Okay so it's short again but it was a little quicker then last time ne? So I'm going to updat These boots next because that on'es been waiting a looong time and I want to write a sappy chapter damnit...wait all the chapters for that story have moments of sap...nevermind. So anyway the title is,I don't know it's just a phrase that's used a lot I think. Not many warnings, a little swearing and possibly a little blasphemy but not really...So that's it I guess. Are you actually still reading this mindless chatter...

The Cursed No More

The Blood of My Father

Heero made his way through the streets of the city with Duo following close behind him, it was like even though they didn't know anything about him, people could sense something foreboding in the young man and they avoided him on the street. Duo thought back to when Howard had finally provoked Heero enough to get him angry, it had been frightening but Duo had been more worried about all that had happened in Heero's life that could make him so disgusted with his own existence. Duo didn't see all the frightening things that people kept telling him about Heero. Supposedly the guy was suicidal, ok so he had noticed that one, but he was also supposed to be some kind of horrible blood lusting beast according to Howard. Duo supposed when he looked back on last night he could see where that one came from, but that hadn't been Heero. From what he had gathered what had happened to Heero that night was something that happened to all vampires when they didn't …uhm eat. The curse just took over so why was Heero targeted and hated by all the vampires when they all had to deal with the same thing. Was it because he had been treated specially by this head vampire guy and they were jealous or did they all really fear his power? Was Heero that powerful, sometimes he just seemed like a regular guy, totally human.

Duo noticed Heero's footing slipped and there was quick glance from icy blue eyes his way. But the eyes were very different, the ice was almost completely melted and his face almost had a real expression on it. Duo was shocked to say the least, he almost stopped right in the middle of the street. They really needed to start those lessons with Quatre, this was getting out of control. He could sense Heero's emotions at all times. Even now he could sense the confusion and hope in the boy, he could even hear a few words here and there and he didn't like what he heard. Heero thought the worst things about himself it was horrible to think that someone had to live with these kinds of thoughts festering in their mind. There was stuff about being a soulless monster and the world being better without his plague of an existence. Duo was disturbed by Heero's thoughts but it wasn't long ago that he himself had wished for death and could not seem to find it. He had felt just how Heero felt now, but he had confronted his demons and thought they still pestered him he knew he could help Heero work through his. He wondered if it weren't a little bit of fait's work that Heero was drawn to the bar that night, they were so similar on the inside even if they were polar opposites on the outside. He felt that his outgoing and accepting personality was what Heero needed, he got the feeling that in Heero's life a lot of people had high expectations and tried to make him things that he wasn't and that had made him shut himself away. Duo would try his best to find the real Heero so they could work out Heero's demons together. He couldn't explain this bond that had formed between Heero and himself but he was determined to help the vampire no matter what because he could sense a kindness in Heero that almost no one else seemed to understand except maybe Quatre and Trowa. He knew it would take a lot of work, after all Heero had lived for a long time and that probably entailed a much longer list of demons to face than Duo had to. But he was going to do his best to help the boy once he got Heero to open up to him. Heero had continued walking and Duo couldn't sense anything weird coming off of the vampire, so he assumed that Heero hadn't picked up on his little internal resolution.

It was the dark side of twilight and the vampire was feeling more energetic with the approaching night, or was it not the night at all maybe it was because Duo was so close he couldn't tell anymore. He took a quick glance over at the longhaired man, happy that he had finally been able to block most of Duo's thoughts because the one's he heard made him confused and he didn't like not understanding the swirl of adrenaline that felt too much like he remembered hope feeling like. He was stunned by the incredible beauty of that heart shaped face framed on one side by the dwindling light of the sun and on the other by the emerging neon city lights. Duo could feel the vampire looking at him and the tumultuous emotions that the boy was trying to suppress. Duo couldn't look back though, the icy gaze pierced through his soul when their eyes locked and Duo wanted to keep his thoughts private. Duo wondered just where the hell they were going when Heero made a quick turn to the left into a dark alleyway. Duo followed even though he was getting more nervous with every step and yet it seemed that the vampire was just the opposite. The further they got from civilization and the darker the night became, the more confident Heero's stride became. They took another left into a back and Heero finally stopped outside a creepy looming brick two-story building. There were no windows anywhere and the door was painted black with green words stenciled at the top that read "The Safe House."

"What is this place?" Duo finally found his voice after staring at the imposing building for a solid minute. Heero strode up to the big black door and knocked three times. Duo watched him do it, and was surprised when the door just seemed to open itself.

