Author's notes: Will probably be transitioning them back to SC pretty soon. Next chapter will be the last road chapter, I'm thinking, depending on how it turns out.

David was the first to arrive back in the diner parking lot with Star pressed close to his back. She hadn't said much, still too shaken to confront him about the bite. And what could she honestly say? Nothing. But she was certainly far more willing to listen to that voice at the back of her mind that had warned her not to fight him in the first place. It bothered her. All of this. Had she really spent two whole years running away, flinching at her shadow around every corner, driving all hours of the night and day...just so she could give up?

"Don't think too much, Star. You'll hurt yourself." David remarked dryly as he leaned against the side of his bike and tucked a cigarette between his lips. He'd been silently watching the screws turn in her head ever since they arrived to wait on the rest of the boys. She wasn't completely broken, yet. Still had her misgivings. He wasn't sure whether he wanted tom completely crush them or not. It would make for a very boring pack mate if she didn't at least have a little spark. Which brought him back to the early days, before Michael. When it had just been him, the boys, and a pretty girl on the beach with nothing on her mind but where her next meal was coming from.

She'd been ideal bait. And Max had brought a kid back to the cave for the boys to look after. Laddie. A whim. A trinket to make the old fuck feel like he was a real father. Didn't stop him from tossing the kid in the cave, making his boys look after him. After all, he was far too busy running his little store and living in his little house, searching for a little wife to round out his perfect little life. The Lost Boys may have been blood-thirsty killers, but Max was outright insane if he thought all of those things would somehow satisfy his cravings for a human life he'd lost a very long time ago.

So, Star really was good bait. He'd been telling her the truth. But she was also a good babysitter. Looked after Laddie. Made sure the kid didn't go off and make his first sloppy kill. Because none of them really wanted to deal with a bloodthirsty midget on top of Max's ridiculous demands he always seemed to make, like constantly sending them out to search the city for that perfect little wife who'd somehow remain innocent even when Max got his hands on her. As if that was even possible, being what they were.

In a way, they were lucky Max found Lucy on his own. Lucky Michael's little brother didn't seem too hot on daddy dearest. And Michael...well, David privately chuckled to himself. That was certainly a funny coincidence. He wasn't really sure whether it was for better or worse, though, given how he and the boys had ended up. Mangled, melted, electrocuted...yeah, that part wasn't too fun. In a way, this mad pursuit after the pair had been part of their vengeance for all the trouble. Keeping Star and Michael constantly on edge, terrified, only ever one step ahead before they boys easily caught up to them over the course of the following nights when they were both forced to rest.

If anyone else had impaled David on those deer horns, he would have come back and tortured them until they begged for death's sweet release. Or even it the boy had somehow managed to do it without the monster inside on full display, almost ecstatic with his first taste of real violence...were David in a less uncomfortable position, it would have been delicious.

He tossed his head back and let a waft of smoke float from the corner of his lips, while Star quietly watched him, and wondered. Wondered what he was going to do next, while they waited for the others to re-join them for the long drive ahead.

"You can relax. I'm not going to do anything." David sighed, looking back down at Star with a slight smirk. "Want a hit?" He held out his laced cigarette, and she wordlessly took it with a shaking hand. Then she pressed it to her lips, and turned away, still too nervous to say much. Nervous that he'd finish what he started.

But he wouldn't. Didn't have any plans of killing one of his first two fledglings, turned by the blood running through his own veins, and not Max's. After all, he owed her quite a lot. She'd brought him Michael. And for that, Star deserved a second chance, just as much as Michael. Though...not quite in the same way.

"They must be having a pretty good time," David remarked, keeping his eyes pealed on the road. No sign of the boys yet.

Star licked her lips as she passed the cigarette back to David and pressed herself away from the bike so she could take a few steps away, arms tucked into her pockets. "David..." She whispered, slowly tipping her head up to look at him.

"Hm?"

"Earlier...when you bit me...you...you were talking in my head."

He nodded, his smile slowly growing as he waited for her to continue.

"So...does that mean the others can, too? Can they read minds?"

David chuckled and took another hit, shaking his head, "yeah. Sooner or later, you'll figure it out too." He paused. "But don't you dare fucking tell him," he warned with a hiss. And Star wasn't really in any position to argue. It didn't make her feel any better, though, when realization finally dawned on her that there really was no possible way they would have been able to run forever. The chase...for the Lost Boys...had only been a game.

