Bite Me

Chapter 6: A Maker's Desire

AC 201. 18. June

2100 hours [9:00 pm]

Earth - Sanc Kingdom

Duo's tail wagged furiously as the vampire beneath him flexed his muscles. With strong, yet gentle hands Heero gripped the dog's forearms and lifted him back and off of his body.

"I see you've mastered this quite well," Heero muttered sitting up and observing the hound as he shifted from paw to paw happily. The animal was definitely still the overactive Duo he knew despite the new outer shell.

A slim figure appeared around the corner of the mansion, walking towards them shaking his head. "He's far from a seasoned shifter, Heero."

Heero shared an understanding look with Trowa before responding. "So...how did it go?"

"Why don't you let him tell you himself." Trowa tossed the towel Duo had previously been using on top of the hounds back casually. If one looked close they might have seen Duo's violet eyes roll towards the night sky in annoyance before closing in concentration.

Duo had never asked how to change back into his human form, but for some reason his instincts seemed to know exactly what to do. The same burning tingle he felt before he changed accosted his body again and suddenly he felt his muscles and bones morphing upwards.

For a split second there was a flash of milky white skin, but Duo's total state of undress was covered quickly by the towel Trowa had given him. Heero unclenched his fists as he stared at the bare chested man before him, a film of sheer sweat clinging to his carefully sculpted, slender muscles. He imagined a rush of heat run through his body...he barely remembered the sensation from when he was human, but he did remember it enough to know that he liked it.

Heero brought his fingers up to his forehead to brush away a few bangs from his face, his skin still cold and dead as ever. "Duo," he nodded, as if another greeting was in order for his human form.

"Heya Heero." Duo's grin was lopsided and his breath slightly ragged from his shift. "Pretty cool shit, huh?"

Heero quirked an eyebrow curiously, almost offended by Duo's crude way of putting things, but slowly becoming used to his unruly mouth just as he had been several years before. He stood and turned his attention towards the tall man on Duo's left. "I trust everything went smoothly?"

Trowa nodded, looking down at the vampire through his golden bangs, his eyes holding a glimpse of hesitation. "Most everything, yes. There were some...complications at first. But it was to be expected. The first shift is the most difficult."

Trowa carefully skirted around Duo's anxiety filled breakdown and the telltale blush of involuntary lust he had seen underneath his skin. He was not a stranger to what vampire blood did to mortals, shape-shifter or not.

Heero furrowed his brows and studied Trowa's impassive features. "Yes...well as long as he is safe."

Trowa glanced quickly at the braided subject before returning his gaze back to Heero's stony eyes. "Relatively. Especially under your care."

"Hn." Heero could tell Trowa was hiding something...something not necessary for him to know, but something he would appreciate hearing. His mouth curled into a territorial snarl as the lean shifter's eyes traveled casually back to Duo's bare chest and then down to the ground almost embarrassedly.

Duo, having been only momentarily ignored, cleared his throat with a peculiar expression. "So...I'm just gonna get dressed now."

Trowa kept his gaze downwards while Heero kept his own eyes on Trowa. Both nodded carelessly and Duo rolled his eyes with a nervous laugh. With a light jog he made his way to the back of the Mansion; this took him much longer than it did when he was in his hound form which made him want to shift again but his energy was diminishing fast.

Could shifting become addictive? Duo wondered as he pulled on his uniform in the cover of the hydrangea bush he'd used earlier. It was another question he'd have to remember to ask Trowa later.

Duo twisted his back and stretched his arms over the top of his head, cracking his neck while he was at it. Shifting was a sensation he very much enjoyed, but it was obvious that taking care of his body was going to be put at the top of his list from now on.

"Duo." Heero's voice was soft but still made Duo nearly jump out if his skin.

"Heero! Don't sneak up on me like that! Are you fu-" Duo nearly bit his tongue. Cussing might be another thing he could work on. "Are you crazy?" He turned and embedded a hard glare into Heero's deep blue eyes.

"Forgive me." Heero's tone was truly apologetic though his eyes were devoid of emotion.

Duo sighed and slumped his shoulders. "It's okay...was there...was there something you wanted, Heero?"

Heero pursed his ashen lips. "I think you should...stay with me tonight. You must be exhausted, despite my blood's energy...you haven't slept for almost two days."

Duo's forehead wrinkled. "And you think I'll be safer with you, right?"

Heero shifted looking slightly uncomfortable. "Well...yes."

To Heero's great surprise, Duo grinned and laid a friendly hand on his shoulder. "Alright. Besides I've always wanted to spend the night with a vampire...one more thing to cross off my bucket list," he said with a sarcastic smirk.

Flustered, Heero nodded and removed Duo's warm fingers from his shoulder. "Very well." He walked away just above a normal human pace.

