kathierif_fic (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
kathierif_fic) wrote2009-05-24 09:55 pm
kathierif_fic) wrote2009-05-24 09:55 pm
Fic: Thicker Than Water (CSI:NY, AU, FRT-13)
Title: Thicker Than Water
Author: Kathie
Fandom: CSI:NY
Pairing: Danny/Don
Warnings: AU, vampires, blood, knives
Rating: FRT-13 to FRM, depending on how careful we are.
Disclaimer: The characters are not mine, and I think the concept of vampires isn’t mine either. Neither are mosquitoes, for which I’m pretty happy, I think.
Word Count: 3,623
Challenge: AU100
Prompt: 024. Family
Summary: After an unexpected attack, Danny has to decide if he wants Lindsay to be part of his family.
Author’s Notes: Where to start? This one is dedicated to Dee and Ginny, my ever faithful coauthors and friendly tormentors. *hugs both of you* This was part of an agreement about vampire fics. *laughs* I might be persuaded to add a second part, but I want my vampire fic, and therefore…here you go.
To Dee, Ginny, Jellyfish, and hockey. *shrugs* what can I say, it’s their fault.
**
“Okay, what the hell was that?”
Lindsay was pacing nervously through Danny’s already cramped living room. Her arms were wrapped tightly around herself, her hands clenched in fists to stop the shaking. The gash on her forehead was still bleeding sluggishly. She had refused to let Danny take a look at it.
Danny slowly bent forwards until his elbows came to rest on his knees and his head was buried between them. He was breathing shallowly, doing his best to ignore the smell of old, dusty velvet, laughter, and adrenalin coming from the small wound.
“Danny?” Lindsay’s steps came closer, and so did the smell. “Are you okay? I need to get you to a doctor. Oh God, Danny.”
Danny’s hand shot out and clamped almost painfully tight around her wrist. “No,” he pressed through clenched teeth. “It’s okay. I’m fine. I don’t need a doctor.”
It was true, he didn’t need a doctor. He was fine. He’d known from the beginning that the attacker wouldn’t harm him. It wasn’t him he was after, and the shock about that was still rattling him to his bones.
Lindsay took a shuddery breath. “Okay,” she said, in the feeble attempt to calm herself. “Why don’t you just tell me what the hell happened out there?”
Danny laughed harshly. “We,” he said and looked up at her with bloodshot, too dark eyes, “have just been attacked by a Vampyre.”
The problem, he thought while watching her stumble back in shock, was that they looked just like humans, and it was really easy to tell her a story about drug addicts on a bad trip. It was what he usually would have done. There was no telling friend from foe, after all, until one knew what to look for to recognize the wolf in the sheep skin.
He tiredly ran a hand over his face again. His thumb and forefinger pressed sharply into the skin of his cheeks, accenting the dull throbbing deep in his jaw, in his teeth.
“Vampires don’t exist,” Lindsay said and sat down on the couch.
Danny sighed. “You don’t want to believe me? Fine.” He ignored the feeling in his mouth, like ash and cotton stuffed deep into his throat, as he continued. “The largest group of Vampyres lives in Russia, especially in Moscow. That’s the reason why it’s spelled with a “Y”, and not an “I” – it’s transcribed from Cyrillic letters. Transylvania is just a minor branch of one of the many families. Vampyres tend to live in groups, families, packs – whatever you want to call it – but they usually hunt alone. We’re lucky this one was a fairly young one, a more experienced Vampyre would’ve just dragged you off. Or ripped your head off, if he wasn’t careful.”
“They’re not vamp…” Lindsay snapped. Here, in the safety of Danny’s apartment, the whole attack in a dark alley, the nails digging into her skin, the knife, the foul breath as the attacker had leaned in to sniff her, seemed more like a nightmare than reality, even if her head throbbed in pain and her fingers were still sticky from touching the wound in her forehead.
“There are probably five, maybe six hundred all together in New York,” Danny continued.
“Come on, Danny, stop it,” she pleaded. “There is no such thing as a Vampire. The guy didn’t even have long pointy teeth.”
Danny rolled his eyes. “They file them off,” he explained. “Boom, teeth gone.”
Lindsay looked up. “How do you know all these things, anyways?” she wanted to know, clearly not believing one single word he said.
“Easy,” he shrugged and took a deep breath. Now or never. “I’m one of them.”
She stared at him as if he’d said that he was a tentacled alien, and then she started to laugh.
“Funny, Messer,” she finally gasped and wiped the tears of laughter from her eyes. “What, are you keeping the blood in your fridge, next to the beer?”
“No,” Danny explained patiently. “I only drink fresh blood.”
Lindsay stopped laughing and shifted slightly in her seat. “You’re serious?” she asked, her voice getting shrill.
Danny nodded. “Deadly serious.”
He knew he shouldn’t have made that remark when she paled even more.
“Why are you telling me this?” she asked and ran a hand through her hair. “Why not cover it up?”
