by NightsDawne
Chapter 5: Traveling Companions
Near Hermannstadt, Hungary, 5 July 1916
Margarete buttoned up the new suit she would be wearing for their trip through enemy territory. Her outfit had been carefully selected to provide maximum mobility, not for its attractive qualities. She would be in the guise of a respectable officer's wife, her figure almost completely obscured under a blue wool dress with mid-calf skirt and a V-neck that was softened to a modest view with no cleavage. For a Parisienne it was almost a mortal sin to be so plain, but she sucked it up, determined to do it for the war effort. Sensible shoes, thick black wool stockings, and a straw bucket hat completed her transformation from goddess to typical kept woman. "I'm itching!" She grumbled and slipped out of the small stand of trees that had served for her dressing room.
Keith glanced over, keeping his head still for the Roma barber who was cutting his hair to a more contemporary style. Fluent in their language, Keith had managed to gain the assistance of the wanderers in procurement of disguises and travel arrangements into Hungary while Margarete had handled their documentation needs and planned the second leg of their journey. "Don't scratch. Not everything is made of silk or leather, you know."
Margarete gave him a look born of extreme annoyance with her clothing. "It's hot, it's itchy, and this neckline is ridiculous."
"Are you going to complain all the way to Vienna or are you just getting it all out now?" Keith stood, brushing loose clumps of blond hair from the shoulders of his Austrian uniform. With his hair shortened to a length acceptable for a military officer, his high cheekbones and angular jaw were even more in evidence. With a few snips of the shears he'd been transformed from a figure out of the past into a strikingly good-looking man of the 20th century.
Margarete found herself drawn out of her irritation slightly by the new Keith. "You should cut your hair more often."
"I'll take that as approval." Keith walked over to remove Margarete's hat, then pulled her close, giving her a deep kiss.
Margarete pushed against him in surprise, then returned the kiss. "What was that all about?"
"It doesn't matter what you're wearing, you're still beautiful, and I've been longing to repeat that while I was awake for weeks now." He smiled. "Besides, if you're going to be my wife we ought to be able to act as if we've done it before."
"Acting as your wife. Not your wife." Margarete stepped away from him to fix her hat. "How far into the role do you plan to go?"
"Well it's not as if I need to worry about you giving yourself away with a virginal blush."
Margarete spun and laid a slap to Keith's cheek that knocked his face to the side. "Oh God. I'm sorry, Keith." He put his hand to his cheek in surprise. She turned away, trying to figure out why it had angered her so. Normally such a comment from a man would spawn a laugh and joking flirtation from her, but Keith wasn't just any man. Could she be falling for him? She'd had half a crush on Yuri when they first met, but it had been obvious that even her looks couldn't draw him from Alice and she had a strict rule about stepping in on another girl's territory. Still, Yuri was rude by nature and they'd managed to keep a banter of innuendo going between them as a joke. Keith on the other hand was a gentleman. Maybe all she wanted was for him to see her as a lady.
"It's alright, I deserved it." Keith stepped back. "I do apologize, Margarete. I hope this won't end our friendship. I will be more careful in the future."
Margarete turned as she heard his footsteps walking away. I don't want you to be more careful, damn it. I just don't want to be.. Oh, hell, I don't know what I want. She sighed and stooped down to fix her stockings.
Paris, France, 8 July 1916
Alice stepped off the train, smoothing her skirt down and looking over the platform as Yuri kicked their suitcase out next to her, then joined her, shoving his hands deep into his pockets.
"Halley's mom and yours should get together." Yuri squinted and picked up the suitcase.
Alice sighed. "I'm sure Koudelka had good reason for contacting us and telling us to come here."
"Yeah, sure. Head the opposite direction we're supposed to." Yuri took Alice's hand and started out of the train station.
"Is it so opposite? You heard the rumors on the train. The mysterious deaths in Strasbourg, Dijon, and Bourjes? Bodies drained of blood?"
"Yeah, well, there's a war on and everyone's on edge anyway. We don't know that it has anything to do with vampires." Yuri was pulled to a stop by Alice as Halley's mother's voice echoed to them again, strained by distance and concern. He had to concentrate to make out the faint words.
Halley.... in pain .... hospital .... please, I beg...
Alice clapped her hand to her mouth in worry. "Oh no, not dear sweet Halley."
"Halley," complained Yuri, letting go of her hand to rub his temple, "is a tough son of a bitch, not sweet. What the hell is he doing here anyway? He's supposed to be in America."
"If he's here, we have to do something, Yuri. Please!" Alice looked to her fiancé pleadingly.
