A/N: Inspired by just about any supernatural sci-fi/fantasy thing I've ever read. In particular, a shout out to Jim Butcher's Dresden Files… 1x2, 3x?, 5x?, 4x? Expect multiple pairings, some het and some not, and also some breakups and…changes.

Warnings: Language, violence, sex, language. Angst. AU. Gore.

A/N #2: Thank you for the reviews! And as a reminder, if you aren't logged in and if you don't accept PMs I can't respond to your reviews. So… just know that I appreciate them!

Umbra

Chapter Nine

Duo decided that the conversation they were about to have necessitated him having pants on, so he shoved Heero off of him and awkwardly pulled his boxers and jeans back on. He noticed Trowa watching him as he did so, and Heero watching Trowa.

"Sorry if we woke you," Duo muttered, feeling inexplicably guilty that Trowa had caught them in the act.

Trowa arched an eyebrow.

"Oh no, it felt wonderful. I loved feeling your pleasure as he gave you a blow job." The sneer on his face and the anger in his voice made the sarcasm quite obvious.

"Do you really think that you're in any position to be snarky right now?" Duo asked.

"You're my Soul Mate."

"And you're a shape shifter who belongs to a vampire who has worked very hard to make my life miserable for the last few hundred years. So, I'm sorry, but fuck you."

"I am a shape shifter and I'm also an alpha. I do not share well."

Duo's jaw dropped.

"Are you serious? Do you have any idea how little I care about what you want? I don't give a damn if you're jealous. Deal with it."

"You never mentioned him."

"You never mentioned being a shape shifter. Do not get into a who fucked up the most contest with me right now," Duo warned him. He sighed. "Besides, we need to talk. You have a lot of explaining to do."

"Is there a point? I thought your plan was to kill me."

"Right now – yeah, that's still looking like my top choice. But I still want to know what the hell has been going on, so you're going to tell me."

Trowa's green eyes narrowed at Duo's commanding tone.

"Can I at least have some clothes?"

Duo momentarily debated with himself, but decided that it would be incredibly petty to make Trowa stand in front of them naked. He sighed and got up.

Trowa followed him back into the bedroom, and Duo tried his best to ignore him as he rifled through his drawers for the pair of basketball shorts he knew were buried in them somewhere.

He felt the touch of Trowa's fingers on his neck before he even realized the other man was that close. Duo spun just as a feeling of golden electricity arced between them. He glared up at Trowa.

"Don't do that," he warned.

Trowa looked smug. "Don't do what? This?" Trowa touched him again, tracing his jaw line and his lips. Duo leaned into the touch before he could catch himself and Trowa kissed him.

Duo was instantly suffused with that same golden pleasure and the taste of cinnamon he had felt before. It took a supreme effort to pull away from the kiss.

"Stay the fuck away from me," Duo told him and finally found the shorts. He threw them at Trowa and slammed the drawer closed. "Do not touch me, and do not kiss me again."

"You want me to touch you," Trowa pointed out.

"No, I really don't. This damn bond we have does. And this bond has nothing to do with how I really feel about you." Duo spun on his heel and stalked out of the room.

Heero was still sitting on the couch and Duo glared at him.

"You wanted him to walk in on us, didn't you?" Duo demanded.

Heero shrugged. "I wanted you. Having him see us together was a bonus. I won't pretend that it wasn't advantageous, or that I didn't enjoy seeing his anger, but that isn't why I did it."

Duo sighed and sat back down beside him. He appreciated Heero's typically brutal honesty, and he was glad that the other man was not as coldly manipulative as Trowa clearly was.

Trowa rejoined them, the basketball shorts slung very low on his hips, no doubt to avoid coming into contact with the fresh scars on his back. Duo could see his lion tattoo and it set off a fresh wave of anger. He felt like sharing it, and he shoved it in Trowa's direction. The other man flinched but remained silent and standing.

"Well," Duo said after he had released enough of his anger to feel like talking again, "I think introductions are in order."

"He's already made it very clear who he is," Trowa said with a glare in Heero's direction.

Duo noticed that Heero looked very smug.

"Actually, I meant you. Who the fuck are you really?"

Trowa sighed, but met Duo's eyes steadily.

"I go by the name of Trowa Barton – "

"What's your real name?" Duo knew that a lot of Old Ones changed their names with the times, to fit in better with their surroundings, but he had always clung to his own.

