Benjamin listened to all the things Steph was sorry for and didn't belong to as he kept an eye on the wounds. "Honestly," he began when she was done, "Mike and I will probably argue about this again in the future if he continues to be shortsighted in the matter, but real friendships can survive disagreements and I know Mike values our friendship as much as I do. As for the rest of it." He shrugged. "It's not your fault you are a demon or that I fell in love with you. And if you feel like you don't belong here, maybe you should look for a place you can feel at home and if you want to do that alone I will let you, but I won't stop loving you. And I don't know what I deserve or who even gets to decide what someone deserves, but I don't want someone else and I'm not even going to look for someone else." He touched her cheek to wipe away some of the tears. "I love you, horns and wings included. Shall we go to the infirmary and see if they can help us with the wounds?"

Mike stepped back when Harriet showed her sharp teeth in her grin and suggested scaring the culprits into submission; he was certain he didn't want to be a part of that.
"I-I don't think I can help you," he said with a stutter caused by a sudden spike of fear. For the first time he was uncomfortable with being with Harriet alone.

---

"Then don't laugh," Morisson said, as if it was that simple.
He helped Carl on a bed that another nurse rolled in and then watched the nurses riding him to the back for treatment.

"Shall we report to the boss?" he asked without looking at Jase.

Steph watched Benjamin as he spoke to her, her eyes wide and tears started to flow a bit more.
"Tha...Thank you." She managed to sob out, moving to hug Benjamin tightly. "Thank you for accepting me. Thank you so much."
Her horns twisted in colour again, instead of the harrowing void black seemed to suddenly get small pricks of light, at a closer look was a soft hot pink.
She gave a gentle sigh as she leaned against Benjamin, he mentioned about going to the infirmary, but she wanted to be with him for a bit longer.

Harriet's smile turned back to her usual light one as she gave a gentle shrug.
"That's understandable~" She said before she looked to the door again before she furrowed her brow, "But I'll go talk to the boss about it sooner rather than later, but I can't promise that if I see those boys that I don't give them an earful of my mind." She said with she sneered before she looked to Mike with a gentle smile.
"You have any plans for the rest of the night?" She asked, tilting her head. She could tell she scared Mike, she never intended to scare him.

---

Carl nodded as he was put on a bed and wheeled away. He breathed in and out shakily as they whisked him away, closing his eyes to focus on his body.
Please be okay Jase. He thought to himself.

Jase gave a nod, "Yeah." He agreed as he turned towards the door, "Shall I lead Alistair?"

Benjamin returned the hug and gently stroke her hair. Some blood from her wrist and droplets that fell from her head landed on his clothes, but that was the last of his worries. Steph had come back to him. He held her tight. There were several things he wanted to say, but Mike's words kept him from doing that. Don't make this about you
"Steph, shall we ask for a new room for you? Or would you like to stay at mine?"

Mike relaxed a bit when Harriet showed her usual gentle smile and didn't talk about violence anymore. He nodded when she mentioned giving the culprits an earful of her mind. He didn't mind how much she would scold them, but the implications of before were something he didn't want to be a part of.
"I don't really have any plans for the night," he said. "You?"

---

With a gesture of his hand, agent Morisson allowed Jase to take the lead. He certainly didn't mind to be on first-name basis with Jase, but he did wonder what his regular partner would think of all this. He was less accepting of all those beasts and unknown creatures, and it was part of the reason they were able to hunt so well together. Vampires, werewolves, demons, they had hunted them all, but vampires were their speciality.

Steph stayed in the hug for as long as possible, when Benjamin asked about her room she just buried her head into him a bit more.
"If they'd allow me." She seemed to mumble into his chest. "But I don't want your room to be vandalized too." She pulled away from Benjamin after a moment. Her horns seemed to glow a bit, the pink colouration slowly spreading over her once pitch black horns.

Harriet gave a small shrug, "Not really, no." She started with a sigh, "Mum and Dad are still off planet, the brothers have legal stuff to go through. I don't know where Gaia is, Steph is... Well, you know." She said with a bit of a shiver, getting rid of the bubbling feeling over her body.
"I was thinking taking a walk into the fields and doing some meditation, but I wasn't too sure." She moved to quickly check her phone before she glanced towards Mike with a weak smile. "Not sure what to do for dinner though, don't think I can be bothered heading back into town to get food."

