Too near and too far away
Abused, confused,
Always love the one that hurt ya
-Lyrics to 'Ready To Go' performed by Republica
Crimson Ties Part 84
Duo blinked when the world returned after the rushed transportation that Trowa brought on. It was a bit disorienting in how he needed second to adjust from the brilliant light that evaporated to the thin darkness of the deep recesses of the cave that he and his fellow Preventers arrived in.
But within a few more blinks, he was able to see everything clearly as though it were daylight thanks to his enhanced vision now that he was a true Companion.
At the return of the world, so came the instant realization of the dangerous situation that greeted the recovery team.
His hands releasing Heero's from his left and Anna's from his right, Maxwell reached back to retrieve his staff at the same time that he heard a couple of warning hisses from his sister and Zechs at his place down the other end of the line. Without needing to look around, he knew that the armed and ready Vampires at his flank were likely bearing their fangs in preparation for the fight that was likely to ensue.
Only about twenty yards ahead from where they stood, a dampened and weak Infected was lying on the cave floor and staring up at them in both bewilderment and fear. Even in the strong hold of death, there was a knowledge of the danger that he was in thanks to the looming creatures that were in their own line another twenty or so yards before him to be at the same distance from their target.
Twenty yards. It may as well have been miles from Rosshe when he was in the same dangerous distance from the Others.
"Well, well, well," one of the Others in the center of their line chuckled deeply. Running a hand through his shoulder-length, red hair that framed his square face, he winked at the braided hybrid, "So we have the great honor of meeting our creator's twin brother." Curving his arm before his chest, he bowed at the waist in a dramatic bow. "A most unexpected honor. Our Master will be thrilled when we bring you back to have your long-awaited family reunion."
His silver-and-violet eyes narrowing, Duo snorted, "Good fucking luck trying." The Others that were not lost to their rage snickered in amusement, the confidence in their own abilities never wavering. Not one of them doubted that they had the upper hand in this standoff.
Crouching low, Anna kept her right arm raised to aim the point of the arrow on her crossbow at a rehabilitant spot on the Wild across from her. 'He'll be the first to move,' her voice rang through everyone's mind thanks to the link that Noin's gift opened so that they could communicate.
The tallest of the Others that she was staring down, the muscular young man's lips were curled back in a snarl as his whole body shook with rage and the need to act out. Even the other two Wilds seemed to have enough of a wit about them that they were taking a moment to think over their strike. But the most imposing brute wanted the Vampires' blood. And soon.
'I'll have him down before he can reach our friend, but the rest of the line will be coming up right behind him if he does try for Rosshe,' the Irish Infected's thoughts commented.
With a rough swallow, Heero replied back, 'That is my assessment as well.' Their goal being to get everyone in the cave safely away would be up against stiff odds if a fight were to break out in the tight confines of their surroundings.
Taking a good and long look at the faces of their opponents, Yuy's gaze settled on one of the few girls in the Others' flank at the far end to his right and he froze. His mouth falling open, he blinked widely and breathed, "Sharon."
Instantly, the other Vampires turned their head away from their stare downs with the creatures directly across from them to follow their fellow agent's gaze to have the same stunned reaction when they took the curly-haired girl in. Anna, who had suffered at the Other's hand by being bound and tortured by her, swallowed roughly and returned her attention to the threatening Wild.
Taken aback, Duo's breath hitched in his throat when he recognized the face of the dark-haired Other. He was there when Heero and his hunting team had picked her image out amidst a group of missing persons' mug shots only months ago. Noin and Anna had tracked the gruesome details to what had happened to her the night she was taken... had cried over how brutally she had been attacked.
So many nights since had come and gone where he'd wondered, as all of his friends and family had, what Sharon's life might have been before she was attacked and wondered with hope if she were still alive.
Being so close to the same girl that he had once feared was likely dead was a surreal thing for Maxwell. He could only imagine how much more intense it was for the Vampires that had worked so long and so directly on her case.
If it was a shock enough to him to be in Berber's presence, he could only imagine what it was like for the other agents that had devoted so much into finding her.
Her green-and-silver eyes growing, the slight being's back turned rigid as she looked on the three Vampires that had taken a keen interest in her. Shock quickly melded into anger as she growled deeply, "How the hell do you know my name? You have no right to say my name." The disgust practically dripped in her tone and she began to tremble.
Raising a hand, Merquise answered calmly, "Sharon, we were the first ones to find where you had been attacked in that clearing. We've been looking for you ever since and terribly worried for you. For all of you." Biting his lip, Trowa nodded enthusiastically, but remained tense in preparation for anything.