Danny laughed now, a sharp sound that echoed eerily around the room. “Believe me, I’d love to do just that,” he confessed. “But I can’t.”
“Why not?”
Danny stared at her pale face and her wide, dark eyes before taking off his glasses and rubbing his forehead tiredly. He’d really love to tell her something about addicts, but he couldn’t, not when he had seen the silver knife. He knew what that meant.
What he didn’t know was if the mysterious attacker had gotten a taste of Lindsay’s blood – because then, he would be back. It all had happened so quick, and he guessed he just could be happy that he knew for certain that Lindsay hadn’t come in contact with her attacker’s body fluids.
“He might be back,” he simply said. “If he…swallowed some of your blood, he’ll be back. You won’t get rid of him.”
Lindsay shook her head. She opened and closed her mouth a few times. Finally, she asked: “Why? Why me? I mean – why?”
“Vampyres tend to have…a type. Obviously you’re this guy’s type.”
“You mean, like serial killers?”
Danny flinched slightly at the comparison. “Yes,” he admitted. “And this one might just as well be a serial killer.”
Lindsay looked up sharply. “What?” she asked, disbelief written over her face.
Danny shrugged. “That’s the way it usually is,” he explained. “At one point or another, a feeding partner dies. And when faced with extinction – because we need to eat, too – some of us become really desperate.”
“That’s horrible!” she stated. Her voice was shaking so badly that he had problems making out her words.
He rose and went to the kitchen. He filled a glass with water and contemplated to add a mild sedative before deciding against it. Lindsay would hate to be drugged, that much he was sure of.
Silently he returned to the living room and handed her the water.
Lindsay took a sip. Her teeth clattered against the rim of the glass, and Danny pretended he didn’t notice it.
“So, what’s your type?” she finally dared to ask.
Danny shrugged. “Tall and handsome,” he answered. “Usually lanky. I have a thing for blue eyes.”
He could almost see her applying that rather vague profile to everyone she could think of, and he immediately saw when she found a match.
“Flack?” she asked faintly. “You’re planning on attacking Flack and killing him? But…he’s your friend.”
Danny nodded once.
“But why?” she asked again. “I don’t understand.”
“It’s complicated,” Danny admitted. “You okay?”
“No!” she snapped. “No, Danny, I’m not!”
He reached out, but she flinched away. “You might be a killer, and I’m sitting here, talking to you as if it’s the most normal thing in the world, and and and…”
“It’s okay,” he soothed, trying to fight the feeling of helplessness.
“No, it’s not!” Lindsay spat. She was crying now.
Danny now regretted no having given her the sedative. Lindsay was panicking, and he didn’t know what to do to calm her down to find a solution for this tricky situation.
He reached out again and pulled her against him, and this time, she didn’t try to pull away. Danny didn’t know if it was because she trusted him or because she’d given up to the panic consuming her, but he didn’t care. He just held her and let her cling to him.
“Should I come back later?”
Danny looked up in surprise at the familiar voice.
Don leaned against the doorframe, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, his arms crossed in front of his chest, a small teasing grin on his face.
“Attack,” Danny said in way of an explanation and bared his teeth for a second.
It told Flack everything he needed to know. The smile disappeared and was replaced by a frown. “Lindsay okay?” he asked and moved further into the room.
Danny shrugged slightly. “I don’t know if there was a transfer,” he confessed. “He was prepared to initiate her. I think I interfered just in time.”
”If there was an initiation,” Don stated and glanced in Lindsay’s direction, “there’s not much you can do.”
The stubborn set of Danny’s jaw told him everything he needed to know. Danny wouldn’t give up so easily. He would find a way to keep Lindsay safe.
“You know about this?” Lindsay asked into Danny’s chest. “Flack? You know he’s a vampire?”
“I do,” Don confirmed calmly.
Lindsay finally moved and straightened. “What’s going to happen now?” she wanted to know.
“We wait,” Don shrugged. “If he initiated you…he will come here.”
Danny frowned. “We should call Mac,” he said thoughtfully. “Maybe he can do something.”
“He’s with Peyton tonight,” Don reminded him.
“What does Mac have to do with all this?” Lindsay interrupted. “Please don’t tell me he’s one of those too?”
Danny snorted. “No, he’s not a Vampyre,” he said. “Don’t worry. He just likes to keep an eye on things in this city.” He turned his attention back to Don. “Mac still needs to be notified about this. We need to get Lindsay away from this guy, to keep her safe, and if she isn’t coming in for work tomorrow he’ll get suspicious anyways.”
“Not coming in for work? Danny, shouldn’t that be my decision?” Lindsay interrupted again.
“Of course it’s your decision. You want to live? You do what I tell you to do. You want to die? You walk straight out of that door.”
“You can’t tell me what to do!” she snapped furiously. “And how do I know that you won’t kill me? You said that you’re going to kill Flack too!”
For a moment, they all stared at each other.
“I said that sooner or later, a feeding partner dies,” Danny said patiently. “I’m not planning on killing Don!” He cast a quick look in Don’s direction, pleading with him to believe him.
