Chapter 4-

James rubbed the back of his neck with a grimace and looked over at his new partners, Detective Brown and Dr. Rowland. The former was dead asleep in his seat and Dr. Rowland was reading silently by the window. James blinked and moved a bit in his seat, glanced at his watch and finally reached up for the button that would call a flight attendant over, fully intending to get a hold of a coffee, but the captain's voice came on over the intercom.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we will be landing in Orlando shortly, please return your trays in the upright and locked position."

Dr. Rowland looked up from his book and peered out the window, the sun was shining brightly among the clouds, causing the man to squint. A low growl came from Detective Brown as he woke up to find the sun glaring into his face.

"Shut that, will you?" He mumbled before rubbing his face. "Where are we?"

"Just about to land, you were gone for the whole trip." James said, anxious to land, he had an intense hatred of long flights, mostly because the time difference put him at an extreme disadvantage.

"I was just coming off a double shift when I met you…" The detective muttered, sitting up and rolling his neck.

"Know how that feels…" James said, having done triple shifts in the past.

The plane hit the landing strip with a jolt that was sure to wake anyone who was still sleeping. Soon the plane had taxied itself to a terminal and the normal line up was taking place, the attendants bidding their passengers a good morning. James exited the terminal quickly, thankful for the chance to stretch his legs. Detective Brown and Dr. Rowland brought up the rear, moving in a more sluggish manner, but keeping up.

The site that greeted the group was a bustling airport, crowded for that time of the morning. James's eyes flicked around the waiting area, trying to spot a familiar face, or anyone who might look like they belonged to The Order, but all that met him were the tired faces of travelers and the backs of his fellow passengers as they streamed past him.

Who did Kate say would be meeting me? Did she say? Ugh…I can't remember…I need coffee…

"Jimmy!" The voice was young and eager, but he couldn't place it. He turned in the direction it came from and was nearly taken off his feet by Aislyn, his companions immediately went on alert, but relaxed when they saw him hug the young girl back. "I haven't seen you since forever!" She said excitedly and embraced him again.

"Ani, shouldn't you be in school?" He said, looking down at the girl.

"Jimmy! Come on, it's break. I have a whole three weeks to myself. You know what that means." Her eyes sparkled with delight and James frowned, he had forgotten that she didn't attend the public school he went to when he was growing up, she went to a privet year-round school.

"They sent a kid to fetch us?" He sounded offended.

"Hey! I'm not a kid!" Aislyn said angrily. "Who are you anyway?"

"Detective Brown."

"Yeah well I'm Aislyn Ani Valerious-Van Helsing."

The two looked at the girl with surprise and Dr. Rowland raised his eyebrows. At that moment Velkan strode up, two coffees in his hands, he broke into a smile when he saw James.

"James! Have a nice flight?" He set the coffees down on the floor and shook hands with the young man and then turned to the two others. "Velkan Valerious." He held out his hand.

"I'm Detective Brown and this is my colleague Dr. Rowland." The men shook hands and Velkan stooped to pick the coffees up again.

"Can we get to headquarters? I want to start." James said, looking longingly at one of the coffees.

"Can I carry your bags, Jimmy? Please? Aislyn said.

"Sure."

The group, now being properly introduced made their way toward bagged claim and eventually the exits.

Everglades-

Kevin stood looking out of the window; UV blocking film had been applied to every window in the complex which he was looking down on. His "complex" had once been the home of a plantation owner, but had since fallen into disuse. He'd known about it sine he was a boy; it was legally his, after-all. It had been in his family for generations, he just never had any need to mention it to anyone, until now. He smiled a thin, joyless smile, a conqueror's smile. He had raised the ruins of this property from dust to the grandeur that surrounded him. Under his direction the rag-tag group of vampires that kidnapped him had quickly risen to be some of the most feared. He was finally able to do what he was never able to do as a human, a hunter. He was finally able to quench his lust for power, a lust that he suppressed as a human. The mahogany desk and large crimson leather swivel chair that stood behind him rested on rich wooden floors, the whole office was decorated in dark wood and deep reds. The office was in pristine condition, perfectly cleaned, not a speck of dust anywhere. It looked untouched. From his vantage point he watched the sunrise, briefly he reveled in the glory of having conquered the common vampire's most hated enemy; the sun.

