Chapter 24

"What the hell just happened?" Matt groaned.

"I could ask you the same thing." Tyler growled, rolling Dee over. She was clutching her wrist and hyperventilating. Her eyes were unfocused and her mouth was moving like she was trying to talk but no sound came out.

"Dee, can you hear me?" Tyler took her face in one hand.

She coughed. "Perimeter."

Tyler nodded. "Four in the back. A couple got inside. Looked like another scouting party. They're all dead."

"My heart." Deirdre started to shake, grabbing at her chest.

Tyler grabbed her wrist. It had a chunk of flesh bitten out of it. The wound was already beginning to smell. "You're bit. What kind was it?"

"Infectoid vamp." She choked out. "Adrenaline. My bag. Inside. It'll stop the infection."

Without a word, he picked her up and whisked her inside. Stepping over one headless body, and a mound of liquified flesh, he deposited Dee on the sofa in Vivian's office. Matt followed. Dee had become very pale, was hyperventilating and a fever burnt her brow. Tyler's frown intensified. "Which bag?"

"Duffel. Closet." She sputtered out before the shakes took her again.

"Can I trust you to watch her?" Tyler asked Donner.

"Go." Donner nodded. Tyler bolted up the stairs.

A second later Kanin came into the room followed by Ruby, Vivian, Luke and Sophia. "The perimeter is cleared. Covered in bodies, but cleared. What's happening here, boss?"

"A very short-lived siege. Deirdre was bitten." Donner replied. He sent Kanin to secure the bodies of the vampires that had attacked the house, then to call Sherman Blackstone. Sophia crashed into a nearby easy chair, Luke wrapping a protective arm around her.

Vivian ran to her daughter's side, but Dee pushed her off, screaming and recoiling. She yelled at V in what sounded like French, crying in English that she wasn't safe. She kept clawing at her chest until Luke and Donner restrained her.

Tyler broke through the line of terrified looking onlookers. He'd brought Dee's whole duffel with him. Ruby started to protest his presence, but he told her unceremoniously to shove it. He knelt at Dee's side. Tyler produced 2 vials, one filled with a clear liquid and one with a greenish liquid, and an old fashioned metal syringe. He stroked Dee's face, gripping it almost lovingly to get her attention. "Slayer, I need you to focus for me. Which vial and how much?"

She couldn't speak, so she pointed to the clear vial and held her fingers to the syringe to indicate the amount the was needed. Then she tapped her chest, right over her heart. Ruby shook her head, grabbing Tyler's arm as he filled the syringe. "This is crazy, we should wait for Sherman."

She got matching growls from Tyler, Deirdre, and surprisingly Vivian. "There's no time."

Tyler raised the syringe. "Ready?"

Dee nodded and braced a hand on his shoulder. He plunged the syringe into her chest, delivering the adrenaline directly into her heart. She convulsed for a moment her back going rigid, then gasped, bolting straight up on the sofa. She took a few more ragged breaths and tipped her head back. "Damn, I hate it when that happens."

"That's happened more than once?" Luke scoffed.

Vivian crossed her arms over her chest. "Would you care to explain, young lady?"

Dee at least had the good grace to look sheepish. She explained in halting breaths as Ruby handed her a glass of water.

"Infectoid vampires transmit viruses that stop your heart, then turn you. If you can keep the heart beating, you can keep the infection from taking hold. From there my heightened immune system will knock out the rest of the virus. I should only have a mild fever for the rest of the night."

"And you found this out how?" Donner asked, assuming a similar stance to Vivian.

"Ran into a couple Infectoids in Mile End. Doc fixed me up. Figured it would be a good idea to keep some adrenaline on me in case it happened again." She explained flippantly. "Don't look so worried sheriff, I'll be fine by tomorrow."

"It's so weird that this is like old hat for you." Sophia shivered.

Dee shrugged. "Just part of the deal."

"Dee?!" Tyler growled. He had discreetly slipped the vials and syringe back into her duffel bag.

"I'll be fine, Ty." Dee reassured him. "I owe you double now."

They exchanged a meaningful glance, and Dee turned to Donner. "Has the perimeter been secured?"

Donner nodded. "Thanks to your friend here. I don't suppose you'd care to elaborate on what each of these vampires is?"

"Matt, can't it wait?" Vivian asked. "She nearly died."

"No" Dee protested. "He needs to know."

This raised eyebrows around the room. She turned back to Donner. "Look, I can be a royal bitch, I know that. But I'm not benightedly stupid. I'm not going to withhold information that could get all of us killed. I'll help you clean up this mess. And we can go over each of these vamps, their strengths and weaknesses. But I need your help with something as well, and you're not going to like it."

Matt gave her an assessing look and took in a stabilizing breath. "What do you need?"

"To start training your daughter. And my brother. And so do you."

Matt growled. "Absolutely not."

"Wait, train us for what?"

"Dugare is escalating." Dee said ignoring Luke in favor of the room. "He knows I'm here and he may eventually grow cocky enough to send a whole squadron after Sophia. They need to know how to defend themselves. And I'm willing to teach them to fight my way. But I need you to teach them to fight your way."

"No, I am fully capable of protecting my daughter. Thank you very much."

"And I am telling you that you are not capable of doing that alone. No matter what you and Vivian may think. Sophia needs you, and Luke, and me to get her through this. But she also needs to know that she can protect herself if it comes down to it. You want me to trust you? I'm trying to meet you half-way here. So do me a favor, get your head out of your ass and do the same!"

"Excuse me. I have something to say" Sophia said softly, rising out of her chair. It was barely above a whisper, but everyone heard and turned.

