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Some filler to get started.

Chapter 123: Kaname

by lightpathetic

"THAT'S THE PROBLEM! You're being too cautious!"

The woman in the room stiffened her bearing and crossed her arms in disapproval, seemingly to wait out the tantrum. They'd had this conversation before. Many times. Don was impatient. Impatient to prove himself. Impatient to get his own back, as he saw it. A success, really, and the province of the young. But they knew, after all of this planning, after years of waiting, there was no point being rash. If you go after the king, you had better not miss, as they say.

"Don, please. Calm yourself. You will get your chance. They will surface again and then…"

"There's always a new goal with you! Always, a new condition…"

"It is a fluid situation…"

"We should have attacked while he was away! He returned and you still held your hand! Now, he's gone to ground and you can't find him!"

"We need to use our brains as well as our might. We aren't all purebloods, Don…"

"Then why do all this? Why go to the trouble to recruit me if not to…?"

"You can't do it alone. Your father is very powerful and very cunning. And he is not alone…"

"I've defeated him before, you know…"

"As a child. I know, but…."

"My mother would have had more courage. Clearly, it didn't spread to all of her siblings."

The woman sighed and went over to the sofa to sit, crossing her jeans-clad legs and allowing one combat-booted foot to swing. Don remained pacing in the windowless underground meeting room in the equally windowless underground hideout in …. Her sister, her sacrifice, the thought of it all still winded her and didn't the boy know it. She adjusted her long, curly reddish-brown hair from behind her and leaned her elbow on the sofa's arm. He was pushing her, hoping she would relent and let him act rashly. She'd never had children, with good reason. Her dangerous job, one. And, she had no patience for this shit.

"Don…"

"You still don't trust me, right? Even after my help with the raids?"

"You'd insisted your girlfriend was Kaname Kuran under a spell. What do you expect us to think?"

The woman couldn't quite hide her smugness as Don reeled in confusion and embarrassment.

"I'm still not sure it was a trick, like you'd said. After 'she'd' escaped with Zero, Kaname Kuran returned to office…"

"I saw their escape myself, Don. And do I have to keep saying… there is no such spell! We looked! We had the highest level of sorcerers rocking back in their chairs laughing at us. If there was a spell to turn purebloods to humans…" she trailed off speechlessly.

"I know. You'd said. You would be out of a job. You don't have to rub it in…"

"They are all untrustworthy, Don. Even Zero. Look how they got you to flush us out, as her son, making us take measures to protect ourselves…"

"I understand. Still, I hate living like this when the man that…"

"Don, we've discussed this: it's either you are with us or you are not. If you want to leave you can. You came looking for us. We explained why you felt the need to do so, what they did to your mother, to you. We showed you your mother's plan and your place in it. It won't work without you. But, if you'd rather do something else, we can't stop you. But you won't have our support."

"You, b…"

"Be very careful what you say to me," she seethed, getting to her feet, meeting his eyes. "I'm not my sister."

Don's jaw worked in savage frustration as this human dared him to… He turned away and swept the conference table into the wall instead. It was all very frustrating. They were attacking targets that didn't matter and releasing taunting statements, all while hiding out like criminals. When he was the one! He was the one that had…!

"You are going to repair that table…"

"Make me!" Don growled, rounding on her, his eyes aglow, his teeth… He did find it difficult to restrain himself when he was angry at the best of times and he had no inclination to pretend with his "aunt". She looked and smelled like his mother but the similarities died there. She was younger, for one, and he could tell she didn't like him. Still, he found her comforting for obvious reasons and related to her a lot better than the others who had bound, sealed and gagged him to forceable bring him to this place and "introduce" him to their agenda. His continued silence with them had a lot to do with not aggravating the hair-trigger urge to paint the walls with their brains, an urge that persisted even after he'd agreed to do this.

She shook her head. So childish!

Don closed his eyes and tried for calm. He also hated getting this upset while she stood there and calmly gloated at her victory. His mother used to do that. He'd toss some piece of furniture in an attempt to get his way and it never phased her. Which only made him angrier! He'd always regret later, though, when he calmed down. Not the least because she used to take measures so he wouldn't hurt her which she wouldn't remove for days to make a point. No contact, no hugs. For days. That hurt more than anything else; knowing she didn't trust him not to hurt her. Which, she knew. So, instead of crushing her with a thought where she stood, he forced himself to calm and not give them an excuse to "secure" him again.