"This is a haven for vampires. Everyone in here is somehow connected to the vampire way of life so we don't have to fear persecution in here. We can just be ourselves." Heero finished his cursory explanation and Duo wondered briefly what vampires did that in public would be persecuted. Did they bite each other openly in this place? Maybe this was like a blood orgy house or something? Why would Heero take him to a place like this? Questions flogged his brain but he was distracted by the small room they had entered, he wondered why there was a waiting room in a vampire hangout. Next to the large red door in front of them stood a large East-Indian man who wore sunglasses despite how dark it was inside and dressed in black clothes that reminded Duo of the Matrix. Heero stared intently at the man for a few seconds and Duo wondered what was going on. Then out of nowhere Heero let out an amused snort and the bodyguard smiled.

"I suppose you think you're funny Rashid. Are you trying to impress my friend?" Rashid smiled at Duo and the boy couldn't stop the blush on his cheeks. He could feel the man's eyes looking him over, whether if it was to judge if he was worthy to enter or if the man was just a pervert Duo wasn't sure.

"I just thought I'd test your skills today. In all honesty it's a little slow today and I'm bored as hell." Heero quirked an eyebrow at the extremely tall man but didn't say anything about the guy's love for brawling. He didn't want to bring that up in front of Duo, after all fights were very rare in here especially when Treize was away which he was supposed to be for the next week or so. Treize was another Dilluvian, the second victim ofthevampire king and fairly powerful when compared to any other vamp ...besides Heero of course. The man had a weakness though, sex. He was a horrible flirt with both men and women, though it was obvious he preferred men. And despite being bound to someone he was often found trying to coerce other vamps into sharing their 'toys' as Treize would so lovingly put it. Most of the time Heero thought that Treize did all of this just to see how people would react.He got the feeling that the vampire wasn't really a playboy at all, he just loved to stir things up a little. It was like he wanted to start a war just to finish it. Heero never could understand the way that man thought. Treize thought that men could only find their true selves when they were immersed in turmoil and although sometimes Heero agreed, he could not understand the lengths Treize would go to for a rise out of someone.

"Alright Heero you know I can't let you enter until you guess the color." Heero left his reverie behind. He was here to reassure Duo that despite being apart of this strange new world it was still possible to feel like a normal person, just a little more difficult.

"I will guess when you stop changing the color. It's very amusing but I think you're trying to make me look stupid in front of my guest." Rashid smiled a big grin, and despite being wary of the large man Duo found himself responding to the good nature and fun humor that had been lacking in his life the past couple days. He still had no clue what was going on but he had surmised that in order to get in Heero had to guess the color of something. Duo wondered if he would have to try and guess to, he knew he wouldn't be able to he didn't even know what the object was.

"You caught me. But you've never brought a new face in here, I was just making sure you're not bragging about yourself too much." Heero shook his head and Rashid turned to Duo.

"Don't let him fool you. He doesn't have the answer to everything I just haven't found the right question yet that will stump him." Duo smiled and beckoned the tall man to come closer. Heero watched curiously. Duo never ceased to amaze him, the boy was already able to adapt to this new and strange environment. Hell he was already making friends and Rashid could be a damn scary guy the first time you meet him. He watched as Duo whispered something into Rashid's ear, who had to bend way down so the boy could reach it. There was a pause for a few seconds then all of a sudden Rashid burst out laughing harder than he had ever seen the man do in the two hundred years he had known him.

"What?" Heero asked, he was perturbed that he had not thought to listen in with his mind on what Duo was whispering he had been so distracted by how unique the boy truly was.

"This boy knows the one question that you would not have the answer to." Rashid laughed heartily and slapped Duo on the back in a way that reminded the longhaired boy of Howie a little bit. So this man wasn't a vampire then, since he could touch Duo. Why would a man that's not a vampire be guarding the entrance to a vampire hotspot? Duo's questioning was ground to a halt by the sudden appearance of Heero's face in his direct line of vision, a very stern yet amused face.

"What's the question?" Duo just smiled and shook his head. Heero frowned a little, he was amused by these antics and that confused him a little. He usually just passed right through, sometimes he and Rashid would tease each other but not often. So why was he so curious about some dumb joke that Duo had just made.

"It's nothing Heero. Duo just figured that if I asked you if you prefer top or bottom that you wouldn't know the answer." Heero glared as harshly as he could at Rashid, and the man backed down a little but he was still sniggering behind his back when he turned to face Duo again. Duo just kept smiling and shrugging, it was obvious his glare had no effect on the boy. Something else to add to the unique qualities of Duo, he was not easily intimidated. Duo flung an arm around Heero's shoulders and noticed that the vampire flinched at the contact, he added that to his metal list of things he had to work on with the boy.

