"Right, so...fox spirit. That's me. I know I told you about me a few days ago but...do you want to see what I really look like?"

"Sure. And in return, I guess I'll show you what I look like."

I nodded and pulled my own medallion from within my shirt. She did the same, revealing the little bronze disc she'd shown me a few days ago. As she let the medallion settle on her chest, her body became engulfed in a familiar white fire as she transformed before my eyes.

Evelyn was indeed a fox, that much I gathered. Her fur was snow white and she had a single tail that ended in a red tuft of fuzz. But other than that, she kept the rest of her features; her short but neatly kept brown hair, dark brown eyes and even the little scar she had on her right cheek. And she was still just as stunning as she was in her human form. As she smoothed out her blouse, I shifted to my wolf form, leaving me perched on the edge of her bed.

We sat there in silence for a while. I guess we were both stunned by how things had turned out. It felt like an eternity before we spoke. Well, I spoke.

"You're... Beautiful, Evey."

"And you're every bit as handsome as I thought you'd be. But a lot fluffier."

Some vestigial, bestial part of me reacted to that statement. I could feel my tail wagging without me willing it to do so. Felt weird. Really weird. But in a good way. Evelyn chuckled as I laid down next to her, my head close to her shoulder. Eventually, she spoke, a hint of sadness in her voice.

"So... What now?"

"Well, what's done is done. All we can do now is focus on what comes next. And that's finding our suspect. We have his name. We know where he lives. We know how he operates. It's only a matter of time before we catch him with his pants down."

She nodded. I felt her hand lightly grace the back of my head. It felt good.

"Y'know Evey, now that we have some free time, we can finally spend it together. We haven't had a chance to hang out in a while anyway. How long until you're okay to be allowed home?"

"Day or two. Depends on how the blood test results are. If they're good, I'm out tomorrow. If it's not, they have to run checks and I don't know how long that will take."

"Mmm. How about, once you're discharged, we head down to Central Park, have some sandwiches and soda. Take a walk along The Pond? Maybe stop by Gastow Bridge?"

She smiled. Somehow, that warm and charming smile grew even more beautiful in her fox form.

"I'd love to, Dan. I think we both could use a break."

I returned the smile and laid my head on her chest. I felt her hand atop my head, idly rubbing the rim of one of my ears between her fingers. I couldn't describe how comfortable it was, even in that sterile smelling hospital ward. We were both going to be fine. And we had a nice day out ahead of us too.

The next thing I remember was waking up on the hospital bed. Evelyn was asleep as well. I didn't remember when I'd passed out but I think it must have been the exhaustion of the last few weeks. All the stress of the investigation, my injuries. Finding out about myself, that whole thing. It had been a roller coaster ride that I thought just wasn't going to stop. And, in some sort of weird way, I had the feeling that it would never stop. And that was fine by me. After all, the person I relied on for support the most was right there in front of me. We were both in the same boat.

I hopped off Evelyn's bed and changed back into my human form to check my watch. It was early in the evening when the sun was just setting and I could feel my stomach grumbling at me. I left the room quietly and made for the exit, running into the satyr from earlier on my way there. He gave me a warm smile and a wave, a gesture that I returned as I left. I eventually found myself a cab and went home, with a warmed heart in my chest and Dylan's reassurance from before in my mind. I fixed myself some pasta and had a beer in some sort of vague celebration of Evelyn's upcoming hospital discharge.

Then I slept. And it was the first night of sound sleep that I've had in a while. Not since all this shit got unceremoniously thrown on the doorstep of my life. It felt right. Strangely right. I had a support network, friends who understood what I was going through. And the love of my life, made more beautiful by knowing who she really was.

When I woke the next day, the first thing I did was call the hospital to see if Evelyn was ready to be discharged. Unfortunately, she wasn't. Bit of a bummer, but the nurse I spoke to said she had about a day left in her stay, tops. So I checked in, paid her a visit and we talked about the little park date we had planned. She wanted to have sandwiches and a salad. I told her I'd get those from the cafe near my apartment that had great bread and pasta salad. Fun stuff. Just for a moment, it felt like we were in another world, without the looming cloud of a serial killer and an unfinished murder investigation hanging over our heads.

I went home after lunch and spent some time going over the case notes again. I just couldn't sit still, I guess. Needed something to do with my hands. So I refreshed my memory about the case. Thought about our killer and his MO. Tried to figure out how that scared young man was going to act or react to this situation. Potential theories. Ideas. Busied myself with attempting to predict where he was going to show up next.

Lost in my thoughts, it was about evening when I was yanked out of my thoughts by a knock on my apartment door.

Strange. I wasn't expecting any guests.

The knock came again, more insistent this time. I yawned and closed my laptop, before standing up to stretch and work some feeling into my stiff joints.

"Coming!"

I opened the door and was pleasantly surprised by Eddie standing there. He was holding a plastic bag that smelled absolutely delightful, along with a six-pack of beer. He held both up and smiled.

"Hope you didn't have dinner plans. I happened to be in the area and got Katz's. Figured you'd be hungry for something that wasn't hospital food or whatever junk you have in your fridge. And also bored out of your mind from being cooped up at home."

I shrugged and opened the door wider to let him in.

"Well, I don't have plans anymore. Not with this delicious present. Katz's, Eddie? Really? You spoil me."

"Don't get used to it, Dan. Not every day you get pastrami on rye from the most famous deli in New York."

"Shit, Eddie. You could've gotten me a five buck chopped cheese from the bodega near your place and I would've said the same thing. But it's the thought that counts, right?"

"Yeah yeah just take the goddamn sandwich. Jackass."

