Edward had taken him to his deer enclosure and had taught him how to drink from a living being without hurting it. Apparently, there was a way to spit out the poison, more like, to let it drip from the fangs, like a snake, before biting down.

Erin was grateful for that lesson. He wondered if Frederik had known. Or if he had wanted people to die with a hard on. Erin supposed he would never know.

The brown-haired man added everything he had learned to the vampire dossier page in the Office of Supernatural Affairs hidden page. They needed permission to access it every time, and they needed clearance levels for each page. Which was a bummer because some of the more interesting things, like agents’ names and pictures, were above their clearance level.

Daphne had come with them back to their apartment. Mr. Hawk was sitting on the couch and there were papers arrayed in front of him.

“Agent Socros, congratulations on a job well done,” said the white-haired agent, and Daphne smirked at her teammates.

“Hear that, boys? Only I get brownie points,” Erin rolled his eyes and pulled two chairs from the kitchen area. Andrew took a third and the three sat, facing Mr. Hawk, their backs to the TV.

“I suppose that agents Hudson and Jackson helped too, but I must give credit where credit is due,” said Mr. Hawk, and all three nodded. The men weren’t kidding themselves that Daphne had done most of the catching. Even if it had been Andrew who had secured Mark in the end.

“Although, agent Socros, please refrain from sleeping with the suspects. That is poor work ethic,” Daphne grinned, unashamed, and Mr. Hawk shook his head.

“It got the job done,” she said, and then looked down at the papers. “What are these?”

“Your commission papers. While you get your monthly payment of two thousand dollars each month, as per your contract, your end of hunts commissions need a bit of signing.”

The three took a paper each and noticed that the ones below also had places to be signed. Andrew sent Mr. Hawk a questioning look.

“Why do we need to sign so many papers?” He asked as Mr. Hawk grinned.

“Money are never given easily,” said the older agent. They began to sign. They needed to put the current date after each signature and, by the time they had worked their way through each of their stacks, the hands of all three of them hurt.

“Is it going to be like this each and every time?” Asked Erin, placing the last paper on his ready stack.

“I am afraid so. When I was on active duty, it irked me, too. My overseer, agent Heslov, was as amused by my and my teammates’ grumbling as I am now of yours, I assure you,” Mr. Hawk chuckled, and all three send him annoyed looks.

“Agent Hawk, could you tell us what you are? If it is not too private?” Asked Andrew, curious. Mr. Hawk looked human enough. He certainly looked old, he even had wrinkles. But, for him to work for the Office of Supernatural Affairs, then he must be a non-human.

“I am a wendigo,” said the man, and all three shuddered. “Now, what is with these looks? We all make mistakes. I have been working to atone for mine for the past three hundred and a little on top years. Granted, when the three of you get out of your grace period, I will be back on active duty. But, before that, I plan to laze around.”

All three knew what a wendigo was. A human flesh eater. When Andrew had found the file, he had shown it to the other two. It had been unnerving to them that a wendigo could change forms and still look normal. Suddenly, they all wanted to be on Mr. Hawk’s good side.

“This is your next task,” said the wendigo, and he handed Erin a folder. “Everything is inside. You must leave as soon as possible.”

Erin opened the folder and a picture of a grotesque woman stared back at him. Her mouth was half open and there was droll coming down her mouth. A hag.

“Mary Peters, a former witch who did one ritual too many. Now, she is a hag. The files for hags are under the witch’s subcategory in the information network. You also have it printed,” Mr. Hawk stood up and extended his hand to each of them, his eyes changing to look more cat like and yellow. A collective shiver ran over all three of them. The wendigo grinned.

“Gets them every time,” he stood with his hand extended and Daphne gingerly reached out hers first. “Agent Socros, as always, you are the vanguard of this team.”

Mr. Hawk send a disapproving look at the two men, who stood up and extended his hands too.

“And, one more thing,” said Mr. Hawk after he shook Andrew’s hand. “Your sentences have been lessened with a year each. But you, agent Hudson, will still end up in a lab if you don’t cooperate. Just like I will, if I am caught stepping out of line.”

Erin nodded. A certain understanding passed between him and the wendigo. They were in the same boat. And, it would be in Hawk’s best interest for them to do their cases as fast as they could and keep their heads down.

“I wish you all good night. Furthermore, my name is Adam Hawk. I thought that you should know, now that you have a case behind you,” Mr. Hawk closed the door and left the three inside.

“A freaking wendigo!” Whispered Daphne, sitting on the couch and placing her hands in her hair.

“And I am a vampire,” reminded her Erin. “And you fucked a fallen angel.”

“Yes, air my dirty laundry, why don’t you? Andy, do you have popcorn? Caramel ones?” Daphne looked hopeful. Andrew went to check his pantries. He was sure he didn’t have anything fancy like caramel popcorn. But he had bought a package of normal ones. And, he had chocolate. That would be just as good.