"It was just a joke Heero. You can stop looking at me like I'm a big bug that needs squashing." Heero almost smirked, he really liked how Duo didn't treat him any different then one of his good friends. But made him nervous too, he was getting far too attached to this kid it was dangerousbut the real danger was thathe couldn't stop himself. Duo's infectious smile and warm friendly armpushed those thoughts aside for now.

"Alright, tell me the color and you can go in. I guess I've pushed your buttons enough for one night." Rashid chuckled and wiped a few tears out of the corners of his eyes. He smiled at Duo and Duo smiled back. Rashid was happy to see Heero responding so well to another person. He usually only got a curt nod from Heero sometimes a few syllables, but never anything even close to this. It was like this boy brought out the humanity in Heero that had been slowly dying over the centuries that Heero had lived alone and surrounded by death. This boy was so full of life it was bound to rub off even on someone who seemed so stone cold like Heero. He could sense the purity of the young man's life force and was surprised that something so pure still existed these days.

Heero looked long and hard at the man and Duo could see that Rashid was trying to stop himself from grinning too much and was failing miserably. Finally Heero smirked at the tall man and shook his head.

"Gold, green, and blue. You're underestimating me if you think that will stump me." Heero's smirk was still in place when Rashid smiled and clapped Heero on the back. Duo was impressed. When Rashid had slapped his back it had nearly sent him flying forward but Heero didn't move an inch. He did flinch at the contact again, not from the force but it was obvious he didn't enjoy being touched or wasn't very used to it. Duo watched as Rashid's smile widened and he bent down to Heero's height. He slowly pulled down his sunglasses to reveal eyes with a stripe of gold followed by one of green that transitioned into a stripe of bright blue.

"Holy Shit!" Duo yelled and backed up into a table that he hadn't realized was behind him. He almost fell over but Heero caught him at the last second but the vase that was sitting on the little table didn't fare so well. Duo shut his tight when he heard the sound of porcelain shattering. After a few seconds he opened his eyes and Heero was still holding, he didn't look angry on the contrary he looked very amused. That's when it hit Duo just how close they were, he couldn't stop the blush so he tried to cover it with a cough. Duo stood up and looked apologetically at Rashid.

"I'm sorry I hadn't expected that, you really aren't a vampire are you?" Rashid smiled and picked up a few of the larger pieces of the vase. Duo quickly bent down and started cleaning up the broken vase apologizing profusely for knocking it over. Rashid just shook his head and shooed Duo away from the mess.

"Don't worry about it. It's Treize's and I thought it was ugly." Duo looked very confused but he didn't ask any more questions, he was tired of asking questions. "You guys can go through, Heero got it right as usual. I will get you one day though Yuy." Heero snorted and half shrugged as he turned toward the big red door, which had opened all by itself. Duo followed close behind the vampire as they passed into a dim hallway, he could hear soft music playing somewhere in the distance.

"He's a doppelganger. In case you were wondering." Heero said as they walked through the hallway and out into a large room. A doppelganger? Duo wondered what other creatures from myth actually existed.

"So is he really that tall?" Duo didn't know why but for some reason Heero actually laughed at this. It was more of a short bark of a laugh and it was obvious Heero hadn't expected it either. The vampire shook it off though, deciding that it was better to think about all these new questions later. Right now he had to make sure Duo had a good time, he owed it to the guy.

"Is that really what you wanted to ask? I've always wondered if he can change the size of all his appendages" Heero's deadpan voice and serious expression made Duo burst into a fit of laughter. They had to stop at the entrance to the hangout so Duo could catch his breath and when he did it was nearly knocked out of him again at the site of the room.

Duo stared around at his dimly lit surroundings. It looked like someone had renovated an old gothic victorian house to turn it into a nightclub slash hangout. People were lounging in large couches that were stuffed with huge pillows or sitting at comfortable looking tables. There was a small clear area where a few people were dancing to the beat of the pounding music, it was a lot louder out here than in the hallway. As they passed through the crowd people stopped what they were doing and stared at them with grotesque interest. They would stare at Heero then make a quick confused glance at the beautiful longhaired man following closely behind him. Off in the distance Duo saw the top of a blonde head and relief just washed over his body. If Quatre was here then this place couldn't be that bad.

They waded through tables and evil glares to get to Quatre, as they got closer to the young blonde vampire Duo started to take the lead in front of Heero. He snuck behind the blonde and yelled the boy's name over the sound of the music and the crowd. Quatre jumped and whipped around.

