Dr. J had sent Eric home once they'd been able to get an emergency generator up and going for some of the most basic necessities. Eric wondered if that included anything for the shifters' cells, but he doubted it. And no matter that every cell in his body was screaming at him to go find his omega, bundle him up, and take him home, he had left. He had gone home. 

And immediately placed an order for pick up pizza.

It had all seemed so ridiculous to him at first, this secret message system via food, but this one was simple. A cheese pizza meant "I need to talk now." An order for supreme meant, "I'm compromised. Get me the fuck out of here." Eric didn't feel like he'd hit supreme level yet, but he wasn't far off. The voice on the other end told him his pizza would take about fifteen minutes. That gave Eric just enough time to change out of his work clothes and then drive down to the little shifter owned pizza place in town. Eric didn't know if Alpha Williams had arranged for everyone there to understand the code, or if she had a little bit more high tech system than that, but no one looked twice at Eric as he walked in.

He paid for his pizza, and the tiny little girl behind the counter said they'd got suddenly busy, and his pizza would just be a bit longer. None of that was scripted, but his next movements were, and he stepped into the bathroom. It was a two-stall bathroom, so he couldn't lock the door behind him, but Dare Williams was waiting.

"You okay?" Dare asked immediately.

Eric took a deep breath. He was the farthest thing from okay possible, but right now, he had a mission. He needed to do whatever needed to bust Victor out of Gecko Labs.

"Things went a little haywire tonight..." Eric knew his cheeks were flaming frightfully as he relayed the evening's events in the briefest way possible. How stupid was he? They'd been running from the fear of Victor possibly revealing Eric's true role in a heat fever. And now they were faced with the actuality of Victor being pregnant. And as soon as Gecko realized that, they were going to wonder when that had happened. And there would only be one time when Victor disappeared from their cameras: when he was with Eric.

Dare listened to everything impassively, not a hint of judgement on his face. What was he thinking? Eric found all of the Williams impossible to read in some way. Alice Williams was a master of displaying exactly the emotion she wanted, while her eldest son was stone.

"So what should I do?" Eric asked as Dare's silence drew on too long.

Dare straightened, his eyes focusing on Eric as if he were coming from somewhere far away.

"Hold the course. The Alpha is working on a plan. This may simply... speed up our timeline."

"But Victor--"

"Is no worse better off than before. How much do you think this Dr. J trusts you?"

"Before this?" Eric shrugged. "I don't know how much Dr. J truly trusts anyone, but I feel like he's brought me into his confidence."

"Continue to foster that relationship. As far as you've been able to tell, he's the head of things?"

"Locally, but I have no idea what his hierarchy is outside of this site."

Dare nodded. "That's all we need for now. Go home. Try to get some sleep. Go to work when they call you. I'll let you know when something significant happens on our end."

Eric felt... unresolved. He wasn't sure exactly what he expected from this meeting. For Dare to declare open war on Gecko Labs and go charging in? They'd done that before, with Dr. Delaney, which is what had lead them to this place. He couldn't fault the Alpha for wanting a more thorough solution this time, especially if that solution involved freeing all of the shifters locked up at Gecko. But though his brain understood, his instincts didn't care.

He nearly walked out of the pizza place without his pizza, but the girl at the counter chased him down with a big smile and bid him goodnight. Eating was the last thing on Eric's mind as he tossed the box into his passenger seat. He put it on the counter when he got home, not bothering to turn on any lights as he made his way to his room and collapsed on his bed. For a moment, he lamented ever accepting Alpha Williams' proposition. But that would have meant he might never have met Victor, and that wasn't acceptable. His very bones ached with need. Need for his mate. Need to shift and run. But he couldn't This wasn't over. For a little while longer, he was Dr. V, human. Eric [lastname], shifter, would have to lay dormant for a little longer. 

* * *

It was four days before Eric received a message from Dr. J that work would resume the following day. Granted, part of that was over the weekend, so it didn't break up his normal routine too much, but Eric's wolf had been rising further and further to the surface, struggling to get out. Eric would feel his teeth elongating, or his nails straining into claws, and he would force him back in. But with nothing to focus on other than his current situation, it was a losing battle. Anything that would have distracted Eric's mind and body enough to make it easier held no appeal. How could he possibly go out into the world and act like nothing was wrong when his mate and possible child were in captivity?

So it was with relief and trepidation that Eric pulled up to the lab the next morning. His blood pressure skyrocketed as he approached the gate. There were twice the guards as normal, and at least two had their guns trained on him until he was cleared, which had taken longer than normal. Did they know? Did they suspect?

Before, Eric had only had to go through a simple metal detector on entering the building. Now, it was a medical detector, a pat down, and an interrogation. As before [add this], he left his personal effects in a cubby at security, and as the guard locked it and handed him the key, the familiar voice of Dr. J called his name.

Eric did his best to shutter his nerves as the older man circled an arm around his shoulders and walked with him to the elevator.

"Have I got news for you!" Dr. J gave him a pat and released him as they reached the elevator and he stepped forward to hit the call button. "What a mess last week, huh?" Before Eric could gather the words to see what he thought about what had happened, Dr. J continued. "So, the news! Central was very pleased with the report you gave me on the genetic markers. And here's the great part--they want to relocate you to Central!" [mention central before in conversation with Dr. J]

Eric's mind was spinning in a bad way. "That's... that's..." The elevator doors opened and they stepped out.

"Fantastic, isn't it? I mean, I absolutely hate to lose you, but the main thing is the research, right? Whatever gets us results. And as proud as I am of the facilities here, you'll have so much more room to blossom at Central. You'll have access to a much wider pool of subjects, people working under you. I'm not going to lie, I'm a little jealous." Dr. J chuckled, and Eric joined him weakly as Dr. J tapped the access pad to Eric's lab, and it took Eric a moment to remember to follow suit.

"The only problem is this security breach we had last week," Dr J said, leaning up against a counter, folding his arms over his chest. Eric had never felt so unsure of his own body, afraid that every movement would somehow reveal him, so he copied Dr. J, leaning on a counter across from him. Dr. J's voice dropped and he leaned forward. "It appears the breach was internal." He leaned back with a sigh.

Yes, this was Eric's chance to try and figure out what Dr. J knew. "That's terrible! How could that happen? Who do you think it was?"

Dr. J shrugged his shoulders. "It was always inevitable that our work would someday attract attention, whether from detractors or competition. I'm not sure which it was. Until recently, we've been able to keep things to the company only. But like I said, that was never going to last forever. Never fear, though, we'll sniff out the culprit soon enough."

That was what Eric was afraid of.

"But, until we do, I'm afraid you're stuck with me." He laughed, and once again, Eric followed his lead. "It's a pain, but Central's sent an investigation team that will be reviewing everyone, even me." Dr. J dismissed the idea with a careless shrug. "Once you're cleared, we can start focusing on your transfer to Central." He pushed off the counter and held a hand out to Eric. "Congratulations."

"Thank you, sir. "I don't know what to say..." That was an understatement.

"You deserve it. Just keep up the good work! And I hope you like Arizona." 

The door closed behind Dr. J with a sucking sound, and it was all Eric could do to keep from collapsing. He was so far in over his head, and it was such a slippery slope, he wasn't sure when it had began. He'd lost control of the situation before Victor's heat, he knew, or it would have never gotten to that point. "Hold the course," Dare had said.

Easier said than done.