"Let me go!" Tet struggled in the restraints, his eyes flashing. "Please, just let me go so I can feed."
"I can't do that. I'm sorry," Andy said sadly as she watched him. She tried to think of ways she could help him since the spell wasn't working as well as she'd hoped.
He growled for a minute, then sighed. "I'm sorry. You shouldn't have saved me." He laid his head back, staring at the ceiling. "I'm so hot."
"I'm sorry, I'm working on trying to help.." She went and got a cool rag and placed it on his forehead.
Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath. "This really sucks." He was silent for awhile, then spoke softly. "Is it worth it to keep fighting?"
"Why wouldn't it be?"
He opened his eyes. "This is what I am. I'm not a vampire or shifter, but a mix. I've denied this part of myself because it will supposedly kill me. What if that's not true though?" He looked at her. "I'm tired of fighting. I feel so much older than I am. Maybe I should just stop and let whatever happens happen." He grimaced as pain shot through his chest.
She sighed, going back to the computer screen she was staring at, trying to come up with an answer. She tested different spells and medicines on blood samples trying to come up with the best way to help him. "You're tired of fighting, then let us fight for you. I'm not just giving up."
He smiled softly to himself as Kiba and Daiki entered.
"How's he doing?" Kiba glanced at his friend in concern.
"He could be better. I'm still working on different ideas, he keeps complaining, so not much has changed."
The two snickered softly, then Daiki spoke. "He's still breathing, so of course he's complaining."
Tet rolled his eyes. "I heard that, fang face."
"Good." Daiki went to his side. "Don't you dare quit cause then I'll be worried. You can beat this."
Tet gave him a small grin, his hands twitching. "Just give me a bag…"
Daiki's eyes narrowed. "Can't do that."
Tet's eyes flashed as he hissed, thrashing on the bed. Then he stopped with a gasp. "Feels like I'm burning inside.." His breathing increased, becoming a pant quickly. He squeezed his eyes shut.
Andy stood and went to him, reciting a spell to help with the burning sensation. She stared at him with worry before going back to the computer. She was growing more and more frustrated at herself for not being able to fix him faster. She typed quickly, trying more and more ideas, cursing when things didn't work out.
Kiba massaged her shoulders. "You need a break. We'll watch him."
"I need to find an answer," she replied before looking down, "Nothing I try is working."
"Andy.. stop." Tet's voice was soft. "There's only one thing you can do for me now."
The other men stared at him. "No."
Andy looked at him sadly, continuing to think of ideas. Finally, her mind clicked on something. She turned back to the computer and tried figuring it out.
"I can feel it trying to consume me. Please. I don't want to hurt anyone, but I can't control myself.." Tet lunged upward, grabbing Daiki as the restraints broke. His fangs flashed as he aimed for the other vampire's throat.
Andy said a spell, freezing Tet to stop him from moving. She didn't even look up from the computer as she continued to type.
Daiki exhaled sharply as he saw tears in Tet's eyes. He moved back to Andy slowly. "That was close."
Kiba hung his head. "Maybe Tet's right. Not like we haven't prepared for this."
"Let me try something to see if it'll work. Can you put him back in bed and re restrain him?"
They nodded, doing as requested.
Kiba took a small syringe out of his pocket, staring at it sadly.
Daiki's eyes widened. "You really think it'll come to that?"
Kiba took a deep breath. "Sure as hell hope not."
Andy went to Tet's side, raising her hands up to focus as she started reciting spells. This continued on for the next hour, occasionally pausing to inject medicines. When she pulled away, she took a blood sample and went back to the computer to test it. She undid the freezing spell and looked at Tet, "How are you feeling?"
He blinked rapidly as he considered the question. "Different. The hunger is gone, like it never existed. What did you do?"
She went over to him and took the restraints off slowly. "Can you shift still?"
He shrugged, then took a deep breath and tried. His white fur blew softly in the air conditioning as his gold eyes met hers. "Guess so."
"Good," she smiled at him.
He reverted, raising an eyebrow as he sat up. "You going to tell me or is it a secret?"
"Well, you know how I spent all that time analyzing shifter vs. vampire DNA? I got the idea to rewrite your DNA to just shifter, so there's no vampire parts left in it. It's a lot more complicated but that's the basics."
All three men stared at her in shock.
Daiki spoke slowly. "Can you do that for anyone?"
"I mean, I could try. I'm still surprised this worked. But it might be more complicated with someone else, since he had parts of both in his DNA, whereas someone who is all one or the other would have full DNA of that typing, and I'd have to try to rewrite it entirely..." She looked thoughtful as she trailed off.
Daiki nodded. "I get it. Just a question."
Tsukasa entered, then stopped. "What's going on?" He glanced at Tet in confusion.
"I think he'll be alright now," Andy gave Tet a small smile.
The dragon nodded slowly. After a minute, he spoke. "The clans have requested conclave again. Tet and Andy only."
"No way in hell." Kiba shook his head.
"Me?" Andy looked confused.
"Maybe they respect you now?" Daiki looked thoughtful.
"I'll go. Settle this once and for all. Especially if this spell worked perfectly, the vampires will respect my decision." Tet stood, only a little shaky.
"I'm not letting you go alone. I'll go too."
Kiba scowled. "Better come back in one piece or I'm going to be pissed."
Tet grinned at him before dizziness made him sit down hard. "Woah."
Tsukasa nodded. "Fine. Tomorrow evening. Tet knows where." He turned and left.
Daiki and Kiba said their goodbyes, disappearing into the hall before Tet spoke again. "You don't have to babysit me." His tone was slightly petulant.
"I'm not trying to babysit you, I'm just trying to help."
He chuckled. "Don't mind me. I'm just exhausted. I didn't mean it the way it sounded." He ran a hand through his hair with a sigh.
"Why don't you get some sleep?"
"Help me? My brain won't shut off." He lay back on the bed with a thump.
Andy sat down next to him, running her hand through his hair, "Why won't it shut off? What are you thinking about?"
"Everything. This meeting, what happens now that I don't have a death sentence over my head.." He met her eyes. "Us."
She gave him a soft smile, "Just focus on something simple, like your breathing or my hand in your hair, and you'll fall asleep in no time." She kissed his forehead and went back to rubbing his hair.
He grinned, leaning into the touch and closing his eyes. Slowly he began to relax, his breathing starting to even out. His voice was sleepy as he spoke again. "Thanks for not giving up. I love you."
"I love you too," she said quietly.
His lips curled and he let out a contented purr as he slipped into a deep sleep.
Andy continued rubbing his hair for a while longer before curling up in the chair and falling asleep.