Title: New lives: Chapter Six

Author: Stormhawk

01010

Vin heard running, and then a man barrelled into him. The man fell to the floor and then a creature leapt over his head and landed on top of the man.

For a moment, Vin thought it was a raptor. Then he looked closer and almost mistook it for a lion, then he realised it was neither.

The beast lowered its head and bit the man's arm. There was a sickening sound as flesh and muscle were rendered from bone. The man screamed and didn't stop.

Vin slowly got up and watched with the same kind of slow-motion perception as a person in the middle of a car accident.

When he heard a shotgun blast, everything caught up to speed

The creature's side was hit, and it shied away while a man he would have was Agent Brown helped the injured man up and pulled him away from the fighting.

A moment later, the creature appeared from the shadows, "when I caught you scent, I thought it was too good to be true."

Vin went to reach for his gun, but the creature shook his head. "You are different to when I saw you Vincent Greer, you are not as wild as you were then."

"You know me?" he asked in surprise, "but I don't even know who you are."

"I scarcely think you know who you are, you are undoubtedly Vincent Greer, but then again young hunter, you are not the same man who fell into my world."

"Your world?"

"You've undergone a change haven't you? You no longer smell entirely human."

"I'm not human. I'm better. I'm an agent now."

"Indeed? That explains some of what I'm seeing."

Vin wasn't frightened, he knew he should be, but the creature was mesmerising, "what else do you see?"

"When you came into my world, you were trapped and confined. A hunter unable to express his predator's soul."

"My predator's soul," he whispered.

"And the next time I saw you, you were as wild as an animal, rabid and covered in the blood of your fallen."

"You mean when I went insane? I don't remember that, and I don't remember you."

"You were being controlled by your insanity, expressing you predator's soul without thought. This also, doesn't work. You must be free to express your predator's soul, but you must be in your right mind as well."

"Who are you?"

"You mean my name or my relationship to you?"

"You aren't giving me any straight answers!"

"I'm not sure you deserve any yet. Follow me."

0100

Stef skirted around the edges of the power plant, trying to observe without being observed.

Whatever was going on, and for once, she had no idea what, it was none of their business. Hers to an extent, though after their last encounter Mero probably wouldn't be offering her a job any time soon. But it wasn't defiantly wasn't any of Greer's business. Vin's. Vin, his name was Vin now.

If he got killed, did that mean he was a failure? She shook her head, she just had to find him and keep him out of harms way.

Carlson was there, Mero was there, she had heard the Twins and wolf howls. There were probably others there, plus whoever was fighting for the other side. She idly wondered who they were fighting, there weren't exactly a lot of enemies that Mero had a problem dealing with.

"Oi," someone said.

She turned and saw Carlson standing there, and he had Mero slumped at his side, his arm bleeding profusely.

"You got any medical training? They didn't exactly train me to be a nursemaid."

She went to reply but stopped herself, "why would I help you? You poisoned my cookies."

"This will put you back in his good books, be smart."

"Can't promise anything special."

"Just take him down to the sewer and stop the bleeding. We should have brought the whole bloody chateaux with us, he thought we were calling the bluff."

"You mean someone outsmarted him? Crap…"

"Frightening year? The guy is a freak too. Some shapeshifter we've never seen before, like a cat-dragon or something," Carlson said as he handed over Mero and draped his arm over her shoulders.

"Fuck…you mean like a cat mixed with a lizard?"

"Something like that. Wait, you know what this thing is?"

"I need to find Vin."

"I'll knock him unconscious and bring him. Don't let the boss die," Carlson said as he ran off again.

Stef looked at The Merovingian, his face was going white and a little part of her was actually worried. A part comparable to the brain of an ant, but still a part.

"Come on Mero," she said as she dragged him toward the manhole cover. "And if you get delirious, I'll have to slap you, you're losing a lot of blood. Hey, this could be fun."

He muttered something and then his head slumped.

0100

Vin stood by Grimoires as they observed the fight. "So what do you think young hunter?"

"Why is it two against many?"

"And yet, the two are winning. What do you think?"

"I think it's beautiful."

"As do I."

"I still don't know what's going on."

"My name is Grimoires. It's not important what's going on, only that it is."

Vin nodded, somehow that made sense. It was hunter's logic.

"I can tell you what's different."

"Yes, I want to know why I'm different now than back then. I know I'm different, but no one can tell me why."

