Agents: Not a simple fairy

by Stormhawk

Mero hires Pixel the fairy to work for him

Title: Not just a simple fairy

Author: Stormhawk

Rating: PG

Disclaimer:

Matrix universe and associated characters: Wachowski brothers.

ATS universe: co-owned by me and Mordax.

Hummer, Nat, Vorateu, Creeper: Me

Pixel: Pixel_the_evil_fairy

Tattoos: Me (I came up with a new kind of exile – praise me!)

Word Count: 9632

Summary: Mero hires Pixel the fairy to take care of his enemy, Vorateu

Notes: For those who don't know, Pixel is based on Pixel. Well, at least on her SI character.

EAH: Exile affected human, what a person is called if they are bitten by a vampire or werewolf and become one. We have techno babble to back this theory up ok?

Please read and Review.

"Hummer?" Nat asked as he walked over to the McDonald's counter where they hippy exile worked.

"Yes Nat?" Hummer asked as a friend of his served the next customer. "I'm working."

"Hummer, there's a fairy in my happy meal," he said pointing into his box.

"No there's not, I gave you the racing car," Hummer said thinking he meant the toy. Nat pulled on his shirt and pulled him down so he was on the same level as him.

The three-year-old spoke clearly to the blond-haired program, "there is a fairy asleep on my burger," he said pointing into the box. Hummer took the box from him and looked in, Nat was right, there was a small fairy asleep on the burger.

"She's not dead is she?"

"Nope," Hummer said as he put the box near his ear. "I can hear her snoring, listen," he said handing the box back.

"Hummer?" his boss asked angrily, "could you please get back to work. You can talk to your kid later." Hummer nodded and pointed out to the playground, "go out there and see if you can wake her up." Nat nodded and ran outside.

An hour later when Hummer finished work, he walked out to the playground with a tie-dyed shirt over his work one so he didn't get it dirty and knelt down beside Nat who was sitting in one corner of the playground staring intently into the box while sipping on his drink.

"Any luck?" he asked.

"No," Nat said as he put his finger into the box, "I even tried poking her but she's very asleep."

"Well let's go home, if she's not going to wake up here, maybe she'll wake up there." Nat nodded and they walked home to their apartment. Nat put the box on the kitchen counter then climbed up on his red stool.

Hummer opened some windows then sat down opposite him, he carefully lifted out the fairy out of the box. Setting her down, they got a good look at her. She had shimmering, multicoloured sharp wings, short blond hair, and stylish clothes. Nat had never seen a fairy that wore jeans and an orange shirt.

"She's a cool fairy," Nat said while he jumped from his stool and opened the fridge. He pulled out his green bottle of cordial and drank some. Climbing back up on his chair, he looked over at Hummer who was resting his head on his arms.

"How do we wake up a fairy?"

"I don't know," Nat said as he thought about all the fairy tales he knew. Most of them only told you how to wake up a princess. Suddenly, she sat up and looked around, seeing Hummer and Nat she got scared and flew into the air. There was a popping noise and she jumped from big to little a couple of times then stopped when she was as tall as Hummer, her wings had grown in size as well.

Nat got scared, so Hummer scooped him up into his arms.

"Where am I?" the fairy asked of the two boys.

"My apartment," Hummer said. "Who are you?"

"How did I get here?"

Nat put up a small hand, "I found you."

Pixel crossed her eyes in confusion then uncrossed them, "found me where?"

"In my lunch," he said simply. "You were asleep on my burger."

The fairy rubbed her head, "I don't remember that."

"Do you remember your name?" Hummer asked.

The fairy grinned, "of course I do."

They waited for an answer, but when they didn't get one Nat spoke up. "What is it?"

"Pixel. My name is Pixel."

"I'm Nat. Short for Nathaniel."

"Nice to meet you Pixel, my name's Hummer." He stuck his hand out and she lightly slapped it.

"Cool name dude."

There was a knock at the door, "excuse me dudette," Hummer said as he opened the backdoor hallway. He yelped and took a step back as he found the twins there. He grabbed a stool and held it threateningly.

"Go away!"

"Settle down mate," One said as they walked in.

"What do you want?" he demanded as he looked for something to beat them up with.

"We want to apologize," they said in unison.

"What?" Hummer asked as his mouth dropped.

"You heard us," Two said.

"We feel bad about kidnapping you and the kid, but we were under orders."

"This is a trick."

"No it's not," One assured him, "we hate Mero as much as you, the difference is he pays us cause we work for him."

Hummer shook his head, "I don't trust you."

"You'll come around," Two said with a shrug. "Would you like your hair dread locked?"

"No thank you," he said still eyeing them suspiciously.

"Hi!" Pixel yelled from behind them. They turned and saw fairy-sized Pixel flying in midair behind them.

They looked at each other and then back at Pixel. "Hello."

"What are you?" she asked.

"Ghosts," they said as they phased to demonstrate.

"Wicked," she said as she changed back to normal size. They grinned at each other.

"That was cool," Two said. "I think our boss would be interested in speaking to you."

"Okies, when?"

"We'll come back tomorrow. What's your name?" One asked.

"Pixel," she said as they left.

Hummer closed the door, "that was weird."

"Would you mind if I crashed here for the night?" Pixel asked, "I don't have anywhere else to go."

"Sure, you can have the lounge."

"Thanks Hummer," Pixel said with a grin.

The next morning Pixel followed the ghosts into the restaurant, she felt out of place in the high society situation. She attracted several incredulous glances but the owners of the looks turned away as they saw she was headed for Mero's table.