Don shook his head and chuckled softly. “It’s okay, Monroe,” he said easily. “You can trust Danny, and you know it. We’ll try to call Mac later, try to find a solution together, and for now, you stay here, on Danny’s more than comfortable couch.”
“Okay,” Danny answered for both of them. He sighed. “Let’s try to get some sleep, okay?” He nodded towards the couch. “Lie down, I bring you a blanket,” he promised and disappeared in his bedroom.
Lindsay frowned, but she didn’t protest. Don could tell that Danny was glad about that – especially after she’d curled up under the blanket and Danny had taken his hand to drag him towards his bedroom.
"I need you, Don," Danny whispered shakily. "Please, can you..."
"Sure, Dan," Don murmured soothingly. "Come here, come on." With sure hands, he reached for the other man, grabbed his shoulders and pulled him close to him, until their chests almost touched.
Danny whimpered softly and leaned forwards with closed eyes, trusting Don to hold him, and took a deep breath. "Don," he whispered. His hands settled on Don's hips and restlessly slid over his sides and back. "You're..."
He didn't say anything else, just leaned against Don and breathed in.
“You better get out of these clothes now,” he warned, “otherwise I won’t guarantee for anything. And I’m not buying you a new shirt if this one gets ripped.”
Don chuckled. “Okay,” he agreed. “Give me a second.”
He took a step back and stripped off his shirt and the t-shirt he was wearing underneath it.
Danny growled hungrily and reached out. His fingertips roughly glided over Don’s chest and stomach, neatly avoiding the scars there.
“Need you,” he repeated. “So much.”
“I know.” Don’s voice was calm and soothing on his raw nerves, and Danny took a shaky breath and reached for the hem of his own shirt.
“What are you going to do with Lindsay?” Don asked casually. His eyes never left Danny’s face while the other man carelessly dropped his shirt to the floor.
“Keep her close,” Danny answered and stalked towards him. “Wait for the enzymes to work their way through our guy’s body. He will be back.”
“You really think he got a taste of her blood?” Don asked and reached for his own belt.
“I think she only got that cut on the forehead, and I don’t know if he got close enough,” Danny admitted. He took a step closer to Don and wrapped his hands in the waistband of his pants. “Let’s not talk about Lindsay right now,” he murmured and rubbed his cheek against Don. “You smell good.”
“Thanks, I think,” Don laughed and wrapped both arms around him. “You plannin’ on staying like this all night long?”
“No,” Danny smiled and pushed Don’s pants down and off. “Lie down.”
“Pushy, are we?” Don laughed, but he stretched out on Danny’s bed and smiled up.
“I think tonight is too close,” Danny admitted and opened the drawer on his nightstand. “But I’ll make it up to you.”
“You always do,” Don agreed. “Let’s do this.”
Danny knelt down next to him and inspected the short silver knife he’d pulled out of the drawer. “I love you,” he whispered before leaning down and kissing Don softly.
Their kiss deepened, their tongues tangled, and then Danny broke away and kissed a path down Don’s chest. “I’m sorry,” he breathed as he ran the flat side of the blade along Don’s collarbone.
“Here okay?”
Don took a shuddery breath. “Yeah,” he agreed. “A bit to the left.”
“Okay,” Danny agreed before swiftly making a cut. A thin red line appeared on Don’s pale skin.
“Perfect,” Danny breathed. He bent down and licked over the cut, then he pressed his mouth to the wound.
Don hissed at the sensation, but he tried to keep still and not squirm too much.
Danny swallowed the first mouthful of blood with a soft groan deep in his chest. “You’re perfect for me,” he whispered before returning his attention and lips to the wound, coaxing more of the hot, living blood to flow into his mouth.
Don winced as he stared at himself in the mirror. The last cut of five had been deeper than the others and was still bleeding sluggishly. They all burned from Danny’s saliva, but he knew they all would be faded in a few days, and thanks to the enzymes in his bloodstream, he would feel almost invincible.
Right now, there were five angry, bright slashes over his collarbone and chest, visible marks of the bond that had been forged between a Vampyre and a young human.
It wasn’t the only mark he was bearing. Burned into his shoulder were pale scars, knife marks that singled him out as taken. His body was filled with the enzymes from Danny that made him non-palatable, untouchable for every other Vampyre, and in return, Danny’s body was filled again with Don’s blood that gave him new strength.
They were bound together by fate and biology.
His hand reached up to touch the marks on his shoulder. In a rebellious fit, he’d tried to hide them with a tattoo, but Danny, when he’d found out, had only laughed about it and had kissed the dark ink softly.
“That looks nasty,” Lindsay commented from the door. Don hadn’t noticed her sneaking up to him, he had, in fact, thought she’d fallen asleep on the couch, but he managed to hide his surprise and the fact that he felt uncomfortable, exposed to her gaze like this with all his wounds and scars.
