A Deal with the Devil

Chapter 3: To Know When Enough is Enough

"How was the hunting tonight Zechs?" Quatre asks as Zechs comes in, looking handsome and once again unruffled in his black Armani suit and trenchcoat. Zechs shrugged and placed his jacket over a nearby chair.

"Alright," He lies, appraising the slightly built young man and remembering when he had last seen Quatre as a mortal. Quatre had been floating in space with the decimated ruins of Sandrock Custom, near death and barely recognizable from his wounds, when Zechs had given him the choice to come with him and live or have the pain end right then and there in death.

Quatre had been the first to join.

"You didn't go did you?" Sally Po then enters the room with Chang Wufei right on her heels. "The Master got a hold of you first. Made you drink from him again."

Zechs flashes her a wry smile. "The only time you remind me of Her, Sally, is when you do that to me."

"But am I right?"

"Yes," Zechs admits. Sally had been diagnosed with cancer when Zechs caught up with her. She had practically begged for him to bring her into this and when he had turned her, one of the first things she had done with her immortal life was create Wufei, on Zechs's permission of course. Duo had done the same with Hilde, Trowa with Cathy, and Relena with Heero. Quatre had a human familiar; a sweet child called Callie that shared his bed. Out of all of the vampires, or Night Spawn as the Master called them, only Zechs, the leader, had no one to call his true lover.

But, together with his immortal companions, Zechs had carved out an empire that now spanned the Earth and all the colonies. It was ruled, of course, by the little group of Night Spawn, specifically, The Master with Zechs as his right hand man, and a small group of human familiars. Out of all the non-familiar humans, Lucrezia Noin alone has refuge from the elite Night Spawn.

Although, even if she hadn't had protection, none of the Night Spawn, who had all been Noin's good friends at one time or another, would have the stomach to attack her.

"Zechs," Relena slips her arms around her brother's neck and plants a sisterly kiss on his lips. He lifts her up for a moment and then places her gently back on the ground. "Why does the Master insist on doing that?"

"I don't know Relena," Zechs sounds tired and to the others, he suddenly looks ancient. "It's like he's trying to torture me, to keep the knowledge that I can never have her right in front of me, always."

"Her? Noin?"

"No, princess," Duo says with biting sarcasm, "Her Dorothy Catalonia. Of course Noin."

"I need sleep," It hurts Zechs even to hear her name. "I… excuse me…"

"But Zechs…" Cathy places her finger to her lips, telling Relena to drop the subject for now. "Good night big brother."

Zechs nods and slips quickly from the room. Hilde begins to pace.

"He needs to see her." She says with conviction. "Twelve years is way too long."

"It's been twelve years since he's talked to Noin?" Cathy says incredulously. "She could be married with seven kids by now!"

"She's not." Sally replies from her place on the arm of the couch. "I just spoke with her yesterday. But she has changed a lot."

"Yeah she has." Trowa says softly.

"I'll say," Duo casually reaches out his arm and pulls Hilde onto his lap. "Zechs would drop dead if he could see her now. She's gorgeous. Long hair, pale skin, and those big violet faerie eyes. Damn…" Duo shivers and then looks at Hilde's irate face. "Don't worry babe; she's not my type."

"Good save Duo," Cathy grins. Relena takes over Hilde's pacing.

"But how are we going to get them together?" She asks. "Because rest assured, we are going to get them together."

"She sings at a local club, the Black Rose, on Friday nights," Quatre interjects. "We could get Zechs out on the pretext of…inspection of the Empire…and make sure they get together after."

Everyone looks at Quatre with varying degrees of admiration. "Brilliant man, absolutely brilliant." Duo whistles. "It's perfect…except for one thing."

"What?" Everyone asks.

"The master."

"Oh," Everyone's faces fall except for Quatre's.

"You don't have to worry about that guys." He says seriously. "I spoke with the Master last night. Zechs is the Master's pride and joy and he loves him dearly. But he understands that Zechs needs Lucrezia and she needs him just as much. And it's our duty to get them together. After all, there's not a single person in this room that doesn't owe a debt of gratitude to either Zechs or Noin."

Murmurs of assent ripple through the room.

"Tomorrow then?" Quatre asks. Everyone nods. "Alright. I suggest we all get some sleep then. We've got a long night ahead of us."