Blade walked down the cold and sterile hall of the hospital. He stopped when he reached the end of the hall. He turned left and looked into the window that was there. He saw Hannibal still sitting by Shaughn's bedside. The man had not left her side in four days. The nurses and doctors had tried everything but Hannibal refused to leave. Blade could still smell the blood that had dried on Hannibal's hands. He walked away from the window and walked into the room. He needed Hannibal to pull his head out of his ass and get his head back into the fight. The Nightstalkers needed him there with them. Hannibal was the closest thing to a leader that they had.

"I am not leaving," Hannibal said out of habit when he heard the door to the room open and close. His bloodshot eyes stayed on Shaughn. His angel hadn't moved or woken up in four days. He was determined that when she did, he would be the first face she would see.

"King, I know that this is hard," Blade tried. He was really trying to be sincere and caring. Well, as caring as he could pretend to be at the moment.

"You know this is hard?" Hannibal laughed despite himself. He turned and glanced at Blade, "That is how you are going to start this pep talk? What do you know about hard, huh? Hell, what do you even know about love?"

Blade was silent for a moment, "Nothing. I know nothing about love. The only person who seemed to even just care about me was Whistler."

Hannibal looked at Blade and felt sorry for him. He turned back and looked at Shaughn laying on the bed as white as her gown and the sheets around her. "Shaughn was the only person who ever loved me. I didn't really believe it, you know? That's why I let her leave. I really didn't think she loved me as much as I loved her. I spent two years after she left trying to forget the feel of her against me. I tried my hardest to forget how she smelled, how she smiled. I told myself that I didn't deserve her. I had cost her too much; I had screwed up her life. She deserved better."

"Robin was a catch compared to you," Blade said dryly.

Hannibal turned and glared at him, "I let her go and it almost got her killed. I fell asleep and I almost got her killed. And yet here you are, wanting me to actually leave her alone and go and hunt down Danica's spawn! I am not leaving her, Blade. I am not leaving her here to die!" Hannibal yelled.

Blade had had enough. He grabbed Hannibal and slammed him against the wall. He looked into the man's brown eyes, "She loves you, you stupid shit. Why do you think she kept quiet when Annicka attacked her? She knew that all Annicka wants is you dead. She saved you so you could live to fight another day. That day is here. All that pain you have here," Blade hit Hannibal in the chest, "Use it to kill Annicka and finish the Talos family off for good. Because if you don't," Blade pulled Hannibal away from the wall and shoved him against Shaughn's bed. Hannibal fell over Shaughn and turned to glare back at Blade who was walking towards the door, "If you don't fight and end them, they will come back and finish what they started. They will kill her, King and make you watch. Or worse, they'll turn you again and make you do yourself. Those are your choices. Make one soon while it is still your choice to make."

Hannibal watched as the door slammed behind Blade. He turned and looked at his angel but she didn't move and let him know that she was still deep inside there somewhere. He leaned in and kissed her on the forehead. He reached out and stroked her hair.

"I don't want to leave you, Shaughn. I promised you that I would never leave you," Hannibal felt tears roll down his cheeks, "You're my angel. You saved me and fucking hell, I wish I knew how to save you. I need you with me when I fight. I just... I need you."

He held her hand. He waited but nothing happened. He squeezed his eyes shut and then slowly stood from the bed. He kissed Shaughn's hand and looked at her one last time, "Please be here when I get back. Be awake and be alive. I need you to come home to, angel. You're my home," he told her softly.

He let her hand drop and then walked to the door. He opened it and stood there for a moment. He hadn't left her room in four days. He turned and looked at her one last time, "I love you, angel. I love you with everything inside of me. I know that I am not worthy of you but I can't let you go. Fight and come home to me," he choked on a sob, "You come home to me because if you don't, I am going to come and find you."

He walked out of the room and let the door slam shut behind him.


"You come home to me because if you don't, I am going to come and find you."

Shaughn winced as those words echoed in her head. She leaned against the wall and shook her head. She looked around the Honeycomb hideout but no one was there with her. She wondered who could have said that. She walked further down the hall and to her room. She pushed opened the door and saw Hannibal leaning against the wall looking out at the water. He turned and looked at her and she could see that he was feeling a little more lucid that morning than he had the night before. She walked over to him and gave him a smile.

"How are you feeling?" she asked as she stood in front of him.

"Like shit," he answered. He looked away from her eyes, "I still don't know why you haven't kicked me out of your bed yet."

Shaughn shrugged, "You keep me warm and there is a shortage of blankets around here."

"Angel, I'm serious."

