A/N: Disclaimer in Chapter 1.

A longer chapter for you…

I hate this stomach flu; it just doesn't want to go. I've been sleeping on and off today I had hoped for an earlier post but I couldn't manage it. I'm feeling better than I have been so I'm able to post but it's just annoying me.

I thought I'd do a twist on the 'weapon', I hope it wasn't disappointing, I really wanted to try something no one else had.

Chapter 21: Hunter

Erin threw the face cloth down, turning her head away in disgust. She didn't want to see them, she'd made that clear last time. The floor boards creaked as she tried to make her escape hastily, praying that this was all one big nightmare and that she'd wake up soon from it but clearly there would be no such luck.

She knew there had been something familiar in the way that they'd fought her, the fact that they weren't as skilled as the other Hunters. She felt fury burn at her.

Vlad grasped Erin's arms kissing her softly, telling her without words that everything would be okay. He rubbed her back pulling her away from the Hunter slightly now they knew who it was. After the confrontation last time at the Second Betrothal Ball Vlad wasn't going to let Erin be hurt again.

Ingrid slapped the Hunter, knocking them out of their state of unconsciousness sharply. Ingrid had thought that she had felt déjà vu when she'd held the Hunter firmly by the biceps.

The Hunter spluttered awake their eyes darting frantically around the room. His eyes focussed on the irate vampires in front of him and the two slayers just behind him. They weren't cowering behind them from the Hunter but handing over the 'honour' of the interrogation to them. Then the Hunter realised that air was getting to their face, the cool air was tossing their dark brown hair back and forth on their head.

They were tempted to cover their face with their hands but there was no point in doing that at all.

The secret was out. They looked up at them with defiance on their face, they weren't going to be afraid of Vladimir Dracula or his family, he knew what they were capable of unlike so many of their kind so he knew what to expect from him. They were going to be strong throughout this.

Erin shook her head still in disbelief, this had to be a trick, there was no other explanation for it. There was no possible way they would become a Hunter.

"You're a Hunter." She whispered before looking back at Vlad, "I thought Hunters were supposed to be pure blood vampires." Erin pulled out of Vlad's embrace; he let her go albeit reluctantly, he knew she needed to do this.

"They are." Vlad was completely confused; a half fang shouldn't have been allowed to be a Hunter. Erin grabbed her would be attacker's neck noticing there was something odd about it. She swiped at his neck noticing that the bite mark was missing. She rubbed at it, make up and concealer coming off in her hand, he'd tried to hide his bite mark. "He tried to hide what he is. That's the only way he could become a Hunter."

Erin stood back sharply and moved towards Vlad, he wrapped his arms around her waist holding her tightly to him once more; he rubbed gently circles on her hips to keep her close to him. "Why are you here Ryan?"

"Olga wants to wipe you out." Ingrid and Vlad looked so alike in that moment as they rolled their eyes in sync with each other. It was at times like this you could definitely tell they were brother and sister.

Erin folded her arms across her chest and shook her head at him; he really could state the obvious. "Really?" She couldn't help the sarcasm that dripped from her voice. There was something else she wanted to talk about, he'd been so proud of serving Ingrid before she couldn't understand why he'd deliberately go against them and try to hide the bite she gave him. "You hid what you are; I understand if you were trying to hide from breathers but not from your own kind."

"They're not our kind Erin!" Ryan shouted at her, "Our kind is slayer kind we're just some freak show they turned us into. He made you a freak and the prize freak at that!" Erin's fists clenched, she wasn't going to let him see her eyes water, he didn't deserve that at all. She was going to be strong throughout this. "They don't care about us; I've had to hide what I am because of it." His attention snapped to Vlad, "You've changed the laws for women but you haven't changed the ones for half fangs, half fangs are still kicked to one side."

Vlad shook his head Erin had never been treated that way; she was treated with the respect she deserved. "Erin's a half fang…"

"She's your wife, they have to respect her." A smile crossed his face, "Or they *had* to before you lost your power."

"It was taken, I didn't lose it." Vlad protested angrily.

"I bet Erin's happy, she never wanted to be a slayer I did, in the end she got her wish didn't she? She was almost Queen of the Vampires." He spat at her. "She didn't care what happened as long as she wasn't a slayer…"

"Don't you dare blame me for what happened to you!" Erin told him lowly, cutting him off sharply. Ryan was the one who'd let himself be bitten by Ingrid. He went off on a mission to slay her to prove himself. Starting at the top instead of working his way up.

"Erin…" Vlad began quietly, if she lost control then he would have to step in and he didn't want to hurt her if he had to restrain her. Erin glanced back at him, a small nod of appreciation on her face.

