07-Jun-2001
Note: The arc is currently under a massive revision, and will be under revision for at least another four to six months, so there will be some discontinuities until I can get everything fixed.
Author: Dan
Genre: epic AU
Pairings: NA
Disclaimer: not mine, don't sue.
Warnings: AU, a positive plethra of OCS, high
supernatural and yech factor, angst
Further Note: terms from such literary gems as Laurel
K. Hamilton are used and then twisted beyond all
recognition.
I watched the city pass by in something of a daze, my forehead against the cool, slightly damp glass of the car window. It seemed like an endless parade of lights and lives of people who would never know what lived to prey upon the pulse of that nearly frantic life. I watched the city buildings rise and fall like a concrete tide.
Aidan was driving, and--amazingly enough--he was pretty good at it. There are times that call for mindless, terror-filled panic, and times that called for measured, considered, thoughtful panic. I had a lot of practice with the latter, and could recognize the signs when I saw them. I was panicking: a very controlled panic, but panic nevertheless. It wasn't fear of Trieze, although that was part of it, but fear of my lack in control in the situation. I was supposed to be responsible, but damned if I had the faintest clue what I was doing. I was relying on Aidan to give me clues on how I was supposed to act, and that was cause enough for panic.
"This isn't a formal meeting," Aidan said, as if he had been reading my mind. He didn't look at me, but stared resolutely out at the traffic as he drove. "You don't have to worry too much about the details; just be dominant, aggressive."
"I can do that," I replied with a weariness that I couldn't keep out of my voice. I was tired of playing the posturing games. For once, I wanted to just go in and get to the point.
Dorothy reached around my seat and wrapped her arms around my shoulders. She smelled of jasmine. "I doubt Treize will be expecting the new you. He'll remember you from the war; use his expectations against him."
I kissed her hands gently. "I know."
"If I could butt into this little tactical meeting," Duo said rather than asked. "What am I supposed to be doing during all this?"
"Do whatever it is that necromancers do," I snapped.
"Problem: I'm not sure exactly what it is necromancers do," he replied, with just as much acidity.
I turned around in my seat very slowly to stare at him. "Excuse me?"
He rolled his eyes. "Necromancers are rare, as in I'm the only one to exist in the past four hundred years. I haven't a fucking clue."
I blinked, and then shrugged. "Better pray that the vamps don't know what a necromancer can do either."
"Can't we just shoot him?" Duo almost whined. Deep in my heart, I desperately wished the same thing. It would be so much easier if we could just kill him. The thought made me shudder.
"Besides the fact that it would start a full on war between the werewolves and the vampires, which would probably bleed out onto the streets," Aidan said with a harshness that made me look at him sharply. "It probably wouldn't work. Sometimes silver bullets won't kill a master vamp; with our luck, Treize is one of them."
"You sound like you have experience," Duo stated quietly. There was an undercurrent in his voice that said he might be sympathetic, but I didn't know exactly what he was sympathetic with.
"Kill or be killed."
"Figured." Duo stretched as far as he could in the narrow confines of the car. Any other person would have left it at that, but a bored Shinigami was a talkative Shinigami. "So, what would we use if we were going to kill him?"
Aidan seemed to welcome the distraction from whatever thoughts were racing through his head. "Shotgun, uzi, anything that can take out the heart or the head from a distance. There are traditionalists who insist on the wooden stake and garlic, but I figure if you can kill them from a distance, why not?"
"How about DFE rounds?" Duo asked; he leaned forward slightly in his seat, attentive and curious.
"Beg your pardon?"
"Delayed Fuse Explosive rounds," Duo explained amicably. "They're designed to explode after impact; basically, the entrance hole is the size of a quarter and the exit hole is about the size of pizza."
"Nasty: they'd probably work," Aidan sounded impressed and amused as Dorothy made a disgusted sound. I rolled my eyes; boys talking shop. "I like HESH rounds personally: high explosive squash head ammo that acts like an explosive hollow point round, and they delivers incredible kinetic impact."