Shaughn watched as Hannibal turned back and looked at her. She saw the pain in his eyes. She stepped closer to him and reached out. She took his hand and held it tight in hers. She watched as he looked down at their hands. "I haven't kicked you out because I need you."

"You need me?" Hannibal asked looking at her shocked.

"I do. You make me remember the person I was before I started hunting vampires."

Hannibal looked down at their hands again, "I need you too. You," he swallowed the lump in his throat, "you are the only person who has even tried to help me lately. My whole life has been one mess after another. Until you."

Shaughn smiled. She stepped even closer and wrapped her arms around him. She felt Hannibal hold her closer to him. She placed a soft kiss on his chest. She pulled away and reached up and stroked his cheek.

"I got to go and talk with Abby and Whistler. I'll be back later. Abby said that Summerfield is going to be going by to run some more tests," she explained.

"Why is it you are never here when Summerfield is?" Hannibal asked reaching up and stroking Shaughn's hair like it was the most nature thing in the world to do.

Shaughn shook her head, "You were still so out of it you don't remember me screaming at her when she mentioned giving you more of the cure. You were so sick already; I really didn't want you to die."

"Maybe being dead would have been better than this."

Shaughn let a tear fall. She leaned in and placed a soft kiss on Hannibal's cheek, "Being dead would not have been better than this. You can't die on me. I refuse to let you go now."

Hannibal smiled. He turned and kissed Shaughn softly on the lips, "I'll remember that. The same goes for you too, you know."

"I know."

The moment seemed to freeze and then Hannibal suddenly just faded away. Shaughn turned confused and watched as the entire room faded away. She stood there confused not knowing what was going on. "HELLO!" she screamed hoping someone would answer her.

No one answered her. She slowly lowered herself to the floor and sat there. She didn't understand what was going on. She felt something nagging at her but she couldn't remember what she was supposed to do. She closed her eyes when the darkness began to take over. She let more tears fall. She knew that something was wrong but she didn't know how to fix it.


Hannibal pulled on the black cargo pants that Brody had found for him. He did them up and turned to look at himself in the mirror of the washroom. He had taken a shower and washed all of Shaughn's blood from his hands. His eyes went to the scar on his shoulder. He sighed thinking about Abby and how much she would kick his ass for what had happened to Shaughn. He looked down and at the sink. He thought about how right having Shaughn in his arms had felt and how much love she had gave him without even meaning to. She had cared more than anyone else in his life about him. And now she was lying in a hospital bed probably dying just because she had wanted to protect him. He felt tears come to her eyes and he let them fall. He turned when the door to the washroom opened. He saw Zoe standing there holding a stuffed cat in her hands. Hannibal recognized it as one that Shaughn had had on her bed back at the Honeycomb hideout. He wiped the tears from his eyes.

"Hey, Princess Zoe, where did you get that?" he asked kneeling down and smiling at Zoe as she walked towards him.

"Gwen said she found it when they were cleaning out the Honeycomb. Abby had it in one of her weapons bags," Zoe explained softly holding the stuffed cat close to her.

"Did you know that this little guy was Shaughn's?"

"Really?"

Hannibal nodded and wrapped an arm around Zoe. He ran his hand over the tattered soft fur of the stuffed cat, "She used to have him on her bed. She told me that he had been a gift from her mom."

"Does he have a name?" Zoe asked softly looking at the stuffed cat and thinking to herself that maybe Shaughn needed him more than she did at the moment.

Hannibal smiled and shrugged, "I never asked and Shaughn never told me. But you can ask her yourself when she wakes up."

Zoe looked at Hannibal and saw the pain in his eyes. She hugged him tight, "Will she wake up, Hannibal? I'm scared that she won't and then you'll be alone again."

Hannibal cursed softly as more tears rolled down his cheeks. He pulled away and looked into Zoe's eyes and wished that she could go back to being that innocent child she had been at the Honeycomb hideout. He brushed the hair from her face and gave her a smile, "Shaughn will wake up and after all this is over, you, me and her are going to go back to her little house and live happily ever after like all those characters do in your story books."

Zoe frowned slightly, "But this isn't one of my story books, Hannibal. It's real life," she looked down at the stuffed cat and gently patted the fur on its head, "No one gets happy ending in real life."

Hannibal kissed her on the forehead, "You're going to get a happy ending, Zoe. I promise you I am going to give you a happy ending if I have to kill every vampire in this whole damn country. You are going to get a happy ending, all right?"

Hannibal felt Zoe nod. He closed his eyes and made the same promise to Shaughn. She was going to wake up and when she did, she wouldn't have to worry about Annicka or any other vampire connected to the Talos family. He was going to give his angel a happy ending as well.