Chapter 9 - When Worlds Collide

"You live here?" Inara squinted up at Julian's apartment building as she pulled the Cutlass to a stop.

"What's wrong with it?" Julian asked from the passenger seat, still holding his side.

"I dunno, I guess I was expecting something more like... a doghouse?" Inara shrugged.

Julian shook his head, laughing as softly as he could. It still made him wince, and he resolved to laugh less until the silver got out of his system and his healing kicked in. "It's a normal apartment, I'm afraid."

"You have furniture inside? Or just like a scratching post?" Inara smirked.

"That's for cats, you fucked up the dog jokes." Julian shook his head. Inara turned off the Cutlass, and she glanced towards the several story apartment building.

"I don't suppose you're on the first floor?" Inara frowned.

"If only I was so lucky." Julian sighed. Inara got out of the car, and Julian opened the passenger door and stepping out of it. He rose on slightly unsteady legs, but he was hardly an invalid. His body protested angrily, but he shut the door and made a good show of walking to the staircase like he wasn't still in pain. Inara didn't seem all that impressed with his performance, but she at least waited until they reached the stairs to step in and help. She'd unstrapped her sword and left it in his backseat, so it was easy for her to slip under his arm and give him some support as they climbed the steps.

"Which floor are you?" Inara asked, wrapping her arm gingerly around his torso. Julian hated how much he had to lean on the djinn, but he just was in too much pain to try and protest.

"Third." Julian muttered, hating how much he was struggling.

Inara, mercifully, made no comment about his struggle, and she was actually mostly quiet the whole struggle up the steps. The old lady who always sat on the second story landing right by her door looked shocked at the state of Julian.

"Hey, Mrs. Morton." Julian winced, waving with the hand that wasn't around Inara's shoulders.

"Er, hello, Julian." the elderly lady blinked, waving back uncertainly. Inara rolled her eyes and she yanked Julian along.

"I was just being polite." Julian protested.

"You look like you got the shit beat out of you, nobody is worried about your manners." Inara shot back, and to Julian's surprise, he heard Mrs. Morton giggle.

"Who's side are you on, Mrs. Morton?" Julian protested.

"I like that girl, Julian!" Mrs. Morton waved as Julian and Inara made their way up past the second floor and up onto the third floor. Julian let go of Inara here, sticking his hand into his pants pocket and pulling out his keys, going up to 301, his apartment.

"Thanks for the help." Julian told Inara, but she looked at him incredulously.

"I didn't help your sorry ass up the stairs to be told thanks, go home." Inara scoffed. "And besides, I'm not just leaving you alone. The 101 Dalmations probably know where you live."

Julian hesitated, and Inara arched an eyebrow at him, making him sigh. "Fine. Uh, excuse the mess."

Julian opened the door and led the way inside his apartment. It wasn't particularly spacious, but it had everything that a guy living alone needed. The front door led right into the small kitchen, really just a stove, a fridge, a dishwasher, and a little bit of counter space. It was barely even its' own room, just part of the entrance. That was all against the right wall, and against the left wall he had a small table with two chairs. Julian limped his way through the walkway and into the living room, which was a couch, a coffee table with loose photographs and case notes sprawled across it, and a TV sitting on a boxy wooden TV stand.

Julian dropped heavily onto the couch, exhaling.

"You sound like an old man." Inara commented, giving him a small, wry smile.

"Feel like one, too." Julian groaned. "Silver poisoning is no joke."

"How much silver did they pump you with?" Inara frowned.

"Well, there was a big fat syringe of silver when they grabbed me that knocked me out. Then after I woke up, I got a smaller syringe of silver, which didn't knock me out, but I wound up passing out from the pain a few minutes later anyway." Julian shrugged. "I wasn't exactly checking my dosage."

"Those bastards." Inara scowled. "Which one was the one who shot you full of silver? The one I stabbed or the one you shot?"

"The one you stabbed. He seemed like their silver specialist." Julian told her.

"Shame he'll probably live then." Inara huffed, dropping down onto the couch beside Julian. "Do packs usually have a silver specialist?"

"Yeah, but their job is usually healing werewolves with silver poisoning, not using silver on other werewolves." Julian sighed.

"You have a silver specialist?" Inara asked curiously.

"No, I don't have a pack." Julian shook his head. "I'm a lone wolf. Which is good because I don't have to answer to any Alpha, but bad because I don't have pack amenities when I need them, like a silver specialist."

