A/N: Here's chapter eleven! Did you ever just…really wish you could bring a dead character back? And, I mean, really dead. Like, double-dead. Ta-da! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Bloodlines, but I do own my OCs.

A hand burst out of the concrete. It was black, cloaked in shadow. The darkness leaked from the unearthed arm to the adjacent sidewalk. The buried-alive man climbed his way out of the once freshly paved walkway, standing tall under the night sky. His black and yellow eyes flickered around, adjusting to the old and new sights.

Then it all hit him at once. His mission, his army, and the collapse of both of them. He had an army of Cainites, Kuei-Jin, and hunters, and they were all gone now. He remembered Kalliyan, his Kuei-Jin lover, who died right before his eyes, to that wretched Tremere. He closed his eyes and put a hand on his burning chest, the Camarilla were going to pay dearly for that. She died because he was weak, she died because he ineffective, but all that was going to change now.

He walked out into the open streets, grabbing the nearest bystander by the shirt, "You."

The other man screamed. It was one thing to get plucked off the street, quite another when said assailant had a strange darkness coming off of him, as well as horrid animalistic eyes. Once they were completely yellow, but now the darkness began to take them over too. "What…what do you want…?"

"You will tell me today's date." He said darkly, the only thing not making it a technical Dominate command was the hand motion.

"Uh…uh…A-August tenth…two-thousand and five…"

He let him go, "So…I've only missed a month, hmm? A better torpor than my previous one…"

"You…you've been asleep before…?"

"Yes…for about five years…"

"Uh…right…this is the part where…where I should leave."

He glared at his back as he began to walk away, "I did not give you permission to run amok."

He cowered as the shadowy man began to approach him again, "Please…please…I…I don't have much money…I don't have anything you want…just leave me alone…"

"I want a tour of this city, and I want it now…"

"A…a tour…?"

"Yes, take me to Santa Monica first."

"But it's so far away!"

"You should probably hurry, then." He shoved his shoulder.

They took the bystander's car to Santa Monica, "So…what's your name?" The kine asked.

"For now, you may call me, Stone." The LaSombra said as he exited, he peered around the city, "Tell me what you know about the Asylum."

"The Asylum? It's a pretty intense place…it's run by sisters, I think…one of them is really…uh…really…yeah…she's crazy…but she has the city wrapped around her little finger. Jeanette Voerman. She does this big, sexy, schoolgirl act."

He looked mildly repulsed, shaking it off, "So that Malkavian wench still has the city, hmm? I will change that, very, very, shortly." He said, tapping the kine's shoulder, "Chinatown."

"That…that place isn't exactly close either…"

"Hurry, three more stops."

"Yes, sir." The kine nodded, taking the two of them back to his car.

Once they arrived, the LaSombra began another barrage of questions, "How well do you know this jurisdiction?"

"Not much…I don't really come here often…"

"Very well, I will have to take what I can get." He sighed, "Who resides in the Temple of Golden Virtue?"

"Huh…that big old building?"

"Yes." Stone nodded to the building at the edge of the city, "Someone with…Asian descent…most likely? They see it as a spiritual place of worship and enlightenment. Perhaps by the name of Ming-Xiao or Jun Oshiro, do those names sound familiar to you?"

"No one's been in there for months."

His eyes widened, "For…months, you say?"

He nodded, "Heck, this whole city used to be a lot…livelier…but now it's pretty empty. I think it's creepy…"

Stone thought about it as he paced a bit, "So the Camarilla has finally done it? Has it knocked the Kuei-Jin back from our shores?" He asked, "No, that's impossible…Kalliyan always told me how formidable Jun and Tsubasa were…surely it's impossible for them to have been defeated in a mere month whilst I was gone…" He said, "Hmm…perhaps this is a blessing in disguise." He chuckled, "The Sabbat may very well have an easier time taking the city from the Camarilla, than it did from the Kuei-Jin."

"Uh…what are you muttering about, there…?"

He smacked his shoulder, "Hollywood."

