A/N: Tralalalala.
Disclaimer: Abel: At last, we've broken free! Me: Get back here you!!! Abel: God, smite her!
"Ready?"
"Yes."
"Affirmative."
"Good. Hopefully, I'll see you guys later." Stella said, setting off.
"Don't worry you will." Abel whispered reassuringly to her.
Stella swallowed and turned towards the road. She walked down it, seemingly heading for her apartment. The street was deserted; not even an alley cat or rat seemed to want to tread down these roads. Stella sighed; she would have liked their reassuring company. Stop that, you're sounding like a human. You're a Titan damn it, start acting like one. You are a creature of the night, embracing it and using it to your will.
Stella set out with renewed vigor. Well, as much as she could, considering she was going all of two miles an hour. She added a limp in there every now and then to make sure she looked like she was an ordinary hurt Terran, walking home. It wasn't that hard, considering her wound in her side. She smiled grimly at the talk she had had with Father Nightroad earlier that day.
"Stella?"
"Yes, Father Nightroad?" Stella said politely, though inside she was gritting her teeth. The wound itched and burned like hell.
"Why don't you heal that wound of yours? I can smell the blood, so I know you haven't taken care of it."
Stella didn't meet Abel's concerned eyes. "I will live with it. I absolutely refuse to heal a wound I deserve." She looked at Abel's face and realized that he was confused. She bowed her head in shame. "I'm sorry, Father Nightroad, for that wound you have. I should have sensed the Methuselah and instead I allowed my awareness to falter and for that you suffered as well as I. I completely deserve this wound and I will live with it as a reminder that I should never again let something like this happen."
"It wasn't your fault." Abel said gently, reaching out a hand to put it on her shoulder.
Stella pulled away. "It was." She whispered and walked away.
She heard Abel say quietly and pityingly, "Stella."
Abel trudged through the streets, wrapping his cloak closer to him. He really was at a loss of what to do. He'd been walking for hours and the moon was growing closer and closer to the end of its journey. His feet brought him to the pond in the park. He sat down on a bench.
Well I suppose there is nothing wrong with sitting down and taking a rest. After all, there's nothing out here. Maybe the vampires figured out our plan. As he thought that, a black shape seemed to appear in the center of the moon. It got bigger and bigger. Realization dawned on Abel as he whirled around, and was taken by darkness.
Bio sweep: positive. Location: 18.629 yards. Life form: Methuselah. Tres's sensors rang off in his head as he suppressed the urge to state his findings aloud. Doing so would be illogical and dangerous. There was no one to hear him and it might alert the Methuselah to his android nature. Objective: Masquerade as a Terran. Get captured by enemy Methuselah. Do not resist capture. Observe and find out what and where missing people are. Return to Vatican with Father Abel Nightroad and Miss Stella Iceheart.
Tres felt something rather hard hit his head. Normal Terran Reaction: Fall to ground unconscious. Tres fell limply to the ground.
Stella sighed and sat on the curb. This is useless! There hasn't been a soul on the streets in hours and the night is almost through. She shook her head miserably. Suddenly, she felt a chill go through her. A Crusnick was close. Abel.
She followed her senses to the park. She gasped and hid behind a tree. Father Nightroad and Tres were both on the ground before the fountain, apparently unconscious. Two black-clad Methuselah stood over them. Stella listened to their conversation.
"Two Terrans." One said disgustedly. Stella quelled her anger as he kicked Abel's head.
"Oh well, O has recovered some research from some doctor from thirty years ago. These'll do." This one bent over and slung Tres over his shoulder and the other one took Abel.
Stella decided to make her presence be known. She deliberately brought her foot down on a stick and stepped into the clearing.
"Well, at least one of our captives will be pretty enough to keep around." The first one smiled cruelly.
Without putting Abel down, he ran at Stella and knocked her on the side of the head. Swallowing her pride, Stella fell and manually shut down her systems.
A/N: to shed a little light on the last sentence, Crusnicks, androids, titans and some Methuselah have at least a little control over their body functions, so Stella literally knocked herself out.