Just a little bit of angst I wrote awhile back for Mina and Rupert.

Gone Past Mourning

Clad in black as always, like a mourning wife, she stands silently beside him, her beautiful crystal like eyes unfocused and fixated on distant nothingness. Her chocolate brown hair is impeccably perfect, falling over her shoulders and down her back, only to form corkscrew curls at the end. Her crimson lips are pressed together in indecisiveness, and they stand out against her porcelain skin beautifully.

Mina Harker, Vampire by flesh, human by heart, cannot come to a decision.

-

'How hard is it?' Galvin asked, eyes filled with undeniable curiosity.

'Excuse me?' Mina's voice was full of surprise, to be truthful; she completely was taken-a-back by his question.

Galvin set down his half empty glass of bourbon and sat beside her, 'How hard is it, turning someone into a-'

'Vampire? Harder than you can imagine, Rupert...I don't think I could ever do it again.'

'Not even if they wanted to spend the rest of eternity with you?'

'No, I don't think I could condemn them to what I suffer...why?'

There was a pause from him, which disturbed Mina somewhat, 'Curiosity. Just wondering.'

With that, he stood, his glass in his hand once again, his expression icy.

She felt the coldness in him as he bent down a placed a gentle kiss on her forehead, 'Goodnight Rupert.'

'Night Mina.'

-

Mina's posture is upright and straight, and her gait is unbelievably elegant. She stalks past Galvin at a steady pace, stick tapping every now and then against the concrete floor.

Galvin simply sighs, his face set into stone as he follows two steps behind her.

He remembers the first time they met, how strange it was and how seemingly distant she kept herself.

-

'Mina, this is Rupert and Maggie Galvin.'

At first Galvin wondered why she stared straight past them, 'It's nice to meet you.'

Her voice was restrained, and she slowly held out a hand towards Maggie. It was then that he saw her eyes looked almost dead, a hollow shell of what they had once been. She was blind.

Maggie took her had, smiling slightly before turning back to Jay and chatting merrliy with him.

Then it was his turn to shake her hand, and as he did so, he felt the electricity of life jump the barrier of her skin and pulse through his. Her heartbeat raced just as quickly as the next woman. As he looked at her eyes, he saw they weren't dead, or hollow, but vivid, and beneath the surface he saw the life there.

'Hi Mina.'

'Rupert.' She grinned, and he couldn't help but stare at her, for she was beautiful and the smile warmed her features.

-

She slows down somewhat, and Rupert cathes up with her. It's a mutal apology, one which is silent, and she slips her arm through the crook of his.

At first no words need be spoken, and she relaxes, laying her head on his shoulder as they walk.

It's times like these when Rupert knows how hard it must be for Mina, but he can't help asking, wondering, wishing...

Finally, she speaks, and he listens sadly, 'Do you want to be a vampire, too? Rupert? Is that what you want? To use dialysis to clean your blood, and become blind like me? And depend on other people? And live on forever, whilst the people you love die?'

'I'd do it if it meant I could be with you, Mina, and you would be alone ever again.'

'Why?' she stops, turning to him, eyes watering for the first time in years, with emotions Rupert had only ever dreamt of seeing.

He holds face in his hands, a tear sliding down his cheek, 'Could you fall in love again, Mina?'

'I cannot fall in love.' She tries to look away, even though she can see nothing, and tries to release his grip.

'You can, you just don't want to.' He begs, knowing that inside somewhere, she feels the same.

'Maybe I can't love because I don't want to hurt.'

They become silent. Rupert breaks the silence first, 'Is that so?'

'With you? Yes.' Mina cries, fresh, salty tears she hasn't shed since her son, Quincey, died, since Jonathan died.

Again, they stand in silence.

Rupert leans in, and the world holds its breath, for the first time, Rupert Galvin kisses Mina Harker.

After years of lying to one another, of lying to themselves, they give in for a few seconds.

When it's all over, and their lips part, Mina disappears in a flurry of emotions. She doesn't return.

-

The next time Rupert sees her is when Luke's got a gun pointed at his head, and Thrip's egging him on.

He can't say anything as she steps into the room, Ruby right behind her. He's thankful she explains everything she can't, but sorry he couldn't keep Luke's profound respect for his father.

The only thing he can say, as he realises what she's doing, is her name, and it's torn from his throat. He wants to stop her, but knows he can't.

She vanishes from the warehouse after killing Thrip, and as the days mount up, Rupert grows evermore concerned.

He doesn't want to kill her, and he can't bring himself to tell Luke where he keeps the single strand of russet hair Mina gave him over 20 years ago. Instead, he buys some horse tranquilizer off a guy he and Jay used to go to school with.

He tells Luke, 'It's harmful to humans, the dose I've got here, but it'll knock a vampire out cold for a couple of hours.'

Luke's not impressed, so Rupert hands him a gun, 'Use it only if things get out of hand.'

'What's the plan?'

'Knock her out, get her back here, hook her up to her dialysis machine and get her back to normal. By the time she wakes up, she'll be as good as new, except she'll be a bit dopey for a few minutes.'

They find her in a darkened alleyway, and to their surprise, she doesn't flee. Instead, she stands there, a solemn look adorning her face.

She kneels down, and Rupert's heart breaks as she begs him to kill her.

'End my suffering...Please... Rupert...'

She thinks it's just another one of his smitig guns, since she's hardly ever seen any of them, and lets him kneel beside her, and press the gun to her thigh.

For a moment, she realises something's not right. Why would you shoot someone in the thigh? Before she can resist, he shoots, and the tranquilizer knocks her outright.

Rupert knows how much she wants it all to end, but he can't kill her. He knows she's gone past morning, it's the anger and resentment eating her up slowly inside. If needs be, he'll keep an extra eye on her.

He hopes, one day, she can forgive him.

Please review, I'd love to know what you think!

GPR