, molekiller, and Allyson Baur: Glad you're enjoying! Thanks for reviewing. :)

Disclaimer: See previous disclaimers. There's been no change in my lack of ownership.

Continued reviews and comments for both are appreciated.

IV: David

What was it about David that bothered him so? Mick found himself watching the young man as they waited around the corner from the diner for Jack. He hadn't minded when Jack volunteered to be the one who went in for some food to help them get through the long night, partly because he wanted to stick close to David who, Mick was realizing, was more strange than he'd before thought. Mick found himself wanting to use his 'ability' on the kid, just to learn more about him.

It had only worked once recently and that was in Sutherland's home. He'd touched a remote while searching Sutherland's house and had seen through the man's eyes as he spoke to a girl he figured was the man's daughter as he told her to be safe as she ran out the door to meet her friends. Usually he didn't like the idea of his 'psychic thing', but now... Well, it'd definitely help and of course it wasn't working. They had no leads on Sutherland's location and from the amount of clothes missing from each resident's room, it looked like they were all gone and might be for some time.

But now he wanted his ability for something else. Someone else.

"Hey," Mick said and David turned to him with a quirked eyebrow. "Still got an extra smoke?"

David pursed his lips and reached into his pocket. "For me? Anything." David replied with a smirk.

"Ha. Ha. Don't worry, kid. I'm not you," Mick replied, smiling to hide his anxiety.

David gave a short laugh in amusement and tossed him the pack. "You had me under the impression you didn't smoke."

Mick caught it swiftly, preparing himself for the jolt he got when he 'saw' things, but he wasn't prepared enough. He caught the box gently but as the energy that was David passed from his property to Mick like a bolt of electricity, Mick's arm spasmed and he reflexively crushed it. His arm went numb and the feeling quickly spread through his body as images flashed through his head.

A blood curdling scream filled the air. That was horrible enough, but worse however was that as his vision continued to focus, Mick Hayden found himself biting down on some poor woman's neck. Blood streamed from her that he was quick to drink up. His grip was firmly around the woman's arms, keeping her pinned against a wall. Mick realized that it was from her that the scream had come, but now as he pulled away, her eyes were closed and her body was limp... She was dead and he- no- David had killed her. Killed her by tearing into her neck and drinking her life away like a-

"Hey!"

Mick blinked and turned his now disbelieving and fear filled eyes on David who was looking at him angrily.

"What's wrong with you?" David asked.

Mick swallowed hard. How could it be true? This wasn't a horror movie, this was real life. David... David was a –

"What?" David asked, his voice low and without a hint of concern for the man who'd looked as if he was going into some sort of seizure only a moment before.

Mick finally shook his head and noticed the crushed cigarettes in his hand. "Oh. Uh, sorry about that. I'll buy you a new pack."

"That's not what I meant," David replied, looking Mick over. "I meant finish your thought."

"What?"

"David is a...? Is a what?" David visually licked his seemingly normal teeth, but Mick understood the gesture and that made David laugh. "Now my question is: how did you know that from a pack of cigarettes?"

"You can read minds?" Mick asked incredulously.

David snorted. "Don't be ridiculous. It was written all over your face."

Mick clenched his hand around the cigarette pack and shifted his stance so that he better faced David, and so that his other hand was subtly closer to his gun. David noticed though and he smirked.

"Bullets can't kill me."

"I don't believe that. You're just a sick kid, David. You need help."

"Just like you need help, right? No, you are something too aren't you... What? Psychic?" David shook his head in an incredulous amusement.

"So you believe in vampires, but not in psychics?" Mick asked, wondering when Jack was going to show.

"I don't need to believe in vampires. Psychics though... never really believed in that," he said with a chuckle. "They're just too fictional."

Had Mick been in the mood, he might have laughed at this as well, but he kept seeing through David's eyes as he pulled away from the lifeless woman, his mouth covered in blood, but a grand smile on his lips and an invigorating power flowing through his veins. It was sickening.

David took a step forward and Mick took a step back.

"What are you going to do?" Mick asked, his voice betraying his nervousness.

