Hey hey gang!!

I hope to get a couple more chappies out before the New Year. By my count. There should be, in total, between 5-6 chapters left. I was on the fence between doing two fics (a sequel) or just putting it together. I decided on together. works better.

Besides Mac being turned or not, I assume you guys are curious as hell over who Katherine was and why Mac looks like her, well you'll have answers in later chappies. ;) I have a couple of angles that I need to work with.

Anyway...On to the exciting moment of the fic. Tie yourselves down. ;) It's bumpy!!!

enjoy!

Jacke

Chapter 14 – Cyanide Sun

"This emptiness I've made my home

Embracing memories of dreams long gone

One last caress from the corpse of love

Is all I want underneath the Cyanide Sun."

"Cyanide Sun" by HIM.

2220 Local
County Kerry, Ireland.

For an immortal, being stealthy wasn't something that needed to be learned. For the most part, they tended to automatically blend in to all surroundings without being detected, if they so required. For Harm, the adrenaline rushing through his body was almost impossible to control in order to keep his position hidden. After gathering what he could from his family's home he'd hopped on the motorcycle he kept as transportation and pointed it towards Kale's place.

It was no secret that the other immortal was waiting for him and yet Harm desired to use the element of surprise in breaking into the home. From previous surveillance he knew every square inch of the place, but was in doubt as to how far-reaching the security system was. There had been upgrades, motion detectors installed around the perimeter. Their location, however, was a secret. Spending so much time at JAG had cut his trips to Ireland short and his surveillance had suffered.

That was why he lay crouched behind the log of a fallen tree using night vision goggles to scope the terrain around Kale's home. The lights inside were off and he wondered briefly if, maybe, he'd chosen another place to hold Mac. Maybe the postcard had been a ruse in order to buy him some more time? As far as Harm knew, Kale had homes in four other countries.

This home, in particular, was his most extravagant – something that most of their kind tended to enjoy owning. It was a show of power and wealth, two things that Harm could care less about. The castle, he knew, was some sort of a trophy for Kale, a way to show that though he wasn't part of The Collective, immortals like him could still amass a tidy sum.

Harm glanced up as lightening crackled above. The wind shifted and a familiar scent of the rain and sea brought him memories of his boyhood. Once he was a young man who was too ill to even care for his family and now, with all of his strength and power, it seemed he still couldn't care for those who he considered family. With a huff, he dropped the goggles into a rucksack and began moving towards the castle.

Between the trees that hid him and the short stone fence that surrounded the perimeter, there was nothing but an empty field. He needed to keep low to the ground and look out for any motion sensors that could tip Kale off. Moving slowly and keeping low to the ground, Harm crossed the field in a zigzag pattern stopping only to plaster himself against the stone wall. From that vantage point he could now see that there were lights inside the home, only extremely vague from his previous distance. He sat down and leaned against the wall as he prepared the quiet attack. He didn't have many weapons, just a long knife which was attached to a sheath around his right leg and about five sticks of dynamite that he was slipping into the pockets of the black BDU trousers he wore. In his worry, the two ChemTek pistols had been left in the plane that brought him to Ireland. It did not matter though; he would finish Kale off one way or another.

Leaving the rucksack at the wall, Harm jumped over and made a quick dash for the castle. There were no guards, no dogs, nothing in the way of a deterrent. It was almost as if he was being welcomed into the home and the uncertainty that lay in wait. He found an entrance on the side, a wooden door which opened to the bleak and dank kitchen area. Pots and pans hung from a brass rack, covered in cobwebs, which dangled over a wooden butcher's block. There was no smell of food which made him realize that Mac probably hadn't eaten in just under a week. It wasn't likely that Kale would feed a prisoner.

Moving out of the kitchen and towards the dining area, his eyes began to pick up the flicker of light coming from a fireplace at the great hall. He could smell it then, the specific scent that most rogue vampires seemed to have and followed it up the steps to the second level of the castle. There, he found another flickering of lights which he followed with his knife drawn and ready to strike. Harm pressed himself up against the wall and inched forward slowly until he came to the opened door where the light came from.

The smell that now assaulted his senses made his stomach churn in disgust. There was a hint of blood, mixed with an acrid smell of chemicals, charred wood and a faint scent of a woman's perfume. His hold on the knife tightened as he pushed himself off of the wall and turned into the opening, immediately squatting down in case any attack came from above. What he saw, once he righted himself, brought him to his knees.