He smiled grimly at his reflection. “I’ll live,” he answered. “By tomorrow night, it all will be gone.”
Lindsay stepped further in the room and wrapped her arms around herself. “Where is Danny?” she asked hesitantly.
Don shrugged and picked up a band-aid for the worst of the cuts. “You know all those myths that blood makes vampires strong and fast?” he asked as he awkwardly bandaged the cut on his chest as good as possible.
“Yeah,” Lindsay admitted.
“That’s not entirely true,” Don said and picked up the t-shirt he’d brought along as he’d sneaked from Danny’s bedroom. “They need the blood to survive, but it makes them tired and slow when they ingest it. Like a mosquito.”
He shrugged. “Danny just fell asleep for a bit,” he then added. “Give him an hour.” It was an hour he had intended to use by trying to call Mac.
Lindsay nodded. “How did you end up like this?” she then wanted to know.
“Vampyre food?” Don asked back with a raised eyebrow. “Danny found me, he liked me, end of story. Or the beginning, if you want.”
Lindsay nodded, but before she could answer, Danny stumbled in. He had taken off his glasses, his hair was sticking up wildly, and he was only dressed in his boxers.
“What did you eat?” he moaned and rubbed his temples. “I thought we’d agreed that too much sugar is bad for both of us?”
Don shrugged. “I didn’t call Mac yet,” he said and held up his cell phone.
Danny smiled humorlessly. “I think I found a solution for this,” he said. “And we don’t need to bother anyone else for this. Not yet, at least. We only need to inform people later.”
“What?” Don asked and shared a brief look with Lindsay.
And that was how they ended all in Danny’s bedroom, on the blood-splattered sheets of his bed.
“All you need to know right now is that you can trust me,” Danny pointed out to Lindsay. He was holding the sharp knife he’d used to eat, but he had wiped it on the sheets and had poured disinfectant over the blade.
“I do,” she said softly. “What are you going to do?”
Danny pushed his glasses up his nose. “I’ll make you part of my family…” She pulled back abruptly, and he shook his head. “Not by biting you, silly,” he chastised. “You’ve seen that we can’t bite. We use these to get to the blood.” He held up the knife. “Besides, it’s impossible to turn a human into a Vampyre. You can’t turn a human into a jellyfish, either.”
“Jellyfish?” Lindsay repeated with a frown. “What…?”
“Just an example,” Danny quickly interrupted her. “I’ll just put the mark of my family on you, and no Vampyre dares touching you. I promise.”
“Put the mark…Danny, what are you planning?” Lindsay sounded more and more nervous.
Danny smiled and pulled Don close to himself. “Can you show her?” he asked quietly. “Please?”
Don rolled his eyes, but he pushed the sleeve of his shirt back to reveal the tattoo. “Knife marks,” he explained shortly. “It’s a family crest, it protects you. Works like a charm.”
“Is this really necessary?” Lindsay wanted to know, but she reached out to touch the raised scars. “This looks painful.”
Danny scoffed. “I handled a knife since I was three years old, Montana,” he pointed out. “I know how to do this.” He raised an eyebrow. “What do you say?”
Lindsay thought for a moment. As unreal as the whole attack had seemed earlier, everything Danny had said and done this evening had showed her that there really was something that she had had no idea of. And it was dangerous and wanted her, even if she didn’t know why. Danny had offered her a way to stay safe, and yet, she was hesitating.
“Danny…” she said softly. “What does this mean?”
Danny shrugged. “Nothing, if you don’t want it to,” he answered. “Or everything.”
“That doesn’t tell me anything,” she complained.
Danny laughed. “I know, but it’s the truth. You can become a valued member of my family. Or, you can live your life without the added bonus of this. This is your decision.”
He twirled the knife skillfully between his fingers. “It’s not much,” he promised. “Just a few quick cuts.”
She took a deep breath. In the end, she preferred Danny to some guy she didn’t know. And if she never had to see her attacker again, she wouldn’t be sad at all. On the other hand, she knew Danny, and she knew she liked him. And Danny had done everything to help her.
Angrily she noticed that her thoughts circled always back to this point.
Danny was her friend.
She trusted him.
She nodded softly. “Do it.”
Danny smiled. “Good,” he praised softly before shifting until he kneeled next to her.
The cool steel touched her soft skin and broke it. Blood spilled down, and Danny bent down to lick it up.
“Ugh,” he grunted, but he did it again, and when he straightened again, he wiped a hand over his mouth. “I prefer my instant sugar high,” he said with an amused glance towards Don before settling the knife against Lindsay’s skin again. “Enzymes,” he added as explanation. “You’re mine now, Montana.”
He continued with his work.
Lindsay whimpered softly at the small pain, but Danny relentlessly kept on pushing the blade through her skin. He held her arm in a tight grip as he made a few more swift cuts.
“All done,” he finally announced. “Come on, you’re done.”
He smiled tiredly and leaned back against Don. “You should be safe now.” His smile widened, revealing canines that were, despite being filed off, still slightly longer and sharper than a human’s. He took her hand and kissed it softly.
