So I lay my head back down
And I lift my hands
And pray to be only yours
I pray to be only yours
I know now you're my only hope
-Lyrics to 'Only Hope' performed by Mandy Moore
Crimson Bonds Part 16
Wufei made a low whistle as his gold-and-onyx eyes ran over the configuration of encoded data that filled his screen. Paging down to continue reading, he commented, "You weren't kidding when you said that this format was complex, Crystal. Whoever wrote this program knew what they were doing to secure it."
"I've definitely never worked with anything like it," replied the blonde Companion displayed on the vid phone monitor. Shaking her head, she added with a smirk, "And since you're the only creature I can think of who might have better luck at it, I'll get to have the opportunity to learn from the best."
Chuckling deeply as his fingers began to fly over his keyboard, the scaly Infected grinned, "I am far from the best, my friend. Remember that I have several more decades of experience. That's about the only thing that keeps me in the game."
A few more typed commands filled the air before an abrupt silence. "Got it," Chang smirked as he leaned back in his chair a bit to appraise the new messages appearing on his computer.
The blonde Donson's jaw fell open when her head turned towards her own monitor and blinked widely. "Damn," she murmured in awe. "How did you-" Shaking her head as she cut herself off, she laughed, "Never mind. Even if you tried to answer that, I would never get it."
His mouth curling up as he resumed his typing, Wufei promised, "Once this is all over, I'll be more than happy to give a few pointers on this system. As it is from this point, I am going to have to do quite a bit of work to adjust years worth of records and this database is more advanced than anything I have ever beet put to task on."
Nervously chewing on the inside of her cheek, the Companion offered, "If you ever need a hand, you know how to reach me." She did not need to go on about just how very important this interference was. There was no need for that. "Now that I know you're in, I'll be returning to my post to finish out my shift."
At that, the Chinese Infected paused to meet her gaze to bow his head deeply with a sincere, "Thank you, Crystal. I'll be in touch sometime in the next twenty-four hours to give an update at the very least." Under his breath, he murmured, 'It will have to just be an update since this is going to take me a few days to pull off."
Nodding, Donson smiled, "Okay. Talk to you then." She raised a hand to wave her farewell and the vid phone monitor went black.
His own grin fading into a flat line born of deep concentration, Chang looked back to the pages and pages of digital script.
One missed key and the entire security of every Vampire in existence would be in jeopardy when the livings running the registration caught it. More than his own family's safety, the scaly immortal only then realized just how many hundreds of thousands of creatures were depending on him to get this right.
With so much focus on the registration as of late, any caught tampering would cause the very fibers of the Vampire-Human Treaty to be ripped apart. And suddenly having that settle on his shoulders, Wufei was more frightened than he had been in learning that his creator and now wife might have been sentenced to the end of her existence when she was presented before the Council.
Time slipped away as the former soldier went on staring at the same layout of programming when he heard the soft click of his office door latch opening at the turn of the doorknob. Closing his eyes with a soft snort, Wufei took in a whiff of his soul mate's scent just before her familiar weight settled onto him as her legs hooked around in a comfortable straddling of his hips as a pair of arms wrapped around his neck.
His chin resting on a shoulder while he held his wife back, the scaly Vampire sighed, "You always know when I need you, Anna."
Giggling softly by his ear, the redhead all but whispered, "Creator's instinct." She pulled back enough so that their gold-rimmed eyes could meet as she shrugged, "Well, that and the fact that I hadn't heard you typing for a couple of hours now." Wufei snorted and shook his head in amusement, hiding his surprise at how long he had actually been sitting lost in his thoughts.
Anna rested her forehead against her husband's, a hand rubbing the back of his head in a soothing massage. A sad frown marring her face, she urged softly, "What is it, love?"
Tightening his hold around her thin waist, Chang lowered his gaze to the floor as he answered, "I just realized how much is being entrusted in me with this adjustment to the registry. If anything goes wrong and my changes are caught..."
Unable to finish that train of thought, he shuddered and looked back at his creator. "Worrying about our children is bad enough, but to potentially have the fate of our entire race relying on my getting this right... it's a lot for me to come to terms with."