"I jjusth… wanth…"

"Then, we work the plan, Don. We've had more experience with Kaname Kuran than you. He will have planned for a full-on assault. He would have taken the time to study you carefully while you were there. He can call entire armies of vampires in seconds. What we need is to erode his support, isolate him, then…"

"How long will that take?"

"You keep asking that, Don. As long as it takes…"

Don gave an exasperated moan, turning away to shake his head. He had another motive for pressing them like this. One they were all well aware of: their mortality. Their imminent mortality. After the plane crash his father had perpetrated, very few remained to fight him. That had been his plan. Then, there had been the war, which had thinned them out even further. Now, those few were getting older, their families and friends were getting older. Their caution lay in their number and the fact so few younger people could be recruited, and even fewer than them cared about exacting revenge on Kaname Kuran like they did. If it didn't happen soon, he would be left without his support, left without the only other witnesses to the fact he had honoured his mother and avenged her. He would be alone with all his rage, living with the knowledge he had failed her.

"Are you losing the taste for the fight? Is that it? Tell me now…"

"You know better than to ask me that. Our caution does not mean a lack of resolve. We don't have the time you have to make mistakes. Whenever, you feel like this, just keep the goal in mind, as we all do…"

"That's all I think about, Shelagh. Making him pay…"

"Yes. And making you… King."

DR MUKWEGE'S MOUTH dropped open, her body forgetting about the motor control of various muscles as her mind fought to process what she was seeing. Fought…

"Doctor, let me…," tried the nurse, noticing her fingers slacken on the imaging wand and her body sway troublingly.

"No. Wait," she ordered, her hands stiffening as she resisted his attempts to help. It couldn't be. It couldn't… "Restart the software…"

"Doctor, it's no use…" They'd done so twice already. The equipment was sound. They'd just used it to operate on the Queen, who had recuperated nicely once the jagged plank playing chicken with her heart had been removed from her chest, easing it delicately past it with a flat length of surgical steel, a strong arm, monumental skill and not a little prayer. As soon as it was removed, her patient had been pushing to sit up almost immediately and had eyed her husband in a manner even Zero knew quite well. All she needed now was fresh blood and she would be her old self again. And her husband was the prime candidate for this "sacrifice". Besides being her partner, he owed her.

It was then she remembered the bruise, however, and the hesitation and concern touched her fierce eyes as they lowered to his stomach, now shielded by a black t-shirt to match a pair of drawstring slacks he liked to work out in. Kaname's aura darkened to satanic evil in one at the non-verbal accusation. The doctor was thusly reminded of the other matter at hand as her nurse staggered to a nearby chair and collapsed onto it.

"My King. May I see you in my office?"

She'd packed and taken her bag, fully expecting her nurse to recover and arrange the clean-up of the Royal bedroom, and left, hurriedly, ably navigating the gloom, down the stairs, to her small but comfortable office-cum-surgery on the next floor. The doors slid open upon her approach to reveal the king already standing there, his jaw set impatiently, with Zero beside him looking guiltily at anything else but her.

She ignored the obvious ploy to intimidate her, placed her bag on the counter, ordered him to remove his shirt and lie on the examination table, before heading to her small sanitation annex to clean up. What a morning. After months of keeping herself busy with research and the occasional call to wake Kaori when he'd been overly indulgent, she'd had two pureblood emergencies in as many hours. She'd been ecstatic to break the routine, but hiding it quite well, she thought.

Now she wished for her hours of study of the dry ancient tomes on pureblood physiology, instead.

"Doctor…" the nurse prompted. They all already knew what she was going to say. They were all staring at the image on the screen in varying degrees of speechlessness. Even the queen, who had taken a shower, dressed and joined them by the time the doctor had finished washing up. She had asked the Queen to excuse them – leave - but the King had overridden her, telling her confidently and irritably to wait as it wouldn't take long and they could return to their room together.

No-one was judging her caution harshly now. No-one thought to check their Rolex and sigh loudly and dramatically to goad her now. All eyes were on the screen, all breaths were held as she checked and double-check, more and more carefully.

