A/N: NEW CHAPTER! I need to apologize for two things. One, the length - this chapter is rather short. Two, that after that wonderful steaming jambalaya of evil that was Randy and Melina in the last chapter, neither one of them are in this one. I know, I know, I miss them already, too. But don't worry, both of them will be showing up again VERY soon. If it makes any difference, writing this chapter was like pulling teeth for me - I didn't want to, but knew that I needed to. EITHER WAY, ENJOY! PEACE!
Thank you to Shandy777, Esha Napoleon, nikki1335, Nastygrl25, Animal Luvr 4 Life, AprilGilbert1996, DannyBoo511, and Girl on Fire for reviewing the last chapter! You know, by now, that I love you ALL! *hugs* PEACE!
Chapter 28: Stand By You
"I will promise to stand by you/Until this ends..." - TRUSTcompany, "Breaking Down"
Cody sagged back against the couch, shaking his head in disbelief. In his boxer shorts and faded TMNT t-shirt, with his dark hair sticking out in all directions, he looked like an abnormally large five-year-old. "I...I'm just trying to wrap my head around all this," he stammered. "I mean...I know that Randy deals with vamps, and I've heard stories about Hunters, but this - this is unreal-"
"I know," Mickie interjected quietly. The scarred brunette sat next to Cody on the sofa, legs tucked up underneath her, her damp hair tumbling down her back in dark waves. Both she and Dave had showered, washing away the sewer dirt and stench, and Cody had given her a pair of yoga pants and a tank top that his ex-girlfriend had left behind to change into.
Mickie reached out, gently touching the young man's arm. "Sorry, I know...that this is a lot to show up out of nowhere and dump on you - but I honestly didn't know where else to go." She glanced down at her lap before continuing. "I'm not going to lie to you, though - things are probably going to get pretty hairy, and I know that our being here puts you in an awkward position, so if you don't think that you can lie for us-"
"Mick..." Cody interjected quietly. He put his hand over hers, giving it a reassuring squeeze, his habitual awkwardness absent for once. "It's cool, all right? Don't worry about me. Both of you-" He looked from Mickie over to Dave, who was leaning against the far wall, arms folded over his massive chest, watching them silently. "-you can stay here as long as you need to."
At this, Mickie lifted her gaze, flashing the young man a small grateful smile. Cody returned it, the gawkiness and affability in his grin making him appear almost puppy-like. The young man ducked his head, blushing, clearing his throat as he rose to his feet. "I don't know about you - but after what I just heard, I could really use a stiff drink." Rubbing his eyes sleepily, he stumbled off in the direction of the small kitchen.
Can we trust him?
Mickie jumped as Dave's voice reverberated in her head. She looked over at her vampire lover, and was about to open her mouth to reply when she realized that Dave's lips hadn't moved. The scarred brunette stared at him for a second or two, mentally projecting her reply: I think so...
Dave's mouth curved upward in a sardonic grin, and he pushed his body off the wall, crossing the room and sinking down next to Mickie on the couch. He wrapped his arm around Mickie's shoulders, pulling her against him. That's not very reassuring...
Mickie snuggled closer to the vampire, resting her head on his chest. I don't know how to explain it...it's something I feel, you know? Cody...he's the only one who's ever TRIED - tried to be nice to me, tried to treat me like something more than just a THING. He might seem like a coward...but he's not...not deep down where it counts...
The brunette's eyelids drifted half-closed, her brown irises focusing on an unseen point in space. Cody's stronger than he looks...one day, he'll realize that...
Mickie awoke to the worst pain she'd ever experienced in her life.
She didn't know how to describe it - there was no real parallel to this type of agony - but the best comparison she could summon up was that there was a rabid animal trapped inside her, trying to chew its way out.
Her first frenzied thought was The baby...oh my God, something's wrong with the baby... - but as the indescribable discomfort pulled her from sleep into full wakefulness, she soon realized that the sensation plaguing her wasn't the pain of a miscarriage...but the pang of hunger.
