Hidden Nature
by Shadowriter
Part Four
As she finished her story, Cindy was looking down at her feet. It took her a moment to lift her head and look at her friend.
Claire was watching her with a concerned expression. She reached out to Cindy and touched her shoulder. "I am so sorry that happened to you."
It took her a moment to realize that Claire was talking about the near rape. "I -- thank you. It -- wasn't pleasant, but I got through it." She waited for any other reaction, almost afraid of what it might be.
"So, you and Drake -- I take it the two of you became friends?"
That wasn't the reaction she expected, and it took her a moment to reply to the question. "Well, yeah. I guess you could say that. I hear from her every so often; she's occasionally been an 'anonymous source' for a story. I have a couple of phone numbers for her where I leave messages if I want to get in touch with her, and there's a couple restaurants we've met at; when I was looking for her today I left messages at those places."
"How did you become friends? I'm guessing she answered all your questions that night."
>"Most of them. She's not really talkative, but if I ask her a direct question she'll normally answer it." Cindy sighed. "I guess she felt -- I don't know, kind of . . . responsible for me after that night. She gave me a phone number to call if I wanted to talk. And when I called it one night after a really bad set of nightmares, she showed up at my place just to make me feel safe." She relaxed back on the couch a little. "I've always felt safe around her."
Claire nodded.
"You're taking this really well, Claire."
The M.E. shrugged. "What am I supposed to do? Accuse you of being delusional? You've never been before. Do I throw a fit and say it's not possible, and that your friend is delusional? You're the one that saw this . . . change. Besides, I have a corpse with bite marks that came from an unknown source, with trace evidence from something neither human nor animal." Another shrug. "What am I supposed to do with that?"
"So . . . you believe me?"
Claire started to answer, then stopped. She tilted her head and frowned. "Let's just say that I'm willing to reserve judgment. I have all of my scientific knowledge that tells me your story is impossible, but I don't think you're lying, you never have before, and the evidence on my table is somewhat supportive of what you say." She leaned forward. "But I need more information. What can you tell me about your friend? You mentioned -- shape shifters? Is that what she called herself?"
"That's what I call them, and it's basically what they are. They can shift back and forth between human and animal. I don't know how, I only saw it happen the once. But, Drake told me that they are genetically different from humans. They don't get sick very often, though they can catch more animal diseases. They heal faster than we do, and they're stronger. I watched Drake work out one time, and she can lift like, hundreds of pounds; it was amazing."
The researcher in Claire reared its head and she looked thoughtfully at her friend. "Do you think --"
"I know that look, Claire. No. She'll never go for it."
"You don't even --"
"You were going to ask if she'd come in for a blood test, or for DNA tests or something. And she won't. She can't." She turned to face her friend head on. "It's not like there's a lot of them. Maybe a few thousand world wide? Maybe a hundred in the city, if that? And even if they heal faster and are stronger, they can't overpower us as a race. Their safety lies in their secrecy. If they lose that -- Claire, if science ever truly discovers them, how long do you think they'll last?"
Claire nodded. "Not very long, never mind how much discrimination they'd face." She sighed. "I understand, even if I'm not happy about it."
"If she even finds out I've told you, she'll be really angry with me."
"I'm sorry if I put you in a bad position."
With a sigh, Cindy leaned back again. "I was in a bad position from the start."
"Why's that?"
"Because. Drake told me that the killer is a rogue member of her clan. How do I tell Lindsay that her killer is a shape-shifter that she can't do anything to stop?"
With a soft whistle, Claire nodded. "That's what I call a rock and hard place."
It was late in the evening when a soft tapping came on Cindy Thomas's door. The reporter checked the peep hole, then smiled and opened the door to reveal a tired Lindsay Boxer leaning against the door frame.
"Hi. I -- didn't know --"
"It's fine. You're always welcome here, you should know that." She reached out and gently pulled the tall inspector into the apartment, giving her a kiss to the cheek as she pushed the door shut. "Are you okay? You look exhausted."
"What time is it?"
"Nearly eleven. I was just about to head off to bed."
Lindsay looked at the floor. "I'm sorry, I didn't think. I'll go--"
"Lindsay, don't be silly. You've been going for, what, twelve hours? I'd be surprised if you even had dinner."
Guilty as charged, Lindsay tried to save herself the lecture. "Well, Jacobi --"
Cindy held up a hand. "No. I'm not upset. I just don't want you to leave." She slipped her arms around the inspector and guided her toward the kitchen. "Let's get you something to eat and then we'll put you to bed."
"I can dri--"
The reporter stopped and looked up at her lover. "Are you really going to deprive me of having you in my bed tonight?"