'He speaks the truth,' Noin urged through the stunned Other's mind. 'We are not here to hurt any one of you. Please lower your weapons and give us a moment to explain things as they truly are as opposed to how you've been forced to believe. Let's not let this come to violence when I know that even you do not want that.'
Sharon dropped the long dagger from her hand as she reached up and smacked her hands over her ears. "Get out of my head!" she shrieked, eyes closed tightly. "I won't hear anything that you monsters have to say! It was your kind that made me this way and everything you say are nothing but lies!"
Arms falling to her sides, she glared at the redhead and smirked, "So, you still exist when I was sure my friends and I killed you. I'm going to finish what we started."
Those words that were meant to shake Anna did little to break her focus on the large Wild as she replied calmly, "You didn't want to do those things, Sharon. Maybe you didn't hesitate because you were ordered by that puppet master of yours, but it isn't really in you to want to harm another creature. You don't even want to hurt our friend here, but you've been tricked into thinking our kind is the enemy."
"Enough!" the young Other screamed, her curly hair swaying with the vehement shaking of her head as the tears that she had been holding back ran past her lids when they closed tight once more.
Not at all concerned with his accomplice's state, the brooding Wild beside her never took his focus from Rosshe while he announced in a deep and rumbling timber, "The time has come for our kind now. We're the end of the Vampires and livings' rule." Licking his lips, he smirked darkly, "And we start with removing him."
Panting heavily, the dark-haired Vampire moved to crawl back further to get closer to the line behind him. "Don't move," Heero, Trowa and Anna all warned at the same time in a cold seriousness that kept him reluctantly where he was now sitting up. But that slightest movement was the trigger for the most crazed of the Others to lose his patience.
With the howl he produced echoing down the cave, the massive Wild shot forward to take the frail Infected for himself. In his half-leap-half-charge, he raised the gun in his hand and took a shot at Rosshe at the same time that the redhead fired her arrow in a true shot that pierced through the Other's right shoulder.
In that very blink of an eye, both sides were sailing forward in blurs of themselves to meet in the middle at their attempt to reach Rosshe first... leaving Duo where he had stood at his arrival to watch the ensuing battle in stunned horror.
Everything had happened so very fast that the Companion was not able to process how the stillness had completely evaporated away. Snarls, moans, grunts, growls and hisses filled the air amidst the furious blows and shots that were being taken.
Zechs and Noin were working together to handle three of the Others at the same time, one of those challengers being the foreboding Wild that came back to his feet to struggle while completely ignoring the arrow embedded in his shoulder. Meanwhile, the other half of the space was occupied by Heero and Trowa fending off the remaining three attackers that included Sharon.
There was a definite difference in the manners of attack between the two sides. The Vampires were delivering blows, but only to overpower as opposed to bring any true harm. The Others, however, were making every effort to strike with the intent to kill. If that were to continue, there would only be so much that the Preventers could take before they had to take a more aggressive effort in defending themselves.
Finally blinking and returning to the world, Duo then realized that Anna was not anywhere to be found in the heat of the fight. Panicked, he only then turned around to see that his sister had carried Rosshe deeper back into the cave to lay him on the stone floor well out of harm's way. Her eyes wide with worry as she looked over the ailing Infected, the redhead checked on the profusely bleeding wound in his right shoulder.
So that shot the Wild had fired did hit.
Gasping big, raspy breaths when he was not coughing up dark blood in between, the dark-haired Vampire was pale and fading quickly as Anna began to tear away his light shirt for a good look at his wound.
Maxwell had promised Trent that they would being his sister's Chosen back. Driven by both that vow and his intense need to always be of help, he was running forward before he was even aware of it. Falling to his knees at Rosshe's other side, the Companion was in the process he raising his right arm towards the trembling Infected's lips when his sister cried, "Duo, no!"
A sound thud filled the air when her hand wrapped around his wrist, keeping it back from their charge's reach. Gold-and-blue eyes burning with anger and worry, the Irish immortal yelled over the sounds of the struggle, "He's dying and I'm strong enough to pull him off if he can't control himself!" Pushing the hybrid's arm away, she quickly raised her right up, ordering in a cry, "Drink!"
Smelling the closeness of her cold skin, Rosshe opened his heavy-lidded eyes. Consumed by his thirst, his fangs grew in and he lowered his head in one swoop to plunge them into her veins.