Yuri looked away, irritated that she would think he wouldn't do whatever he could to help their young friend. "Fine, whatever, let's find him." He grabbed her hand and stormed forward. He set the suitcase down again on the street, unfamiliar with the area. "Where do we go?"
"Yuri!"
Yuri groaned in recognition of the voice, not turning around. "Tell me he's not behind us."
Alice turned, her face lighting up in a smile. "Meiyuan! Imagine finding you here!"
"It's like some kind of recurring nightmare." Yuri finally turned as the small and stocky man of Chinese birth and mysterious origins trotted up, beaming with joy at seeing his old friends. In spite of his obvious Asian upbringing, Meiyuan's platinum blond hair and twinkling blue eyes seemed more in keeping with a Scandinavian, only more enhanced by his current short hair and pinstriped sack suit. "What do you want?"
"Oh, Yuri, don't be mean." Meiyuan's round face took on a pout of hurt before the smile took over again. "It's fate, it must be, me seeing you again. And you still look as handsome as ever! Oh, hello, Alice. So, what brings you to the City of Lights?"
"Business. Which means we're busy." Yuri picked up the suitcase again, pulling Alice's hand forward so that it was quite clear to Meiyuan their relationship. "So it was nice seeing you again, but my fiancée and I have to get going."
"Fiancée? You two are getting married?" Disappointment cast its tone in Meiyuan's voice, but it lasted for only a second. "Well, congratulations. I can't say I'm not jealous, of course, but you make a lovely couple."
Alice patted Meiyuan's shoulder comfortingly. "I'm sure there's a man out there who is perfect for you, Meiyuan."
"I don't suppose you could introduce us," said the small man hopefully.
"Alice, we have to find Halley, remember?" Yuri turned in annoyance, hoping they could escape Meiyuan's presence. It made him uncomfortable enough to be around a man whose tastes ran towards other men. It was downright creepy that he seemed destined to be the ideal of affections from the same man and even worse that no matter where he went he was doomed to run into his admirer.
"Halley? He's here as well?" Meiyuan trotted after the couple like a friendly puppy. "I'll bet he's grown."
"And still not eighteen," warned Yuri. He wasn't quite ready to consider Meiyuan a true pervert, but even when Halley had been fifteen the Chinese acupuncturist had been fond of gazing at the kid in a way that made him edgy and nervous. As much as he would welcome someone else drawing Meiyuan's attention away from him, he didn't relish the idea of loosing him on a teenager, especially without Keith there to ease tensions. Keith had never been unnerved by Meiyuan's wandering eyes or tendency to engage in flirtatious touches, leaving Yuri suspect of the vampire's sexual preferences as well, but at least he'd taken the heat off of the younger men while he was around.
"Oh. Well, when's his birthday?"
Alice deflected the tone of the conversation before it could get to the point where Yuri snapped. "He's in the hospital, Meiyuan."
Meiyuan's eyes widened in horror. "Oh, the dear sweet boy. Well, in that case, I'm definitely coming along. My skills will come in handy, I'm positive of it. I'll have him feeling wonderful again."
Yuri whimpered softly. Great, now they'd be stuck with Meiyuan.
Sainte Anne Hospital, Paris, France, 9 July 1916
"What's wrong with this one?"
"He was sent from the front, from Somme. Apparently couldn't take the strain of the battle. They found him wandering in No Man's Land trying to provide medical attention to rotting corpses. Hadn't eaten in a week. We have to force him even now."
"No disease, no wounds. Just this disorder of hysteria?"
"They're calling it shell shock, now. Makes you wonder if the ones who get killed are the lucky ones."
The quiet voices seemed to be coming from a radio play as Halley rocked slowly in the bed. Part of him was aware that he was no longer at the front, that he was within the safe confines of a hospital, surrounded by clean sheets and hushed concern. It lacked the reality of the scenes that replayed in his mind. He was trapped in a world of concussions of sound, burrowed in a trench comprised of torn and shattered bodies. Dead men mocked him for his inability to save them, Farlane and Bell reaching for him, their voices full of cheer and courage as they beckoned him to join them, but he couldn't. He was alive, but not alive, imprisoned in a mental No Man's Land. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I did my best."
The doctor rubbed his mustache as he watched the young man before him with an air of consternation. "Is he in a state where he can see his visitors?"
"They're very insistent. I tried to tell them he wasn't fit for it." The orderly shifted his weight from one foot to the other.
"Let them in." The doctor turned from the patient with a sigh. "Perhaps they can do him some good. There's very little we can do."