" Nandana Dyu-Loka."

Duo could understand why Trowa had decided to change his name from that mouthful.

"It's Sanskrit."

"What does it mean?" Heero asked.

"Heavenly child."

"Right – Treize said something about you being the son of Vishnu?"

"Narashima, one of Vishnu's incarnations, yes."

"And?" Duo demanded.

"I told you that my family were descended from Gypsies, and that there was a myth about a woman who fell in love with the wrong man."

"Yeah – hence our lovely bond together as Soul Mates."

"That woman was my mother, and the man was Narashima, the lion god. My sister and I are the only lions descended from him."

"So you aren't descended from Gypsies – you are one."

"Yes. My grandfather was the first Rom Baro. All of the Romani in the world are descended from my family."

Duo shook his head.

"So you're some ancient Gypsy prince slash demi-god shape shifter. Yeah – remember that time when I told you I was a Dark Court Faerie? That might have been a good time to tell me this shit."

Trowa's eyes narrowed.

"The minute I told you who I was you would have turned away and never looked back."

"You're damn right I would have!"

"I couldn't let that happen."

"You what?"

"I needed you on our side."

Duo could feel a headache starting at the back of his skull.

"I need some tea," he muttered and rose from the couch. He put on a kettle of water and then came back into the living room.

"You needed me on your side. I'm guessing your side means the side of your very illegal pack."

"Yes. Catharine said that you were intractable, so I knew that I wouldn't be able to convince you to join our cause unless you became involved before you had the chance to say no."

"Fucking hell. So you and your crazy sister hatched a plan to have you whore yourself out and use me to –"

"No," Trowa interrupted, his voice harsh. "No. Catharine doesn't know about us. No one does."

"Not Treize?"

"What do you think?"

"I think I don't know, and I sure as hell don't trust you."

"If Treize knew that you were my Soul Mate do you really think he would have let you stop at twenty five lashes last night?"

It was a good point, and one that Duo had considered already.

"You said you were a Gypsy – what kind of magic do you have?"

For a moment it looked as if Trowa wasn't going to respond.

"As soon as you stop answering my questions I'm going to start thinking of the best way to kill you while he," Duo jerked his thumb in Heero's direction, "starts thinking of the best way to dispose of your body."

"I've already got that covered," Heero assured him.

Duo's lips twisted into a grim smile at the eagerness in Heero's voice. The kettle started to shrilly whistle, and Duo retreated back to the kitchen to prepare his tea. When he came back out, Trowa had moved so that he was sitting on his knees beside one of the armchairs. It looked like a pose of defeat or supplication, but the hard, determined set to Trowa's face banished any impression that Trowa was bowing down to either Duo or Heero.

With his back still more or less open wounds, Duo doubted that Trowa was able to sit comfortably in any position, and he was still exhausted and both physically and magically drained. It had to be an effort to remain conscious at all.

"So, you were about to tell me about your magic," Duo said. He rejoined Heero on the couch.

"I'm very good at illusions and suggestions."

Duo nodded. "Like making someone believe you're human."

"No. Yes," Trowa said after a sigh. "Like that, or like convincing Quatre to bring you along to our dinner."

"So you set up the set up."

"Yes."

"And made me like you."

"No. My magic does not work on you."

Duo snorted in disbelief.

"Right."

"It doesn't – or him either," Trowa said, flicking his gaze to Heero.

"And I should believe you why?"

"If it did he would be using it on us right now," Heero pointed out.

Duo turned to scowl at him, but Heero shrugged.

"Unlike you, I don't need to find a reason to keep him alive. I'm happy to kill him now – and he knows that. If he could convince me to like him or even to just leave, he would do that. The same with you – how is it in his best interests to have you planning ways to kill him? If he could, wouldn't he just make you forgive him?"

Duo frowned, but the argument was logical.

"So your magic doesn't work on us. Why? Well – no, I know why it doesn't work on Heero. Why doesn't it work on me?"

"Why doesn't it work on him?" Trowa asked instead of answering.

"I'm a null," Heero said.

"I noticed, but my magic works best on nulls."

"I'm a true null. Magic literally has no effect on me, ever. It bounces off."

Trowa frowned and looked to Duo for confirmation.

"Yep. It's part of what makes him so damned good at hunting down and killing Old Ones. That's his job – in case he didn't tell you."