"Seems dumb that your options are be someone's servant or die on the street alone." Inara scowled. Julian noticed her peeking at the work he'd left all over the coffee table, but he wasn't too bothered about it.

"Yeah, well, that's life for a werewolf. Vampires are pretty similar with their clans." Julian shrugged.

"There's not enough of us djinn for big societies like that. We're pretty rare these days." Inara admitted.

"Why's that?" Julian wondered.

"Well, most djinn wind up having kids with humans, not other djinn." Inara explained. "So not every djinn's kid is a djinn, and it just kind of fades away over time."

"Weird." Julian frowned.

"Big talk from someone who is very susceptible to being elbowed in the ribs right now." Inara narrowed her eyes at him, making Julian laugh, though he quickly winced when the pain kicked in.

"Fuck, I hope this silver poisoning fades soon." Julian groaned.

Inara was looking at him worriedly, and she got to her feet, pacing back and forth not unlike how he did when he felt useless. "What about that wolf you had Mero make a charm for? Are they a silver specialist?"

"Who, Ellen?" Julian almost laughed, but thought better of it. "No, she's not a silver specialist."

"Is there some kind of antidote to silver poisoning I can give you?" Inara demanded. "You look pale as shit, mutt."

Julian admittedly didn't feel great. He was shivering, but he was sweaty everywhere.

"I don't know of one, but maybe she does." Julian shrugged.

"Alright, phone." Inara said, snapping her fingers at him.

Julian groaned and reached into his pocket, pulling it out. He barely managed to unlock it before Inara swiped it and opened his texts.

"What are you texting her?" Julian demanded, but Inara didn't reply, she just kept on typing. She would pause for a minute here and there, probably waiting for a response, then go back to typing again.

"Alright, she's on her way." Inara said, tossing him his phone back. Julian just barely caught it before it hit him in the face, and he glanced down at the messages.

"You called me your friend?" Julian grinned at Inara, who held up her middle finger. Julian also noticed a ton of texts from Abigail, but he ignored them. He didn't have the mental capacity to deal with lying to her right now.

"Just needed her to trust me." Inara insisted. "Couldn't have her not believing me, you know, Jules?"

The buxom djinn smirked, and Julian groaned. "You definitely don't get to call me that."

"So this Ellen girl is someone special then?" Inara waggled her eyebrows.

"Not like that." Julian waved Inara off, trying hard not to think of when he'd fucked Ellen in a club bathroom not too long ago.

"So what's the story then?" Inara asked, returning to her spot on the couch beside him. She was looking him over with a surprisingly worried gaze, and Julian half wondered if she was making sure he stayed conscious.

"I've known Ellen for like my whole life." Julian sighed. "We used to be in the same pack, but I left it when I turned eighteen, she stuck around."

"Interesting. Nothing tying you to the pack?" Inara wondered.

"Well, my dad was the one who was really big on pack culture." Julian admitted. "My mom was part of the pack, but she never embraced it the way my dad did. Dad died when I was 12, but Mom stuck around in the pack until I was 18. Her sister got sick around then, so she went east to take care of her, and I left the pack and went into LA."

Julian wasn't usually such an open person, but the pain made it hard to think straight, and honestly, right now being cagey didn't even occur to him. If Inara of all people was worried and asking personal questions, the least he could do was answer them.

"You still talk with your mother?" Inara asked, her eyes intent.

"A little." Julian shrugged. "Not as much as I should."

"Mhm." Inara nodded, looking like she was trying to think of another question.

"What about you?" Julian asked.

"Orphan." Inara said bluntly.

"I'm sorry." Julian said, but Inara just shrugged.

"It happened a really long time ago, I barely remember them." Inara said flippantly. "Mero and Meg took me in, I've been working with them for a few decades now."

"And how old are you?" Julian wondered.

"Not too much older than I look, though I am older. I'm... 52, I think." Inara said thoughtfully. Julian wouldn't have guessed Inara to be anything older than 25, but jeez. Supernaturals were crazy sometimes.

"That's pretty significantly older." Julian pointed out.

"Eh, not for a djinn. We're not like vampires who freeze forever at one age, we just age and mature slower. I feel like I'm in my twenties, even though I've obviously been around for longer." Inara explained.

"Weird." Julian shook his head.

"Don't call me weird, you turn into a drooling hound once a month." Inara shot back.

"I don't, actually." Julian coughed. Inara's hand twitched when he coughed, but she made no other movement.

"You immune to the full moon or something?" Inara squinted.