There, dangling from ropes that were strung through a metal ring anchored to ceiling trusses, was Mac. "Oh no." She was a mess. Clothes torn and filthy, blood dried to the visible parts of her skin. Her head hung to the side and if it wasn't for the slight movement of her chest, he would have figured that she was dead. "Mac?"

Harm had seen worse – he'd done worse. Yet, the scene before him was sickening, nauseating. He would have given his soul to erase the image that he knew would remain seared into his mind. In his rush to rescue Mac, he'd let his guard down and never realized that Kale was standing behind him until he blacked out from a hit at the base of the skull.

When Harm came to, he was sitting on the sofa, his head propped up against one of the armrests. Straightening, he glanced about the room, noticing he was in either a den or a library. A fire raged in the confines of a fireplace. Kale was standing next to where Mac was hanging. "I did a good job baiting you." For years the bait never seemed to work. It had drawn out the war between them and given birth to a renewed sense of destruction.

"Yes you did." Harm agreed. He'd taken the bait this time and walked straight into a trap so carefully set that there was no means for escape. In fact, he knew that the snare began tightening months ago. "You came looking for me in Washington."

Kale turned to him and grinned. "I did."

"Why?" It was fruitless to search eachother out. The one thing both men had to adhere to was to never culminate the feud between them. As an enforcer, that stupid rule had forced Harm to continue on, waiting for the day that Seth and The Collective would give him the permission to end Kale's life for good.

"I needed to see if you were still as miserable as I was." Kale's words were punctuated by an unexpected crackle of thunder that shook the home's foundation. He glanced fondly at Mac and then crossed the room and took a seat at the opposite end of the sofa. "I found my lifemate last year." He deadpanned and waited to see that knowing expression in Harm's eyes.

Most rogues were unable to ever find a lifemate. However, the few lucky enough to find their other half were often saved from the evil that motivated them to kill senselessly. Kale would have gone back to being the man he was before his father's vengeance corrupted him for life. "Surprising? I was surprised myself." At first, the feelings were so intense and confusing that Kale tried to keep himself away from the woman. Eventually, the desire, the connection, was too strong to resist. "It was incredible and I began to realize just why Katherine couldn't stay with father. Why she had to be with you." He closed his eyes and sighed. "It's an undeniable pull. . .I'm surprised you held out with her for so long." He pointed at Mac and shook his head. "I started to feel sorry for you. . .Living without Katherine, it must have been torture for you."

"It was. It still is." He glanced at Mac and frowned at the predicament he'd placed her in. If only he would have resisted harder. If only he would have mentally pushed Mic into staying around and marrying her. If only. . . "If you found your lifemate why aren't you with her? Why are you doing this?"

Kale laughed mirthlessly. The sound seemed as if it stemmed from the depths of hell. "She's dead. . .I tried to turn her. . .Did everything I could, but since I'm not a member of your stupid little vampire club, I couldn't find a fucking immortal to help with the Turn." He had tried to find anyone that would assist him. Someone that made sure that the woman wouldn't suffer. With all of the centuries of knowledge under their belts, creating a vampire was still a very tricky business. Even Immortal scientists could not understand why some could go through the transition while others died before the virus had a chance to work its magic.

"No one would help me. . .So, I sat there for three days watching Beatrix in pain. . .There wasn't a goddamned thing I could do about it. . .She waited for me to go off in search of blood and then took a gun and shot herself."

Harm knew better than most how almost impossible life could become without a lifemate. He'd lived it, breathed it and was consumed by it – a debilitating pain that made you long for death. While most immortals would find a way to kill themselves, Harm craved blood and vengeance. That combination left a gaping hole in his heart that was only now starting to mend. "I'm sorry Kale. . .No one should have to feel the pain of losing a lifemate."

Kale nodded in agreement. "I can't image what it must feel like for you. . .losing two of them." He sighed dramatically. "I came to Washington to ask for your help. . .I wanted to find a way to stop the monster inside. . .I knew that if anyone of us could help, it would be you. . ." After Beatrix's suicide the heartbreak had made Kale long for something else – a different existence and a chance to remedy his monstrous past. He wanted to live without the shadow of his father's hatred looming over him.

"And then I find, to my surprise, a woman with Katherine's face. . ." Kale hadn't expected to find Harm in love again. Most vampires could never find another match and the chances were so slim that most just gave up. The first time he'd seen Harm and Mac together, Kale tried to fight the hatred and anger. "You know, I wanted to stay away. I tried to stay away, but the poison in my blood wouldn't let me. . .I started to remember what my father wanted me to do." That's when he approached them at the café and the rest was history.