A hunger that she was all too familiar with.
It was the reason she had started shooting heroin; the reason she had allowed herself to drift through life in a drug-induced haze - because when she was high, there was only the cresting euphoria and the plummeting crash; there was no room for a hungry inner voice urging her to feed, to kill.
But now she was clean, and the voice was back - that hunger which the heroin had mercifully managed to drown out - and it was getting louder. She had felt it at the clinic; a lingering sensation that tinged the edges of her waking hours - but never this strong, never this savage.
Never this...insistent.
The pain came again, more intense this time, and it took everything the brunette had to bite the inside of her cheek and not cry out. Shoving back the covers, she rolled out of bed, staggering toward the door.
Mickie braced herself against the doorframe for support, her legs feeling weak and insubstantial. Everything was hard, sharp, and clear, shimmering with its own pulse of energy, and over it, she could hear a ceaseless throbbing sound, like the endless beat of a drum. She was hot and cold at the same time - she could feel perspiration beading on her forehead, but yet she was shaking so badly that her teeth were practically chattering.
The agony knifed through her again, doubling her over, and this time, Mickie couldn't prevent a strangled whimper from escaping her throat. She stumbled forward, not really knowing why, only that she had to. There was no way to accurately articulate the urge - it was like a siren song; a primal call that her rationality could not grasp, but her body had no choice but to respond to.
She moved out into the living room, the near-pitch darkness not phasing her in the least. Off to the side, huddled on the sofa, she could see the sleeping form of Cody - he had been gracious enough to offer her and Dave the bed. Mickie stepped toward him, as irresistibly drawn to him as a metal rod is to a magnet.
Cody was on his stomach, hugging his pillow against his cheek, a thin stream of drool oozing from his open mouth as he slept. As Mickie drew nearer, the throbbing sound grew louder - and in the back of her mind, she gradually comprehended that it was his heartbeat; the unending reverberation the sound of the blood pulsing through his veins. For one single insane second, she could almost see it, too; could almost glimpse the network of vessels and arteries laced through his body.
Mickie's tongue darted out, moving across her dry lips - and all at once, the voice, the hunger, surged upwards in her, urging her to do it, coaxing her to tear out his throat and lap up the blood that spilled. It would be so easy-
The brunette reached out, her fingertips grazing the young man's cheek. At her touch, Cody's eyes fluttered open, blearily focusing on her in the darkness. "Mickie?"
The sound of his voice, tentative and bewildered, uttering the two syllables of her name, was like an aural slap to the face. Mickie jerked back, the hunger evaporating and absolute horror taking its place. She could hear her common sense, her humanity, shrill and screaming, drowning out everything else: Oh, God, what am I doing? WHAT AM I DOING-
Cody pushed himself up, reaching for her, but Mickie was already pulling away, half-running, half-crawling toward the bathroom. She collapsed against the toilet, dry-heaving into the bowl, hearing the faint splash of her own bile and spit hitting the water. Eventually, the spasms ceased and she sagged onto the floor, the cool tile soothing the fire on her skin...but not the raging hunger burning inside her.
Cody was in the doorway, switching on the overhead light, rubbing his eyes as he struggled to make sense of everything that was happened. "What's-" he began, but that was all he got out before Dave appeared, shouldering bodily past him and kneeling down next to Mickie.
The vampire lifted her up, cradling her gently in his arms. Mickie was barely conscious, her head lolling back, her skin gray and ashy. Her eyelids were open a sliver; only white was visible beneath. Her lips moved, uttering words in a dry cracked whisper, and even with his enhanced hearing, the vampire had to lean in to hear what she was saying: "So...so...hungry..."
Cody, meanwhile, was observing the tableau with something akin to panic. "What...what's wrong with her?"
"She's hungry," Dave answered tersely. He carefully propped Mickie up against the shower stall, supporting her with one arm.