So, she'd examined him, noticed the mass and gotten the equipment to look, expecting a tumour, an accidental malformation of an organ when purebloods changed form that had had one documented incidence in Croatia eight hundred years ago…

The doctor cleared her throat. This was crazy. She again cursed her fascination with these creatures. It was only when she'd risen in the world, leaving her small town in …, did she realise they all weren't as friendly or generous or worthy of being saved as Tisa. Still, her love of it, of her adopted mother, had drawn her along, into it, despite the odds, until she'd gotten a call from the office… of the King. She'd thought it was a joke, not returning her response until he'd called himself and, of course, she'd recognised his voice…! She'd bought the ticket to Japan herself! King Kaname! Oh Lord! Tisa had been so thrilled, telling her repeatedly, "I told you so!" She could just see her face now as she explored the lump on the screen.

"Nona, the King, well… while I was taking good care of him as you'd wanted me to, he bruised and developed an impossible condition…"

She'd probably disown her on the spot, board a plane and kill her herself because of the shame alone…

"Doctor?" The nurse's tension was clear in his voice. She cleared her throat again.

"My King, let me take a moment to explain…"

"What does it mean? What does this mean?"

This was Sara. The men were staring at the image as though hoping to wake up, saliva trailed down Zero's forgotten jaw. She, on the other hand, had realised a little faster than most that this was…

"My Queen, I…" She faltered. Her mind was racing too. How did she play this? Did she admit she hadn't a clue what was going on?

"Doctor, the King should hear it from you. All of it. And don't nerd out."

Doctor Diana Mukwege eyed her nurse in irritation but eventually closed her eyes and fought for professionalism. None of this made sense! Here she was trying to learn, trying scientific endeavour and these creatures polluted it with spells and crazy-assed shit…!

"My King, this mass here is your small intestine," Diana began, clearing her mind and using the pointer to outline the image on the wall in her examination room. "This is your liver and stomach. In between these is a mass that appears to be placenta…"

"Placenta," Kaname repeated, stupidly.

"Yes. Placenta." She repeated, her tone a bitter jab at the situation. Her nurse cleared his throat in warning.

The King was too distracted to notice. Be careful!

"On higher resolution, we're able to see inside…"

"My God, Kaname…" this was Zero. He was at last on the board verbally.

"They're only a few millimetres wide…"

"They?" Sara screeched, getting to her feet. She supposed she didn't know everything, as she'd assumed from her experience.

"Yes. Sorry. What I should have said was…"

"What the doctor is saying, is that the King is… carrying two embryos, about two to four weeks along, inside a placental mass wedged between his stomach, liver and small intestine," the nurse interjected, probably thinking his friend could be a little more direct with this sort of news, for both their sakes.

"SHOULD YOU BE DRINKING WINE?"

"What?"

"Wine, Kaname. Should you be drinking it in your condition? Isn't alcohol bad for babies?"

Kaname's hitherto studiously averted eyes focused on Zero who had suddenly broken his pained silence when Kaname had finally lifted the crystal goblet to his lips. He hadn't agreed with Kaname's going straight to his office after the examination rather than discuss the news. The happenstance. The miraculous circumstance of his being…

"I don't know. Have you decided already they are to be born?"

"Kaname!"

This was Sara. She took the cup from Kaname and gave him the pineapple juice instead. Not that she knew for sure that wine would be problematic. She just wanted to punish him for what he'd said.

They were all here to discuss it after all, over dinner and after Kaname's workday. As agreed. As agreed when Zero had turned up during Kaname's teleconference with some El Salvadorian ambassador and thrown a fit. How was he working when there was… this? How?! However, thanks to the doctor, his attention had been, thus far for the night, held with staying in her office and questioning her on how this was possible, if it was possible. Dared they hope…? She had tried. Really, she had. She didn't know! Of course, she had her theories based on human physiology. She told him that this was the worst thing to happen as a human foetus and placental apparatus was essentially a parasite and would grow and take over but for the uterus… There was a reason it wasn't done. That it hadn't been done. Hell, if it happened anywhere else but the uterus in a woman, it was aborted. Now, it had the temerity to show up in the one male pureblood she had to take care of…! Zero'd held her hand comfortingly at this point. He was nice that way. She told him, perhaps because of his kindness, she would do some research and brief them further, knowing from Zero's gaze, his questions, where he was on the subject. Still, she'd warned, they may have to make a big decision. Because… it wasn't done, dammit!