"He mentioned something along those lines," Trowa muttered.

Duo was really curious about whatever confrontation these two had had before he returned home, and he made a mental note to ask Heero for more details later.

"So, why doesn't your magic work on me? Is it because of our bond?"

"No, it never worked on you." Trowa's eyes took on a calculating look. "You said you were half Dark Court, but that you didn't know what else you were."

"Yeah."

"I do. And I think that's why my magic doesn't work on you."

Duo arched one eyebrow in disbelief. "And you're going to blackmail me into keeping you alive if you tell me? No deal, I really don't care – and again, I don't really trust you."

"You seem to think that I planned this entire thing to my own advantage."

"Didn't you?"

"No."

"Right – okay, you didn't have Quatre set us up?"

"I did."

"And every time I tried to break up with you and you wouldn't let me – that wasn't part of your plan either?"

"It was."

"And you slept with me because you needed me to be involved with you, so that I would care about your cause."

"Yes," Trowa admitted.

Duo nodded. "Right. So I'm really curious about the part where you didn't plan this to your advantage."

"How is it to my advantage to be in love with the man who is literally the monster under the bed? As soon as Treize brought my sister and me to his court eighty seven years ago he started to threaten us with you. Every shape shifter that steps out of line is reminded that you still exist and that you spent centuries hunting down any shape shifter bold enough or stupid enough to try and earn their freedom. Why would it be to my advantage to be bonded to a Jinn? The one race that my magic doesn't work on. The race that first enslaved shape shifters and sold us as chattel. Why would that be to my advantage? I never believed in that Soul Mate bullshit – I've lived for almost six thousand years and I've never felt a glimmer of a magical bond with one of my lovers. If I thought there was any chance that it was real and that I would be bonded to you I never would have slept with you. I wanted to hate you, I wanted you to be the monster that Treize promised me you were. My plan was to keep you interested in me, my plan was never to care about you."

Trowa looked furious by the end of his speech, and Duo could feel his anger and frustration through their connection.

"You're in love with me? After three dates." Just because Trowa couldn't use his magic to convince Duo to believe him didn't mean that the man couldn't lie his ass off.

"You took Martha Vendomme's punishment when you didn't have to. You hate her, and she hates you, but you stepped in and took her punishment." Trowa closed his eyes and shook his head. "Believe me when I say that I wanted to hate you, and that I tried very hard to hate you. But after that… yes, it was my plan to sleep with you, but after you sacrificed yourself – after what you told me about Solo – I wanted to. You weren't just a pawn anymore."

"But you still didn't think it was the right time to tell me about who you were," Duo pointed out.

"If I had – what would have happened that night?"

Duo frowned. "I would have kicked you out."

"I couldn't let that happen."

"So when were you planning on telling me?" Duo asked.

"My pack met on Tuesday night. We discussed our options. There are some who want to pursue a legal route, and others who simply want to wage war on the Council and prove that we are strong enough to gain our independence whether they like it or not."

"I can guess which side Martha is on," Duo muttered.

Trowa smirked, and Duo hated that he found himself wanting to respond to the look.

"Before your return, most of the pack was in favor of a violent approach, but since you are back and Treize and the other Council Members can use you as a threat again, many of the pack have begun to doubt our chances to succeed either way. I've been pushing the pack towards taking the legal approach and petitioning the Arbiter, but now many of them are afraid that you will kill any shape shifter who dares to speak to the Arbiter. My original plan was to have YOU fall for me and then I could convince you that shape shifters weren't evil, and then, once you were neutralized, we could move forward with our plans."

"Uh huh. I really think that you're overestimating my importance in all of this."

Trowa's eyes narrowed.

"That first night, when you and Quatre came before the Council, Treize wanted me there so that I could see you. That night, after he beat me and while he fucked me, he promised that you would finally put me in my place. He talked about Deathscythe like it was a lover."

Duo swallowed hard. He could feel Trowa's anger, his self-loathing, and his hatred of Treize through their connection. He refused to let it sway him.

"He wasn't the only one who rejoiced at having you back – all of the Council members started to taunt their pets."

"That's why Martha attacked Alexios," Duo realized.

Trowa nodded. "He threatened to send her to you if she didn't learn to behave."

"I'm not the Executioner anymore! I don't do that shit anymore."