"Bonjour," The Merovingian said from behind a glass of wine. He looked at up the ghosts; they nodded and sat at their table. "You are Pixel?"

"Yeah," she said as she sat down opposite him. "That's me."

"Did my boys tell you what I wanted?"

"They mentioned a job. Do I get paid?"

"My dear, look at me, do I look like I'm wanting for money?"

"Not really, but you could do with some English lessons, your accent is terrible."

"Putain," he said under his breath, "she had better be worth it." He looked back up at her, "I hear you have some special skills."

"I'm special enough."

"Care to elaborate?"

"I can change size at will, I can fly, I can shrink my wings to make them invisible. I can also change my hair at will."

"I pay well, care for a job?"

Pixel smiled, "what do I have to do?"

"I have an enemy, a dangerous enemy. His name is Vorateu and I want him killed. None of my other employees have managed to accomplish it yet."

"What is he?"

"A vampire, leader among those from the first Matrix. Think you can handle it?"

"I'm not sure if I've ever done assassin work but I'm willing to give it a try."

"Good." He clicked his fingers and one of his vampires brought forth a slim manila folder. He passed it across the table to her, inside was several ten by eight black and white photos of Vorateu. The last photo, however, was of an odd looking creature.

"Is this one in here by mistake?" she asked as she held it up and showed him.

"No, that is his assistant, Creeper. If you find that gargoyle, you will probably find the vampire."

"When do I get paid?"

This question he had been expecting, and he pulled an envelope out of his pocket. "There is five thousand dollars in here, it is what you will be paid a fortnight. When you bring me proof that he is dead you will get quite the little bonus."

Pixel nodded and raised her glass.

"Would you care for some dessert?" he asked as a waiter put a cake in front of her.

"Sure," she said as she cut some off with her fork. She failed to notice his smile as he watched her consume the programmed cake. She made a face, "this has cherry liqueur in it. I hate cherry." She pushed it across the table and sipped some more of her drink.

"What exactly do you fight with? Or do you just flit around?"

"Well, I woke up yesterday drunk at McDonald's, I know nothing but my name and personality. Some bits and pieces are coming back to me, I remember a party…" she closed her eyes and tried to remember something, but it was still a blur. "But I do know I can handle a sword."

He looked across to the twins, who were quietly arguing about something. They shut up when they realized their boss was starting to fume again, he had been doing that a lot lately. "Yes?" they asked in unison.

"Take her and give her a weapon."

"Can't I have two?" Pixel whined from the other side of the table.

His lip curled in frustration, "give her what she can handle and what will be useful in taking out…him" The nodded and walked off toward a back door. Pixel skipped after them. She smiled up at them with an insane look on her face.

"Do you think her programming is corrupt?" One asked as she did a strange thing with her eyes.

"I would say so," Two agreed (though he found that she actually managed to make it a cute look) as they opened a side door with a key that led directly to the châteaux.

"Ooh, nice," Pix said as she looked around what she could see of the palace-like building. She spotted weapons on the walls next to the stairs and made a move for them. Each twin grabbed one arm and steered her away.

"Not those, they are mainly for display," Two said as One opened the door to another room.

"They looked pointy."

"We have plenty of others, the boss likes those ones on the wall." Two flicked on a light switch and a vast room opened, full of most of the weapons you could imagine. Guns, blades, staffs, explosives and some syringes full of what could only be liquid code.

The fairy let her sharp wings grow back to normal size as she picked up a medium sized broad sword and gave it some experimental swings. She smiled wickedly.

"I like this sword," she said as she examined the runes carved into the hilt. There was a small dagger on the shelf below it, she immediately took it and strapped it around her ankle as if it were a reflex action. Then she took a look at the rest.

There were several crossbows and long bows. She contemplated them for a minute before moving along. She went through the entire room but was happy with what she had.

"Done," she said walking back to the twins who had become so bored (she had spent over an hour examining the weapons) that they were playing paper, scissors rock.

"Thank you for shopping at Weapons R Us," One said.

"Please come again," Two said, then playfully added with a smirk, "but not too soon."

Pixel laughed in such a manner to make the twins notice before she left the châteaux and went out into the backdoor hallway. She adjusted the strap across her chest, which held the scabbard to her back between her wings. It felt so natural to have a weapon strung there.

She walked down the endless hallway of identical doors. She stopped at the one that broke the pattern. Knocking on Hummer's door a small voice asked from the other side, "Who is it?"

"The big bad wolf," she said with an evil cackle.

"Marco?" Nat said in a curious voice. "What happened to you voice?"

"It's Pixel," she said with a sigh.

"Oh ok," Nat said as he unlocked the door, slipping off the chair he used to reach the handle, he smiled up at her. "Hey Pixy."

"Who's Marco?" she asked as she scooped him up.

"He's a dysfunctional EAH," Hummer said as he walked in with a tray of burgers.

"Joining us dudette?" Hummer asked Pixel as the other two sat down.

"Can I?"

"Any friends of mine are welcome here," the hippy said as he handed her a burger. Nat took a bite that was way too big for his mouth so he sat there chewing on it with a big hunk of bun hanging out of his mouth.

"Take small bites small dude."

"Why?" the child program asked from behind a mouthful of burger.

"Cause you might choke," Hummer said sensibly. "Small dude equals small bites, big dudes equal big bites."

Nat swallowed and looked at the girl, "what about dudettes?"

"They take medium sized bites." Nat nodded in understanding and decreased the size of his bite.

*****

Pixel's sword was out of its scabbard less than a second after she heard the rustle in the alley. She knew it wasn't anything caused by wind or a cat. She extended her arm then brought it in close, walking around in a slow circle.