"You scared the hell out of me." The blonde vampire smiled at the sight of his best friend, but it was quickly replaced with a look of concern. Duo was going to ask him what was wrong but he was stopped when Heero came to stand next to him and put an arm around his hip. He looked over at Heero's face trying to figure out why the guy was suddenly being so touchy-feely. He saw that ice cold death-glare shooting around the perimeter of the room. Duo followed that icy gaze and felt a shudder run down his back at the way half the patrons were staring at him. He didn't understand, Trowa wasn't a vampire either why weren't they staring at him? Was it because he was new, but new people had to come in here sometimes? Then the words Howard had said right before they came here echoed in his head. 'He drew them in…. His light warmed them when not even the sun could.' What exactly had Howard meant by that and why did he feel like a rabbit sitting in the middle of a lion's den.

"Heero I'm not sure this was the time to bring Duo here." Quatre said meekly and Duo stared back and forth trying to understand what Quatre could possibly mean. Much to Duo's enjoyment Heero looked just as stumped by Quatre's statement as he was, but he looked a hell of a lot less nervous than Duo felt. Heero frowned and watched as Quatre tried to motion inconspicuously behind him. Heero leaned a little to the left to look around the blonde, Duo was almost frightened by Heero's sudden narrowed eyes and snarl. What had Heero seen that had so immediately raised his heckles. All Duo saw was Trowa and some strange kid that looked like a Chinese cowboy in a suit sitting in big cushy chairs at a large table. The cowboy looked over and did a double take when he saw Heero. The look on his face definitely explained Heero's sour features. The two obviously disliked each other.

"Yuy." The cowboy greeted Heero with a frown and a quick nod of his head. Heero did not respond but continued to stare at the stranger like his stare could implode the young man. Duo watched as the cowboy just shrugged and let his gaze drift, he froze when the stranger's eyes paused and looked him up and down. For the first time in this bar though he didn't feel like a hunk of meat it was much more of a curious look like the guy didn't know how Duo belonged with this group.

"I suppose this means that yours and Treize's vacation was cut short, Wufei." Heero's voice ground out and Duo caught the deep animosity that Heero had when he spoke the unusual name…Treize. He had heard that name before, oh shit he had broken that man's lamp. Who was this guy and why did Heero hate him so much?

"Yeah, we felt we needed to come home. By the way I have some interesting news for you Heero." The wicked smile on the cowboy's face made Duo almost cringe. He watched as Quatre looked worriedly over his shoulder then motioned for Heero to follow him. The vampire gave a quick glance to Duo then briefly scanned the room. That made Duo nervous. Heero nodded slowly to Quatre and the two of them disappeared into the crowd. Duo stood there, lost, until the ever-calming voice of Trowa Barton drifted to him over the music from the table behind him. He turned to find the tall boy sitting not too far from Wufei…was the strange cowboy one of their friends. Then why did Heero dislike him so?

"Why don't you sit down Duo?" Duo did just that, sitting next to Wufei yet at the same time keeping his distance from the stranger. The cowboy smiled leeringly at him and Duo couldn't help but think that the boy was actually attractive if not scary as hell.

"What's your name?" Wufei inquired before taking a sip of his unusual looking drink. Duo stared at him for a second before it registered that he should respond to the question being asked of him. He was distracted though, up close he could see all the strange objects that Wufei wore all over his body along with at least a dozen crosses.

"D…Duo Maxwell." He finally got out and he felt like a moron. He was usually so good at conversation. Too good some may say but he just ignored comments like that. Duo wondered where Quatre had taken Heero but he didn't see the harm in talking to the strange young man while Heero wasn't looking.

"Name's Chang Wufei." The cowboy stuck his hand out for Duo to shake it. But if Wufei was in here then surely he was a vampire. Didn't Heero say they could sense the binding, why would this vampire try to touch him? Maybe he was another Dilluvian that didn't have to obey that rule? Duo reached out despite his fear of what might happen if another vampire touched him. He took a firm hold of the cowboy's hand and gave it a good shake. When nothing happened he couldn't refrain the question that popped out of his mouth.

"Are you a vampire?" Duo looked shock that he had blurted out something so stupid but Wufei just laughed. He started to wonder again if the boy wasn't a little off his rocker. Wufei stopped laughing, which was a good thing because Duo was pretty sure the guy didn't laugh a whole lot and it was kind of creepy. Duo tried to smile back and he told himself over and over to stop staring at the guy's accessories but he was failing miserably.

"Nope not a vamp, I hunt them." Duo's chin hit the floor, why the hell was a vampire hunter hanging out in a vampire bar and openly admitting to killing vampires? This guy really was as crazy as his laugh made him sound. He watched as the boy began unhooking all of his equipment and was surprised to see that most of it was strange looking weaponry. They let him bring his weapons in here? Hmm…Duo didn't see a wooden stake in sight. Guess that's one of those myths about vamps.

"You looked surprised. Is it because I'm sitting next to that which I kill?" Duo nodded and Wufei chuckled a little. There was a twinkle of amusement in the cowboy's eye.

