I do not own…

Three days later...

In the master bedroom Alice tossed and her bed before she shot up from sleep with a gasp. After taking a few deep breaths before getting up and checking on her son that sleeping in the room connected to hers'. She sighed in relief that he was okay and still sleeping with Lucifer sleeping with him.

"Alice." Vlad said

She was startled by the voice but relaxed when she saw that it was Vlad. He heard her get from the living room and hurried upstairs to check on them. The vampire was by the connecting bathroom when he lightly called her name.

"I heard you hurrying to Chris' room. Is everything okay?" He asked

"Just had a bad dream, is all." She sighed and then leaned against the door frame.

He looked into her eyes and could see the fear in them. Not to mention the lack of sleep she's been having. He walked up to her and slowly placed his hands on her shoulder.

"You know that you can tell me anything, right." He said "We may not know each other well but you can trust me."

His words made her smile.

"Vlad, you've risked your life saving Chris and I when you didn't have to. And whenever you leave, you always come back when you could have left us and moved on. Believe me, honey, you have my trust." She said before looking over at her son. "I just had a dream about the first day when the outbreak happened in our town. It was about what would have happened if I didn't make it home on time when one of those things got close to the house and got Chris. I arrived home and I didn't see him or his father around the house so I went upstairs to check. When I made it up the stairs I froze. In the hallway was Chris...and he was eating Steve alive. I just stood and cried, I couldn't do anything. He heard me and came into after me. I couldn't do anything because I could never hurt my baby boy."

Alice started to cry so Vlad held her in his arms. He held her tight as he started to rub her back, to calm her down.

"It was just a dream. I will never let that happen to either of you. I will protect you both with my life." He said

She was able to calm herself down and looked up at him with a curious look.

"I have to ask. Why? Why are you willingly to risk your life for two strangers that you barely know? Why would you stay?" She asked

He looked at her with a loving smile and cupped her face.

"Have you not figured it out yet. When I first met you two, you both gave me a purpose in life." He said "And in the last few days I've started developing feelings for you. Feelings that I thought were long dead and could never be awakened again."

Her eyes widened a little when she understood what he was saying and it made her blush.

"I'm not asking for a one time thing between us. And I know that we barely know each other but I can't stop myself from feeling this way." He said "I won't push or rush you into anything or pressure you. Not when you're ready." He caressed her cheek and stared into her beautiful blue eyes. "You should get some rest, love."

He kissed her forehead and was about to go back downstairs but was stopped when she grabbed his hand.

"You can share the bed with me if you want." She said and blushed a little. "It's much more comfortable than the couch."

"I don't mind it." He shrugged "Besides, I wouldn't want to make you uncomfortable."

"You won't. Just stay on your side of the bed?" She said

She led him to the room and they both lay down on the bed. They slept on their sides, giving them space between themselves. They slept on their side with their backs facing each other. She had to admit it was a bit awkward. Not only because she has never slept in the same bed other than her ex-husband but because of him telling her that he had feelings for her. She would be lying to herself if she didn't feel the same way for him too. An hour had passed and sleep still didn't come to either of them. That was until she felt him turnover to face her back and she could feel his eyes on her. Then seconds later she felt him move closer to her. She didn't say or do anything to stop him. Next, he wrapped an arm around her waist and started pulling her closer to him.

She should have felt scared or commented about this position but she didn't. For once in her life she felt safe being in a man's arms. A few minutes later she started to drift to sleep.

The next morning, for the first time in his life, he had a true smile on his face as he held her in his arms. He was in a comfy bed with a woman that he was in love with. Right now, she was turned towards him in her sleep and was baring her face into his neck. He stared down at her as he ran his fingers through her hair and gently caressed her face. She was in peace when she was in his arms as he was with her.

At first, he thought that she would be frightened of him when he confessed his feelings to her. Who wouldn't be after knowing that he is a vampire and that they only knew each other for a few days. She was shocked, that's for sure, but she didn't push him away.

For that he was grateful for.

