A/N: This story will feature a character that I created, just so you all know. I was picturing him as like, Chris Pine or something ;)
I hope Face's story seems realistic enough and a good reason for him to just about pee his pants every time a vampire comes along. Now also, though Face's past is about as clear as muddy water, I kinda like thinking of him having a sort of dark past. Like, at least in his teen years. Just also to let you know!
Once upon a time, Murdock was terrified of the darkness. He always needed a night light in order to get to sleep. But now as he sat perched on the top of the hotel's roof, staring out at the dark city. Distant screams could be heard, the sounds of cars running into lamp poles and other cars. Murdock only breathed in the air, which he did not even need to do. It just felt normal.
He felt terrible. He had almost killed his best friend. Murdock sighed as he rubbed his forehead, kicking his legs back and forth over the edge of the building. The big thing he was debating was whether or not to go back to the team. Maybe he could just fly off and they would either forget about him or eventually be turned themselves. Murdock was torn.
"Hey."
The unfamiliar voice had come from behind. Murdock started and whirled, leaping in the air to brace himself in case he had to fight again. In the shadows a lone figure stood, hands in their pockets, watching him with what looked like curiosity. Murdock let a little of his guard down, nodding in acknowledgment.
"Hey. How long you been standin' there?" Murdock asked the man. He shrugged, coming closer and Murdock could clearly see he was a vampire. "Not too long. Saw you sitting up here, looking more miserable than my grandma when she found out the lottery numbers were actually nineteen-zero-six and she was holding her ticket upside down." The vampire shifted his weight to the other leg.
Murdock stared at him for a moment longer then sat back down on the ledge. "Maybe I'm just fine."
"Or maybe you're a liar." The vampire came closer and Murdock was able to see his face clearly now. He had golden brown hair, styled sort of like Face's. His features were ruggedly handsome; prominent cheekbones and big eyes that were once a normal color.
Murdock leaned back, shaking his head. "I've never been a good liar," He admitted. The vampire gave him a look then sat himself beside Murdock, looking perfectly harmless for the most part. But Murdock kept his guard up.
"Rouge Vanet." The vampire held his hand out. Murdock regarded it for a second before extending his own and grasping it. "James Murdock."
"A-Team?"
That took Murdock by surprise. He gaped, yanking his hand away and demanding an answer with his red eyes. Rouge laughed. "Come on, man. You guys are always making the news. Nearly everyone knows who you are."
"So what are you then?" Murdock retorted. "Undercover Agent disguised as a vampire to come drag us off to prison, even though there is a bigger epidemic going on?"
Rouge shook his head. "Nope, sorry. Just a regular man turned Vampire by his once-was girlfriend."
"Once was?" Murdock wondered curiously. "Came home gray skinned with red eyes and fangs. You could say I went ape shit when she bit me and stabbed her with the kitchen knife. Didn't mean to, though. It just kinda happened." Rouge explained calmly and Murdock could not repress his half-smile.
"So," Rouge changed the topic. "where's the team?"
Murdock stiffened, turning his head away as the wind moved a few pieces of his shaggy hair away from his eyes. "Well...they're human for one." Rouge made an 'ahh' sound. "And maybe I tried to kill Faceman by accident. He...seems to have turned against me. After all we've been through."
Rouge nodded as if he understood, though he really didn't, and put a cautious hand on Murdock's cold shoulder. "Blood lust. It's a bitch."
"Exactly!" Murdock exclaimed, throwing his hands up. "He does not understand how hard it is to stand there, acting like everything's normal, while all I really want to do is tear at their throats. But...they're my family."
Somewhere another car's brakes screeched and a loud bang followed. "They can't understand," Rouge tried to ease his mood. "It's much harder than that. I've been trying not to feed, these people did nothing to deserve this. But my record has not been clean since two nights ago."
Murdock sighed again. "And there's no cure yet?"
Rouge shook his head. He retracted his hand. "But I've discovered that animal blood doesn't kill us. Not as good as human blood, but it helps." He cocked an eyebrow as an offering and Murdock hesitated before nodding. "Alright. Show me where the hot spot is."