"All of these things are illegal," I said with what would have been exasperation in my other life.
"And your point would be?" Aidan asked innocently. I just laughed. Then his face went blank as if a switch had been thrown. "As much as I hate to break up this bonding session over ammo, I think we have arrived."
We stepped out of the car onto the abandoned street; I felt like we should have theme music, but I couldn't figure out what type.
Treize had chosen one of the city's numerous arboretums for our meeting place. It was one of the more famous, impressively exclusive ones, built on the upper levels of one of the city's numerous stock-brokerage buildings. The short, stocky building looked rather odd crowned by the glowing dome of the arboretum, like a crown set awkwardly on the head of an ugly, but stable, dwarf. It took over most of the top floor and roof. The architects for the place must have been bloody geniuses to figure out how to support all that weight. There were small trees, shrubs, and greenhouse areas with different climate controls. I was fond of the place because of the numerous contradictions: a little piece of solitude in the middle of a city of close to ten million people. Now, I wasn't sure if I would ever be able to look at the place the same way again.
We had agreed to meet in the greenhouse section where they grew the roses. A warning of temptation to come or simple sentimentality--I'll never really know. Treize always was one for keeping his cards close to his chest.
The tension was nearly tangible as we rode up the single glass elevator. Aidan's face had thinned down to tight, angry lines, like he was holding all of his emotions in a small hard ball. Duo was quiet except for the occasional snide comment, which was a bad sign. Dorothy met my appraising gaze with one arched eyebrow and a small shrug of her shoulders. She too had retreated behind one of her numerous masks.
The quiet, dignified ding of the elevator seemed like an insult and a challenge. I stepped out of the elevator first, since it seemed to be expected. The roof was actually a walkway that weaved through the bubbles containing the separate micro-ecosystems. Leaning against the rail almost nonchalantly was a figure I never thought to see again on this side of Hell. Prayed to never see again. He turned his head slowly and smiled, warm and inviting. My throat tightened painfully as I looked at him. I could feel the others moving to fan out behind me, but I seemed rooted to the spot.
The wind whipped the two panels of my skirt about my legs, baring them almost to my hips, but I wasn't all that concerned with how much leg I was flashing. All my attention was one the man walking towards us. Even now his flair for the dramatic showed in every gesture. The wind that whipped my skirt and jacket around me moved through his ginger hair like a caressing hand. It was immaculately cut, clean and fresh looking. Treize--and there was no way it could be anyone else--looked like he should be walking along a beach in some credit card advertisement. He wore light-colored slacks pressed with military precision, a white dress shirt tucked into them, and a white jacket folded neatly over one arm. It made his eyes very bright against his pale skin.
"How long has it been since we've seen each other, Relena?" Treize moved towards me as if he were gliding, floating on currents of his own power.
"Depends on your concept of time," I said, carefully neutral. He laughed gently, like you would with a precocious child. The laughter seemed to smooth across my skin like a caress; it made me shiver and raised the hair on the back of my neck.
He held his hand out to me in an old courtly gesture of greeting. I let him take mine, leaking just enough power to make his eyebrow arch. I smiled sweetly. His voice was still smooth as satin. "Relena, Creatura, it has been far too long; and yet look how lovely you have grown."
"You haven't lost your way with words, have you, Treize?" I asked with just a bit of irony coloring my tone. I did not want him holding my hand. I did not want him touching me. I could feel Aidan move to stand at my right side, almost within touching distance. I placed a hand on his arm; whether I was restraining him or comforting him, I'm not sure.
Treize watched us with no small interest. It made his eyes very bright, like frozen sapphires. "Do you give him your protection, Creatura?"
Was that what that gesture was all about? Had Aidan been asking for my protection with that simple movement? It seemed odd. The idea that Aidan might be afraid made me stomach tighten into a sick knot. My wolf's face gave me no clues; it was as if he were not even there.
"Of course," I said, my fingers tightening on Aidan's arm. "I am his Geri; he is mine."
"Do you think he needs protection from me?" he asked with seemingly innocent curiosity.