"I know someone's there, now come out!" she demanded of the still alley.

"As you vish," the Transylvanian-accented voice said as Vorateu became visible behind her. She turned and took a swing at him. He calmly sidestepped the blow and before she could react he reached out and grabbed the sword and threw it at the wall. It fell to the ground and before anything could happen he caught hold of her with his eyes.

As she fell into his trance she relaxed and took the time to look into his eyes, they were as black as night but alive. Dancing shadow and living onyx, she could drown in those eyes. Suddenly, trying to kill him didn't seem as important anymore.

Vorateu looked down at the fairy. "You are the one The Merovingian has sent after me?"

"Yes," Pixel said dreamily. "He sent me to kill you."

"I don't doubt it. What if I killed you first?"

She tilted her head as if in confusion, then answered him, "he didn't tell me what to do if that happened."

"Of course he didn't."

"He just told me to kill you and bring back some proof."

Vorateu nodded slightly and bend her mind further; he took a step closer and curled one of her wings toward him. He let his fangs graze the thin but durable surface. He stared deep into her eyes, which were hazy because of the trance. "It is a shame one such as you chose him," he whispered to her as he tilted her neck and moved in to drink.

"Pixel!" two identical voices cried out; followed by a volley of machine gun fire.

Vorateu quickly swiped the sword up, wrapped his cloak about him and disappeared before the first bullets could touch him. The twins ran up to Pixel. Two grabbed her shoulders and gently shook her out of her trance. She blinked and looked around.

"What happened?" she asked, stumbling slightly, a little uneasy on her feet. Two held out his arm and she held onto it.

"He was about to drain you," Pixel shivered and held Two's arm tighter.  He looked down at her; this had obviously had quite an effect on her.

"Where did he go?" she asked as she looked around.

"He disappeared," One said plainly, "like he always does. That's why Mero had to hire someone from the outside, all of us are sick of chasing him just to be defeated by him disappearing before we can get to him."

Two was worried about her, "has anything like this ever happened before?"

"No, well I can't be sure, I don't remember most things."

"Would you like to crash with us tonight?" Two asked, the fairy exile just nodded and curled her wings about herself as to provide some warmth. Two withdrew a key from his pocket and was a shot a look from his brother. Two just stared back and One relented and nodded. Two put the key into the nearest door and opened it.

Pixel walked in with Two and One followed, shutting the door behind him. Pixel looked around her. It was their rooms. They were in their common area, on one wall hung a huge chrome television with two silver Playstations in front of it. Two white couches were set up in line with the TV. Wooden partitions on either side of the room designated their rooms. They were on rollers so they could open them and widen the space of the room, or close them if they wanted to be alone or if they had company.   

She approved of their taste, "so where am I crashing?" she asked with a yawn.

One pointed to the couch then nodded goodnight and went to his room. Two opened his partition so he could get a blanket for her from his cupboard. She let her wings slip into her back; the châteaux was nice and warm.

 "What happened to them?" he asked curiously, for it was obvious they hadn't just shrunk.

"I allowed them to revert," Pixel said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Revert to what?"

"When I choose, they can become like a tattoo on my back."

"I've never met an fairy exile that could do that."

She just shrugged, "I guess that makes me special then."

'I could have told you that' Two had to stop himself from saying. He wanted to say it but he didn't let the words pass his lips. Two nodded and opened his cupboard, turning he found her behind him. She gently accepted the blanket, the side of her hand grazing his. She smiled and turned to walk out.

"Pixel?" he asked gently.

"Yes?"

"Do you think I could get a look?"

She smiled, "of course."

"How?"

Pixel placed the blanket on the bed and unzipped her jacket; she smiled and placed it on top of the blanket. Underneath she was wearing a halter neck top tied around her back. She turned away from him, "untie it."

Two almost hesitated but brought his pale hands up to her back and made short work of the knot. Pulling the two ties apart he looked upon her wings in 2-D form. They were just as beautiful, if not more so like this.

"May I?"

"Of course," she said knowing what he meant. He let the right tie go and ran his hand down her back, tracing the design with his slender fingers. Pixel shivered and smiled. He closed his eyes and pressed his hand to her skin, feeling a faint trace of her heart through her soft skin.

He held it there for a moment before retying the knot. She turned and smiled at him. Even as she did that, her eyes unfocussed and she fell lightly to the bed. He checked her pulse then smiled, she was asleep. Some exiles had after-effects when they dealt with Vorateu; she just needed to sleep it off.

He slipped his coat off and put it on the chair beside the king sized bed with her coat and the spare blanket. The gently, as to not wake her, he lifted her and placed her under the silken sheets rather than on top of then. He crossed to the other side of the bed, kicked his shoes off and crawled in himself.

He was careful to keep his distance, he would have liked to have held her, but proper English gents didn't do that without the girl's permission, especially when they were sleeping off an encounter with a dangerous vampire. Two took off his sunglasses and put them on the nightstand and turned off the lamp. He looked over at the partition, which was still half open.

"Close," he said and it slid closed. Sometimes they were glad their employer made programmed toys that did other things than effect the way people think. Two turned over onto his side and fell asleep.

He woke up in the morning and found Pixel had moved over to him of her own accord sometime during the night. One of her arms was right across his chest and her face was buried in his shirt. He smiled sadly, if only it had been a conscious act. He shifted slightly so that he could sit up without waking her up.

It was then he noticed her second tattoo. It was on her belly, what he could see of it and some sort of swirling Celtic design. Pixel shifted slightly as she woke up, she yawned then realized where she had been sleeping. She sat up and removed her arm; she smiled sheepishly up at him. "Sorry, I kind of zonked out on you didn't I?" 

