I'll never long for what might have been
Regret won't waste my life again
I won't look back
I'll fight to remain
-Lyrics to 'Metalingus' performed by Alter Bridge

Crimson Ties Part 68

"My fault. I invited him here. I knew something was wrong and I still let him go."

"Shh. You had no idea what he was. Not one of us did. And we all accepted him into our home, remember."

It was unknown to Duo how long he had been running at the mouth with his fears, his words coming out in breathy whispers as he shivered violently. But some time had to have passed when he was alert enough to see that the street lamps on the other side of the living room window were burning against the thick darkness that had settled.

One of the last things that he had to hold onto besides his family was his friends. And now he had to deal with the reality that one of them was a traitor... a Hunter out to destroy the Infected... his loved ones.

Blinking his shimmering, silver-ringed eyes, Maxwell shifted as the rest of the world came back to him. Curled securely in Heero's lap, the Companion lifted his head from the shoulder that it was resting on. A small, relieved smile spread across his Vampire's face when he saw the clarity that had returned in the violet gaze on him.

"Hey," Yuy greeted softly. Leaning in his head in, he pressed and held a chaste kiss against his Companion's lips. As his eyelids drifted closed with a sigh, Duo gladly returned the sweet welcome back into the realm of the existing.

When they pulled away, the Reformer shifted to find Anna perched on the arm of the recliner at his back with a warm smile as she rubbed his arm. Standing behind her, Wufei smirked at his little brother.

Encouraged at not finding any animosity towards him, Maxwell slowly scanned the rest of the room looking on his cousin, the whole Khushrenada clan and the livings sitting or standing around. Only receiving smiles from the lot, the braided hybrid sat up taller but made sure to stay in his Infected's lap.

"I-I thought that you would all hate me," he all but whispered. Meeting Noin's eyes, he swallowed roughly, "You had to hear my thoughts over how I'd confronted Trent before and didn't tell any of you."

Lucrezia chuckled, "Well, it was almost impossible for me to block out the screams in your head, but I did get the picture of what happened." Her smile fading, she frowned sadly, "But you did nothing wrong. You had no idea that Trent was a Hunter, let alone that he could pose any real threat to us."

Gently resting a hand on her little brother's shoulder, Anna squeezed it as she reassured, "Even if he was a potential danger, none of us would have ever thought less of you for how you handled things."

Chang gestured to the two Infected standing in the doorway, adding, "Besides, Trowa and Relena told us the rest of the conversation that Trent had with Hilde and we're even more at ease with the whole situation. Your friend may not be someone to fear the way that we first thought, after all."

Blinking in confusion at that, Duo turned to face his cousin. Stepping forward, Barton smirked, "As we had explained to everyone when they all calmed down, it seems as though Trent is making a real effort to come to an acceptance of us thanks to you. He really values your friendship, enough so that he willingly pushed Hilde away when he seemed to have thought quite fondly of her before."

Relena stood beside the Latin Infected, nodding, "It appears his sister, Dorothy, may have been a victim to either Rogues... or she was quite possibly one of the first to fall under Solo's influence. Hilde had used her name by means of swaying Trent back to complying with their hunting clan again. He refused."

A deep frown marring his face, Maxwell muttered, "Dorothy? His sister? He never mentioned that name, or the fact that he had a sister before."

"Come to think of it, we don't know a whole lot about him at all," Catherine realized aloud. "Other than his last name being Greyson, he never was one to share much when it came to his family or anything for that matter."

Khushrenada gazed on the scaly Infected with a quiet, "Wufei."

Nodding firmly now that he knew Duo was alright, Chang headed for the doorway as he replied, "Already on it. I'll hack into every police database in the country. If a Dorothy Greyson ever got so much as a parking ticket anywhere, I'll be able to get the background on her." That said, he hurried out of the room in a bolt.

"In the meantime, we have a tracking device already set on Trent's vehicle that we set in place before he left the campus earlier," Anna told her brother. Wincing, she shrugged, "We have taken a few liberties by breaking a few privacy rules to protect our interests."

Trowa elaborated, "Namely, we checked the school records on Trent to find his address. We used the information to bug his apartment while Wufei used the signal from his cell phone line to have a means of recording any conversations made from that phone as well."

Rubbing his lover's back, Heero soothed, "Between all of that as well as keeping physical tabs on him, we'll be able to find where his clan is based whenever he goes to rejoin them. Should he ever have a change of heart and decide to turn on us, we'll be five steps ahead of them and act as we must at that time."

As relief washed over him, Duo sagged heavily in his Vampire's arms with a deep sigh. "Okay," he grinned. "I feel better knowing that." Snickering, Yuy pressed a kiss against his temple.

Leaning back into the couch that he was sitting on, Quatre shook his head, "It just goes to show how little you really know a person even when you think you have a good idea who they are."

