Summary: There's something going on with M-21's transformation.

Uh. Set…post-season 3?

Thanks to Key for suggesting the title!

Growing Pains

By Dark Ice Dragon

M-21 stared down at his hands, frowning. He focused, going through the usual motions. Nothing happened, and M-21 ran his nails lightly over his palm, in case he was imagining it.

He left four thin trails of blood across his palm.

Fuck.

His nails were off-white, the tips of them sharpened to points. M-21 had just finished practicing his transformation for the night, but at the end of it, his nails weren't taking the hint to go.

As he watched his wounds heal over, the still wet blood the only sign he had been injured there, his nails shrank back at the same time, rounding off at the edges and darkening until they were back to normal.

M-21 flexed his hands, double-checking. They felt like they should be and he sighed, leaning back on his chair.

If he was starting to have problems controlling his transformation… He shook his head. He would try harder next time. That must have been what the problem was.

With that resolved, M-21 left his room to find something to eat – he was feeling hungrier now, thanks to that.

xOx

M-21 glared at his hands, his lips a thin line - his fur and nails refused to change back, no matter how much energy he threw at it.

Maybe there was something else going on… If there was someone who would know, it was Frankenstein.

He stood up and left his room, making sure not to leave gouges in the wood as he opened the door.

But he couldn't stop his thoughts as he walked down. His lack of control was getting worse, progressing far too fast, and what would happen if they didn't go back? If he ended up somehow being stuck in his transformed form?

"Frankenstein?" he called out when he reached the lab, trying to find him.

"Yes?" Frankenstein was by one of the machines used to make food, and M-21 went over to him. Frankenstein smiled when he saw him, but the smile disappeared as soon as Frankenstein looked down. "What's wrong?"

"I'm losing control over my transformation," M-21 told him through gritted teeth, his hands clenched as best as he could make them in that state. "I can't transform back when I want to."

"Hmm," Frankenstein said, peering at his hands. "Can I see them?"

"Yeah." He lifted them up, straitening them so his palms faced the floor.

Frankenstein inspected them, leaning in close as he turned M-21's hands over. "Have you been experiencing any other symptoms recently? Hunger, exhaustion, dizziness…?"

M-21 shook his head. "Not really. Only hunger afterwards." And that was standard after transforming for a while. Everything else was the same.

Frankenstein hummed again, stepping back. "If you could go onto the scanner," he said, walking to it. "I have an idea of what's happening to you, but I need to confirm it first."

"All right." M-21 started to unbutton his shirt as he followed him, making sure not to catch his claws. He folded his shirt once it was off, and he set it on the foot of the scanner before laying down on it.

"This shouldn't take long," Frankenstein murmured as M-21 was drawn into the scanner's insides.

He closed his eyes as the familiar hum grew in strength, seeing the light pass over his eyelids.

A few minutes later, he felt the table move under him again. He waited until it stopped (hitting his head off the scanner once was more than enough) before he sat up and started to pull his shirt back on.

Frankenstein was reading off the screen, mouthing whatever it was that was in front of him. He didn't look worried, his expression relaxed, like he'd gotten what he'd expected.

"You aren't losing control," Frankenstein said while M-21 started on his buttons. "Well," Frankenstein amended, "not fully."

M-21's fingers slowed as he tried to understand what Frankenstein meant by that.

Frankenstein smiled wryly, looking at him over his glasses. "You're going through puberty."

What.

"Werewolf puberty to be precise," Frankenstein continued and M-21 completely forgot about his shirt.

"How can I be-" Except it was relatively obvious, even if it didn't make sense.

"I wasn't sure if this would happen," Frankenstein admitted, "which is why I didn't tell you." He exhaled, looking at him. "It would seem that due to the modifications done to you, you were able to tap into the werewolf's abilities before the original owner would have. Now that your blood has matured however…"

Frankenstein glanced back at the screen. "How long had it been since this started happening?"

"A few days," M-21 said after a brief pause, making sure he was remembering correctly.

"And it's already onto your fur?" 'Already'…? At M-21's hesitant nod, Frankenstein hummed. "You appear to be going through this at an accelerated rate, which is relieving."

M-21 raised an eyebrow. Why was that relieving?

One side of Frankenstein's mouth lifted up in a wry smile. "Werewolf puberty tends to last an average of fifty years."

"Fift-" M-21's eyes went wide, his mouth almost dropping. Not being able to change back for a while would be annoying, but not if it went on for that long. As if on cue, his hands itched as the fur receded. He ran his palms over the back of them, making sure – he only felt skin at his touch. Good.

"Yes," Frankenstein said, watching him do that. "You should be back to normal in a few days." His expression turned serious. "It will get worse – you won't be able to stop yourself from transforming either."

Fuck. M-21 grimaced. He wouldn't be able to leave the house until it was over, then.

