Chapter 5

It is a wise man who knows where courage ends and stupidity begins - Jerome Cady

Conrad was only just calming from his fury at his unwelcome visitors (And why not? It had been so long since he'd last had a good, proper rant, mental or otherwise) when he was struck by another horrifying realisation in the form of a small gurgling sensation at the back of his throat. He was out of blood and, as if that wasn't enough to make the uptight artist even grumpier than usual, that fact could mean only one thing...

He had to visit Worth.

So it was that he found himself stumbling around for his jacket and scarf (designer, of course) and stubbing his toe on the small, ultra-modern coffee table that he'd thought was a good idea to buy, before heading out to face the cruel world once more. He stumbled down the stairs of his apartment complex, completely lacking the grace expected of 'his kind' by twi-hards and classic horror fans alike, all the while swearing like a trooper.

It was freezing outside and Conrad was personally quite surprised that he hadn't frozen solid as soon as he stepped out. He would have to rush if he didn't want to show up at the Docs door an icicle, god forbid he give the disgusting creature an excuse to 'treat' him. It was a miracle that he hadn't killed Hanna by now, although Conrad was still suspicious of the oddly rotten scent that seemed to linger with the young detective.

One advantage of the cold was that it meant the streets were relatively quiet for a... whatever day it was. Working from home and never seeing the sun could really mess up a man's sense of time - he couldn't even remember what month it was. September, he thought, it feels like September.

He passed no one on his way to the back alley clinic, allowing him some peace to think over the week's events. The worst part was that it hadn't even been a bad week compared to a lot of the time he had spent with Hanna since meeting him. No, the position of worst week in Conrad's un-life could probably be handed to the week when Hanna and co. had been tasked with hunting rage demons through the city sewers (A difficult task since, contrary to popular movie-based belief, a human being cannot possibly walk through sewers) and had spent most of the time running around peering into manholes and trying to get 'really pissed off'. They had all decided that Conrad was the easiest to enrage (and his squawks to the contrary did little to further his cause) and had simply stood insulting him and starting fights. When the creatures finally came out from their hidey-holes, capturing the adorable little bundles of hellfire without being burned alive had proven itself to be an entirely different task. Conrad still shuddered at the memories.

He had just made it into the dark alleyway that led to the clinic and he stopped to take a deep breath, perhaps to increase his chances of reaching that elusive state of calm he'd heard others talk about, before he froze. He could smell people, which normally wouldn't be odd, but these people seemed to be pretty close behind him. Again Conrad was astonished by his own pathetic tendency to notice nothing outwith his own bubble of thought and, as he turned to face these people, he thought that he really should start paying attention better.

A scruffy young man, dirtier even than Worth, which in itself was miraculous, was standing at the front of a group of maybe four men. He stepped towards Conrad with a very deliberate grin, somewhat ruined by the blackened nature of his teeth, and held forward his hand. Conrad could have sworn he felt his heart beat at that moment, which was disturbing on whole new levels, his eyes glued to the man's hand. He was holding a gun.

"Nice bag." the man commented conversationally, almost as though talking to a friend rather than a stranger held at gunpoint, "Can I have it?"

It was then that Conrad did something incredibly stupid. He got indignant.

He was a vampire for Christ's sake! That these guys were pointing a gun at him and asking for his bag was unreal! He was dimly aware of the dirty man at the front flinching and raising his gun higher and felt a surge of confidence as his vision took on a slight red tinge. He puffed out his chest.

"No." he said. It was simple, non-threatening and it certainly should not have earned a choked out;

"What the fuck?" and a bullet to the chest. Well, that was really not...

"Ow." was the last noise Conrad made before he saw a flash of silver and promptly passed out.

When he awoke it was to the overwhelming scent of smoke and for one dumb moment he thought he might be in hell. Then his senses cleared and he pinpointed the smell as that of cheap cigarettes and stale sweat. Not hell then, but arguably just as bad.

He opened his eyes, too fast, and groaned as he was assaulted by bright fluorescent light. He hadn't remembered Worth having such bright lighting but as he blinked dazedly the light faded into the familiar yellowed glow and Conrad realised he was laying on the filthy operating table that Worth apparently worked on. He scrambled into a sitting position with a disgusted little cry and tried to jump to his feet. He instead found himself crumpled in a rather undignified heap on the clinic's floor. That was definitely not an improvement.