"Perhaps," I hedged carefully. I felt like I was in a dark room filled with sharp corners. I placed one arm around Aidan's waist and drew him behind me a little. Treize stopped stalking towards us at my gesture. I think I may have startled him. "At one time, when you have the time, you may wish to ask your wolf exactly how the old master's death came to pass," Treize stated calmly, his eyes resting on Aidan with an intensity that belied his bored expression. "However, the circumstances of the past are not what bring you to me."
He walked around me to stand before Dorothy. We were playing a game, but I didn't know the rules. I looked up into Aidan's cat-green eyes; the look that was in them made me feel very humble. I slid away from him to stand slightly behind Dorothy. Duo moved to her left side to mirror me. His entire posture was that of arrogant confidence. The show of bravado made me smile.
"Sweet cousin," Treize lifted Dorothy's hand to his lips, but she kept eyes determinedly fixed on his chest. Wufei would have been proud. He had warned us--it seems almost an eternity ago--that if you look vampire in the eyes they can roll your mind. Make you a willing slave to the pleasure that only they can give you. A growled trickled from my closed lips before I could stop myself. Treize seemed mildly amused. "Is she yours as well, Geri?"
"Yes."
"And Relena is mine," Dorothy stated with a calm boredom that mimicked and mocked Treize. The swell of her power swept through me like a warm rising tide, making me sigh contentedly. Aidan echoed my sigh. Duo gasped a little, stiffening. I guess it didn't feel as good to him. Maybe their auras clashed; but I couldn't bloody well ask in front of the bad guys.
The expression on Treize's face suggested that he thought that maybe his choice of meeting ground was not such a good idea now, as Dorothy called the Earth itself against him. Dorothy slid her hand around to grasp his wrist, to pull him to her. "Do not underestimate the living, loving cousin, life has a power more than equal to that of death."
"I would not dream of underestimating it, or you." His voice sounded breathy. I wondered what the hell it was that she was doing to him. Dorothy smiled brilliantly before releasing him. Treize rubbed his wrist a bit ruefully before he caught himself. He stared down at the top of her head, while she kept her gaze on the front of his elegantly tailored shirt. He looked over to Duo, who met his gaze with a cocky lift of one eyebrow. I wondered if all the rampant power bursts were starting to mess with his survival instincts.
There was a move in the atmosphere, something, and I felt like I had been suddenly dunked in cold water. Ants made of ice marched over my skin. Duo's power, like a cold wind, moved through the room. Something was going on between Duo and Treize that I could sense, but not describe. It made my skin crawl. Duo's already pallid skin paled to the color of paper; his eyes seemed huge and dark, his breath coming in quick pants. Treize's eyes had taken on a gemlike gleam.
I don't know what drove me to do it, but I pulled Duo into the circle of my arms. As my skin touched him I felt that vortex pulling at him, pulling at everything that was Duo. I opened up to Duo, calling to him in the intimate space where he fought off Treize. 'Take my strength,' I told him as he lay in my arms shuddering, 'use it.'
I felt him felt him pull at me tentatively, and then with greater confidence. The chill wind rose around us like a tempest; it felt as if my hair should be whipping around from the force of it. I swayed against him, dizzy and sick. Duo laughed, and it was Shinigami. His power built in the room, pounding against me, as Duo threw Treize from his mind with enough force to make the master vampire reel for a moment. Duo held me gently, and then kissed my forehead, chaste and fraternal.
Treize laughed, and it was like satin sliding down my spine.
"Voice tricks," Duo murmured in my ear. "He's some kind of incubus."
"Such power; Victor sends you with quite the entourage," Treize commented as he reached for my hand slowly. I hesitated for a moment. "For this night you need not fear my touch."
"And you do not fear mine?" I asked. Something about being near Duo made it easier to draw the munin to me. I felt them come in a warm rush of faint voices and phantom caresses. They were so very pleased to come. They moved about me like nearly visible wind, tousling my hair and moving the panels of my skirt.
"Ghosts?" Duo whispered questioningly. The munin liked him: his tie to the dead, his tie to me. They played with his braids affectionately.