"No Vlad, it's about time he listened." Erin told her husband firmly, Vlad nodded but didn't say another word. He knew she needed to do this, this had been brewing for two years Erin hadn't had chance before she'd been too stunned but now she had the perfect opportunity. "Ryan this is the last time I will tell you this, you were the one who sided with Dad about me being a slayer, you were the one who practically handed me over to our parents to be married off. I'm glad I'm a vampire, Vlad has always given me the freedom I wanted. He's never expected anything from me or asked for anything. I'm mated to him now, that won't change and I don't want it to."

"He turned you so you'd be 'compatible' nothing more. I bet he got a thrill at being your first…"

"SHUT UP!" Erin screamed at her brother, she honestly didn't recognise the caring brother that she'd grown up with. Being a vampire couldn't change anyone this much, or so she'd thought. "You don't know what you're talking about." She shouted, Vlad grabbed her arms and pulled them behind her as he saw the beginnings of a fireball forming. Vlad caressed her wrists lightly trying to relax her. He felt the muscles in her arms relax and let go of her wrists kissing her mating mark softly. Her eyes fluttered closed briefly as she completely calmed at that action.

Ryan pulled a disgusted face and the mated couple's actions. "He only needs you for an heir!" Ryan snarled at Vlad, "You wait until he gets you pregnant, see how he feels about a daughter. He'll toss you to one side, he won't care about any female child just like the rest of his kind."

That was definitely the wrong thing to say.

Vlad couldn't help himself, his arm shot out, landing a considerable blow to Ryan's jaw. Ryan's head snapped to one side, a crack filling the room. He hadn't done it hard enough to break his jaw bone but he had been tempted. He needed Ryan to speak though and a broken or fractured jaw wouldn't allow for that unfortunately. He winced as pain shot through his shoulder at the exertion. The stitches tore slightly, luckily they didn't do much damage as they were due to be removed soon.

"Erin is much more than a breeding machine." Vlad hated Erin being referred to as only being used to breed from and he hated everyone assuming he'd only welcome a son. "Your parents wanted her to breed more of your kind. I want her to be happy, I don't care if we have a daughter as long as Erin is ready for a child. I'll love either."

"She accepted that as a part of being a slayer." Ryan was so nonchalant about it.

Vlad turned away, he wanted to hit something else – harder than before. He wasn't violent, he still had outbursts of his powers but he was trying to control them. Erin gently cupped his fists rubbing small circles trying to encourage him to release them.

"I paid for my choice." Erin told her brother sternly, Ryan needed reminding for that. Vlad had paid for it too when he'd been forced to turn her early and nearly lost his crown back then because of it. "I ended up with a stake in my stomach for choosing Vlad. You became a vampire by accident Ryan. If you don't want to be one anymore then you know how to end it." Erin forced herself to remain calm, of course she didn't want Ryan to end his life but she was tired of having this conversation with him.

Ryan blinked furiously at his sister; he hadn't expected her to say that and so bluntly. The Erin he knew would usually have ducked her head in apology or looked away but she maintained her eyes contact with him, she refused to even look the slightest bit remorseful.

The silence hung around them in the air, waiting for one of them to speak.

Jonno could tell how obvious it was that Ryan missed his life as a slayer, Erin and Ryan couldn't be any more different. He decided to voice something that had been hanging in the air but hadn't been answered yet. "Why are you here Ryan?" He'd infiltrated the Hunters for a reason.

"I came back for Ingrid. Olga will wipe you all out, I need to protect her. That's why I infiltrated the Hunters, it was the only way I could protect her." Vlad and Erin shared a look, they should have known. His bite would have overridden everything when he heard that Ingrid was in danger, he would be compelled to save her.

"Bertrand will never let you near me." Ingrid told him with a smug smile on her face; Bertrand was protective in that way. He'd never allow her to be touched by anyone he didn't' trust or anyone she didn't want to touch her. It was one of the reasons she loved him. Thinking of Bertrand, he hadn't come in when Jonno and Vlad had.

"Where is he now then?" Ryan's face was smug as he deliberately surveyed the room looking for Ingrid's 'bodyguard'.

"Where *is* Bertrand?" Ingrid's voice was laced with fear. She saw the look that Jonno and Vlad shared; it didn't look like it was going to be a pleasant answer. Erin's head tipped to one side and she maintained eye contact with Vlad, they were communicating silently again. Rarely did they use telepathy to do this but now it looked like they were using it.

She shook her head, she didn't want to hear it, especially not from the length of time it took them to form their words. "No…" She wouldn't listen to him being dead.

Vlad moved forwards, "Ingrid…" Before he could get any further his sister had sped from the room before any of them could stop her.