The door to the office flew open and a dusty, ragged looking man trooped in, dirt from his shoes fell onto the floor and Kevin turned, a brief look of disgust passed over his face.

"Rancor, must you track your dirty little paw prints everywhere?" He said coolly.

"I goes where I needs to. Dirty or not. I can't help it if I just came from gettin' ya what ya wanted. I can't help that I got a little dirty doin' it, either." Came the man's gruff reply.

"Then by all means…enter, but next time, wipe your feet." Kevin gestured to Rancor, who continued up to the desk and dropped an equally dusty scroll on the table.

"Israel's dusty." He grunted, spreading out the scroll. Kevin smiled in satisfaction.

"Good…Good…Yes…this is what I've waited for."

The scroll was not old, it looked no less than a year old. Written hastily on the inside was a complex mathematical equation.

"What about payment? I did my job now I who do I go to for money?"

"Money?" Kevin's eyes flicked to Rancor with slight amusement. "I let you live, isn't that enough?"

Rancor seemed taken aback, angry, almost. "I'm a mercenary, Sir, I do things for money. That's what a mercenary is."

"I think letting you live beyond today is payment enough."

"Don't forget, Kevin, I know your weakness. I can easily exploit that to some very strong willed werewolves. I know a few who would love to taste vampire blood." Rancor said darkly, his deep South American accent cut into his tone.

"My weakness? Now I believed that dyed out with Dracula. I've evolved." Kevin was now staring straight into the man's eyes, his own having grown very icy.

"You vampires are all alike, I should know, I've killed enough of you Dracula's spawn." He spat the words out.

"I am much different from Dracula…let me assure you of that!" Kevin's hand shot out and caught Rancor under the chin, effectively paralyzing him. "Dracula was just the working model for the future of vampires. I am the perfected version. I am Dracula Beta if you will…I cannot be killed. My underlings have made perfectly certain of that little detail." He hissed, closing the gap between the two. "I will let you live. That will be your payment." He was now right next to the man, who's eyes flared with shame at letting his guard down long enough to get himself into this predicament.

"F-Fine!" Rancor choked out, Kevin released him and he rubbed his chin, a red welt hand begun to form.

"Now go. Before I change my mind over your insolence!" Kevin roared. Rancor turned and slipped out of the room, but not before uttering an unheard vow.

You'll pay, nobody crosses me.

Holy Order Headquarters-

James looked around at his office, it was like he never left. He placed the last item on his desk and smiled faintly.

"Thanks again for coming, Jim…" Kate was leaning against the doorframe, like she did when she was younger.

He turned and flashed her one of his best smiles, a smile he showed to few people nowadays. "How could I say no? You practically put me on the plane."

"I…I know you…I'm sorry." Was all she could say.

James froze, had he heard right? "It's…it wasn't your fault. Not everyone is cut out for demon hunting. I was being stubborn, stupid, arrogant, childish…"

"I shouldn't have pushed you. I didn't mean, I mean, I…Anna and Gabriel had just disappeared and now you were just about to do the same, I mean, it came out of nowhere and I…"

"Even?" James said, adjusting his glasses.

"Even." Kate said and swiftly pulled her cousin into a hug, which he whole-heartedly returned.

"How's Ani been holding up?" He said, timidly, not sure how he should go about addressing the subject of Aislyn. He'd hurt her too, by leaving so suddenly.

"I honestly can't tell…I mean, I know she's sad, god knows she's sad…but…she's learned to hide it."

"I need to tell her I'm sorry…I hurt a lot of people around here. Libby and Alice? Where are they?"

"You can talk to her later, Jim. Libby just opened up a practice in Boston and Alice is still with the Military."

"Oh…I never thought her a…never mind. When is the briefing?"

Kate smiled at her cousin fondly and shook her head. "It's a wonder you haven't burnt out, yet. It's at one. Get something to eat, sleep a little, you're welcome to the couch in Carl's lab, he said it should be safe." With that Kate continued down the hallway.

James looked at the spot she had been standing in and sighed, it was weird for him to be back, he could see that people were surprised to see him. Shaking his head he headed toward Carl's lab and the promise of a little sleep. He was exceptionally tired after his long shift and flight. Navigating the familiar halls he was surprised at the number of new faces he saw, apparently the offices had grown much more than he thought.