-/-

Count Dracula would much rather be at home right now. A thought that even a few months ago would have been unthinkable. Yet a few months ago he didn't have a partner like Agatha to come home to. He was finally becoming almost domestic at the grand old age of 534.

"Count is the entertainment not to your taste?"

Forcing a smile Dracula turned to greet his host, Baron Gilles de Rais had been extending invitations to join one of his little soirees for years, and unfortunately Dracula's plans had always clashed. Now he was permanently based in London once more, the Baron had been back in touch, and Dracula had not been able to turn the invitation down, especially when the Baron has asked him to choose the date.

Dracula had even tried his best to plead with Agatha to attend with him, however she was quite happy to remind him that she was not officially 'out' yet, and as such it would be inappropriate for her to attend. She was much happier heading to headquarters, to spend the evening looking at dress options with her sisters, for her custom-made presentation ballgown.

The fact that Agatha clearly detested Baron de Rais was not a mark in his favour. Dracula doubted that they would attend any of his events as a couple. Indeed, the salacious nature of his entertainment was clearly geared towards the bachelor…albeit ones with deviant tendencies. Agatha would certainly not approve.

"It is most creative." Dracula replied politely, the dancers were very good, under normal circumstances he might amuse himself watching them cavort.

Perhaps it was love, or perhaps his own good taste, but Dracula found himself a little repulsed by all the flesh that was being put on display for them.

"There are some more specialist entertainment available in my private rooms. If that would be more to your taste?" The Baron's hint was like a sledge hammer of subtlety.

"Perhaps later." Dracula forced another smile, taking a sip of the blood he had selected. At least that was one thing the Baron had gotten right, young and a little naughty, it did fit with the theme of the party at least.

"I must confess Count, you are not what I expected when we first met." Gilles continued. "I finally thought I would have a contemporary I could converse with as an equal."

As insults went, it was about as subtle as the Baron's entertainment.

"I'm sorry to prove such a disappointment." Dracula was more amused than insulted. "How exactly do I disappoint?"

"I had heard you were adventurous. A vampire that inspired dread in whatever mortals he came across. I thought finally here was a vampire, who would not cow to the expectations placed on him. All this sustainable feeding nonsense, and human rights. There are vampires alive now who have never even taken a neck." The Baron scoffed. "The taste is simply not comparable to free range."

"Well I will not argue with that." Dracula replied toothily as he sipped on his drink. "And I hardly think I have conformed, the twenty-two turned vampires I have added to my clan in the last two years, would seem to support my stance."

"And yet you do not partake, when I offer you pretty mortals to play with?" Gilles taunted him, waving towards the pretty girls and boys he had selected, hoping to impress his guest of honour.

"Ahhh yes well I am old fashioned Baron, I like to hunt my own food." Dracula retorted. "No insult to your selections of course."

"Well then perhaps we should take this party on the road." Gilles suggested, the idea of hunting a fresh kill with Dracula at his side very appealing.

Unable to think of a decent excuse, and a little intrigued as to what it would be like to go hunting with company, Dracula nodded his agreement. It was probably a good thing Agatha was staying with the girls tonight, he doubted he would be back at a decent hour.

-/-

They had started with a movie. Tommy had picked it this month, and Agatha was amused to discover he clearly had a Dwayne Johnson fixation, either that or he just really liked car movies. As this was second time Tommy had gotten to choose a movie, and it was the second fast and furious movie they had been forced to watch. Still it gave Agatha plenty of time to review the different sketches she had been sent through. She placed herself at the back of the room, whilst the others gathered around the screen, not wanting to disturb them as she turned on one of the table lamps.

Dracula had insisted that she had a bespoke gown made for the presentation ball. The only additional request he made was the colour, we wanted her in blood red with gold detailing to match his house colours. At Lucy's suggestion they had sent those details, along with her measurements and accompanying photograph to several very different young and upcoming designers. They certainly hadn't disappointed, none of which made Agatha's choice any easier.

"I like the backless one." Lucy chipped in, her interest in the dresses far greater than her interest in the movie, as she moved to join Agatha had her table.

"It's beautiful but it's not me." Agatha sighed, doing her best to be methodical about this.

First to go were the dresses that were just too big. Yes, they were meant to be ball gowns, but Agatha was already having nightmares about tripping over some of those skirts or ending up looking like a stick figure drowned in tulle. Next anything that revealed too much skin. Agatha was not a prude, but her tastes were conservative, and the idea of having to dance with strange men who could put their hands on her…no anything backless or too low at the front was also out.

Agatha couldn't imagine what Dracula would do to any vampire who dared to get too fresh with her, and she preferred not to risk it.

"What about this one?"

Looking at the design from the young Bradford designer, Agatha only worried she wouldn't be able to do it justice. The wonderful ornate floral embroidered skirt, all gold thread and sown in seed pearls, on a floaty overdress, with elegant draped sleeves and a soft flattering neckline, all sown in at the waist to a corseted A-line underdress of red silk.

