* * * * *

William crashed down the elevator shaft. He had ridden the elevator up, but going down the shaft was a bit of guesswork. He jumped down, using the walls to slow his descent down into darkness. He picked just a random set of elevator doors leading out of the shaft. He jumped down to the opposite wall and then plunged forward, rolling in the air as he kicked out, crashing through the doors, landing with a dull thud while the doors screamed out as they were ripped from the wall. He laid there for a minute or two, just breathing heavily, staring up at the white paneled ceiling. For some reason he was reminded of John McClane.

He rolled over and pushed himself up to his feet. The fight above should have taken more out of him than it seemed to. The room he found himself in was littered with human and wolf bodies. He closed his eyes and said a silent prayer for them, wishing them a safe journey to the other side.

He looked around scanning the room. He threw some furniture aside before he finally found what he was looking for, a radio that still worked.

He keyed the radio mic, "Ansuya? Aceso? This is William. If anyone can read me, please come in?"

He waited for a few moments. Maybe they had all gotten out by now? Too far away for the radios to transmit to each other? Maybe they were all dead? No, no he felt Aceso, he knew some people were still alive.

"William? William, come in." It was Ansuya's voice.

"Ansuya, it's nice to hear your voice. I have no idea where I am, I thought I was pretty close to Aceso but I guess I missed the right floor."

"Its alright William, we weren't going to leave without you. But we are in a bit of a hurry, we're on the thirty third floor. Can you get to us?"

He looked around and as best he could tell he was on the thirty fifth floor. "I'm two floors above you, I'll be down in a bit. It won't take those cops long to cordon off this whole building once they see the garage."

"Isn't it lucky for us we don't have to leave the same way we came in? Hurry up, William. Ansuya out."

William nodded and dropped the radio on the floor. He went back over to the elevator shaft and using two leaps, he dropped down two floors and kicked open the elevator doors, just as he had previously.

And his landing was no more graceful than the last time either. He ended up on his back staring up at the ceiling, only this time a very familiar face covered in black fur stood over him smiling, "Do you always have to break something when make an entrance? I can't take you anywhere."

"Charles!!" William jumped off the floor and hugged his friend tightly. "Charles! What? I.. you were full of bullet holes! How did.. what happened? How is this possible?"

Charles nodded towards Amanda who was standing with Aceso and Ansuya. "You'll have to ask Amanda. When those guns opened up on us, I covered Amanda with my body, diving to the ground, giving her as much protection as I could. What I didn't know, was as soon as I had taken the first hit, Amanda bit and started healing me." Charles faltered and stumbled forward, William caught him.

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"Not exactly one hundred percent though. Are you alright?" William asked.

Charles nodded, "I just need some food. I'm really dizzy all of a sudden."

William nodded and supported his friend as he made his way back to his Alpha.

"It's time to go," Ansuya said as they all nodded in accent. The remaining Bultungin and werewolves gathered around the elder Shape shifter.

Ansuya reached out mentally and pressed against the membrane joining this reality with the Whyte Plain. There was no difference in elevation to the White plain, and no matter that they were thirty three floors above ground in reality, they all smoothly transitioned to the ground in the Whyte Plain as they always had.

Ansuya nodded to those around them, "Aceso proceed to the rendezvous point. I'll make sure all our remaining people are out of there. I haven't heard Acharya check in since they ran into that trap room. I'll get them and everyone else."

Aceso nodded and took everyone with her. She didn't run far before they were exciting the Whyte Plain, just on the outskirts of the desert, east of L.A.

William and Nicolas, both found themselves looking around the strangely familiar place. "Does this place look familiar to you too, Setford?" Nicolas asked.

William nodded. He hadn't forgotten his time here. He still felt the guilt of his last visit to this place when he and Nicolas had been alone and he had wanted to rip the Scout apart. Those memories weighed heavily on him. But he was here, Nicolas was here, and it was time to make good on what had happened in that tower they had just left.

"Nicolas, there have been times where I have hated you. I've wanted to kill you a few times. But you are part of my pack. I am your Enforcer, you're my Scout. Without you I can't see. I apologize for my anger and my actions." William raised his claw to Nicolas, "Forgive me?"

Nicolas smiled and took the outstretched claw in his own, "Yeah, yeah, no sweat. I'd be dead if it wasn't for you. And when we're not trying to kill each other, we do make a pretty good team. I'm glad to have you on my side."

William smiled, "Even from the most distasteful of people there is something to be learned, if not about the world, then about oneself…" William quoted his friend quietly.

"What was that? You spouting poetry on me now? Get out a here," Nicolas said with a laugh as he clapped William on his shoulder.

William smiled as he shifted back to human form. He inhaled the air around him deeply, looking back west out towards the city they had just escaped. He thought he could see the ocean, even from all these miles away. He felt whole, and at peace in ways that he had never felt before. Burying the hatchet with Nicolas let a giant weight off his shoulders.

His thoughts turned to Katherine. She was the second member of their pack to be lost and dozens of others. Most of which he didn't know their names. The Bultungin survivors huddled around their Matriarch softly chanting. He could only assume it was for their dead. He may be whole for the first time in his life, but the Mountain had lost so many, it was hard to see it being whole for a very long time.

He knew the Mountain would rebuild. They would have to be on their guard from now on. The vampires knew where they lived now. It was a level playing field. They would have to be careful, knowing they would never be completely safe in the Mountain ever again. But that fear would keep them sharp. Iron sharpens iron, and they would have to learn from their vampire enemies, not to emulate them, but to be better than them. They had to reach out and effect change. They couldn't wait for change to come to them anymore.

He let the warmth of the sun bathe his face as he smiled. The war wasn't over. It might never be. But now was a time to, rest, regroup, heal, and plan.

William looked out west and noticed on the horizon, just within his vision, the sky above the ocean was darkening. It was subtle, but ocean storms rose quickly, that much at least he had learned from his time in his valley. And the thing with storms is, change always followed in their wake.

The End

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