Hello! I know, i greatly upset you all with the last few chapters, so here i give you hope. I am giving into what you wanted, in a way, and i hope it makes up for what i have done to you all!

I hope you enjoy this, let me know what you think? :)

Disclaimer: I own nothing affiliated with the Morganville Vampire's series.

When Shane woke up the next morning, things were different. He had a massive hangover, and the memories of what had happened once he came home swept over him, and it hurt. The realisation that Claire was gone felt like someone had a chokehold around his heart. However, instead of letting it consume him, Shane could move around it. The hurt was there, but he could think. The grief was almost overwhelming, but he could make sure it didn't crush him. Things were different.

Eve and Michael were both downstairs, in the living room watching mindless sitcoms, when Shane had finally gotten showered and dressed and decided to come down himself. He felt slow, and tired, like there was nothing in the world that could make him want to leave the house or do anything productive today. Yet he knew that he had to keep moving, keep working through it, because what had happened yesterday had been unacceptable. Claire wouldn't have wanted that for him, no matter what. Neither would Michael or Eve, and now he needed to apologise to them. Shane grabbed himself a coke from the kitchen before heading through to the living room and settling down in the big armchair by the door. Michael and Eve both gave him blank and unreadable faces, keeping whatever they were feeling back from him.

'I'm sorry. I'm so sorry about yesterday, hell, about everyday since…' Shane swallowed, because saying it out loud seemed more painful than knowing it in his head, but he had to. 'Everyday since Claire died.'

'Oh, Shane.' Eve sighed, before wiggling out of Michael's arms and throwing herself at Shane. He had a second to put his coke down before she was hugging him tightly. Shane wrapped his arms around her and buried his face into the side of her neck, letting just one of the tears that had been threatening in his eyes all morning escape. Eve pulled back and looked at him, her own eyes watery, but with a faint smile ghosting at her lips.

'It's okay, we understood.'

'No, it's not okay, but thank you. I just.. I couldn't deal with it, but it has finally hit or something. God, it hurts, but I have to keep moving. I have to learn to.. Deal with it. No more hiding.' Eve hopped back up off his lap and went back to sit with Michael, they both watched him from across the room.

'What can we do to help?' Michael asked him, concern now taking the place of his blankness.

'You've helped enough, doing what you both have done for me, I know you lost her too. I didn't mean to flake out on you both like that. But.. I need to talk to Amelie and Myrnin. Is there anyway I can do that?'

'Actually, they've been waiting for you to ask since we brought you home from the lab. Why do you want to talk to them?' Eve asked, suspicion clouding her face.

'Because I have to understand. I have to understand how it could have happened, and then I need them to take me to see Frank.' Shane's voice hardened when he said his fathers name, tension showed around his eyes and his fists clenched like they wanted to punch something. Michael and Eve both just continued to look at him, like that's what they'd been expecting, or hoping, he would say.

'Okay. I'll ring Amelie now. Make sure you're all dressed and ready soon.' Michael stood up and went out into the kitchen to make the call, Eve went to change into something less like pyjamas' and more kick-ass Goth wear, and Shane finished his coke. Ten minutes later, there was a knock on the door.

'You do realise, Shane, that we have to turn the machine off. No matter what, Frank can not be allowed to exist anymore.' Amelie was saying to him once again. Myrnin sat next to her, silent and looking lost. He'd not said a single word since he'd come into the house.

'Yes, I know that, which is why I need to talk to him. I want you to kill his machine, but I have to know why he did what he did first.' Shane didn't say Claire's name out loud now, after that first few times he'd realised that even Amelie flinched slightly at it. They'd all cared about her more deeply than she'd even known.

'Fine, we can do that for you at least. The creatures that… they're gone now. It will be safe to go to the lab to talk to him. We planned to turn him off once you'd talked to us anyway, so this is as good an opportunity as any.' Shane just nodded at Amelie's reply and watched as she stood and went over to the part of the wall that the portal opened up. He flinched hard as the memory of Claire screaming as that thing bit her, and Frank's laugh, flooded back to him, but finally he shook it off and stood himself to go towards Amelie. Michael and Eve were at his back, and Myrnin trailed silently behind them.