“Welcome to the family.”
The End.
Well, or the beginning.
Author: Kathie
Fandom: CSI:NY
Pairing: Danny/Don
Warnings: AU, vampires, blood, knives
Rating: FRT-13 to FRM, depending on how careful we are.
Disclaimer: The characters are not mine, and I think the concept of vampires isn’t mine either. Neither are mosquitoes, for which I’m pretty happy, I think.
Word Count: 3,623
Challenge: AU100
Prompt: 024. Family
Summary: After an unexpected attack, Danny has to decide if he wants Lindsay to be part of his family.
Author’s Notes: Where to start? This one is dedicated to Dee and Ginny, my ever faithful coauthors and friendly tormentors. *hugs both of you* This was part of an agreement about vampire fics. *laughs* I might be persuaded to add a second part, but I want my vampire fic, and therefore…here you go.
To Dee, Ginny, Jellyfish, and hockey. *shrugs* what can I say, it’s their fault.
**
“Okay, what the hell was that?”
Lindsay was pacing nervously through Danny’s already cramped living room. Her arms were wrapped tightly around herself, her hands clenched in fists to stop the shaking. The gash on her forehead was still bleeding sluggishly. She had refused to let Danny take a look at it.
Danny slowly bent forwards until his elbows came to rest on his knees and his head was buried between them. He was breathing shallowly, doing his best to ignore the smell of old, dusty velvet, laughter, and adrenalin coming from the small wound.
“Danny?” Lindsay’s steps came closer, and so did the smell. “Are you okay? I need to get you to a doctor. Oh God, Danny.”
Danny’s hand shot out and clamped almost painfully tight around her wrist. “No,” he pressed through clenched teeth. “It’s okay. I’m fine. I don’t need a doctor.”
It was true, he didn’t need a doctor. He was fine. He’d known from the beginning that the attacker wouldn’t harm him. It wasn’t him he was after, and the shock about that was still rattling him to his bones.
Lindsay took a shuddery breath. “Okay,” she said, in the feeble attempt to calm herself. “Why don’t you just tell me what the hell happened out there?”
Danny laughed harshly. “We,” he said and looked up at her with bloodshot, too dark eyes, “have just been attacked by a Vampyre.”
The problem, he thought while watching her stumble back in shock, was that they looked just like humans, and it was really easy to tell her a story about drug addicts on a bad trip. It was what he usually would have done. There was no telling friend from foe, after all, until one knew what to look for to recognize the wolf in the sheep skin.
He tiredly ran a hand over his face again. His thumb and forefinger pressed sharply into the skin of his cheeks, accenting the dull throbbing deep in his jaw, in his teeth.
“Vampires don’t exist,” Lindsay said and sat down on the couch.
Danny sighed. “You don’t want to believe me? Fine.” He ignored the feeling in his mouth, like ash and cotton stuffed deep into his throat, as he continued. “The largest group of Vampyres lives in Russia, especially in Moscow. That’s the reason why it’s spelled with a “Y”, and not an “I” – it’s transcribed from Cyrillic letters. Transylvania is just a minor branch of one of the many families. Vampyres tend to live in groups, families, packs – whatever you want to call it – but they usually hunt alone. We’re lucky this one was a fairly young one, a more experienced Vampyre would’ve just dragged you off. Or ripped your head off, if he wasn’t careful.”
“They’re not vamp…” Lindsay snapped. Here, in the safety of Danny’s apartment, the whole attack in a dark alley, the nails digging into her skin, the knife, the foul breath as the attacker had leaned in to sniff her, seemed more like a nightmare than reality, even if her head throbbed in pain and her fingers were still sticky from touching the wound in her forehead.
“There are probably five, maybe six hundred all together in New York,” Danny continued.
“Come on, Danny, stop it,” she pleaded. “There is no such thing as a Vampire. The guy didn’t even have long pointy teeth.”
Danny rolled his eyes. “They file them off,” he explained. “Boom, teeth gone.”
Lindsay looked up. “How do you know all these things, anyways?” she wanted to know, clearly not believing one single word he said.
“Easy,” he shrugged and took a deep breath. Now or never. “I’m one of them.”
She stared at him as if he’d said that he was a tentacled alien, and then she started to laugh.
“Funny, Messer,” she finally gasped and wiped the tears of laughter from her eyes. “What, are you keeping the blood in your fridge, next to the beer?”
“No,” Danny explained patiently. “I only drink fresh blood.”
Lindsay stopped laughing and shifted slightly in her seat. “You’re serious?” she asked, her voice getting shrill.
Danny nodded. “Deadly serious.”
He knew he shouldn’t have made that remark when she paled even more.
“Why are you telling me this?” she asked and ran a hand through her hair. “Why not cover it up?”
Danny laughed now, a sharp sound that echoed eerily around the room. “Believe me, I’d love to do just that,” he confessed. “But I can’t.”
“Why not?”