The young man looked toward the kitchen. "Hang on; I'll get her something-"
"Trust me - you don't have what she needs," the big man interrupted brusquely, and before Cody could ask what he meant by that, Dave pressed his lips to the skin of his inner wrist, sinking his fangs into a vein and tearing it open.
Instantly, blood bubbled up, filling his mouth with its sharp coppery tang. Dave pulled back, holding his wounded wrist in front of Mickie's mouth. Behind him, he heard Cody take a step back, sucking in a sharp breath, but Dave didn't turn around; all of his focus remained on the scarred brunette cradled against his arm. "Come on," he whispered gently. "Drink."
Blood streamed down his arm, dripping onto Mickie's neck and chest - but instead of pressing her mouth to the jagged wound, the brunette turned her head away, moaning. "I can't...I can't-"
"Mickie," Dave's voice was low and patient, despite the strain cracking the edges of it. "For once, would you just do what I tell you?" He thrust his bleeding wrist at her again. "Drink."
Mickie's brown eyes flew open; in spite of the pallor of her skin and the sweat trickling down her forehead, they were surprisingly large and calm. Without tearing her gaze from Dave, she took hold of his wrist, pulling it to her.
Her lips closed over the wound, and the big man let out a gasp as he felt her sucking his blood. It was a sensation that only vampires really understand - a deeply intimate feeling; the sense that your partner was pulling some part of you into themselves. Dave wasn't sure how much time went by - time during these moments was meaningless - but eventually, Mickie's eyelids drifted closed, and she released her hold on his wrist, sagging back against the shower stall, a soft satisfied sigh emanating from her throat. A drop of blood hovered at the corner of her mouth; with his thumb, Dave carefully wiped it away.
Still supporting Mickie with one arm, the vampire examined his wrist; the wound was already beginning to close up and fade away. He turned back toward Cody, almost intrigued to see the expression that would no doubt be on his face - and realized with a start that the young man was nowhere to found.
Dave glanced back at the sleeping Mickie, a wry smile briefly appearing on his face. "You know," he remarked. "I'm starting to have doubts about this guy." No answer greeted him, however, and sighing, the vampire gathered the brunette into his arms, lifting her up and carrying her back toward the bedroom.
Dave sat by Mickie's bedside, watching the slight rise and fall of her chest as she slept. The brunette's expression was peaceful in sleep, her scarred features slack and free of worry - but even as he gazed at it, the vampire couldn't shake the memory of how she had looked in the bathroom; the panic and resistance in her expression battling with sheer animal need as he pressed his bleeding wrist to her lips-
I can't...I can't...
Dave didn't understand her opposition - but then again, for him, vampirism had been a choice. It hadn't been something forced on him against his will; a painful agonizing transformation to be dragged out over the course of three years. For Mickie, any concession to the darkness gradually consuming her - no matter how necessary or what the reason - had to feel like a defeat.
For not the first time, the vampire found himself wondering if his attempt to help had done more harm than good - that by allowing Mickie to consume his blood, he had sped up the transformation process, or caused some physiological effect to the baby that neither one of them was aware of. But as much as it pained him, Dave knew that he couldn't afford to dwell on his doubts and misgivings. He had done what he had done out of love; he couldn't take it back, any more than he could erase the scars from Mickie's face. Whatever happened after this...would happen.
In a way, uncertainty was the one thing that was certain about their relationship - even now, he had no idea how their story was going to end. All he knew was that, when the ending did come...he would be there with her.
Always.
The sound of the front door opening jarred Dave from his reverie, and the vampire froze, rising to his feet. Moving swiftly and silently, he crept out of the bedroom, pulling the door shut behind him and inching down the short narrow hallway toward the living room.
The main area of the apartment was almost totally black, but Dave's supernatural senses had no difficulty picking out the figure near the door. The vampire paused, tensing in preparation to fight, before reaching out and flicking on the overhead light switch.