"Finally decided ter grace us with yer presence princess?"

That voice was unmistakeable but instead of eliciting an angry comeback the crumpled vampire only looked levelly at the Doctor trying to sort through his thoughts.

"What happened?" he asked eventually, slow and deliberate and it seemed to surprise the Doc for a split second before he scoffed down at the black haired man and reached down to yank him up by the collar of his shirt (Which, Conrad couldn't help but notice, was half open. He looked around and saw a small medical tray with a scalpel and tweezers coated in a thick dark liquid that, if it were lighter, would look like blood. Next to them was a single bullet.)

"Got yersel' shot, didn' you peaches?"

Well, he knew that already, and what was it with Worth and all those ridiculous 'pet names' of his? Princess would surely suffice; then again the mix did work to frustrate Conrad quite efficiently. The vampire just stared a little more and Worth turned away muttering about pathetic wastes of space and the like. He threw Conrad's carrier bag at him and folded gracelessly into the wheeled chair near the corner of the room, hands pressed together as if he was preparing to give a disapproving speech as any other Doctor might have. Instead he only said one thing.

"Sorta' vamp are you anyway? Can' even save yer own hide."

Conrad scowled at the Doctor's comments before noticing the way he was sitting. It looked like he was relieved and that was almost touching, almost. Conrad couldn't call the man a friend, not really but he did hold some sort of grudging affection towards him. They were 'teammates' of sorts after all and even their fights could be quite amusing, although usually more so for Worth. He didn't comment on it however, it would only earn him a mocking comment and Conrad didn't feel like dealing with that right now.

Instead he looked down at his chest, trailing pale fingers over the spot where he'd felt the bullet enter before. There was that same dark bloodlike substance dried around the area but no wound and he couldn't help but wonder at that. It was the first real proof of his own vampirism he had seen. Even the purpled marks from Adelaide's bite hadn't faded a bit, instead remaining as bloodless holes in his neck. He had actually started to believe that the tiny amount of blood Hanna had been able to scrape off his hammer was not enough to give him anything but the bad bits of vampirism, accelerated healing was a bonus he'd take without complaint however.

Worth seemed to be holding back on his usual insults and Conrad couldn't decide if that was good or not. He was sitting in the corner still, scowling and fiddling with a cigarette and the vampire got the impression that he wanted to hit something.

"What happened to... err, those guys?"

It probably wasn't the best idea to ask Worth, not if he was interested in an honest answer, but all Conrad wanted was a distraction from the ringing in his head and the smirk he got in return worked just fine.

"Reckon ye' scared them off. Mighta' been all that hairspray ye' use." Then again, perhaps a ringing head wasn't so bad. It seemed like a bad idea to invite provocation when he was as hungry as he was and he'd really hate to do something stupid like attack the hack (Especially since it was appearing increasingly unlikely that Conrad would win as he saw all the many sharp objects that were lying around. He held no illusions that the back alley doctor fought fair.) Instead of responding he pinched the bridge of his nose, huffed out a sigh and glanced up at Worth with a relatively steady gaze.

"I'm going to grab my blood and leave now." Was all he said as he stormed past the doctor to grab his coat frowning looking down at it. It was ruined but he supposed getting shot would do that. No one should notice this late at night and hey, maybe it would deter people from approaching him if he was walking covered in blood and with a bullet hole just above his collarbone.

When he'd grabbed his things and headed out Worth's voice floated after him just before the door had closed.

"Don't get mugged." followed by a loud cackle.

Conrad almost managed not to get angry. Almost.

AN- Well, I have been having one hell of a time trying to log into this damn site, has anyone else been getting this issue? I know my laptop has been fritzing for about a year but that sure as hell never stopped me before.

Anyway, I am ultra-sorry guys. You have permission to do whatever you may wish to me, just don't cut off my hands I need those.

Here is the beautiful chapter 6, I almost feel sorry for Conrad. Don't worry, things get better for him, not anytime soon but they do eventually start looking up.

Reviews are golden, please if there's anything wrong with the fic or my canonical understanding tell me. I'll listen to everything you guys say and look it all up, if you point out a mistake even in chap one, I will change it. If you want to point out a mistake but don't want to post a review, feel free to pm me (that goes for anybody who wants to lecture me about schedule keeping too).

Love you all, Xajemm xx