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New Blood, Old Soul
Checking over his suit in the mirror, Merlin smiled as he realised just what he was doing.
Honestly, he hadn't particularly cared about what he looked like for centuries so long as he wasn't so hideous as to attract stares from others, but now that things were going so comparatively well with Lucy Westenra, he was actually showing some interest in looking presentable.
In a strange way, he was actually grateful to Dracula for setting all of this off. He might have had no particularly strong feelings about the Order of the Dragon himself before this all started- he didn't like what they did, but they hadn't done anything to him personally- but the more time he spent witnessing what they were capable of, the more invested he became in ensuring that they couldn't continue their activities. Dracula's plan with the Resonator was a complicated scheme, but it had the advantage of undermining the Order without actually requiring anyone to die; despite all the death that Merlin had witnessed over the years, he still preferred not to have to kill unless he was certain that the alternatives would be worse.
As it was, the plans for tonight's demonstration were comparatively straightforward and should all go off without too many problems if all went well. Van Helsing had provided Dracula with the latest treatment to allow him to walk in the sunlight in preparation for the new demonstration of the Resonator, and complimented Merlin's success in helping sort out their issues with the Board of Health, but Merlin still wasn't entirely comfortable with the scientist; he had a feeling that, if he hadn't stepped in to warn Van Helsing about the dangers of revenge, the other man would be perfectly willing to leave Dracula to burn…
Still, the past was the past, and there was no point worrying about what someone might have done if things had unfolded differently; all that mattered was what they had done. Merlin had resolved a long time ago that killing someone because they might be dangerous would never be acceptable; if you knew that they'd done something dangerous and intended to repeat their actions, killing them might be an option you had to consider, but killing someone because of what they might do just opened up an argument that would allow anyone to kill anyone.
If everything worked out as he hoped it would, Merlin would be able to ensure that the Resonator demonstration went off without a hitch and nobody else would have to die. He'd made a few quick checks on the Order's various properties and learned that they had assembled various seers, hunters and assorted holy relics to hunt for other vampires in London, but Merlin was taking his own precautions; with a few subtle warding spells to prevent Dracula being detected by their resources, and the plentiful supply of vampires already active in London, the Order could eliminate the vermin and leave the man publically known as Alexander Grayson untouched. He'd also erected a few subtle protective spells around the Resonator to prevent anyone trying to sabotage it before the main event; considering the Order's belief that they were doing the work of God, he doubted they'd have access to anyone with the power needed to break through his wards and actually damage the machine, but at the same time he'd had to be careful to arrange the spells so that it simply made it hard for potential intruders to have time alone with the machine rather than making it obvious that something was protecting it.
It was more than he'd been planning on doing when he first made contact with Dracula, but even if he'd never be entirely comfortable spending this much time with a vampire, Merlin recognised a fundamental potential within the vampire to be a better person that he felt it was his duty to encourage further.
Dracula was no real substitute for Arthur, but Lucy Westenra was fast becoming far more than the reborn Morgana…
Lucy didn't know what was happening to her; she'd simply been getting dressed for the demonstration this morning, trying to find a suitable outfit to match Doctor Emrys's usual attire (And trying not to think about why she felt it so important to match him), and then she'd looked in the mirror and found herself staring at a reflection of herself with dark hair in a black dress, with a very pointed expression of disapproval on her face for some reason.
The moment had passed quickly enough, and it didn't seem like something that she should be concerned about (Actually, she felt like she'd experienced something similar before), but there was still something there that she couldn't explain, a nagging feeling of something she should remember…
Shaking her head, Lucy turned her attention back to her chosen dress- darker than her usual choice, but a tasteful deep purple that managed to go well with her hair- putting thoughts of unusual dreams out of her mind to focus on the issues facing her in the real world.
More specifically, Lucy was reflecting on what an incredible mistake she'd almost made after Mina's rejection.
