A/N 1: As in the previous chapters – ideas for fic and character development, questions, plotbunnies, suggestions, flames, character pictures, corrections, additions, comments, and everything in between can be mailed to hack_heaven@usa.net

A/N 2: VivaGlam: Viva, babe - compared to me, about 80 % of ff.net is 'young' ;) (damn, I feel old now...:P)

Ageless: Babe, it's me we're talking about here, remember? You know I'm a sucker for hardcore bad guys ^^

Blackcat: *bows* Thank you ^^ And I'm doing the best I can to get the chapters out fast, despite of the finals ;)

Italics indicates thoughts/telepathy

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Chapter Thirty-Eight: Blood Moon Rising, part III

* * *

Jhonen sighed for only God knew what time, and sank down in a chair next to Laetitia's bed. It had been fifteen minutes since the encounter with the Guardians, and still the Greek woman showed no signs of waking up.

"She should've been awake by now," Pheonix said concerned, unconsciously echoing Jhonen's thoughts.

"Something must have happened," Aaron hissed. "I told her that we shouldn't have stayed here, but..." he trailed off and shook his head.

"...But no one argues with Nike," Pheonix finished.

"Exactly."

"It's Cretes, it has to be," Hal said and got up from her chair. "Why don't Blade and Nike just get rid of him once and for all? First Suzuka's attack, and now this - the guy is going insane, and if he loses control, there's nothing we can do to stop him."

She suddenly remembered that Jhonen was in the room, and sent him a faint, apologetic smile.

"Sorry, Jhonen, but that's how I see it. No offence."

"None taken," Jhonen replied quietly. "I'm not so sure about Ryan myself anymore. He's not...he's a good guy, but he's just too...naive, I guess."

"If he continues protecting the damn humans, he's going to get his team killed some day," Pheonix sneered. "He's a mutant - he should worry about his own kind, and not the species that's trying to fucking kill us!"

"What is it they say? The good guys always die first?" Aaron said.

Hal smiled faintly.

"In that case I know a couple of people, who are damn near immortal," she replied.

"Let's hope that goes for Laetitia, too," Jhonen sighed.

Hal sent him a sympathetic look and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. Jhonen looked at her, slightly surprised at the caring gesture.

"Don't worry. I know Nike - she's too stubborn to let someone like Cretes slow her down for long," Hal assured him.

"I hope so," Jhonen replied. A thought suddenly occurred to him, and he looked at Hal with undisguised hope in his eyes.

"You can see the different timelines, can't you? Can't you see what will happen to her, then?"

Hal sighed, almost sorry to take away Jhonen sudden hopefulness.

"It's too far into the future," she replied with an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry."

Jhonen looked away, feeling his worry return with renewed strength.

"It's okay, I just...I just wished there was something we could do, you know?"

"I know," Hal replied. "But she'll be okay. I promise."

Jhonen didn't look convinced, but he did feel a bit of the worry leave his mind. He looked at Laetitia again, and brushed a lock of wavy, black hair out of her face.

"Come on, Laetitia...wake up," he whispered. "Don't give up on us now..."

"I assure you, it takes more than a mindbolt to kill me," Laetitia said weakly, and Jhonen's face lit up.

"Laetitia? Thank God you're okay!" he said and breathed a sigh of relief. "We were worried sick about you!"

"As I said, it takes more than Ryan Cretes to stop me," she said and smiled faintly.

"We know," Hal said with a wry smile.

Pheonix sat down on the bed and hugged Laetitia quickly.

"We were just worried," she explained quickly. "You were out cold for nearly twenty minutes...that's never happened before."

Laetitia smiled, touched by the girl's concern.

"I'll live. I always do, remember?"

Pheonix nodded relieved and got up from the bed, giving Laetitia a chance to look around.

"Where are the others?" she asked.

"We just wanted to make sure that nobody considered reporting us to the cops," Blade said calmly and stepped into the room followed by Jordane and Zach. "Good to see you're all right," he added with a faint smile.

Laetitia nodded slightly in reply and hid her surprise at the rare sign of concern from the man.

"So what do we do now?" Hal asked. "We're not staying, are we?"

"No. We're leaving," Blade said. "As soon as Laetitia has gotten some rest, we're out of here."

* * *

"Something's wrong," Ben said concerned, and momentary stopped his healing of Ryan's wound. "Something's very wrong."

Diana carefully wiped the sweat off Ryan's brow, then looked at Ben. They were sitting in the cabin, in Ryan and Kyle's room. Kyle was in Suzuka's room, keeping an eye on the girl, since his presence seemed to calm her down a bit, and Diana had told Deirdre and West to get some sleep, since there was no use in all of them being awake. Actually, she'd given Prue the same message, but the older girl had stuck around anyway, in case anyone needed help.

"What do you mean?" Diana asked.

Ben shook his head.

"His reaction...it's not natural. And my head feels...dizzy."

Diana looked at Ryan again, and knew that the healer was right. Something was definitely wrong. She'd used her powers to lull Ryan into a deep sleep while Ben got the bullet out, and then made sure to keep him asleep to avoid putting him through any unnecessary pain. But despite the best of her abilities, he'd remained restless - constantly tossing and turning, and even through her mental shields, Diana could feel the pain grow worse.

"What do you think it is?" Diana asked concerned.

Ben frowned.

"I don't know. It's - it doesn't feel like a gunshot. Well, it does, but there's something more - it feels almost like...poison. It makes me dizzy. Hard to focus on anything."

"Poison?" Prue asked confused. "That doesn't make sense. How could he even have come into contact with that?"

Ben sighed and continued his healing of Ryan, slower this time as he felt the pain in his own shoulder intensify and his dizziness increase at a rapid pace.

