AN: I'll try to remember to update in the coming days. It's still not finished but I have more of it written now.

CHAPTER 21

It had started off with a simple reconnaissance mission. Simple. Seriously.

Signals were bad. They could never work because signals could be intercepted and they could never trust that the Vamps wouldn't ever hack in, so Choma had slowly set up communications with the rest of the bases of the world. Underground lines which crisscrossed the entire globe, but theirs was somehow down. Sure lines could be tapped, but the Vamps hadn't detected them yet, so it seemed unlikely that they ever will. The line had gone through the city, hooked up to the solar panels for easy access and limitless power. They were even kept separate from the earth by small air tight tubes, they were practically impenetrable. But somehow, it was broken.

Adnon, Marx, Jez, and he were suppose to go into the city and check it out for any problems, really they hadn't expected to find anything. All they had to do was walk through an abandoned city and then go back to base and report that they had found nothing worth noting.

Adnon and Marx had gone east while Jez and he had gone west. They were talking on the radios, about nothing remotely related to their mission but that meant that they had contact which was good. The tall buildings and creaking frames made it seem like everyone else in the world was dead and gone, but their echoing voices reminded him that everyone had just moved somewhere safer. So when Jez said that they should check out the creepy library, Shep wanted to say something along the lines of 'Don't go in there! That's exactly where the aliens are hiding!'

But the whole reason of going through the city was to ensure that it was safe for the techs to come. So with all his senses screaming at him, he led Jez in and they found themselves in a room which seemed normal enough. But as they walked further and deeper, between tall shelves stocked with dusty, forgotten books they started to see purple tendrils which had crept up along the walls and furniture.

He put his hand out and stopped Jez from another step. Stock still, he listened for any sound which might give him a clue. But this was bad, so bad and he didn't know why. The purple tendrils might be some sort of plant but he knew that wasn't true. They were dangerous. He knew it but he had never seen them in his life, he just knew with a surety that scared him.

He wanted to grab Jez and get out of there but he wasn't sure if he should. They had a job to do but this was wrong, something was off. Shep took another step away from their only means of escape and waited. There had to be some more tactical approach to this. He couldn't just base this all on gut instinct, as much as that had helped, he could not go back to base to report that it was unsafe for them to fix their only means of communication with the rest of the world due to his feelings.

A creak of old floor boards made them turn around to face a pitch black archway. Damn, he should have thought this through. They were trapped. Whatever was there had them cornered.

Another creak, followed by swift almost undetectable movement. There was more than one and he couldn't see any of them.

Screaming. Pain-filled and terror induced, but it wasn't from him. Jez crumpled behind him and Shep knew he couldn't help but he kneeled down and put his fingers to Jez's neck. He had only passed out. But this still left him in a pitch black room with an unknown assailant.

There were a few ways about this, he could either try and drag Jez out the door or he alone could go deeper into the library and hope that their attackers would follow him and leave Jez alone.

---

He looked up when the key scratched into the lock of the cell door, expecting another one of the Vamps to come in and demand he tell them where their base was. He was prepared to fight, crouched on the floor and ready to leap at his fist attacker, his fists clenched around a pipe he had managed to break off.

He never thought that they took prisoners but then again why wouldn't they, a race with the power of space travel had to have enough brains to do a proper questioning.

He just wished they weren't so damned smart. Shep didn't want to feel the Vamp's clammy, dead looking hand on his chest and the terrible pain which took out all his warmth, draining him of everything he has and then more. He was dying, he could feel that. Every time that cold hand touched his chest, he knew he was getting closer to death, and they would take him to the brink of it.

But the worst part was when they'd give it back. When the Vamp's clammy hand gave Shep back his life, he knew that the Vamp wasn't giving everything back. He knew that some part of him was staying gone but he felt like he could take on the world and that nothing could hurt him. He was starting not to care that he was losing himself bit by bit and that scared him more than the deadly cold.

There was always another Vamp. A 'she'. And she came in just as he was feeling that high burst of energy but she only talked to him the that first time.

When the cell door burst open, it wasn't the Vamps but Adnon, Jez, and Marx.

---

"Shep!"

He turned his head in time to see a blur jump at him, he caught it and wasn't surprised in the least to find Mat staring up at him happily.

"What's up little man?"

"You're better now." Mat stated with confidence.

"Just about, the docs say they're gonna let me go soon." He was still in the infirmary, he was scheduled for a complete psychological analysis later today but he still got to leave and why mention that the other part if it wasn't that important.

"Good," the little boy nodded and pulled out a folded piece of paper from his pocket, "We made you this in class today. Kani said that you better not die."

Shep laughed, "Tell him not to worry."

"Come on, Mat," Trin said softly, "let's go so that Shep can sleep and get out of the 'firm."

Mat nodded sadly but hugged him once more before jumping off the bed and following Trin out the room, leaving him alone with his thoughts.

His hand unconsciously went to his chest, he expected to find some kind of scar there, something to remind him of the number of times that they drained him but he found nothing but smooth skin.

He still hadn't told them, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to. Why would it matter anyways? But, it had to matter, or else he wouldn't be thinking about it this much.

'She' had read his mind, he felt her trying to push through and he tried, he really tried to keep her out but it felt like she was doing it for hours and he had never felt anything like this before. He shouldn't feel guilty for slipping especially since it only happened the first time, but for some reason his heart made him believe that he should have known how.

She hadn't found their base but she found something else, something he didn't know. Buried behind some wall that he constructed, she found his name. His REAL name, but it still didn't mean anything to him though it struck something in her. Her eyes had narrowed and she walked until she was completely in his personal space.

Slender cold fingers making a mockery of a caress down his cheek. Sharp teeth in a grimace of a smile, soft mocking laughter.