Hissing through her teeth, Anna was too caught in her care of the Infected to be taken by the euphoria of being drained. When she looked back to the shoulder wound, she could see the healing effects of Duo's blood in her sealing up the ghastly hole before her eyes.
With a deep sigh, the dark-haired Vampire's eyes drifted closed as he continued to drink more blood in deeper gulps as his strength increased. Lightly patting his back even as she winced by the more intense pull of her essence, the redhead gestured to the ensuing fight and yelled at her brother, "I've got this! Help them!"
Nodding, Maxwell was back on his feet and charging to reinforce Heero and Trowa. And not a moment too soon as when he was nearly upon his family, Sharon managed to get a long enough break to send forth a strands of electrified webbing at Barton. Only able to cut away the first wave of the assault with his twin blades, the Original cried out in agony when his arms were bound to his sides.
Already well aware of how the Others had no influence over him, Duo never hesitated in slicing through the link of webbing between the ones holding his cousin and Berber's extended hand. Falling back from the sudden loss of the taut hold she had, Sharon fell back. On her way down, she was knocked unconscious when she hit the back of her head against the cave wall behind her.
Sure to use the opening, the Companion gripped the rope around Trowa's waist and arms with his free hand to have it evaporate at his touch. Looking on the crisscrossed line that had burnt beyond and into his already healing flesh, Trowa panted and blinked widely. A small laugh escaping him, he peered to the Reformer and smiled sincerely, "Thank you, cousin."
Rather than spend much time on exchanging words, the two moved in to even up the uneven score that Heero was up against with the two Wilds that remained from the original trio of Others. It took both Maxwell and Trowa to hold off the smaller of the ravenous beings while Yuy had no trouble handling the taller one that remained on his own with his enhanced strength.
In between blows and dodges, Duo made sure to make his presence known at the other end of the cave when the long-haired blonde Other got off a beam that contacted with Noin's raised right arm. Wailing, the Councilwoman watched in horror as a solid casing of stone spread quickly to consume her from the point of its origin in her now statuesque appendage.
Busy in holding off his opponents, Zechs could only peer over his shoulder to take in his wife's state with dread as he shouted desperately, "Lucrezia!"
Rushing into the scene just as the Councilwoman's whole right side of her torso was as stiff as her unmoving statue of an arm, the hybrid appeared to touch the palm of a hand to the stone on her side. Like Sharon's webs, the casing dissipated instantly. Her arm dropping at its release, Noin stared at its unharmed flesh in wonder.
With a crazed howl, the blonde lifted her hand again to send a hailstorm of beams at the Companion. Stepping through the assault without so much as a nick at the impact of every green, glowing shot, Maxwell counter turned the halves of his staff to turn the laser of his scythe off to just have the long staff that he spun behind him to swing and knock the blonde Other back with a loud grunt from her at the impact that knocked her out.
Their numbers dropping quickly, the Others were outnumbered and their powers rendered useless whenever Duo moved in to tip the odds in the favor of the Vampires. Able to pair up against their dwindling opponents, the Infected were able to bring down even the Wilds.
However, the greatest opponent remained, the craze-eyed being with the arrow that he'd left embedded in his shoulder. Because of both his size and incredible strength, he was able to hold off three of the Preventers at a time. Throwing them from his massive body when they tried to take him out and knocking them back with kicks and blows, there was no sign of stopping the creature.
After suffering several deep wounds along with the rest of this fellow Originals, Heero took a more serious measure in removing the very real threat to their existences. Growling deeply, as he held his broken left arm against his side, he waited for his team to move back enough that he was standing beneath the long, jagged stalactites that dripped from the high cave ceiling like stone icicles.
When the opportunity came, the Vampire snapped his broken bone back into place and clasped his hands together in a large fist and smacked them into the wall beside him. The thunderous crack that resonated from the blow shook the whole room and a large crack rose up from the point that was struck. Moving fast and loudly, that gap rose up to the ceiling and took out the stalactites with large snaps that filled the air.
Punching Trowa back several feet to clear himself of any challenger, the Wild's eyes grew at the deafening sound and looked up just in time to howl in seeing the hail of rock that was raining down on him before it made impact. Within a heartbeat, the animalistic cry that broke from him was cut off as he was completely buried under the wall of stone that remained.
The hand to the arm that was the only part of the Wild that lay out in the open across the cave floor slowly relaxed lifelessly.
Shoulders sagging and weapons falling to their sides, the Vampires and their Reformer took in the suddenly still surroundings.