---

Jase smiled to Morrison before he took the lead. He kept his head down and didn't make eye contact with anyone as they both moved along. He felt the eyes on him.
They slowly got towards Johnson's room and Jase hesitated. He felt fear suddenly strike him, and trembled at the idea of knocking on the door. He stepped back and looked towards Morrison.
"Could... You?"

"Well, you can't stay here," Benjamin said. "But maybe we can focus on your wounds first and decide on a place to sleep later." He got up and looked around, holding out his hand to Steph to help her up as well. "We can always repaint this room. I can get some paint in the morning and spend the rest of tomorrow cleaning this room up."

"The food at the cafeteria isn't bad," Mike said. "I don't know what's on the menu today, but that's where I will eat." He paused, looking at the open door of Steph's room. He didn't fully trust Steph, but this was just mean.
If she really was dangerous she just had to be sent back to her own realm, but unless Benjamin suffered physically or mentally from being with a Succubus, she didn't have to be sent anywhere.

---

Morrison looked at Jase and then knocked on the door before opening it and poking his head in the room. "Got a moment?" he asked and when he saw their boss nod, he opened the door further and entered, leaving it open for Jase to follow.
"The Angels causing trouble were Fallen Angels. They promised to behave now." He glanced back to Jase. "There is another matter to discuss though. Carl got injured, but he'll live. And Jase...transformed."

Steph lifted herself up weakly with Benjamins' help. She looked down at the floor as he spoke, she listened to his words before she looked up at him.
"What if... they don't want to treat me?" She asked after a bit of a sob, "Surely I'd think that if they help in a place that specifically hunts Demons, that they'd be less likely to even help one."

Harriet gave a small nod to Mike's words, "That's fair." She started before she looked back towards Mike, "Have you been in contact with Kim?" She asked with a tilt of her head, "It's important to keep in touch. If you need help physically seeing her-" She started as she waved an arm slightly, creating a small portal over her hand before making it disappear. "Just come see me, yeah? I'm here to help if you ever need~" She stretched slightly before she started back towards her room, sending Steph a text to come see her when she's ready to.

---

Jase followed afterwards slowly, keeping his head down and his entire stature just seemed... sad.
"I don't know what snapped but," He started, trying to think of the right words. Did the boss know about him and Carl's relationship? "They attacked my partner, They hurt Carl, I just saw... red."

"I lack the skills to do it myself," Benjamin said. "Maybe Harriet or Mike can help?" He turned to look at the door, he could hear their voices outside, so they were still here. "I have no idea what Harriet can or can't do, but Mike might know some basic first aid that can help."

Mike didn't reply to Harriet's question and watched her leave. He cast his eyes down as he put his hands in his pocket; he wasn't sure what to do next, but he didn't want to leave just yet. Ben may need a friend after this and he wanted to be here for him.

---

Mr. Johnsson looked at Jase. "And what if one of our agents would hurt Carl by accident, or because you misunderstand the situation. Will you attack them too?"

"Jase didn't go feral," agent Morrison said. "I was safe. And if agents will hurt Carl like those fallen angels had, there really isn't anything to misunderstand and those agents would be a danger to our organisation. And he didn't kill any of the fallen angels."

Mr. Johnsson nodded. "You did put in a notice about feeling jumpy around the full moon, suspecting a form of lycanthropy. If you transformed during the day it's probably not that. What are you?"

Steph looked towards the doorway, she didn't respond to Benjamin as she turned and stepped over all the mess on the floor. She moved to stand in the doorway quietly, she looked at the floor for a moment before she looked towards Harriet and Mike.
"I..." She started, "I'm sorry if I made you guys worry about me." She continued.

Harriet stepped forward quietly and moved to gently put her hand on Steph's shoulder. They said nothing to each other before Harriet gave a small smile and looked to the wounds on Steph with a small smile.
"Come to my room. I'll try and patch you up." She said before she looked towards Mike quietly, "Unless you want to have a go? Or would you prefer to talk to Ben right now?"