Two smiled down at her, "I don't mind."

"Don't you?" she asked, arching an eyebrow.

"I noticed you have another tattoo," he said to change the subject. He had the feeling that the previous question would have led to a conversation that would have spoiled the moment.

"You like it?"

"What I can see of it…which isn't much."

Pixel smirked and leant up on the pillows beside him, "would you like to see a bit more?" He nodded and sat up, leaning over he pulled up her shirt inch by inch to reveal the tattoo. It ended just above her bellybutton.

"It's beautiful, just like you."

"You haven't seen all of the tattoo and you haven't seen all of me," she looked up at him, "I'm not just a simple fairy."

"I know that," he said as he leant up to her. She smiled at the face inches from hers. Tilting her face forward, she kissed him. He didn't move and she gently broke away.

She put on a little frown, "stop asking." He started the kiss this time, gentle at first but not so gentle as he felt her asking for more. Wrapping his arms around her, he leant down and pushed her into the pillows. She reached up and pulled at his tie, pulling it away she let it fall where it may, then she slipped the first button from the hole.

His kisses moved down from her mouth to her neck as the second button came away.

Then there was a knock at the door that stopped their motions, Two sat up, "What?!" he asked with venom at whoever it was on the other side of the door.

One sighed from the other side of the door, there were only ever two reasons their partitions were shut, one if they were angry at each other or needed time to themselves, the second was if they had company. As he wasn't aware of any fights or reasons his brother needed a time out he suspected company, and with the couch definitely looking like it hadn't been slept on he rightly suspected that company to be Pixel. "Mero's on his way up, can you two be decent by the time he gets up here?"

"Go away," Two said as he stood and redid his buttons. He couldn't help but look down at Pixel with longing, "I'm sorry."

She was understandably disappointed but shook her head. "We can continue this later."

Two looked down at himself after he put his jacket on, his clothes were crumpled from sleeping in them. Usually he slept in pyjamas like normal people did. He phased and they were as good as new. He looked around for his tie, Pixel shook her head and her hips, his tie was looped through her belt buckle and hanging down her side.

"You can keep it," he said with a smile as he retrieved another from his cupboard. He put it on then opened the partition; One was sitting on his couch with his feet on the coffee table flipping through an old gaming magazine.

The door slammed open and Mero walked in. He looked at the twins, ignoring Pixel. "I have business to deal with at the restaurant, we are leaving in twenty minutes." They each gave him a curt nod.

"Now you," he said switching his attentions to Pixel, "Have you had any progress or am I wasting my money on you?"

"You failed to mention he could control minds."

"Control?" he asked with a smug smile, "he can bend them, how far he can bend them depends on you programming." He took a step back and looked at her, "which I am going to add is a little off as it is." 

"Well I like it that way," Pixel said with a pout.

"Do you indeed?" He didn't look the least bit surprised by the comment, "I do expect results from you."

Pix shook her head, "when I work freelance I don't fail."

"Glad to hear it," he said as he exited, even though glad was the last thing he sounded. "I want you two downstairs in ten minutes." They nodded at his disappearing back and One shut the door.

"If he didn't pay as much as he did…" he muttered at the ceiling.

"We both feel the same way," Two said with sympathy.

"Make it all three of us," Pixel said. "Now can I get another weapon since the freak show stole mine?"

"We can help you with that." Two said as he took her hand and they walked down to the weapon room. This time she chose a well-designed knife. It had two blades joined by a hilt that could separate if the person wished. Together, the blades fit flush against each other to inflict the damage of a single knife, as two it could inflict double the damage. The blade itself was about eight inches long, she clipped to her side and with her jacket on it was almost unnoticeable.

"What do you think?" she asked the twins but One knew that it more specifically aimed at Two.

"I think it suits my Pixel fine, he said as he put his hands on her waist. The door opened and a werewolf walked in (he was in his human form but had chosen to change himself enough so that those in the know could tell immediately what he was)

"I found them," he called to someone outside. Mero opened the door wider and shook his head.

"Ménage a trios on your own time, with me – now!" All three of them blushed, Pixel's cheeks turned red while the twins' took on a slightly off white colour.

They followed him out and left to the restaurant with him. Two smiled at her as the door closed. There were some prim steps as a woman walked down the stairs. Pixel looked up at Persephone who was wearing a flowing white dress today. Her bored expression took on a flicker of interest as her eyes caught hold of the trendily dressed fairy.

"You must be new."

Pixel nodded, "I am."

"A fairy?" Pixel nodded again, "we don't see many of your kind around here."

"So I've been told."

"My name is Persephone, most of my husband's employees refer to me as mistress, you may choose either."

"Mero is married?" Pixel asked as her eyebrows flew upward.

"Hasn't he told you?"

"No he hasn't, but I'm only freelance."

"I see. Why has he hired you? Someone who needs taking care of I assume?"

"Exactly."

"Good luck," she said as she walked past the fairy. She stopped and turned around, "who is it you're taking care of?"

"Just some vamp, his name's Vorateu." Perse's eyes flicked, but she said nothing and quickly walked away.

"Weird," Pixel muttered to herself as she took her key out and went into the hallway. She walked along until she came to Hummer's door, she knocked on it. The hippy opened the door and grinned.

"Come on in Pixy."

"Thanks Hummer."

"What you doing back here? Mero give you the day off?"

Pixel withdrew the envelope from her jacket and opened it under his nose. He blinked, there had only been a few times in his life when he had seen that much money.