"I don't know. But it's poison, I'm almost certain of that."

Diana felt a shiver down her spine as she heard Ben's words.

Poison? No!

"It's the bullet," she whispered, and the other two looked at her, confusion plain on their faces. "It's the bullet," she repeated, stronger this time. "Ryan told me about it - the tips are hollow and filled with some sort of cyanide. Blade has used it before. Even a flesh wound is lethal."

"Not if I have anything to say about that," Ben said with quiet determination, and concentrated harder on his powers.

A part of Diana wanted to stop him, to tell him to rest before he pushed himself too far, but another part of her was reluctant to interfere - right now Ben was the only person who could save Ryan, and she knew it. If he stopped too soon, Ryan might not survive, and that was a situation Diana never wanted to face. He was her everything - she couldn't lose him. Not now...not ever.

I'm sorry, Ben, she whispered soundlessly and closed her eyes briefly. Forgive me.

* * *

Kyle paused in the doorway to his and Ryan's room. Suzuka had finally gone to sleep, and Kyle was more than a bit anxious to see how Ryan was doing. Ben was sitting next to the unconscious man, obviously working on the wound, while Diana sat next to him, probably using her powers to keep Ryan asleep. Prue hovered nearby, watching her teammates with obvious concern.

"How's he doing?" Kyle asked quietly and stepped inside the room.

Only Prue seemed to hear his question - the other two didn't react, but focused on Ryan instead.

"Not good," she sighed. "The bullet was poisoned. Ben's trying to heal him, but..." she trailed off and made a helpless gesture, and only then did Kyle notice how exhausted Ben looked.

"Ben?" he asked concerned. "Benji?"

He walked closer and put a hand on Ben's shoulder, and only then did the boy seem to notice his presence. He looked up, slightly surprised to see Kyle.

"Kyle..."

His voice sounded weaker than usual, and Kyle frowned.

"What's wrong?"

Ben shook his head.

"Nothing, I just..." he trailed off and shook his head. "I'm just a bit...dizzy. Nothing serious." A drop of sweat rolled down his temple and he raised a weak hand to dry to off. The motion caught Kyle's attention and he put a hand on Ben's forehead.

"You're burning," he whispered. Ben tried to raise an arm to push Kyle's hand away, but the motion sent a flash of pain through his mind, and he let out a small whimper.

"Come on, Benji. You have to rest," Kyle said softly, and helped the younger healer to his feet. "You won't be able to help Ryan if you burn yourself out."

"No...I have to-" Ben's objection was cut short as he felt the world around him start to spin, and only Kyle's quick reflexes stopped his sudden fall.

"That's it - you're getting some rest, whether you want to or not," Kyle said firmly. "You can do it voluntarily, or I can make Diana use her powers to lull you to sleep...the choice is entirely yours."

Ben sighed, but didn't resist as Kyle helped him to bed. He could barely keep his eyes open, much less focus for long enough to help Ryan, and as much as he hated to admit it, Kyle was right. Collapsing from fatigue would accomplish nothing - it would be better to get some rest, and continue the healing later.

He felt the softness of the bed beneath him and finally gave up, unable to keep the tiredness at bay any longer. He closed his eyes and was fast asleep before Kyle had even left the room.

* * *

Diana and Prue looked up as Kyle re-entered the room, concern obvious on their faces.

"How is he?" Prue asked.

Kyle shook his head.

"Asleep. Poor kid was completely exhausted - he pushed himself too far. Hopefully, a good night's sleep will help on that."

"And Suzuka?" Diana asked quietly.

Kyle sighed heavily and sat down.

"It's...about as bad as you could expect. Besides the cut on her cheek, and the swollen lips, she has finger-shaped bruises on her throat and biceps, and an ugly mark between her shoulder blades. The power-suppressive drugs should wear off soon, but we have no way of knowing if there'll be any side effects. And that's just the physical damage."

"God..." Diana whispered. "What did they do to her?"

It hadn't really been a question, but Kyle answered anyway.

"They did their damn best to break her, I suspect," he said quietly.

Prue stood up and started to pace the room with angry steps.

"Why would they do that to her? She's just a kid, for crying out loud! She's seventeen, not some professional assassin!"

"Paranoia, I guess," Kyle said with a sigh. "Those people...some of them aren't exactly mentally stable. Or maybe they hoped she had some useful information...I don't know."

"They beat up a seventeen-year-old kid because they were *paranoid*?!" Prue repeated incredulously.

"No...because Blade wanted revenge against Ryan," Diana said quietly.

Kyle and Prue looked at her.

"What do you mean?" Kyle asked. "Revenge for what? What happened?"

Diana bit her lower lip.

"I'm-it's not my story to tell, okay? I'm sorry."

Kyle opened his mouth to ask another question, but Diana shook her head.

"Listen, you two better get some rest, okay? I'll keep watch over Ryan."

Kyle wanted to argue, but something stopped him. He would hear the story eventually, and besides, she was right - they *did* need some sleep. He could always grab the couch...Diana didn't look like she wanted any company right now, anyway.

He nodded.

"All right. Just call if you need anything," he said and got up, followed by Prue.

Diana nodded absently, and the duo left the room quietly. Kyle paused briefly in the doorway and looked at Diana as she sat on the edge of Ryan's bed, watching the unconscious man with a concerned expression on her face.

What are you hiding, Ryan? he wondered. And why didn't you tell us?

He shook his head. The answers would have to wait until Ryan had recovered.

*If* he recovers, a part of his mind taunted, but Kyle pointedly ignored it. Ryan would survive, he was sure of that. It would take much more than a poisoned bullet to stop him.

But the doubt kept nagging.

* * *