"You were trapped before, you aren't now. Before you were afraid to express your predator's soul. And now, you are your predator's soul. A pure hunter, you are what you should have always been."

Grimoires swung his tail and knocked him to the floor. Vin hit the concrete hard and blacked out. Grimoires scrapped his clawed across Vin's face and lapped at the blood. "You still taste the same. You are your predator's soul, but you have not fully awoken yet."

0100

Slap!

"Stay awake Mero," Stef muttered as she tore his jacket into strips to bandage his wound. A whole section of his arm had been missing, it hadn't been pretty, and she had his blood all over her hands. She had taken off her jacket and rolled up her shirtsleeves to minimise what she got over her.

"Wine?" he asked for the fourteenth time.

"I don't have any and I don't need you anymore loopy," she said as she tied the strip into a knot. "Best use for Armani ever. This is the first time you've been injured isn't it?"

"Mmm…"

"Stay conscious!" she ordered sharply and he opened his eyes a little. "I know it must hurt like hell, but you need to stay conscious as long you can. If you don't, you die, it's really that simple."

"No…"

"No what?"

"Been hurt, Mo…mo…moo? Motok…ee stabbed me, putain."

"Maybe if you didn't automatically call every woman a bitch your life would be different. Cutting down on your other bad habits wouldn't hurt either, but that's not very likely."

"Per…Pers…"

"Purse? Perse?"

He vaguely nodded, "hurt me." He lifted his good arm and placed his hand on his chest, "here."

"She stabbed you too?" Stef asked lightly. A surprising sober look told her he wasn't joking.

"Heart," he mumbled, "hurt my heart."

She was totally taken back by this, "you are completely delirious aren't you? There'd be no way you'd be saying this if you didn't think you were going to die."

"Before I met her, she loved Vor…two, she loved him sooo much."

Stef picked up an old plastic bottle, half filled it with water that was coming in through a hole in the roof, shook it up, tipped it out and refilled it. "It's reasonably clean, drink."

Looking after Mero? She would have thought that was as unlikely as an exile playing nurse to Brown…oh wait…that did happen. "Twisted," she muttered, "the world is twisted."

She looked back at Mero, "I didn't think you had a heart to hurt. All offence intended, you aren't a nice guy."

"Before I was," he said as his head rolled to the side. "Before I know that power was good. That power didn't hurt like love, with power you can be the one that hurts others."

"You're getting delirious again, I may just slap you for the hell of it."

0100

"Di!" Motoki yelled as the wolf was swamped by the other two werewolves and one of the vampires. Unfortunately, she had problems of her own, fending off one of the twins.

The other was trying to get an unconscious fairy to safety. Every one of the fighters was injured – everyone except for the twins – but even they were beginning to tire.

A roar ripped through the power plant as Grimoires jumped down into the fray. He knocked the twin she was fighting to the ground and bit into his shoulder.

One yelled in pain as Grimoires pulled his head away, taking a huge chunk of his shoulder with him. Grimoires went to strike again, but One phased through the floor.

"Help Di," Motoki said to her master as she tried to catch her breath.

"Abel!" Cain yelled as his brother fell to the floor, Di had ripped a hole in his stomach.

"Come on!" Di howled at Cain and the other vamp, "you want some too?"

"Stop," Grimoires said, "let them leave. They are unworthy opponents."

Cain looked warily at them and then dragged his brother toward the door.

Carlson ran out from behind a generator and helped him. "Where is everyone?" he asked Cain as the vampire kept an eye on Grimoires, Motoki and Di.

"Pix got knocked out, Two was getting her to safety. The other vamp got stabbed and went into hiding. Where's the boss?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you. He's safer than what he would have been up here. He got hurt though."

"Bad?"

"Relatively," Carlson replied, "he'll live though."

A bright light shone into the power plant, "see if you can find my brother," Two said from the backdoor. "He's probably fine, but she could be unconscious."

Carlson gave Two a look of utter disinterest, "take your girlfriend home then come back and find him yourself. You're off your rocker if you think that I would do you a favour."

"Suit yourself,' Two said, "suit."

The minions went through the door and then it closed. Carlson stood quietly for a moment then headed back toward his boss.

He heard a growl, looked down and saw Vin. A chill running down his spine made him look up. All he saw was a pair of glowing eyes retreating back into shadow.

1011

"You still alive Mero?"

"That, is a relative question."

"Coherence is a good sign."

"I loved her. Once. I truly did. But one night, it wasn't my name she called, it was his. She had never loved me. I had just been a means to an end. Bitch. She used me. I became what I am because of her."