"You definitely have my sympathy there," the Siren muttered. Smiling, she reassured, "But you're forgetting that Treize and his family would never give such a task to the wrong person. The trust they're showing is not misguided. You're the right person for this, Wufei. And there's not a creature who is aware of what you're doing who doubts it."
Chuckling quietly, she smirked, "No one except for you, that is. And you're the only one who can do anything about that."
It was exactly the kind of message that a soldier needed- encouraging but not overly sympathetic to toughen the spirit.
Matching the redhead's smirk, he pulled her closer to claim her lips in a passionate kiss that conveyed all of his appreciation. Taken aback for only a quick gasp, Anna's eyes drifted closed as she gripped onto the shoulders beneath her hands to return the fervor when their tongues met.
Little did she know that there was more to what she was sending out on her end before they broke apart.
Wufei used every bit of his willpower to control the desire that had awakened in him to frown deeply, "There's something else." Not an inquiry or asking for a confirmation, but a matter-of-fact statement.
The Irish Infected bit her lip to still her own growing need and swallowed roughly. "Another case opened up," she informed. "Duo and I have been called to investigate a suspicious missing person report in northern Italy. We leave in two day's time, just enough to allow us to get ourself together for the trip."
Shoulders sagging, the scaly Vampire sighed. "Another Rogue," he growled under his breath, only to lose his frustration in admission of the situation. "I suppose that we should consider ourselves fortunate that there have not been more cases like this in light of what is happening in the world at the moment."
Despite how more than capable Chang knew his wife was in defending herself, he always loathed the missions that he was not assigned to along with her.
But there was no way Treize or Lady Une would have taken him away from his current responsibility.
And if he could not be there, Wufei took relief in knowing that Anna also had the company of their brother-in-law, a Hybrid no less. She could not be in better care than with Duo in his absence. Between the braided Companion and his alter ego's intense adoration for the Siren, no threat on her existence would ever get past them.
Just to ease the tension that had turned her partner's shoulders rigid, the tomboy of a Vampire said, "It's a simple tracking and take down. From the file we received, there's no evidence that we're dealing with more than one Rogue this time." Smiling, she concluded, "We'll be home before you can miss me for very long."
"Not bloody likely," Chang grumbled, a small grin of good humor spreading across his face. Of course it was not an ideal circumstance, but it was what it was. In the end, the right pair of agents were being sent off for the case, as always was the credit to the Preventers' co-founders when it came to the assembly of the teams they sent out.
Finally, the proximity of their bodies and the amplified scent of their blood became too much for either Infected to dwell on the conversation.
"I suppose that I will be able to take some time away from this programming to give you a proper send-off before you have to tuck the kids in for the night," Wufei smirked in a deep purr as a scaly hand caressed the start of his lover's lower back while the sharp points of his fangs appeared past his lips.
Her fangs growing in, Anna snickered, "I was hoping you would say that."
* * * * * *
Over in the Yuy household, Heero and Duo were much further along in their own turn of preparing for their separation.
Completely at the end of their stamina after a couple of hours consistent of their more rigorous lovemaking bout, the pair lay in a tangle of limbs and haphazard sheets atop their bed. Panting instinctively thanks to his fatigued body, Maxwell raised his head of loose hair that fell about them like a wavy curtain as he chuckled deeply, "Well, that was a good start. Just wait until what I have planned once I get my steam in a few minutes here."
Laughing, the Original shook his head, "I may need a little more than a few minutes after that, love." He shivered at the feel of his Companion leaning in to lick away the light trickle of blood from the fresh bite holes in the side of his neck. Lightly tapping at the arm draped across his bare chest, he groaned, "Then again..."
As much as he longed to resume their physical joining, Heero forced his need to the further recesses of his mind enough to get to another matter that he needed to address first.
Pushing himself to sit up, he gently pulled the creature curled alongside him along. Gently brushing back layered bangs to reveal the silver-framed violet eyes watching him longingly, he announced, "We do have something to discuss, first."
"Oh?" Duo frowned in worry. Adjusting himself to be in a more comfortable lean against his Vampire, he shrugged, "Alright. What's up?"
