A/N: What…an update after a reasonable interval…is she mad!! The answer to that is, of course, yes…but I have also just finished January A2 modules and need a break into fantasy. That and I got an idea that completely changes my planned direction for both this story and the sequel and should make both longer. Couldn't leave the idea on the shelf anymore…so here I am. Seriously…for this chapter I beg for understanding. I have no idea how blood-matching would work in a non-modern society so I just chose a way that sounded plausible to me and went with it. It probably has things badly wrong with it but I, like opera, ask you to suspend your disbelief. There is another thing u have to be understanding about but I'll mention it at the end otherwise it gives away too much. Anyway…after that long ramble…on to my fab reviewers:

Deathwisher: I'm reading it because it makes me feel happy! But I am also writing in the hope of more reviews like that : ).

Not Your Average: So…couldn't even be bothered to leave a signed review! Still, I suppose ure speechless wonder makes up 4 it. The turtle is fine, the ankles are dry and the chapter (complete with much and varied angst) awaits.

Elliot: Well, I obviously hit the right note to produce that reaction! Glad u like the story so far…hope the plot twist doesn't throw u off. Sorry, I would love to read ure stuff…but unfortunately my German is vvvv bad! Have u written anything in English?

Joymouse-8675309: Always gd to get a nu reviewer! Glad u like it so far…thanks for making it a fav story : ). I won't kill u if u don't review…cause then u couldn't do it anymore!

Sunny-historian: That's fine…it was about time I reviewed ure work too. If u think I'm evil now, wait until u reach the end of this. This chappie seems a long one 2, so I hope u like it!

Nora Charles: Thanks! I try to keep with canon if I can as I think it helps keep characters in character…I hope.

Mooing platypus: I love you : )! This review was the best thing to find on my email early in the morning…I just hope I can live up to ure expectations! And look, I'm (ouch) writing so you can (ow) stop poking…please.

Warning: Massive plot twist ahead so keep arms and legs within the chapter at all times and hang on to the safety bar provided…oh yeah and there are gay men in it too.

Disclaimer: For me to own them I would have to age several decades and have a sex change. That is obviously not going to happen!

This chapter is dedicated to Not Your Average…as without her this story would have been very different!

Chapter 7
Vetinari sat gazing at Vimes' still form. He allowed his eyes to feast on the features in a way he never could in past encounters. The pale countenance looked tired and drawn, and Vetinari longed to see some sign of life. He willed the mouth to flicker into the sardonic smile he knew so well, or the eyes to open and lock with his. Vetinari fought against the treacherous tides of emotion that threatened below his almost impassive surface. Control was all he had. If he lost it, even for a moment, Vetinari feared he would be overwhelmed.

"My fault…" he breathed.

The unfamiliar burn of withheld tears grew stronger as Vetinari dwelt on the truth of that thought. If he had not given in to that irresistible urge, if he had gone on pretending to Vimes and to himself that there was nothing more than professional courtesy between them, then Vimes would not now be lying so still and silent before him. Guilt was not a feeling Vetinari often experienced, or allowed himself to brood over, but this time he found it impossible to escape.

Vetinari could still remember the wonder he had felt tracing Vimes' lips with his, and then that glorious moment when the kiss had been returned with equal fervour, before reality had intervened and paradise was abruptly wrenched away. He had tried to convince himself that a chance was still there, but not until Vimes had spoken from the bed had he known how little he had believed that.

"I shouldn't have run…"

That fragment of sentence was what made the guilt and torment bearable, and the only hope he had left to cling to.

When Vetinari had read the report Drumknott handed him, the dagger had been driven into his side as well. The dressing routine he had perfected at the guild suddenly seemed slow and unwieldy, and the progress over the damp rooftops tortuously protracted. Then, when he had finally reached the alley described, it was empty.