He kissed her head softly before carefully unwrapping his arms off of her and slowly got out of bed. After placing back the blankets on her to keep her warm he went to check on Chris. He saw that he was still asleep as well so Vlad gestured Lucifer out of the room so he could take him outside. Also, it was almost time to give Chris his medication so Vlad decided to make him something to eat. They went downstairs and Vlad saw that Morgan and his son were still sleeping on the mattresses on the floor. He took a look at his watch and saw that it was ten minutes till 7am. When he was by himself he was always an early person so he was just used to it. So after letting Lucifer out he went to the kitchen and took out the gas camping stove out from its hiding spot. He looked through the bag to see what Chris could eat and found some chicken dumpling soup that he got from the hospital. Once it was done he put the soup in a bowl and got a spoon before heading back upstairs.

"You can help yourself with something to eat if you're hungry. Just don't take the stove or I'll have Lucifer hunt you down." Vlad said to Morgan who was pretending to sleep.

He went to Chris's room and started to wake him up from his sleep.

"Chris. Chris, it's time to wake up." Vlad whispered

The boy started to stir from his sleep and looked up at Vlad.

"How's my brave soldier?" He asked

"My throat hurts a little still." Chris said weakly

"Well after you're done eating you can have your medicine." Vlad said

He helped the boy sit up before placing the bowl of soup on his lap. When he mentioned the medicine Chris made a face that made Vlad chuckle.

"Now don't make that face. It will help you get better soon and you will no longer have to be on bedrest." He said

"I hope so. It's so boring." Chris pouted

"Not the staying indoor type I see." Vlad chuckled

"I'm a Dixon. We are born and raised in the outdoors." Chris said proudly after eating his soup.

"Another proud Dixon warrior huh." Vlad said

Chris nodded his head with a smile on his face. Then he brought up a small toy to his side and Vlad looked at it with curiosity.

"Who is this?" Vlad asked as he picked up the toy.

"That's the Dark Knight, Batman. He's the best superhero ever." Chris said

"Batman huh." He said as he looked at the toy.

"He protects me in my dreams from the monsters like you and mom do when I'm awake." Chris explains. "You kind of remind me of him."

"How so?" Vlad asked

"You always protect me and mom from the real monsters and…" Chris mumbled

"What was that?" Vlad asked

"The bats always follow you wherever we go." Chris said

He pointed toward the window in his room. Vlad looked outside a little and he could see a few bats in the trees or on the house.

Vlad mentally laughed.

'So the boy noticed.' He thought

The bats still followed him wherever he went and this state was swarming with them.

"Are you...are you batman?" Chris whispered

Vlad smiled and placed a finger up to shh him as if it was a secret.

"You can't tell anyone. I must protect my identity, remember." Vlad whispered

"I will. I promise." Chris smiled and held up his pinky.

He found it amusing and wrapped his pinky with his little one. The boy really does remind him of his son because of his innocent mind.

Chris had just finished his soup and Vlad took out his medication. Vlad laughed again when Chris made another face as he held out the pills and a bottle of water. But the kid took it and swallowed it, still making a face.

"Oh come on, it can't be that bad." Vlad chucked

"It has a bad aftertaste." Chris said before coughing.

The vampire took the bowl and placed it on the nightstand before laying him into bed.

"Alright back in bed. You'll need all the rest and fluids you can get to get better." Vlad said as he tucked the boy in. "Sleep well, Chris."

He patted Chris's head and gave him back the batman toy. Right when he was about to leave he heard something that touched his undead heart.

"Thank you, dad."

A soft smile formed on his face. It was nice to hear that again. He went back downstairs where he saw Alice in the kitchen with Morgan and Duane.

"I thought you were still asleep?" He said

"Well I was but I remembered about Chris's medicine and was going to get it but then I saw that you already beat me to it." She said and then whispered. "Thank you."

He smiled at her before sitting down at the table with the others as she warmed up some hot soup.

