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"It's smaller than I expected."
Rolling her eyes, Agatha also had to stifle a smile, as she weaved through the early evening commuter foot traffic. Retrieving her security lanyard from her bag, she swiped her way in through the simple door that was accessible from the street.
"I mean all those years to pick a headquarters and they chose this…"
If anyone had ever told her that she would find Dracula bitching, about their people's aesthetic and lack of flair, amusing well Agatha wouldn't have believed them. Nodding to the security guard who was posted just inside, Agatha signed them both in, retrieving a pass for Dracula that had visitor printed on it, in bold capitals.
"It doesn't even inspire the least amount of terror or awe…"
"It is meant to pass unnoticed." Agatha reminded her companion, unable to hide her amusement as he huffed, as if the idea of wanting to pass unnoticed was such a ridiculous one.
Handing Dracula the clip-on badge…or at least Agatha tried to hand it to him, Dracula stared at the badge like it had personally offended him.
"You called me, wanting to come see where I worked. I didn't force you to come, you can leave any time."
"A fact I am regretting more and more by the second." Dracula deadpanned, finally accepting the badge with the very tips of his fingertips, and an overt look of disgust, before he clipped it onto the lapel of his suit jacket.
Heading towards the lifts Agatha once again used her pass, unlocking the elevator access to the lower sub floors, where the retrieval squads and containment cells were held. She had time to check in on the vampire they had recovered the other day, say hi to her team and check on any assignment they had picked up, all before delivering Dracula to their hastily arranged meeting with Mycroft.
The previous evening's discussion had given Dracula the basics, but as soon as he started asking for more detail about the other Elders and clans, Agatha had insisted on approaching Mycroft for help. There was a reason he had been assigned to help, and a reluctant Dracula had conceded, only if Agatha agreed to be present at all meetings. Of course, getting Mycroft to agree was only slightly easier, his frosty reception had thawed enough when Agatha played to his ego. Yet Agatha knew, she was going to spend years putting up with his gloating.
"You employ mortal guards?" Dracula questioned, having picked up the security guards pulse the moment they entered.
"Guards and other employees, mainly administration." Agatha clarified. "There simply isn't enough of us to do everything. They are well paid, and there is guaranteed security for their families should anything happen. We have very little staff turn-over."
"And there are no…accidents?"
"Very rarely." Agatha admitted. "There have been issues with some of the new vampires, before they have started on their induction regime, we have to be very careful who has access to them. There are blood supplies kept on every floor, for any of the vampire employees who find themselves, struggling with control."
That made sense even Dracula could concede that, but it felt clinical, almost sterile, and the gourmet in the Count found the idea of such pre-packaged meals distasteful. Still he hid this as well as he could, and matched Agatha step for step as they made their way through the corridors, pleased when he saw her colleagues nod to her in respect. That he drew his own fair share of interested stares, was enough to massage Dracula's ego. Yet there was one thing that quickly became apparent, so far Agatha was the only female he had seen; there weren't even female mortals scurrying about.
"Where are all the women?"
"Why feeling underappreciated?"
"Agatha I will have you know I am perfectly capable of attracting and enjoying affection from both sexes, I do not discriminate."
"Well you should fit in with this century quite easily then." Agatha sniggered before turning serious. "Honestly Count do you use that brain I have heard so much about? You were once a married man, so you can hardly be ignorant of a woman's monthly cycle, employing mortal women here would be a disaster in the making."
"Ahhh." Well that was obvious now she pointed it out, and yet Dracula couldn't help but wonder how Agatha had adapted to such a complete change. She had spent her life sequestered with only women for company, now she was in a society that was predominantly male and even her mortal colleagues were all male.
"Do you miss it?"
"Do I miss what?" Agatha asked as she swiped them through into the office area set aside for the retrieval squads.
"The company of your sisters?" Dracula prompted, his interest genuine and his question kindly meant, yet he hadn't expected Agatha to glare at him.
"You killed them all, remember? Whether I miss them or not, is rather a moot point."
"Yes…I suppose you have a point that was a little insensitive." Dracula conceded. "I just meant it must be a change, going from one extreme to the other." He added, pointedly waving around the open plan space, where again there were wholly male teams.
Forcing down the sudden flair of anger, Agatha settled for a nod. It had been a change, and she had struggled with it at first. Yet Agatha wouldn't be the person she was, if she allowed anyone opinion of her, to stop her doing something she believed in.
"Captain Van Helsing."
Relieved to see someone she wasn't currently mad at, Agatha smiled on Anderson's greeting. Perhaps a little wider than she would normally, if the surprised expression on her second in commands face, was anything to go by.