Almost empty, for when Vetinari dropped soundlessly to the ground he saw a rapidly congealing pool of fresh blood that looked almost black in the moonlight. The rest of the journey had taken on a nightmarish quality as he had followed the streaks of red through various twists and turns, streaks that seemed to get heavier the further he progressed. Vetinari had dreaded coming across a slumped form at the end of the trail, but wished for it too, if just to find what he so desperately sought.

Vetinari unwillingly returned his mind to the present. He chafed Vimes' hand with his, trying to force some warmth into the frozen fingers. Vetinari reflected he would gladly do anything to ensure Vimes lived. The depth of feeling frightened him, never before had he allowed anything to mean as much to him as this watchmen.

"For your sake I will bear this weakness" Vetinari whispered, hoping Vimes would somehow hear the words it cost him so much to say.

The door banging brought him out of his reverie. Vetinari carefully released Vimes' hand and slipped out into the other room in time to see Igor opening the door for a bedraggled Dr. Lawn.

"Thorry sir, but its traditional."

"Even so…how did you get ahead of me to open the door? You were following me all the way down the street!"

Lawn looked alternately horrified and fascinated, a common reaction when first encountering an Igor. He was also paying special attention to his 's' sounds, another surprisingly common reaction.

Igor stepped past Vetinari and into the room where Vimes lay. The door swung shut and the two remaining men stood in an awkward silence, which Vetinari broke.

"You will of course be properly…provided for."

"If he lives of course" said Lawn acerbically.

Vetinari simply subsided back into the chilled silence. Igor shuffled back into the room and over to his trunk, which he began to root through as he talked.

"The doctor's diagnothis was correct. Lucky for him I've jutht worked out the tranthfuthion system"

He began pulling out large ice-covered bottles of what Vetinari realised was blood. He placed them in a row next to the bag, then pulled out needles, tubing and several glass bowls. He took one bowl and a needle back into the other room and brought the bowl back out about a quarter filled with Vimes' blood.

"Don't you think he's lost enough of that already?" Lawn exploded. "If you were brought here to save him you're going about it in a very bad way!"

"It'th all necessary I athure you. I'm going to replace thum of the blood he's lotht with blood I've taken from some of the other watchmen."

"Were they conscious?" Vetinari inquired, dreading the answer.

"Of corth not thur. I am not completely without…"

"Morals" Lawn interjected quickly. He doubted he could handle Igor saying scruples.

"Yeth. But I have to test hith blood first. For thome reason, only some thampleth of blood will mix. If you get it wrong, the blood clots."

Under Lawn's fascinated gaze, Igor began to mix samples of Vimes' blood with that from the bottles in the glass bowls. Time after time, the mixed samples darkened and congealed, and the group of discarded bottles grew larger. The scars on Igor's head began to arrange into an approximation of a frown. Finally, there was only a single bottle left. As Igor mixed the samples, Vetinari's breath caught in his throat. He willed the blood to remain liquid, but all too soon a dark, sticky mass began to form. Igor set down the bowl and looked towards Vetinari and Lawn.

"Now what?" said Lawn with a sigh. His professional curiosity had been peaked, but now it seemed that there would be no miraculous breakthrough. Igor slowly shuffled back to the trunk and opened a compartment in the side, marked with a red cross.

"There ith one more bottle left"

He turned from the bag and mixed the last two samples. The silence in the room stretched tight with the anticipation. The blood stayed fluid. Igor hesitated, staring down at the bowl.

"What is the delay?" asked Vetinari icily, thinking of the still form in the next room clinging to life.

Igor turned, still holding the bowl, and fixed Vetinari with a penetrating stare.

"It's Thargeant Angua's blood thur."

There was silence. Lawn started a question, hoping that what he knew was wrong.

"So a werewolf's blood…"

"Hath the same effect ath the bite, yes."

"But without the blood?" Vetinari interjected. "Can he survive without this…transfusion?"

Igor's silence answered this question. Vetinari glanced involuntarily towards the door behind him. The thought of Vimes' death was a yawning chasm within him, one that he would not allow to open.

