Hannibal watched Shaughn. She sat on the bed her eyes away from him. He wanted to walk over to her and grab her and shake her. He watched her and just waited. Several minutes passed and then finally she turned and met his eyes. He felt all the anger drain away from his body as he saw the pain in her eyes.

"So, why did you drag me up here?" she asked.

"I dragged you up here so we could talk. Lately it seems that you have been all about the kill first talk later routine. Hell, you've been acting like Blade," Hannibal admitted.

Shaughn nodded. She looked away from him and then looked at her hands, "You don't know me when I am hunting. This is how I am. This is the only way I know how to deal with all the death that surrounds me. I just shut myself off and hope for the best."

Hannibal walked over to her and fell to his knees in front of her. She looked at him and he took her hands in his, "You weren't like that when you found me. I saw something in your eyes that day. That is the only reason that I let you save me. I really thought that you were the only one who cared enough to do it."

Shaughn pulled her hands away. She looked at Hannibal on his knees in front of her. She reached out and stroked his cheek. She looked into his eyes and memories filled her mind of the two weeks she had spent with him. For two years she had tried to convince herself that she could move on and find someone else who would make her happy. It had taken her a while to realize that Hannibal was the only man that was ever going to make her truly happy. She ran her hand along his cheek and rested it on the back of his neck where she gently stroked his hair.

"I wish I could tell you that I did care enough about you to save you but the truth is, when I looked at you I saw the pain in your eyes and it," she smiled sadly, "it reminded me of the pain I saw in my own eyes. Whistler had always told Abby and me about our sisters and his first wife. He didn't want us to be in this life. But Abby, she was stubborn and she wanted to have him in our life. So, Whistler took us in and started to train us. He always told us he didn't want us doing it but yet he stood by and let us go into nests and kill vampires," Shaughn shook her head, "I really think part of him wanted us to be like Blade. Cold, unfeeling killing machines. I just couldn't be like that. I tried to shut everything off when I hunted but I never really could. Something would make me feel again and I wondered what the hell I thought I was doing."

Hannibal brushed the hair from Shaughn's face, "Then why did you keep doing it? Why didn't you stop and stay at base camp?"

Shaughn let more tears fall, "I wanted to be like Abby. She was my older sister. I just wanted to be like her and that meant if she was a hunter, then I was going to be one too. As I got older I told myself it was a way that I could be closer to her. And we did bond over to some extent. But as the time went by the more I hunted with Abby the more I realized that it was what she was meant to do, not me. And now," Shaughn choked back a sob, "here I am once again hunting. Except this time, I'm the leader and everyone is looking to me for advice and orders and I have no idea what the hell I am doing, Hannibal. I can't do this. I am living Abby's life. Robin should have killed me, not her."

"Angel-."

"No. That's why I am being so cold and detached. I can't let myself feel because if I do then I remember the reason that I am the one doing this. I remember that Abby is dead and gone and that she died for me. I can't have those thoughts running through my head while I am trying to put together an attack plan."

Hannibal wiped the tears from Shaughn's cheeks. He leaned in and kissed her on the lips softly. He then pulled away and rested his forehead against hers. "Angel, you aren't alone in this. Not this time, you have me. I will stand beside you and fight beside you," he told her.

"Hannibal, I can't let you do that."

"Why not?"

Shaughn looked into the deep brown eyes of her lover, "Because I can't lose you too. I can't have you fight beside me and die for me like Abby did. I won't allow it."

Hannibal let go of Shaughn when she pulled away from him completely and stood from the bed, "Angel, I hate to be the one to break this to you but you don't really have a choice here. I am going to fight if you are. I need to make sure that you live past this fight. Zoe needs at least one of us to make it through this and I am going to make damn sure that she is left with more than just Blade," he said as he stood as well.

"So am I. You are going to stay here with her and man the command station-."

"No."

Shaughn turned and glared at Hannibal, "I don't have time to argue about this."

"Then don't try to keep me away from your side. I went two years without you beside me. I am not going to go another minute without you. I refuse to. Especially if you are going to just walk into that place expecting to die. I am with you to the end, Shaughn Whistler and nothing in this damn world is going to keep me from fighting beside you. Not even you."

Hannibal and Shaughn stood there and looked at each other. Hannibal made the first move. He walked over to Shaughn and gently tugged on her shirt. He looked at her and watched as her blue eyes turned and met his brown ones. He tugged on her shirt again and this time she moved closer to him. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her on the head. He felt her place her hand on his chest over his heart.

"Hannibal, please try to understand where I am coming from," she whispered.

"I know where you are coming from. Part of me is screaming to do the same thing for you. You have no idea how hard I am fighting to tell you to stay here where I know you will be safe."

"Why haven't you done it then?"