"Good question. That depends on you I suppose."

"Why?"

The kid- creature?- tipped his head to the side. "Well, if you promise to behave... I won't have to kill you. The three of us can continue this search."

"So you'd kill me? Just like that?"

"Without a second thought."

"You're not that psychotic."

"Believe what you want, but I think I've killed enough people to have no qualms with killing one more. Lookalike or no," David replied.

Mick was silent, his mind going over all the options.

"Don't think of trying to warn Bauer either. Not that he'd believe you. The three of us have a better chance if we work together, but if I feel threatened in any way by you, I will kill you both, leave you in a ditch, and continue on my own. Maybe I'll go find that Banks guy. He seemed resourceful."

Mick grimaced at the teenager, but again said nothing. The pair remained silent, eyes locked for several moments until Jack came around the corner.

"Let's go," was all he said. He tossed a large, brown paper bag to David then started to walk away. The pair glanced at each other once more, David's eyes filled with warning and Mick's a solemn mask.

They followed Jack down the street and across the empty parking lot between two dark factory buildings. Once they were all out of immediate view of the street and nearly to the vehicle, Jack turned around unexpectedly.

"All right, do you two have something you want to tell me?" he asked.

Mick's eyes widened in surprise while David's narrowed suspiciously. Maybe Jack was the mind reader.

"Well? Is there a problem?"

David spoke first. "No. No problem."

"Hayden?" Jack asked, not taking his eyes off of David.

Mick paused for only a moment. He was sure if Jack were on his side, David could be handled.

"Yeah, Jack, I think there might be."

David turned to glare at him, the bag of food in his arms doing little to lessen those intimidating eyes, so like yet unlike his own. Mick stared right back though, taking a few steps away as David reiterated his own statement.

"There's no problem unless you make one."

"I don't know where you come from, kid," Jack said seriously, drawing David's attention. "But I don't think killing should be something to be talked about so lightly."

How much Jack had overheard, Mick wasn't sure, but apparently it was enough. Jack knew David was a danger. David frowned, tossing the bag to the ground and Jack tensed, perhaps also feeling that aura that emanated from the supposed vampire.

"Does it really matter what I've done? I can help you find Sutherland, just as you can help me."

Jack didn't reply, but the angry look on his hard features said that he was no longer interested in working with David. The vampire rolled his eyes.

"I don't want to kill you," he replied.

"What happened to 'without a second thought'?" Jack asked.

David smirked. Then suddenly he rushed to the side and ripped Mick's hand away from his gun. Mick shouted in agony as David twisted his wrist further than it was supposed to go.

A shot sounded in the air and David roared, his balance thrown as a bullet pierced his leg. But it didn't stop him. Using Mick's arm to maneuver him, Mick suddenly found himself a human shield. They faced Jack who still held his gun out and ready, though his eyes had gone somewhat wide in surprise as he saw David's face which had transformed to into a demonic guise. His blue eyes had gone an eerie yellow and his brow had protruded forward slightly only adding to his new monster-like appearance. The creature grinned at the disbelieving look on Jack Bauer's face then bared his elongated teeth, bent Mick's neck to the side, and leaned in for the kill.

However surprised he'd been at David's face and his actions now, it wasn't enough to make Jack freeze up. As David moved down, Jack took the only shot open to him.

David grunted as the bullet pierced his skull. His body went slack and he collapsed in a heap on the pavement. Mick gasped in surprise and jumped away as soon as he was free, his hand moving to his gun though logically he knew David would not get up again. Jack approached him slowly, gun still out and at the ready.

"You ok?" he asked the detective.

Mick nodded, rubbing his neck where he'd felt teeth just begin to press down and the pair looked down at the fallen boy. Jack seemed a little shaken as he looked at the body. David's face was normal once more, marred only by a line of blood trailing down from the bullet wound in his forehead. He looked even younger than he had before as he lay there, too young either way to have had to go like he did.

"You did what you had to," Mick told him, sensing the guilt the man was feeling. Jack gave a slight nod and put away his weapon silently, looking at the teenager a few seconds longer before turning away.