"Just like people, some vamps are good and some need a holy bullet in their ass to keep them in line. We can't have wild vamps roaming the streets or chaos and hell would break loose when the people found out about their existence. So I could be considered a vampire cop." Duo marveled at this but it made sense, if beings of unnatural strength and power are going to walk the earth there has to be something to keep them in check or the undead would run the world. Duo caught himself staring at the hardware that had made a huge pile on the table. Wufei caught his gaze and knew the boy was embarrassed to ask but he had to admit to himself that his collection of otherworldly weaponry was pretty impressive.

"You can go ahead and ask me. When Quatre first met me he asked questions from morning till night and he still had more but I had to go to bed. I'm not like a vamp I have to sleep sometimes." Duo smiled, he had been wary of the boy but now he thought that maybe that was mostly due to Heero's strong reaction to him. He liked the cowboy, at least he wasn't another doppelganger or a werewolf or something else like that. Not that Rashid wasn't cool, he liked that guy a lot, he was just happy to see a 'normal' human face.

"So what are all these things? No wooden stakes or garlic necklaces?" Duo threw a crooked smile at the cowboy and even Trowa had to laugh a little at the offhand comments Duo threw out. He had been involved in the vampire world for so long that he had almost forgotten about all the Hollywood that surrounded it.

"Yeah those are myths, though I'm pretty sure if you shoved a big wooden stick through anybody's chest they probably wouldn't survive." Wufei laughed and Duo tried to hold back his own chuckle, he could see that Trowa found the whole conversation amusing even though he refrained comment. "Buta stake'snot guaranteed to kill a vampire. It's all folklore except for that whole focus on the heart thing, that's true enough. The curse originated from the heart after all so it's the center of the vamps power. But really weak vamps can be killed just like any other person, they just don't age. For a stronger one a couple of direct shots to the heart with Holy Bullets or a good dose of Holy light will do the trick. But there's really no guaranteed way to do it. Especially forDilluvians...they take the whole immortality thing to the extreme." Duo thought about this as he poked one of the bottles that Wufei had pulled from his pocketbut Wufei reached over quick and grabbed the bottle away from him.

"Don't touch that! You trying to get into Hell?" Duo ripped his hand back and stared at it like it was infected.

"What is it?" He asked, maybe it was some kind of cool anti-vamp potion that worked like acid when it touched their skin and melted them. Or it contained liquid fire from Hell itself that burned vampires to a crisp. He was intrigued and frightened at the same time.

"Holy water. Could baptize you Catholic." Duo stared at the guy for second, he looked so serious but there was that twinkle of amusement in his eye again. Dou smirked at the cowboy and Wufei smiled back in good humor. Then they both burst out laughing.

"I was actually raised for a while by a catholic church." Duo said once he caught his breath again.Wufei raised one delicately arched eyebrow and Duo had to laugh. He thought that he would just sit here and get one shock after the other from the cowboy but he never thought that he would get a turn to shock the boy in return. Must be odd that a good catholic boy would have nothing but vamps for friends, but he was starting to kind of like the idea of how 'interesting' his life was becoming not that it totally lacked excitement before but nothing like this. Wufei set the bottle back down and rummaged through his stuff. He picked up a big silver gun and spun out the large ammunition chamber then pulled out one of the thumb-sized bullets that was in it. There were carvings of crosses and other strange symbols all over the little projectile. Wufei held it up for him to look at.

"Forged in Holy water by a man of the cloth. Each symbol has its own power in it so wherever the vamp is weak one of these symbols will react to that weakness. Whether the vamp's weak against fire, heaven, or light this little baby will find out and use it to destroy him." Duo stared at the bullet like if he touched it then it would know all his secrets. Wufei smirked and leaned in close to Duo, the braided boy moved away and Trowa chuckled.

"He's just messing with you. Both he and his lover enjoy toying with the minds of those around them." Duo looked at Wufei who had a shameless grin on his face. He should have been frightened by the boy but he still liked him. He too enjoyed a good mind fuck every now and then though it wasn't often that he was on the receiving end of it.

"Why do you wear so many crosses if you have sucha complex with organized religion." Wufei looked down at all the pieces of catholic insignia he was adorned with. He frowned a little, not wanting to lose the good humor of the conversation, he knew that when people got turned or became a nag'nul that all they wanted was a little normalcy in their lives and the last thing Duo needed was a breakdown of all the loopholes and backdoors of organized religion. So he stuck with the simple answer.