Duo went after him, slower as to be expected. "Heero I was just kidding-!" With a frustrated sigh, he squinted and started to run after the vampire, a fleeting feeling running through his bones. He hoped it was just fatigue, but for some reason he knew that was bull shit...crap...whatever.


Duo dropped his duffle bag unceremoniously to the right of Heero's front door, not finding much furniture in the dull and small apartment suitable to hold his personal items.

"Trowa didn't seem too keen on me staying here," he muttered, trying to allow his ill feelings associated with the space to leave his mind.

A breeze rushed past him as Heero entered, stopping in front of Duo abruptly. "He knows you are safe here."

Duo narrowed his eyes, but before he could question Heero's obvious hostility towards Trowa his thoughts were interrupted.

"Sit down," Heero all but ordered. "I don't have much in the way of food. I could make some tea."

Duo took a seat at the small kitchen table and twiddled his fingers nervously. "Fine."

He watched as Heero placed a dusty looking kettle on the stove and retrieved a mug from a near empty cabinet. He hesitated for a moment before opening his refrigerator and grabbing a stubby glass bottle from it's chilly depths.

Duo glanced from the red tinted bottle of Syn to Heero and back to to the blood substitute. Heero followed his wondering gaze. "I need to keep up my strength, Duo. If you are attacked again-"

"Why is it that every goddammed person around here thinks i'm gonna be attacked again!" Duo fumed, his fingers curling into shaking fists.

Heero locked eyes with him, his face the epitome of seriousness. "I am just trying to keep you safe, Duo. Trowa informed me that it was Milliardo's hounds who attacked you...he is an associate with Treize Kushrenada...which doesn't sit well with me."

Duo watched Heero cautiously. The vampire placed his Syn in a microwave sitting on the counter looking much more modern than anything else in the apartment aside from his communicator.

He almost asked the obvious question of why Heero would want his blood warm, but then self-consciously bit his tongue. For a moment he thought about what he'd been told told about Milliardo's hounds and then furrowed his brows. "Wait...Treize Kushrenada? He's supposed to be dead. Wufei-"

"Did not kill Treize." Heero retrieved his drink and the mug of tea and sat down across from Duo. "Treize Kushrenada is not dead...nor is he technically alive."

Duo, in the middle of sipping his tea, sputtered and looked up at Heero pointedly. "Christ!...Treize is a vampire?"

Heero gave no response other than a kurt nod. He took a long swallow of Syn and Duo noticed a cringe run over his features. "You don't like that stuff?"

Unaware that Duo had been watching him, Heero cleared his throat and wiped a small bit of crimson from his lips. "It's not as...satisfying as real blood, but it gives me the strength and nutrients I require."

An uncomfortable silence settled over the two beings as Heero finished his Syn without another flinch. Duo stared into his tea, the dark liquid tinted slightly by the single overhead light above them. "So...what's the deal with Treize? Why are he and Milliardo...in cahoots or whatever?"

Heero shrugged slightly, getting up swiftly and placing his empty bottle next to the sink then sitting back down in less than a second. "Treize...is...well...he was the first successful recipient of the L5-C virus. He was on his deathbed when he arrived at colony L5-A0207...it was his last chance at life...so he took it...though you can hardly call being a vampire living."

Heero's voice was low and surprisingly full of emotion. Duo stared at him in fascination, the story not as much of a shock as it would have been several days earlier...after everything he'd been through this was amazingly...predictable.

"Treize was the first of our kind...he was alone in the world of immortality...and so he ordered his 'makers' to produce more like him. Treize, being the man he was in his human life, was greedy for power over all immortals. He's the strongest of us all because he's been infected for the longest. Treize Kushrenada holds the highest position among immortals...what some humans would refer to as a...king."

Duo's eyes were vacant, his mouth hanging open slightly as if to say something, but having nothing useful to say. For several seconds he processed the information and then with a sudden realization burst out: "Treize is a fucking Vampire King?"

"The Vampire King, Duo," Heero corrected immediately, his muscles tense. "Duo, there are more of us in this world than you think. I promise you that. Just because you think you know someone-"

"Doesn't mean I do. Heero, I know. Obviously, I know," Duo interrupted with a knowing grin.

Heero stared at the human before him, the red rimmed violet eyes attracting most of his attention. "Duo, you need to rest."

"But, Heero, I want to know more-"

"No buts." Heero felt as if he was scolding a small child. "Your well being is more important right now. Sleep is what you need...not worthless information about vampires."

Duo frowned. "I don't think it's worthless, Heero." But, knowing better than to argue, he easily sprawled out on the small and not too terribly comfortable bed he had almost died in just the night before.

"Where do you sleep Heero? I mean...in the day that is." Duo asked, stifling a yawn. His exhaustion was suddenly catching up with him.

Heero fixed him with a solemn look. "That's something for you to learn another time, Duo. Go to sleep. I'll be here...just in case-"

"Yeah, yeah." Duo waved his fingers, closing his eyes with a smirk. "Just in case I'm attacked again. Thanks, Heero...buddy...I...appreciate...it..." And with that Duo was out like a light.


