Disclaimer: It goes without saying, I do not own the plot, characters or setting of the Darren Shan Saga/Cirque Du Freak.

A/N: It's just a short one-shot as to Steve's initial reaction to Darren's news of being pregnant. As you may have already figured, it's related to my other fic, The Impossible. So if you don't want to feel lost, read that first. If you want to feel lost, then who's stopping you, I guess. I wasn't so sure about the rating, so I went with M, as that was the rating of the original fic. But it's lemon-free.

Never-Ever

I have always known that she was beautiful. Even when she tried to hide it behind that masculine facade. Every person she'd ever met assumed she was male. Not me. I've always known she was a girl. She had a sort of ethereal glow that separated her from everyone else.

She was beautiful as a kid, laughing and kicking the butts of every other guy our age at football. She was beautiful when her eyebrows arched and her mouth turned downwards in a frown when she was worried. She was beautiful cold and motionless in a coffin. She was beautiful arching and moaning as I made love to her.

She was even beautiful with tears streaking down her cheeks, begging me to stop.

Or was that just how people in love thought of the person they loved?

Still, that didn't change the fact that no matter how much I hated her, I still found her beautiful.

"Steve!" I opened my eyes and glared at my Fairy Godmother AKA Gannen Harst, who seemed to be rather agitated.

"What?" I growled. I was caught up in a pretty wonderful daydream with my beautiful brown-haired girl, and didn't intend for it to be interrupted by some male vampaneze.

"We have received some news," Gannen started, then paused contemplatively like he always did when he was hesitant to deliver some bad or shocking news to me. You'd think I was some sort of tyrant, the way everyone held their breath while he informed me of the news. It was just plain annoying.

"Spit it out, Gannen," I rolled my eyes at my protector. He was such a worrywart, and a stickler. Not a good combination.

"It's about Darren Shan," I resisted the urge to lurch from my seat and grab Gannen by the collar, then shake him until he told me what he needed to. We hadn't received any news about Darren after I shot her - which she must be extremely pissed about, I'm sure - and escaped strangely. Her trail of blood simply ended. It was as if she had vanished into thin air. And I haven't been able to sleep properly since then. Was my nemesis finally dead? Had I killed her? After all, the future is now set, as Mr Tiny had said.

For some reason, it made my stomach drop to think of her as gone forever.

The only thing that stopped me from acknowledging that she's probably dead was that Mr Tiny had said that she may or may not be dead with that sly look. Talk about obvious. And besides, she would be dead anyway if I hadn't shot her.

"I don't like repeating myself, Gannen. Spit it out," His propensity for pausing was starting to really get on my nerves.

"We've had confirmed sightings of her. It seems she's been at Vampire Mountain for the last six months." Gannen said finally.

A ridiculously goofy grin appeared on my face, a product of my relief. I quickly morphed it into a haughty smirk. It wouldn't do to have Gannen bringing up all that stupidity about me being infatuated with her.

"Is that so?" I asked rhetorically.

"Yes, and it seems that she's taken our bait. She's heading here, to your hometown," Gannen added. My smirk grew wider. I knew she'd take the bait eventually. I should have done this sooner.

"Well, then, you know the drill," I said, getting up from dining chair I'd been sitting in. "Put the plan into action,"

"Of course. I've already instructed the men," Gannen said. I stretched, my body a little stiff after sitting for so long. It was so boring without Darren. And finally I find that she's alive, and I get to play around with her some more. Awesome.

It's a shame she'll have to die eventually. Maybe I should just kill Vancha off first, then keep her as my pet. Yes, that could work.

"There's one more thing, Lord," Gannen said. I lifted an eyebrow at him.

"What is it now, Gannen?" He seemed to be even more hesitant than before. That was unusual. Not.

"It's... Well, it's not the most believable news, so I wonder if it's just a rumour..." he mumbled.

"Gannen," I said in my most exasperated voice. I wish I could sack him or something. He was not my favourite employee.

"Darren Shan has been reported as..." He took a deep breath. What a drama queen. "With-child," he said in one breath. I stared at him stupidly.

"What?" My teeth were clenched as I forced my voice out. "Will you please repeat that again?"

"She's... pregnant," Gannen said again, a little slower.

A million things went through my mind. But the main thought was how could she do this to me?

"That bitch," I heard myself say. "She went and got another lover,"

Gannen blinked. "Excuse me?"

"Isn't it obvious?" I shouted back at him. "Some other guy got her pregnant! Some human," I spat the word out.

Gannen blinked again, then frowned. "But-"

"Oh sure, just because I'm infertile, she can just get some other guy to plant his seed in her. Shit!" I ran my fingers through my hair. Why was I so angry about this? Maybe because I thought she actually loved me. I thought that despite everything, she would remain bound to me, as I seemed bound to her. It was hilarious, being unable to make love to any other woman other than her.

But I didn't love her.

I didn't.

In fact, right now? I really hated her.

"Steve," Gannen was still frowning. "Have you ever considered that the child might be yours?"

I glared at him with all the hatred in my body. It seemed to be quite heated, as he seemed go take a fearful step back at my expression.

He swallowed, then continued. "She should be infertile too, but she's not. Perhaps she's like Evanna. She can bear a child for both vampires, and vampa-"

"Get out," I didn't want to hear his theories. So far all he did was anger me. Gannen just stared at me first, with that weary expression that had seemed to be appearing more and more often lately, then left the room.

Bearing my child? Yeah. And pigs could fly.

With an enraged roar, I proceeded to turn the room inside out, destroying as many things as I could.

I didn't love her. I didn't love Darren Shan. She was extremely beautiful. But I didn't love her.

"And I'll make her pay for what she did to me!" I swore, tracing the cross on my palm with my fingernails, reopening the wound.

As the blood trickled down, I swore one thing to myself over and over again.

I will never love Darren Shan.

A/N: Repetition is a persuasive technique. I love saying that. I keep repeating it to people. That's the beauty of it.

Hope you enjoyed this. So far, I only deem it to be a one-shot, but if I ever feel like writing in Steve's POV - which is really fun, by the way - I might update it. Who knows?

By the way, have I mentioned how much I love reviews?