With an encouraging smile, Yuy replied, "You'll have to tell me, since I'm not really sure." To the confused look and raised eyebrow his comment received, he explained, "We have already long settled with Anna that we are going to wait on growing our own family until we have moved and this mess with the registry gets sorted out, but you're still holding something in that is troubling you..."
He stopped himself short to clarify, "Something that had upset you ever since changes were being made in the Senate. I have been hoping that you would open up about it on your own, but am not about to have you go off on a mission and possibly be distracted by whatever is on your mind."
Maxwell let out a long puff of air that raised his bangs as his gaze shifted away to stare at the wall across from him. "I guess that I might as well get it off my chest," he decided aloud. Reluctantly pushing his naked body to sit upright, his expression turned into one of profound sadness as he shared in little more than a breath, "I... this whole thing with McAdams and the livings supporting her..."
Slowly returning his focus onto his soul mate, he groaned, "Heero, I used to think like them. No one could have hated Vampires more than I did because of what happened at that Harvest."
A most painful memory for the Original as well. Simply the mention of that dark night when he heard a child screaming for his mother and father that Yuy had claimed when he had been close to death at the time had him wincing.
Rushing to press a hand on his husband's shoulder, Duo urged, "It's fine, completely behind us now that we know why that happened. But having to bring it up was why I didn't want to talk about this because of the pain linked to it."
Instantly relaxing at that, Heero sighed softly. And like the beginning to this revelation, the other pieces to the puzzle began to fall into place. "You are disappointed with yourself for having been as angry and judgmental of my kind now that you have seen how we really are," the Infected muttered.
Swallowing past the thickness that had clamped his throat, the Hybrid whimpered and nodded so shallowly that the gesture was nearly missed.
"Duo," Yuy breathed. Stretching himself up, he pulled his trembling partner into a fierce embrace. "You shouldn't ever hate yourself for how you felt back then. No one has ever faulted you for that."
"Yea, I know," Maxwell snickered through the tears as he latched on tightly in return.
Resting his dampened face against a chilled shoulder, he sighed, "I just don't like the fact that it had any part of my past. For being raised in a Catholic orphanage, I really should have taken the whole forgiveness thing to heart a hell of a lot sooner." The small grin on his face spread out to a more natural smile when his Vampire's chest rumbled with a chuckle.
Already, the darkness that had set in since the name Nancy McAdams and the news surrounding her came to pass began to fade. Leaning back a bit with that spark back in his silver-ringed eyes, Duo shrugged, "That's what's been bothering me more than anything. I'm sorry I was holding it in for this long, but it wasn't something I was proud of to begin with-" He was silenced by a firm kiss that made him gasp.
Heero locked their gazes once more as he said sincerely, "I am just happy you finally let go of that. You are going to have enough going on with the mission you're taking to be dealing with anything else on top of that." Smirking, he added, "Anna will be plenty a handful as it is." His laughter that followed was joined by the reassuring sound of his Companions' as well.
More than aware that the Original did not really mean his sentiment to be taken seriously, Maxwell was grateful for the successful attempt to lighten the mood. "I know you don't like when we're not in the field together," he began, "but you know I'm in good company with our sister. After all, she is the first Preventer by taking out one of her own attackers."
"True," Yuy supported without hesitation.
His smile taking on a more seductive turn, he ran a cold finger along his husband's collarbone just beneath the pair of fang bites that opened the skin there. "But neither she, nor the mission have you for the rest of the night. And I intend to take advantage of every second that you still belong to me."
Licking his bottom lip, Duo hummed in anticipation. "By all means," he rumbled, "take full advantage."
In the next second, he was flat on his back with a famished Vampire straddling him.
* * * * * *
Spreading his arms out widely to the young woman entering his office, Septum smiled widely, "Lucie. Welcome back."
Aisley put on her warmest smile as moved first to hug the scientist. Please with herself when there was a pause before she felt the embrace returned, she imagined the look of surprise that was no doubt on his face in response to her affectionate display. "I missed you, darling," she said with a sigh for effect as she pulled away.
Frowning, Millers told her, "You must be tired from your travels. Take all the time you need to get settled back in. We will catch up once you have had time to relax."