Stepping through the portal felt wrong, but they all did it anyway. Everyone's eyes brushed over the spot where they remembered Claire's body had been, but they did not linger, instead choosing to let their eyes wander around the room. The portal shut behind them and they all wandered a little further into the room before stopping behind the final worktop before the trap door entrance to Frank's cave. It was Shane who called out to him.

'Frank.' His voice was heavy on hostility, his fingers were mottled from the strength he was putting into gripping the table top. A 2D, flickering, black and white image of Frank appeared in the corner of the room, just below the speakers that Claire had once encouraged Myrnin to install for Frank's use.

'Son!' Frank sounded genuinely pleased to see he, his face stretched into a smile, but there was something in his eyes that made none of them want to get any closer. Shane heard a growl and turned to see it had come from Myrnin, who was glaring at that flickering image. To everyone's surprise, and Eve's mild horror, Frank growled back at him. The noise was almost animalistic, but immediately after he turned that smiling face back on a moved to step towards them.

'No. Stay where you are.' Shane said between clenched teeth. The creepy grin in Frank's face faltered.

'What's the matter Shane? Actually, why are you still here? You should have left by now!'

'Why would you even think I would be leaving? I'm here to get answers from you, Frank.'

'I cleared the way for you to leave, son. The only thing that was keeping you here is gone. The problem has been disposed of.' Frank's creepy grin was back now, that crazy glint in his eyes clearly visible

'Is that why you had them kill her?' Eve whispered out, she wasn't focusing on Frank, but had her eyes glued to the spot where Claire had lain, bleeding in Shane's arms.

'Yes! See, even Eve understands, Shane! It had to be done.' Frank was positively gleeful now.

'It's not that she understands, she's horrified!' Shane shouted back. 'Why did you think that losing her would be a good thing for me? I don't want to be anywhere without her, Frank. Not here or anywhere.'

'Don't be silly, Shane. Now that she doesn't have you tied down here, you can leave the blood suckers behind and blow town.'

'That wasn't your decision to make!'

'Of course it was, Shane, I am your father.' Frank looked at his son with an outraged expression on his face.

'No, it wasn't. You don't get to play God. You don't get to control my life. You don't even get to call yourself my father anymore. You're nothing to me. You took one of the only things that made life bearable, you took that, and now you won't even get to see if it had the effect you wanted or not.'

'What do you mean, I won't get to see if… Shane, what are you planning on doing?'

Shane turned to face Myrnin, who was still glowering at Frank across the room.

'You can turn him off right now, can't you?' Myrnin looked up at him, and then just nodded.

'Then do it. He doesn't deserve any kind of life. Kill the machine.' Myrnin grinned at him, but it was more like a baring of teeth.

'Gladly.' Myrnin growled out, and the looked at Amelie, who just nodded her approval at him. Myrnin stalked towards the trap door opening, and suddenly Frank was in front of him. Myrnin just laughed.

'You can't stop me, you're a brain in a machine. You're a false image. You are nothing, a creation of the girl you killed.' Myrnin stepped through the flickering 2D image and bent over to pull the door open and hop down. Frank whirled and stared at Shane.

'Don't let him do this, son.'

'I'm not your son.' Was all Shane replied. Michael laid a hand on Shane's shoulder and wrapped his arm around Eve. Amelie stood as still as a statue just to the side of them.

'Goodbye, Frank.' Shane whispered.

'No! Shane don't do this!' Frank turned to look at the open door, and then back at Shane. 'Don't do this. Okay. I can bring her back.' Myrnin must have been close to shutting him off because suddenly he screamed, 'SHANE!'

Amelie recovered from the shock of what he'd said first and called down to Myrnin to stop what he was doing for a moment.

'What did you just say?' Her voice was controlled, very ice princess, Frank's eyes only flickered to her before falling back to his son. Shane stood there frozen, not knowing what to do, or whether to believe him.

'I said I can bring her back. Shane, if it's what you want. I can get you a way to bring her back.'