Teena: ....Kami-sama, I managed to finish this chapter... *pretends to faint*

Heero: Baka. Stop that.

Teena: *stands to attention, saluting* Yes, SIR! *relaxes, grinning* I have been SO nagged about this fic... I got past my Edward block!!

Danse Macabre-Part 4

It was early evening when Quatre woke up and emerged into the main part
of the office. Heero was sitting sprawled elegantly across a padded chair,
reading a book. Quatre smiled faintly at the scene, then became serious
as the young-seeming vampire looked up at him.

"Quatre."

"Heero. Or should I call you Taichi? That's the name Anita was using,
wasn't it?"

"Either or," Heero replied with a small shrug. "I would imagine you're
more comfortable with Heero, since it's what you're used to. Neither one
is my real name, so it doesn't really matter to me."

Quatre walked over to sit across from Heero, his blue-green eyes full
of concern. "Heero... Why didn't you tell us?"

"Tell you what? That I'm not human? That I'm a superstrong, centuries
old creature that can control minds and feeds on human blood to sustain
itself? Or that I come from a different dimension?"

Quatre shuddered slightly at the thread of self-hatred in Heero's words.
He reached across to gently take the book away from Heero, then turn
Heero's face so that he could meet his eyes. "Stop it, Heero. You're not
a creature, you're not an IT. Just because you aren't human, it doesn't
mean you're not a person."

"Oh?" Heero asked with a small snort. He placed Quatre's fingers over the
pulse point on his wrist, where no pulse beat. "I'm not a person. I'm a
body that doesn't have the sense to die."

Quatre watched Heero closely as he moved his fingers from the pulse point,
running them across the chill skin. His eyes widened slightly.

"You haven't fed yet, have you? Now that I know what I'm feeling, I can
tell. You feel... weak, almost sick. I never understood why you got like
that before, but now I do. I finally know how I can help you."

Quatre tilted his head to one side, baring his neck. Heero's eyes went
wide, and he shook his head emphatically.

"No, Quatre. I won't. You're not food, you're my friend."

"I'm doing this BECAUSE I'm your friend. Nothing's changed. I still trust
you, Heero. I still care about you."

"I can get blood easily, Quatre. You don't have to do this."

"I know. I want to, though. You're afraid. I can feel it. You're afraid
you'll be rejected now that you've been outed as a vampire. I think this
is the best way I can show you that I won't turn away."

Heero shook his head, eyes still wide. "No. Quatre, you don't understand.
You don't know what this sort of thing means."

"So tell me."

"When we feed, we roll the victim's mind, usually. Doing that gives the
vampire permanent power over the victim. I don't want to do that to you."

"You said usually. Just don't roll me."

"If I don't roll you, it'll hurt," Heero protested. Quatre shot him an
indignant and slightly irritated look.

"I'm a Gundam pilot, Heero! I think I can handle a little pain."

"I know, but... I just don't want to do that to you," Heero replied. Quatre
cursed quietly in Arabic and stood up, then plunked himself firmly down
in Heero's lap, ignoring the other boy's startled twitch. Reaching out,
he turned Heero's face to look him in the eyes, and he spoke firmly.

"I will be fine. Now do it," he said, before tilting his head up and to
the side. Heero made a faint sound, smelling the warm blood close to the
surface. With a sigh of defeat, he bared his fangs and bit into Quatre's
neck, drawing blood. Removing the fangs, he sucked at the wound, swallowing
the flow.

Quatre winced, suppressing a noise of pain. Heero took just enough to get
his heart beating, then pulled back, licking his lips. Quatre brought one
hand up to his neck, hissing faintly as it brushed over the fang marks.
Heero flinched slightly at the sound, leaning as far away from the blond
boy as he could. Quatre pulled his hand away from his neck and grabbed
Heero's shoulders.

"Stop it. I'm fine, it's not that bad."

"I-"

"You did what I asked you to do," Quatre cut in firmly, shaking Heero a
bit. "What I insisted you do. And I don't regret it."