"Ow…" The kine rubbed his shoulder, "Jeez…whatever…two more of these…"

"Hmm…" The LaSombra said once he looked around the city, "Could be livelier…"

"I mean, it is three in the morning…"

He kept scanning the streets, then his eyes widened when he found a large amount of rubble where a building used to be. "These…these ruins…" He pointed, "What…what happened here?"

"Oh, you didn't hear?" The kine ran to catch up with him, "There was some huge robbery or something. I guess the whole plan went south, and they trashed the whole establishment. Abrams's jewelry store, it was."

"Isaac Abrams?" He looked even more shocked, "He's been killed?"

"Yeah, I mean, a lot of people probably died in that fire…"

"That's a rather large blow to the Anarchs…then…hmm…" He mused, "It seems someone advanced a plan I already had…Abrams was going to be mine…nevertheless…" He kept looking around, his eyes sharpening once he saw the Elbow Room. "Hmm…I instructed Archie to look into this establishment…I will have to have a word with him about this, when I find him…"

"Huh? Who's Archie?"

He shoved him, "Back to downtown."

"What? But that's where we first started!"

"I know, and I prefer to end our tour there…"

He gave a reluctant nod, heading to his car.

The most notable feature from a distance was the red tower. "You should be careful around there…" The kine said as he got out of his car, "I heard that's a freaky place to be…"

"Oh, I'm quite aware." Stone said as he exited, "Come, let us view the rest of the city."

He shrugged, "Whatever you say…"

Stone's hands were crossed behind his back as he kept surveying the area. Nothing looked too changed since his month's absence. Until he reached the dirtier, poorer part of town. He was again surprised, "What…what happened here…?"

"Oh yeah, the Last Round…place got burned down…"

He walked through the rubble, the kine staying on the sidewalk. He sifted through the dirt, but found nothing. The only thing that remotely stayed in one piece was the sign to the bar itself. He picked it up and held it towards the moonlight, "And…what happened to it? Another robbery, I presume…"

"I have no idea…one of my buddies caught some of it one video…it was weird…there were these guys…made of fire…completely ruined the whole place…"

"Made…of…fire…?" The LaSombra repeated slowly, then he clenched his fists, "That is the same man who…who took Kalliyan away from me…" He growled.

"Huh?"

"So…no signs as to whether or not Rodriguez survived the attack or not." He chuckled, throwing the sign back on the ground and returning to the street, "I rather hope he did. I want to see if that bravado about killing all the kings is true…or false…"

"I have no idea what you're talking about…"

His confidence faded rather quickly, replaced by an overwhelming fear, "If…the Camarilla destroyed the Anarchs, and the chased the Kuei-Jin out of the country then…then we're next…"

"Who's destroying what? Who's next?"

"That cannot happen. I need to visit Master Lafayette first." He said, walking away from the kine, "To clarify that I am well, then I shall visit Archie, he owes me a report, on that territory encroaching our land…"

"Alright, fine, ditch me!" He snapped, "You're lucky I don't call the cops after all the 'free' rides I gave ya!"

He whirled around, holding a hand out, "You will forget all the events of this evening." He said, as a blue glow went around his hand and the kine's head.

"…huh…?"

He crossed his hands behind his back, leaving the confused human behind. He closed his eyes and focused, "I hear you…in my thoughts…Lady Sybil. You're there…trying to contact me…" He said, opening his eyes again, "You must be in the Abyss…calling out to me…goading every step of the way." He said, "Worry not, my dear. I will avenge Lucius's death, and I will make sure the Sabbat will stand victorious!"

"Dammit, I have no fucking clue where to go!" Killian pounded a fist on the dashboard.

"Just go back to his house, see if it's still here." Cissy said.

"What if they're dead!?" He asked, "What the fuck is going on!"

"Fuck, man, chill out. Give me the wheel." Cissy said, since she was sitting shotgun.