With that, his head slumped and he closed his eyes. She pressed two fingers to his neck, he was fine – considering his injuring – just unconscious.

She heard something and looked up, picking up her gun, she followed the sound through the sewer.

"God save…Queen…"

She turned a corner and saw One laying in the middle of the sewer, drenched in run off, and with a big chunk missing out of his shoulder.

"One?"

He ever-present sunglasses were gone, his pristine jacket was covered in mud, blood and slime and his eyes were glazed. He was also singing to himself.

"Hey One, phase already. Don't lie there in pain if you don't have to."

He blinked slowly, "can't…"

"You don't exactly have a lot of choices, there are no doors down here and you're hurt really bad."

"Monster…real monster…"

"I think I know what you're dealing with, unfortunately the only guy who ever went up against one of these things doesn't remember anything about it. I need to get up there and find him."

"He's fine."

She quickly stood up, "Carlson! Took you long enough. Would you believe me if I said I missed you?"

He smiled, "not really. Your partner is fine. Unconscious, with a couple of cuts. He's upstairs and starting to come to. Boss ok?"

"Delirious as you can get, I've pretty sure he thought he was going to die but he'll live, this one, on the other hand…"

"Phase you lazy git," Carlson said.

"Bugger off," One said through gritted teeth, "I can't. It doesn't work. I phased and it didn't heal."

"Is that possible?" Stef asked Carlson.

"Ghosts are more resilient than any other type. They're almost as good as your bunch kid."

"I have a bunch?" she muttered, "I'm not so sure about that."

"Their egos are their weak spots. Your momma work for Lilith!"

"He has a mother?"

One did nothing.

"Weird, that worked before. I'm happy to leave him here to die. We have this mutual seething hate-seething hate relationship. It's piss boss off though, if he died. So I guess I'll have to get him out of here or get his brother to come down here and heal him."

"They can heal each other?"

"They can heal anyone who's hurt…any program that is. They usually don't though, if it's anyone but each other or themselves, it gives them a major headache."

"Oh."

Carlson crouched, "get the hell up you lazy ghost bastard. Boss is in as bad a shape as you and he's not used to pain. He could die, and if he dies…" he leant in close and whispered, "you know what happens if he dies, we never get these damn subroutines out." He stood up and held his hand down, "either you get up right now or I'm leaving you here to die."

One steeled himself, grabbed Carlson's hand and pulled himself to his feet. He shrugged off his jacket and started limping down the sewer.

"Jeez Carlson, what'd you say to him?"

"I said I'd shave off his dreadlocks and have the boss reprogram him to break out in a rash whenever he wore white."

"He was singing 'God save the Queen' it was kind of scary…"

"Trust me, it would have been 'God save Queen' as in the band. I'd better get the boss out of here."

"Carlson?"

"What?"

"How'd you know I'd help you? Last time with you guys was, well…"

"Interesting?"

"That's the word I was looking for."

"It was all just a game. It had various degrees of success and failure. But I know you know he's important to the balance, that's why."

"It is kind of hard to imagine the world without him."

"Well the new guy is making a go of it. Free advice though, and you didn't hear this from me. You have never outsmarted him. You have surprised him, but you've never been ahead of him. You are a game."

Stef stepped back like she'd been slapped, "what?"

"Watch your back, that's all I'm saying."

"Why?"

"Just a head's up from someone who knows the world isn't a nice place for people who fly under more than one flag." He turned to leave.

"Carlson?"

"What?"

"You owe me a cookie."

He turned back and smirked, "not on your life kid. Go find your boyfriend before he wakes up." With that, he jogged away.

"He's not my boyfriend. Jerk."

She climbed up to the power station floor, fairly relaxed, by Carlson's attitude, the fighting was over.

"Vin?" she called as she looked around the factory.

"Stef? Where are you?"

There was a howl from the darkness and Grimoires leapt down from a generator. He tackled her to the ground, knocking her gun away. He lifted his paw and slashed it across her back.

She screamed in pain and as suddenly as he had appeared, he melted back into the shadows. She slowly started to get to her hands and knees.

"Stef!" Vin yelled as he saw her. "Are you ok?" he asked as he knelt beside her.

"Jabberwocky, it really was a Jabberwocky."

"You're hurt," he said as he helped her to stand.

"So are you," she said as she move his face to the side to see his scratches.

"Not as bad as you."