"Arigato, Quatre," Heero replied quietly. Quatre smiled, touching Heero's
face, feeling the warming skin. Heero took Quatre's hand and moved it to
the pulse point on his neck, letting Quatre feel the heartbeat.

"That's amazing," Quatre breathed as he shifted back to his own chair.
Heero scowled.

"Stolen life, stolen warmth. That's all."

"GIVEN life," Quatre corrected gently. "I volunteered."

Heero paused to consider, but was interrupted by the door opening. A
split-second later, his gun was out and pointing at the two people in
the doorway. A moment after that, two more guns were out and pointed at
Heero. Quatre put away his own gun, which he had pulled out but not aimed,
and touched Heero's arm.

"Stand down, Heero. It's Anita."

"We don't know him," Heero replied curtly, gun pointing unwaveringly at
the man with her. Anita groaned and holstered the Browning, waving her
other hand at Heero.

"Put it away, this is a friend of mine. His name's Edward. I'm not acting
under coercion or anything like that. I'd rather not watch you two kill
each other tonight."

Heero let out a low growl, but put his gun away. Edward chuckled and put
up his own weapon. He looked Heero over with a grin, not meeting his eyes.

"You were right, Anita. He's not bad. Fast draw, and he's not too trusting."

"Thanks so much for the compliment," Heero said dryly. "Just vampires, or
are you a bounty hunter?"

"Bounty hunter," Edward replied, with an almost imperceptible blink. "How'd
you know?"

"You avoided my eyes, you've got a fast draw, and you're a friend of Anita's."

Anita rolled her eyes, addressing the ceiling. "Is it something about me?
I can't believe 'You're a friend of Anita's' is now grounds for suspicion."

"My, he's perceptive. He hardly even knows you," Edward quipped, mildly
amused. Anita flipped him off before dropping into a free chair.

"Jean-Claude should be here any minute, then we can talk about finding
the rest of your friends," Anita said, then shot Heero a wicked grin as
she continued, "Are all your friends really cute guys?"

"Yes, actually," Heero told her wryly. "But only one is free, and Wufei...
isn't good with women."

"He'll either really take to Anita, or he'll absolutely despise her..."
Quatre said thoughtfully. "He's so hard to predict... Especially where
strong women are concerned. He still hasn't sorted out how he feels about
Sally. But Heero, Duo's-"

Heero shot Quatre a cold glare, and Quatre swallowed and shut up. "Right,
I forgot... Never mind. Gomen, Heero."

"It really is amazing how often Anita is right," Jean-Claude's voice came
as he stepped inside. "I never could fault your taste..."

"It's none of your business, Jean-Claude," Heero snapped. Quatre winced.

"Gomen nasai, Jean-Claude, Heero can be slightly high-strung where Duo
is concerned. They've been partners for some time. Is there any news?"

"I'm afraid not, at least not on my end. Anita?"

"I've got the wolves and leopards checking out the woodland areas, but
nothing yet, sorry."

"Finding Duo and Trowa might be hard, actually. Duo will almost certainly
be somewhere in the city, and Trowa will probably stay in the woods. Both
of them have excellent stealth training, especially Duo."

"But they'll be expecting any pursuers to be human. Everyone looking for
them has senses far above the human norm, Quatre," Heero pointed out. "So
the main problem will probably be Duo. He's managed to lose ME a couple
of times, and in unfamiliar territory, he'll be doing his damnedest to
stay hidden. Hell, he'll probably find US."

As if on cue, the door opened again. Not surprisingly, within three
seconds, five guns were trained on the new arrival. The familiar scent
of blood reached Heero and Jean-Claude, as a voice familiar to Heero and
Quatre chuckled.

"Geez, if I didn't know better, I'd think you weren't happy to see me."

tbc...

Duo: It's about time!

Teena: Sorry, I got you in as soon as I could!

Duo: *suspiciously* Why am I bleeding?

CNShini: *singsong* You'll find out...

Duo: Damn cat...