The scientist met Relena and Trowa's gazes, shrugging, "If you hadn't listened in on that conversation between him and Hilde, I never in my life would have believed that he was a Hunter." Catherine shook her own head vehemently, a deeply disturbed expression etched on her face.

Seated next to him, Sally folded her arms against her chest to suppress the shudder that coursed through her. "Just knowing that there are Hunters in the area at all is unsettling enough, let alone how easily they can be literally anyone we're in connection with."

"It's a good thing that Trent is as close to our circle through the three of you as he is," Lady Une commented to Duo and the livings. "If he wasn't, we might never have known that there was a clan this near. Now we have a means of monitoring them."

Seeing the logic in that, Maxwell relaxed even more in his partner's arms. At some point, once he had more to go on through Wufei's research, he still intended to have a few words with Trent. But until he knew exactly who he was dealing with, he would continue to play the unawares friend to his classmate.

Besides, there were other matters to be dealt with that were a little more pressing at that moment. Trent would have to wait. But he would be dealt with, the Companion was determined to make damn certain of that.

Treize pushed himself upright from the wall that he had been leaning against, announcing, "For now, it would be best that we focus on the things that are in our control." Facing his cousins lounging in the loveseat across from him, he smirked, "Namely getting everything that we can through Josh."

All too eager to have her ability used to help the cause, Noin patted her chuckling husband's leg and all but sprang to her feet. "I'll get right to that," she grinned in anticipation.

Biting her lip, Lucrezia stopped herself just as she was about to leave to meet Heero and Duo's gazes. 'I cannot thank either of you enough for the gracious forgiveness that you've shown me. I will never take it for granted,' her voice all but whispered to them through their thoughts. She was rewarded with warm smiles and firm nods from the pair.

Content that all was well between them, the Councilwoman's grin spread further across her face as her husband stood behind her. Meeting Zechs' gaze, she squeezed the hand that reached out to her and they sailed from the living room in blurs of themselves.

Addressing Trowa, Lady Une requested, "Please remind Wufei that you both need to get start thinking over what abilities you should acquire when we meet here again at this time tomorrow before we drink from Duo's supply of blood. Hopefully by that time, we'll have good news to share from our interrogation."

Not wanting to waste another moment in seeing to their prisoner, the Preventers' Co-Commanders shot from the room to the sound of the front door closing behind them.

Midi approached the livings sitting across from her, commenting, "You poor dears must be famished. I'll get right to making a good dinner that won't take long to prepare."

"That sounds wonderful. I've been hearing quite a bit about your cooking, so I'm looking forward to enjoying one of your meals," Sally giggled.

Practically floating past the recliner at the compliment, the Latin Vampire paused to run a hand through the Companion's long bangs as she grinned, "And I'll cook up one of your favorite homemade soups. They always seem to do the trick in soothing you."

Before her hand lowered away, Duo leaned into her touch with a small smile. Winking up at her, he sighed deeply, "You're the best, cousin. Thank you." Pleased to be of help, the 'little mother' beamed and headed for the kitchen.

Reluctant as he was to leave his lover's secure hold, Maxwell rose to his feet and turned towards the members of his family remaining. "I need to burn off a lot of frustration," he stated, knowing that they would understand the request that he was making.

While Heero and Anna quickly stood up, Trowa smirked on all of their behalf to his cousin, "We had a feeling that you might. The training room is waiting for us."

*   *   *   *   *   *

"Another wonderful prospect," Solo chuckled in merriment following his Seer's report on his next target. His army was growing stronger by the hour at the rate that they had been moving, the Others that he was creating mutating rapidly into their abilities.

Spinning on his heels to face the lovely creature that had just entered his throne room, the hybrid kissed her cheek and praised, "You have been of the greatest assistance to me, working around the clock as you have."

Dorothy smiled shyly and bowed her head, replying, "I exist only to serve you, my Creator."

Licking his lip, the half-breed all but shivered at her words. "Yes... and you could serve me in other ways as well," he purred as he gave in a bit to his urge enough to run a hand along the small of her back to press her close against his chest.

Taken aback, his Seer's eyes widened with a sharp gasp. "S-sire?" she stammered. While she was not about to fight him, her slow heart rate elevated with a wave of panic when his hand dipped down to the curve of her backside.

Something was very wrong about this advance and Dorothy could not put her finger on why that was. Solo got everything he wanted, or there would be severe punishment laid down on whomever should ever deny him...

...and yet everything in her was screaming that she resist. That she spare that intimate side of herself for another.

It was in the flash of that fear that filled his Seer's silver-ringed eyes that Solo suddenly pulled back, a hiss of frustration escaping him. Eyes narrowed, he turned away to keep from taking his anger out on her.

He was still alive, the son of a bitch. So long as he existed, Dorothy would never truly belong to anyone else... not even her Maker.

