A/N: Disclaimer in Chapter 1.

I'm sorry…I was wrong…I forgot to resolve a minor plot so unfortunately this fic will be 30 chapters long…I'm so sorry about that.

I had a little problem uploading last night (I couldn't sign in)…so I've done it this morning instead.

Chapter 25: Catch Up

Erin stirred slowly, turning her head so it nuzzled against his chest as she instinctively pulled herself closer to him.

Vlad lifted his hand to her face as she blinked blearily at him, her smile widened as she looked up at him. It hadn't been a dream, he was there.

She pushed herself up slightly to give him a quick kiss on the lips.

It was the best sleep she'd had in days.

"Morning…night." She corrected herself looking towards the dark outline around the closed curtains.

"Night." He greeted back with a smile and a small laugh.

"What time is it?" She asked glancing around the room looking for a clock.

Vlad lifted his left wrist to look at his watch, "Half past nine." He answered. Erin lowered her head back down to his chest she still felt tired. Vlad wrapped an arm tightly around her shoulders, holding her to him.

"How did you know where I was?" She asked him, Vlad hadn't realised she was on the balcony last time.

"When we first met I daydreamed about you." He told her, he knew she'd grin at that. He tried to ignore it and continued, "One of the daydreams was of you tied to the archway."

She couldn't resist teasing him, "So you were dreaming about being my knight in shining armour?" Vlad pulled a face at her and she let out a chuckle. "What made you realise it wasn't a daydream?" She asked him.

With a jerk of his head he gestured to the gloves he'd take off while she'd slept. "I dreamt I'd worn gloves. I haven't worn gloves since I was 12." He answered, "I haven't needed to," He didn't feel the cold.

"It was an odd thing to imagine yourself wearing."

"Exactly." Erin lifted his hand and pulled it towards her she traced his fully healed palm with her fingers. "And then I realised I was wearing everything I had in the dream and Jonno said you were waiting for the dawn…"

"Everything seemed to fall into place and I knew where you were."

They slipped into a comfortable silence as Vlad traced patterns on Erin's shirt with his right hand. Erin flicked the button on his shirt, taking her time undoing it and refastening it. She didn't want to move, she was too comfortable

"I can't believe he thought I made you stronger." Erin whispered suddenly startling him.

Vlad lifted her head up to look her in the eyes, "You do," He spoke firmly, "You make me stronger. You are the only person who can do that, without you I can't stop myself from becoming a crazed and vengeful vampire."

He could still feel the effects of her going missing holding over him; he knew they wouldn't go straight away. He'd given it too much free reign over the last few days to fully take control straight away now she was back with him, his rage had kept him going and rage wasn't an easy emotion to lock away in a box.

"Soy or human?" She asked him with a smile.

He hesitated for a moment; since he'd rescued her he hadn't craved human blood. He didn't want to drain the slayers to drink their blood; he wanted to do it to set an example and make them pay. "Soy."

She smiled at him, "Good,"

YEKNODELTTILYEKNODELTTIL

In the dungeons the slayers were all glaring at each other. Ryan and Renfield had quickly rounded up the other two slayers and thrown them in the opposite cell, they were just as defenceless as Jonno and Mina.

"What do you think they are doing at the HQ?" Lee asked quietly.

"Planning an attack." One of the slayers across the other side snorted at Jonno's firm statement. "Have you got something to say Mary?"

Mary's slaying partner, Lucy, shook her head telling her to remain quiet but Mary was determined. "Yes, actually." Jonno looked surprised at her answering him back. "All along you said Vlad would be weak without her, he's not weak he's evil without her. Three quarters of us didn't want to go along with this plan but ignored and overruled us." She shouted at him. "Now we're the one's who's going to end up as his dinner when he would have left us alone in the first place."

"MARY!" Mina scolded sharply but the slayer refused to listen to her.

"You should have stopped him." She told the older woman, this had been a long time in coming. "From the very start you wanted Vlad dead, it cost the lives of good slayers. You didn't see their families' faces when Lucy and me had to tell them their children were dead. Of course they couldn't know they were slayers. He handed you peace on a plate but didn't want peace you wanted his fiancée and revenge."

Jonno shook his head, "What do you know? You never lost anyone…"

"My boyfriend was amongst the slayers you sent to their deaths!"

Silence overcame the room as they all looked at Mary, her eyes streamed with tears of grief.

Jonno looked at her, she'd broken the rules having a boyfriend amongst the Guild – it was forbidden.

Mary wanted to continue. "I know I could have lost my licence, we both could, but you can't talk about what you do to normal people. Your mother should know that, she just regrets not believing her husband in the first place."

That comment hit Mina spot on. It stung her; she wondered how many other slayers thought that about her. She did regret leaving Eric and not dealing with his 'fantasy' before but most of all she regretted not believing him until it was too late.

"The Guild isn't going to support you in this petty feud *you* started." Lee told him finally gaining confidence to speak. Mary nodded her thanks to him, that exactly what she wanted to say to their 'strong' leader.

"You'd better find a way to make peace with Vlad." Mary told him, "He still wants his revenge for what you did."

Jonno trembled as he realised she was right.

In his desperation to control Vlad he hadn't thought the consequences through he'd approached the situation with blinders on.

Any more deaths would be his fault.

He needed to think of something – and fast.

YEKNODELTTILYEKNODELTTIL

If Erin saw another bottle of soy blood after this she'd throw it out of the window. Vlad motioned with her eyes to drink up and she reluctantly agreed to do as he asked. Any more soy blood and she was sure she'd burst from it all. It was really driving her insane the amount she was drinking.

She held her empty bottle out to Vlad who took it from her. He picked up a full one, she scowled, to her relief he began to drink from it himself.

Vlad needed her to know something, it wouldn't be long before the Council began questioning her about what had happened.

"The Council know about our 'intention to mate'." He told her once he'd finished the bottle. She gave him a confused look, "I told them, when I was trying to prove to them that you weren't dead." He felt a fire shoot through him at their doubts.

"Were they angry?"

"I don't care." Vlad answered, his Gran hadn't been amused that was for certain.

"Your Gran hates me." Erin reminded him with a shudder.

His Gran hated everyone, "She hates dad too, don't take it personally its…"

They both finished together, "A vampire thing."

He gave a small sigh, "Jonno slew two Council members, Quint and Savant." She shuddered as she realised how close it could have been to Vlad being slain when they were all unconscious.

"They were against you weren't they?" She asked quietly.

He nodded slowly, they might have been against him but they didn't deserve their fate. "They didn't deserve to be slain by a coward who couldn't face his victims." His eyes darkened slightly to grey and Erin placed a hand on his neck.

"You couldn't have done anything." She reassured him.

His eyes lowered, sadness filling them. He should have known he slayers would try something like this but he didn't know how Jonno worked any more. "I know."

"Vlad about our mating ceremony…" She began slowly, bringing the conversation back to something lighter. She wanted him to know how she felt about it.

"You just got back and you want to talk about our mating ceremony?" He shook his head lightly, he wondered if she was worried about the Council forcing them to mate quickly. "We can wait as long as we want." He squeezed her hand, there were no laws saying when it had to happen. "There's no rush."

"No Vlad." She told him seriously, making him furrow his brow at her, "I don't want to wait."

TBC

A/N: Thanks for reading.