Standing, he walked back over to Mac and ran a finger down the front of her shirt. "She's close now. . .Just a little more and. . .it's over." He took Mac's wrist and bit down, taking just a little more blood.

From his seat, Harm was trying to hold his composure. If he launched himself at Kale, surely he would finish Mac off. He needed to be calm and rational. Emotions could not rule him in this battle. That said, he jumped out of his seat when Kale pulled on Mac's hair in order to tilt her head back to receive more of his blood from a cut on his own wrist. "Even if you kill me, you still lose. . .I can't imagine the pain of having to kill someone you love. . .I'm sorry you'll have to go through it, but it's the only way to end all of this."

Using Harm's knife, Kale sliced through the ropes that were holding Mac up. Her body dropped to the floor with a sickening thud which he ignored. He turned his back on her and casually walked to the adjoining den where two swords hung on a wall with his family's crest.

Harm ceased that opportunity to come to Mac's side. "Mac. It's Harm. . .I'm here. . .Hold on." He pushed down on her abdomen and then tilted her to the side, striking hard at her back, hoping to get her to cough up the blood she'd been forced to swallow. "That's it. . .let it out." He hadn't spotted Kale's return until he heard the 'swoosh' of a sword slicing through the air. Moving just in time, Harm rolled away and angled his body so that he could kick Kale's shin.

The fall had the sword skipping away from Kale and landing just in front of the fireplace. As he scampered towards his weapon, Harm came to his knees and reached for a pillar candle that was burning atop a round, wooden table. When Kale made to strike again, Harm grasped the candle firmly and flung melted wax at his face. "Son of a bitch!" Kale yelled, stumbling backwards in pain.

That momentary lapse in attack offered Harm the chance to run to the other room and take the second sword from the crest. He stared at the weapon wondering if he still remembered how to wield a blade. It had been centuries since he'd actually used it to fight – currently he only used such a weapon as a method of severing heads. Kale's second attack came unexpectedly and Harm barely had a chance to move away. He wrapped his hand tightly around the grip and quickly moved backwards as Kale sliced wildly at the space between them. The force was so violent that Harm stumbled backwards, falling through a wood and glass door that led outside to the balcony. From his back, he was powerless to stop the attack and braced himself for the familiar feeling of a sharp blade cutting through skin. Be it divine intervention or dumb luck, the blade missed his heart by half an inch. Despite the pain spreading through his chest, Harm reached up and grabbed Kale's arm, holding him still as he threw one leg upward, kicking Kale in the face with a blow so forceful, the man was thrown back into the den.

Carefully, Harm wrapped his hand around the blade in his chest, feeling the steel slice his palm as he pulled the weapon out. Blood gushed from both wounds, saturating the clothing he was wearing. Rain water falling on him only made each wound that much more painful. He could sense the dizziness that came from such wounds and fought the feeling of weakness that could render a vampire useless. He would heal soon enough but would require a few bags of blood to repair all of the tears his skin sustained.

Glancing upwards, Harm could see Kale moving from the den to the library next door. He rushed after him, recalling that Mac was unconscious and vulnerable to any attack. Reflected on the walls, Harm could see a bright light emanating from the other room. Rushing through the doorway that led to the library, Harm could see a fire spreading across the room and, in the middle of it all, was Mac.

"Remind you of something, Harm?" Laughing malevolently, Kale stepped out through the balcony and leapt off and into the night.

Without his consent, his mind began racing back in time to a fateful night that had sealed his future. There, laying on the floor and being licked by flames, was Katherine's body. He could still see her eyes staring back at him, knowing that she was leaving him behind. A bloody tear slid down his cheek and he was back at the present again. Mac was awake now but unable to move. He could see the fear in her eyes as she pleaded for him to help. "Harm!"

"I'm coming." Braving the fire, Harm leaped over a sofa, landing just in front of Mac. The heat was intense and it made it almost impossible to see. He grabbed her body and made a run for the balcony, lucky to move out of the way before the trusses on the ceiling began to fall in the room. Outside, he placed her body as far away from the doors as possible, hoping that the rain would keep her safe from the flames until he finished his task. "Are you okay?"

Mac coughed hard, ridding her lungs of the smoke that she'd inhaled. "No. . .So much pain." She could barely speak, much less move from all of the injuries that she'd sustained as Kale's toy. Her body shook violently and blood was mixing with the droplets of rain and mixing to form a swirl of red liquid beneath her. "So tired."