---

Jase flinched at Mr. Johnsons' words before he went to speak, pausing as Morrison seemed to back him up. He smiled towards Morrison before he was asked a question again.
"I..." He started before he started to fumble with his shirt, "The Fallen Angels called me a 'TimberFae'?" He started, tilting his head slightly. "I did think it was a form of Lycanthropy, but I don't think I can really turn back into the 'old' form."

Mike stared at Steph when Harriet pulled his attention away. "I know how to apply a bandage, but that's it, I can't do anything about closing deep cuts. I'd take her to a doctor, so if you know how to treat her wounds you should." His eyes shifted to Benjamin. "I'm not sure we have a lot to talk about though."

"I'd say there is plenty," Benjamin said, although his voice had a sound of worry to it rather than anger. "Are you doing okay?"
When Mike shrugged, Benjamin turned to Steph. "You go with Harriet, I'll see what I can do about a new room for you."

---

"Timberfae," mr. Johnsson repeated. "I'm not sure we have such a creature registered. Are you willing to let us investigate you?"

"Under article 12, right?" Morrison said.

"Of course."

Article 12 mentioned the rights of the agents when they showed an illness or condition that was unique, or the first known case, and needed further investigation. It came down to the agents still being considered human, thus needing their approval for every test done.

Morrison nodded and turned to Jase. "It's up to you, but I'm going to take some much-needed rest. I have a long night ahead of me."

Steph immediately frowned at the mention of going to the nurses. She nodded gently at Mike's words before she looked to Benjamin as he spoke.
She flinched as Harriet looped her arm into hers as gently as possible. "Come on." Harriet said with a tilt of her head and a smile, "Lets head off, get to patched up."

Harriet walked along slowly, she waited until both of them were out of line of sight of the boys before she pulled Steph close to her and moved to gently press her into the wall. Steph was about to yell, half in pain, half in surprise before she realized she was in Harriet's room.
"Harriet what the fu-" Steph started before Harriet let go of her. The Space-girl moved quickly across her room as if she was looking for something.

Harriet seemed to be mumbling something to herself in a different language.
"Harry what are you doing?" Steph finally asked after a moment, she frowned when her team leader didn't reply. "Harry." Steph continued, putting some power into her words.
Harriet paused and looked towards Steph with a maniac grin before she went back to looking for something.
Steph felt her hair on her neck stick up from Harriets' grin. Okay.

---

Jase hesitated at Mr. Johnsons words before he gave a friendly smile and a wave to him before he turned back to Mr. Johnson.
"If..." He started, his voice cracking slightly, "If I agree to it, will... I be treated any differently?"

When Harriet and Steph were gone, Mike turned to Benjamin. "Actually, there is something I want to talk about..." he told his friend about Harriet and how evil she had looked. Benjamin listened to it and seemed to doubt.
"Look, I know what you're thinking," Mike said. "You think that since I don't trust Steph I don't trust any of them. But Steph is a demon and you can't say that isn't true. Harriet is from another planet. Succubi have a history of being dangerous to humans. Harriet's kind doesn't have that history. I'm not a bigot to anything that isn't human. But Harriet scared me, how she looked, it was unlike anything she ever showed."

"I believe you," Benjamin said. "I hope I can prove to you Steph isn't who you think she is, but let's focus on Harriet. Do you think she will go after those two?"

"She looked serious when she talked about scaring them into submission. The way she grinned..." Mike sighed. "You probably don't want to protect those guys that did this, but..." Mike rakes his hair with his fingers, unsure of what to say next.

"But if Harriet will go through with it and other agents will see her or those two will tell what happened," Benjamin continued, "she will lose the trust of the agents and her entire team is at risk. The only reason Gaia and Steph are condoned as they are, is that an alien ally is leading that team. Because humans are more likely to accept an alien humanoid than a demon." He paused, thinking about it. "You saw the agents? You know who they are?"

"I never spoke to them, I don't know their names, but I have seen them before."

"Let's not mention them to the boss yet, we'll report the vandalizing and then go look for them."

Mike nodded and together they went on their way to the office of mr. Johnson.

---

"Not any different than an agent who caught a new disease or a demonic parasite," mr. Johnson said. "You are still an agent of our organisation and should be treated as such. Please go to Stuart Greyhill; he is the expert on demons and may know more about timberfae's."

