He must have fallen unconscious because he jerked awake to a very different world. He felt strange and unnatural, but he was no longer in pain which was a relief.
"Incredible. It worked. It actually worked." Reid quivered at the loud voice nearby. He could barely see, it was blindingly bright and all the shapes around him were blurred. His limbs seemed awkward and there was an odd sensation on his skin. He tried to get up, but his uncoordinated feet had him falling back down.
He was overwhelmed by the scent of anesthetic and bleach that wafted towards him, carrying the odorous undertones of cinnamon and sweat. His hearing was overly sensitive for some reason, every faint noise was caught by his ears, including the footsteps growing steadily louder. Reid was growing scared, everything felt wrong. He tried again to get up, but wasn't able to. He struggled when a hand grabbed his jaw and tilted his head towards the ceiling. A blurry face hovered above him.
"I did it," The loud voice boomed excitedly. Reid's sensitive ears flicked back reflexively. Wait, what? Those were not his ears. "Vulpes vulpes. Red fox. Who would've thought, huh, Six?" The hand ran its fingers through the short fur on Reid's head and he shuddered and drew back from the strange sensation. "Well, I guess I have some new things to take care of. Jamie, take Six back, a medium size will work, I think."
Then there were more fingers grasping at his ruff and taking a handful of skin and fur. Reid yelped as he was lifted up, surprising himself with the sound as it was not the one he had intended to make. He squirmed in the tight grip, but Jamie carried him out of the lab.
He was locked in a small cage in the previous kennel-lined room. Reid lay in a helpless pile of fur and paws on the floor of the cage until long after Jamie had left. His world had been turned upside-down overnight, leaving him lost and scared.
It took some time and a lot of frustration, but he was finally able to control his muscles enough to stand, it took even more time before he could walk. He searched the corners of the cage meticulously, plotting out the size and looking for weak spots. The space was square and there was a plastic tray under his feet so he wasn't walking on wire. If he stood so that the tip of his tail brushed the back wall– it was still hard to believe that he had a tail– his nose touched the cold mesh of the door. He had to stretch his neck and lift his chin high to nudge the roof, and could look through the wire above him only to see the black plastic of another cage's bottom. He didn't find any design flaws that could help him escape, unfortunately. Investigation completed, he padded over to a corner opposite the door and curled up miserably on the hard floor with his back to the wall.
Reid buried his face against the long brush of his new tail and used it to stifle the small cries of hopelessness that escaped his throat. There was an ache in his chest that came from being so far away from everything he was familiar with. He missed his friends so much that it physically hurt. He wanted to go home.
******
The next day was torture for the newly metamorphosed fox. Every muscle in his body ached so much that he could barely breathe without sharp pain stabbing through him. Added to that, the overwhelming input from his enhanced senses made him feel nauseous and uncomfortable. Jamie or Clint came in to check on him multiple times, but Reid pretended that he was asleep on each occasion. They left him alone. Eventually the pain subsided enough for him to relax and fall into the blissful nothings of unconsciousness.
Reid jolted awake, breathing hard after his latest nightmare. He shook himself to rid his mind of the last cobwebs of sleep. It was only after doing so that he realized he was still a fox, and he didn't hurt as much as yesterday. He breathed in deeply, then immediately whimpered and tried to cover his face when he was assaulted by scent. His sensitive olfactory glands picked up smells from his surroundings that he had never strongly noticed before. There was dust, the air was thick with it, a strong bleach odor, and faint traces of other animals, he had trouble deciphering what species, but each was distinct. It was remarkable, really, the human nose was not very perceptive at all; intellectually he already knew this, but it was one thing to have the knowledge and quite another to actually experience it.
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Of Beasts and Men
أدب الهواةAlready down an agent, the BAU team is about to lose another. When a case goes bad, the band of profilers must race to save their friend, but when they get him back, will anything ever be the same again?