"You did last night."

"I had to! You're trying to form a pack!"

"We already have. I've been acknowledged as the alpha and we've run together under a full moon. We are a pack." There was open defiance in Trowa's green eyes.

Duo groaned. "The Council will execute you for this."

"Probably, but at least I tried. Maybe my death will galvanize Quatre into action."

Duo looked at him in disbelief.

"That's it? You're just going to give up? You aren't going to try and convince me to keep you alive or join your cause? You aren't going to keep fighting Treize?"

"My days are numbered, they were as soon as we bonded." The resignation and conviction in Trowa's voice was hauntingly reminiscent of Anthony's voice when he had accepted Duo's punishment.

"I don't understand."

"As soon as Treize finds out that we are Soul Mates my life is forfeit. He hates you more than he desires me, and if he can punish you by killing me then he will."

"Yeah, well, I wasn't really planning on marching up to him and telling him about us," Duo pointed out.

"You won't have to say anything. If he hadn't been so intent on my pain he would have already figured it out last night. I could feel every emotion and thought in your head. I know how much it hurt you to do that to me. What happens when he has you punish me again – or worse, when he has you punish me in front of the entire Council? Zechs, Noin, and Sylvia know you just as well as he does, and they would be able to see it on your face."

"Again, I'm not the Executioner anymore. It's not my job to punish you or anyone else for the Council."

"Then why –"

"If your magic doesn't work on me, then why didn't I realize you were a shape shifter – does Quatre know?" Duo changed the subject because he didn't feel like rehashing this argument. He could have put a quick end to it by admitting the truth – that wielding Deathscythe as it stripped away Trowa's flesh was one of the most awful experiences of his life and he would NEVER do it again – but he didn't want Trowa to know he had that kind of advantage over Duo.

"Quatre doesn't know." Trowa shrugged. "As I said, I'm almost six thousand years old. I learned to hide my powers because it was advantageous to do so."

"Your sister doesn't."

"My sister doesn't need or want to. She also… she inherited our father's magic but not our mother's. In many ways she is the most pure shape shifter in this world, and if she isn't stupid, she will likely live forever. But she can't control magic the way the Romani can. I don't think she could hide her power. It takes too much self control – it's way Quatre can hide his but you can't."

"That and I really don't want to," Duo pointed out. He sighed. "Okay, enough questions – for now. You should probably shift forms, you know. It would speed the healing process."

"I can't," Trowa bit out.

"I thought you were an alpha – can't you change at will?"

"Yes, but I still can't feel my magic. It's like some kind of wall is between me and my animal. My Romani magic is fine – but I can't feel my animal."

"Well that's not good."

"No, it isn't."

"I think you should call Sally Po – is she back in town yet?"

Trowa nodded. "She should be. Catharine would have called her by now I'm sure."

Duo sighed at the thought of Catharine storming into his condo.

"You do not have to tell my sister about any of this," Trowa told him, as if he could read his mind.

"Pretty sure she's going to know something is up when you show up in three days with your back ruined."

"I'll tell her what she needs to know, but she does not need to know about you."

"Worried she won't approve of the company you've been keeping?"

"I know she doesn't. Convincing her, Martha, and Ralph to heal you was one of the most difficult things I've done as their alpha."

"You had them heal me?"

Trowa gave him a hard look. "I already explained this part."

Duo sighed. "Fine, fine, call Sally." He handed Trowa his phone and then leaned back on the couch to finish his tea. He looked over at Heero, who seemed to be taking all of this remarkably well.

"She'll be here in half an hour," Trowa said after a brief phone conversation. He handed the phone back to Duo.

"What do you know about the contract on Duo's life?" Heero asked him, obviously deciding that it was his turn to interrogate Trowa.

"There's a contract out on your life?" Trowa asked.

"Um, yeah, by one of my many friends."

"When was it put out?"

"Same day that I arrived in Vegas."

Trowa's eyes narrowed.

"And that wasn't something you wanted to mention to me before now?"

Duo sneered. "Now that you mention it, yeah, I probably should have told you that during one of my attempts to break up with you. That probably would have worked."

Trowa turned from Duo to look back at Heero.

"I don't know anything about it, but that doesn't mean it isn't related to the Council. Treize only uses me as decoration. He knows that he can't trust me, so he keeps me out of his plans."