"Face," Hannibal watched as the still petrified conman scrambled about the hotel room, locking the windows and doors. "What're you doing?"
"Making sure he doesn't get in." Face hissed as he threw his shaken self down on the couch with the blanket from one of the beds and draped it around his body. Hannibal sighed. This was almost ridiculous.
The Colonel sat down beside him, nodding to B.A. to turn the TV down and got in Face's line of sight. "Do you want to talk about it?"
Face swallowed. "Does it matter?"
"Well it must."
"No. It's...foolish and ridiculous." Face tried to argue but Hannibal shook his head. "Not good enough. I know you Face, and you wouldn't just turn against Murdock like that."
Face whipped his head around, giving Hannibal a dirty look. "Oh do you? Hannibal, you weren't there. You never were there to...be there..." He stopped, eyes darting to the black window.
"This some kinda horror movie story here?" B.A. wondered without taking his eyes off the TV, though Hannibal could see a hint of interest in the story in his eyes.
The conman timidly shook his head. "Not really. It's a...collection of incidents."
The other two waited for Face to begin. "I was a...problem child, you could say? Nobody seemed to want to adopt me...as soon as I was seventeen, I was all but thrown out. I wound up living on the streets. Sleeping anywhere that was decent and getting tangled with the wrong crowd. Until I met her."
"Brooklyn Meyers. I guess the correct term for her would be, goth. She had gotten around, and now she was centering on me. She found me in one of the alleys, sitting with a discarded magazine-"
"What magazine?" B.A. interrupted and Face turned to glare at him. He did not answer that, only shaking his head a little in disagreement.
"She was like me. Abandoned and alone. She asked me if I wanted to join her for a good time, and I agreed because I was young and knew nothing. She had a dark, mysterious personality and I think that's why I was drawn to her. But she had this group, they always hung out in this one night club thing. It was always dark, like a crypt or something. Death music played, these people were honestly the human version of...vampires."
"They were strange, not your typical emos or goths. Something...weirder. They always came at me with knives, calming I needed to draw some blood in order to be one of them or something. I'd find a way out of doing it. But about the fifth time I was drug back there, they weren't going to let it slide again. They lunged, blocking the exits and drawing knives and when I tried to get Brooklyn to help, she just tried to get my blood, too.
"It was becoming clear that they weren't...human. They needed this or they would go crazy. I remember running into the bathroom and finding a window. I got up and was pushing it open when another of those people was there outside the window. He kicked me back into the room when the doors burst open and their clan leader or whoever he was pinned me down. They got me, right here."
Face shakily reached for the end of his tee shirt and pulled it up to his collar bone, pointing to a faded scar on the right side of his chest.
"It came gushing out, the blood. They handed him a wineglass and he filled it with my blood...then drank it. Something in his eyes changed then...they went red. I swear they went red. But it was really dark, I wasn't too sure. That's when they all dove for me again, swinging knives in an attempt to get my blood. The window guy had come in and I sought that opportunity to leave. It was hard, and I struggled quite a bit until I managed to kick them back and fled. Told the Doctor's I slipped while cutting some meat in my kitchen."
He stopped and Hannibal, who had listened to the story with clear intent, was now focused on one thing that Face had said. "Red eyes? Have these things really been around that long?"
"Hey, we've all heard the legends." B.A. shrugged, looking over now. "So ya almost got dried out by some weird clan of clearly mentally troubled dudes?"
Face turned large and wild eyes on him. "I was nearly killed! By monster! Don't believe if you want, but it happened, I swear to God! That was when I enlisted in the army...had to get outta that damn place."
Hannibal placed a hand on his shoulder. "Face. Were they vampires?"
Face opened his mouth but no sound came out. He tried to pull away off the couch but Hannibal's grip tightened and he kept the shaken man down. "Tell me."
"I don't..." Face paused at Hannibal's 'Don't-You-Dare -Lie-To-Me' look. "Look, they probably were! All that matters now, though, is they've finally broken out and taken over."
Before they could saw anymore, the door was suddenly knocked off its hinges and at least five different pairs of red eyes glared in at the humans.
