TAMED

House Arrest

Eleven weeks later-

The days had gone by at a snails pace while Ares underwent physical therapy to regain some of his lost strength. He could still snap a man's neck like a toothpick, but for a Hound, he had lost some significant strength and flexibility while in his coma.

In an interesting and somewhat amusing turn of events, Levi had been assigned to Vince as a body guard/handler. Not for Vince's protection, but for the protection of those involved in Ares's case.

It had all been decided after Dr. Clarkson had begun taking a few too many liberties with Ares. At least as far as Vince was concerned. Well, Vince had finally snapped when the doctor had scolded Ares for growling at a nurse who had been doing some blood work, something Ares had always been sensitive to. When Vince had stepped in to defend his friend quite heatedly, the doctor had then said something along the lines of...

"you're not the professional here, why don't you go use the coloring books in the corner."

Of course to which Vince had scoffed out a laugh, and then punched the guy square in the nose. It was broken of course, with blood everywhere, and he'd slammed backwards into the bottom half of a cabinet. As for a domino effect, the blood and violence had sent Ares into a downward spiral and had Levi not been there, Dr. Clarkson may have been dealing with more than a busted nose. It was quite the fiasco to say the least.

After that Vince was only allowed to be in the hospital and rehabilitation center if Levi was there with him at his side. Vince was highly annoyed by the idea of having to have some watching him, but it had been worth it to wipe that smug look off the doctors face.

The only good thing that had happened lately was Levi and Vince had their ankle monitors removed, which was a more than welcome relief, and they'd been safely delivered back to the United States.

Today was going to be a challenging one. It was the day that Ares was tested for civility. So far he'd regained much of his lost strength, and he didn't seem to have any remaining issues in relation to the coma.

But today, he would be observed by a handful of military personnel, special operatives including Levi, and a handful of behavioral and mental health specialists, while he resisted the urge to default back to violence. Of course, with the slip-up involving Vince laying out the doctor...it was a bit unnerving to wonder if Ares had made any progress at all in regards to controlling his blood lust.

If he could learn to think for himself, to ascertain for himself if someone or something was a threat, and to act in the benefit of humans, then he had a very good chance of being pardoned for his military crimes. However, the team had made it clear that they had a three-strikes-you're-out policy. On top of that they could end the test at any time according to their judgment, whether that be to fail him, or pass him.

As the cherry on top, the team had realized that though Ares was unpredictable, he did in fact have a soft spot for Vince. Therefore, to keep the test on neutral ground, Vince wouldn't be allowed to be there. The other reason being that Vince had a tendency to snap whenever things went against his love interest, so if ultimately they did decide to fail Ares and seal his fate, they couldn't have Vince there to cause a fuss. That's just how it had to be. Of course, Vince wasn't aware of any of that yet.

...

It was around 9:00am when Levi and Vince both heard the knocking on their door. They'd been given a small apartment to essentially live in while Ares was undergoing care and evaluations at the military treatment facility.

"That must be them..." Levi said with a breath as he took one last sip of his coffee and prepared for the worst. He noticed as Vince's brows furrowed and he stood as well.