"This isn't bad. I've had much worse, this is just a scratch…ok, a painful scratch," she said as she tried to take a step.

"You called it a Jabberwocky."

"No, you did, it's one of those lost memories of yours. You encountered these things in this beta-Matrix that was glitching. The story is in a file, but I'll be damned if I can work out how it got here."

"Take off your shirt."

"Huh?"

"You're bleeding badly, I need to have a look."

"We'll be back at the Agency soon the firewall isn't that far away."

"I'd like to slow it, or something, you were the one who said firewalled areas were dangerous."

"This is only to look at my wounds right?"

Vin smiled, "we're tire, been fighting and we're hurt, what else could possibly be on my mind?"

I hope I look sincere, he begged silently.

"If I see you smiling, I'll slap you."

"Scout's honour," he said as he put a hand to his heart. "You've got blood on your pants."

"Well it was on my hands," she said as she pulled her shirt from her pants, "but I washed it off. It's not mine, it came from an exile."

She undid up to her middle button and painfully pulled it up, "is this enough?"

"No. Stop worrying. I'm trying to play doctor, not play doctor."

She nodded and undid the last four buttons and he slipped it off her shoulders. She shivered as it came off, having on ever been in this state of undress with Darth before.

He handed it to her, "don't feel embarrassed, I'm only looking at the scratches."

"I'm not embarrassed."

"I heard you blush."

She clutched the shirt to her chest, "how's it look?"

He put his left hand on her shoulder and leant in for a closer look. She shivered when she felt his hot breath on her back. "Most then these ones are ok," he said as he slid his hand down her back, careful the avoid the wounds.

"This one, on the other hand," he said as he traced the outside of one on her lower back, "isn't too good. It's pretty deep."

He put his hands on her pants and pulled them down just a little. She gasped as his hands touched her hips, "Vin…"

"This cut has gone into your side, give me your shirt."

I should get an award for self-restraint.

She swallowed and handed it down to him. He scratched his nose and as he did, some of the blood on his hand went onto his lips. His first instinct was to wipe it away, but he froze and slowly licked his lips.

"What's going on down there?"

Vin shook his head, "I'm going to pack off this wound with your shirt, otherwise it'll get worse." He rolled it into a ball and pressed it against the cut, causing her back to arch in pain, he tucked the end of it into the waistband of her pants.

He then stood up and placed his hands on her shoulders. His hands felt almost drawn to her skin, like magnetism. He swore they almost stuck there, like two opposite poles that didn't want to be apart.

What an appropriate metaphor, the poles of the magnet. All I want is a sign, a reaction, something…

Stef relaxed, at first she had felt really uncomfortable, but now she was very comfortable. She could feel his body heat and she was fighting an urge to lean back against him, an idle thought added an embrace to the picture in her mind.

She jolted herself, these weren't good thoughts. She shouldn't be having thoughts anything like these about Vin. She shouldn't be this relaxed, he didn't remember his relationship so he was – no pun intended – a free agent, maybe he thought she was too. She had to set him right about this…

His hands left her shoulders, he had sensed her discomfort. As much as he was attracted to her like a gravity well, this really wasn't the best time. No matter the thoughts running round his head, they were both injured. He didn't want to rush things, they were both immortal.

Still, damn, we've both still got adrenalin to burn.

He stepped back and pulled his shirt off, he handed it over her shoulder, "put this on till we get back."

He drew in a sharp breath, they were both more or less half naked. But the second she started to pull his shirt over her head, his thoughts of fantasy regrettably faded.

"Thank you," she whispered as they headed for the door.

He wanted to say something, or do something. But he couldn't, there were too many confused thoughts running through his head. Too many things he was thinking, especially about what the creature had said to him.

And why he had licked his lips to taste her blood…it was morbid and it was sick. What came close to scaring him was the fact that her blood had tasted sweet. Did that make him some kind of monster?

He turned and smiled down at her, he'd leave those thoughts for another time. For the moment, he was happy to appreciate how well his top fit her curves.

01010101

"But why did we just let them go?" Di raged as she walked around the room.

"Why indeed?" A French voice asked.

Both Di and Motoki's heads snapped toward Grimoires, who now wore the form of The Merovingian.

"Master?" Motoki asked.

"Everything I wanted to happen tonight happened. Even more because Vincent Greer was there. I think this form will be very useful, don't you?"

Both women nodded.

"Did you get One's self image as well?" Motoki asked.

"Better," Grimoires said as he phased.