Roxas watched Axel in the dimness. He had fallen asleep beside him but had woken up first. It was warm, comfortable and as he'd first suspected, the device they were encased in was impenetrable. He didn't know this from a lack of trying but by looking at it he couldn't even tell that he had. The device was incredible and he was sure that it was equally impenetrable on the outside. Once the vampires were sleeping, they were safe. The pods seemed to respond to them. All he didn't know was the way into and out of this labyrinth that they were in.

He wasn't sure of how much time had passed but the red-head was sleeping deeply. He was so still, it looked like he was a lifeless corpse, a stark contrast to his wild and untamable personality, but Roxas knew better. The Vampire had never made himself so willingly vulnerable to him before. Roxas still had concealed items that could harm him and Axel had to know. It would be extremely easy for Roxas to attack him even though he was sure his efforts would be wasted. If he did attack Axel, he wasn't sure if he would be able to escape and even if he did, he didn't have a doubt in his mind that there were more vampires in those tunnels. If he failed, Axel would kill him. It would be suicide. He watched the slumbering red-head. Even though he had the opportunity, he didn't think he could ever bring himself to harming Axel.

He closed his eyes for a long time. Hours before, he had been willing to offer himself to bridge the gap between their kinds. Why had he done that? He had known that it was a long shot… Yet somehow, he wanted to make things right. He wanted people to know what he'd seen but he knew that Axel had been right. He would be questioned. His father wouldn't even trust him if he told him the truth or that he had tried to protect him. He stared up at the top of the dome, wondering just what was out there that had made Axel afraid of losing him.

~o~

Cloud blocked out Reno by focusing on his anger instead. It was hard because he had questions that he wanted answered. Damn it. Why hadn't he been sleeping? Reno was supposed to be asleep. He was supposed to be weak too. Most importantly, this was never supposed to happen again. How could he have let this happen? Cloud was unbelievably angry with himself and he let it fuel him. If anyone found out about this... If Roxas found out about this... all they would see was a hypocrite. It was bad enough that Reno had made him feel pleasure but he also had marks on him, bites that had both punctured and just bruised his skin. What had been done to him was unmistakable.

"You wanted peace, right?" Cloud asked. Reno inclined his head, listening to his proposal, "Let us go. Let Roxas and I leave to negotiate terms and we will return to you in three days." Maybe he could explain the situation and come back with enough help to take them out… The red-head smiled at him wryly. Cloud swallowed nervously. He should have never come here alone.

"I see that you need more convincing," he murmured back, trailing his fingers along the blond's skin, making him shudder. Cloud held his gaze determinedly. Reno had been right. It had been foolish to come alone. He had been stupid. Why had he been so arrogant?

"Please, Reno," he whispered.

"You aren't fooling me," he murmured back. Cloud searched those lovely blue eyes, very real concerns making him bite his lower lip. He thought about his family, his friends, feeling despair.

"Damn it they're going to starve without me!" The red-head tsked.

"We both know that it's a bit late for you to go noble, Cloud," he replied. "I already have you. It's all the same to me." Cloud searched his eyes, looking for answers.

"You can't mean that, you need us to survive," he murmured back, frowning in confusion.

"You are making a mistake. You don't have as much power as you think you do, there are mortals that are far more willing than the opposition we have faced from you," he explained. "Why leave alive those who would want us dead?"

"Why would Lea make such an offer then?" he asked. Reno watched him patiently.

"For me, but now I have you so it doesn't matter," he responded. Cloud glared at him hatefully, his eyes glittering in malice.

"You don't have me. The best you're going to have is a slave and you don't want that," he told him spitefully.

"You still want me, more than you are willing to admit," the Vampire disagreed. Cloud nodded his head, agreeing.

"I can want you and hate you at the same time. I will never forgive you if you let them die," he promised. Reno watched him contemplatively, his eyes narrowing.

"Fine. You are offering peace? Then I will see to it myself that your kind receives what they need from us for as long as they need it as a gesture of goodwill. However it shall be on the condition that you remain here. Whether or not you choose to embrace it, I will leave up to you but you will not hate me and you will not try to harm me or my kind."

