After the Battle
Author's note: I have amended a couple of paragraphs on 6th May 04 to fit in with my subsequent fanfic, The Beginning of Forever. Nothing like retrofitting the storyline, but that's how the muse works sometimes.
Selene and Michael stared at each other, both wearing expressions of shocked disbelief. How could it be over? How had they survived? Selene realized then that she'd half expected she wouldn't live through this night. She'd never expected Michael to live through it. But they had, and everything she'd ever known about herself, about the war, her reason for living…all of it had been swept away. They stood in a moment of change so profound that she could barely grasp even a fraction of its impact.
Part of that change was Michael and the creature that he had become, half lycan, half vampire, and something completely new in itself. She was still awed by what she had seen. How Michael, less than an hour Changed, had almost overcome one of the Elders single-handed. Now she could understand why Viktor had been so afraid of the union of lycan and vampire, why the Elders had created the Covenant and fought to maintain it for so many centuries. The whole was most definitely greater than the sum of its parts.
It wasn't the creature staring back at her now but the human. He had that look in his eyes that she was beginning to recognize, searching, trusting, although she'd never understood why he'd trusted her. Or why she'd trusted him, believed even when she'd known that he was becoming a lycan, her mortal enemy, that he meant her no harm. He was an innocent in this war and always had been. She had been the same once herself and had had that innocence perverted for the amusement of the vampire Elders. Her life made no sense anymore. Michael was the only thing that she had left to believe in.
They needed to get out of here. Viktor's death might keep the vampires at bay for a time, but there was no telling how long it would be before they overcame their caution and came looking for the ones who had killed him. No-one could hold a grudge like a vampire, and she and Michael had just designated themselves their primary enemy. Despite Lucien's sacrifice to help her and Michael against Kraven, Selene could not bring herself to trust the lycans. Not just yet. They needed time to rest and regroup, to figure out what to do next, and who to trust, if anybody.
Almost as though sensing her thoughts, Michael turned towards the tunnels. Selene followed, then moved ahead of him. For all that he had more strength and speed than any vampire or lycan, it was she who had centuries of experience at surviving in the middle of enemy territory. He made no protest and followed after her in silence, something she was immensely grateful for. She had no idea what to say to him. Her own thoughts were a turmoil, and images of the battle kept playing themselves through her mind. Viktor's face, Lucien's, Kraven pulling the trigger, pumping bullets into Michael's chest. The taste of Michael's blood and the last look of shock on Viktor's face before he died.
Selene stopped dead in her tracks so unexpectedly that Michael almost walked into her. He glanced ahead, instantly wary, asking in a low voice, "What is it?"
They were at a split in the tunnel. Selene stared one way, then the other, not moving. "I…I don't know where to go," she said, her voice filled with an unfamiliar uncertainty.
Shocked, Michael realized that he'd just been blindly assuming that she would know what to do. She always seemed so sure of herself, and he had been relying on her to do the thinking for him yet again, almost forgetting that she had been through something as profoundly terrifying as he had this night. With a surge of guilt, Michael admitted that he had been so absorbed in what was happening to him and in surviving long enough to see her again that it hadn't even occurred to him to wonder how she was dealing with it. Against all reason she had helped him, risked her life for him and disregarded everything she'd ever believed to be right and true in her world to do so. Not only that, but she had known what the consequences of her actions would be. In many ways, her loss was greater than his. That she had held together as long as she had was testament to a depth of courage he was only beginning to grasp. You have got to help her, he told himself. You owe her your life. Do whatever it takes to make sure that she is alright.
"We need to find somewhere safe," he said, thinking aloud. "Somewhere where we can hole up for a day or two where they won't come looking for us."
"We need rest and food," Selene murmured. She glanced over her shoulder at him, and he thought he saw gratitude in her eyes. "I think we will have a day or two's grace before they come looking for us. They need to recuperate as much as we do. But they will come looking for us, so we're going to need weapons and supplies. I think it would be best if we got out of the city."
"Can we go back to my apartment?" He asked. She frowned and looked at him doubtfully. Michael gestured at his state of undress. Only the jeans had survived the fight, and they were looking much the worse for wear. "I need clothes. And I have some money there."
Selene nodded, seeing the wisdom of this. Money, she thought, suddenly realizing how much she had taken for granted in her old life. Money had never been an issue, but if they were out on their own it was quickly going to become one. Like food. At the mansion, there had never been any shortage of supplies. But now they were going to have to fend for themselves any way they could. She felt a sudden surge of purpose and glanced at the watch on her wrist. Three hours before sunrise. They had time.
"This way," she said, and took the left-hand tunnel.
Michael followed a few steps behind her, his expression somber as he watched her walking ahead of him through the darkness. He had seen the look on her face, that absolute focus that he'd already come to know well. She was thinking again, taking care of the immediate concerns that would keep them alive. But he was familiar with shock and grief, and he knew that there would be a time when all that had happened this night would suddenly come crashing in on her. Probably the first time she gave herself a chance to rest. Although she knew better than he how to guard against all the physical dangers they were likely to face, there were other, more insidious ones, dangers of the heart and mind tortured by betrayal and loss. Dangers he had faced before. I will be there for you, Selene, he vowed. For you as long as you need me. I will never betray the trust you have shown me. But he felt a cold chill of fear in his gut, and knew that the real battle had only just begun.