It was best if she stayed awake but Harm just could not stay with her. He needed to find Kale and finish him off once and for all. "Try to stay awake, Mac. . .It's important." He kissed her gently and said a silent goodbye before jumping off the side of the balcony. He ran across the courtyard and into the woods to find Kale waiting for him.

The other man was leaning against a tree, the sword sticking out of the ground, within reach. "You know you can't save her. . .She's dying and my blood is flowing through her veins."

"That doesn't mean she will turn into something like you." Harm's blood was in her veins too and had long established itself along with Mac's genetic makeup. It was part of her now and Harm was counting on that for her salvation. "This thing between us is over, Kale."

"One of us will die." Kale agreed and lunged himself at Harm, sword aiming at his chest. This time, Harm managed to move out of the way. He jumped to the side and came to a rolling stop before bracing himself for another attack. Harm's sword came up crosswise, blocking the blow with a loud clang. Several strikes sent him scurrying backwards until a tree stopped his movement. Harm used that tree to push himself up and forward, lunging at Kale who moved out of the way at the last second.

Harm spun on his heel, intending to rush forward again when he found Kale running towards him. Their swords clashed repeatedly, each man trying to take a piece of the other with every blow until the pair wound up blade to blade, shoving back and forth. The force of the movement sent both weapons flying, landing several feet away.

Kale yelled loudly as he threw his body at Harm, the blow taking him right off of his feet. Kale straddled him and began to rain down punches which Harm managed to block. The weakness of his body was causing his muscles to shake from the strain. He managed to roll out from under the other vampire and waited for another attack. When it came, he was ready and carefully pulled the knife from the sheath wrapped around his leg. When Kale made to attack again, he lunged forward, sticking the knife into Kale's gut. He twisted the blade deeper and felt it give as it pierced through any organs it encountered.

Extending his fangs, Harm plunged the sharp edges as deep as possible into Kale's throat. He drank deeply, with each swallow taking in memories, information and healing properties used for him to recuperate. Once done, he removed the knife quickly, blood spurting to cover his hands before he raised it again and, this time, used the sharp edge to sever Kale's jugular. While it wouldn't kill Kale, the injury would, at least, incapacitate him enough to complete the deed. He took Kale's body and dragged it back towards the castle and into the waiting flames consuming the building. Mesmerized by the fire, Harm watched as the flames licked up the sofa and over Kale's body. "Rest in peace."

Returning to Mac, Harm dropped to his knees before her and placed a hand over her heart shocked to find her skin so cold. "No." An overwhelming sense of dread gripped him. Harm didn't have to press his fingers to her pulse point to know that Mac was dead. "No. No, Mac!"

Harm could never believe that he would cry for anyone more than he had for Katherine - until now. Sobs shook through him as he grabbed Mac's body and held her close. "What have I done?" This was his doing, a mistake made when he let himself care for her. Now she was another victim.

Her salvation lay in his blood. Harm knew that her death had a chance of being reversed, but did he have enough proof to know that his decision was correct? Was she really the one, his lifemate?

Yes.

"You wanted this once. . .I hope to God you still want this now." He pulled up the sleeve of his shirt and then bit into the flesh of his wrist. Blood immediately pooled to the surface and dripped down. With his other hand, he forced her mouth open and let the blood drip down. All the while, he prayed that she wouldn't hate him for turning her. There were many immortals that, despite wanting the change, hated what they became. He hoped Mac wouldn't loathe him if she survived the ordeal.

He forced the blood into her, keeping her mouth open and watching intently as the liquid moved down her throat. "C'mon. . . Mac, wake up. Drink!" Harm shook her body violently, hoping that the movement would jar her back to life. He needed her to swallow and take the blood deep inside of her. "I love you." He said suddenly and felt everything suddenly stop and shift. "I love you." Harm said again surprised to realize that it was true – he did love her. "Mac, I love you. . .You need to drink, please." He said hoping that she could still hear him and that his voice would bring her back. "Drink, Mac."

Mac had heard him but the pool of warmth that she was currently floating in was too hard to resist. She felt safe there, comfortable. It was easy to just slip away, but every time she tried, he'd wake her again, shake her body into a living dreamland. She wanted to comply, wanted to feel him, but the warmth was so pleasant. With whatever ounce of strength that she had left, Mac weighed her options and forced herself to join him, if only for a second. She opened her mouth, cleared her throat and swallowed the iron-tasting liquid. And then, she let the warmth take her over again.