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It didn't take long to discover that Tani had abandoned her bar. It hurt. He hadn't loved her, not yet, but he could've if he'd had more time. He should've seen it coming with her father's talk of living one foot on the land and one in the sea. He could've told her that it was possible, every shifter without a Clan did just that. He could've told her that it wasn't always easy, but he could do it and she could too. Too late for that now and instead of dwelling on it he took the beers he found behind an empty case in the back and went to find Kendal. It wasn't hard, it was painfully obvious where he would've gone. The little prison they'd made up for Booth stood open and abandoned with no one to know it was even there.
Shifter ended up in the military all the time. Most in the Army or Marines, but there were enough in the Navy that James had always seen one or two others on base or an aircraft carrier. He'd never seen one on a sub crew before. Not until the Colorado. After everything that had happened in Pakistan he barely took the time to realize the XO was shifter, let alone figure out what he was or take the time to talk and figure out why he'd run away from his Clan. Shifters only ended up in the military when they ran after all. James figured he went for the military for the same reason the rest of them did, the close-knit structure among the units was the closest thing any shifter would find to Clan after leaving.
He'd been too much of a mess when they got to Sainte Marina to want anything to do with another shifter. His sister would've told him he was being an idiot, that shifters needed each other in times of emotional distress, but he couldn't stand the thought of facing another shifter with the weight of what he'd done pressing down on him. James doesn't know why but Kendal hadn't forced the issue, although it had to make him curious. Shifters without a Clan sought each other out. At the time he'd just been happy Shepard had been the one to come find him; her he could say no to, even when he later changed his mind.
Of course now Kendal was the one hurting and hiding from the only other shifter around.
He found Kendal sitting against one of the pillars, by the looks of it the one Booth had been chained to, staring at his wedding ring. He barely glanced up as James walked over and sat down next to him, but he took the beer. They drank in silence for a minute before James said, "My sister used to tell me that shifters needed each other. Especially when they were upset. She's never forgiven me for running off and joining the Navy."
"Christine didn't know," Sam choked out and took another sip before he threw the bottle against the wall. James made a point not to flinch at the noise. "We were talking about kids and I was trying to figure out how to tell her we wouldn't be able to have them. It wasn't fair to her, but I would've adopted."
James doesn't have anything to say to that. Interbreeding between humans and shifters wasn't possible, despite the many attempts. One of the many reasons relations with humans were frowned upon. Together they let the silence surround them and drank the rest of the beer. When Kendal had slammed the last empty bottle against the wall James pulled Kendal against him in a tight hug. Sometimes his sister had a point and this was one of them. Kendal needed another shifter right now and James was the only one around. He held the other man against him and felt Kendal finally let go of his control. The sobs broke free and he could feel the uncontrolled minor shifts against his body as Kendal stopped caring about maintaining a specific form. Fur grew and disappeared, Sam's ears kept trying to move, a tail grew and stayed, and James could feel the sharp bite of claws as they came and went.
It seemed to go on for hours, but eventually James had a ferret on the ground next to him. Kendal was barely awake and clearly intending to spend the night as he was from the way he kept trying to make his pile of clothes into a nest. With a sigh James pulled his own shirt over his head and undid the buckle on his pants. Kendal stopped and looked at him, head tilted to the side in an obvious question. Pulling off the last of his clothes James settled his muscles for the transformation, "Unlike you I have a tendency to ruin my clothes if I shift while wearing them. I can't believe you're a ferret. It explains how you can live in a small metal tube though."
It had been a long time since he'd slept in Lynx form. Longer still since he'd done so curled up with another shifter. He might just have to find a way to apologize to his sister though because it felt as right as anything ever had. Right enough that he couldn't help but wonder what it would've been like to go to Kendal when they first landed on the island instead of drinking himself half to death. What it would've been like to let go and just feel with someone who could take it. Living one foot in the sand and one in the sea might be possible, but sometimes it was nice to stay awhile in one.