"Dee is right. Dugare is coming for me and you guys will potentially be putting your lives on the line for me. I'm a danger to you and I'm a danger to the pack."

"Honey..." "You're not.." Sophia interrupted Luke and her father. "I am! But I don't have to be. The white wolves of legend were Alphas, meant to lead the pack. And how can I do that if I'm running to a panic room, when danger comes calling? There are a lot of kids in this town, kids my age and younger, both human and Wolf that could get caught in the crossfire here."

"So here's what I think we should do. Dad, I know that mom made you promise not to shift after she died. And I respect that. Vivian, Luke, and Ruby can teach me to fight in wolf form. Dee will train me and Luke in hand to hand combat."

Sophia saw Dee nodding and continued "...and any other Hill kid who wants to learn."

"Oh no! I am not educator material. I've been training since I was ten. I can give a crash course to you and Luke... but a whole class?" Dee held her hands up.

"We're a pack, Deirdre." John said. "Our strength is in our numbers. If one of us falls there are others to pick up the slack. The more people you train, the more effective we can all be." Ruby squeezed his hand and smiled, she was proud of him.

"That's not how I operate. The more people I train, the more I have to worry about in battle, the less effective I am. A Slayer works alone." Dee countered.

"You aren't just a Slayer." Vivian replied. "You never have been."

For a moment Dee looked as if she might strike her birth mother. There was so much anger and mistrust for Vivian having abandoned her. Matt saw the pain in Vivian and brushed her arm. "I'll agree to allow Sophia to take up training, and I'll support you among the parents in training the Hill kids. Meeting half-way, remember?"

"Maybe Luke and I can even show you how to fight as a wolf." Ruby offered with an excited smile. Luke nodded. "I'm in."

Deirdre's hard gaze snapped toward her brother and sister. "I don't shift! Period."

"What do you mean, you don't..?" Sophia asked confused

"Period. As in end of discussion." Dee retorted sharply. "I will train you and Luke, and any of the nasty neophytes this town has to offer. But what I do with my own body is my own business, capice?"

Looking everyone straight in the eye, and seeing nods all around, Dee sighed. "Then it looks like we have a deal. Now if you'll excuse me, I really need to take a smoke break. I'll be back in 10 to help with the cleanup."

She walked out of the house and onto the porch, not caring that she could hear heated discussion broiling in her wake. She needed a break from the back and forth. She lit a cigarette, drawing the smoke in and feeling it drift over her nerves. It was a few moments after sitting down on the porch swing that she felt a weight on it next to hers.

"Mind if I join you?" he said.

"You've saved my life twice in 24 hours." She replied. "I'd be a cow to tell you to shove off now."

Dee tipped her pack of cigarettes in Tyler's direction, offering him one. He shook his head. "I quit years ago."

She nodded. "Nasty habit."

"They're not so bad you know. And much as I hate to admit that Loverboy is right about anything, we are a pack."

She shook her head. "No, you and Lucas are the only ones in this town I trust to have my back."

"And Vivian. I can't tell you about the others. But I know her better than anyone. And I can tell you, that woman will jump in front of a train before she lets anything happen to you."

"Not me. Luke yes, but not me." Dee muttered bitterly.

"Dee look at me." Tyler said steadily. She obeyed. "I know you don't remember...well anything, from when you grew up here. But I do. Now, you said you trust me to have your back?"

She nodded. She didn't even have to think about it.

"I will tell you this once, so please hear it. Vivian loves you. She had reasons for doing everything that she did back then. I can't tell you because I don't know all of them. At some point I'm sure she will tell you why. But just know that when it comes down to it, you can trust her."

She thought about it, then nodded. "I'll try. But that's all I can promise."

"That's all I ask." Tyler replied.

"I should get back in there. I did promise to help with cleanup." Dee stubbed out her cigarette, and wiped her hands on her jeans. "You'll be around?"

He nodded. "I'm not exactly popular in this crowd, so I may hang in the background. But I'll be around."

"You'll have to tell me that story at some point. Goodnight Tyler. And thanks"

Tyler waited for Deirdre to go back inside, then walked out onto the drive. He turned, cocking his head to one side. "You can come out now."

A figure came up behind him and slammed him into the door of his SUV. She wrapped a hand around his throat as her eyes blazed at him. "What the hell kind of game do you think you're playing?"

Tyler looked calmly down at his ex-wife. "Could you be more specific?"

"When you granted the divorce, when you let me go, I thought for a moment that you were actually turning into a decent person." Ruby growled. "But it turns out being turned vamp didn't change you at all. Still the same old Tyler. Always with a scheme up his sleeve. Now you're playing hero to suck up to the Slayer. Isn't she a little young for you, Ty?"

Tyler gripped her wrist and pulled her hand away from his throat, glaring at her. "What I am is no longer your concern. You have what you want Ruby. I'm out of your life. But what that also means is that I don't have to put up with your bullshit anymore. Leave me alone."

He got into the Jeep and turned on the engine. Ruby leaned in the open window and smirked.

"Do you think my little sister will be so loyal to you when she finds out that this hero façade, that you've put on, is just that? What happens when I tell her that you've been through Vivian and me, trying to get to the top? We both know that she's just another Cates woman to notch into your bed post."

"But she's not." It was Tyler's turn to smirk. "She's not a Cates, and she's not your sister. At least not by blood. You haven't the faintest clue what she is Ruby. You want to tell her that I've slept with you and Vivian? Go ahead. I'll just keep pulling her out of the fires that she gets herself into. We'll let her decide who to trust. But quite frankly, if I were you, I'd be more concerned with the army of vampires out there jonesing for the blood of a White Wolf."

With that, Tyler spend off, leaving Ruby to seethe in his wake.