Summary: M-21's head snapped up at a sound in front of him and he snarled, crouching over his packmates.

Contains trioship? I never know, so it depends on how you tilt your head.

Set after 322.

Spoilers for 322. (and general aaaaaaaah for 322 8D)

This is going to be jossed and I don't caaaare.

Thanks to Kai and Key for reading this over!

Reassure

By Dark Ice Dragon

He landed on all fours, watching as the other werewolf hit the ground with a wet slap. He waited, his eyes narrowed, but the other didn't move, wasn't breathing anymore. Good. No longer a danger.

He wanted to howl in victory, but there was something far more important than that: his packmates. They were the reason he had fought the other werewolf.

It only took a few bounds to reach their sides, but he whined when he saw them – they were still unconscious, their wounds sluggishly bleeding.

He could hear them breathing but it was strained, and this had happened before. Recently. They had nearly-

His head snapped up at a sound in front of him and he snarled, crouching over his packmates.

Three more attackers. He bared his fangs at them, feeling the drain in his energy, but he drew on his power, preparing to attack. They would not harm his packmates so long as he was there.

The black-haired one closest to him started walking towards him and he snarled again, unleashing his power, sweeping his arm-

The wind shifted, and he halted, his nostrils flaring at the familiar scent. Another packmate. The other two he knew as well, but only faintly. Those two didn't matter.

He let go of his power, his packmate continuing towards him, having never faltered, ignoring the cries of the other two.

But something was wrong – his packmate shouldn't be here. He didn't know why, but he knew he shouldn't.

His packmate placed a paw on his shoulder, a smile on his lips. There was praise in his packmate's words, but he whined. Now was not the time for that! His other packmates needed help!

The world lost focus and-

M-21 gasped, shoving himself away from- "W-what?" What was going on? The last thing he remembered was –that was Takeo and Tao's bleeding bodies in front of him!- and if Frankenstein's master was here that had to mean – fucking dammit.

"Karias."

"Ah! Coming!"

Frankenstein's master looked back at him. "I did not use my power here – you were the one who protected them."

Him? No, he couldn't have. He was too weak; there was no way he had enough straight to fight against a real werewolf.

"Then turn around and see for yourself."

M-21 stared at him, seeing amusement in his eyes. All right, he would humour him, but…

The island was completely wrecked - there were slashes gouged into the landscape, craters pockmarking it. In the middle of the destruction was the bleeding mess of what M-21 had to assume was the werewolf. The only thing M-21 could pick out from the body was a few untouched brown tufts of fur.

If Frankenstein's master had fought it, there wouldn't have been a body left. The air was heavy with the werewolf's blood, but it wasn't suffocating like it would have been if Frankenstien's master had used his power either.

"M-21."

Right. M-21 turned around and picked Takeo up, making sure he swept up Takeo's hair as well so it wouldn't drag in the ground. Tao was already in Karias' arms.

He could dwell on it later, once he knew Takeo and Tao would live.

xOx

M-21 paced inside Frankenstein's lab, worry knotting his stomach. The surgery had finished a while ago but that didn't mean safe. Not yet.

He'd changed out of his dirty clothes, forgoing a shower in case he was needed.

He whirled around at one of the doors swishing open. It was Frankenstein, looking tired, but satisfied.

"They're stable," Frankenstein said, peeling off a glove. "They'll live – at the moment, they're resting."

That – that was good, and M-21 sagged, exhaling.

"How are you feeling?"

M-21 let out a breathy choke. "I'm not the one who was on your surgery table." He didn't look at Frankenstein, his hands slowly curling into fists.

Frankenstein didn't say anything for a few seconds. "Take a seat."

What? M-21 hadn't expected him to say that, and he turned his head to stare at him.

"Please," Frankenstein said, gesturing towards a chair.

Why did Frankenstein…? But M-21 went over to it and eased himself down into it.

Frankenstein smiled. "Thank you. Now, do not blame yourself for what happened-"

He looked away again, curling his lip in self-disgust. "Tch. It's because of me-"

"You were facing a pureblooded werewolf."

That didn't matter. "And I froze when they needed me!" he snapped. "I-"

"They are alive because you didn't." Frankenstein peered at him from over his glasses.

"But…" M-21 bowed his head, his hands clutching the edge of the chair. Takeo and Tao wouldn't have gotten as hurt if they had been able to rely on him from the start.

He heard Frankenstein walk away, removing the rest of his scrubs.

But he wasn't sure if that was really true, and M-21 raised his head when he heard Frankenstein approach again. "Fr…"

He blinked at the glass Frankenstein held out towards him. "Uh, thanks," he said, taking it from Frankenstein. He stared down at the water for a few seconds and then sipped it, feeling the coolness slip down his throat.

"Frankenstein," he said again, when he had collected a bit more of his thoughts.

"Yes?"

"Something happened during the fight." His hand tightened around the glass and he had to stop himself from shattering it.

"Oh?"

"My transformation changed." He knew that much. "I…lost control of myself." Everything had narrowed down to protecting his - Takeo and Tao above everything else. If he hadn't surprised the other werewolf he could have gotten them all killed.

"Ah, yes. Master had told me you had become stronger."

M-21 slowly lifted his head to stare at him again. …Right, he had gotten stronger, hadn't he? All those marks hadn't only been made by the other werewolf.

