Reviewers: Thanks
Marcus Lazarus: Sandiman is from Dark Angel. He is the founder of Manticore. I like Angel too; but Angelus is funnier. I never liked Angel on Buffy. I always thought he was a jerk. He was better as the main charachter on his own show. I never liked them as a couple either; but I didn't start watching it until he was out of the picture. I've seen them all now,and I may have had a different opinion if I had watched it from the beginning; but I generally agree with Spike. Angel's a poof. Anyway, Sandiman isn't nessesarily buying Michael and Selene...but if I say more, I will give it away.
Shlane: I'm glad you like it. I hope you like the rest of it too. I wasn't actually planning on putting him in just then; but it popped into my head and I just had to do it.
AN: To anyone who didn't watch Dark Angel: Sandiman was introduced in the second season as the creator of Manticore. He also designed the transgenics. Also relevant to this story is the fact that Max was made with no junk DNA. (Which means every base pair in her DNA is specifically designed to serve a purpose.)
AN2: I am going to put some background information in this chapter to clear up some things about Dark Angel for those who didn't watch the show. If you still have a question, feel free to ask. And also, Sandiman didn't seem like an antagonist fron his descriptions on the show so he won't be a bad guy.
Chapter 13. Sandiman
"Major Finn, it's a pleasure to see you again." Sandiman replied. "I'm doing quite well; but I fear I may have to leave my kids soon."
"Why is that sir?" Asked Riley. "Oh, please have a seat." He added indicating the chair in front of his desk.
Sandiman nodded greatfully and sat down. "It's the others. I think they have caught on to what I have done. They will surely kill me if they find me. I need to dissapear; but my kids need me. Some of them have terrible problems. That is why I have come here."
"What sort of problems do they have?" Asked RIley.
"Some of them have violent siezures that seem to stem from a lack of (Ceratonin? ) in their brains. Others have a form of Progeria that advances so quickly that nothing other than cold temperatures can help them. We can controll both; but I want the problems cured."
Riley nodded. "Our research is coming along in leaps and bounds here. I believe we may have a few new creatures that would interest you very much."
"Yes?" Sandiman was pleased. There had been no new creatures for a long time. He was considering going some where else to find a solution. "May I see them?"
"In a few moments." Replied Riley. "First I need to explain to you that we have never seen these creatures before. The female is a vampire, that much we have determined; but she breaks the mold for vampires. Her face doesn't transform aside from her eyes, as the nurses have noticed. She seems completely calm and nonviolent. It seems we may have a unidentified race of vampires in the world."
Sandiman remained neutral while Riley talked; but inside he was happy. The Familiars were aware of these vampires. They had known of them for centuries. These creatures might hold the key for his Manticore kids somewhere in their DNA.
"And the other?" He asked.
"We're very exited about him." Riley began. "He tells us he is a hybrid between the two species of vampire and werewolf. "
Sandiman was startled. Was this kid for real? There had never been a hybrid. It wasn't possible! "Are you sure? "
"Pretty sure, yes; but we believe that the two species are currently unknown to anyone but us." Riley replied. "I have video of the two of them in the jungle before we captured them." He paused to allow Sandiman to decide if he wanted to see it or not.
Sandiman waved his hand for Riley to go ahead and put the tape on. He was doubtful about the hybrid idea. The creature was probably lying....but if he wasn't there was a whole new set of possibilities open to Sandiman. The things he knew about these creatures would probably startle even them.
Riley put the video in his player and sat down so Sandiman could see. The video came on, and at first it was just the usual jungle scenery. Then all of a sudden two creatures came crashing through the brush.
Sandiman sat forward instantly. One of the creatures was definately a vampire from Viktors clan. The other he'd never seen the likes of before. It was blue,and had deadly looking claws protruding from it's fingers. It turned and he saw it's fangs. They were completely unlike any vampire teeth he'd witnessed here or anywhere else. They looked more like the teeth of a lycan.
"Good god I think he really is a hybrid." Sandiman muttered. "I don't even need to see him in person to know I'm interested. I want the female too."
Riley nodded. "Allright. How long would you be willing to wait to get them?"
"Why?" Asked Sandiman. He wanted to take them right away.
