Teena: Yay! I did more! Everyone can put their guns away now! Duo finds out, Jean-Claude makes an interesting suggestion I've been leading up to for a while, and Heero gets some more updating on what's been happening while he's been away.

Duo: Come on, get on with it! I have about four chapters worth of absence to catch up on!

Danse Macabre
Part 6

Heero opened the office door and walked in, face and body language both
completely neutral. Duo and Quatre exchanged frustrated looks, and Duo
bounded over to toss an arm across Heero's shoulders. Heero blinked,
surprise breaking through his mask.

"Saaa, Heero, HOW many times do I gotta tell you, you keep too damn many
secrets! Partners are supposed to tell each other EVERYTHING! Especially
cool stuff like being able to hop dimensions! Can I see your fangs?"

Relief and affection flashed in Heero's eyes, but his face showed no
expression as he shrugged off Duo's arm. "Hn. Baka."

Duo staggered back, clutching at his heart theatrically. "Ack! I'm stung
to the quick by your witty repartee!"

"Bite me," Heero replied, smirking faintly. "Oh, wait, I forgot, that's
my job, isn't it?"

Duo's jaw dropped and his eyes widened in shock. He spun to face Quatre.
"Tell me you heard that too. Tell me I'm not just having an auditory
hallucination."

Quatre laughed quietly. "Heero's been a little...different since we got
here. He was a master vampire long before he was the 'Perfect Soldier'."

"That reminds me! People keep saying that! What IS a 'master' vampire?"

"A master vampire is more powerful than other vamps. They tend to have
more special abilities, and there are things masters can do that regular
vampires can't," Anita explained. Duo blinked.

"Like what?"

"Mainly, have a human servant, and power over some type of animal."

"What kind of animal?" Quatre asked, wide-eyed. Anita shrugged.

"Pretty much any kind. I met one who had control over butterflies. Not
very impressive, but he seemed happy enough with them."

"Uh, let's back up to this 'human servant' thing," Duo said, frowning.
"What's up with that?"

"A human servant is a human bound to a master by vampire marks. The
human gets various abilities, resistance to poison, faster healing, stuff
like that. If the human OR the vampire dies, usually the other one does,
too. I'm Jean-Claude's human servant, technically speaking. If he EVER
treats me as less than an equal, I will kick his 300-year-old ass."

"Warning understood," Jean-Claude murmured amusedly. "We are a slightly
unusual case, because we have a third person bound to us. My wolf,
Richard."

"You're a triumvirate?!" Heero asked, shocked. "That almost never happens!
There were only two, and one of them is Council!"

"There is still only two," Jean-Claude informed him. "Sabin and his are
dead by our hand. Sabin had gone insane from trying to feed on animals
and cold blood."

Heero shook his head sadly. "A shame... I knew Sabin, he was a friend.
Almost obsessively in love with Cassandra, though."

"Yes... That was his downfall, I'm afraid," Jean-Claude replied. "Now
that you are here, shall we tell Duo about his unfortunate situation?"

"Unfortunate situation?" Duo asked, baffled. "What situation?"

Heero lightly tapped Duo's injured arm. "Those weren't done by any
ordinaly animal. You were scratched by a wereleopard, which means that
there's a high chance YOU will become one."

"Heero? I know this is probably a dumb question, but you've been acting
really weird, so... Are you KIDDING me?!!"

Jean-Claude chuckled. "He is not joking. You may soon have to begin
wearing your silver cross outside your shirt, lest it burn you."

"If we get you home before full moon, you probably won't change, Duo.
Your dimension is low-magic. Of course, if you've already changed by
the time we leave, you're screwed. Lycanthrope for life," Heero told
him. Duo stared at his arm, wide-eyed in shock.

"That gives you a serious time limit, though. Full moon is only about
a week away," Anita informed them, frowning. Heero cursed under his
breath.

"I don't know if I can do it in that short a time. It's hard enough just
transporting MYSELF between dimensions. This time, there's five of us,
AND our Gundams. I don't know if I'll have enough power."

"Could we help? Between the three of us, Jean-Claude, Richard, and I
have a lot of power," Anita offered. Heero shook his head.

"No, it wouldn't work. All the power has to be inside the circle, and
everything inside the circle gets transported. It has to work that way,
because any power from outside the circle would be a tie to that world,
so we'd just end up where we started."

"What about us, then?" Quatre broke in. "Why can't you draw power from
us?"

"The only way for me to use power from you would be if you used the spell,
and it's a difficult spell, a beginner wouldn't have a chance."

"Heero... That is NOT the only way," Jean-Claude said quietly. Heero's
eyes widened and he shook his head emphatically.

"No. No way, Jean-Claude, not a chance. Number one, I doubt it would be
enough, and number two, he AND Trowa would have a fit about the main
side effect."

"What are you two talking about?" Quatre asked, snapping out the question.