"Like hell!" He elbowed her arm as she tried to reach over him, "Get off! I can drive, Christ!" He pressed harder on the pedal and did a sharp U turn, driving back towards Skelter's house, "This is a huge fucking mess…" He combed his fingers through his hair.

"We'll be fine. Look, at least there's four of us here, right? If something does happen?"

"Fuck, don't say that." Killian said, "If it was just the four of us, we'd be even more screwed than before."

"Just relax." Cissy said, "No need to get all pissy." She pat his back, "Keep driving."

He gave a shaky sigh and continued onwards. The rest of the car ride was fairly silent as they made it back to his place.

"Good, it's not on fire." Cissy got out and headed inside, "C'mon, guys."

Killian rubbed one of his temples and followed them, "I have a terrible feeling about just leaving them behind…"

"Are we even sure that anyone's going to be here?" Catalina asked as she got out.

"Probably not." Killian said, "I don't know where else to go. She just told me to drive!"

As they stepped inside, Cissy raided the fridge for blood, "It'll be fine. They'll know to come here when they stop throwing their tantrum."

"That is, if one of them don't tear the other apart…" Sirius said.

Killian shook his head, "It's that fucking Malkavian, he always causes this mass mayhem wherever he goes!"

"Eh, really?" He asked, "You know, I think I've heard a thing or two about him…"

"Really, I haven't." Catalina said, "But…I got to look him over with Auspex…he is a diablerist."

"Yeah, that's…what happened to Lark." Killian said, "He's…practically got her inside him."

The sound of a beeping horn was heard before the vehicle drove off. "That sounded like a taxi." Cissy said.

"Shit." Killian approached the front and cracked the door open, only to see Skelter carrying an unconscious Anastasia, "Oh…it's just Skelter…" His voice didn't sound relieved, however.

As he walked closer and came inside, he gently laid her on the couch. He was silent as ever.

Everyone else was quiet too. Maybe it was because Anastasia looked terrible, or because Damsel wasn't there.

Or because Skelter's right leg was the leg of a wolf.

Killian went into the kitchen and grabbed some blood bags, bringing them in, "Give these to her. Hurry."

Skelter tore one open and handed it to her, hoping the smell would wake her up.

"Well, these are…interesting…developments…to say the least." Sirius crossed his arms.

Catalina swallowed hard, noticing that Damsel was nowhere to be found, "Uh…"

"Skelter…what happened to Damsel?" Killian asked lowly.

He grit his teeth, then reached in his back pocket and handed Killian the beret.

Killian slowly took it, "…fucking hell…"

"Well, look at that." Sirius chuckled, looking from Anastasia's downed body to Skelter, "You managed to do more damage to us than you ever did to the Camarilla."

Skelter did everything he could to tune him out. He knew he was in no place to argue, he'd just frenzy again.

"Alright, maybe picking a fight with him now is a bad idea." Killian said, relaxing a bit as he saw Anastasia stir, "At least these two survived…"

"Yeah, no, we're dropping like flies. Clearly this is something to celebrate." Sirius said.

"We don't have time to argue." Killian said, "Skelter, what should we do? About the…whole…leaving schedule…?"

He handed Anastasia another bag of blood, "We'll leave tomorrow."

Anastasia drank all the blood she was provided, "Where's Damsel?" She looked around. When a cold pause passed by, she shuddered and swallowed hard.

Skelter looked away, then muttered something about getting blood for himself as he hobbled into the other room.

"She…she's gone." Killian said, handing her the beret, "I'm sorry we didn't help…she told me to leave with the others, I didn't want anyone else getting hurt."

Anastasia took the beret, blinking away tears as she held it close.

"Maybe we should just flip a coin or something…use a spinner…guess who's dying next…" Sirius muttered.

"Look, no one else is dying next." Killian said.

"Probably Skelter. He's got a fucking dog leg, now he's a Masquerade Violation too, right?" Cissy said.

Skelter stood in the doorway, glaring at them. Killian wiped a hand over his face.

"Yeah, last time I checked, those don't exactly look normal to humans." Sirius said.