"How am I to know that you are going to fulfill this promise?" Cloud challenged stubbornly, quickly seeing his chance to escape disappear. "Without being there or being able to see for myself how am I to believe you? You just said that it's all the same to you."

"It will be a binding promise. Ask me thrice and I shall swear by all of my power that I shall be bound to fulfill your request, as you shall likewise swear to me," he murmured back. The blond swallowed, his stomach flipping nervously. This was the only way for now, and it wouldn't be forever. He would make sure of it. He stared at the floor resentfully.

"I ask, in exchange for me to provide for my kind," he said quietly.

"It shall be done," Reno purred back. Cloud scoffed at him.

"Twice, I ask. Say it." Reno smirked.

"In exchange for you I shall provide for your own," he promised for a second time. Cloud hesitated before asking once more.

"I ask once more, in exchange for me will you provide for my kind?" Reno nodded,

"I will, may all of my power be turned against me if I refuse," he replied, watching the blond expectantly, Cloud swallowed,

"And on my life, I swear it that I shall remain here and not hate you or try to harm you or your kind. If I do not, our agreement is broken," he answered numbly. He felt their binding seal with a small surge of pressure and gasped. They now had two bonds between them.

"Perfect," Reno purred back. Cloud scoffed at him and the red-head smiled. "Now let's resolve our differences." Cloud's expression became guarded. Reno threaded his fingers into golden hair, and tugged him closer, a familiar gesture. Cloud's face reddened. He remembered how he had thought they had felt about one another, how real he had thought it had been. Reno didn't kiss him. He stared into Cloud's eyes for a long time instead. "I always loved you. I still love you. One day, you are going to believe me." Doubt flickered in the blond's eyes and Reno pressed their foreheads together. "I don't care how long it takes. I will wait as long as I have to. I'm going to show you until you believe me."

"If you really felt that way, you wouldn't have tried to trap me here," Cloud hissed back. Reno winced.

"I've been living without you, Cloud. I let you have a family without interfering. I put up with you trying to kill me, too." Their eyes locked, "Once I realized why you were doing it, I couldn't do it anymore." Golden brows furrowed.

"What are you talking about? Why was I doing what?" he asked completely confused.

"You were pushing me away because you still wanted me," the red-head replied. Cloud scoffed.

"How could you know that?" he asked defensively.

"Roxas is just like you," he replied. "That's how my brother figured it out." Cloud felt his stomach drop and his face colored in anger.

"It's true then. Lea went after my son and I didn't even notice," he muttered bitterly.

"You should be thankful," Reno told him. Cloud stared at him incredulously.

"Are you insane?" he snapped back. Reno shook his head.

"If Roxas had not succumb he would be dead," he replied. "Lea has always known of him." The color in Cloud's face drained. All of the years and effort of hiding to protect his children had been worthless. Worse yet, he had arrogantly thought that he could protect them, just as he had arrogantly thought he could rescue Roxas now.

"What has he done to him?" he asked.

"Nothing. Lea wants him willing." Their eyes met.

"Why?" Cloud asked. Reno gave him a lopsided smile.

"My brother and I are suffering the same affliction." He replied, looking at him pointedly.

"That's…" he shook his head, laughing in disbelief. "You're telling me that Lea has a soft spot for my son?" He exhaled softly. "Does Roxas know about us?" Reno nodded and Cloud's eyes slid shut. He had not doubts in his mind that Roxas hated him for it, if he believed it.

"For what it's worth, I didn't tell him," the red-head replied. The blond watched him skeptically for a long moment.

"It was either you or Lea, which is just as bad," he said with a frown. Reno looked offended.

"Just as bad? I did not have to keep our secrets," he murmured back. Cloud scoffed.

"You didn't, did you? Lea knows." With a sharp laugh, the Vampire shook his head.

"You just cannot accept the truth, can you? The only reason that you are alive is how I feel about you," he replied. "My brother does not like you, if he hadn't known then you would be dead." Cloud set his jaw stubbornly. He had to admit that Reno was stronger than he'd been led to believe. Lea too. He didn't want to admit that what Reno was saying was possible though. He couldn't accept it. Reno sighed. "No, I didn't think so." Cloud turned away.