"What's it for?"

"I'm going shopping and you are coming with me, so is Nat."

"Cool," he said and went to find Nathaniel. Nat was currently waging a war between a green army man and a ninja turtle.

"Nat?"

"Yup?" he asked distractedly as he bashed the turtle into the soldier, he dropped the solider, signifying it was dead.

"Pixy is taking us shopping so put on your shoes." Nat grinned and slipped his small sneakers on. Hummer picked him up and carried him outside.

Standing by the door to the apartment was a woman with long black wavy hair. He furrowed his brow but the figure turned and he saw it was Pixel.

"Like my new hair?" she asked as she gave it a shake. Hummer nodded in approval and they walked down the stairs to street level.

"So where are we going?"

"Since whatever I buy can change size with me I mostly buy doll's clothes cause they're cheaper."

"That's a good idea."

"And since this is New York…we are going to FAO Schwarz."

Both of the other program's eyes glowed. They knew the store but a McDonald's wage really wasn't enough o go shopping there." She whistled loudly and a cab pulled over. She pulled open the back door and ushered them inside. After fighting traffic for half an hour they arrived at their destination. Pixel quickly paid the driver and had to restrain herself from flying to the front door.

After practically flying inside she disappeared off to the doll's section. It took five full minutes for Hummer and Nat to catch up to her, and by that time she already had an armful of outfits she wanted to buy.

"What? No shoes?" Hummer asked jokingly as she dumped them into his arms so she had both hands free.

"I can't wear dolls' shoes, I've tried and they just get too uncomfortable," she threw back a package. "That would have made by butt look big."

"Your butt isn't big Pixy."

"Well in that it would have been."

Hummer left and found her a trolley for her clothes while Nat ran off to the soft toys section. Half an hour later Pixel came and found them. Nat had fallen in love with a seven-foot teddy bear whose lap was big enough to sleep in. "It's time to go," Hummer said as Pixel walked up.

"Can I have this?" Hummer flipped the price tag over and almost fainted.

"I don't think so."

"You can have it Nat."

"Pixel I can't afford this," Hummer said frantically as Nat bounced up and down with joy. "It's almost all of one of my paychecks."

"Not you silly, me," Pixel said as she dumped the bear into the trolley as best as it would fit.

"I can't let you do that, it's too expensive."

"Hummer, I have almost five grand here. It's really not going to put a dent in my envelope."

"Yay!" Nat yelled as he hugged the bear's leg. The total of the purchases was almost a thousand dollars. Pixel didn't even blink as she handed over the money, then she organized for the bear to be delivered so they didn't have to carry it around all day.

"Where next?" Hummer asked as she walked down the street, obviously with a destination in mind.

"Shoes," she said with a dangerous look in her eyes.

Pixel was very thorough with her shoe shopping. She took so long that Hummer took Nat for lunch and came back just as she was finished. It had taken and hour and a half but now she had six pairs of new shoes. Again they followed her dutifully down the street. The shop they stopped outside of made Hummer's eyes shine.

Pixel had come to the surf shop for the clothes but Hummer knew this place like the back of his hand. Once every few months when he had saved up some money he came here and bought himself something special. Like his pride and joy, his surfboard. He had bought a good quality but relatively plain one for he had wanted to decorate it himself. Even though he couldn't use his beloved spay paints he was just as skilled with other types of paint.

He had designed an 'X' which if he ever chose to he would use as the symbol of the exiles.

When Pix was finished looking at the clothes part of the shop she ventured into the store and found Hummer ogling something behind the counter.

"What are you looking at?"

He wasn't able to speak so he just pointed. Up on the wall was a large frame poster signed by someone in gold pen down in the corner. "That?"

He nodded and turned to her somewhat sadly and she was shocked, as se had never seen him without a smile.

"What is it?"

"That used to be mine. The guy who signed it was my hero. And he didn't sign many things so it was kind of rare and special."

"Then how come they've got it?"

"I had to sell it one time when I didn't have enough to pay the rent. Every time I come in here I look at it for a little while."

"Can't you buy it back?"

"Pixy I don't have the kind of money to waste like that."

"Oi, buddy," Pixel said to the clerk who was standing a little way down the long counter.

"Yes miss?"

"My friend wants that picture and I'm going to buy it for him."

"I can't let you do that…" Hummer started but was silenced by Pixel's finger wagging at him.

The clerk shook his head, "let me get the manager."

"You do that," the fairy said with a nod. A couple of minutes later a man with a short black beard walked out.

"I understand you wish to purchase this item?" he asked placing his hand on the side of the frame.

"That's right."

"This is a rare item, I couldn't possibly let it go for les than three hundred."

"Two seventy five."

"All right," he relented, "but only because you're cute."

Pixel grinned as he took it off the wall. She put the three tops on the counter and paid for them as well. The manager wrapped some paper around the glass so it wouldn't break as the clerk bagged up the clothes. Hummer glomped Pixel in thanks then picked up the frame and hugged it. "You have no idea how much this means to me." Pixel smiled as they walked toward the exit. Hummer froze and his dumb grin disappeared. "Where's… Nat?"

"When did you last see him?"

"Just after I started looking at the picture."

"How long ago was that?"

"I'm not really sure," he said with a note of panic. "I'm still learning how to look after a kid, someone else is usually with me when I come in here."

"Don't worry about the kid chum, we've got him," a voice said from behind them. They turned and saw the twins. Pixel sauntered over to Two, pulled on his tie and kissed him.

"Where's Nat?" Hummer demanded of the pasty brothers as he put the picture down.