"It's lovely but don't you think it might be too much for me…I mean all that detailed work…"

"Agatha Van Helsing are you trying to turn down a dress because you think it is too pretty for you?" Lucy tutted, stealing the design from Agatha's hands and holding it up, one eye closed and pictured it on her.

"You have to get this one made, I don't care what it costs. You will look wonderful in this." Lucy insisted, knowing that with the Pakistani design influence, no one else would have a dress like Agatha's at the ball. "Come on it's dressy enough for such an occasion, but you won't be tripping over your skirts, and you won't have to worry about wandering hands either."

"Fine this one it is." Agatha agreed, relieved to have finally made a decision. She could email the designer in the morning, agree the commission price, and hopefully arrange a date to come up and have the base dress fitted.

"It's a damn shame we can't drink champagne anymore, we need something to celebrate with…" Lucy paused, looking a little shifty before darting off to her room and returning a few moments later with a flask and two shot glasses.

"Lucy?"

"Just don't ask questions about how I got this." Lucy began, pouring out two shots from her flask, pressing one into Agatha's hand before she could refuse.

Taking a sip, the high blood alcohol hit Agatha between the eyes. She had never really drunk as a mortal, and funnily enough now she was dead it hadn't been something she had missed. There was also a reason, vampires did not normally consume blood, from someone who had been drinking. It was hard enough to contain their more animalistic tendencies, when they had full control of their faculties, throw alcohol into the mix and things could get dangerous.

"Lucy Westenra where the hell did you get this?" Agatha almost choked out her question, ignoring Lucy's shush to keep her voice down.

"Don't be a party pooper Aggi, I am friends with a doctor, who is friends with lots of poor medical students. Let's just say I paid for the privilege in several bottles of single malt whiskey."

"You need to get rid of it."

"The hell I do." Lucy snorted, all but downing her glass as a shot and pouring another.

"Lucy, Dracula lets a lot of your mischief go, mainly because I think he finds it amusing, and for some reason Mycroft also tolerates you. But if you get caught with this here then all your privileges will be revoked."

"Privileges what fucking privileges? I am treated like a child, I can't even go out when I want…"

"Please, like you pay any attention to that rule either." Agatha snapped. "Captain Anderson confronted me about it just the other day; were you drunk on this stuff when you threatened him, because that might explain it?"

"You shouldn't pay any attention to that shit stirrer, he hates big D you know, hates him because you chose D over him…"

"Lucy that is ridiculous."

"Why that two men might fight over you? Or that Captain Party Pooper is in love with you; although with the way he mopes and creeps about, I would say he is more obsessed than anything."

Agatha wished she could refute that observation. In the past she had dismissed it, as a small harmless crush, but with Anderson recently confronting her, and the way he talked about Dracula, and her lack of judgement…Perhaps Lucy was right?

"I just don't want anything bad to happen to you." Agatha sighed, the fight seeping out of her.

"You don't know what it is like, our punishment code is so antiquated. You can walk away without punishment, even after killing another vampire in an honour duel like it is still the sixteenth century, but only if they are of a lessor status. Yet if you are caught insulting an Elder, or bringing your clan into disrepute, then being disowned or exiled will be the minimum punishment you can face. Count Dracula will only be able to do so much to save you."

"Then I just need to be careful not to get caught." Lucy insisted, standing up and returning to join their other sisters, giving her attention back to the film and shutting Agatha out.

Watching her go Agatha knew this was something she was going to have to talk to Dracula about. She had dismissed Anderson's list of infractions before, but maybe she could persuade Mycroft to let her have a copy. If neither of the men were going to take this seriously than Agatha would have to, that and arrange for a vampire law class as soon as possible. Her clan siblings were very protected here at headquarters, but their large numbers also worked against them. They weren't mixing as much with the older vampires, as normal turned initiates would do. As such they weren't learning about the world they now inhabited, as fast as others would, and that left them vulnerable.

-/-

His head…his head was banging.

Staring up at the ceiling Dracula struggled to recognise where he was.

That wasn't his ceiling, of that he was certain. Not since he had been shot and burnt had his body hurt so damn much, and as for his head Dracula was certain that cutting it off might be the only way to feel better.

Groaning he rolled over, his hand landing on an arm that wasn't his. Even though his vision was doubled, Dracula could see more arms than he was expecting…more limbs of any kind…arms...legs…a torso or two…none of which were attached to each other…and blood…lots and lots of blood everywhere. On the floor beneath his hands, drenching his shirt front, matted in his hair.

"You know I really do owe you an apology Count." An annoyingly familiar voice echoed from somewhere far to close. "You really do know how to have a good time after all."

"What the fuck happened?"

"You don't remember?"

"I wouldn't need to ask if I did!" Dracula spat back, his gaze almost narrowing on a smug Baron des Rais, who looked dishevelled but nothing like the horror scene Dracula guessed he resembled.

