I do. I’m sorry for worrying you.” It was a soft response but the emotions the colored it were clear. There were only so many words that could be said as Michael ran a hand through his hair and closed his eyes.

Silence stretched out between them. It was tense but mostly filled with exhaustion. Neither had gotten good sleep.

“It was a realm. I got trapped in it…” Michael slowly began to explain the night to Alexander. Each sentence slowly stretched on as he realized how much had happened last night.

On the other end, Alexander listened quietly, even when he felt the want to speak up, he stopped himself so he could get the entire story. Michael talked so long that he could barely hold back a dry throated cough.

The worry did not subside as Alexander scowled at the pathetic sound. “So that’s what happened.” At least there was clarity. Even if Alexander didn’t want to say it, he owed Giselle and Ellen, without them he wasn’t sure if Michael would have made it through. However, one part kept sticking out around the time Michael nearly broke character.

“Kor?”

Michael flinched as the name was mentioned again before he nodded to himself.

“But he’s-“

“I know.” Michael rubbed his forehead. While many people knew his former master’s name, few dared to say it aloud.

“It was probably just part of my episode.” Michael rationalized. He had spent many years in that god’s service, it would be foolish to say they didn’t have an influence on him.

“Maybe.” Alexander didn’t feel any better as he thought of what Dandelion had mentioned. “Dandelion said that they had caught a strange signal when you were having your break.”

“What kind of signal?” Michael stiffened.

“They don’t quite know. But it was avoiding them.”

Could it be…Michael shook his head. He was over thinking this. “Big Boss dealt with all of that a long time ago.” He mumbled the words. Still a tension sat in his chest. His master had once had six likeminded gods who traveled with him. Three were executed just like his master but the other three had only been locked up. Now when the Overworld locked someone up, it wasn’t a joke. But still.

“It’s probably just a fledgling god trying to find a domain.” Alexander offered, sensing the nervousness on the other side of the phone. “It was small and weak. Most likely ran off because it sensed a big predator looking at it.”

“Yea, you’re probably right.” Michael didn’t sound convinced however as he shifted back onto less stressful topics.

Even though Alexander knew his partner was safe now, it didn’t stop him from wanting to pick him up and keep him by his side. While he was stuck useless in the pack lands, Michael had been running around facing life and death in a mortal form. It was a dreadful sense of helpless.

“It was only two ribs I’ve had worse.” Michael gave a light laugh. He was walking and breathing, that was the best he could ask for. It still did nothing to make Alexander happy.

“I could have helped--"

“Look, there’s no point in sulking. This was mostly my fault anyway. I shouldn’t have taken a shady contract.” Michael cut Alexander off before he could start. He had known things were off from the beginning, but he stuck around because the price on it was just too good. He wanted to secure his finances enough to take a long break. Hunter’s meager savings hung over him like a blade, they weren’t dreadful but any fluctuation, any minor change could put him in the red easily.

It was tense, especially with the fact half his rented equipment had come back damaged. He wasn’t sure how HQ was going to deal with the entire incident, but he wasn’t feeling confident.

“Baby, if you’re worried about cash, I’ve got it. Come live with me.” This wasn’t a lie, Neil was loaded. Sure, Alexander might have tweaked a few things in the beginning, but after the death of Neil’s family he inherited almost everything. Of course, Alexander had been kind of enough to give Trisha a portion even though she had been cut from the will. But even with that gone, he had plenty to comfortably support himself and Michael for years, with or without the pack.

“As sweet as that sounds, I can’t just start living with you and the pack. Timeline wise, we just made up after a long break. On top of that with all of Neil’s troubles it would be a headache. Your family just got murdered like 2 weeks ago.”

“What do you mean? I think it’s a perfect time for you to move in. Neil is grieving. Why wouldn’t he want his lover to live with him? Also, Werebeasts are very possessive. We just need to wrap up that mating ritual and—”

“You unrepentant Purrvert.” Michael scolded with a smile. A light blush ran up his ears as he shook his head. “I nearly died, and your mind is in the gutter.”

“What can I say, I miss you so much.” Even if the words were said playfully, Alexander meant it.

While it wasn’t unusual for them to spend time apart due to character reasons, they had always been able to maintain communication after meeting up in-world. But now they had to use traditional methods to keep in touch and, on top of that, if anything went wrong, they couldn’t just teleport over. They were forced to stay within their lanes.