"Then do it"

"I need his conthent."

"I give the consent."

And will bear the consequences he thought wearily. Vetinari could feel Igor's accusatory stare on him as he began to prepare the equipment. He wondered at Igor's acceptance of the order, but why he was doing it didn't matter. Neither did the consequences. Once Vimes was safe…then he would allow himself to think of those.

Igor moved into the candlelit room, Lawn and Vetinari following close behind. The bottle had now been connected to the rubber tubing. Igor took a leather strap and bound it tightly around Vimes' upper arm, waiting for the bulge of a vein to appear. When it did, he took a hollow needle in competent fingers and slipped it into Vimes' arm. A trickle of blood began to flow out of the end of the needle and Igor quickly connected the tube and released the tourniquet. He paused and turned, fixing his eyes on Vetinari. Then he inverted the bottle.

The silence in the room was deafening, but was suddenly shattered by Vimes' scream. He was still unconscious but his back arched off the bed, and he began to writhe as if in the grip of intolerable pain. Vetinari lunged forwards and gripped Vimes' bucking shoulders, striving to hold him down. He was dimly aware of Lawn undertaking a similar task at Vimes' feet. The skin under his grasp burned with heat, and Vetinari could see the agony written across Vimes' face and the sweat beading his brow. Vimes fought and moaned for what seemed like an eternity, then abruptly went limp.

Vetinari released his hold and stepped back. Noticing as he did so that throughout it all, Igor had remained calmly holding the bottle, now half empty. They all sat in silence, watching the liquid slowly drain away. When the bottle was empty, Igor disconnected the tube and carefully withdrew the needle, tying a strip of cloth round the oozing puncture.

"It'th done, apart from the waiting," he said. "I will fetch Thargeant Angua at first light."

Lawn and Igor left the room, leaving Vetinari to resume his bedside vigil. He both longed for and dreaded the moment when Vimes awoke.

The candle was long since extinguished by the time Vimes' eyes flickered open. Vetinari waited in the darkness, barely breathing, as awareness returned to Vimes' face.

"Vetinari…?" Vimes muttered, trying to raise himself to a sitting position. Vetinari raised one eyebrow in surprise. He knew he had made no betraying sound, and with the drapes pulled across the room was too dark to see clearly, despite the dawn that had begun to pour over the city.

"How could you tell?" he inquired softly.

"I could…smell you" Vimes said incredulously, staring towards Vetinari in surprise. "Igor came in time then" he continued, dismissing what was obviously a delusion caused by prolonged unconsciousness. "He'll be pleased, especially if he got to try out whatever he kept on about last time."

"He did." Vetinari said flatly. He strove to place himself back into the role of an emotionless leader, the only way he would be able to say what he had to next.

"The only suitable blood was Sergeant Angua's. I gave consent."

Clinging to his impassive façade, Vetinari subconsciously braced himself for the explosion he was sure would follow his words. He would absorb the venting of Vimes' anger in penance, and pray that forgiveness was not too much to hope for. Beside him, Vimes had gone very still. The waves of cold rage and betrayal flowing off him were almost palpable but he remained immobile. Vetinari found himself wishing for a shout or even a blow, anything rather than this icy control that was so reminiscent of himself.

He heard Lawn calling for him from the next room and, despising himself for this sudden cowardice, reluctantly left Vimes to his thoughts. After dealing with a rather flustered Drumknott who had appeared at Lawn's door, he returned.

The first thing that struck him when he entered the room was the chill breeze blowing from the now open window. The second was the empty bed.

Tbc…………well; now u know why I couldn't give too much away before! I'm not sure if the blood of a werewolf does have the same effect as the bite, but I'm using poetic license to say it does…oh the power!! Hope u liked the twist, as u can imagine the story will now be much longer so disregard me saying it's tailing off. Please review and tell me what u think!!