First to recover, Noin and Zechs wrapped themselves around each other tightly as their many cuts and bruises healed rapidly thanks to the effects of Duo's blood in them. Chuckling softly in the release of his nerves, Trowa's long gash at the side of his face was nearly gone when he patted Heero's back and smiled, "Nice work, cousin."
Reassuring as those words were and even though he knew that he had no other option in removing the threat of the Wild, Heero continued to stare with a deep regret at the limp hand before them. They did not go into the fight with the intent of killing any of the Others. But there simply was no way around this.
Josh had been right in his assessment that this war would not go without some degree of loss of life.
"You know that we did all that we could to avoid this," Barton offered when there was no response to his comment. "There was just no other way around what happened here." A small smile of appreciation curling his lips, Yuy slowly met the Latin Original's eyes and patted the hand that fell on his shoulder for a tight squeeze of support.
In the end, Trowa was right. there was no reasoning or fending the Wild off. He was far too lost in his crazed hatred and desire to kill any Vampire in sight. If he had not been stopped as he had, surely one of the Infected would have perished in the effort to contain him.
Duo walked up behind his lover, smiling sadly, "You did good, 'Ro. Try to not beat yourself up over this, okay?" He blinked in surprise when his Vampire suddenly spun to pull him into a fierce hug. Swallowing roughly, the hybrid closed his silver-and-violet eyes as he returned the embrace while Heero buried his head in his shoulder.
Maybe the Original would come to terms with his actions, but that didn't mean that he had to be happy with the difficult decision. Of course, the fault needed to fall on Solo... where it truly belonged. And Maxwell would make sure that his partner remembered that.
Over the Infected's shoulder, the braided Companion scanned the relieved faces of his friends and family. Then, as if doused by ice water, he realized with a start that one familiar presence was missing. Gasping, his whole body turned stiff as he shouted, "Oh, God! Anna!"
Heero all but leapt back at his sister's name as the rest of their team froze in panic in their own revelation of how the redhead was not with them. After the brutal struggle that they had just endured, such details were slow in coming to them.
Spinning on his heels, Duo led the charge deeper back into the cave.
When they came upon the two Infected sitting on the floor, Rosshe was nearly in top form, far from the threat of danger and the picture of a healthy Vampire, as he leaned back against the wall behind him. his exposed shoulder was free of even a nick where the bullet had ripped its way clean through. Gold-and-brown eyes filled with worry, he peered up at the arrival of his other rescuers as they ran up.
Gathered in his arms in a protective hold and half-curled in his lap, Anna was trembling and so pale that even her freckles were hard to make out. The bite mark in her exposed wrist was still open, a sign of he blood she had lost if there was not enough to have healed it by then.
Still strong enough to raise her sweat-soaked head from the shoulder it was perched on, the Irish immortal grinned in relief at finding all of her team in tact and comment in little more than a raspy breath, "S-so the good guys won?"
Beside himself, Heero whispered, "Anna." In a flash, he was kneeling before his sister and pulling back the sleeve of his tattered, gray sweater to hold his wrist against her lips.
Fangs growing in, the redhead's eyes drifted closed and she took a few short gulps just to take the edge from her frail state. Drinking much more would deplete her brother if she completely restored herself.
With a deep sigh from the euphoria of her drinking from him and his relief that she was clearly going to be fine, Yuy rubbed the back of her head and pressed a kiss on her damp brow. Once her trembling was down to a minimum and her color improved, Anna retracted her fangs to smile up at him. "Thank you," she managed softly. Whimpering when another wave of tremors that wracked her.
Rosshe locked gazes with the worried Companion and smirked. When he spoke, it was with a clear and smooth baritone as he stated, "She was strong enough to pull away, just as she promised. If you attempted what she had, you would not have survived." Swallowing roughly, Duo bit his lip and nodded.
Easily scooping his sister in his arms, Heero told the rest of the team, "Let's gather up the Others and get them home." No one was about to raise an objection and they rushed to the task.
* * * * * *
Wufei was pacing the living room floor anxiously, as he had ever since Relena sought him out with news of the change in urgency for the recovery team's mission.
As much as he wanted to transport after his wife and family, his orders were to stay back and continue working on the laptop's data. But his resolve was quickly fading with every passing minute when there was still no word and if much more time passed, he was willing to risk stepping into a very unstable situation.
Equally nervous by the waiting were Midi, Trent, Sally and the remainder of the Khushrenada clan that was not off to Egypt. Sitting or standing around, the lot was instantly alert when there were flashes of shapes outlined in color before they fully materialized into the retrieval party and four unconscious beings in the center of the space.
