Bitesize 3.10

Sorry about the delays. Every time I sit down to continue this someone's at the door or on the phone or interfering. GAAAHH!!! *tears hair out*

Bitesize3.10

Ed walked into the room and looked at his father. He was asleep on a hospital bed, hooked up to two drips, an oxygen mask partly obscuring his face. As Ed approached the bed he woke up, reaching up groggily to pull down the mask. He managed a weak smile.
"They tell me you caught T-alpha."
"It wasn't all that." said Ed, "I had more trouble with the other one."
"Still, well done. They've got me on more painkillers."
"Yeah, they said."
"I'll be on the machine for a week." he said, pointing at the oxygen mask. "But I can go home tomorrow. Valentina seems fine, bit shook up but coping."
"I'm just glad we got you back."
"You look exhausted."
Ed felt exhausted.
"Yeah, I should really go get some sleep."
"Hey, don't worry. I'm not going anywhere yet."
He reached up a hand and Ed took it in his.


When he finally left his father's bedside minutes later Ed made his way back to see Alf. He was in one of the control rooms, assigning people places to look, channels to watch. He saw Ed come in and moved over to him.
"We're on the case now, Ed. Go get some sleep. There's a spare bunk down in Delta. I'll send someone for you in a few hours."
Ed didn't have the strength to protest. He uttered a quick thank you and slipped off to the sleeping quarters in Delta sector.


He had no problem dropping off to sleep after being awake for so long but his mind was far from restless. It hummed with activity, trying to make sense of all that had happened so far. Crowley was looking for some way to open a portal to bring all the Onigawa here. How many of them were there? What would they do if they succeeded? And what of his father's words. The Onigawa had lived on earth before? At least that broadened their options. If they couldn't kill Crowley they might be able to trap him in the mirrors for good. And at least now they knew his immediate goals; find the others and wake their Onigawa up. He just hoped Crowley didn't call their bluff and turn up here first for Odolf.


As promised, a knocking at the door woke him up a few hours later. Some guy was at the door, Ed didn't recognize him.
"The T-alpha's awake." said the guy, "Alf said you'd want to go see it."
"Great." said Ed. That was partly good news. He left Delta sector and went to the cell where T-alpha was being held. Katia was already there waiting for him.
"Hey Ed. Nice timing. He just woke up an hour ago."
Ed came over to the window she was looking through. Beyond the reinforced glass was a large room lined with metal and in the centre, a spacious cage. The T-alpha was still in wolf form, stood on its hind legs, inspecting the bars of the cage.
"It's pretty smart." said Katia, "Hasn't tried to escape or anything. I think it knows it can't."
"Tried talking to it yet?"
"I was waiting for you."
Ed nodded.
"Let's go say hello then."
He pushed a nearby keypad and a door opened into the containment room beyond. He and Katia went through. The wolf watched them as they entered following their movements. Ed stopped a couple of feet from the bars.
"They're reinforced." said Ed to the wolf, "I couldn't tell you what they're made of but I know you won't be able to bend or break them."
The wolf gripped one of the bars and snarled at Ed.
"Not a big fan of being caged huh?" Ed went on, "We don't have to keep you in there you know. How about you take on human form and we discuss things? You agree to help us and we won't need to keep you in a cage."
The wolf just watched him.
"I know you can understand me." said Ed, "We really don't have the time for games. We need your help."
The wolf relinquished its grip on the bars, looking down at the floor, then took a few steps back.
Ed had never seen a wolf transformation before and what he saw now boggled his mind. The huge lumbering form of the T-alpha shrank right before his eyes. In seconds it had gone from an eight foot giant to somewhere near half that size. The muscle mass receding, hair seemingly sucked back under the skin which lost all its colour, turning a pale white. The whole thing was accompanied by a serious of sharp cracking noises as bones somehow readjusted themselves, the skull reshaping, the knee joints reversing, all the time growing smaller. The head lost its feral jaws and began to resemble something more human, a cluster of golden blonde hair sprouting and tumbling down its back. In under two minutes the T-alpha was gone and in its place stood a naked twelve year old girl. She fixed Ed with a glare.
"Well don't just stand there fool." she spat, "Fetch me some clothes."