Jase gave a nod, he felt his body shaking slightly before he bowed his head and left the office. He looked around before he headed towards the library. He briefly knew who Stuart was, so he knew who to point out.
He moved towards the library to look around for him, wondering if he would be there first.

---

Steph watched Harriet as she slowly moved through her piles of things, moving to her wardrobe and leaned over a large closed box with strange runes on it. She seemed to start muttering things as Steph watched.
"Harry." Steph started, "You're scaring me." She said, raising her voice slightly as Harriet froze up.

"Well that's funny." Harriet said as she turned around and sat on the box she had been leaning over, "The Demons afraid of the Alien, shouldn't it be the other way around?" She gave a small wink.
Steph stayed quiet as she watched her before she shook her head. "Your demeanor is scaring me. And it was scaring Mike." She said sternly, Harriet blinked and her ears drooped.
"I guess I got a bit carried away into the darker thoughts..." Harriet said with a frown.

"Lemme guess, you get it from your fa-" Steph started before Harriet hopped back up and held out a small vial.
"Mother actually." Harriet said with a grin as she moved to Steph and placed the bottle in the females hands. "There, That's what I was looking for. Shouldn't take too long to heal up the damages." She moved to put her hands on Steph's shoulders. "I love you, and I care for you. Please stay positive, okay?"
Steph looked at the vial before she gave a small smile and nodded. "Only if you promise me not to kill or hurt those agents."

Harriet gave a dramatically long sigh, throwing her head back with her palm to her forehead.
"You're not fun." Harriet said with a small grin, Steph shuddered slightly. "I would never, I was thinking of at least scaring them, but I did scare Mike and I didn't like that."

Stuart was in the library, sitting at a table with his laptop. While he worked for the agency as an expert, he didn't belong to any base and he didn't have a personal office at any of the locations of the organisation. He didn't mind, working at one place was never for him anyway.

---

Mike and Benjamin were on their way to the boss when they saw Jase and glanced at each other when they noticed his altered appearance.
They both nodded a greeting though, Benjamin showing a friendly smile with it.

They continued to the office of the boss and after knocking on the door, they entered to tell him what happened.

"I will talk to the ones responsible," mr. Johnson promised. "And Steph can take room 26, that one is vacant right now. Thanks for telling me."

Since that had went well, Mike and Benjamin left the room again and went back to the wing with the personal chambers, to tell Steph the good news.

Jase gave a weak smile towards Benjamin and Mike as they walked past, he moved to keep his head down as he walked into the Library, ignoring the different looks he was getting.
He looked around before he saw Stuart, he swallowed his fear and moved to sit down a chair across from him. "Good morning." He said with a smile, "I presume you are Stuart? My name is Jason Shyll." He introduced himself, it felt weird to say his full name, "But please, call me Jase."

---

"I mean you can get a bit manic sometimes." Steph said with a smile to Harriet, moving to open the vial, giving it a whiff before she held her breath and drunk the liquid. She lowered the vial quietly, blinking at the pleasant strawberry taste that lingered in her mouth as Harriet grabbed the Vial from her and moved to put it in a test tube holder.

"Aye, I know." Harriet said with a small smile, "At least that's a quirk of mine." She said with a bigger grin before she moved to grab a medical bandage and start taping up around the bottom of Steph's horn. "Fold out your wings for me." She asked, moving to bandage that wound up as well, before moving to the small cuts on her wrists. "And done!" She said as she stepped back with a bigger grin.
Steph blinked and smiled at Harriet, looking at herself in the mirror with a small sigh.

The mirror seemed to flex the image sightly, showing Steph a vision of her as she was a male and human. She blinked slowly, she moved her arms slowly, only to watch her reflection version do the same.
"Harry." Steph started, "What is this mirror?"
"Oh!" Harriet said as she moved to stand beside Steph, showing herself as if she was exactly the same. "It shows... stuff!"

Stuart nodded. "Stuart Greyhill," he said, examining Jase. He recalled seeing this agent before, he probably had seen all agents who worked and lived at this base, but he looked unmistakably different. He had seen several cases of transformations, but this one was new. "Forgive my bluntness, but what are you?"

