Shades of Time

Sorry this has taken a small forever. Real life got in the way. And yes, Dambae, the L.A. Guns definitely rock.

***



“Hells bells those things were nasty,” Xan said, rubbing her hands on her pants and looking disgustedly at the dust piles on the floor of the cave.



“Yeah, I think I’ll be coughing up dust for days,” Gojyo said.



“Nah, you’ll just be coughing up a lung from smoking,” she teased. “You okay?”



“Yeah,” he said, rubbing the spot on his arm where one of them had managed to claw him. “Just have to get Hakkai to heal this up before it gets infected or something. They must be finished too.”



“How do you know?”



He pointed down the tunnel, watching a small white shape getting larger as it headed toward them. “Hakuryuu. He’d never leave Hakkai if he was still fighting.”



The little dragon made a few circles around either of them, judging both to be relatively safe and sound before hovering and waiting.



“Well, let’s go find them then. Hopefully Ai and Diablo are done as well,” Xan said.



“Hell, they probably finished ages ago and are making out against a cave wall somewhere.”



Xan laughed. “Probably, knowing them. Come on, let’s go find Rei and Hakkai. They’re the ones least likely to be caught in a compromising position.”



“You got that one right,” Gojyo laughed as they followed Hakuryuu down the tunnel to the central one then the corridor Hakkai and Rei had gone hunting down earlier. Hakuryuu went ahead and glided around a corner, squeaked in what sounded like surprise then swiftly came back around before flying by Gojyo and grabbing a tuft of his hair, trying to pull him backward.



“What the hell? Hakuryuu, what’re you doing?” Gojyo asked, pulling the little dragon’s claws out of his hair. He walked around the corner and froze in place. He blinked and shook his head because there was absolutely no way he was seeing what he thought he was seeing.



Hakkai, in full demon form, had just rolled Rei underneath him on the cave floor and was now crouched in an almost guarding position over her. Hakkai was glaring at him and he would have sworn growling. It was then that Rei tilted her head back and spoke to Xan.



“Xan, get him out! Now!”



“On it,” Xan said, taking Gojyo by the arm and dragging him none too gently back down the corridor.



“What the hell was that?” Gojyo asked as he was pulled along like a child.



“I’ll explain when we’re a safe enough distance away,” Xan said.



Gojyo allowed himself to be taken along the tunnel back to the main area. He was silently pondering why Hakkai had reacted to him the way he had. It worried him more than a little as he’d never seen it happen before.



“Xan, what . . .” he began.



“He’s running on instinct right now. He thinks he’s protecting Rei.”



“From me?! What the hell?”



“Gojyo, you’re part youkai. Right now Hakkai isn’t seeing his friend of several years. He’s seeing another male youkai; he’s seeing a possible threat to his mate.”



“A threat to his . . .” Gojyo knew his eyes must have gone glassy because he was damn sure his brain shut down in that instant.



Xan shrugged. “Can’t be anything else. I’ve seen it before. Ming used to react like that to other youkai when he and Rei first got married, bonded, whatever you want to call it. He nearly tore one poor bastard apart for bumping into her accidentally.”



“You’re going to have to give me a little while to adjust here, Xan. This is really fucking weird,” Gojyo said. Part of him thought that Hakkai, who most of the time seemed asexual at best, having a mate was the strangest damn thing ever. While another part of him was beyond thrilled his friend had finally gotten over Kanan enough to be interested in another woman.



***



Rei had finally managed to get Hakkai calmed down and had unceremoniously stuck his limiters back on to keep him calm. Hakkai had taken one look at the position they were both in and had turned roughly the color of a ripe tomato if how hot his face had become was any indication.



“Don’t over think it, Hakkai,” she said, shifting and getting to her feet and taking his hand. “Come on. We need to get back to the others.”



He followed her like an obedient handmaiden would have. She’d said not to over think it but he wasn’t sure he could stop his mind running over what had happened. At least all the parts he clearly remembered. A lot of it was a blur and running on instincts. That bothered him much more than he was willing to admit, even to himself. He had always been somewhat clearheaded before in full youkai form. Why would this time be so different? He remembered talking to Rei but he couldn’t remember how they’d ended up on the floor. He also thought he recalled chasing her for some strange reason. He frowned a little, feeling worried and confused. They made their way back to the main tunnel and found Gojyo and Xan waiting for them there. Ai and Diablo came out of their respective corridors almost immediately afterward.



“You okay, Hakkai?” Gojyo asked, for some reason looking worried and a little nervous.



“I’m fine, Gojyo. None the worse for wear than the usual fight, I suppose,” Hakkai said with his usual smile.



“Yeah. I guess so,” Gojyo said, glancing over at Rei.



Hakkai looked from one to the other of them curiously.



“I’ll explain when we get back, Hakkai,” Rei said.



Hakkai nodded. He figured this was going to be a fairly lengthy conversation and possibly one the others shouldn’t be in on. “Is everyone well enough until we get back to the inn or are there injuries that need tended now?”



“We’re fine,” Xan said. “No real problems here.”



“I’m well,” Diablo said. Ai nodded. Indeed it didn’t look as though he or Ai had a scratch on them.



“Shall we go then,” Hakkai said pleasantly.



“Happily,” Rei said, taking the lead and walking from the cave into the bright afternoon sunlight.