I grinned as Eddie placed the plastic bag on the coffee table in front of the TV and went to put the beers in my fridge while I sat on the couch. I heard the grunt of disapproval he made the moment he popped the fridge door open and chuckled.

"Oh c'mon, Eddie. It's not that bad, right? At least I threw out everything that smelled awful."

"Still, man. At least get some groceries instead of these microwave meals and leftovers. You know how much we make at work. You damn well can afford to go shopping once a week. And don't give me that bullshit about how you don't got time. You've had time since you got injured."

"Well excuse me for getting tossed in the hospital. Admittedly that was my fault but still."

"Jackass."

"Idiot."

Eddie came back with two of the six beers and two empty plates as I pulled some paper packages from the plastic bag he'd brought. Unwrapping the packages, the smell of the fresh sandwiches hit my nose. Reminded me of my first visit to Katz's, except amplified by at least a hundred. My new senses really made everything a fresh experience. From the way smells were more complex than before to how sharply I heard things around me. And I thought my vision was twenty twenty before.

We sat in silence and ate for a time. I didn't know what thoughts were going through Eddie's head but I could tell from the way he furrowed his brows ever so slightly that he was considering something. Eventually, he washed down a mouthful of sandwich with a glug of beer and spoke.

"So... How're you holding up?"

"My neck doesn't hurt anymore. I don't feel stiff. I'm feeling fine, if that's what you're asking."

"No, not that. I meant with all this change." Eddie gestured vaguely to the air with his sandwich.

"You haven't had a lot of time to talk about this with anyone, have you? Not since we had our guy's night out at the Greenwich pub. I know Dylan pulled you away to have some words, but I never got to speak with you about it. Personally."

I wiped my hands and mouth on a napkin, silent and in thought. Well, yeah. Eddie was right. He was my partner but I'd not spoken to him about this whole thing. At all. As I took another bite of my sandwich, he continued.

"So I figured I'd pay you a visit. Check in, y'know? See if you're doing alright."

Of course he caught me while I was chewing. I washed it down with some beer so I could reply without being rude.

"Yeah, I- I'm doing alright, Eddie. But you're right, it's been a lot to get used to all at once."

I set my sandwich down on the coffee table and sighed. I felt my appetite slowly leaving as my mind cast itself back to the initial stages of the change in my life. Waking up in that dingy basement. Seeing myself in a mirror for the first time. Getting used to all the new sights, smells and sounds that my heightened senses gave me. Even all the talk about mythical beasts and strange creatures at work. Knowing that almost every important person in my life was like me. That there was an entire community of us out there, embedded in almost every facet of society.

The implications were mind-boggling. Staggering in their depth. And I guess its implications hadn't really caught up to me until today. But oddly, I didn't feel as bothered about it now. The time I'd spent with Evelyn in the hospital proved it.

Eddie broke me out of whatever reverie I'd been in with a nudge to my shoulder.

"Hey, you okay? Looked like you were somewhere else."

"I- sorry, Eddie. It's all...catching up to me now. I didn't really think about it before, because of the case, but it's all very overwhelming. I told Dylan this, I think he understood me, or at least he said so."

Eddie placed a hand on my shoulder and squeezed.

"Hey, it's alright man. He probably told you this, but all of us went through that shit. We know how it feels. I know how it felt. Long story short, you're not alone, Dan."

"I know. But the implications of all that I've learned... I've got so many questions, Eddie. And I don't know if I'll be able to answer them all."

"That's fine, man. Take it one step at a time. We're a community, us mythics. You have any questions, I'd be more than happy to answer them."

"What, now?"

"Hell no, dude. Another time. It's late, it's not the weekend and I have work tomorrow."

Right. I was still on sick leave. Technically.

"Right, well I'll be back to the office sooner or later."

"Hopefully later rather than sooner, idiot. Now eat, before it gets cold."

Eddie gestured to my half-eaten sandwich with his beer bottle, so I picked it up and started eating again. No sense letting it get cold while I was ruminating on things. We spent the rest of dinner in relative silence, broken occasionally by idle chatter. As the night wore on and we finished our beers, our conversation shifted to work.

"Where do you think he's at now? The kid?" I asked Eddie over the last beer in my apartment.

"Who, Benjamin?"

"Yeah."

"Honestly... I don't know. After you and Evelyn confronted him and he kicked your asses, he disappeared. Gone off the grid. I called his mother the day after but she didn't see him either. I suppose he's hiding somewhere."

"But where? Like his mom said, he's completely new to this world of ours. Newer than me. I'm not sure if he would even have connections in town like you do."

"Well that's a problem for us to solve tomorrow. And I say us, when I do mean the rest of us that aren't on sick leave."

"Dick."

"Hey I'm not the one that got his ass kicked by a kid."

"Eddie, he literally turned into a fucking giant and swatted Evelyn and I like flies."

I swatted at him with an empty beer bottle as he chuckled and moved out of the way. Eddie glanced at his watch and stood, gathering empty bottles and discarded paper wrappers, placing them in the plastic bag our food had come in.

"Alright Dan, I get it, I get it. I'll get going. We'll have some updates once both of you are back in the office. Until then, enjoy your time off."

I stood and walked Eddie to the door, patting him on the back as he waved me goodbye. After his footsteps faded down the stairs, I locked my door and went about cleaning up my apartment. It still smelled faintly of the roast beef, beer and Eddie's aftershave. When I laid in bed after everything was done, my thoughts cast themselves to when I'd met Evelyn earlier in the day.

I had a date with her tomorrow, after her hospital discharge. Then we had some catching up to do.