"We've just aqquired them and we want to run some tests." Replied Riley earnestly.
Sandiman sighed. "Son, I know about her kind. I can tell you anything you need to know about them. And the lycans for that matter; but I suggest you leave them be. No matter how good you are, you'll never come out of it intact. Sure your vampires are a bit stronger, and more brutal; but these beings are smart and organized. They protect themselves well. They do not harm human beings and have not done so for a very long time. They're best left alone."
Riley was surprised. "You know about them?"
"Yes of course. Our group was familiar with many supernatrual things. " Sandiman was losing patience. "Major FInn, I'll give you one week. After that my price goes down. I have a limited time to get my kids the help they need."
Riley stopped for a moment, and then nodded. "Allright Mr. Sandiman. One week and you can come back and get them."
Sandiman stuck out his hand to shake RIleys. "Now, do you want to hear about the vampire womans clan?"
Riley shook Sandimans hand and nodded for him to go on while he pulled out a tablet to take notes.
Michael was dozing lightly when the doors to his cell swooshed open. He sat up slowly to see Riley come bustling in with a few other men.
"Come on Michael, we need to start your training now." Sandiman had recieved an important phone call and said he would return in a week to get MIchael and Selene.
Michael sensed his urgency and got up. "What's the hurry?" He asked, stretching out his complaining muscles.
"You and Selene will only be with us for one more week." Riley replied.
Michael assumed this did not mean they were going to be let go. "Where are you sending us?" He asked quietly, trying not to show his anger.
Riley shook his head. " I'll explain it to you later, come on."
Michael followed the men out of his cell and to a lab of some sort with excersize equipment everywhere.
"First we are going to test your strength and stamina." RIley explained.
Michael was soon attatched to many wires and had a plastic tube in his mouth to measure his breath intake. He was made to run for an hour on a treadmill.
Michael was surprised to be enjoying this test thoroughly. He had been aching for a good run. The wires were an impediment; but he was still running. He hoped that wherever he and Selene were going, they would be able to get some excersise. And maybe a way to escape.
When he was done on the treadmill, he was ready at once to do something else. Instead of taking energy away, it was giving him more. He'd been idle in his cell for too long. They tested him on everything, and he was ready for more.
Suddenly he realized he was being selfish. "Could Selene come in and have a run?" He asked Riley. She must have been as restless as he was by then.
"Not now Michael." Replied Riley absently, looking at results from one of his tests.
Michael ground his teeth together in an effort to remain civilized. "She needs to excersize too, Riley."
Riley caught the tone of Michaels voice, and looked up. "Take it easy Michael. When we're done here you and I will go get her and she can have as long of a run as she wants."
Michael relaxed and nodded. He still wasn't happy; but it wouldn't do to lose her the opportunity for a run by antagonizing this bastard.
He waited impatiently while they finished their test and then as promised, he and RIley went to collect Selene.
He was surprised when he entered her cell to see she had a new bed and a desk to sit at. She was sitting at her desk reading a book when they came in.
She put it down when she saw Michael and got up to hug him. She looked a bit better.
He smiled down at her. "You wan't to get some excersize?" He asked.
She gave him a questioning look but he shook his head to say, 'we're not getting out of here yet.' She was a little dissapointed; but she nodded and followed him out of the cell. Riley was waiting in the hallway and she gave him a dirty look.
Michael shook his head at her and she relaxed. He knew more about this place that she did. She was curious as to what they were doing. He led her down several hallways and then they stopped and Riley used a swipecard to open a door.
She couldn't help but be surprised at what she saw. There was excersize equipment everywhere. She smiled at Michael and went over to the treadmill. She would dearly love to be running about in the jungle at the moment; but this would do.
Riley started the machine for her and she took a moment to get used to it and then cranked it up herself and enjoyed a hour long run. Riley spent this time surveying the results from Michaels tests. Michael simply watched Selene enjoy her run. It was the longest they had been allowed to be together in a week.
While she was calming down at a walk, Michael approcahed Riley. "Hey."
Riley looked up from the heart rate moniter sheet he was studying and raised his eyebrows.
"We've proved to you we can be passive." Michael began. "Now I want something back from you."
"And that is?" Riley was prepared to say no; but Michaels request surprised him.