"He's on my back," One said, "and I'll be very grateful if you stop him from pulling on my dreadlocks." Hummer only noticed as he said that the other twin was oddly half-stooped. One turned and the hippy saw Nat sitting high on the ghost's back yanking on his rope-like hair.

"Nathaniel get down here right now!" he almost yelled as he pulled him off the taller program's back. "What are you doing up there?"

"I picked him up cause one of the clerks was complaining because he was asleep in a bin of bikinis."

"You tired buddy?" Hummer asked as he held the child close, still suspicious of the twins.

"Mero wants you back Pix, he found something that might help you," One said as he straightened his hair.

"What?"

The brothers looked at each other then at the other two boys. "You'll see when we get back," Two said as he took her hand and led her out of the store. She waved goodbye to Hummer and Nat before losing sight of them.

She got into the backseat of the SUV, leaning through she tilted her head to look at Two. "Well what's this thing that's going to help me find Vorateu?"  

"The result of Mero's business this morning," One said as he started the car and drove off.

Pixel rolled her eyes, "could I have a little more information please?"

"One of his associates, bounty hunter we should say, brought in a vampire - one of Vorateu's and collected the bounty. It supposedly knows where he's going to be tonight."

"So I question the vamp?"

"Since you're working on getting Vorateu, he'd decided that you're going to be the one doing the questioning."

"I think I can get some results."

"You can use this," One said as he took a hand off the wheel and pulled something from his pocket. It was a small golden penlight.

"It's not really your color," she commented as she accepted it off him.

"It's one of Mero's toys that he wrote."

She clicked it on and shone it onto her hand, "it's warm."

"To you, but to a vampire it would burn. That's sunlight that's coming out of there."

"I think I like this," she put it into her jeans pocket as they drove into a parking garage. They parked on one of the lower levels and got out.

They walked over to a door and One slipped his key in. It took them straight to the door near the grand staircase in the châteaux. One of the werewolves was waiting for her and nodded, indicating that she should follow him.

Pixel smiled to the ghosts and followed the werewolf. "My name is Fleck," was all he said as she followed him to a small room being guarded by another two werewolves. Mero was carefully keeping his vampires away from this one. No matter how loyal they were sometimes loyalties could shift if another of their kind was being injured. It didn't matter if they were from a different Matrix, or if they were an EAH, or if they had killed their own kind. The Frenchman just liked to cover all of his bases. He had never actually had a problem but it was in his nature to cover all possibilities.

Fleck opened the door and almost immediately the vampire tried to escape. The other two werewolves flipped out their own penlights and shone them onto the vampire. It resisted then retreated to the other side of the room. Fleck put his hand on her shoulder, "get whatever you can out of her then…you get the idea." Pixel nodded and the door was locked behind her.

It was obvious it was an interrogation room she was in. It was twelve feet by twelve feet, no windows, a dull gray-green and only one lamp above them for light. The vampire was standing in the corner, holding her hands up to her face. Her red and black clothes had been tattered and torn from trying to escape the bounty hunter. She whispered to herself then her head snapped toward Pixel.

"You aren't getting anything out of me."

"We'll see about that," Pixel said as she pulled out her penlight. The vampire stiffened then shrugged.

"You think that scares me anymore?" she turned and walked over and Pixel saw her face in the light. She had small scars all over her face from where the wolves had used the lights to subdue her.

Pixel smirked evilly and shone the light onto the vampire's face. She screamed and Pixel grabbed her wrist and slammed it to the small table and moved the light to the back of her hand, centring the light on one small spot. The vampire tried to bite Pixel but the fairy head butted her. The vampire screamed as a small plume of smoke rose up, "ok," she finally whimpered.

Pixel nodded and released her. The vampire sat down at the chair on the other side of the table. Pixel sat down as well and stared impassively across at her.

"What do you want to know?"

"Where Vorateu is going to be tonight."

"You'd better put a stake through my heart right now cause I will never give him up."

"Oh, are you two close?"

"I am loyal to him, as are most of us from the old world."

"I think that's bull, not all of them can be loyal."

"I didn't say all, I said most. We are closer than you of this world, we had to make a decision to leave that Matrix and try to live."

"None of this has to do with what I want."

"Yes it does, if you were in my position you would never give him up."

Pixel cocked her head to the side and shone the light straight into the vamp's heart. The vampire shook her head from one side to the other and muttered something that Pixel didn't understand. Her skin started to smoke, "tell me what I want to know and I won't kill you."

"I don't care."

"You are going to die. Do you want to die?"

"No, but I will." She screamed and arched her body in pain; tears streamed freely down her face.

"Tell me!" Pixel screamed.

A trickle of blood came out of the corner of her mouth and she stopped moving. Pixel moved across the table, the vampire wasn't dead yet. "Tell me," she whispered gently.

"He will be in the alley behind the Boyd hotel," the near dead vamp said, having no idea of what she was saying.

"What time?"

"Eleven o'clock."

"Thank you," Pixel whispered as she flicked the light one more time and burned into her heart. Her head lolled to the side and vapor like smoke escaped from her body before she dropped to the table. Pixel knocked on the door and the werewolves opened it.

Both smiled as they saw the dead program lying on the table.

"You get the info?" the one on her right said. Pixel nodded and walked past them.

"He's in his study," the other called after her.

Pixel walked into the study without knocking and didn't even bat an eyelid as the Tattoo buttoned her shirt back up and slipped off Mero's lap.

"I hope this is important," Mero said as he pulled his chair around behind his desk and looked across to the fairy.

"I know where Vorateu is going to be tonight," Pixel said as she sat down in the chair across from him and put her feet up on his desk.