"Sokolov?" Dracula questioned, his eyes going wide at seeing yet another familiar face.
"Anderson." Agatha corrected him, turning back to her colleague. "May I introduce Count Dracula?"
That was clearly a name 'not-Sokolov' knew well, as his brow creased in a small frown. Whether it was for the ancestor Dracula had murdered, or his presence here now with the woman Dracula had turned…well that was anyone guess. Yet there was no hiding the way Anderson's pulse seemed to jump, whenever Agatha smiled at him.
"Count this is Sergeant Anderson. We work in the same retrieval team."
It would be amusing, it wasn't quite so irritating. Captain Sokolov had been the same, and he had been a married man, and Agatha a nun. This Anderson was without a wedding ring, and they clearly had a trusting working relationship of some long stranding. The man wasn't even as irritating as the good captain had been, but Dracula still had to swallow down the urge to rip his throat out as well.
"Did you have a chance to talk to Saunders's family?" Agatha asked now the niceties were over.
"There was only a cousin, his parents died when he was young, and there were no siblings." Anderson clarified. "The cousin still thought he was in the army, so there wasn't any awkwardness. They didn't want to attend the funeral. We will be able to keep him in the morgue here, until we are certain there is no chance of him turning or rising. It's the least we could do."
Nodding Agatha could only agree with his decisions, they were the same ones she would have made. "How is our latest initiate doing?" Agatha asked, hopeful that at least Saunders might not have died in vain.
"I think you had better see for yourself, see if you can get through to him."
"Considering the last time we met, he tried to rip my throat out, and I electrocuted him." Agatha teased, pleased when Anderson snorted in response. "I will try though."
"Excuse me, can someone please explain to me what is happening?" Dracula couldn't help but interject. He was never one to sit idly by and not demand his share of the conversation, and it bothered him, the ease with which they conversed.
"The new vampire we brought in the other night. Things didn't go exactly to plan, one of my team didn't make it."
"Well that's what happens when you work with mortals, they tear like tissue paper." Dracula replied, his tone full of faux sympathy, which had both scowling at him. "Still at least they are easy to replace…unlike you…" Dracula added pointedly. "So, what were you doing electrocuting anybody?"
"My job Count." Agatha riposted, before turning back to Anderson, as though Dracula was an annoying intern she had to put up with. "I've got time to see him before we have to go back upstairs…Have we gotten any new assignments from intelligence?"
"No. Apparently we are on light duties for the next few days, whilst you are temporarily reassigned…" Anderson paused, his gaze drifting over to Dracula, who was clearly the assignment in question. The way the Count caught his gaze, the wide fanged smile he shot back, unnerved Anderson. As did the way the man insisted on walking side by side with the Captain, meaning it was Anderson who had to make way, whenever someone else came down the corridor in the other direction.
Finally, they made it to the detainment area. They were far from traditional cells, as other than the security features, the rooms themselves were quite luxurious. Their new guest was in one of the first rooms, and Agatha paused to review the corridor whiteboard that contained his information. He was already on his third feeding, and as such should have calmed from the initial blood frenzy, that often accompanied a newly risen vampire. Even so she wasn't taking any chances with Anderson's safety.
"You wait here, I will just check to see if he is in the mood to chat yet?"
Nodding Anderson stepped back to man the locking mechanism.
"Hello, can someone please explain what is going on? New around here, remember?"
Resisting the urge to sigh, Agatha remembered she was trying to set a standard. And that at least in public she should pay Dracula the deference he was due, as her Elder and Clan leader, but damn the man made it difficult sometimes.
"I will just be a few minutes…Then I can explain…"
"No explain now." Dracula demanded, as he already had a damn good idea of what was going on, but he wanted Agatha to confirm it. "Please tell me you are not about to go into a room, alone, unarmed, with a creature that tried to kill you not a couple of days ago?"
"Yes I am."
"But that is ridiculous…"
"No, its my job, I have been doing it for 123 years, please trust me to know what I am doing." Agatha insisted, her patience wearing thin from this mollycoddling, Dracula seemed to insist on.
"You could be hurt."
"I'm a big girl I can handle it."
"Yes, but perhaps I can't." Dracula countered, his honest declaration, puncturing the build-up of righteous anger Agatha was stockpiling.
"You doubt your own control that much?" Agatha was genuinely perplexed, her brow furrowing a little, huffing when Dracula reached up to automatically smooth out her brow. If he gave her one more comment about wrinkles…
"In all other circumstances I don't, but this is new territory for us both." Dracula leaned in, wishing that Sergeant Anderson would make himself scarce, his touch lingering on Agatha's face. "As a mortal I did not react well when my family was threatened…"
Family…of all the things he could call them…Agatha had never allowed herself to think of them in those terms. She had also been without anything resembling family so long. It touched her to think that there might be someone else, to whom she now had that type of connection…even if it was Dracula. Yet his eyes didn't show any lie, nor could Agatha see any reason why, Dracula would attempt to manipulate this. He seemed to be genuine in his concern for her, and not in any patronising fashion.