"I want to share a room with her. It's killing me to be away from her. I can't stand it."
Riley could tell Michael didn't want to be sharing this particular bit of information with him. It just gave Riley more ammunition against him
"I think of her as my mate." Michael added quietly. "You don't know what even that means to our kind." MIchael wasn't sure if vampires mated or not; but he knew Lycans did. Even real wolves in the wild mated for life.
Selene had heard this entire exchange, though she pretended to be oblivious. Michael thought of her as his mate! She had to blink back tears. She hadn't known that. She did know something else. Something that made her frantic to get out of this place.
She was jolted out of her thoughts by Rileys answer. "All right Michael. I'll allow the two of you to share a room; but this doesn't change anything else."
Michael gave him a relieved smile. He turned to Selene and saw she had heard by the smile on her face.
Later that night Selene and Michael were laying in each others arms prepaing to go to sleep. They had been given a bigger cell that included a small shower unit and they were both clean and comfortable.
"Do vampires have mates?" Michael asked suddenly.
Selene looked up from his shoulder, where her head was resting. "Sometimes." She replied. "It's a very intense bond, and a lot of us are unwilling to give that much of ourselves to another being. We're really lone creatures. I know we all lived together in the mansion; but it's all so formal. "
Michael nodded. He took this to mean that she didn't want to bond. He was a little hurt; but he was with her,and that was enough.
Selene could sense that he was feeling hurt by her statements. She leaned up over him and kissed him lightly on the lips. She knew that he thought she didn't want to bond with him. She had thought she would never bond with anyone; but now her deepest desire was to do just that.
She sat up and took off her shirt.
"What are you doing?" Michael asked. "There's probably cameras in here."
"I don't care." She stated and relaxed against him skin to skin. She looked up into his eyes and said, "I want to bond with you."
Michael froze, startled. "You, you do?" He asked.
She met his gaze without turning away like she did so often, and nodded. "Yes I do."
He put a hand to her cheek and stroked it with his thumb. "I will bond with you. I fell for you the moment I laid eyes on you in the subway."
She leaned up and kissed him. Slowly her kisses progressed to other areas. Micheal loved every moment of being so intimate with her. She was often distant; but never when they were together like this. At these times it was like they were one person.
Their bodies joined, and they began an excruciatingly slow rythem. Selene liked to be in controll and Michael had no problems with this.
They made love for hours, the way immortals can. Finally, gasping, Selene leaned forward and to Michaels intense surprise and pleasure, sank her teeth into his neck. She urged his head down and he released part of the beast to allow him to bite her as well.
When he pierced her flesh, she shuddered and they both released at the same time, drinking the others blood.
MIchael had never tasted anything so wonderful in his entire life. He was enjoying the feeling of her drinking from him as well. All of a sudden his mind was awash in her memories. He had experienced a few of them before, right after she turned him; but this was her entire life played out before him like a movie.
Selene gasped as Michaels memories assaulted her. She threw her head back eyes opening wide.
Michael was in much the same pose. The world wasn't real in that one instant. Nothing existed but the two of them.
They fell in a tangle with each other on the bed, both gasping for air. Michael recovered first and arranged them in a more comfortable position.
Then he bacame aware of something. She was talking; but her lips weren't moving. She kept repeating one thing over and over.
"Tell him, tell him, tell him, tell...."
"Tell me what?" He asked aloud.
"We don't have to speak anymore to talk." She said. She was looking right at him, and her lips hadn't moved a millimeter.
"Are you saying we....."
"We are completely open to each other Michael." She replied. Once again without opening her mouth.
Michael tried it. "I love you." He thought.
"I love you, too."
He smiled. This was wierd; but they would get used to it.
"Now tell me what?" He asked her silently, lying down like he was going to sleep.
She was keeping it guarded, under lock and key in her mind. "Don't say anything out loud." She cautioned.
"Okay, what is it?" He asked.
"We're going to have a baby."
HAHAHAHAHA!!!! I am so totally evil!!!!!! LOL Okay I know Selene isn't very far along; but in my version vampires are constantly aware of everything that is going on in their bodies, so she would know soon after if she had concieved. but who knows how long vampire gestation is, so they will have some time before the little one comes into the picture.