Oh, Solo could have her body in every way he imagined and desired. But he would never have her soul. And until that was the case, there would be little enjoyment in claiming her. So, he would just need to remain patient.

He wouldn't last without her forever. Impressive as it was that he had lasted this long even after the break in their tie, he would eventually fade. And her resistance would die with him.

The corner of his mouth tugging into a lopsided grin, the hybrid snorted to himself. He had waited this long to see his grand plan of domination come to fruition. He could wait a little longer to have the creature he desired more than any other.

"Well, I must not lose another moment in bringing the newest member of our family home," Solo laughed as he turned to face the Seer once again.

Blinking her already enlarged eyes, Dorothy's frown deepened in confusion over the abrupt shift in her Master's demeanor. Unsure as she was over the dramatic change, she was not about to question it. Forcing a smile, she nodded, "Then I wish you and the team a safe trip to South Africa."

And just like that, she completely forgot about the strange sensation that there was someone seeing her out.

*   *   *   *   *   *

Josh had just made himself comfortable atop the bench of his cell when he heard the heavy bolt of his cage's door being lifted. Sitting upright, his eyes narrowed and his spikes grew just as two of his captors entered.

"Oh. You again?" the Other huffed as if he was bored while he swung his legs to have them hang from the edge of his perch. "I'm surprised that you're even bothering to get anything out of me when you know that I'll never talk."

Smirking to the couple, Josh snickered smugly, "You know, holding a creature like this isn't exactly becoming for the Speaker and a Representative of the Vampire Council. How many more prisoners have you contained like this over the course of your existences?"

Confident though he might have appeared, the Other was struggling with his ever-present fears. 'Just don't let them see you're scared,' he thought to himself. 'God, they could tear right through my spikes and have me any minute, just like those Vampires that almost killed me, if they really wanted to.'

The mere thought of that attack had Josh fighting the shudder that wanted to course through his body. And the fact that the tall Speaker of the Council was stepping quickly towards him was not helping his growing panic.

Noin paused in her advance towards the prisoner, blinking her growing eyes. Where before there was the part of her that was willing to do any and everything in her power to get the answers that she wanted from Josh, she now knew through reading his mind what a frightened little creature he actually was.

Her cousins had been right all along... the Other had been through enough.

Resting a hand on Zechs' arm just when he was nearly looming over their captive, the Councilwoman urged through his thoughts, 'We need to pull back, give him some space. Let me try something.' His gold-ringed eyes meeting hers, the Speaker nodded shallowly and took a couple paces back so that Josh no longer felt the threat from their proximity.

Josh was on the verge of crying out when the tall Vampire moved away. Every step back that Merquise took, he relaxed a little more.

A small smile curling her lips, Lucrezia said quietly, "We only wanted to see if there was anything that we could get you... something light to eat, a more comfortable bed. After everything that had happened to you in that alley when you were ambushed, I realize that we haven't exactly been treating you as well as we should have been."

The change in the Infected's demeanor took the Other aback, enough so that he shook his head out of confusion. 'Don't buy it,' he thought to himself. 'This is all just some trick to gain your trust. That's how they work... they make themselves out to not want to bring any harm to the livings until they can strike.'

Making sure to keep some distance between them, Noin lowered herself in a crouch before the silver-eyed creature. "That had to be a terrible thing for you," she frowned deeply in sincere sadness for him. "You were a college student, never got in a moment of trouble in your whole life so that you could make your parents proud by becoming a lawyer."

"H-how the hell do you know any of that about me?" Josh stammered, unable to contain his surprise. Glaring heatedly, he hissed, "What right do any of you have knowing anything about me?!"

The Vampire raised her hand in a calming gesture. "We know because my husband and I went to investigate the scene where you were taken," she informed. "For months now, my family, friends and fellow agents have been looking into the disappearances of mortals like you, to find the ones responsible for what happened because we truly want it to end. Be them Infected or any other creature, we want them stopped."

Snorting, bitterly, the Other shook his head, "More lies and tricks to win me over. It's not going to work."

Lucrezia kept herself calm in replying, "If our kind wanted you dead, you would never have survived an attack like that. Your life would have been over before you even knew what had happened to you."

It was a great bit of logic that even Josh couldn't argue. Try as he might to reason against it, he could only swallow roughly as he stared at the Councilwoman. In the end, that was the one part of the whole ambush that he'd endured that confused him the most. After being beaten and broken as he had been, why had they spared him enough to be rescued?

Yes, his Master was a powerful being... but it was hard for the Other to believe that he was intended to be little more than a play thing to the Infected that had left him so close to death without finishing him off.

"When we went to South Carolina to learn more about you and what took place in that alley, I could see everything in the snow and the damage to the buildings to imagine the whole scene," Noin went on. "Our Agent of the region gathered any and every bit of information on you that we could get out hands on."