"You got the information from the vampire?"

"Now dead vampire, yes."

The Merovingian opened his desk drawer and pulled out an envelope, "there is twenty thousand dollars in here. If you kill Vorateu, this is what you get."

Pixel laughed at him then shook her head, "this guy is dangerous. Five grand is all right for tracking him but after encountering him I want a lot more before I risk my life again," she paused, "besides that's a lot less than what a lot of humans pay for assassination jobs and their targets aren't dangerous vampires. And twenty grand is what each of the twins gets per fortnight."

He scoffed and opened his checkbook, "what number do I have to write on here to get you out of here so I can continue my business?"

"Two hundred thousand."

He scrawled it onto it in surprisingly elegant handwriting and handed it across to her. She snatched it and then looked back up at him. "There's no signature."

"Of course there isn't. I'm not taking a chance with that kind of money. Kill him and bring me back some proof and then you get paid." Pixel nodded, handed the worthless check back and left.

As she walked out the door the skimpily dressed Tattoo shook her head. Tattoos were exiles with a special tattoo, most them were of animals, and when called on could fight with their owners, controlled by thought or words or in some cases both.

Pixel climbed the stairs and opened the doors to the twin's rooms. She walked in on them arguing about which game to play on the Playstation. One smirked as Pixel walked in, "well brother I guess you're going to be a bit busy to play this type of game." He snatched his Final Fantasy Seven disk from his brother's hands and slipped the disc into the silver machine.

"You dealt with the vamp?" Two as they walked into his room and closed the partition.

"Of course I did."

"So where's Vorateu going to be?"

"Behind some pub at eleven tonight." Pixel said distractedly.

"What's wrong my Pixy?"

"I would love to know when I became yours."

"You don't mind do you?"

"Not. At. All."

"So why do you look distressed?"

"Because I don't know if I'm going to be able to beat him tonight."

"I believe in you."

"Belief might not be enough."

"All you can do it try."

"Actually no it's not. I can fail, I can die, I can be turned into a vampire as well."

"None of that is going to happen."

"What to spar with me?"

Two grinned, "sure, there's a Jacuzzi down the hall."

"I meant spar with an R, as in fight, practice anyways."

"Oh," he said with disappointment. "A spar sounds cool enough."

"So where are we going to do this?" Pixel asked as she withdrew her blade and swung it around.

"Not in here, I don't want us slashing up all my nice stuff."

"So where then?"

"We'll kick my brother out of the common room and use that space," they both smirked at the idea of inconveniencing One. Opening the partition One looked up and paused his game.

"That was rather quick don't you think?"  

"Brother we'd appreciate it if you go to your room."

"What? Isn't your room big enough?"

"We're going to spar."

"The Jacuzzi is down the hall," Pixel flipped her knife around in her hand and he nodded in understanding. He packed up his Playstation and went dutifully to his room.

"Thank you One," Pixel said sweetly.

"I owe you one One," Two said with a smile, they both revelled in using sentences that made puns of their names.

"Can I at least watch?" He asked as he opened his partition. The other two shrugged and nodded. He carefully placed the machine in front of his own TV and sat on the side of his bed. One's room was a little messier than his 'younger' brother's. The difference between them was 0.0002 seconds, two nanoseconds.

He settled down, putting his head on his cupped hands as the other two pulled the couches and breakables out of the way creating a space being enough to practice in.

Two removed his coat and hung it over the back of one of the lounges. He then opened a small cupboard near the door. He pulled out his razor and selected a different one.

"Why the change?" Pixel asked reasonably.

"The one I usually carry can cut through code as easily as it does skin. It can kill almost any program. This one on the other hand," he said twirling it fluidly in his right hand, "will just cut skin like a human razor."

"Well you aren't planning on trying to kill me are you?"

"Could I ever do that?"

"Guys?" One said impatiently, "either make with the violence or I'm going back to my game."

"Fine," they said at the same time.

Both adopted fight positions and ran at each other. Two attacked first, swinging his arm wide Pixel easily dodged it and brought her blade around cutting into the material of his shirt. He took a step back and then moved in for a series of quicker, more precise movements.

Pixel evaded each with care and grace. Then it was her turn to go on the offence. She twisted and moved almost faster than Two could perceive. After a few moments Two stopped defending her attacks and simply evaded so he could watch her almost ballet like moves.

But for a single instant she left her guard open so he decided to exploit it. He moved his blade and slipped it up under her chin. She stopped attacking and they both stood unmoving for a few long moments.

"Hello?" One said at last. "Is there going to be any more or is that it?" Two slowly withdrew his razor while keeping his gaze locked onto Pixel. She didn't want to move, she felt controlled by his gaze in a way she had never felt before. She just wanted to stay like that forever.

Then One's voice had shattered the moment and then stepped apart. Two put his razor away and Pixel slipped her blade into her sheath.

"I'm sorry," One said with a mocking edge to his voice. "Did I spoil something special?"

Two glared at him, "close," he said to the partition to his brother's room. "Come on," he said to Pixel.

"Where are we going?"

"Have you eaten at all today?"

"Actually no I haven't."

"Then let's go to the restaurant."

"Why there?"

"Cause it all goes onto Mero's tab."

"Oh, ok."

Two pulled out yet a different key from his coat that he had just put back on and closed the door to the common room, and unlocked it. It led them to a quiet area of the restaurant. They walked up to the program at the door. Half the people who worked in the restaurant were actually programs. He nodded when he saw Two, "table for two?" he asked.