"Born werewolves have an easier time controlling themselves on the full moon. All the pop culture about werewolves losing it on the full moon is mostly about bitten werewolves. I just feel a pull to transform, but I can ignore it if I want. I typically do." Julian explained.

"When did you last go all Hungry Like the Wolf anyway?" Inara wondered. "I've never seen it."

"I don't fully transform too often." Julian shrugged. "Hard to do in a big city. You're likely to get shot or taken by Animal Control or something. That's why most werewolf packs have territory on the outskirts of the city, they can go wild out in the country."

Inara opened her mouth to reply, but she was cut off by a hurried banging on the door.

"Your wolf friend is fast." Inara commented, bouncing to her feet. "Stay."

"Seriously?" Julian groaned after her.

"Good doggy." Inara grinned over her shoulder. Julian scowled after her swaying hips, but he took her not being there as an opportunity to lean his head back and groan.

"You must be Ellen. You got the goods?" he heard Inara say, but lifting his head just seemed so hard right now. Maybe a quick nap wouldn't hurt. Just a little snooze.

"Um, no, I'm not Ellen." he heard a voice say, and it startled him out of his wooziness. "Is Julian here? Who are you?"

"Who's this chick?" Inara called into the apartment, and Julian sat up, groaning.

"Abigail?" Julian blinked.

"Jules!" Abigail gasped, hand flying to her mouth when she saw him. She muscled past Inara and rushed into the apartment.

"Sure, come on in." Inara muttered, rolling her eyes as she shut the front door.

Abigail came straight to Julian's side, looking over him with wide, surprised eyes at first before they settled into focused Abigail mode.

"Who the hell did this to you?" Abigail demanded. "Did you call it in?"

"No, I didn't call anything in." Julian sighed. His head was pounding, his whole body hurt, his ribs were killing him, along with several other spots where Zeke had beat his ass.

"Why not?" Abigail demanded. "Someone beat up an LAPD detective, they can't just get away with that."

"They didn't. Julian shot them." Inara frowned, folding her arms beneath her breasts. "Well, one of them. I stabbed the other."

"You were there?" Abigail demanded, turning back to Inara. "Who the hell even are you?"

"Rude, bitch. Who the hell are you?" Inara shot back.

"I'm his partner. Detective Abigail Richards." Abigail snapped. "And what the hell kind of fight did you get into, Julian? You shot someone?"

Julian exhaled heavily, shooting Inara a meaningful glare that he hoped conveyed what he was trying to express.

"I didn't get into a fight, things-"

"He got kidnapped." Inara cut in. "I rescued him, because his partner was what, sitting on her ass? No wonder it's so damn big if you're not doing anything but sitting around."

"You got what?" Abigail asked, whipping back towards Julian.

"Inara, you are not helping." Julian groaned.

"No, it's nice to finally get some straight answers, even if they are from someone with a bitchy attitude." Abigail said, looking back to Inara. "Who kidnapped him?"

"I'm sensing I shouldn't be talking as much as I am." Inara said slowly after another glare from Julian. He could have sighed in relief.

Abigail let out a heavy breath, she was strung tight like a bowstring and she looked murderous. "One of you two better tell me what the fuck is going on."

"It's nothing." Julian tried to assure Abigail, but Abigail was having none of it.

"Julian, you look like shit. Why aren't you at a hospital? Your face is all bruised, it looks like you can't even move, you're pale and sweaty, what is wrong with you?" Abigail demanded.

Julian was in far too much pain to come up with any kind of lie, and Inara had unintentionally squandered most of his possible lies. Abigail flipped open his jacket and started examining him for injuries, she probably thought he had gotten shot.

"Abigail, please." Julian said, closing his eyes. "I just need you to leave."

"What?" Abigail asked, and the stunned, near quaver in her voice made him open his eyes again, as much as he didn't want to.

"I don't have any good answers for you." Julian sighed. "I'm in too much pain to think, and I just don't have the energy to lie to you right now."

"Then don't." Abigail pleaded with him. "Don't lie to me, just tell me what the hell is happening to you. This is not normal, Jules! I thought you had overslept or something, I didn't come here expecting to find you on your couch looking like you're dying with some stranger looking over you."

Julian closed his eyes shut tight again. He wanted to tell Abigail, he wanted to tell her so damn bad. He just couldn't. Especially not after today. Inara had almost died trying to save him, and she was a powerful djinn with a sword. Abigail was a normal human, he absolutely could not put her in this werewolf pack's crosshairs, or Alexandra Blackwood's, or these fucked up donkey and pig serial killers'. She had enough problems to deal with from human criminals. This was his burden to bear, he could never get her involved in all of this. He opened his eyes, committed to this terrible path.