When the others had finally returned, there was little time to stop to chat. Michael didn't quite understand why they'd even stopped, if he wasn't going to be allowed to get a word in edge-wise with Star, at least to make sure she was still in one piece. And he was certainly more than a little uncomfortable when David decided they'd be riding together again. Yet another reason Michael desperately wished they'd been able to bring the car. He didn't like this weird arrangement, or the funny looks and touches David kept giving him, as if he'd be even remotely interested in a repeat of the night before. He wasn't. Not unless the only participants were him and Star, with David safely halfway across the country and far away from them.

Michael wondered how long he'd be able to take this shit before he lost it. Not very, if his little slip at the strip club had been any indicator. It had only taken a couple of words from Dwayne to make him snap. Probably even less from David. He had to come up with some kind of plan to get him and Star away again. Maybe if he played nice long enough, they'd give him enough space to steal a car or something. But then...they wouldn't have any reason not to go back and slaughter his family. He gave a huff of frustration against David's shoulder. Maybe he'd just find a sharp stick and try to kill David when his back was turned...it was as good a plan as any. As they rode, he had plenty of time to come up with all manner of colorful ideas. Ranging from a simple murderous prank like propping up a bucket of holy water over a door when one of the others was going to walk into a room, to something far more suicidal and glorious, like paying someone to drive through whatever building they'd all be sleeping in the next morning to ensure they got good even tans before expiring permanently.

For David and the boys, it was pretty entertaining to listen in on. Certainly made their ride a little funner, and who would have thought the brunette could be so creative when it came to slaughtering his own kind? Oh, he was a killer alright. He just had to get it through his head that they weren't his enemies anymore, and they'd have a lot of fun together.

"So, do you want to wait until he tries something?" Dwayne pulled up alongside David, while Paul and Marko focused on scanning the countryside alongside them, trying to pick out the best place to sleep for the morning, which was fast approaching. They'd carved out a decent amount of road behind them, though, and the closer they got to home, the more excited they were becoming. Worst case scenario, they'd have to stop about thirty minutes before sun-down and dig themselves a few graves. It wasn't ideal. But it was certainly do-able. And Paul definitely thought it would be good for a laugh to see Star and Michael freak out about going underground for the first time. It would almost be worth the mud in his ear canals.

"He'll never learn if we don't," David shrugged.

"You really want to take that risk?" Dwayne preferred to be on the safe side, not really relishing the idea of being split into several pieces and toasted again. It was enough to only have an experience like that once in his lifetime.

"Star won't fight us. She knows her place now. If Michael really does decide to follow through with some stupid plan to try and take me out, it's five against one. There's no risk. Not really."

"You wanna bet?" Marko joined in, grinning. "If I win, you admit I won the last one, too..."

"We don't have to wait until we're back at the hotel for me to kick your ass, Marko," David growled.

They didn't find any proper shelter for the night. Taking a more direct road than the one they'd traveled through in the first place, they were met with an awful lot of grassy hillocks and empty fields. Parking their bikes under a copse of dying trees, the boys immediately got to work stripping off their coats.

"What are you doing?" Michael asked with a slight frown, pulling Star into his arms and resting his chin on her shoulder the first opportunity he got. She was like his comfort blanket, the one thing in the world he wanted to cling to right now to keep himself level-headed. Grounded.

"Getting ready for bed. You're going to want to start pretty soon too. Don't want to bury yourself in your clothes. Gonna be a mess when you wake up." Marko tossed over his shoulder, yanking off one of his shoes and tossing it aside as he hopped on his other leg to get to work on the remaining one.

"Like hell I'm going to get naked in front of you again," Michael scowled at David, who just rolled his eyes.

"Fine. Have it your way. Don't come crying to me when you've got worms stuck in your panties later," he replied, shrugging out of his duster and laying it over his bike. "You're still going to want to start digging. We gotta make the hole pretty big if we're all going to fit down there." He nodded towards a small clearing in the grass where the soil looked slightly easier to work with.

Star pulled away from a reluctant Michael and tugged at his jacket. He stared at her in disbelief, "Star-"

She pressed a finger to his lips and shook her head. "Don't fight it, Michael. The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can go to sleep."

He stared at her for a moment, silent, reaching forward to press a hand to her cheek. "Why are you okay with this?! What did he do to you?" He leaned down and whispered into her ear.

"Nothing. He didn't do anything," she lied as she managed to push his jacket from his shoulders.