"We went to a club The Box I think you called it, we bumped into some mortal acquaintances of yours who run a quaint little club…I can't recall the name…and they invited us to a private party. It all started out quite tame, I must admit, but then you really got going. I think the mortals must have been taking some interesting narcotics because they were all high as kites. It was amusing to watch, but the best part was when you starting tearing into them, all of them, it was like poetry, watching you rip them apart and hearing them scream. This apartment must be sound proofed because we weren't disturbed."

"And you just sat there and watched?" Dracula was almost impressed. To have that much restraint in the face of all that blood.

"Well I watched mostly, but there were a couple of cute little wait staff for me to cut my teeth on. Just enough to keep the edge off you understand?"

Oh, Dracula understood enough. He had always been so careful to avoid feeding from humans who drank heavily, not only did it sour the flavour, it weakened his control. He had heard of other substances that humans could take to have similar effects and had previously been lucky to avoid snacking on them. It seemed his luck had run out last night and this was the result.

It looked like a battlefield, there was no way even he could cover this up, there was nothing for it but to flee the scene.

"We need to leave."

"Of course, the sun will be up soon." Gilles agreed, watching amused as Dracula staggered to his feet, searching for his jacket, finding it underneath the severed head of a familiar face…it seemed Sir Richard had finally gotten his wish after all.

His phone was in his jacket pocket, and a quick glance showed the half a dozen missed calls and messages from Agatha…Agatha how the hell was he going to explain this to her?

When Gilles moved for the door Dracula stopped him. Dracula knew that although it was unlikely there was recording equipment in the apartment, there would be surveillance cameras on the elevator and in the foyer, and they did not need to be caught leaving looking like this.

"Out the window."

"Oh, how old fashioned and quaint." Gilles practically giggled like a school girl as he followed Dracula out to the large balcony, the pair shimming it open quickly and shut it behind them, Dracula descending the building with the Baron's help via a side wall ending up in an alleyway.

It was perhaps an hour before dawn, and Dracula wasn't sure where the hell in the city he was. He certainly couldn't grab a cab looking like this, nor could he cross the city on foot covered in blood barely able to stand on his own two feet. He was therefore left with one of two options, turn to Baron de Rais for help and try to cover this all up, or confront the consequences of his actions head on and deal with the fallout.

It really wasn't a question of who he could trust more. Dracula just hoped Agatha would give him a chance to explain first. Dismissing Baron de Rais with an awkward wave, Dracula pulled out his phone, hitting return on one of his missed calls. It only took a moment for her to answer.

"Where the hell are you?"

"Agatha, I need your help…I need you to come and find me, I don't know where I am, but you need to bring me a change of clothes…I've got quite a bit of blood on mine."

There was a lengthy awkward pause on the other end of the phone, and Dracula could feel his heart in his throat…what if she said no…what if she told him to go to hell?

"Alright I am on my way. Just do me a favour and open up your uber app, look at your current location and tell me where that is."

Blinking at the obviousness of the instructions, Dracula fumbled with following them, taking twice as long as usual, but finally he had an answer for her.

"That's closer to my apartment than here, it will take me half an hour. Just stay out of sight until I get there."

The call shut off before Dracula could tell her he loved her, he could only hope Agatha's own curt closing, was because she was in a rush to get to him, and not because she no longer loved him.

"Well Count I will bid you adieu." Gilles de Rais bade him farewell. "We really must do this again sometime." He added with a wink.

Watching the Frenchman leave Dracula allowed himself to sag into the comforting, if slightly smelly embrace of a pile of black refuse sacks. His head was still spinning from the cocktail of whatever drugged blood he had ingested. Never had he wanted to throw up more and he found himself praying that time would pass faster, that Agatha would soon be here, and yet on the other hand he dreaded her seeing him like this. It was humiliating.

Time decided to beat to its own drum as usual, and it felt like much longer than half hour before Dracula could hear a familiar pattern of footsteps.

"Agatha?"

Staring down at him Agatha didn't know what to say, in the end she didn't trust herself to say anything. She merely thrust the bag of clothing into his arms and turned her back, listening as he fumbled and cursed and changed into the running kit and trainers, rubbing his face with the wet flannel to remove as much blood as he could, before stuffing it all back into the sports bag.

Now presentable if still unsteady on his legs Dracula made his way over to her. Agatha had chosen to match him, in her own workout clothing. The clever ruse giving them the perfect excuse to be out this early. Without a word, she took the bag and started to jog out of the alleyway and down the street, hearing Dracula attempt to follow her. His cursing and unsteady pace more than enough to keep track of him, without the need to actually watch him.

Checking her location, Agatha figured it was roughly four miles to her apartment, enough of a distance to punish him for getting into this state, and long enough for Agatha to collect her own thoughts. They were going to have a serious talk when they got to her apartment and she needed to be ready for it, because despite his position as her Elder, Agatha Van Helsing was not going to put up with this sort of behaviour from her partner. Dracula was going to have to choose which was more important to him, the lifestyle of a playboy or her.

-/-