“Look, I’m going to take some time off to recover. I figured it’s time to develop Hunter’s hometown and family, so I’ll be staying with my mother.  But first, I’m going to try and wrangle some money out of this blood realm incident. Anyway, if you can, come and visit.” Michael gave a chuckle. “You might be able to convince me to live with you if I see your face. I’ll send the address.”

Alexander nearly slipped from his spot in the tree as a rush of excitement ran through him. “Baby, don’t tease me.”

“I’m not.” Michael rolled his eyes before yawning. “Figure out your escape plan. I’m heading back in. Love you and hope to see you soon.”

“Love you too.” Alexander replied before Michael hung up and rubbed his forehead.

For a second, he motioned as if the lean forward, but his entire chest cavity groaned loudly in response. Back it was.

Looking up at the clear sky, the gentle breeze rustled around him. The peaceful atmosphere did nothing to quell the flames of anxiety that engulfed his mind.

This whole affair was too messy. Once more he felt like he was forgetting something important. Unsure of what it could be, he had to assume that it might be a character problem.

“Maybe I should call Hunter’s mom in a bit?” Michael hadn’t called her once since taking over the character and while the world was young, he knew Hunter didn’t call often from the growing network of memories. Maybe his feeling of forgetting was tied to that.

However, he was tired now. The examination mixed with their discussion had reinforced how exhausted he was. It was difficult not to doze off on the quiet bench. No, he forced himself to stay awake as he stood. Before he slept, he had a few more things to do. Key among them was wrangle some form of financial compensation for their trouble. Even if the bounty hadn’t been officially posted by the organization, there had to be some reward for participating in the take down of an unregistered realm.

 

Unfortunately, the moment he collapsed into infirmary bed, any thoughts of wrangling compensation were gone as sleep overtook him.

 

After a full day of sleep, Michael finally felt half alive. And when Ellen updated him on their financial situation, he was fully resurrected. Even though the bounty had been unofficial, Ellen had argued that they still actively contributed in taking down a dangerous unregistered realm. This along with the odd monsters bagged, and the cracked cornerstone had left them a nice paycheck. Michael’s cut was well over $5,000. More than enough for a vacation.

“What kind of angel are you?” His voice was bright as he eyed Ellen. She sat across from his bed as she finished up her remaining paperwork.

“The flaming sword kind.” Her laugh was almost a bark as she nodded. “That’s the best I could get out of Director Cora.”

“Before I was only going to get $2,500 at best. I’m not going to look a gifted horse in the mouth.” He closed his banking app. One of the first things he was going to buy was a replacement phone screen. “I own you one. Once I’m back in operation, it’s either a hunt or la meal.” A pang of pain ran through his side. “Ok, meal. Just meal.”

“You thinking of quitting?”

“Not really sure. It feels like I’m perfect for the job but terrible at the same time.” Michael wasn’t opposed to it. In the long run the job was not sustainable for someone like Hunter.

“It’s never been perfect for you.” Doc’s icy voice cut into their conversation as she looked over at the two. “Quitting is a fantastic idea.”

“If only there were other jobs that pay this well that I could qualify for.” He slightly shrugged and played with his bandaged fingers.

“There are. What about working for the Hunters’ Organization office instead?” The doctor didn’t waver as her vibrant green ran over his injuries.

Michael scowled. “I don’t want to leave Florida.” It wasn’t like Hunter couldn’t do office work, but the Hunters’ Organization main offices were in New York. There was no way he would move out of state. The man loved Florida too much and all his family was down there as well.

“Tsk,” Doc clicked her tongue and shook her head, “the main office is opening more remote positions.”

“Archive work?” This was the field he though Hunter would be suited for since Michael had poured so much of his limited time into studying their creature archive.

“I’ll send you the internal employee job bulletin board.” The thin-lipped smile that over took Doc’s face was concerning as she nodded. “It seems the concussion knocked your brain back into place.”

“Maybe.” It was a begrudging agreement.

“So, what are you going to do now?” Ellen had stayed out of the conversation, but she was a bit worried. Her experience with Hunter was compromised almost entirely from their work in the realm.

“Oh, I’m heading home.” At least a few weeks spent at home would do him well.

“Home?”

“Yes, it’s been a while since I visit my momma.”