"This isn't your business, Abigail." Julian said as firmly as he could muster. "Please. Just go."

Abigail recoiled like he'd slapped her, and she stood up abruptly. She wiped the back of her hand across her face, and the thought of tears in her eyes because of him made him feel like a monumental prick. "Fine, Julian. I'll go fuck off, I'll ignore you dying on your couch, I'll ignore whoever the hell this bitch is. I'll ignore that you shot someone, I'll ignore that she apparently stabbed somebody. You want me to just nod along and ignore all the ridiculous fucking shit you tell me, that's fine. If you don't want me to give a shit about you, Julian, you could have said so before I ever became your partner. I thought you trusted me, but it's pretty damn clear you've never told me anything about who you are."

"Abigail-" Julian tried, but she held up a hand, cutting him off.

"You don't get to have it both ways." Abigail told him in the coldest tone he'd ever heard from her. "I'm either your partner, or I'm not."

Julian stared at her, and he could not think for the life of him what he could say here that could make any of this better. Abigail didn't give him time to think. She nodded once, curtly, and turned on her heel, walking out of the living room and back through the kitchen. She wrenched open the front door, revealing a surprised Ellen, who'd had her hand raised to knock.

"Abigail." Ellen said in surprise.

"Oh, look. Another person you trust more than me." Abigail exhaled. "And what the hell are those?"

Ellen looked down at the little plastic bags of herbs she had tucked in her arm. "Um..."

"Don't bother." Abigail threw up her hands and walked off, out of sight of the doorframe.

Ellen came into the apartment, looking alarmed as she closed the door behind her. "What the hell was that about?"

Julian just groaned, flopping back against the couch with a labored sigh. Ellen looked at him worriedly, then looked over to Inara curiously.

"Inara." Inara said, extending her hand.

"Ellen." Ellen replied, shaking it. "You're the one who texted me?"

"Yup." Inara nodded. "The mutt here got shot full of silver and he looks like he's about to die."

"What did you just call him?" Ellen demanded with a snarl, but Julian shook his head.

"I think she means it endearingly. Ignore her." Julian sighed.

Ellen gave Inara a pointed look, then she came over to Julian's side.

"You are having a rough go of it, huh?" she asked him tenderly.

"Yeah, I think his detective partner just partner divorced him." Inara agreed.

"What?" Ellen gasped. "You and Abigail seemed like such good friends."

"We were." Julian muttered. "But she doesn't know about all of the supernatural stuff, and I'm not gonna be the one to tell her. She knows that I'm lying to her, and I can't explain to her why I'm lying. I'm surprised she put up with me for as long as she did."

"Probably the fact she's got the hots for you." Inara put in with a shrug.

"She does not." Julian scoffed.

"Weeeelll..." Ellen drew out the word.

Julian groaned, but Ellen patted his knee consolingly as she started opening up her herb packets.

"Now, is someone going to tell me who did this to you?" Ellen demanded.

"Deja vu, huh, Jules?" Inara grinned. Julian glared at the djinn, who had the decency to look a little abashed.

"This werewolf pack." Julian sighed. "I didn't know the Alpha, but apparently a vampire Highsire threatened him after killing four of his wolves. She was looking for me, and I guess she assumed they were my pack."

"Other werewolves did this to you?" Ellen demanded with a ferocious growl. "Who?!"

"I just said I don't know." Julian groaned.

"We killed one of them." Inara said with a smug smile. "And I ran other one through with my sword."

"Oh, great." Ellen muttered. "They'll come after you even harder, Jules."

"Yeah, I figured as much." Julian nodded unhappily.

"I'm bodyguarding." Inara chimed in, and Ellen looked over her shoulder at the djinn, nodding emphatically.

"I'll join you in that. That's five dead werewolves and one injured one they can lay at your feet, Julian. You do not want to deal with a pack that's hunting you." Ellen insisted.

"If they do come after me, I don't want either of you here to get hurt." Julian protested. "That's exactly why I sent Abigail away."

"Well, unlike her, we're not useless in a fight." Inara said fiercely. "No way in hell you get left alone, mutt. I'm tempted to call Romero in to help here."

Julian scowled at her, but Inara just looked at him with that trademark smug smirk on her sultry face.

"I gotta say, I'm liking you more and more." Ellen told Inara, who flashed the female werewolf a grin.

"I'm very likable." Inara shrugged.

"Uh huh." Julian said disbelievingly, earning a glare from Inara.