Wait. The last time he'd felt and seen something like that, Frankenstein's master had awakened his powers.

Frankenstein smiled as M-21's eyes widened. "Well done."

M-21 flushed, ducking his head, and he stared at the water again. "But I couldn't control it." He'd been told that it was up to him to awaken his power, but what was the point if he couldn't use it?

"From what Master had told me," Frankenstein said, "that is normal for the first time you achieve that progression in the transformation. You will have perfect control the next time you transform."

"O-oh…" The next time he transformed? So it wasn't something that only happened when he needed.

"Come." When M-21 looked up again, Frankenstein had another smile on his face. "Dinner's ready and Takeo and Tao will be sleeping for the next while. I'll be notified if something happens to them, so you can eat in the meantime."

M-21 nodded slowly and started to follow Frankenstein out the lab, taking his glass with him.

xOx

M-21 ignored everyone at dinner, not questioning why the Lord was sitting in Tao's chair. The others had mostly left him alone, but he felt their gazes on him every once in a while.

"M-21," Regis said as M-21 stood up from the table after he'd prodded enough at his food, "I'll wash the plates."

He blinked at Regis; Regis had never offered to do his chore before.

The clatter of a dropped cutlery. "What? Regis, you-"

"Rael."

Rael whirled on Seira this time, his eyes wide. "But Seira-"

Whatever he was going to say died on his lips, quelled by the look on Seira's face. When Rael quietened down, Seira continued eating.

M-21 pursed his lips and nodded, ignoring Rael. "Thanks."

Regis smirked. "Hmph. You'll have to clean up after the children next time."

M-21 nodded, trusting Regis to remind him when it came up.

xOx

Inside the recovery room, M-21 pulled a chair between Takeo and Tao's beds. He would have preferred to have them both in easy sight, but he didn't want to be closer to one in case the other needed help either. The smell of iodine lingered in the room, but M-21 could still pick out the scent of Takeo and Tao's blood under it all.

Tao was the first to stir, exhaling and then blinking up at the ceiling. He tilted his head towards M-21, smiled and said, "You…should eat."

"H-hah." Fuck, that was the first thing Tao said after waking up? "I already have."

"Mmhm." Tao propped himself up onto an elbow, an eyebrow raised. "Look at the time and tell me how long ago that was."

M-21 did, checking the clock on the wall. "Thirty minutes ago."

The other eyebrow shot up. "Oh, heh, okay – you're off the hook." Tao stretched, tapping the headboard with his knuckles.

He snorted, relieved Tao was acting as normal as he usually did.

"How are you feeling?"

M-21 turned around to look at Takeo incredulously. "You're the ones who had to be checked over by Frankenstein – why are you asking me how I am?" They should be more worried about themselves.

"That's because we know you, mister." Tao reached over and poked him. "And we're alive; we can't get much better than that."

Takeo nodded.

M-21 trembled, his breath catching in his throat now that he knew they were okay. "I'm – I'm glad you are." He squeezed his eyes shut when he felt their hands on his shoulders.

"C'mon, you," Tao said softly, "get some sleep."

"Don't you need to eat?" M-21 asked, shaking his head. He could sleep later, once they'd been looked after.

"Eh, sleep first," Tao said, waving a hand.

"Who moves his bed?" Takeo said, sitting up with a sigh.

"…What?" M-21 looked at Takeo in confusion. That had come out of nowhere.

"And you're gonna have to move your chair so we can shove them together," Tao added.

M-21 glanced between them, knowing what they were saying but not understanding. "I'm sleeping here?" He had to be wrong. He was just hoping that's what they were saying.

"Yup." Tao nodded. "You're not sleeping on the floor, not when you can fit with us."

"Oh…" That…was good; he hadn't wanted to leave them alone.

He looked between them again, taking a breath, measuring them against each other. "We should move Tao's bed." Since he wasn't as injured as Takeo.

Takeo and Tao nodded.

While M-21 moved his chair out the way, Takeo and Tao lifted their blanket on the sides facing each other.

Once they were ready, M-21 lifted Tao's bed and placed it next to Takeo's.

"Okay, in!" Tao said, gesturing at M-21.

With a weak smile, M-21 got out of his slippers and crawled up to them until he reached the pillows.

When he lay down, Tao threw his blanket over him, Takeo settling his on top. M-21 didn't move, feeling their warmth surround him like an extra blanket.

They were alive. They were recovering, but they weren't dead. They were still here.

"I'm s-"

Someone's hand covered his mouth – Tao, but the smell of it.

"Nuh-uh. No apologies in this bed."

"And it's not needed," Takeo murmured, moving closer.

But it was.

"Sleep," Tao said, moving his hand down to rest his arm over M-21's stomach, Takeo's following a second after. "We're alive, you're alive-" Tao paused, peering at him. "Is everyone alive?"

M-21 nodded.

"Okay, good."

"And you got stronger," Takeo added.

"Yup," Tao said. "We'll check that out when we feel better."

"Yeah…" M-21 breathed in, drowning himself in their scents, allowing himself to finally relax, feeling their heat seep into his body, warming him.

He eventually drifted off to the sound of their breathing.

I realised Rai's 'scent name' would be tea-and-ramen and ahaaha, nope. Not using that here.