"If he doesn't trust you then why does he allow you in his bed?" Heero asked.

Duo winced at that question, and he saw Trowa's eyes narrow.

"Heero, I wouldn't – "

"Treize enjoys knowing that someone as old and powerful as I am has to submit to him and accept his torture. It isn't a matter of allowing me into his bed, he forces me into it."

"If you are so old and powerful, why doesn't he worry about you rebelling and killing him?"

A muscle in Trowa's jaw jumped, and his eyes hardened to that same, empty look that he wore when he was a lion.

Duo sighed.

"Actually, I want to know this part too. Treize enjoys a bit of a thrill, so I know he likes knowing there's a possibility that his bedmate is going to fight back, but he doesn't want there to be any real chance of that happening – and if he doesn't trust you, and if you have a habit of rebelling, why doesn't he think that you will?"

"Treize has no interest in females."

"Yeah…"

"When he first brought my sister and I to his court, he wanted to pass her around as a reward to those Council members who DID enjoy women. After Alexios had his way with her and nearly killed her, I attacked Treize and threatened to castrate him if he didn't leave Catharine alone. I made a deal with him – I would allow him to do whatever he wanted to me so long as Catharine was ONLY used as decoration and never as a plaything."

Duo had a pretty clear mental picture of how that negotiation had gone down, and he was both horrified and impressed.

"What do you know about the serial killer – and don't tell me nothing because if half the Council and their servants know, they surely you do because the Council loves to gossip."

Trowa shrugged and then winced at sharp pain that gesture caused.

"Only gossip. Noin and Zechs talk about him the most – they are afraid he's getting too powerful."

"Do they know who he is?"

"They talk like they do, but they never mention his name." Trowa closed his eyes as he tried to think, but then he shook his head and opened his eyes."He's from the Old World… and he's an Ephemeral. Sometimes they talk about him like they do you – they're afraid of him, of what he used to do."

"But he isn't part of the Council – or one of the Council's servants?"

Trowa hesitated and then shook his head.

"No, not that I've seen."

Duo sighed, it had been worth a shot.

"You said that I was a…Jinn? Aren't those genies or something?" Duo had never encountered a Jinn before, and he didn't' know much about them.

"That's how nulls think of them," Trowa agreed. "The Muslims believe that God created Angels, Jinn, and humans. The Jinn are wild spirits, they mostly lived in the desert. Their magic is very wild and very elemental."

"Like a dryad?"

"Not really. Dryads are tied to a sacred plant – Jinns really are just spirits. They take a corporeal form when it suits them, but they can also exist as just…magical ether."

Duo frowned.

"And the Jinn enslaved shape shifters?"

"Yes. The Jinn are resistant to a lot of magic, especially magic that deals with the senses."

"Like your magic."

"Exactly. It makes them very good at seeing creatures for what they really are. The Jinn are also extremely powerful. All of the best slave traders were Jinn."

"Wait – were?"

"Most of the Jinn are dead. You're the first I've encountered in eight hundred years."

"What happened to them?"

"Humans. That's where that idea of genies comes from – Ephemerals started to trap the Jinn in silver vessels, and used them to make themselves more powerful. But a Jinn can't live in a silver lamp for long, and they died. They were hunted down to extinction, essentially." There was a measure of triumph in Trowa's voice.

There was a knock on the front door, and Duo rose from the couch to answer the door. He really hoped that it was Sally Po, because he was not up to dealing with Wufei at the moment.

Thankfully it was the dryad, and she entered the condo with a slight frown of confusion on her face.

"Duo?"

"Hey, Sally, thanks for stopping by."

"But –"

"Sally, it's okay," Trowa spoke up. He rose to his feet, and he projected a calm sense of confidence that was infectious. Duo saw Sally relax into it, and even felt some of his own tension drain away.

"What's going on?" She asked, her gaze flicking to Heero's silent form on the couch.

"Oh, nothing much," Duo said casually. "Just found out that my Soul Mate is a demi-god shape shifter. Who, incidentally, I almost killed last night and now he can't shift into his lion form to heal himself."

Sally's eyes went wide and went from Duo to Trowa's face.

"Trowa?"

With a sigh, Trowa turned around and gave Sally a clear view of his back.

"Oh – Trowa." She crossed the room and ran her hand over his back, her fingers hovering just over his wounds. "Oh, Trowa. What did this?"