"Not quite," I replied, and pushed away from him, moving to confront Treize.
"An interesting little display, but rather unnecessary. I have already given you safe passage for the night." He stood still, untouched by the munin.
"But you have not acknowledged my power, the power of the lukoi." I knew it was important that he said it.
Aidan moved to me, eyes glowing, and the munin opened a link between us that I had not been aware of before. Our power came roaring through me with the sharp smell of pine, musk, and under that, the sweet metallic tang of blood. I opened my eyes and knew that I could reach out with the munin and crush Treize's heart until the thick black blood bubbled from his lips. I could feel his heart slick and heavy as it beat against my power like a fish caught in a net. I could crush it with such ease, with nothing more than one errant thought. I trembled in horror.
"Very impressive, Geri." Then he very clearly flashed his throat. I bared my teeth in a smile that showed more teeth than a human mouth should have. He offered me his wrist, and I placed it to my lips. No blood flowed under that cold skin to prick the currents of my hunger. I might as well have been holding marble to my lips.
As soon as that thought entered my head, Treize slammed into my mind with a force that left me weak and swaying. He called to my beast in a way that should not have been possible. I felt it move under my skin like a leviathan under dark water. I realized why Treize felt so calm surrounded by potential enemies; he could call my beast against me. He didn't need a particular animal to call; he could call them all.
"No, no," but my protest cam perilously close to a howl.
Arms wrapped around my waist, and then--more tentatively--around my upper shoulders. The touch was enough to help me regain my control, but Treize stayed with me, riding the currents of my thoughts. He stayed upon me like a fever dream. The arms drew me into a safe circle of protection. I felt some type of shield go up around us, and a sweetly cool essence chased Treize's blazing tendrils of thought away from me. I shivered violently as if I really had just broken a nearly-fatal fever.
Dorothy had her arms wrapped around my waist, he head resting on my shoulder. Her eyes held a hatred that was terrifying in its intensity, and it was all for her cousin. Duo held me against him with his arms like bulky necklace around my shoulders. Aidan completed the circle, his arm tentatively around Duo's waist, and his fingers tangled with Dorothy's over my stomach. Aidan caught my eyes and gave me a watered-down version of his normal come-hither smile.
Treize stood apart from us, looking mildly bemused and thoughtful as if we had finally done something interesting. I locked eyes with him from the safety of their arms and wondered why he didn't even try to roll me. Treize lifted one coppery brow and held his hand out in invitation. "We do not have much time until dawn; come walk with me."
I slid away from the comfort of their living touch to gingerly take his hand; it didn't feel like a dead man's hand, but like something made of stone. I took his hand without fear; we were done grandstanding for the evening. Duo let me go reluctantly, and I gave him a soft smile. "It's fine, now."
"She has proven herself strong enough to speak for the lukoi," Treize agreed as his cool fingers curled lightly around mine. "For this evening, we need not fear one another."
"We have a common enemy, this evening," I added, studying his eyes any flicker of emotion. There was none.
"Exactly," he acknowledged.
I let him tuck my arm securely in the crook of his, and we walked away like a pair of courtly lovers. It like reliving a distant memory, when I had believed in something with such conviction that it had hurt. The memory made me feel a little hollow. We walked in sedate silence towards the meticulously tended rose garden.
"You know why I asked to meet with you?" I more stated than asked. He didn't reply, but instead studied the silver roses, which were actually a pale lavender. He was silent so long I wondered if I was going to get an answer. "Treize?"
"My name is Renada, Creatura--and yes, I know."
"Do you know them?"
"I do. They are dissidents. I have only just become the Master of this city and my base of power and support is somewhat, shall we say, unstable." He smiled at me brilliantly. It was an echo of Dorothy's smile when she wanted something. I immediately became suspicious.
"Why?"
"They believe I am too young to wield the power, and that I want to change things too quickly. They think I might be too hasty, so to speak."