Reno watched him, hiding his longing. Gently, he trailed his fingers along the blond's face and then down his neck, rubbing the puncture marks there tenderly. Cloud's pulse was thundering and his heart was hammering in his chest. Somehow, he couldn't sense how the blond was feeling and it bothered him. That meant that Cloud knew how to cut him off. "I won't let Roxas see these," he promised. Cloud's gaze flicked to Reno.

"Lea won't let me see him anyway," he replied bitterly.

"Oh I am sure he will," Reno replied, his lips curling upward, "once I've tamed you." Anger lit Cloud's eyes and he shoved at the Vampire, hitting his chest hard. Reno's expression remained unchanged but he moved, letting the blond go and watching as Cloud got dressed, stopping him from reaching for more than the clothes. The blond's cheeks were flushed from anger and embarrassment. He met Reno's eyes defiantly when the Vampire spoke again, referring to his discarded armor and weaponry. "Leave it behind or remain naked, you won't be needing it." Cloud scoffed but said nothing, following the red-headed man to a room down the hall.

"Let me guess, you want me to stay here while you sleep, pretty please?" The blond mocked. Reno snorted amusedly and clicked the door shut.

"I'm sure that I do not have to remind you what the slayers will do if they see that bite," he purred back, "or that I am faster than you, as well as a better hunter, and that I will hunt you down if you decide to leave." Cloud crossed his arms.

"Then why are you?" he hissed. Reno smirked.

"I know how stubborn you are and I also know that you have been blocking your thoughts off from me," he replied. "You have learned a nice trick but you cannot deceive me, Cloud." The blond tensed, backing away as the red-head approached. He realized too late that Reno was leading him when the red-head pushed him down onto the bed. Reno grasped one of the four posters for the bed, straddling the blond's hips. His hand trailed the blond's clavicle and then he shoved Cloud down forcefully and bent down. There was both fear and arousal in those eyes that stared back up at him and he caught Cloud's thoughts, tsking. "Baby, I'm not going to turn you but I am going to numb your mind for a while." Golden brows furrowed but before he could ask, Reno's mouth was on his, a warm, sensual caress. Cloud's eyes slid shut and he let it happen, melting into it, hooked by the venom that was coursing through him. By the time he realized that his senses were slipping away, the kiss was less innocent. Reno was devouring his mouth.

Drunkenly, Cloud turned his head away. His mind was racing. He couldn't keep kissing the Vampire. Not if he wanted to keep his head together. The burning kisses trailed his jawline and down his neck and he moaned when the Vampire bit him, flooded with pleasure as Reno drank from him to cover up the pain. He felt weak and light headed but flooded with ecstasy by the time their mouths met again. His vision went in and out of focus and his body felt heavy. He hardly recognized that Reno had stopped until he saw those lovely blue eyes looking down at him, full of longing, and affection. It seemed so lonely and the feeling stabbed at his heart. It was an emotion that he had never seen from Reno before. The Vampire turned away, rising from the bed. Cloud's heart pounded out of control and he reached for him but missed. His voice failed him when he tried to call out to him, watching Reno's blurred form walking away. He had lost too much blood.

"R-Reno," he mumbled. The red-head's form hesitated at the door before opening it and Cloud pushed himself up. He tried to follow him but his legs buckled and he fell to the floor with a painful thump. The door shut and Cloud held his head. The room was spinning and his mind was foggy. He couldn't remember what he was supposed to be doing.

Steps approached him and then two feet appeared in front of him. His face heated up when Reno helped him back into bed like a child. "You are going to hurt yourself." Cloud shook his head and grasped Reno's hand. Reno was leaving when he had looked so alone, that's right. He didn't know why but he didn't like it.

"Stay," he pleaded softly. Reno's gaze gentled.

"I have to rest now, my love," he explained. He smiled wryly at the blond, knowing that Cloud would be disliking him again by nightfall and so he was going to take advantage of this. He kissed his forehead before pulling his hand away, "Stay here and I will return soon," he told the blond, knowing that Cloud would not be able to resist the power that he had over him. The blond scoffed.

"So, so do it here," he protested as Reno walked away. He only paused at the door briefly.

"I can't, sorry," he murmured back, and then he was gone, leaving Cloud alone.

~o~