Danny stared at her pale face and her wide, dark eyes before taking off his glasses and rubbing his forehead tiredly. He’d really love to tell her something about addicts, but he couldn’t, not when he had seen the silver knife. He knew what that meant.
What he didn’t know was if the mysterious attacker had gotten a taste of Lindsay’s blood – because then, he would be back. It all had happened so quick, and he guessed he just could be happy that he knew for certain that Lindsay hadn’t come in contact with her attacker’s body fluids.
“He might be back,” he simply said. “If he…swallowed some of your blood, he’ll be back. You won’t get rid of him.”
Lindsay shook her head. She opened and closed her mouth a few times. Finally, she asked: “Why? Why me? I mean – why?”
“Vampyres tend to have…a type. Obviously you’re this guy’s type.”
“You mean, like serial killers?”
Danny flinched slightly at the comparison. “Yes,” he admitted. “And this one might just as well be a serial killer.”
Lindsay looked up sharply. “What?” she asked, disbelief written over her face.
Danny shrugged. “That’s the way it usually is,” he explained. “At one point or another, a feeding partner dies. And when faced with extinction – because we need to eat, too – some of us become really desperate.”
“That’s horrible!” she stated. Her voice was shaking so badly that he had problems making out her words.
He rose and went to the kitchen. He filled a glass with water and contemplated to add a mild sedative before deciding against it. Lindsay would hate to be drugged, that much he was sure of.
Silently he returned to the living room and handed her the water.
Lindsay took a sip. Her teeth clattered against the rim of the glass, and Danny pretended he didn’t notice it.
“So, what’s your type?” she finally dared to ask.
Danny shrugged. “Tall and handsome,” he answered. “Usually lanky. I have a thing for blue eyes.”
He could almost see her applying that rather vague profile to everyone she could think of, and he immediately saw when she found a match.
“Flack?” she asked faintly. “You’re planning on attacking Flack and killing him? But…he’s your friend.”
Danny nodded once.
“But why?” she asked again. “I don’t understand.”
“It’s complicated,” Danny admitted. “You okay?”
“No!” she snapped. “No, Danny, I’m not!”
He reached out, but she flinched away. “You might be a killer, and I’m sitting here, talking to you as if it’s the most normal thing in the world, and and and…”
“It’s okay,” he soothed, trying to fight the feeling of helplessness.
“No, it’s not!” Lindsay spat. She was crying now.
Danny now regretted no having given her the sedative. Lindsay was panicking, and he didn’t know what to do to calm her down to find a solution for this tricky situation.
He reached out again and pulled her against him, and this time, she didn’t try to pull away. Danny didn’t know if it was because she trusted him or because she’d given up to the panic consuming her, but he didn’t care. He just held her and let her cling to him.
“Should I come back later?”
Danny looked up in surprise at the familiar voice.
Don leaned against the doorframe, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, his arms crossed in front of his chest, a small teasing grin on his face.
“Attack,” Danny said in way of an explanation and bared his teeth for a second.
It told Flack everything he needed to know. The smile disappeared and was replaced by a frown. “Lindsay okay?” he asked and moved further into the room.
Danny shrugged slightly. “I don’t know if there was a transfer,” he confessed. “He was prepared to initiate her. I think I interfered just in time.”
”If there was an initiation,” Don stated and glanced in Lindsay’s direction, “there’s not much you can do.”
The stubborn set of Danny’s jaw told him everything he needed to know. Danny wouldn’t give up so easily. He would find a way to keep Lindsay safe.
“You know about this?” Lindsay asked into Danny’s chest. “Flack? You know he’s a vampire?”
“I do,” Don confirmed calmly.
Lindsay finally moved and straightened. “What’s going to happen now?” she wanted to know.
“We wait,” Don shrugged. “If he initiated you…he will come here.”
Danny frowned. “We should call Mac,” he said thoughtfully. “Maybe he can do something.”
“He’s with Peyton tonight,” Don reminded him.
“What does Mac have to do with all this?” Lindsay interrupted. “Please don’t tell me he’s one of those too?”
Danny snorted. “No, he’s not a Vampyre,” he said. “Don’t worry. He just likes to keep an eye on things in this city.” He turned his attention back to Don. “Mac still needs to be notified about this. We need to get Lindsay away from this guy, to keep her safe, and if she isn’t coming in for work tomorrow he’ll get suspicious anyways.”
“Not coming in for work? Danny, shouldn’t that be my decision?” Lindsay interrupted again.
“Of course it’s your decision. You want to live? You do what I tell you to do. You want to die? You walk straight out of that door.”
“You can’t tell me what to do!” she snapped furiously. “And how do I know that you won’t kill me? You said that you’re going to kill Flack too!”
For a moment, they all stared at each other.
“I said that sooner or later, a feeding partner dies,” Danny said patiently. “I’m not planning on killing Don!” He cast a quick look in Don’s direction, pleading with him to believe him.
