Buon giorno!

I know I should be working on Mongrel, but this was all "WRITE MEEEE!" And I can't deny that. ;)

This chapter is in Christophe's POV, as per request. I did it in third person though, so I hope that's okay!

HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE I OWN STRANGE ANGELS!

Lili's Lawyer: Ahem.

Me: O_O Whaaaaaat?

LL: I'm getting tired of you.

Christophe stares at the broken girl in front of him.

That's all he can do. But somehow he's also saying things to her, and he doesn't care at the moment that his voice is ragged and that dammit his eyes are tearing up. He just cares that that bastard hurt his little bird, and now she's damaged for however long.

There are tears slipping down her face and all he can do is watch the crystalline liquid slide. He wants to reach over and wipe those tears away, but he won't try to touch her, not again. Not when she's still so clearly traumatized.

And dammit, who wouldn't be? Who knows how many times that son of a bitch took her, what he did to her while he was?

Because it was obvious he'd done more. The bruises were still blooming like cancerous flowers across her beautiful face, even the aspect not enough to heal them yet. She was bleeding, too, and the scent of her blood was having profound effects on him. Had the air suddenly gotten thicker? It appears it has.

Christophe forces the bloodhunger down. She needs him.

He finally tunes in enough to realize what he's saying. "Dru, darling, it's alright. I'm here now, it's alright…"

It doesn't seem like his words are having any effect, but he's desperate to do something for her so he keeps talking. "I'm never going to let anyone hurt you ever again, milna. I swear to you, no one will ever hurt you again."

God and Hell both damn it!

He wishes he could go back to that damned monstrosity of a manor and finish the sorry bastard.

Adesh was still alive.

Oh, he was hurt. Badly. But he was also good. At least a match for Christophe's fighting skills, if not more. Christophe would have stayed behind and finished him excruciatingly slowly and taken on every one of the guards that remained, but then Skyrunner had said his bird wouldn't leave without him. And while that was all very well and touching, he was still alive.

Christophe supresses the thrumming from deep in his chest and forces his fangs away. Dru needs comfort, not anger. Forcibly, he restrains himself from trying to stroke her hair again.

But then he can't help himself. He does.

Instantly, she shies away from his touch and scrunches her eyes tighter.

Bracing herself for the pain.

God and Hell both damn it!

He removes his hand from her tangled hair. He has never hated himself as much as in that moment. You knew she didn't want you to touch her! He yells at himself. You knew!

He's selfishly jealous of Skyrunner. She gets to sit by Dru. She is allowed to be close to her.

Grow up Reynard! He reprimands himself. There are more important things going on! "I'm sorry Dru." He hears someone say. Realizes it's him. "I'm so sorry kochana. I'm so sorry; I'm going to keep you safe now…"

She nods, almost imperceptibly. But she still nods.

He doesn't try to touch her again. But he keeps saying things to her, desperate to be a help. He's not used to this feeling- desperation. He's used to being calm and collected and cryptic and annoying the hell out of Dru. He's not used to feeling helpless and confused and lost and almost like a little boy. At least, what he thinks a little boy feels like. Christophe never really had a childhood.

You didn't have a childhood when you were a son of Sergej.

He bows his head for a moment, and when he looks back up Dru's eyes are open.

For a moment, he wishes they were still closed.

Because he can see all the pain in them. All the fear, all the confusion, all the hurt and all the Please-Make-It-So-This-Never-Happened.

He'd felt like that when Sergej had murdered his mother. The one person who had cared about him, and he cared about in turn.

Focus on Dru!

He looks into those big blue eyes, and tries to make it look like he knows what to do. Because that always makes someone that upset feel better, when someone else made the decisions for you and you weren't required to think.

He tries to do a gentle smile, but it comes out as more of a grimace. "It's alright Dru." He breathes. "Nathalie's here, Benjamin –yes, he's fine- is flying the helicopter-"

"Hello Milady." Came the faint reply from the front.

"And I'm here. It's alright now Dru. I promise." His hand twitches to stroke her cheek softly, but he manages to restrain himself. "I promise, Dru." He emphasizes like a school mate swearing to keep a secret.

She meets his gaze with wide eyes. "Chris?" She whispers.

He swallows. "Yes?"

She pauses. "It hurts." She says finally, and he has the feeling that's not what she really wanted to say.

Christophe's eyes soften. "I know, my dear. I know. I'm so sorry. We'll be back at the Schola soon, we're not far. Doctors already await."

Another tear slips down her cheek. "I'm scared."

Ah.

What was he supposed to say to that? Moj boze she was waiting for an answer. He takes a preparatory breath. "I know, Dru. It's alright. You're safe now; no one is going to hurt you. I'm never going to leave your side again. I will always be near." He swallows dryly. "I lo…" That's too much to spring on her, he decides.

Whether lucky or unluckily, she doesn't seem to have heard. She just nods and curls into herself tighter, still keeping her eyes on him. Christophe is trying to decide if it's because she wants him to keep talking or if she's monitoring his every move and making sure he doesn't come too close again.

For his own sake, he decides the latter. "You're going to be alright. I will not have it any other way, milna. You will be alright."

He hopes she can't hear that he's trying to convince himself.

I hope you liked it! I'm not sure, this chappie might have been a lil shorter than others, but hey.

I wrote Christophe a lot like I did in Beautiful Heartbreak, because I really think there's a side to him we don't see in the books.

Ohmygosh, you want to know a random funny moment from my life? So there's this guy I like, but we're really sarcastic with each other. Yesterday he told me he hated me, and I think he was joking but that pretty much crossed the line. So today he walks by and I was saying to one of my friends I wasn't very good at... oh, whatever it was, and he's like "I know." So I'm all "Shut up Alfonzo. (Random name time!) Nobody wants you!" Him: -.- "Yeah, well..." *Walks away.*

I won. XD :D ;)

Hehe.

Review?