"Kaname…"

"I can't discuss this now. I can't. I know I promised but there's too much to do. Kei's rescue…"

"You can't mean to still go! Not in your condi…"

"Zero, I swear, if you say that word, to me, one more time…"

Kaname trailed off. He was feeling too much. He was overwhelmed. He couldn't focus on this problem or he'd… He needed time to think or he'll say, or do, something he regretted.

He hadn't expected this, obviously. He'd been devasted when he'd changed back after trying so hard to conceive. Sara'd been right. He had been jealous of her. They'd wanted a child together so much… He sometimes dreamt of their baby. Carrying it. Seeing Zero's happy face when he'd given birth or him holding her… But, he'd also been relieved. The cup, the huge responsibility for their happiness, had passed from him and he was able to move on with his life as himself. Sara had begun trying again and he, once Kei had been rescued and Kane found, would have made inquiries on a surrogate for their child with Zero. Zero's child. That was how it would have happened. Normally. Predictably.

Now, they tell him he was with child?! He! He'd been too stunned to fire her. He should have fired her on the spot and gotten another opinion. And another…

"Kaname, we can't avoid this…"

"I'm not…!" Kaname bellowed, before closing his eyes to calm himself. See? He was too… Overwhelmed. He'd felt fine before, except for the bit of pain from the "bruise". Turns out it hadn't been a bruise. Their placenta had started leaking blood because of Zero's elbowing him. The tenderness was from the pressure on his tissues. Zero'd turned white when it had been explained and covered his mouth. He'd almost…!

He'd hated that. Zero blaming himself for almost hurting them, getting his hopes up that they could be saved. The resurrection of this torture of hoping for their baby. God, did Zero think he could be king of all vampires, gestate and give birth to human children without repercussions?

He the pureblood king?

Kaname was afraid. Not necessarily for himself. He'd been ready to give his life as a woman for their children. A human woman. But that was different to giving his life as a king. He represented far more than being Zero's lover. His partner…

All that was bad enough, without it being the fucking unprecedent issue of an ectopic pregnancy of human foetuses in a male pureblood vampire.

He'd done research in his office, while he'd been avoiding Zero. In between the ambassador and the call to the new president of Italy. Or, at least, he'd tried to. There was nothing. Not a single database had anything on what would happen if his body realised there was a rich human blood source sitting just underneath his ribs…

What if his body killed their children, huh? Would he and Zero survive that?

And what if…? Kaname closed his eyes and took a deep breath, his senses going to where his wife watched him in disquiet. They had forgotten what he'd almost done to her, given the crazy development. But he hadn't. Or why…

It had been two weeks since their return. Two weeks since…

Kaname was in a panic for all sorts of reasons and… he was not… able to discuss any of it right now.

"I need time, Zero…"

"I think we should try, Kaname. Diana did the math and they are growing to schedule. Healthily..."

"'They'? What are 'they', Zero?" Kaname offered snidely, making Zero frown in confusion. "Are they human or vampire?"

"They're human, of course. They have to be. Their size for the time period and… when they were conceived, you were…"

"'When they were con…'" Kaname choked on this, forgetting the rest of his steak as he "seized" the wine glass from the other side of his wife and downed its contents. Zero gasped.

"No! The alcohol can have detrimental effects on their development…!"

"You're right, Zero. I should switch to chocolate…"

"Kaname, what's wrong with you!"

Kaname threw his head back and laughed at this offering from his wife. Laughed and laughed. The ugly, warped sound reverberating unnervingly in the rock-walled room. He rose from the table, "taking" the wine bottle with him. He stalked over to the doors leading to the terrace on this level, but not exiting to the exterior breakfast areas as they were closed for privacy. They were also the only ones in the dining room, their staff dismissed for just this discussion. Sara and Zero rose to follow him, leaving Kaori to sip his wine pensively as he watched. Of course, he knew. There wasn't much his ears couldn't hear. Plus, his mother had told him. He'd asked about the bruise and his mother, well… He supposed she'd needed to work through the strange event in her own way…

Zero grabbed for the bottle but was easily thwarted. Sara managed to take it, however.

"Give that back…!"

"You had all night, Kaname!" Zero countered. "We gave you time and space when we needed you. You are going to face this now!"