"Now, let's start getting these poultices on." Ellen said, gathering up the herbs. Inara, who did work in a shop with an expansive herb display, peered over her shoulder.

"Since when do you know the word poultice?" Julian grunted.

"I got a quick little crash course from my pack's silver specialist. He wouldn't help himself because of lone wolf rules and all that, but he gave me the info I needed to know. Some of these herbs are going to be put onto your skin for 'transdermal infusion' and some of them are going to be mixed into water to make what I've been told is absolute nastiness." Ellen told him.

"Transdermal infusion?" Julian gaped.

"Our silver specialist is in medical school." Ellen admitted.

"I would be happy to mix up Julian's nasty drink." Inara volunteered.

"You worked with herbs before?" Ellen raised an eyebrow.

"Plenty." Inara nodded. "I work for an enchanter in a shop full of herbs."

"Good enough for me." Ellen said, scooping up some of the clear baggies and handing them to Inara. Inara went to the kitchen with far too much enthusiasm to make that concoction, but Julian looked down at Ellen, who was readying bandages and herbs.

"Shirt off, Jules." Ellen ordered. Julian tried to shrug off his jacket, but his ribs flared angrily in protest.

"Ok, ok. I'll do it." Ellen said quickly, and Julian huffed as she helped him get the jacket off. Then she carefully unbuttoned his shirt and pulled that off as well, leaving him bare-chested. She ordered him to lay down, and he complied. She quickly started rubbing herbs on his chest and arms, reaching into multiple little plastic baggies and smearing the herbs liberally. It wasn't just smeared recklessly, she seemed to be focusing in a spot over his heart, spots on his wrists, and on his stomach.

Inara was coming back over as Ellen was applying the bandages, holding her herb mixtures in place on the spot she wanted them. In her right hand, Inara held a glass of the nastiest dark liquid Julian had ever seen, and it was disgustingly chunky too. In her left hand, mercifully, she had a glass of bourbon.

"I think you're gonna need this." Inara told him with a smirk.

"You're too kind." Julian said. Ellen finished up the bandaging, then permitted him to sit up to drink his concoction.

"Bottoms up." Inara said cheerfully, handing over both drinks and sitting down beside him. Julian peered with a wrinkled nose down at the herbal water, deeply grateful his enhanced sense of smell was currently out for the count. Julian took a steadying breath, then put his lips to the glass of the nasty herbal mixture and just kept tipping it backwards. As promised, it was utterly disgusting. Julian had to fight not to gag from the taste, but he knew that he would never be willing to put this back into his mouth. Either he drank all of it in one go, or it wasn't getting finished. Julian somehow managed to drain the glass, minus a few clumps of herbs at the bottom, and after a disgusted shudder, he upended the glass of bourbon into his mouth.

That one burned on the way down, but it got the taste of those nasty herbs out of his mouth quite nicely.

"That was fucking disgusting, Ellie." Julian gagged.

"I told you." Ellen apologized with a shrug. "It's supposed to really help with silver poisoning, so hopefully it's worth it."

"How long will it take to kick in?" Inara asked, peering at Julian and then up at Ellen.

Ellen shrugged again. "Hopefully within an hour or two? That part wasn't really in the long paragraph I got on how to do this."

"Is it supposed to make me feel sleepy?" Julian mumbled.

"Yes, actually." Ellen nodded. "You need sleep to heal."

"Sleep does sound nice." Julian muttered.

"Let's get him to his bed." Ellen told Inara, and the two girls helped Julian stand. His head felt thick, like he was exhausted all of a sudden. Inara was on the side of him that had gotten kicked by Zeke, and she was quite gentle with his ribs as she and Ellen helped him into his bedroom. He could tell Inara was looking around curiously, but he was fading quickly. He wasn't sure if it was what he'd drank or what Ellen had done with the herbs on his body, but sleep was coming quickly for him.

The girls laid Julian down on the bed, and Ellen looked over his bandages quickly before giving an affirming nod. She stepped back, and Inara leaned over him.

"You gonna tell me a bedtime story?" Julian mumbled.

Inara laughed softly, shaking her head. "No, I'm not."

Then, to his amazement, she leaned in and kissed his forehead. He felt a strange tingling there, something more than a normal kiss.

"Sweet dreams, dhi'b." she told him, her voice rich with an accent for a moment. He felt that tingling, pleasant warmth on his forehead persist as the herbs dragged him under.

The last thing he saw before closing his eyes was Inara's brown eyes, sparkling with flecks of gold.