Author's note: We (my partner and I) are very sorry for the inconvenience that this may cause our fans, but Inu-midroiko and I both decided that this piece was in a desperate need of a rewrite since she joined up late in the creation of this fanfic. The original wasn't very good, so I'm hoping that this version will be looked at as a vast improvement. I own Galen, Nadia, and the plot. The rest belongs to the original creators. Please enjoy the read and tell us what you think of the changes that we have made!

'How did we come to this?' Galen wondered, walking around the pitch-black streets of the city. The thirst was raging inside him, but he ignored it for the moment. He knew he had to get back soon, who knew what Nadia was getting herself into while he was out…

A wave of dizziness swamped him, and he leaned against a nearby wall, grateful that his sunglasses hid the glaze in his cat-like emerald eyes.

'Damnit, I'm not gonna make it back in time…' Came the revolting thought, and a bitterness that had nothing to do with the thirst swept over him.

Though Galen knew he had no choice, this didn't make it any easier. Still, he knew that it was either feed or risk hurting his beloved twin sister.

Shaking his head sharply he told himself that that wasn't even to be considered! To avoid being violently ill, the vampire found himself violently swearing in the depths of his soul that he would rather starve and die of the thirst than harm a single red-gold hair on his sweet sister's head.

With a sigh of regret for what he knew was about to happen, Galen checked his pocket for the small bottle of antidote he always kept there in case of an emergency. Nadia kept a supply of it for him. He never asked where she got it from; having the feeling that if he had ever asked her about it that he wouldn't like the answer.

Gods above and below, he hated this…

A few minutes later Galen administered the antidote to the poor man he had just bitten, hoping with detached despair that he hadn't taken too blood, having tried to take just enough to get him through the trip back. He was comforted by the knowledge that this man would remain a human who was unaffected by the vampire virus. Feeling the blood still on his lips, Galen quickly wiped it off with a vicious distasteful gesture of his hand.

Sick at heart, he stood and started back to Vamp Tower, as his twin called it. A bitter smile twisted his lips as he mentally agreed with her. Galen had always admired his twin sister's way with words. He knew that he was brewing himself into a truly black humor, but Galen knew that avoiding his twin would only make it worse, and upset her in the process.

Ten minutes later, Galen's bad mood soured even more when he got back to the shielded glass building only to find Danica waiting for him.

"Where's Nadia?" He snapped, putting a bored expression on his face. In his bad mood, Galen didn't feel like messing around with this demented bitch.

"In the library, where else would that cross of a bookworm and a mole be?" Danica replied with a bored provocative stretch, hoping to distract Galen into forgetting about his twin.

Having gotten an answer, Galen walked away, ignoring Danica's shrill shouts of growing anger. Striding towards the elevator, he smirked as he pressed the button he wanted. Trust Nadia to hide in a place full of books.

The room was well lit; books of every seemed to be everywhere he could see. To him, the room smelled of aging paper and ink. As usual, the library was complete deserted of people. Most people either weren't interested in books or had their own copies. Making his way to the back of the room, Galen finally took off the sunglasses and felt a genuine smile of relief spread across his face to see his copper haired twin's head bent over a notebook she was writing in.

"Nadia?" He called softly.

Her head snapped up, and Galen found himself looking into her topaz blue eyes that seemed enlarged and framed by the copper frames of her glasses.

"Welcome back Galen." Nadia said quietly, shutting her notebook and driving over to him, her power wheelchair whirring into the silence.

Galen hugged her tightly, his fingers tracing the cold silver collar she wore around her neck. "You're up late honey. You didn't have to wait up for me."

Nadia yawned into his shoulder before she answered. "So are you. I was worried about you, so I stayed up in case you needed help."

Looking guilty, Galen reached into his pocket with one hand, pulled out the empty antidote bottle and gave it to her. The answering look of hurt on her face as she took the bottle from him said it all.

"Oh Galen…" Nadia said in quiet anguish. "Are you okay?"

Galen hated the bitter laugh that crawled its way out of his mouth as he pulled away from her and started to pace. "It's getting stronger twin. The thirst just won't go away anymore…"

Nadia drove over to the corner of the room and a few minutes later came back with a steaming mug braced in her lap. "Here, this should help."

Taking the cup from her, Galen drowned it down as fast as he could, trying not to taste the reheated blood that flowed down his throat and eased the thirst that burned inside him.

"Gah! That's nasty!" He exclaimed with a shudder and handed the cup back to her.

"Well, it wouldn't have tasted so bad if you had been back on time." She replied calmly, taking the cup back from him.

"Sweetheart, I pray to everything we hold dear that you never ever have to drink that crap." Galen growled softly.

"I agree with you wholeheartedly on that score." Nadia nodded quickly as she gathered her things, yawning again. "Well, I'm going to bed."

Taking them from her absently, Galen followed her to their rooms in silence. Putting them on her desk, he waited patiently for her to come out of the bathroom. Unlike most elder brothers with a 'differently-abled' sibling, Galen respected the fact that she tried very hard to do as much as she could on her own. When she came back, he had the key to her collar in his hand.

Unlocking the collar from her throat, he examined it carefully, and then looked with disapproval at the greenish tint of the skin on her neck. "I'll clean this before I sleep honey, you are turning colors again. I wish that it was safe enough for you to go without it for a day or two but…"

"Not while Drac's back I'm not. I have absolutely no interest in becoming vamp chow at this late in the game!" Nadia snapped.

Galen's laughter rang hollow in his ears and he hoped that his twin couldn't hear it too. "He wouldn't eat you, you're still too small to eat!"

As feeble as the joke was, it made her laugh. Instead of letting her get out of her chair on her own, he picked her up and put her into bed herself, pulling her hair out of it's ponytail in the process. Then put the glasses she handed him on the nightstand beside the bed.

He tried hard not to think about how vulnerable she looked in her sleep.

"Sweet dreams Galen, I love you." Came the sleepy murmur from her direction.

"Sweet dreams Nadia, I love you too." He said tenderly.

Plugging her chair into the charger, he took one last look around her room before entering his own though the connecting door between their rooms, the elder vampire still held Nadia's collar in his hand.

Collapsing in his own bed a few minutes later, he heard the familiar plea run though his mind:

'I don't care what happens to me, just keep her safe. I'll do my best on this end, but I'll need help if Drac ever lays his eyes on her. The others I'll deal with, but not him.'