“You have a mom?”

This was an odd question as Michael frowned. “Of course. Who doesn’t?”

Ellen stiffened. “I grew up in an orphanage.”

“Oh.” Michael gave a polite cough as he looked away helplessly. “Well yes, I have a mother. I figure it’s better to recover there then stay in the dorms.” Also, his husband was going to come and visit.

“I guess.” Their conversation kind of died there as Ellen excused herself.

“That was impressively awkward.” Doc spoke up, a chuckle laced within her word.

“Shut it, I’m going back to sleep.”  Unfortunately, he couldn’t turn away from her. But the moment his eyes closed, he easily nodded off again.

 

Next morning, with his bank account full, he packed up the few things he kept in his shared dorm and turned in his remaining rented items. Doc had drilled it into his head several times that he was to rest and take his prescriptions. If anything came up, he was under express orders to call her.

After setting his hunter status to inactive, Michael was on his way out when he witnessed quite the sight. He easily recognized Ellen, but the man who she was quietly arguing with was new to him. He didn’t look like any of the hunters Michael knew though his knowledge wasn’t all inclusive as he slowed down to ease drop a bit.

A few snippets of conversation came though, it was about their relationship. If Michael had to guess, this was Ellen’s current or future love interest. His looks matched as well. Handsome, tall, warm with a touch of roguish rough boy energy. His short sleeve shirt showed off quite well-developed arm muscles and a tight chest. Internally Michael nodded in approval, he’d give the mysterious boyfriend a 7.5 out of 10.

However, as Michael pieced together their relationship, Ellen slapped the man across the face. The crisp sound almost resonated in the half empty hall as she briskly walked off.

Well, that was awkward. With that scene done, Michael went to slip away when a pair of yellow stained eyes turned to stare at him.

Yea, that looked like a mess. Giving the man a nod, Michael acted like he hadn’t seen the last 5 minutes and quickly left the building. As he went to the side parking lot to grab his car, felt a presence loom behind him.

Quickly, Ellen’s (boy?)friend (?) herded him off to the side as he was pinned between building and large man. Now that he was close, Michael had put together the dots that the man was some sort of werebeast. Between the eyes, the atmosphere, and the level of muscles, it would be shocking if he were anything else.

“How do you know Neil?”

It was a little sad to say, but Michael’s mental reaction wasn’t at peak performance and it took him a moment to recognize Alexander’s in-world name.

“Neil?” Michael sounded it out, before it finally came to him. At that, he straightened and put on a sharper look. “Who’s asking?” When asked an uncomfortable question, always response with a question in kind. That was what Alexander had taught him.

Now the awkward one was Richard as he pinned this man to the wall. In his agitation, he had finally placed where he had smelled this stranger before. It has been on Neil after he returned from his second trip out. The person the wereleopard had refused to mention. Also, the voice he had talked to on the phone the other day sounded a lot like Neil as well. But when caught under the blank green-eyed stare of the shorter man, he began to feel a bit silly with his brash action.

Michael wasn’t here to watch a grown man do mental gymnastics as he went to pull away only to have another arm block his escape. “He’s a member of my pack whose been getting into trouble with bounty hunters lately.”

“And?” Did the man’s brain fry? “What does that have to do with me.”

“Your scent was all over him and you were talking to him the other day.”

“What kind of weirdo smells a random person?” Disgust colored his voice as Michael grimaced at Richard. “Also, eavesdropping? It’s none of your business who I talk to.”

Being called a weirdo was a new one for Richard as he froze. This gave Michael enough time to dodge under his arm to free himself. Richard responded with something, but Michael ignored him as he quickly hopped into his car and drove away.

After a few minutes, at a stop light, he sent a message to Alexander. While he didn’t know for sure, he would be shocked if the man who harassed him wasn’t the pack alpha that had been causing Alexander some issues.

Alexander just replied with a shrug emoji. There was nothing to really worry about. Even if Richard could keep him from moving for the moment, his relationship with Michael was nonnegotiable. Not even death could change that.

 

A/N

I realized this morning that I kind of lost track of my in-world time line. Michael has only been in-world for a week now and Alexander 5 days. As the author, I started working on the initial draft about two months ago. So it feels like that much time had past. Now I have to go and edit last chapter to get everything back on track because I need a few days hang time for plot before Alexander can run off.