Before they even asked for details on the mission, Treize and Lady Une were assisting Zechs and Noin in binding the arms and legs of the Others to prevent any unpleasant retaliation should they wake before their arrival to their holding cells. Midi whimpered softly as the threw herself around her chuckling husband and kissed him soundly.
His growing eyes falling instantly on the trembling form of his Chosen in Heero's arms, Wufei breathed, "Anna."
Quickly moving to take up a blanket that was draped over the nearest couch, he wrapped it around the redhead and took her into his own arms with an appreciative nod to his brother. Sitting himself atop the recliner with his bride in his lap and their brothers flanking them, the Mimic sighed deeply in relief and pleasure when her fangs sank into the scales at the nape of his neck to finish replenishing herself.
A large bag of blood in hand, Sally gave the dark-haired Egyptian Vampire a smile born out of pleasant surprise. "And here I made up a whole medical cooler of this donated blood for you," she snickered as she held her offering out to the very fit creature. "Though you may be fine now, I gather you could use a few drinks of human blood to sustain you."
Simply seeing the bright red fluid, Rosshe's desire for the drink was almost too overwhelming. Biting his lip to prevent his fangs from growing in too quickly, he was practically shaking from anticipation. Nothing compared to human blood to a Vampire when they did not have their established Companion. Though he was so much better off after drinking from Anna, there would only be that much more healing to be found.
Mindful to not snatch the medical fluid bag, he retained his manners enough to bow deeply and accept it graciously. "My deepest thanks," he whispered sincerely. Bringing the blood so his mouth, his restraint faltered and he bit through the plastic aggressively to finish the drink in a few deep gulps. Even in the first sips, his whole body felt stronger.
Panting softly when he finished, Rosshe wiped the back of his hand across his mouth. "Thank you," he told the braided doctor sincerely.
Taken aback by the overwhelming emotions that were surging in him as he scanned the Vampires and Companion that had somehow appeared to save his existence, he breathed, "I... I cannot thank you all enough. I never would have survived if you hadn't-" he stopped short when his eyes fell on a person he never would have imagined seeing amongst his rescuers. "Trent," he whispered in clear disbelief.
His own eyes wide, Greyson swallowed roughly as he looked on his sister's Chosen. Relena had a protective arm around the living's shoulders, the two having had a bit of time to bond while the Preventers were away. "You... you know me?" he asked hesitantly.
Smiling widely, the Egyptian immortal nodded firmly, "Of course. You're my brother." In a rush, he closed the distance between himself and the mortal to pull him into a one-armed embrace. Freezing rigidly at the gesture, Trent soon relaxed with a watery-eyed laugh and returned the hug. Strange as it was to consider another being family at their first meeting, that was exactly what Rosshe was...
...family.
The smile on his face never fading, the Infected gripped his brother's shoulders when he pulled back and said, "We have much to talk about, so much catching up to do."
Nodding, Trent replied with a grin, "I'd really like that." He turned to the Preventers seeking out permission as this was the first chance they would have had a chance to discuss more on Solo's Seer with her Vampire.
Sliding one of the Wilds over his shoulder, Treize snickered to the newly forged brothers, "Take all the time you need. My family and I will be off securing our guests here over in our estates. We'll be back in a few hours." That said, he led his fellow Council members from the room as they charged out in blurs of themselves.
All too ready to play hostess, Midi rubbed her hands together and offered to her honored guests, "I'll take you to the main dining room so you can sit and talk while I make up some tea for you both." At that note, Sally giggled and disappeared to gather the rest of the supply that she had gathered for Rosshe.
Casting a worried side glance to Anna, the little mother lightly rested a hand on Heero and Duo's arms as she passed them and urged, "Let's give Wufei some time to help our dear one heal." Still curled up in the blanket she had been wrapped in, the redhead leaning heavily against him with her eyes closed and head pillowed on his shoulder in her healing sleep, Chang mouthed a 'thank you' to Midi.
Reluctant as they were to leave their sister's side, Yuy and Maxwell followed after their cousins and friends. As Rosshe had said, there was much to discuss.
* * * * * *
Dorothy returned to the world as she closed the window to her gifted sight. A deep frown marring her face, she breathed, "They're... they're gone."
How that happened couldn't matter in the least. The fact that she had to face Solo to tell him that not only did Rosshe fall off the face of the world along with the team of Others that had gone off to retrieve him did.
And her Master was not going to be pleased. Not in the slightest bit.
TBC...
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