As much as it breaks my heart I do not own the characters of Almighty Johnsons or Being Human, as much as I would like to!
The silence in the waiting room was deafening, as it had been for the last half hour. Neither Mike nor Mitchell had moved, the vampire going so far as to deliberately stop breathing (just to annoy Mike) in order to plan their departure and listen for any noise from his lover, ready to barge in at any moment.
Finally though, the surgery door opened and Ty walked out. The pair were on their feet instantly, not daring to move further in case it made Ty follow through on his promise. He stopped in the doorway and looked between the two.
"Mitch" he said finally, jerking his head towards the surgery in unspoken permission to go to his partner. Mitchell flashed Mike a smirk before he moved, ducking around Ty to his destination. Ty watched Mitchell and waited till he shut the door before rounding on his brother.
"I'm his brother! I should have been in there first!" Mike yelled angrily, cutting Ty off when he went to speak.
"And Mitchell's his partner. Call him what you will Mike, his lover, boyfriend, spouse it doesn't matter. To Anders Mitchell is more important to him than his own family, which is your doing more than his by the way, and a fact you need to accept and quickly if you want Anders to stick around. Now," Ty said as he crossed his arms and leaned against the doorframe, effectively blocking Mike from even attempting to get past "care to tell the class what happened earlier?"
"It's none of your business" Mike said, glowering at his younger brother.
"That's where you're wrong Mike" Ty snapped "you made it my business the moment you started insulting my friend and threatening to break him and my brother up. My promise still stands so you better think long and hard about what you're trying to achieve."
Mike clenched and unclenched his hands several times before he suddenly snapped.
"He's a fucking vampire Ty!"
"So?! We're not the only mythological beings alive! Get over it already!"
"He's using Anders! How can you not see that?!"
"The fuck would he be using him for?!"
"His own personal blood bank Ty! Fuck would you wake up from whatever spell he has you under and see him for what he really is! He's a monster! A monster that either needs to be sent far away from our family for good, or removed permanently!"
"So that's what this is really about isn't it. You want Mitchell away from Anders because you don't approve of them. It doesn't even have anything to do with the fact that they're two guys, it's the fact that Mitchell's bite is just as strong as his bark!"
"Mitchell can bark and bite like the dog he is all he likes, he's not getting Anders back, Odin will make sure of that!" Mike hissed at his younger brother, beyond furious he couldn't see the same monster he could.
"Anders will never leave Mitchell, Mike. Those two will follow each other to the ends of the earth if they have to. I've never seen Anders as happy or as carefree as he is when he's with Mitchell, and the only way you'd keep them apart is if you killed one of them."
"I'm not planning on killing him if I can help it, but if he doesn't leave our family alone then I'll do what I have to!"
Ty gaped at his brother, feeling slightly sick at what his brother just said. "You'd kill an innocent man, a man who had no choice in what he is, just like the rest of us? A man who has finally found some good in his life, someone to try and change for for the better? To change for our brother and in turn has made Anders a nicer person as well? You make me sick." He spat out disgusted.
Mike's shoulders slumped, all the fight draining out of him. he'd never thought about Mitchell's 'condition' as something he hadn't actually chosen, it was just so hard to see past the fangs and the blood and the eyes that it was easier to think of him as a blood-driven monster than an actual person.
"I just want him safe." Mike whispered in defeat.
Ty saw the fight go out of his brother and despite the anger that was coursing through his veins he couldn't help but feel sorry for him. He knew Mikes concern for his brother was genuine, yes Anders could be a dick when he wanted to, and Mike never had any problem with showing just what he thought about that, but deep down he cared for Anders probably more than he did for Ty and Axl, he just had a difficult time showing it.
"Mike, I know you're worried about Anders, sometimes I am too but, I've never seen him happier." Ty said gently as he placed a hand on his brothers' shoulder. "I always thought this side of Anders had died when he turned 21, when he became Bragi, but according to Mitchell the dick of a brother was just a shield he created to stop us from hurting him. We mostly have the old Anders back; I want this Anders, not the other one. Besides, Anders is probably one of the safest people in the world now, Mitchell's ridiculously protective of him and would never let any harm come to him."
"How do I accept what he is? Then how do I even try to apologise?" Mike asked with a sigh, dropping into the nearest chair and running a hand through his hair.
"Look past the exterior and see him for the person he really is. And as for forgiveness, let me handle it ok?" Ty said, clapping his brother on the shoulder. "I'm going to get Mitchell then you can go see him."