Biting her lip, the Vampire tilted her head and commented softly, "We know how you were named after your grandfather on your mother, Gisele's side. You were the quarterback of your high school football team and as one of the more popular kids in your class, you kept other students from picking on any of your classmates."

His breath heaving in pants, her prisoner fought the sting in his eyes as he breathed, "Stop it, please. That person's dead now."

Noin could feel the overwhelming battle in his head, could hear the conflicting voices that were making him all the more unsure of himself. It was absolutely devastating to feel that much pain and loss in such a good being.

Shaking her head, she bit her lip and allowed the slight shimmer that filled her own gaze. In little more than a whisper, she insisted, "He doesn't have to be, Josh." Gesturing to her husband and the glass beside him, she declared, "Not one of us wants him to be gone. And I get the feeling that you know he's still in you."

When his wife's voice cracked beyond the point of her being able to continue, Zechs stood beside her and rested a hand on her shoulder.

Never breaking his focus on their charge, he said, "We learned all that we could about you because we care about what happens to you, Josh. Even if we never met, your best interest was always at the forefront of everything we did as was the case for every living that shared your fate. I do hope that you can understand that no creature that would ever wish you harm would ever go to the extent of knowing you as we have."

Trembling, the Other lowered his head and squeezed his eyes closed. It was all too much... their words were too heart-felt for him to not believe them.

"Maybe the monsters that were responsible for attacking you had changed you in more ways than your Master did," Lucrezia muttered, reaching up to squeeze her lover's hand.

Sniffling, she murmured, "But there was something... someone that they couldn't take away. You've always had them on your mind from the time you were little, but you may have never even been aware of it until recently. They're preserving the person that you were."

With a wail, the voice in Josh's mind cried, 'Oh, God, no! Now they're trying to take Anthony away from me! He's all that I have left! They can't know about him! Anthony is the only thing keeping me together!'

Tightly wrapping his shuddering body up in his spiked arms, he thought of the handsome face that he had come to see in what seemed little more than dreams. Wavy brown hair framed the oval face with perfect and pronounced features that included haunting green eyes... surrounded by bands of gold.

So taken by the clear image of the Vampire in the captive's thoughts, Noin was hardly able to contain the gasp that rose in her eyes. Eyes wide and skin paling, she turned to the mirror and sought out her cousins' minds to tell them through her telepathy, 'His Chosen's name is Anthony. Brown hair, green eyes... and I'm picking up the faintest hint of an English accent when Josh imagines him speak.'

On the other side of the wall, Lady Une's face was drenched with unchecked tears. Brown-and-gold eyes growing, she stammered under her breath, "M-my God... I know that Vampire." Gripping Treize's arm, she laughed, "I know who he is!"

In a bolt, she soared up to her office and sat at her desk. Spinning her chair to her computer that was already up and running, she typed at her keyboard feverishly to pull up the report that she was looking for. "Come on," she muttered to herself as she scanned over the names of the Infected that had been named as falling deathly ill in the wake of the recent livings' disappearances.

At last, the image of Anthony Burton appeared on her screen and the Commander let out a howl of a cheer as her arms flew into the air over her head. Emerald-and-gold eyes stared back at her through the screen as wavy brown fell around the handsome face of a Vampire turned at the same age as Josh.

"That has to be him!" the Councilwoman exclaimed.

Quickly printing off the image of the facial shot and bringing up the Infected's detailed information, she reached for her phone and dialed the international number that appeared on the monitor belonging to the agents station in Anthony's region. After only a couple of rings, the call was answered with a confused and thickly accented, "Commender Une? Is everything alright?"

Drawing a deep breath, the lovely Infected went back to typing at a rapid pace as she replied, "Agent Knox, I have an urgent escort mission that you and Agent Tilly are to oversee immediately. I am in the middle of seeing that you receive boarding passes for the next flight that leaves London for the States in two hours. You will be bringing your charge by the name of Anthony Burton with you to meet with Treize and myself when you land."

There was a deep sigh from the Vampire on the other line before he asked, "Dear Commender, does that mean that 'is Chosen's been found? Anthony's in very bad shape... I don't know 'ow much longer 'e'll make it on 'is own."

Much as she wanted to appease her agent, Lady Une answered, "I can't go into the details of the situation right now, Perry. But I promise to fill you and your partner in as soon as you land with our friend. We'll see you in a few hours."

"Right," her soldier responded. "We best be off te make the flight. See ye soon."

The Commander wished softly, "Safe journey to you all." Hanging up the receiver, she collapsed back into her leather chair and reached up to cover her mouth with her hands as she stared at Anthony's smiling image.

Half the battle of finding the Vampire was over. Now it was a waiting game to see if their efforts had paid off in time.

TBC...

 

To The Next Chapter

To The Previous Chapter

Back to SkyLark's Fanfictions Page

Back to Guests Fanfictions Page

Back to Main Page