She'd visited Mina in hospital, so scared and shaken after her mysterious near-attack in the college a few nights ago, and what she'd witnessed had left Lucy unable to believe that she could have ever thought about following Lady Jayne's advice; seeing Mina in pain had hurt, but the thought of seeing her in pain that Lucy had caused…
She was glad that she had chosen to heed Doctor Emrys's warnings instead; Mina and Jonathan were so happy together, planning where they would go on their honeymoon, enjoying the opportunities available to them now that they had Jonathan's new job and Mina was making such progress with her studies?
What would she have had to offer Mina other than furtive secrets in the dark, unable to publicise whatever relationship they may have had without being outcast by most of modern society? Wanting Mina's love might have been something she couldn't control, but she could control what effect that love had on her friend; if Mina wished to be with Jonathan, Lucy would smile and accept it.
Actually, ever since she met Doctor Emrys, she found that she had more than a few good reasons to smile…
When she thought about it, she was starting to realise that her interest in Mina had been based mainly around the fact that she was so much more interesting than anyone else she knew. All the men she'd met so far were either too old for her or just too dull, nothing more than vacant pretty-boys occupied with their own social status; she may not have fully understood Mina's interest in becoming a doctor, but it showed more drive than most of the people she spent time with at the various society balls.
And then she met the enigmatic Doctor Michael Emrys, who spoke to her without expectation, who told her so much about himself in so little information, who offered her advice just to help her, who had endured such a hard life and still found reasons to smile…
She didn't know what it was about him, but she felt so drawn to him… the doctor with no family who'd experienced so much hardship and still managed to smile at the end of it all… the man who sometimes looked at her as though he couldn't believe she was there…
Even with all the male attention she'd attracted at the various functions she attended with Mina, the way he looked at her made her feel something she'd never felt before… and yet, at the same time, something that she felt like she should have felt for ages…
Lady Jayne had no clear idea what had been going on in London in the last few months, but she knew enough to know that what should have been a straightforward hunt was becoming increasingly complicated.
She'd hoped that the hunt for the elder vampire would become simpler once they'd identified the vampire by name, but it seemed as though knowledge that they were hunting Dracula just made him more difficult to find. Even with all their resources and hunters, they had only managed to find various lesser vampires, while the Elder remained maddeningly elusive; contrary to the familiar pattern of such vampires, he didn't even appear to be making his kills particularly public, with all vampire-related deaths being attributable to lower vampires.
Even worse, the Seer that had been doing this work collapsed just as he was preparing to name Dracula's location, which suggested that there was something interfering with his sight, raising more than a few issues that Lady Jayne would prefer not to think about.
The list of things capable of deflecting a Seer of his experience and power was relatively short, but she would rather not consider the risks of Dracula in an alliance with something that… capable; he was dangerous enough on his own.
The hunters had already eliminated a fair amount of vampire activity in the city, so their efforts hadn't been a total loss in terms of eradicating the vermin, but there was still no way for them to find the elder without the seer to guide them…
What could possibly be protecting a vampire like that?
At the moment, with no way to find the Elder and the lower vampires easily dispatched by the other hunters, the best thing that she could do was see what she could do about Grayson's resonator; the vampire was a potential threat, but that device would certainly threaten the Order's power if it was left unchecked.
Apparently, attempts to infiltrate the warehouse to sabotage it prior to the demonstration had proven fruitless- most likely due to Browning's foolish attempt to recruit Jonathan Harker; the man had no reason to turn against Grayson, after all- but Lady Jayne had confidence in her skills to penetrate the resonator's defences and take a look for herself…
Standing near the door of the warehouse where the Resonator was being kept- this way he was able to say that he was at the demonstration while also being in a good position to maintain the spell that would prevent any unauthorised access to the machine- Merlin smiled as the various lightbulbs Dracula had provided to his attendees began to glow as the incredible machine was activated.