"Again, why?" The feeling between us was once again that strained sense of connection that we had felt during the war. We were in similar situations, and yet completely and irrevocably different at the same time. It built a type of bond, communication, between us that only we really understood. I knew he felt it too, by the way that he turned to me with an odd smile on his face. It raised the hair on the back of my neck.
He shrugged one lean shoulder in a way that was at once communicative, and obscure as hell. I growled low in my throat. We did not have time for these games. He sighed. "I do not believe that we should live by skulking around in the shadows. The times have changed; we cannot hide the way we used to."
"Is this the royal 'we'?" I asked, snide by habit.
He gave me a mildly tolerant look. "All vampires, all lycanthropes."
"All us monsters," I said with a bitterness that surprised even me.
"They have poisoned you," he said. Treize didn't look sad; his faced showed frustration, as if he had discovered a glitch in his plans. I got a clue then.
"You knew, didn't you, when I was turned." I stared at him as the pieces started to come together. "That's how they knew me, because you had plans for me."
He tilted his head to the side as if I had managed do something unexpected. "I had plans to approach you to use your position to help me, perhaps."
"You were going to use me to bring the monsters out into the open, weren't you?" I stared at him. Not sure if I was horrified, or furious. "You figured that if you could manipulate me into accepting you, you could get me some how con everyone else into believing that all you bloodsuckers are just people with fangs."
"Perhaps." Treize seemed inordinately careful with his words, as if he were holding onto some dark secret while he watched my reactions.
"Only they beat you to it, and turned me into one." I was pissed off now. Once again, my entire life had been turned upside down and inside out just because I got caught in the middle of his political games. God damn him to the lowest levels of hell; never mind, he's probably just take them over.
"And in doing so, poisoned you." He did seem sad then; but whether for me or for his lost plans, I don't know. "You look at yourself and only see the darkness. You think you are evil."
"Don't start with me on that 'embrace your monster' bit," I snarled. "At least you can't use me in your little games."
He did smile then, and it made my blood run cold. "Who says that I cannot?"
"I do," I retorted in a cold, hard tone. I might have been an easily-manipulated child once, but that was nearly a lifetime ago to me.
"Ah, but we have a common enemy." Treize plucked one rose gently, careful to avoid the thorns. I wondered idly if he would bleed if he were pricked.
"So you'll use us to get rid of them. Why not move against them yourself? Doesn't this make you look weak?" If he were a wolf it would undermine his authority for us to be doing his enforce it.
"For a number of reasons, Creatura, I cannot move against them. These dissidents of mine have not moved directly against me, they still have my protection so I cannot destroy them, and punishing them would merely be an excise in futility. The rules of the Council are very clear, but if they have given the lukoi some grievances." He gave another expressive shrug.
"You son of a bitch." I was shaking with the effort it took not to rip out his throat. "I'm your catspaw."
He touched my face very gently with one of those cold hands. "Ah, Creatura, you are much more to me than just a catspaw. Far more valuable."
If we struck out against him it would be war between the wolves and the vampires--two different sets of them--it would bleed out onto the streets, people would be slaughtered. If we did not deal with this little band of 'dissidents' they would eventually push Treize into doing something that would probably have the same result. Why was it that I was permanently stuck in a freaking catch-22? We were being used, which undermined our threat. My head hurt from all the monster politics going on. I needed to talk to Victor. I was way over my head. Treize was using me again, and I couldn't figure out all the reasons why, or all the consequences. I didn't know enough about vampires to understand their petty politics. "You bastard."
"When asking a favor, Creatura, it is better to be polite," he replied drolly.
"Since when have I asked you a favor, even once?" I snarled.
"You are asking one now. You are asking for permission to hunt those who are still technically my people, even though they would betray me." He seemed very pleased with himself. "Of course I will give it."
"Thank you so much," I replied with so much sarcasm that I was surprised I didn't drown in it.
"But, Creatura, if you fail to kill them, they will kill you. And if you side with them, I will kill you." His eyes chilled even further.
"I don't like threats, bloodsucker."
"It is merely a statement."
End Part 13
(:./dan/wolf13)