---

Since Steph had been taken by Harriet, they went to Harriets room. Benjamin knocked on the door and waited with Mike. He wasn't sure if they were welcome already: maybe Steph needed more treatment or didn't want to see anyone, but he assumed that in the very least Harriet would answer the door.

Jase only smiled as Stuart mentioned about being blunt.
"I was told a Timberfae, Mr. Johnson sent me here to do the investigation." He said with a bow of his head, smiling with a bit of a tilted head. He hoped that Stuart would have some sort of idea of what it was, or even knew someone who knew about them anyway.

---

"What do you mean... stuff?" Steph asked before she looked towards the door as a knock echoed around the room. Harriet grinned and darted to the door, pulling it open and looked towards the boys with a grin.
"She's patched up and healing, I promise~" Harriet said as she stepped aside, allowing the boys in. Her room was... slightly cluttered to say the least.

Steph turned around and her eyes lit up at the sight of Benjamin, moving over to hug him before she pulled away after a moment as her face deepened in red.
Harriet looked towards the boys with a smile, "How was it?" She asked with a slight tilt of the head.

"Timberfae," Stuart muttered. "Timberfae..." He went to his laptop to open a file. "Tell me about your transformation," he said as he gestured to an empty seat and he started typing, only pausing to examine the physical appearance of this agent.
While this was the first time ever seeing one, the name wasn't entirely unfamiliar. Maybe he had read a side-note somewhere, or a mention about these creatures. He couldn't recall, but he couldn't start this investigation without getting more data.

---

Benjamin hugged Steph back and had a smile for her. "Room 26 is for you now. If you want I'll help you move things."

"I'm going..." Mike began, but his voice trailed off. He didn't feel like he belonged here, not after all that happened, but at the same time he didn't know what else he could do, or where he should go. So he was left standing there to the side, feeling a bit awkward.

Jase sat down quietly as he was offered the seat. He sat down slowly, he was still slightly wary, but part of him definitely started to relax.
"I.." He started before she furrowed his brow and closed his eyes, he leaned back in the chair to relax himself and allow his memories to flow. "I put in a mention to the anatomy staff that I was feeling jumpy and a bit on edge this morning, I had seen the moon and something in my body seemed to just... click. I thought it would have been some form of Lycanthropy, although I hadn't knowingly came into contact with anything of that kind, Carl and I's latest missions were more security based, rather than hunting based."
He breathed in as he started to continue, his eyes still closed.

"The skin felt... tight almost, the whole drive there I was on edge, as if the others could notice something was wrong. I was feeling queezy, but not nauseous." He opened his eyes after a bit as he continued more, "My spine seemed to feel like it was clicking out of place, as well as my temples thumping like I had a terrible headache, but not in the usual way. The transformation itself happened over almost an hour, we were chasing the Fallen Angels, I could feel my muscles and body twist and change. When they attacked my boyfriend, something snapped, it felt like my skin had started to rip. Whatever this... fur is, caught the air and I felt a lot more free; The tail wasn't as painful as I would have expected, and I also could summon... Spines from my arms? My fur feels and smells a bit.. earthy, much like a forest floor. I can't tell if the fur itself is mossy myself, but it looks a little greeny."

---

Harriet looked to Michael with a weak smile, "If you're heading off, could you maybe stop by Gaia's room for me?" She started with a tilt of her head, "I haven't seen her all day and I think she might be back now."

Steph pulled from the hug as she looked to Benjamin as he spoke to her. "Is that one... far from here?" She asked, she wasn't fully sure of the numbering of this place yet- and she hoped it wasn't anywhere near the boys who did this to her room. "But I'd love your help if you're okay with it. I.. don't have too many things at least."

---

Gaia had climbed into her window, coiling her tail at the railing on the roof that were set up for her, before she moved to hang upside down from the roof.
She felt exhausted but wasn't sure why, her wings flexed out, touching the edges of the room before they moved to encase her in a small cacoon like coating.

---

The Agent from earlier sat up in her bed after having a bit of a nap after her shower. She slipped out of bed as she gave a yawn, her mandibles stretching as well. She flexed her arms, feeling her four extra spider legs stretch out as well, the two on the left brushed against the wall while the other two just stretched out freely. She felt... odd, free. Was this normal? This was what she was, right?