Hannibal pulled away and looked down at his angel, "Because I know that you would never listen to me. And deep down, I know that you need to do this. No matter how hard it is, or how much it hurts you, I know that you need to do this. You need to this for Abby, for your father but most of all for yourself. You need to prove to yourself that you are a Whistler and that being a vampire hunter is what you were born to be."

Shaughn closed her eyes and rested her head on Hannibal's chest, "How is it that you know me so damn well and we've only ever spent two weeks together?" she asked.

"I know you because you are my other half, angel. You are a part of me and always will be. I need you just as much as you need me."

Hannibal felt Shaughn nod. He pulled her closer and rubbed her back. He had just gotten her back and he was determined that he was not going to lose her again. He was going to stand beside her and fight. He needed to make sure that they both lived though it so that they could have their happy ending. They both deserved it.


Shaughn lay in bed and felt Hannibal wrap his arms around her and pull her close to him. She just lay there and stared at the wall. She couldn't sleep because every time she closed her eyes she thought about Abby dying. She just couldn't stop the images from coming to her mind. She rolled over and looked at Hannibal. He looked so peaceful sleeping beside her. She reached out and placed her hand on his bare chest. Her eyes kept going back to his shoulder that still had a bandage on it. He still wasn't a hundred percent but she knew that that would never stop him from following her into battle.

"How did I ever get so lucky as to have you in my life?" she asked softly gently drawing a heart on his chest.

"You didn't get lucky. You just got my mother's sloppy seconds," a voice said from the corner of the dark room.

Shaughn went to climb out of bed quickly and grab a gun that she had left on the nightstand. However she wasn't fast enough and someone grabbed her by the throat and pinned her to the wall. Shaughn looked at Hannibal but saw that her lover slept on. Her attacker hadn't slammed her hard enough into the wall to cause a loud crash that would have woken him up. She was on her own. She turned and looked into the eyes of the person who held her against the wall. She saw eyes just as cold as Danica's staring back at her.

"Let me guess, Annicka Talos," Shaughn said, "Danica's spawn."

Annicka squeezed Shaughn's throat, "I am her daughter and I am here to finish what my mother should have. She should have killed you before she ever went after Hannibal."

"Should have, would have, and could have. She didn't and now she is dead. Killing me isn't going to bring her back."

"No, it isn't. But it will give me pleasure to see Hannibal in pain. Once you are gone it will be so easy to completely tear apart these pathetic excuses for hunters. I'll even get Blade and kill him."

Shaughn snorted, "Yeah, sure. Ever notice how everyone who has ever wanted to kill Blade is dead and he is still alive and kicking? I would seriously rethink that plan of yours, Annicka. It has flaws."

Shaughn saw stars as Annicka knocked her head against the wall. She looked at Hannibal and saw him roll over. "My plan has flaws? Yours has the major flaw in it," Annicka said.

"Oh really? And what is that?"

Annicka smiled and leaned in close to Shaughn's ear, "How are the Nightstalkers going to go into battle without their leader?"

Shaughn opened her mouth to answer but gasped in pain instead. She felt the sharp sting of a blade as it was slowly pushed into her flesh. Annicka let go of her throat and Shaughn looked down and saw a slim sharp knife being buried to its hilt in her stomach. She looked back up and looked into Annicka's cold silver eyes.

"You remember to tell Hannibal I said hi. If he wakes up in time," Annicka said ripping the knife out not caring at the damage she did.

Shaughn screamed in pain and fell to her knees gripping her stomach. Her hands were quickly covered in blood and she felt it soaking her shirt. She fell over on the floor and heard the window break a moment later. "HANNIBAL!" she screamed in pain and desperation.


Hannibal didn't know what had jolted him awake; the sound of glass breaking or Shaughn's scream. He jumped up in bed and turned to look at the window. His eyes then trailed down from the broken window to the floor and for a moment he froze. There was his angel lying on the floor a puddle of blood forming around her.

"No!" he screamed leaping from the bed to the door of the room. He yanked it open and turned hitting the alarm that was there. It was a panic button of sorts. A moment later a loud siren filled the warehouse. Hannibal turned and raced back in the room feeling that he was still moving too slow. He fell to his knees beside Shaughn and applied pressure to her stomach wound. He felt the tears form in his eyes as her warm blood seeped through his fingers. "Angel, look at me. Don't you close your eyes. Keep looking at me," he said trying to keep Shaughn awake.

"Annicka..." Shaughn trailed off closing her eyes. She moaned as she felt Hannibal press harder on the wound.

"I don't care about Danica's bastard spawn. I care about you. You are not going to leave me again. You hear me?! I am not losing you!"

Hannibal didn't hear the others come into the room or the sound of Blade demanding that someone do something instead of just stand there and stare. He only heard Shaughn's breathing and her heartbeat. He didn't care about anything else.