"If a vampire had reverence for the cross in life then as one of the undead crosses affect him physically depending on the severity of his devotion to it. A man who prayed to a cross everyday and had one in every room and practically treated it like it was his religion would become physically ill as a vampire in its presence. For someone who just wore a cross or had a little veneration for it then he would probably be only slightly distracted by it's presence. Heero, for example, doesn't even pay them slightest attention same as in life." Duo sat silent for a long time and considered what that implied about Heero Yuy as a man. But even Duo had lost his faith for a while. He had only believed in death because he was surrounded by it...guess he still was. But he had matured and realized that he couldn't rely on God to do everything for humanity, they had to learn from their own mistakes or they would just keep repeating them. And for some reason without that burden of a God that had the final say in all that existed, he felt his faith slowly returning to him. Maybe he was more of an agnostic then anything else, but he was pretty sure that having faith meant having doubt otherwise it would be fact. But he could see how a man who had lived with a curse of immortality for as long as Heero had, could lose faith in something that could onlybe seenafter you died. But Heero hadn't even had faith before that. Or maybe he had, after all Duo was pretty sure Heero was from Japan and he knew he was very old. So if he did have a religion it was probably Buddhism or whatever the religion of Japan was in those days. Not htat it really mattered, hedidn't really likereligious people anyway they were supposed to about a God, but God says to love your neighbor and those old churchhags do nothing but persecute. They judge a man based on what he isn't instead of loving him for who he is, and Duo just couldn't understand that. Duo searched the room and spotted Heero in a corner with a very animated Quatre talking to him.

"Heero I didn't want Wufei to tell you, but there's something you should know." It was the unreasonable fear emanating off of Quatre that made Heero feel just a little nervous. Quatre never got upset, he always kept a cool head and made the best strategy. So what had scared him so bad that he couldn't even get out a straight sentence? Heero stared at him waiting for him to continue. Quatre had paused waiting for Heero's response but gave up pretty quick when he remembered that was waiting for Heero's response.

"Treize and Wufei went to Rome last week." Quatre paused again and Heero was getting impatient. What the hell did all this matter anyway? Did something happen or not, he would think that if it were bad enough Quatre would have come right out and said it unless it was terrifying Quatre enough that he couldn't find a way to.

"So." Heero finally responded when Quatre didn't continue. The blonde's aquamarine eyes bugged like he expected Heero to understand everything now. Great now the blonde was frustrating him and making him feel like an idiot.

"Heero, the house…your house." The house in Rome, it had been a long time since he had been inside. Not since Dilluvia had disappeared inside the master bedroom. Heero looked tiredly at Quatre.

"What about it." Had something happened to his house, that couldn't be possible Dilluvia had placed a lot of spells and enchantments on the house so that nobody could go near it except himself and Heero. So unless Zeus himself had come out of his clouds and shot his lightning bolts at it, he seriously doubted that anything had happened to it.

"There was a light on in his bedroom. Wufei and Treize both saw it and that's why they came back early, to warn us. Do you know what that means?" Quatre expected Heero to do something. Heero never showed fear but he thought the boy would at least start making plans to find out what was going on. If it meant what Quatre thought it meant, then Heero should be a lot more freaked out than he was right now. Heero just shook his head and looked warily at the boy.

"Their just screwing with your head Quatre, you know they love to do it." Quatre was already shaking his head before Heero had finished the sentence.

"Look Quatre, I've tried to take you inside so you know first hand that Dilluvia's spells still work. No one can get into that house except me."

"And Dilluvia." Quatre added with significance. Heero almost laughed.

"You think Dilluvia's back. Quatre if he came back don't you think I would know. I was always able to sense him no matter where he was on the planet." Quatre looked angry at Heero's levity of attitude about the whole situation. If Dilluvia was back then the world as they knew it would no longer exist. Dilluvia had dreams of a world ruled by vampires where he was king and Quatre was pretty sure that he had wanted Heero at his side.

"Look you know as well as I do that Treize can screw with your mind and will but Wufei only does it for fun and he always tells you when something serious is going on." Heero was silent for a while. It was true that Wufei understood where to draw the line unlike his vampire boyfriend. Heero really didn't dislike Wufei just the fact that his presence meant that Treize was close by.

"Alright I'll check around with my sources in that area, but Quatre if he were back I would know it. His spell just probably wore off." Though Heero didn't really believe that argument. Dilluvia's spells had lasted for and entire millennia why would they all fall apart now? But he didn't sense anything at all, was it possible that wherever Dilluvia had gone made it so that he could no longer sense him?

"That's another thing I've always wondered about Heero. If he were truly gone then why would his spells remain? Wouldn't you have been freed and all vampires returned to human?" Heero just shrugged, those questions had plagued his mind as well but he just figured that it was because Dilluvia's power lived on in all the vamps he had created even though that really didn't explain why.