Don shook his head and chuckled softly. “It’s okay, Monroe,” he said easily. “You can trust Danny, and you know it. We’ll try to call Mac later, try to find a solution together, and for now, you stay here, on Danny’s more than comfortable couch.”
“Okay,” Danny answered for both of them. He sighed. “Let’s try to get some sleep, okay?” He nodded towards the couch. “Lie down, I bring you a blanket,” he promised and disappeared in his bedroom.
Lindsay frowned, but she didn’t protest. Don could tell that Danny was glad about that – especially after she’d curled up under the blanket and Danny had taken his hand to drag him towards his bedroom.
"I need you, Don," Danny whispered shakily. "Please, can you..."
"Sure, Dan," Don murmured soothingly. "Come here, come on." With sure hands, he reached for the other man, grabbed his shoulders and pulled him close to him, until their chests almost touched.
Danny whimpered softly and leaned forwards with closed eyes, trusting Don to hold him, and took a deep breath. "Don," he whispered. His hands settled on Don's hips and restlessly slid over his sides and back. "You're..."
He didn't say anything else, just leaned against Don and breathed in.
“You better get out of these clothes now,” he warned, “otherwise I won’t guarantee for anything. And I’m not buying you a new shirt if this one gets ripped.”
Don chuckled. “Okay,” he agreed. “Give me a second.”
He took a step back and stripped off his shirt and the t-shirt he was wearing underneath it.
Danny growled hungrily and reached out. His fingertips roughly glided over Don’s chest and stomach, neatly avoiding the scars there.
“Need you,” he repeated. “So much.”
“I know.” Don’s voice was calm and soothing on his raw nerves, and Danny took a shaky breath and reached for the hem of his own shirt.
“What are you going to do with Lindsay?” Don asked casually. His eyes never left Danny’s face while the other man carelessly dropped his shirt to the floor.
“Keep her close,” Danny answered and stalked towards him. “Wait for the enzymes to work their way through our guy’s body. He will be back.”
“You really think he got a taste of her blood?” Don asked and reached for his own belt.
“I think she only got that cut on the forehead, and I don’t know if he got close enough,” Danny admitted. He took a step closer to Don and wrapped his hands in the waistband of his pants. “Let’s not talk about Lindsay right now,” he murmured and rubbed his cheek against Don. “You smell good.”
“Thanks, I think,” Don laughed and wrapped both arms around him. “You plannin’ on staying like this all night long?”
“No,” Danny smiled and pushed Don’s pants down and off. “Lie down.”
“Pushy, are we?” Don laughed, but he stretched out on Danny’s bed and smiled up.
“I think tonight is too close,” Danny admitted and opened the drawer on his nightstand. “But I’ll make it up to you.”
“You always do,” Don agreed. “Let’s do this.”
Danny knelt down next to him and inspected the short silver knife he’d pulled out of the drawer. “I love you,” he whispered before leaning down and kissing Don softly.
Their kiss deepened, their tongues tangled, and then Danny broke away and kissed a path down Don’s chest. “I’m sorry,” he breathed as he ran the flat side of the blade along Don’s collarbone.
“Here okay?”
Don took a shuddery breath. “Yeah,” he agreed. “A bit to the left.”
“Okay,” Danny agreed before swiftly making a cut. A thin red line appeared on Don’s pale skin.
“Perfect,” Danny breathed. He bent down and licked over the cut, then he pressed his mouth to the wound.
Don hissed at the sensation, but he tried to keep still and not squirm too much.
Danny swallowed the first mouthful of blood with a soft groan deep in his chest. “You’re perfect for me,” he whispered before returning his attention and lips to the wound, coaxing more of the hot, living blood to flow into his mouth.
Don winced as he stared at himself in the mirror. The last cut of five had been deeper than the others and was still bleeding sluggishly. They all burned from Danny’s saliva, but he knew they all would be faded in a few days, and thanks to the enzymes in his bloodstream, he would feel almost invincible.
Right now, there were five angry, bright slashes over his collarbone and chest, visible marks of the bond that had been forged between a Vampyre and a young human.
It wasn’t the only mark he was bearing. Burned into his shoulder were pale scars, knife marks that singled him out as taken. His body was filled with the enzymes from Danny that made him non-palatable, untouchable for every other Vampyre, and in return, Danny’s body was filled again with Don’s blood that gave him new strength.
They were bound together by fate and biology.
His hand reached up to touch the marks on his shoulder. In a rebellious fit, he’d tried to hide them with a tattoo, but Danny, when he’d found out, had only laughed about it and had kissed the dark ink softly.
“That looks nasty,” Lindsay commented from the door. Don hadn’t noticed her sneaking up to him, he had, in fact, thought she’d fallen asleep on the couch, but he managed to hide his surprise and the fact that he felt uncomfortable, exposed to her gaze like this with all his wounds and scars.
He smiled grimly at his reflection. “I’ll live,” he answered. “By tomorrow night, it all will be gone.”
Lindsay stepped further in the room and wrapped her arms around herself. “Where is Danny?” she asked hesitantly.
