Thanks again, Zelinia. You were absolutely right. Griping? What was I thinking? Too much Trinity-style Blade slipping over. Thanks also, to everyone else who has reviewed. :)
In a sidenote, Spike TV is coming out with Blade: The Series this summer. Yay!
The room is still cool despite these humid nights. Meg shivers and rubs one hand up her arm as she steps to the window and looks out over the soft green grasses under the moonlight. This is not the life she expected, nothing is really what she expected.
She stands there watching the wind and the slowly cresting moon and knows with utter certainty that Blade is still looking for her. Although muted, the connection is still there.
"What are you thinking?" Drake's voice is low and soft but she still spins.
"That's he still out there." She gestures softly and turns back to the window.
He stands behind her and then she feels the cold slide of pearls as he drops it around her shoulders. She doesn't have to look down, these are the black pearls that he left out for her, and that she neglected to put on.
"You're sad tonight."
"I just wish he could understand what we're doing."
"We're improving the race." He nips at her neck playfully as he slides the clasp of the necklace into place. "Something that was long overdue." He straightens and slides his arms around her.
They stand there motionless for a long time. Meg wearing a simple strapless black dress with pearls circling her unmarked neck. She is still human, even though the man embracing her is the original vampire. He has left her human, something that Blade could never have predicted. He doesn't plan to leave her human forever, something that Meg knows in her deepest of fears although she won't admit it. For now, they have found this balance.
"You worry too much." He says softly. "A quality that hasn't changed in your species at all."
"Are the guests ready?"
He knows she is changing the subject. "Yes."
"Then we shouldn't keep them waiting."
He stops her before she can pull away. As Meg closes her eyes and leans into the kiss her heart shudders with emotion yet again. Drake can feel it and draws her closer. Their heartbeats rise up and match each other yet again. The emotions so strong that they sway within the grasp of them. There was never any chance of fighting this.
"You are…" He starts, brushing her hair away from her amber eyes. "The reason I fought for life."
Her eyes drop away from this admission.
"Don't." He raises her chin up so that she must look at him. "There will be an ending to this. I promise you. And then it will be time to move on."
"I know. I trust you."
"Are you ready?" She nods as he runs his hands down the curves of her body and discovers the slender weapon hidden under the folds of her skirt. One eyebrow lifts slightly and Drake gives her a knowing smile.
"The old weapons are always the best."
Blade frowns as he and Hannibal step out of the Charger and into the glitter and flitter that is a Miami night. A long line of scantily clad women are waiting to get into the same vampire club that these two are aiming for. Blade in his solid black duster is definitely not dressed for this crowd. Hannibal doesn't quite fit in, but several eyes are drawn to his rugged appearance, enhanced of course by his scars.
"Do you want to wait in line?" Hannibal says, leaning across the roof of the car.
Blade sees his elbows and gives him that flat stare until Hannibal takes his elbows off the new paint job. "We don't have time for this." He reaches back inside and pulls out a small black bag. Two grenades fall easily into his hands. "Tear gas for the girls." He tosses that to Hannibal. "And silver for the door guards."
"I always get the mean job." Hannibal muses to himself as he pulls a small rebreather over his face and tosses the grenade towards the line. It explodes with a small pop and the girls start screaming.
Blade's grenade hits the first bouncer in the chest and lands at his feet. Silver spews out before the three can reach and eats its way inside their skin with tiny flashes of fire and ash. They ash in chunks, very slowly, from the outside.
Thirty seconds later the club entrance is empty of human or vampire life. Blade grabs a couple more grenades and drops them in a coat pocket as Hannibal cocks his shotgun.
The open the door slowly and grimace as neon lights and some kind of pop-electronica blaze out. A bouncer spins in his post and goggles at the sight of these two.
"How did…?" The words are blown away with ash and the music cuts out as the DJ sees them and the remnants of the vamp that just challenged them.
The vampires in the club toss away the humans dancing and turn to regard this new threat. Hannibal and Blade both grin, there are more vampires here than they've seen in a long time.
"You wanna get Breen?"
Blade nods.
"Have fun."
The vampires attack. Blade charges for the stairs. Wicked silver blades in his hands flash through martial combinations that ash every opponent. He kicks a vamp coming up behind him and when the vamp tries to rise, Hannibal offers him the end of a shotgun blast. Blade glares at him for taking the kill and ashes two more in spectacular unison as they fly over the railing.