"Stay here and guard him." Vlad told the slayers firmly, the Van Helsing's nodded drawing their newly sharpened stakes and pointing them directly over Ryan's unbeating heart. They'd had him like this before four years ago and they'd spared his life then, a traitorous part of Jonno's mind wished they hadn't from the damage and hurt Ryan had caused in his wake.

They needed to explain things to her properly before she wouldn't see reason and being a vampire would definitely aid them at the moment when dealing with Ingrid.

YEKNODELTTILYEKNODELTTIL

Ingrid saw the pile of glittering dust on the floor before she saw anything else. Ingrid fell to her knees ignoring the pain that shot through her legs at the sudden contact; she couldn't bring herself to touch it. She couldn't go through this again; she'd lost someone she loved again. Losing Bertrand was worse than losing Will, Will had been a crush in the end, her first love but Bertrand was much more than that. He was the part of her she hadn't noticed she was missing.

Vlad sped into the room; Erin was close on his heels.

Vlad stood close to his sister, not close enough to touch her but close enough for her to know he was there. He wouldn't stand in her personal space she hated people doing that as much as he did. "Ingrid hear us out,"

"He's dust…"

"Bertrand's not dust." Vlad told her sharply cutting her off before she could go on a tirade. "With Ryan I didn't get a chance to tell you…" He wished he'd found a way to tell her.

Ingrid looked upwards with a roar, "You didn't get chance to tell me what?" How could Vlad not tell her something so important? She shot up from the pile of dust, she wanted to know who it was she'd been mourning if it wasn't Bertrand and she wanted to know where her almost fiancé was.

"The Council took him, he's alive for now." Erin shot Vlad an irritated look, he really shouldn't have added 'for now' to the end of his sentence. Vlad looked down before looking back at her realising his mistake.

"'For now'?" Ingrid had definitely picked up on his words.

"You know what I mean." Vlad protested angrily, Ingrid hadn't been forgiven yet for twisting his emotions so he wasn't going to stand for her twisting his words as well. "I don't know why or where they've taken him; I slew Jorgen when they took him, that's his dust not Bertrand's, but I promise you we'll get him back."

Ingrid's fangs lowered and she snarled, shoving Vlad backwards, he hit the floor with a small yelp. Erin moved forwards to try and stop her but Vlad shook his head telling her to remain where she was. He would deal with his impulsive sister. He shot upwards he wasn't going to stand this from his sister none of them deserved this.

Vlad's fangs dropped at Ingrid's next words as anger overcame him. "I'll make them regret ever taking him; I'll make the streets…"

Thunder rumbled as a thousand memories assaulted Vlad at once, making him stagger only a few of them being pleasant ones. Erin rushed beside him but he waved her off instead making a direct beeline for his sister.

Vlad grabbed Ingrid before she did anything ridiculous again, her wrist was squeezed firmly under his grasp pulling her back towards him in warning. He knew his grip was too tight but he was more concerned with her not escaping. "You know how this turned out in Stokely." He warned lowly, "If you even try to do that again I will personally slay you.

"You wouldn't." Ingrid shook her head, surprised at her brother's comment. Vlad had complete seriousness in his eyes and written across his face. He wouldn't go through those four years again, he couldn't. The only good thing that she'd brought to him was Erin and that was after Ingrid had bitten her brother.

Vlad dropped his head so he looked at her through his eyelids. "Don't push me Ingrid. I'm not ready for a slayer war."

"Technically it wouldn't be your war…" Ingrid muttered, speaking before she thought it through. She shouldn't have been surprised that Vlad didn't bristle but Erin did. She seemed to take the snide comment harder than Vlad.

Erin decided it was best if she intervened at this point, she could get quicker to the point than Vlad could sometimes, this occasion being one of them. "No but Vlad will be top of the hit list again because he's the Chosen One regardless of whether or not he's in charge at the moment." Erin snapped at her, she wanted Ingrid to see how her actions would affect all of them.

Ingrid looked down, it was one of her faults she didn't think her actions through, it was something that she envied about Vlad and Erin they seemed to be able to anticipate each other's actions without needing any sort of prompt. He moved, she moved like magnets. Ingrid had believed her and Bertrand had become like that now.

"Turning evil isn't the answer to everything Ingrid, I know that and so do you." Ingrid nodded slowly, Vlad was right he had just as much experience in this area as she did. "We'll get Bertrand back, together." Vlad stood his ground, keeping a watchful eye on his sister making sure she didn't have a chance to try anything. ""We'll figure out why they took him together. We do things together now, not on our own. We'll get Bertrand back, he's family." If he was with Ingrid he was family, Bertrand and Ingrid had stuck by him when Erin had been taken and accepted her as one of the family to stand by him, he wanted to return the favour. "We don't leave family behind."

TBC

A/N: Thanks for reading.