Don shrugged and picked up a band-aid for the worst of the cuts. “You know all those myths that blood makes vampires strong and fast?” he asked as he awkwardly bandaged the cut on his chest as good as possible.
“Yeah,” Lindsay admitted.
“That’s not entirely true,” Don said and picked up the t-shirt he’d brought along as he’d sneaked from Danny’s bedroom. “They need the blood to survive, but it makes them tired and slow when they ingest it. Like a mosquito.”
He shrugged. “Danny just fell asleep for a bit,” he then added. “Give him an hour.” It was an hour he had intended to use by trying to call Mac.
Lindsay nodded. “How did you end up like this?” she then wanted to know.
“Vampyre food?” Don asked back with a raised eyebrow. “Danny found me, he liked me, end of story. Or the beginning, if you want.”
Lindsay nodded, but before she could answer, Danny stumbled in. He had taken off his glasses, his hair was sticking up wildly, and he was only dressed in his boxers.
“What did you eat?” he moaned and rubbed his temples. “I thought we’d agreed that too much sugar is bad for both of us?”
Don shrugged. “I didn’t call Mac yet,” he said and held up his cell phone.
Danny smiled humorlessly. “I think I found a solution for this,” he said. “And we don’t need to bother anyone else for this. Not yet, at least. We only need to inform people later.”
“What?” Don asked and shared a brief look with Lindsay.
And that was how they ended all in Danny’s bedroom, on the blood-splattered sheets of his bed.
“All you need to know right now is that you can trust me,” Danny pointed out to Lindsay. He was holding the sharp knife he’d used to eat, but he had wiped it on the sheets and had poured disinfectant over the blade.
“I do,” she said softly. “What are you going to do?”
Danny pushed his glasses up his nose. “I’ll make you part of my family…” She pulled back abruptly, and he shook his head. “Not by biting you, silly,” he chastised. “You’ve seen that we can’t bite. We use these to get to the blood.” He held up the knife. “Besides, it’s impossible to turn a human into a Vampyre. You can’t turn a human into a jellyfish, either.”
“Jellyfish?” Lindsay repeated with a frown. “What…?”
“Just an example,” Danny quickly interrupted her. “I’ll just put the mark of my family on you, and no Vampyre dares touching you. I promise.”
“Put the mark…Danny, what are you planning?” Lindsay sounded more and more nervous.
Danny smiled and pulled Don close to himself. “Can you show her?” he asked quietly. “Please?”
Don rolled his eyes, but he pushed the sleeve of his shirt back to reveal the tattoo. “Knife marks,” he explained shortly. “It’s a family crest, it protects you. Works like a charm.”
“Is this really necessary?” Lindsay wanted to know, but she reached out to touch the raised scars. “This looks painful.”
Danny scoffed. “I handled a knife since I was three years old, Montana,” he pointed out. “I know how to do this.” He raised an eyebrow. “What do you say?”
Lindsay thought for a moment. As unreal as the whole attack had seemed earlier, everything Danny had said and done this evening had showed her that there really was something that she had had no idea of. And it was dangerous and wanted her, even if she didn’t know why. Danny had offered her a way to stay safe, and yet, she was hesitating.
“Danny…” she said softly. “What does this mean?”
Danny shrugged. “Nothing, if you don’t want it to,” he answered. “Or everything.”
“That doesn’t tell me anything,” she complained.
Danny laughed. “I know, but it’s the truth. You can become a valued member of my family. Or, you can live your life without the added bonus of this. This is your decision.”
He twirled the knife skillfully between his fingers. “It’s not much,” he promised. “Just a few quick cuts.”
She took a deep breath. In the end, she preferred Danny to some guy she didn’t know. And if she never had to see her attacker again, she wouldn’t be sad at all. On the other hand, she knew Danny, and she knew she liked him. And Danny had done everything to help her.
Angrily she noticed that her thoughts circled always back to this point.
Danny was her friend.
She trusted him.
She nodded softly. “Do it.”
Danny smiled. “Good,” he praised softly before shifting until he kneeled next to her.
The cool steel touched her soft skin and broke it. Blood spilled down, and Danny bent down to lick it up.
“Ugh,” he grunted, but he did it again, and when he straightened again, he wiped a hand over his mouth. “I prefer my instant sugar high,” he said with an amused glance towards Don before settling the knife against Lindsay’s skin again. “Enzymes,” he added as explanation. “You’re mine now, Montana.”
He continued with his work.
Lindsay whimpered softly at the small pain, but Danny relentlessly kept on pushing the blade through her skin. He held her arm in a tight grip as he made a few more swift cuts.
“All done,” he finally announced. “Come on, you’re done.”
He smiled tiredly and leaned back against Don. “You should be safe now.” His smile widened, revealing canines that were, despite being filed off, still slightly longer and sharper than a human’s. He took her hand and kissed it softly.
“Welcome to the family.”
The End.
Well, or the beginning.