Science might not be his strongest point- he kept reasonably up-to-date in terms of medicine just in case, but technology was always slightly confusing to him- but he was impressed at what could be accomplished without magic these days, and Dracula's plans for the future were certainly ambitious. With the Resonator as an alternative power source, most of the Order's oil reserves were relatively useless, and Grayson was now too public for the Order to risk arranging an attack on him to stop the demonstration that way.
Things were even going well on a personal note. Not only was the current demonstration being attended by virtually everyone who'd been invited to Grayson's debut, but Jonathan Harker and Mina Murray had decided to give Mina more time to recuperate after her attack by going out of town for a few days, and Dracula had offered them a country cottage that Merlin had directed him to. It was a small place that he used when he wanted privacy to keep his skills fresh, located not far from where his original village had once stood, but there was nothing in it to indicate who the owner was or what he used it for; it would be a good opportunity for them to just spend some time together after the tension of the last few days.
Besides, with the Order now no longer interested in recruiting Jonathan for anything- with the Resonator demonstrated successfully, the Order couldn't sabotage it now without attracting attention to potential rivals- it left the happy couple free to focus on making their new life with each other, relatively ignorant of the wider issues that they were unaware had come into their lives. Merlin felt sorry for Dracula not being able to reach some kind of progress in his relationship with the reincarnation of his dead love, but Dracula appeared content to respect Mina's choice so long as Jonathan proved worthy of her; only a few jealous stares when neither party was looking were any indication of how he really felt.
The sound of footsteps coming up behind him prompted Merlin to turn around, but he relaxed when he saw that it was only Van Helsing.
"It would appear that the Resonator was a success?" the Dutch professor asked, looking thoughtfully at the glowing lightbulbs in the hands of the various attendees.
"Certainly looks that way," Merlin confirmed. "He's still got a lot of work to do to get it working on a larger scale, but the potential involved now that he's created an effective demonstration should make it easy enough to acquire additional funding; all he needs to do is talk to the right people."
"Will you be assisting him further?"
"That depends on… many things," Merlin said, even as he acknowledged that he didn't know what those 'many things' would be; Dracula may not need his help now, he didn't want to make it too obvious that someone powerful was protecting Alexander Grayson, he was still uncomfortable with the vampire thing…
He had no definite reason not to help the vampire; he just didn't have a clear reason to do so either.
"Where's Browning?" Merlin asked, deciding to think about that issue later. "I would have thought he'd at least try to be here to see what he's up against…"
"Browning is dead," Van Helsing said simply.
"And his children?" Merlin asked, not particularly shocked at that news; anyone who killed children didn't deserve sympathy, but how he was killed would affect Merlin's opinion of the man standing before him…
"Back with their mother," Van Helsing replied, actually looking slightly ashamed of himself as he looked at Merlin. "She was mostly uninvolved in the Order's activities, and, as you said, the children are innocent; attacking them does nothing for our cause."
"Thank you," Merlin said, smiling at the Dutch professor.
"Don't," Van Helsing said, staring back at the warlock with a cold glare. "I still wish it could be that simple…"
"But you recognised that it didn't have to be," Merlin said, still smiling slightly at the physically older man; whatever Van Helsing felt about him now, Merlin admired how he had done the right thing. "That's what matters."
It was a tentative shift, and the professor still had a great deal of work to do to control his anger, but sometimes those little moments were all you needed to change everything…
"Where's the formula?" he asked, hoping to get the conversation back onto a more neutral topic.
"Safely in storage," Van Helsing said; neither of them needed to ask for more information. "I will keep it available for our… associate… but I would prefer not to make it… too public."
Merlin nodded in understanding; the serum was useful, but if Dracula used it too often, he ran the risk of more vampires becoming aware of it, which could inspire further problems in the long run…
"Good call," he said, nodding at the other man. "Well, I'll talk to you later; I have a… visit… to make."
AN: This was going to be the last chapter, but I realised that there was potential for another chapter to tie up a certain loose end, so I've kept some scenes in reserve for the next one; hope the result meets with your approval when I finish it…