Mick knelt down and touched his fingers to David's neck, just to set his mind at ease, when again he was jolted by a vision that was so jumbled it didn't make sense. A second later he found himself sitting on the ground, eyes wide in alarm. Jack, who'd taken out his cell phone, looked back at him.

"Are you all right?" he asked. "What's wrong?"

Mick swallowed hard and stood, brushing himself off. "Nothing..."

Mick looked down pityingly and confusedly at David's fallen form as if waiting for something. But nothing happened. He heard something beeping and he spotted Jack moving away from him, typing into his phone.

"What are you doing?" Mick asked, heading towards him.

"Calling the authorities. I have to let them know someone's dead."

"They'll want to take you into custody, you know."

"I know. But we don't have time for that. We've got to find Sutherland."

"You can't just ... run from the cops."

"I'll tell them who I am, leave my number and tell them I'm working on something and don't have time for that now."

"And you think they'll take that?"

"They won't have a choice. I'm not just going to..." His voice trailed off as something behind Mickey caught his attention.

"What the hell?" He heard Jack say as he spun around and also spotted what Jack was staring at.

"Jesus Christ," Mick whispered.

Where David had been laying cold and dead only moments ago was now only an empty space smeared with blood. And in the middle of it all, two bullets sat side by side on the pavement.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Jack and Mick, after searching the area and finding no trace of David, had gotten into the SUV and started off, not sure where they were going. Just going. Mick was finally starting to accept what David was, but Jack was a little less acknowledging.

"He thinks he's a what?"

Mick sighed and repeated himself yet again. "A vampire."

"A vampire..."

The pair were silent for a moment.

"What do you believe?" Jack asked.

"I guess I believe that too," the detective answered. If the two visions he'd seen hadn't been enough, David's disappearance after a bullet to the brain certainly shifted the idea into the 'likely' column.

"You can't be serious," Jack replied.

"Well, what do you make of it then?"

Jack was silent, eyes on the road, but in his mind he was obviously searching for an answer that he could accept.

"Agent Bauer, I've seen some weird stuff in my day. Really weird stuff. I think it's possible. More than possible. I can't think of another reason. He may or may not be a vampire of legend, but either way he's something not exactly human."

"No one could have carried him off that quickly or quietly. We would have noticed," Jack conceded. But that looked about all he was going to say for now.

"Fine. Back to the task at hand," Mick said, pulling out a notepad from his jacket pocket.

"Sutherland."

"So. What do we know?" Mickey asked.

Jack sighed. "Nothing. Do you think your people might have something on him?"

"My people? Oh, the police. No. I checked before I left with David. There's no Kiefer Sutherland on our records. What about you? You're a federal agent. You've got to have more information than I'd have access to."

"I did a search before I left CTU, but couldn't find anything. I've tried to call back since then, but I haven't been able to reach them." That seemed to worry Jack.

"Well... I guess he's not a terrorist then."

"Yeah."

Jack slowed the car then made a quick u-turn and started heading back the way they'd come.

"Where are we going?"

"Back to that office."

"The office? It's after 10pm now, it probably won't be open."

"That's probably for the best," was Jack's solemn response.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Jack and Mick moved slowly into the office building. It had been surprisingly easy to find a way in. The front door had been locked, but an emergency exit around the side had not only been open, but there was no alarm. The pair had avoided the security cameras as best they could, sliding along walls, crawling along floors, etc etc. Now they found themselves in a first floor office.

"We weren't the first ones here," Mick declared, echoing Jack's own thoughts as they saw the mess.

Files lay atop the desk in a less than tidy order. Jack took out his gun and motioned to Mick to move towards the door into the lobby.

"No. You weren't."

The familiar voice came from behind them, behind the desk, though they'd been alone only moments earlier. Jack and Mickey, guns in hands, spun around sharply. There, in the tall chair sat David, seemingly as alive as he'd always been.

"What happened to you?" Jack demanded.

"You shot me, that's what happened," David replied crossly. Mick noted that there was no longer a bullet hole, though a red spot was still visible on his forehead.