"The same thing that scarred Duo," Trowa told her as he turned back around.

Sally frowned. "And you can't shift into your animal?"

Trowa shook his head. "I can't even feel it."

She sighed. "Let's get you lying down, first. This movement isn't good for your wounds." She took his arm and dragged him back into the bedroom. With a sigh, Duo followed, Heero close behind him.

"How did your back heal?" Sally asked Duo.

"A Light Court Faery healed me. It used up a lot of his magic."

She nodded and turned back to Trowa, now lying prone on the bed once again.

"He's your Soul Mate?" Sally asked Trowa. The question earned her a glare from the green eyed man.

"The bond isn't complete," Duo added. "We haven't shared blood."

"If you're really interested in healing him, the best way to do it would be to complete the bond."

"No," all three men responded at once.

Sally arched an eyebrow. "Why not?"

"Because I don't trust him – and I'm still on the fence about whether or not I'm going to kill him. There's no way in hell I'm bonding myself any closer to him. Plus I hate him."

"Who are you?" Sally asked Heero.

"He's my lover," Duo said after Heero hesitated. "Also my best friend."

"And he gets a say in this?"

"Yes," Duo and Heero agreed.

"And why do you say no?" Sally asked.

"Magical bonds are rarely equal partnerships. There is almost always a stronger and weaker partner. I'm not convinced that Duo would be able to resist him if they completed their bond."

It was a good point, even if it was a bit insulting. Heero even looked vaguely apologetic as he said it.

Sally shook her head.

"Soul Mates don't work like that – the entire point of the bond is that you are equals. You are literally two halves of the same whole. The bond would never have formed between two individuals who weren't equals and who didn't feel strongly for each other. You can't hate him," she added as she looked at Duo.

"I didn't then," Duo agreed, "but I sure as hell do now."

She turned to Trowa. "And what is your complaint?"

"There's no point in both of us dying."

"Oh Trowa," she reached out and ran a hand through his hair.

"What is he talking about?" Heero asked.

Duo had a pretty good idea of what Trowa was implying. He sighed and explained.

"Soul Mates, if their bond is strong enough, can share emotions, thoughts, physical sensations – all of that. If one of them dies, most of the time, the other dies as well. In our case, judging by how strong our bond already is, I'm going to say that if we fully bonded and one of us died the other would follow pretty quickly." Duo frowned as he realized that it would actually be a good strategy for Trowa – there was no way Duo could kill him if they were fully bonded Soul Mates. He met Trowa's green gaze. "So why don't you want to finish the bond? It would be your get out of jail free card."

"We're too powerful for our bond not to be obvious to the Council. My entire pack felt it when we were together before – and that was when our bond first formed. If the bond was complete…"

Duo flushed at the thought of an entire pack of shape shifters feeling both Trowa and him orgasm. Then again, Hilde had felt the same.

"Treize would kill you," Heero supplied.

"Yes, and there's no point in both of us dying." Trowa turned back to Sally. "Is there anything you can do? Do you know why I can't shift?"

"I don't know. I'll try." Sally sat down on the edge of the bed beside Trowa and ran her hands just above his back.

Duo could feel her magic layering over Trowa, as though it were a blanket, trying to soothe and protect him. After a moment she sighed.

"I've seen this before, when a magic user experiences a trauma like this. Your magic is essentially shutting down – it's trying to isolate the source of the damage and keep it from spreading. My guess is that whatever did this to your back was cursed?"

Duo nodded. "Deathsycthe has more curses and dark enchantments on it than people even know exist."

"But your magic wasn't affected this badly by it – do you know if anyone else has been?"

Duo frowned. "To be honest, I can't name another Old One who has survived this much damage from Deathscythe. Trowa got something like five times what the harshest punishment with the whip usually is. I'm surprised he's alive at all."

"It's because of you," Sally said. "It's your bond – YOU were the one who fed magic into the whip's curses, right?"

"Yeah, that's how it works."

"Because of that, and because of your bond, the curses went deeper into Trowa. You nearly destroyed his magic."

Duo swallowed hard. He found her words hard to believe – but he had felt Trowa's golden glow start to dim last night and it had not grown any stronger since.

"Can we fix it?"

"He needs a large surge of magical energy. Like the full moon – "

"That's two weeks away," Duo pointed out.