"Fine you can come in with me, but only if you promise not to say anything…"
"Captain that is against protocol." Anderson warned, cutting in the middle of the intense moment they seemed to be having.
"Well it sounds like a rubbish protocol then." Dracula countered, shooting Anderson a shit eating grin over his shoulder, knowing that Agatha wouldn't see it. "What's the matter Sergeant don't you trust your Captain to keep me safe?"
"I don't trust you, to keep her safe." Anderson spat back. "You're a wild card."
"Gentlemen that is enough cock measuring for one evening." Agatha cut in when Dracula almost growled back, her choice of language doing its job, as Dracula turned back to grin at her like a naughty school boy. "The doors Anderson, I will deal with the fallout, if there is any."
Pleased to have gotten his way, Dracula followed Agatha into what looked like a plush hotel suite…well what a plush hotel suite would have looked like, if a vampire had gone on a rampage inside.
"You must spend a fortune on soft furnishings." Dracula quipped, earning him a glare and mime from Agatha to shut up.
Holding his hands up in surrender, Dracula feigned an innocent look, watching closely as Agatha approached the figure that was curled up on the floor, his back to them…and yet there was something familiar…
Agatha approached the new vampire carefully, crouching down a few feet away, careful to keep her feet under her should she need to move quickly.
"Hello, I'm Agatha, we haven't been properly introduced yet…"
"Thomas…Thomas…Tom…Tommy…" The trembling figure repeated as though a child.
"Are you still hungry Tommy, or would you like me to have them bring you something else? Do you have a favourite story book?"
"Beano…Mum always gets me the Beano when I've been good." Tommy repeated lifting his head from his hands, turning to look peek up at Agatha. "Does my mum know where I am, when is she coming to get me?"
"I don't know, I can ask. How about I have them send down some Beano's for you, and an ice pop or two…Then I can come back, and we can talk some more…Would you like that?"
Tommy was nodding, now watching Agatha closely as she stood slowly and moved back towards the door. Of course, that meant Dracula was now in his line of sight, and it seemed the penny dropped for both of them, at the same time…Yet whilst Dracula gasped in surprise at seeing a familiar face, Tommy reacted with rage, flying up from his place on the floor. Claws and fangs out, as he slammed Agatha out of his way, all in a quest to get to the man who had hurt him.
Laughing Dracula batted away the juvenile attack, quickly getting the young vampire in a head lock and wrestling him down.
"DO NOT HURT HIM!" Agatha commanded, hearing the child cry out in pain.
"I am not hurting him I am teaching him some manners." Dracula snarked back. "He should respect his elders."
"He is a terrified child…"
"With fangs and strength enough to kill."
"Yes, and what a terrible job he is doing of it." Agatha insisted, pointing to how Dracula had Tommy easily subdued. "Let him go…"
"Let him go?" Dracula questioned her sanity. "He is just going to attack me again. He is clearly defective, better to snap his neck now and be done with it."
"He's a child and he can learn." Agatha snapped. "Of the two of us here Count, which one is the expert? It is certainly not you."
Growling his own irritation, with a final shove Dracula released Tommy, who luckily for all concerned remained prone on the floor. Yet it was Agatha's next action that had Dracula questioning her sanity. She knelt down and pulled a sobbing Tommy into her arms, and this 300lb six foot plus body builder curled up like a child in her embrace.
"Agatha…"
"Get out Count, you have done enough damage for today I think."
Cursing her under his breath Dracula returned to the door, his irritation only growing when he was confronted with Anderson. The other man's 'I told you so' was so blatant on his face, that there was no need to say the words. Instead Dracula kicked the damn wall, prowling the length of the corridor, until the urge to rip something to pieces had abated. He was already on shaky ground with Agatha, yet it was nothing he couldn't explain away; after all he had obeyed her instructions, and he had only been defending himself from attack. If he killed her pet mortal, well that would be far harder to justify… or to grovel back from.
So, Anderson got to live for now, and so did his newest clan member.
Shaking the last of the blood rage off, Dracula could almost find it amusing, it was certainly ironic, that whilst he was relegated to the corridor, and kept as far from Agatha's embrace as it was possible to be. His new bride…child…offspring? Dracula wasn't yet sure of the correct term. Was able to curl up at her breast and luxuriate in that comfort. Sometimes it really did suck to be him.
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