Two nodded and they were escorted through to a table by a window. The table gave them a beautiful view of the city, which seemed to be quiet from behind the thick glass windows.

As it happened they didn't actually eat any dinner, just a bowl of ice cream and a glass of white wine each. They stayed until after dusk and left as they first stars were appearing.

They went back to the chateaux and went up to the common room. They sat down on one of the couches, One was noticeably absent. Two turned to Pixel, "what do you want to do now?"

She eyed off the remaining Playstation, "I want to kick your ass on a game."

"What game?"

"Mortal Kombat."

Two grinned and found the disc. He fired up the machine while Pixel unwound the cords from around the controllers.

Two hours later the score was six all, with Pix in the least with a flawless victory. She smirked as the delivered a final blow and Two's character slid down the wall and collapsed in a bloody heap. She had won.

She flew a lap of victory around the room and flipped in cartwheels. Righting herself she saw Two's look of disappointment. She flew over above him and wrapped her wings about him and drew him into the air with her. Floating in midair he looked into her eyes.

"I'm sorry," she said with a coy smile, "but I promise I'll make it up to you." She gently put him back on the couch and landed beside him. She looked up at the clock, it was time to go. They kissed one more time before she went into the backdoor hallway.

Coming out a door near where the vamp had told her Vorateu was going to be she quickly changed size so that she was once again the size of a Barbie doll. She looked for a place to lay in wait. Flitting atop of a dumpster she found an old box to hide behind.

The alley grew colder as the minutes wore on. She silently flew close to the wall of the building, following a rustle that she had heard. The sounds of the hotel were nothing more than background music. Instead of Vorateu, she found Creeper, the gargoyle.

His liquid black eyes snapped toward her, they were strangely luminescent in his craggy face. "Trap!" he called as he jumped off the wall and flew toward her. Pix heard a rocky creaking as his shiny back split in two as his wings unfolded. It was then she realized that they didn't appear or change size as hers did, they were just usually so flush against his back it was though they didn't exist. Many didn't even realize that he had them.

She immediately changed size so she had a chance of defeating him. He was too quick, the combination of his flight and his frog-like launches from the wall left her scrambling back for space so she had room to attack.

"I'll handle her Creeper," Vorateu's voice came from nowhere. Creeper stopped his advance and folded his wings back down and sat on the wall, his feet facing downward.

Pixel swung the blade in his direction, "come out and face me Vorateu."

"If I vasn't going to I vouldn't have spoken."

"Touché," Pixel muttered as he appeared in front of her. Her eyes widened slightly as she saw what he was carrying. Her sword.

"That's my sword."

Vorateu shrugged, making his cape swish a little. He wore a simply cut silk shirt, pants of a sturdier material and two gold rings. "Of course it is fairy, one of my indulgences is to kill my enemies with their own weapons."

Pixel thought on that for a moment and somehow that seem to suit his personality perfectly. He held the sword in his right hand, lifted it right up to within inches of her chest but made no attempt to thrust it into her.

She dared to glance a look at his eyes. Looking away she had understood what she had seen there and what he wanted her to do. She met the sword with her blade.

They stayed still for a moment longer than Pixel attacked, knocking the sword to the side so she could move in for a better position to kill him.

Vorateu defended her attacks as if he were blocking the blows of a child. He didn't bother to bend her mind this time; he was simply going to kill her.

Pixel was not without her own skill; it was useful even if she couldn't remember where she had learned it or how she had used it before waking up in McDonald's.

He took a step forward and she had to go on the defensive. Struggling to keep herself from being overwhelmed by his attack she jumped into the air for the advantage of height. This didn't faze him in the slightest.

He punched her in the stomach and sent her flying back into the wall. Hitting the wall harder than she had expected she slipped back down to the ground and closed her eyes, swooning from the impact the wall had had on her skull.

Her blade hung limply at her side as Vorateu walked closer to her, the point of the sword leading his way.

She opened her eyes as the tip touched her chest. She tried to move but he pushed it in closer, ripping through her shirt and grazing her skin. "I vas simply going to kill you, but this…dance…has made me quite thirsty."

She swung her blade up and he caught it in his left hand without his eyes ever once leaving hers. He squeezed the blade and twisted it out of her hand. His blood ran down it as he dropped it to the ground. Pixel stared as the open gash disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. He had repaired himself as effortlessly as one of the twins without having to phase. 

He bared his fangs and made a swift movement toward her. As they touched her he broke away with a cry of pain as something sliced him across the back.

Pixel jumped out of the way as Two cut him again and again, red appearing on his skin and his clothes becoming tatters.

The vampire jumped back out of striking distance from the twin. "Your veapon can't hurt me, it was made to hurt humans." Two then realized he was still carrying to human razor, not the one that could cut code. He winced as Vorateu laughed and disappeared. Pixel shot a gaze up at the wall and found that Creeper was gone as well.

Two moved forward and caught her in an embrace, "are you all right?"

"I am now."

She kissed him and held onto him, realizing how close she had come to not seeing him again. She picked up the dropped weapons and stared at the blood on her knife. "I wonder if this is proof enough?"

"Pixel…" Two said softly as he looked down at her. "I love you."

She grinned up at him, "I know."

"You could have died."

"Don't say things like that."

He cocked his head to the side, "then what would you like me to say?"

"How about asking me to see the rest of my tattoo?"

Two put his hands on her hips, "I thought you wanted me to stop asking."

"Good point," she said as she retrieved the key to his room his pocket. They walked quickly through the common room and into his room.

The partition was quickly closed.

The End.

There's an epilogue coming but I'm going away for a few days so I wanted to get this up first.