"Or being with his pack –"

"No, Treize will kill them," Trowa interrupted.

"Or completing the bond with his Soul Mate."

"No," Heero said, his voice firm.

Sally signed. "Okay, then just let him die. Because that is what is going to happen. He's going to continue to get weaker – all of his magic, his Romani magic – is trying to heal his wounds, and his shifter magic is locked away. He's going to burn out and he's going to die. So, if being so stubborn is that important to you three, then fine." She glared at each of them in turn.

"Sally –" Trowa started.

"Don't tell me that it isn't worth the effort. You are the alpha of the only pack of shape shifters in the United States. Without you, there would be no hope for the others – they would be condemned to a life of servitude to the Council. They need you. If you don't care about your own life, at least think about them. Think about Catharine. And you," she whirled around and stabbed a finger into Duo's chest, "I told you that I trusted you to do the right thing. I still do. Soul Mates don't bond because of a passing affection. You care very deeply about him, despite what you say. Do you really want to lose someone else you care about?"

Duo's jaw dropped.

"That's not – how do you –"

"Everyone who deals with the Council knows about your Ephemeral," she continued, her voice still harsh, "and it doesn't take a genius to realize that there's a pattern with you and your lovers." She spared a glare in Heero's direction. "This is the one chance you have to actually save one of them, and you're hesitating."

"This is not the same as any of those situations," Duo growled.

"He's not Gavi either," Heero pointed out unhappily. Duo turned on him. "He's not," Heero repeated.

"How is this not like Gavi?"

"He didn't leave you to die, for one, and he never intended to hurt you. If anything he's been using you to hurt himself this entire time." Heero looked past Duo to Trowa, and there was a strange look in his eyes, as if he could understand the other man's actions.

"He lied to me and he betrayed me."

"He lied, but he never betrayed you."

"Yes –"

"Duo. How easy would it have been for him to go to Treize and tell him that he had the God of Death wrapped around his finger? How much would Treize have rewarded him for that? When Treize started to torture him – he could have ended all of that by just selling you out. He didn't."

"When did you join his side?" Duo demanded.

"I'm on YOUR side, and I think that he's more valuable as a potential ally than as a corpse. Especially if his death is going to hurt you in any way."

Duo sighed at the look of determination in Heero's eyes. He turned back to Sally.

"You can't just take my magic and give it to him? Like you did for me?"

She shook her head. "I tried to give him mine just now. He needs to be… cocooned in it."

Her choice of words brought back memories of the night Duo and Trowa had bonded. Cocooned was exactly how he had felt. He looked over at Trowa, and the look in his eyes made it clear that his mind had gone down the same path as Duo's.

"This is such bullshit," Duo muttered. He scrubbed his face with his hands. "Okay, thanks Sally, I think we can handle this."

"What are you –"

"I'm not going to let him die," he assured her and started to usher her out of his condo.

"Duo –"

"I promise. I won't let him die. And you – you won't tell anyone about this, right? Not his pack, not my friends? No one."

She arched one eyebrow at him in amusement. "Are you threatening me?"

"No, I'm asking you to help me protect him."

She looked impressed by his choice of words.

"Take care of him."

Duo rolled his eyes. "It looks like he manages to do a pretty good job of that all on his own," he told her.

"You'd be surprised," she argued.

After he locked the door behind her he returned to the bedroom.

"How is this going to work?" He asked. "Because our options are to complete our bond or to have sex. And I'm not a fan of either one."


Up Next: Dilemma! But Heero has a delicious solution!

Definitions:

Council: the body that presides over magical creatures and users in the US. The Old Council refers to the European Council.

Dryad: A nature spirit, like a Sprite. Another Old One. Usually associated with a tree, and different 'families' of Dryads are associated with different trees.

Ephemeral: a human who can use magic. Used interchangeably with witch.

Jinn: alternately Djinn or Genie. They are spirits, supposedly created by God (if you're Muslim), and can be good or bad.

Old Ones: the powerful magical races. Vampires, Shape shifters, Faeries, and a few more to be named later!

Old Ways: reference to the way that the European Council ran things or the way things were before magic was legal. Sally Po refers to the old ways – a reference to the practices of Native American Shamans, and NOT the Council.

Null: a human without magical ability.

Shaman: A Native American mystic or holy person. Used in this context to mean an Ephemeral.