"He's suggesting I give you the marks, make you my human servant. If I
did that, I could draw power from you. But we would be bound forever,
you would live as long as I do, without growing old. You would probably
outlive Trowa, watch him grow old while you stayed young and strong,"
Heero replied automatically, responding to Quatre's command tone. Quatre
paled, slowly sinking into a chair.

"Trowa..."

"It could be more, if you wait a week," Jean-Claude added. "It's actually
wonderfully convenient for you, Heero. Servant and cat both available."

None of the people in the room even saw him move. One moment, Heero was
standing near Duo, the next, he was across the room, holding Jean-Claude
against the wall by his throat, eyes flashing angrily.

"I will not use them like that. If you EVER speak of Duo in such a manner
again, I will tear out your beating heart and carry it into the morning
sun, do we understand each other?" Heero hissed, flexing his fingers in
emphasis. Jean-Claude lifted an eyebrow.

"Quite clearly, mon ami. Would you care to release me now?"

Heero growled softly, but let go of Jean-Claude, stepping back and turning
his back on the other vampire. Quatre and Duo stared at him in shock. A
moment later, Duo's eyes narrowed.

"Heero... Your animal is the leopard, isn't it?"

"Yes..."

"So... With me and Quatre, you have the makings of one of those triumvirate
things? Is that what he's talking about?"

"I won't until you change, and hopefully, we'll be gone before that."

"Drop it, Duo. It's upsetting him. Heero, there's something I've been
meaning to ask," Quatre said quietly. Heero looked over at him.

"Nani?"

"I've seen you out in daylight. And just now, threatening Jean-Claude,
you said you would carry his heart into the morning sun. How can you go
around in the sun without dying?"

"It's one of my abilities... An incredibly rare one among vampires. To
my knowledge, I'm the only one at the moment. I can go out in the sun,
and I neither burn nor rot. It hurts a great deal, of course, but that
doesn't really matter."

"The Council calls him the Daywalker. If there is another, he or she is
hiding the ability. Many envy it, even among the Council."

"Why do you think I left?" Heero snapped angrily. "Envy turned to hate
all too easily. I fled because I didn't feel like fighting the Council.
I am more powerful than several of them individually, but several of
them are more powerful than me, and I am outnumbered."

"Less so than you were. The Earthmover is dead."

"Dead? I didn't think anyone could kill him..."

"Anita did," Jean-Claude said, smiling faintly. Heero blinked.

"Then why aren't you overseas, part of the Council?"

"I refused, and defended my position to the Council's envoy."

"I imagine THAT was less than enjoyable. Who did you have to kill to
make them leave?"

"No one, though Padma came close."

"Padma," Heero hissed quietly, eyes flaring. "You should have killed the
bastard."

"We were already in enough trouble for killing a member of the Council,
adding another would have signed our death warrants," Jean-Claude stated
calmly. "Fernando, however, was not so lucky."

"Good," Heero replied with a faint sneer. "He was a weak, pathetic rat,
hiding behind his father's power. I hope he suffered."

"He had raped Richard's Geri and one of Anita's leopards. She gave him
to the pack and pard for justice. Believe me, mon ami, he suffered."

Anita's cell phone began to ring, interrupting the conversation. She
opened it up and put it to her ear. "Anita here. ...You found one of
them? Which one? ...Chang? Okay, keep him there. ...JASON? Oh, geez...
Of all the groups to find him... Yeah, we'll hurry, thanks. TRY to keep
Jason from traumatizing the poor kid..."

Anita turned the phone off and put it away, turning to face the group.
"Okay, the wolves found your friend Wufei in the woods. They're gonna
keep him in one place so someone can go get him. Better hurry, Jason's
in the group that's got him treed, and Jason can get a little playful.
Who's going?"

"I'll go," Heero told her. "Wufei respects me."

"Me, too!" Duo piped up. "Wufei treed by a bunch of werewolves? I CAN'T
miss this!"

"Okay. I'll have to come too, since I know roughly where they are, and
I'm not sure the pack will listen to you guys," Anita explained. "Quatre,
do you think you'll be okay here by yourself?"

"I won't be by myself, Jean-Claude will be here," Quatre replied with a
faint smile. Anita blinked, running one hand through her hair.

"Good point... Do you think you'll be okay stuck here with Jean-Claude?"

Jean-Claude got a faintly offended, faintly amused look, and Quatre just
chuckled. "I'll be fine, Anita. I'd like to hear more about Heero's past,
anyway."

"Okay. We'll see you later, then."

tbc...

Teena: Bwahaha... *huddled over a notebook with Duo* Beware, justice boy, for your time has come...

Duo: *grinning his Shinigami grin* This is gonna be FUN...

Teena: In the next part, we temporarily leave the city again, to find out what's happening to Wuffie. *grins evilly* Trust me, he's NOT having a good day.

Heero: *smirks* And a surprise appearance. Which you won't know about until it happens.