Mike nodded, listening to his brothers retreating footsteps as he rubbed a hand across his eyes. How had all their lives become so complicated? In fact it was a miracle any of them had a shred of sanity left at this point. Ty seemed to believe Anders was safe, hell even Dawn did and she was mortal, so maybe he was over reacting just a little bit, after all since he'd met Mitchell yesterday all he'd seen from the vampire was affection and protectiveness towards Anders, not this blood-driven monster he'd convinced himself he was. All this was doing his head in, he needed a drink.
Ty returned, followed by Mitchell who glared at him.
"Go ahead Mike, Mitch take a seat." Ty said, steering the vampire towards a chair.
Mike nodded, avoiding eye contact with Mitchell before hurrying to the surgery.
He opened the closed over door, eyes falling on the unconscious lion. "Oh Ands..." He said quietly as he moved to the side of the bed. He immediately saw exactly where he'd been shot, a long line of white stitches closing the wounds were a stark contrast to the shaved patches of golden fur. "How bad?" He asked, looking at Carol who was currently combing out Anders mane.
"The shoulder one wasn't too bad, it winged him more than anything so it was only shallow but went straight through, that'll leave a big scar when he turns back. As for the abdominal one, that was trickier. It missed all the major organs so that was lucky, but it embedded in a hipbone so for the moment he may have trouble walking, let alone anything else. And it could be worse when he changes back so it's something you'll have to keep an eye on."
Mike nodded as he ran a hand gently over Anders face, amazed at how soft his fur and nose was. "He'll be fine once we get him to Michele, she'll heal him."
Carol let out a snort "I don't see what else she can do for him that I haven't already, I'm the Goddess of healing after all, not her."
Mike looked at her surprised. "Sorry, I didn't mean to sound as though Michele can do a better job than you, it's just that Anders made a trip to Norway earlier in the year and brought back a branch from Yggdrasil which gives Michele healing powers, she's saved us a couple of times with it."
"Ah good old Sjöfn. Well in that case he'll be perfectly fine. Now if you stay here a moment I'm going to go grab a few things for you to give him for the pain, and to help keep his wounds clean until Michele can see him."
Mike nodded and she left the room. "Everything will be ok Anders, you'll see. We'll solve this in no time."
Mitchell dropped heavily into his chair, crossing his arms as he glared at Ty who had dropped into the chair next to him.
"Mike shouldn't be left alone with Anders Ty, I don't like it."
"No, it's Mike that you don't like, not Anders in that room with someone other than you."
"Well you wouldn't be saying that if you knew what he's threatening to do." Mitchell bit back angrily.
Ty rubbed his eyes tiredly "when did I become a councillor? What has he been threatening to do?" He asked, already knowing full well what his brother had been saying.
"He said that he'll take Anders from me, would have Odin order Anders to stay away or he'd be in pain whenever he came near me." Mitchell's hands trembled as he picked at a fraying thread in his gloves. "I can't lose him Ty" he whispered brokenly.
"You won't Mitch I promise." Ty soothed, "but I need you to listen to me. Mikes worried for Anders because he doesn't know you like I do yet. And I can guess at what Anders has told you about our family, about him, but underneath all the animosity between them Mike does care for Anders, he rarely shows it but he does truly care. I reminded Mike that you were like us, helpless to stop what happened to you, and despite your past are still a good person underneath. You might not ever be friends, but you don't have to worry about being separated because Mike doesn't want to hurt Anders any more than you do."
Mitchell nodded; still looking conflicted when Carol walked out of the surgery. Despite himself Mitchell's fingers twitched, his body desperately needing to go to Anders and make sure Mike hadn't done anything to keep them apart.
He was about ready to race to Anders to make sure Mike hadn't hurt him when Carol returned and waved them over. He ran to the room, ignoring Ty's sigh as he dashed through the door, relaxing considerably when he saw Mike sitting there stroking Anders mane, although part of him still bristled at the fact Mike was touching him, let alone anywhere near him.
"Ok so I only gave him a general anaesthetic and have given him something to wake him, so he'll start coming round in half an hour or so and should be fully awake in an hour. Once he's awake I've got a couple of things here for you to help numb the pain if he shows any signs of extreme discomfort, it won't get rid of it completely but it will lessen it. I'd prefer it if you didn't use it at all as he'll be fine once you get him to Michele and it will allow him to work the drugs out of his system but that will be your call. Monitor him and base your decisions on that but if he starts getting violent then definitely give him something." Carol said as she handed a small bottle to Ty.
"They're a lozenge and they dissolve quickly on the tongue, give them about 5 minutes to work ok? Now there's also a needle a thread, I showed Ty how to do stitches because if he panics he could tear his open and you'll need someone to redo them if you don't want him to bleed out."
She gave Anders face one last scratch before looking at the three men. "Other than that you're good to go. Any questions?"