"I appreciate that, Septum," the Hunter grinned in a relief of several levels. Truth be told, she was actually tired from the long flight back to the base followed by her disappointing search. And she was not exactly in a mood to continue putting on airs when she was both fatigued as well as frustrated. "I will take my leave for now, then."
As she headed for the door, Aisley glanced over to the large hook in the wall that was being used to hold her employer's white lab coat. It was a suspiciously heavy contraption to be only meant to serve as a rack for the light shroud. However, no one else ever saw the claw take on another role.
Still, it had captured Lucie's attention from the first tome she had ever set foot into the boss's office. And nothing caught her eye without there being a reason behind it. That was what made her one of the best Hunters in the world.
Whatever Septum might have been hiding, Lucie would get to the bottom of it... once she found the Barton-Yuy Clan first.
Briefcase in hand, the beautiful young woman headed back into the corridor. Turning on her heel, she moved for the great, white metal doors that slid open to reveal the city beyond. An array of twisting and turning floors that were filled with the bustle of people walking to and fro between the different offices and living spaces.
Smiling and nodding her head to those she passed who recognized and greeted her, Aisley made small talk while continuing down to the lower private quarters. But there was one particular familiar face that she stopped to spend a little more time catching up with. "Ah, Doctor Berg," she called as the tall man approached. "So wonderful to see you again, my friend."
"Lucie," the medical examiner replied just as kindly. Dressed in his white lab coat that he always wore on top of his more casual clothes, his long, wavy white hair fell above his shoulders to take off his more advanced years. His oval face, long nose and hard refined chin bore fewer wrinkles than what his sunken in eyes behind his thick glasses revealed to give a better clue into his age.
But when the man smiled, even those crevasses faded away to make him a warm and handsome presence.
Exchanging a tight embrace with the Hunter, Berg tilted his head as he asked, "How were your travels, dear?"
Aisley sighed, "Not as fruitful as I had hoped. However, it will only be a matter of time and I had covered a lot of ground to fall back on when I can progress from where I left off." Raising an eyebrow, she smirked, "Don't worry. You'll have your hands on that Hybrid before long. I'll see to that, personally."
The doctor chuckled deeply, "I know you will. Were I a gambling man, you are the only Hunter that I would place all of my bets on to accomplishing that." The digital wristwatch on his arm beeped loudly, causing him to blink widely as he raised the displayed time towards his spectacles
Quickly regaining his friendly smile, he apologized, "I am sorry to have to cut this short, darling, but I remain a very busy man. It's back to the lab I go."
Berg was always busy. Why he was so busy and with what he was so busy Aisley never knew. No one knew for that matter. It was just another every day mystery of life in the base.
Grinning back, she giggled, "Well, do try and resurface once in a while to say hello." With a deep bow at the waist, Berg winked and hurried back up the ramp while Lucie descended in the opposite direction.
Two more floors down and the Hunter was entering her lavish room. Smiling at her personalized surroundings, she let out a deep sigh of relief. The door sliding closed behind her as she entered, she moved straight for the bedroom as she lowered her belongings.
A wide smile on her face, Lucie fell atop her bed and closed her eyes to take in the serenity of the quiet for a breath before she finally let down her guard enough to fall into a deep sleep.
It was good to be home.
* * * * * *
The following evening...
"Radios."
"Check."
"Lighters."
"Check."
"Spare crossbows arrows and wrist harness."
"Check and check."
Grinning, Duo crossed off the last item from the list in his hand as he said, "That just leaves my scythe, which I already have packed away. So, that's everything we need. All we have to do is armor up and we'll be off before sunrise." He turned on his heels to laugh as he and his sister exchanged a high-five.
Anna stuffed her hands into the pockets of her opened gray hoodie sweater that provided sleeves to the orange tank top she wore.
Gold-and-blue eyes scanning the small pile of gear packed in the middle of her brother's living room, she stated, "We haven't been on a mission with less than three of us at a time in a long time. It's weird to see such a light load for this trip."
No sooner had she made that comment did a blur flash before her to add on three more packs that appeared from thin air at the same time that her eldest son materialized beside them. "C-Charles?" the redhead stammered in surprise. "What is this?"
"You forgot to include my things on that list," he smirked to the shocked faces watching him. "I'm coming on the hunt, too."
TBC...
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