Most of these vamps are small time. Hannibal is taking his time, reloading on the fly, and enjoying himself thoroughly. He's busy with new shells with a sudden blow from the DJ stuns him and sends the shotgun careening away.
The DJ is wild with a shocking orange Mohawk and multiple Madonna-like bangles all over him. He's also a furious boxer and Hannibal staggers under the sudden onslaught of blows.
They back up, trading punches, stomping over a prone body on the floor.
Hannibal takes one to the ribs that resonates through his body armor. He stands and breaks through the DJ's guard, throttling the man. The vamp just grins and jumps off the floor, driving both knees into Hannibal's already sore ribs.
Hannibal releases the other man and staggers a few steps away.
"Fucking A." He groans, trying to erase these aches. He has been getting soft lately with so little to hunt.
The DJ comes in hard again. Hannibal blocks two blows and then the two men lock together like mismatched Thai warriors. They spin, and slam into one, then two different walls. Hannibal can't take too much damage like this, he is human, after all.
He draws one knee up and the DJ automatically blocks his groin as Hannibal kicks onto the vampire's knee with all of his weight. Bone and tendons pop and the vampire staggers away with a scream as Hannibal follows it with three powerful uppercuts. The DJ hits the floor with the last one.
Breathing hard, Hannibal looks down at him and grins. "That…was the most fun I've had in a long time."
"Fuck you!" The DJ shouts at him through broken front teeth.
A grin crosses Hannibal's face. "As long as it was good for you too." He puts a UV bullet between the DJ's eyes and steps over the ash as the vamp dies.
He surveys the empty dance floor and sighs at the bodies still on the floor. Humans. There is screaming from the balcony and a sudden flash of light.
"Blade?" Hannibal calls up.
Blade appears, a smudge of blood across one arm where a vamp got a hold of him. He smiles, a bitter flash of teeth. "I know where they are."
Meg is motionless at the table, surrounded by the last remaining scions of vampire power. They avoid looking at her as much as they can, this interloper, this woman who has spent time on both sides of the battle lines. She is avoiding looking at them as well, one hand idly playing with the silverware as Drake continues speaking at the head of the table.
"I have brought you here for several reasons."
"Well, get to the point!" One of the aged vampires snaps. "You were a power once, but the world has moved on."
Drake's eyes narrow and flip between reptilian and human in the blink of an eye. He focuses on Meg who finally looks up to meet his gaze. He inclines his head to her, the grey of his hair a testament to his death and resurrection. For a moment her heart clutches in fear, not of her own mortality but his. No matter what happens tonight, she can feel that Blade is coming, but that is later. Right now, she has a job to finish.
She stands and examines the vampires around her.
"Human." A regal blond hisses under her breath, more epithet than anything else.
"So much more than that." Drake tells her.
Meg's voice is higher than she wishes as she speaks to all of those present. "We're changing the way things work. Your race has grown slothful and full of decadence. You do nothing but advance your own power base with little thought to the race as a whole. Drake will change this. Change what you have become."
"There have been many upheavals." The oldest of the vampires present, a man named Richland stands. "The loss of the Council, of Damaskeinos, many changes. I think any more decisions should be made here - in the presence of the new Council."
"You think…." Drake's voice is full of warning.
"Yes. I think."
"Then you misunderstand the changes that Meg is speaking of. Our race has strayed from what I made it. Our only option is to begin again."
Richland snorts. "And you want us to follow your lead? With a human at your side?"
He chokes as Meg buries a steak knife in his jugular, the silver of the utensil eating into his flesh slowly. The vampires at the table are shouting and pushing away from the table as Meg whirls towards Drake, her amber eyes flashing as she wrenches the knife sideways and severs Richland's head. The piece of meat ashes before it hits the ground and she kicks the body back to ash as well.
"WHAT?" The blonde screams, her fangs fully extending in fear. "What is going on?"
Meg pulls her asp from beneath the hem of her dress as Drake watches in approval. Her palm is sticky with blood and she wipes it on the tablecloth to clean it. He reaches her and extends one hand to touch her leg. Barefoot on the table, Meg flicks the asp to extend it and steps away from him.
"We will begin again."
The vampires rush them.