---

Carl weakly lifted his body up from the medical bed, he moved his hand to his head and felt the bandages as they covered one of his eyes. He blinked, feeling the numb stinging from the side of his face. Did he really take that much of a beating..?

As Jase spoke, Stuart was typing and nodded occasionally. He didn't interrupt the man as he talked and just wrote down the things he said.
"It doesn't look like a form of Lycanthropy," he said when Jase was done. "If nothing weird has happened to you, this is more like you always were a Timberfae, but that something triggered the transformation to your true form. I know it happened with demons in the past, they looked like normal humans most of their life, but after reaching a certain age or after a specific alignment of the moon and planets their transformation started." He examined Jase. "I'm not saying Timberfae are demonic, but it's the only comparison I have. Your kind is probably linked to the fae, judging by the name, and the characteristics lean more towards earth than darkness."

He got up and paced around as he thought about it. "I will have to read up on it," he muttered, speaking to himself rather than Jase. "Or ask a fae, but I've never seen fae before as they tend to hide themselves and their homes behind magic and humans can't see through them." He paused as he said that. "Although... wasn't there an agent that could?" He recalled reading something like that when he had examined the profiles of the agents that were stationed here, when he was invited to come over to teach a promising young agent some charms to send demons back to their realm.

He turned to Jase when he remembered he was still sitting there. "Sorry, got lost in my thoughts there. We will go somewhere more private for a physical investigation, if you consent to that. That does mean fully undressed I'm afraid. After that you can leave and I will see if I can find more information about Timberfae through the books and cross-check that with what you told me. Then we will meet again tomorrow morning and decide on further steps to understand you. I will ask you questions about your eating and sleeping pattern and if you noticed any differences, so try to keep an eye on that tonight. Understood?"

---

"Yeah, no problem," Mike said to Harriet and he nodded to Ben before he left. He walked to Gaia's room and knocked on the door.
The images of the file agent Morrison had showed him and Ethan about a dragon-like demon and it's victims flashed through his mind and he swallowed heavily. He reminded himself Gaia wasn't that demon, so there was nothing to worry about.

---

"It's not far from here," he assured her. "The end of this corridor. Or the beginning if you enter from the other side." He moved to take her hand. "Let's go get your things then. We'll leave the mess, the boss said he would deal with it and if anyone should be cleaning that up, it's the ones who made."

Jase listened to Stuart quietly, his ears twitching softly as he picked up on the whispers before he tilted his head with a small nod. He nodded at the idea that he was always a timberfae, as strange as it was to think. "No I get what you mean by the demon comparison." He started with a small nod before he looked down as Stuart seemed to focus on something else for a moment. The mention about Earth not Darkness made him think, he thought back to his past and winced slightly before he looked back up to Stuart.

"No need to apologize!" He said with a weak smile, "You're just thinking out loud, my boyfriend does the same." He laughed before he nodded slightly at the idea of the physical investigation. "I consent to that, yeah. It needs to be done and I would rather not halt any sort of progress in this place." He said as he moved to stand up to go with Stuart. "And that sounds like a good idea. I'll grab a notebook and carry it with me once I head back to my room after the investigation."

---

As Mike knocked on the door, it slowly opened. Gaia moved underneath her cacoon before she fanned her wings back a little bit, her eyes were closed before Mike stepped in, her eyes suddenly snapping open as she moved to stand properly on the ground as she towered over Mike, almost unblinking.
Her tail swayed slowly before she tilted her head at his presence. She was confused for a second, not recognizing him before her normal mindset sunk back in, her pupils flexing from dragon-like slits because rounding out a whole lot more.
"Mike." She said softly, "Do you need my help with anything?"

---

Steph's body shivered when he grabbed her hand, her face flushed a deep red before she slowly followed after Benjamin.
"Is it... Far from yours?" She found herself asking, Harriet letting out a small giggle as the two left her room. Steph didn't acknowledge it as she looked towards the end of the hall, back to her... old room.

Harriet waited until they left her sight before she moved to pull off her shirt and look at her back in her mirror. She frowned at the medium sized black triangle that had appeared on her skin on her back, lines slowly branching out like runes before she slipped her shirt back on. She grabbed a small bag and put a few more vials of the healing serum she had been working on before taking it over to the Infirmary with a bigger smile.