"It's a mistake. That's obvious, isn't it? It has to be…"

"No matter what I think of the human doctor, Kaname," Sara carped, furious he was being so weak, "we all saw the imaging."

"Kaname, you know…"

"No! I don't know, Zero. This has never happened. Do you hear me? I'm a fucking pureblood, for fucks' sake. There can't be two human…"

"I was one of a twin, you know," Zero interrupted, quietly. Kaname looked away, his fists clenching, the air sizzling from his frustration. He'd wanted to do this. He'd been ready. But that was before…

"Zero, you heard what the doctor said…"

"Don't hide behind her, Kaname! They're doing fine! The only thing is their placenta got damaged when Zero hit you but she'd said it would heal…"

"She also said that without a womb a baby is a destructive, invasive parasite! Did you miss that part?!" Kaname snarled, hating being in this position, hating what Zero must be feeling to see them this close again. God, he hated Ken for this. He kept torturing them with the one thing…

"Seven months, Kaname. Theoretically, if you can get our children to seven months…"

Kaname'd had enough. He exited. The doors giving out and away ahead of him in an almost fetishistic mess of tempered glass and aluminium. All while he swore, at Ken and all creation…

"I can't do this, Zero. Fuck… This is insane! I'm the King of vampires…!"

"It's a few months in millennia…!"

"Zero, they were ready to kill Sara after two! If they sense weakness, my weakness…"

"You think being pregnant is weak?" Sara sniffed, appalled.

"Yes! Yes, it is! By definition! I can't even… drink wine…! I've seen Sara burst into tears over the lunch menu…!

"You always hide behind them, Kaname. No more…!"

"You think I was hiding?!" Kaname seethed, rounding on Zero. "Where have you been all our life together? Don't you intend to understand anything about what I have to go through…?!"

"Because of me. Is that it? It that what you're trying to say…!?"

"Yes! Can you blame me? After what happened!? I faced it, Zero. I fought. For you! But it isn't just me you're involved with! You're fucking an entire institution of ruthless shits that will make our lives a living hell if they so much as guess I'm less than…!"

Kaname trailed off. His brain had caught up to his mouth.

"What? Less than what?"

"He means 'impure', Zero."

"What?"

Zero swung back to Kaname who was staring daggers at the Queen.

"What does she mean, Kaname?"

Kaname sighed and returned his gaze to Zero. He came over to cup his face.

"Zero, trust me. Finally… trust me when I say… I cannot do this. I promise. When, it's all settled, we'll try a surrogate…"

"No! No! Do you hear me, Kaname! I want these children! I want them! You're not going to kill them!"

Zero eyes were flashing maniacally, his spittle flying. He'd been trying to be calm to not explode with everything he was feeling. He'd seen Kaname's disbelief and… disappointment. Selfish bastard! He'd hoped to convince him patiently it would be okay but here he was talking about… killing their…

Kaname recoiled from him a little, startled at Zero's emotion, his pain, his… contempt. He realised Zero was not going to compromise on his position. His body throbbed as his bond reacted to Zero's upheaval towards him. It didn't help the fear he was already feeling.

"Zero, my body could hurt it if the placenta even leaks a little and my body decides to react…"

"Our children, Kaname. Our two children."

"Zero, please…"

"Against all odds, Kaname, you're pregnant and I have the ghost of a powerful sorcerer inside me. Two weeks ago, you were a human girl. Nothing about this is left to chance. Nothing. I think you are worrying for nothing. Just give them a few months. Let me have a few months. Am I not worth a few months…?"

"Zero…"

Did he tell him everything? He'll understand if he knew! He'll understand why I can't…!

"Zero, there's something I need to…"

Zero came over and cupped Kaname's face and kissed him, nipping him lips a little, a simple act without feeding that let him feel his hunger for him. It soothed bond anxiety, as Zero well knew. He also cheated a little, slipping his fingers into the soft hairs at Kaname's neck. Kaname moaned and shook. He wanted...

"I love you, Kaname. Please do this for me. Please?"

Kaname sighed and leaned forward onto Zero's shoulder. He could feel himself weakening. All the other concerns… seemed to pale to…

Zero.

"Oh good," Sara exhaled, rubbing her hands together as she met Kaori's flabbergasted gaze. "Now that that's settled. What colours do think we should use in the nursery?"

to be continued

lightpathetic wrote this but these are not my characters. They belong to Vampire Knight.