Now that the topic was out in front of them, Lindsay relaxed. "I wasn't sure if I should stay."
"Why not? Oh, because of Martha?"
"No, she's with a neighbor tonight. I called and asked him to watch over her since I didn't know what time I'd get home." She shrugged. "We didn't exactly get to finish our conversation this morning. We didn't -- decide where this is going."
"Well, as I remember it, we had pretty much decided it was going back to your bedroom, before we were rudely interrupted."
With a smile, Lindsay nodded. "I guess that's true." She sat down at the two seat breakfast bar that doubled as Cindy's dining room table. "So, we're -- sleeping together."
"Good memory."
"Which means we're in a relationship?"
>Cindy looked up from her perusal of the refrigerator contents. "Is that what you want?"
"Well -- is it what you want?"
"I asked you first."
"I --" Taking a deep breath, Inspector Boxer took the plunge. "Yeah. I'd like that."
The reporter smiled. "Then I guess we're in a relationship. Salmon okay with you?"
"What?"
"Salmon. You know, as food?"
"Oh, sure." The redhead's ease of acceptance was a little surprising for the tall woman. "That's it?"
"Do you want something with it? I think I have some rice left."
"No-- I mean, sure, rice is fine." She watched as Cindy slid the leftover salmon on a plate and then added rice before putting the plate in the microwave. "What I mean is -- that's it? We're just suddenly in a relationship?"
Cindy had to laugh at the consternation on the Inspector's face. "Suddenly? Lindsay, we've been tiptoeing around each other for a year now. None of this was very sudden." Her smile faded. "Unless you feel like we're moving too fast?"
"No! No, that's not --" Lindsay sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "I'm tired and not making sense. I guess it just surprised me that all it took for us to be in a relationship was to say it."
"Linds, we've been in a relationship for months. Since our first date, even if we didn't call it that." The microwave beeped and she opened it to pull out the plate. "All we're doing is finally accepting it."
"Right. Accepting." She gratefully took the plate Cindy passed her. "You know, we'll probably end up having these conversations over and over again. I didn't do so well in my last two relationships, so . . ."
"You weren't with me in your last two relationships." The reporter slipped onto the stool next to her. "And my track record doesn't hold a relationship longer than a year and a half. I don't think either of us has reason to expect perfection." She smiled and touched Lindsay's shoulder gently. "But if you're willing to try, so am I."
Nodding, Lindsay took a bite of food and sighed. "Wow. I'm never breaking up with you."
"Never?"
"Not as long as you feed me like this."
And then they were laughing, in companionship and acceptance. <
Lindsay had finished dinner and Cindy could see the inspector fading before her eyes. She washed the plate while keeping an eye on her lover, then slowly led her into the bedroom.
"You're not going to fit in any of my pants, but I think I might have a pair of shorts if you want them."
To Cindy's surprise, the Inspector pouted. "Do I have to wear clothes? I didn't make you wear any last night."
"Okay, now I know you're exhausted. Let's just get you into bed, hm?"
"Right. Bed." Nodding, Lindsay sat on the side of it and pulled her shirt over her head. "Will you be there?"
"It is my bed."
"No sleeping on the couch?"
"No." Cindy had to smile at the almost child-like way Lindsay was responding. The taller woman was fighting with the wife beater she wore, first trying to pull it over her head before untucking it, then unbuckling her pants and lifting the shirt and flinging it away. "Do you need some help there, stud?"
Lindsay stopped as she was trying to wriggle her pants off. "I'm a stud?"
"Oh, absolutely."
"Good." She leaned back on the bed and pushed the jeans down her hips, where they got tangled at her knees. "Studs don't need help, you know."
Fighting not to giggle, Cindy moved around to Lindsay's side of the bed. She leaned over and grasped the taller woman's pant legs at the ankle and pulled, straightening them and removing them in one smooth motion. "Of course not."
"Right." Lindsay closed her eyes. "I don't need any help."
"Go to sleep, Linds."
"Stud." The word was muttered as Cindy pulled the blanket over her girlfriend.
"My stud." The reporter placed a kiss on her Inspector's brow. "Sleep well."
The reply was a soft snore, and Cindy sighed, a small smile crossing her face.
Instead of lying down herself, however, Cindy sat next to Lindsay's prone figure, occasionally running her hands through the older woman's hair or smoothing away a wrinkled brow. Lindsay never stirred.
Cindy couldn't sleep. This one fleeting moment of happiness was hers.
Tomorrow she could lose it. Tomorrow she might be forced to reveal secrets to Lindsay that she had sworn never to tell. Tomorrow she would choose who to betray -- Drake or Lindsay.
But tonight she would lie next to her lover and watch over her.
And pray that tomorrow would never come.
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