"I'll inform the security team you won't be able to work until it's over."

"I'm sick again?" he said, snorting as he started to button up his shirt again, glad he didn't have to be so careful now. They probably thought he had a really weak immune system, seeing how often he missed work. Hah.

"Hm, maybe visiting family this time," Frankenstein said, switching the scanner off. "Try not to transform in the meantime."

M-21 nodded. He paused once he'd finished with his buttons. "Will I be stronger afterwards?"

"That remains to be seen; you may receive a boost or you may not – once it's over, we can check."

"All right."

xOx

"Shit!" M-21 jerked his hands, trying to make sure he didn't clench them out of reflex.

"What's wrong?" Takeo asked, glancing over to his sink, frowning.

He hadn't sliced through the plates at least. Or the sink. "My transformation," M-21 said, raising his hands up over the soapy water. His claws were poking through at the tips and he could feel the fur had gone all the way up to his shoulders.

They hadn't let the kids over for the last couple days so he wouldn't have to hide away in his bedroom while they were there, and now that he was transforming without wanting to…

"I'll finish them," Takeo said, and M-21 exhaled, his shoulders slumping.

"Thanks." He more tore through the gloves than took them off and M-21 dropped the shredded remains into the bin. He didn't bother trying to dry his hands, not when he'd make an even bigger mess if he tried.

He retreated to his bedroom and leaned back on his bed. He wouldn't be able to read a book like this, but maybe if he could nudge his transformation back…

Some time later, the transformation hadn't budged and M-21 was starting to shake at how much it was costing him to maintain it.

Fuck. Fuck! He was panting, feeling lightheaded, and shit, Frankenstein would have told him if there was a chance that the transformation would suck him dry. But if this wasn't normal for werewolves, how was Frankenstein supposed to know…?

He let out a choked gasp when the transformation finally went. With no energy left, he curled up and let exhaustion take him.

xOx

There was a murmuring buzzing in M-21's head – he frowned, trying to ignore it. It was persistent though, and it dragged him back from the safety of sleep.

He blearily looked up at Tao's smiling face." What…?" he croaked out.

"Mornin', sleepy head," Tao said, leaning back. Fuck, had he slept that long…? "You slept through dinner."

It was dark outside his window, but it had been lunch when he'd gone up… M-21's nose twitched at the scent of food and his stomach growled like he hadn't eaten for two days. He looked around and saw Takeo at the foot of his bed, with a number of food-laden plates on a tray.

"Yeah, we brought you stuff. C'mon," Tao said, trying to nudge him up, "Boss says you need to eat and we're here to make sure you do!"

Grumbling, M-21 hefted himself upright. "Tao dragged you up here?" he asked Takeo once he was upright.

"Not really," Takeo said as he came over with the tray, smiling softly.

…Oh, huh.

Tao poked him in the shoulder, drawing his attention again. "You gotta choose at least one movie too."

"Why."

"It'll help keep you up long enough to eat," Tao said as he sat next to him.

"Tao," M-21 said, exasperated, giving him space anyway, "we're not going to fit." Two of them sitting next to each other on his bed would be a tight enough squeeze, but three?

"We will if you scooch on over to the wall. C'mon, M," Tao said, directing him there, "think a little outside the box."

Rolling his eyes, M-21 moved so that he was leaning against the wall, and Takeo and Tao settled down on either side of him.

"So what I picked out have pretty easy plots so you won't have to use up too much brain power trying to figure out what's happening," Tao said as he pulled over his laptop, Takeo putting the tray on M-21's lap.

M-21 took in a breath, savouring the scents. "Being in your presence takes up brain power," he muttered under his breath. He didn't have to look up to know Tao was pouting at him, especially when he heard him click his tongue.

"At least we know you're well enough to keep on snarking."

M-21 smirked, picking up the chopsticks and aimed for the food that was right in front of him.

"So, pick one," Tao said, nudging his side.

"Fine," he said, just before he put the food in his mouth. He scanned the list and chose one at random, pointing to it.

"Ooh, good choice, good choice!" Tao said, clicking on it. "I think you'll like this one."

They would see about that. As the opening credits rolled, the three of them got comfortable to watch.

xOx

A few days later, M-21 was back in Frankenstein's lab. It had been a while since he'd unintentionally transformed, and in the times when he had, Takeo and Tao had been there when he woke up to make sure he had enough food to recover from it.

"While you aren't drastically stronger," Frankenstein murmured over the screen as M-21 put his shirt back on, "you've stabilised more, so you have the ability to become stronger."

M-21 nodded, letting out a sigh. If he could get stronger because of it, then it was worth it. In the meantime, he would take a small break from transforming.

I apparently can't write a Noblesse fic without trying to subvert it, or have a twist. On the other hand, I'd actually wanted a sad ending to this (M-21 getting trapped in the werewolf form), but canon says otherwise, so.