"I'll have it checked out okay, don't start worrying until we know we have to. You have to keep a cool head." Quatre nodded but Heero could see the slight shake run through his body. "And Quatre, don't tell Duo about this until we're certain it's a serious problem." Quatre nodded again, it wouldn't be good to worry the boy since he was so new to all of this and he still hadn't even had time to adjust to this new world. They began heading back towards the table and Quatre couldn't help but giggle when Heero growled at the sight of Wufei with his arm around Duo showing him something that looked like a silver ball and when he twisted it just slightly a small light emitted. Heero recognized it as one of the vampire hunter's Holy light bombs. He frowned even more when he got close and Wufei winked at him them grabbed his largest gun and held it out to Duo.

"You wanna hold my gun?" The hunter asked with a leering smirk and Duo, who was so distracted by all the unique objects in front of him that he hadn't noticed Heero's approach, reached out and ran a finger down the length of the barrel in a way that made Wufei waggle his eyebrows at Heero. The vampire couldn't deny that the way Duo moved sometimes was so unintentionally erotic that Heero had been having a hard time keeping control over himself around the boy…no pun intended. Duo held the gun in his hand for minute and the whole time Wufei just smirked at Heero's obvious discomfort, then the braided boy set it down and the cowboy leaned in and whispered something to the boy that made him look in Heero's direction. He blushed just slightly and to anybody but Heero it would have been lost in the dimly lit room. Heero growled under his breath wondering what mind games Wufei was playing now.

Heero and Quatre sat down at the table. Quatre took the spot next to Trowa and leaned his head against the taller boy's chest and Heero sat down next to Duo giving Wufei a glare that sent the hunter scooting closer to Trowa. Heero then pulled Duo closer to him and sent chilling stares around the bar, but Duo could tell that Heero was once again scanning the room at the same time. Duo stretched out his neck and looked around, trying to see what had been distracting Heero all night since they saw Wufei sitting here. Heero turned his head andstopped breathing whenhe nearly bumped into Duo's graceful neck and jaw. He took a firm hold of the cushiony seat beneath him and tried to ignore the sudden urge to taste the boy's wonderful essence once more, lord buthe was addicted to the guy.

Quatre watched as this happened and felt the Heero's response. He looked over to Duo who was being so openly tempting to his companion and was shocked to see that the spot where Heero had bit him was already perfectly healed, not a blemish in sight.

"Duo your neck!" He blurted before he could stop himself. Duo put a hand around his neck feeling for whatever Quatre was freaking out about. Quatre felt bad when he saw a look of horror pass over the boy's handsome features.

"No nothing's wrong, it's just that your wounds have healed in a day. That's highly unusual." Duo looked over to Heero and found that he too was now examining his neck with what Duo thought might be concern on his face but it passed too quickly.

"It usually takes me a week or so and we've probably already well…refreshed them." Trowa added when the table was silent. Duo stared around at all the people that were looking at him like he was the most unusual thing they had ever seen, which almost made Duo laugh out loud. Then an idea struck him.

"So that explains why I never see you in anything but a turtleneck." Trowa smiled faintly but no one else had been distracted. They were all still staring at the spot on his neck where Heero's teeth marks had been, except Wufei who was looking all over his neck since he didn't know where the bite had been.

"Look it's probably just 'cuz of that whole power transfer thing you talked about Quatre. I mean I still sort of feel them in me and since Heero can heel a knife wound in a minute I guess even in me his power is strong enough to heal pretty quickly." Which was a good thing now that Duo thought about, since he had worked in the bar all afternoon and it would have looked weird if he had these weird puncture marks as he served beer to the patrons. He had forgotten all about the bite mark though, he had been in such a hurry to make his shift.

"Well that's even more unusual, you should have slept them off last night." Quatre said sounding worried.

"Well Heero's a strong vampire right so his power lasts longer." Duo was totally making this up, but hell all this vamp mumbo jumbo sounded like somebody was just making it up as they went anyway. His answer actually seemed to placate the group, all except Heero who still stared at him but the look in the vampire's face made a shiver run down Duo's spine and it felt good. There was almost a want, a hunger in Heero's eyes and Duo found it hard to resist giving in to whatever the boy wanted from him.

The two were so caught up in the confusing emotions they were receiving from each other that they didn't notice the approach of a tall man with slicked back light brown hair and attractive blue eyes, though no where near as striking as Heero's icy blue. He wore a black ribbed turtleneck and a long dark brown leather jacket. He slid up to the table overflowing with confidencebut it wasn't untilhe hadwinked at the Chinese cowboy when Duo noticed his appearance.