Jack looked ready to yell some more, but David continued.

"Look, I guess I should apologize for my actions earlier," He replied, looking namely to Mick, who was still holding his gun in his left hand rather than his right. "I hadn't fed in quite some time and with you all threatening me, well... I lost myself to instinct I suppose."

Mick and Jack frowned, expressions so similar that David couldn't help but laugh.

"How did you survive a head shot?" Jack questioned.

"Like I told Mickey here; bullets can't kill me."

"Bullets can kill anyone," Jack replied.

"Oh, you're right, my mistake. I'll just keel over now," David said, sarcasm and amusement dripping from his tone.

"Then what the hell are you?" Jack growled.

"What do you think I am?" David questioned back.

"I'm the one asking the questions here," Jack replied, his voice revealing that he was in no mood for games.

"I think not," David replied calmly.

Jack remained silent a moment, his eyes penetrating David so thoroughly it actually unnerved the vampire. Then, though it hadn't seemed possible, Jack's expression became even more serious. David's eyes widened and he leapt from the chair as Jack pulled the trigger.

Mick shouted in surprise and David cursed angrily as he gripped his arm. The bullet had only torn a hole through his coat and grazed his flesh, but the point was made.

"What the-"

"Maybe bullets can't kill you, but I bet they damn well hurt," Jack shouted, cutting the angry David off. "Now you answer my questions or I'll keep shooting! And if you still refuse... Well, I guess I'll just have to go find myself a wooden stake."

David remained where he was, hunched over, gripping his arm and staring at Jack Bauer with utter surprise and disbelief. Mick stood silent, shocked and honestly wondering if he should be more frightened of the supposed creature of the undead or the living man at his side. Finally David smiled.

"You're crazy, Bauer. And more than a little sadistic," he replied. Jack tensed his finger on the trigger and David put his good hand up in surrender, the smirk not leaving his face. "Fine. You ask the questions and I answer."

"So?" Jack inquired.

David straightened and sneered the words at him. "I'm a vampire."

"Vampires don't exist."

"Neither do psychics I bet," David said. At Jack's slightly inclined eyebrows David looked to Mickey who was now glaring. "You mean Mick hasn't told you about his little ability?"

Jack looked to Mickey who shrugged helplessly then nodded.

"Great," was all Jack said.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

They were all in the car again. David handcuffed in the back, looking more bored than anything. Mick sat beside him, his hand wrapped around his gun and Jack was in the front, driving at breakneck speed. He always seemed to be in a rush. Not that Mick blamed him. He wanted to know what was going on as much as any of them.

A sigh at his side brought Mick's attention back to David who watched the cars they were quickly leaving in the dust. Mick remembered his second vision then. The one he'd seen while David had been back down on the parking lot pavement with a bullet in his head.

"You were right," Mick said to the vampire. David looked to him slowly, eyebrows tilted in question. "The night you died. That was pretty freaky."

David snorted and looked away again.

"I'm sorry," Mick said after a pause, sincerity plain in his voice.

The tone made David turn back to him with a haunted frown.

"About the way it happened. I'm sorry. It shouldn't have had to go like that," Mick continued.

David's frown became an angry scowl. "I don't need your pity," he growled.

Despite his tone, Mick noted that David hadn't been able to completely erase that haunted look from his face. So Mick only nodded and looked out the front window, not ready to completely turn his back on the vampire, but leaving him his peace. David glared at Mick several seconds longer before he too turned away, looking out the side window at the stars.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Character Profile #3:

David

Very little is known about David including his true age or his last name. For the last several years at least David has been leader of a gang known as the Lost Boys. This foursome is not simply a group of troublesome teenagers who enjoy terrorizing their town of Santa Carla, California, but are also true creatures of the night. Vampires. David is a man of few words, but a glance into his eyes reveals that he is not one to be trifled with. He is a strong and intelligent hunter who is used to getting what he wants.

How David first learned of Mick Hayden is uncertain as is how he found him. It shouldn't even be possible. David, you see, is a product of the 1980's while Michael Hayden and Jack Bauer live a good twenty years later.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-