He was running...running as fast as he'd ever run in his life...but it wasn't enough.

"Duo!" Heero's voice was harsh and powerful.

Duo stopped for a moment to catch his breath when a force pushed him backwards, up against the apartment building's exterior brick wall. "Heero! What-" A frigid hand wrapped around his neck cutting off his words. A single tear escaped his eye as he watched Heero's fangs slide out from under his lips menacingly.

"Duo, Synthetic Blood only goes so far...sometimes I crave human blood so badly...and yours is so...so..." Before the ravenous vampire could finish his sentence Duo felt his neck being snapped to one side and Heero's fangs piercing his skin...his mouth formed a silent scream...and then...he woke up...

Duo sat up so fast in bed his head spun sickeningly. He closed his eyes tight and rubbed his temples, his fingertips still shaking. "What the fuck...Heero..."

Immediately Heero was at his side, looking worried. Duo jumped back with a gasp, his breathing erratic, his nerves on edge. Heero's forehead wrinkled and he tried to place a calming hand on Duo's leg, but the appendage recoiled before contact was made.

"Duo, what's wrong? What happened?"

Duo, as if still not completely awake, shook his head dazedly. "I-I had a nightmare...that's all."

Heero opened his mouth to respond with his best comforting words-which weren't much-when there was a loud knock on his front door.

The vampire's head flicked to one side and his eyes narrowed. Duo stared at him uneasily. "Heero...what-"

But, Heero was already at the door, his hand gripped firmly around the knob, the muscles in his back obviously tensed and ready. Slowly he opened the door just a crack, but the sound of splintering wood made Duo jump.

In a flash a cold hand wrapped around his neck, snaking over his mouth to keep him silent, another granite hard arm clutching at his upper body and arms. Duo watched with frightened eyes as Heero was pinned easily against the wall next to his now broken door. He fought ruthlessly against his dark haired attacker, but when his vision made contact with the captured Duo all his attempts at freedom ceased.

"Heero Yuy. It's been a while." The sickeningly familiar voice coiled around Heero's mind like poison. "Too long I'd say...and look...we finally get to meet your little plaything." The man turned, still keeping a firm grip on Heero, and gazed at Duo appraisingly, his dark eyes full of lustful hunger. He opened his mouth, showing off a set of pearly white fangs, his tongue licking at the left one provocatively.

Duo struggled uselessly in the other vampire's strong arms and glared daggers at Heero's captor. With all his might he tried to direct his mind and instincts to shift, but he just couldn't focus under the pressure of the current circumstances.

"Raphael. Don't. You. Dare." All attention was averted back to Heero, his eyes glowing with fury.

"And why not Heero?" The vampire's hands cinched tighter around Heero's throat and bicep.

"He is mine," he spit out, his fangs making a dangerous appearance.

Duo's eyes widened at the exchange, his struggling stopped and he observed the two vampires with a curious, but terrified expression.

"I am your maker!" Raphael growled, his features glowing with passionate anger. "You will obey me."

Heero smiled wickedly up at him. "Do you forget, Raphael. You released me. You no longer have that hold on me."

Raphael ground his teeth together furiously. "A minor technicality, Yuy."

Roughly, the vampire threw Heero to the ground. "Stay. Or else your human friend won't live to see dawn."

Heero's muscles trembled with rage, but he followed his maker's orders. Raphael made his way to Duo, who had begun struggling against his attacker again, even though it was getting him nowhere.

"Hmm...you are quite lovely. I can now understand what Heero sees in you." Raphael placed his fingers against Duo's quivering cheek and ran them upwards, playing with his chestnut bangs.

"Release him, Angelo," Raphael said softly to the vampire holding Duo. Without hesitation the strong arms untangled themselves from his body and Duo heaved in a deep breath.

Raphael's hand clutched at Duo's chin as he lowered his face only inches from the human. Impulsively Duo bared his clenched teeth and attempted to pull back, but the vampire's grip was too powerful. "My, my...fiery, aren't you?"

"Get away from me you bastard," Duo snapped brusquely. In a split second Raphael was upon him, his ice cold hands pinning him effortlessly to the bed, his fangs still at the ready.

"Raphael!" Heero jumped into action, clawing at his maker's arms for a moment before Angelo restrained him from behind.

"Not a smart move, Heero," Raphael, laughed out gutturally. His eyes flashed with excitement as he gazed down at Duo's shaking form. Slowly he lowered his head next to Duo's neck and whispered in his ear a bone-chilling five words.

"I'm going to enjoy this."


to be continued...


A/N: Hey look, an update! So as you can tell updates are going to be slower now. Classes start tomorrow and I'm not sure when I'll have time to write yet. But don't give up on me, I'll make time! Also, my poll is still open for those of you who haven't yet/want to answer it, thank you!