Cody whirled around as the lights flew on, the paper bag sailing out of his arms and across the room. He jumped again when he saw the big man watching him wordlessly from the darkened corridor. "F-fuck!" the young man exclaimed when he had finally regained control of his voice. "You scared the shit out of me-"
Instead of answering, Dave merely flicked his gaze from Cody to the closed front door. "You alone?" he asked flatly.
Cody was already kneeling down to retrieve the paper bag, his demeanor hovering somewhere between startled and irritated. "Of course I'm alone; who else would-" The young man paused as the full implication of the query dawned on him, and he sat back on his haunches, staring incredulously at the vampire. "Holy shit - you think that I went and told Randy about her, don't you?"
Dave shrugged. "The thought did cross my mind." He started to add something else, but then stopped, noticing for the first time the contents of the paper bag, which had spilled out all over the living room floor when Cody had dropped it. The packets of blood were fresh, many of them still bearing the label of the blood bank they had originated from.
The vampire looked back at Cody, his features sagging in surprise. "How-"
The young man ducked his head, focusing on the plastic packets as he shoved them back into the paper bag. "Randy always keeps blood in the back fridge - you know, for his meetings. Ted and I both have keys to the Viper's Pit...so I just went in and...helped myself."
Cody hesitated, holding one of the packets in both hands, running his thumb over the smooth plastic. "I know it was risky - but it killed me...seeing her like that." He glanced up at Dave, the look in his eyes faintly miserable. "I just...I didn't want her to hurt anymore."
To this, Dave said nothing; there was nothing he could say. Cody averted his gaze again. "Before you showed up...I couldn't understand why no one else saw her the way I do. Ted thinks she's a freak; Randy just sees her as something he can use and throw away - but whenever I look at her-" He paused, looking up at Dave again. "I see what used to be there."
The young man sniffed, biting back tears of frustration. "I see what's missing - not just what they took from her, but what Randy took from her - and it breaks my heart, because I let it happen!" Unconsciously, his hands gripped the blood packet, squeezing it. "I always knew...what he was doing to her...but for three years, I let him get away with it, because I was scared - scared of Randy, scared of losing my job, scared of standing up and doing the right thing for once."
Cody gulped down a breath. "And every day...I watched a little more of her disappear." He shook his head vehemently. "I can't let her go through that again; I just can't-"
"You love her, don't you?" Dave's quiet remark was both a statement and a question.
Cody glanced up, his mouth twisting in a rueful half-smile. "Is it really that obvious?" The vampire didn't answer, but instead walked over and kneeled down, scooping up the remainder of the spilled blood packets. He handed the bag back to Cody, who clutched it protectively to his chest with both hands. "I'll put it in the fridge. I don't know how long it'll last both of you - I only grabbed as much as I thought wouldn't be missed - but I can get more-"
"Cody," At the sound of his name, the young man looked up. Dave's dark eyes bore into his. "Be careful; this isn't a game."
Cody nodded emphatically. "I know that...but I can't let her down again. I mean..." He glanced away for a second. "My girlfriend left me, it's getting to the point where I can't sleep at night - if I fail Mickie again this time...I won't be able to live with myself."
Silence followed his words. Clearing his throat awkwardly, Cody rose to his feet, trudging toward the kitchen. Just as he reached the doorway, Dave spoke again. "Oh, and Cody?" The young man looked back, but said nothing. The vampire struggled to find some measure of eloquence, but finally shrugged, settling on the simplest response: "Thanks."
At this, the young man smiled - a small, tentative smile, but a genuine one nevertheless. He disappeared into the kitchen, and Dave stood as well, turning and heading back toward the bedroom. Just as his hand gripped the doorknob, Cody's final statement echoed in his ears, the desperate earnestness in the young man's voice making the words seem strangely prophetic:
If I fail Mickie again this time...I won't be able to live with myself...