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XxTime SkipxX

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After what happened at the hospital Morgan and Duane had decided to stay with Vlad, Alice and Chris. Not wanting to keep Vlad's true self a secret they told them. At first they were afraid, of course, but Morgan was able to trust him. They stayed a little longer in the small town for Chris to get better and gain his strength back. Also, to gather more supplies and gas before they left for Atlanta. Then they met two people from Vlad's marine days along with three other people a week and a half ago.

Angelina is a 29 year old, hot headed, hard-ass, latina, with long black hair and brown eyes. She was once part of the army but was on vacation in Miami, Florida when the zombie world started.

Gabriel is a big and strong 35 year old African American man with brown eyes and a shaved bald head. He was once a farmer and owned his own contractor business.

Nathan and Elieen were husband and wife for 2 years. Elieen, a 32 year old woman, caucasian, with short blonde hair, blue eyes and was head nurse at the hospital she worked at. Nathan, a 34 year old, caucasian that had a british accent, short dark hair and blue eyes. He's a professional sniper that was part of the Marines. Nathan was second in command when he was part of Vlad's cew.

Jesse is a 33 year old caucasian man with dark brown hair and brown eyes. The man was a very strange person. A wisecracker that was also part of Vlad's crew. He was their mechanic and weaponry tech guy.

They all met in Miami, Florida and were heading to Atlanta in hopes that the CDC was still up and running.

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When morning came Vlad woke up from his sleep and looked down seeing Alice still sound asleep on his chest. Over the past few weeks they had gotten closer and started a relationship. Last night, it came to the point where they finally had sex and they were both very satisfyed with each other. He stared down at her beautiful face while he gently caressed it. The vampire was happy to have a woman to call his own once more and a son to care and protect. He kissed her head before slowly getting out of bed and got dressed. Once he was dressed he covered her naked body with the blankets and went to check on Chris.

With a lot of people in the house so they had to figure out who slept where. There was no question asked as Alice and Vlad took the master bedroom. Since the boy was better he and Duane shared the same room since it had a bunk bed. Morgan slept in the third room while the married couple last room. Angelina, Jesse and Gabreil on spare mattresses in the living room.

He opened the door and the boys were still sleeping while Lucifer was sleeping on Chris's bed. The dog popped his head up when he heard the door opened. Vlad shushed him before he could make any noise and gesture him outside. They went downstairs and he let Lucifer out in the backyard to do his business while he went to check the traps that Alice made. There were three squirrels and two rabbits in the traps today. He tensed when he sensed a walker by the gate and looked to see one looking at him and trying to get in. It growled and looked at the dead animals in his hands.

Vlad just glared at it.

"Shut up." He whispered

To his surprise the corpse stopped growling and this made Vlad raise a brow and tried something else.

"Now walk away and leave." He commanded

The walker walked away from the gate and turned around to leave.

"That was new." He whispered

After that he went back inside and gave Gabriel the dead animals to skin it. Then he cleaned up Vlad went back upstairs to his room. When he opened the door he smiled when he saw Alice waking up.

"Morning." She smiled

"Morning, love. You caught five animals in the traps today. We'll be able to feed everyone this morning." He said. He closed the door and he sat on the bed. "Rabbit and Squirrel stew with some canned beans and rice that we found two days ago."

"Mmm...sounds just like our family BBQ Dixons style." She teased

Vlad smirked and kissed her forehead.

"I'll go down and make breakfast. Why don't you rest a bit more?" He said and kissed her lips.

"I can't believe that I found a great man after all this time." She smiled

He smiled and claimed her lips and their kiss turned into passion. He leaned her back into bed and she couldn't help but laugh at his action, especially when she felt his hard members press against her thigh.

"Hmm...sex in bed before breakfast. I like that idea." She smirked as she helped him take off his shirt.

"Well what do you expect when there's a beautiful naked woman in my bed?" He said

"I better be the only nake woman you'll ever see now." She playfully threatened

With fast speed he was out of his pants and pinned her down on the bed.

"As I better be the only nake man you'll see and have sex with." He smirked