"Oh, hey there." Duo said and extended his hand to shake just as Wufei had done to him already forgetting the rule he had just learned. Duo felt Heero's whole body tense up and he slowly turned his head to glare at the man standing beside the table. He would never understand this man and he hated things he didn't understand. Which was why Duo was even more unusual, he didn't think he would ever understand the braided boy but that fact only intrigued him more. Heero watched with a stare that could burn holes, as the man that Duo assumed was Treize by Heero's reaction reached out for Duo's hand. Everyone held their breath as Treize's steady hand moved closer to touching Duo's elegantly long fingers. Duo watched in slow motion as the man's hand came within centimeters of his flesh, wasn't this man a vampire? Yes he had to be, he felt just like Heero and yet so different. Duo wassurprised that he could sense the unnatural power in this man it must be strong...another Dilluvian, he was sure this time.The hand stopped and instead of shaking Duo's, Treize let his hand wander up Duo's arm never touching him. He traveled towards the boy's neck then up to his face and just before he passed over Duo's lips Heero's hand shot out and grabbed the man nearly breaking his wrist but the guy didn't flinch. This man called Treize just drew his hand back and smiled the same way Wufei had smiled at him earlier. Wufei too was smirking at the display. Had this been some kind of personal challenge to Heero? Duo sat dumbfounded by the entire transaction, he had met a lot of weird characters lately so Treize wasn't that big of a shock it was Heero's protective reaction that had him stumped. It's not like Treize could touch him so what's with the violent reaction, was it jealousy? From Heero…nah.

"I haven't seen you around here. How did someone like Heero Yuy, who takes grouchiness to a whole new level, find such a beautiful warm soul such as yourself." The low growl in Heero's voice was almost audible to even those at the table that didn't have super sensitive vampire hearing. Duo tried to smile politely but there was something about the man that just made him uncomfortable. It could have been the egocentric vibes that were wafting offof himbut there was something else. Something in his disarming charm that told Duo he should be wary. His street instincts were kicking in and he subconsciously scooted a little closer to Heero. Heero's glare was stopping people across the room even Treize's smooth operation halted a little. There was a long silence until finally poor Quatre, the communicator, cleared his throat and everyone looked at him. He smiled and it was obvious that he had no idea what he was doing. He was just trying to break the silence. He turned to Trowa for help and the silent boy just stared at him with an eyebrow quirked. Then it hit him that Quatre actually needed help, he cleared his throat too and stared at his boyfriend.

"Uhm…Quatre…would you…like to…dance?" He finally got out and hoped that it was kind of in the direction that Quatre wanted. The blonde's eyes lit up and Trowa sighed with relief.

"I would love to." Quatre happily took his boyfriend's hand and they made their way to the small dance floor where they immediately converged to each other. Duo turned away, it was like watching his best friend have sex the way Quatre dipped delicate fingers under the top of Trowa's turtleneck. He looked back to Heero who was still glaring for all his worth at Treize, but the older man just smiled and winked at Wufei again.

"How about you dragon? Care to dance?" Treize's smooth voice washed over the table and Wufei followed that enticing melody out to the dance floor with the other couple. Their dancing was less blatantly sexual and much more a delicate battle for dominance. This left Heero and Duo all alone and sitting uncomfortably close to each other at the empty table. They sat there in silence nervously glancing at each other and their friend's that were practically molesting each other in public.

"I'm sorry I brought you here. It was just supposed to be Trowa and Quatre and you were supposed to feel normal again. I guess I can't expectnormalcy in one night when I haven't foundit in a millennia." Duo smiled, he liked it when he and Heero were alone the guy opened up a lot more.

"You wanna know a secret? I did feel normal, it was only for a second but…thanks." Duo smiled brightly at Heero and the vampire felt warmed, like the sun but better. He had never felt this way, he didn't even think he had felt like this when he was alive. He didn't know what was happening to him and for once he coulnd't care less.

"Hey, you wanna…" Heero motioned behind him with his thumb and Duo laughed that the great vampire prince couldn't even ask a boy to dance. Oops, he hoped Heero didn't hear that thought, but he didn't think so. It seemed that Heero was getting better control especially at night. Duo noticed that Heero was looking at him like he was crazy and then he realized that he had just laughed at the boy and not said anything. Great now Heero thinks he's been shot down. Duo finished berating himself and smiled at the vampire.

"That sounds good."

Alright next chapter-plot twist. Yay! hank you to everyone who reviewed and especially those who asked questions, though a few of you hit a little close to home...ehem. You know who you are - ravel queen, Shi - stop predicting the character I'm bringing in or things I'm going to explain the chapter before I do it. Ha ha just kidding please continue to guess it's fun, this plot twist is for you guys. Can you predict where I'm going? Anyway hope you like the semi twist in this chapter and I hope you'll like next chapter. See you then.