"We'll worry about it later." Skelter said, staring at the floor as he tried to think up of some sort of solution.

"Pfft, yeah, sure we will…" He rolled his eye, heading out through the door.

"Where is he going?" Catalina asked.

"I don't know." Killian said, following after him, "Hey, Sirius, what are you doing?"

Sirius crossed his arms, looking out at the night sky, hearing the other Anarchs not too far behind him, "You know…it's a real shame he had to die…"

"…Nines?" Catalina asked, "Of course it is. It's something we're still dealing with as a group—"

"No, not him. That Tremere kid. Leo, I think his name was." He said, "Because my plan was foolproof. It was the perfect job. Least it was until he died, I need to shape up on my work."

Catalina looked utterly confused, she thought for a moment, thinking that this was yet another joke from the Setite, then her eyes shrunk, "Oh my god…"

He snickered for a long time, taking out a cigar and lighting it. The cigar was flashy and expensive, as if he was saving it for a special occasion for a long time now. "I guess you and Damsel were right all along!"

Killian's shoulders fell, "You…have to be shitting me…" His eyes quickly filled with rage, "Why…?"

Skelter narrowed his eyes, "You're leaving? Good riddance. We'll see you in hell." He turned to head back inside, "It's no use picking a fight with him, we have more important things to deal with."

"Yeah, you go and make your great plan. Can you even think straight without frenzying?" Sirius laughed, "I'd love to see how you idiots will hold up now, where are ya headed, Arizona? Is that the place I should tell Strauss?"

Catalina pointed at him, "You…you were the spy!"

"Damn straight." He smirked, "More than just a spy though, I'm basically Strauss's Sheriff. Good thing you guys bought that Nosferatu bullshit right when I made it up. And every time Nines bailed me out, he just hammered another nail into the coffin. Guess being gullible was his strong suit."

"I…you were set out against us from the beginning…?"

"You tell me, Catalina. We did both join at the same time, didn't we?" He asked, taking a puff. "Strauss had a very…specific set of orders for me when I first joined. Taking on the Sabbat and the Anarchs at once ain't exactly a cakewalk, so Strauss wanted someone on the inside. On the inside of both organizations." He said, "The Sabbat were dangerous, but I already had them covered. The Anarchs, even more so. LaCroix had just fallen, the Prince died, things were starting to look up for the Anarchs." He said, "They were getting cocky, overconfident, full of themselves. They thought that they ousted LaCroix. That they defeated the Camarilla, even though they didn't do shit. Right, kid?" He smiled at Killian, "There was a bit more up-skirt grabbing then fighting in the Chinatown temple, right? But of course, after being in this Anarch cell for so long, that's par for the course."

"I was supposed to instill a false, bullshit sense of hope." He went on, altering his voice to sound dumber and more impressionable, "Ooh…a Follower of Set…what the hell is that? What can it do? How can it help us?" He snickered, then he changed back to his normal speaking tone, "You guys were so desperate for members it wasn't even funny. Even when Catalina squealed about me being untrustworthy, it didn't matter, because with the Tremere in charge you were all scared shitless."

"So I just waited until you guys would come up with some kinda plan." He said, "Except, for months…that never happened…" He said, "Nines insisted we wait…which…was annoying…because I didn't like dealing with any of you fucks as normal people longer than I had to. Then you guys finally came up with the idea of killing Victor." He smiled, "So I got word out to him right quick. Word that the Anarchs were out to get him. I guess in turn it made him work on his 'experiments.'" He said, "I'm assuming those are the Gargoyles and the shit ton of extra powers he's got now."

He took a long puff of his cigar, "Then I was to be tested. I needed to show my loyalty, to the Sabbat and the Camarilla. Smiling Jack was out at sea, not doing anything, but, as far as Anarchs go, he was a rare one, clocking in at three-hundred and something. I killed him and his ship burned to ash." He laughed for a long time after that, "He was no match for me, and I'm only a sixth of his age! And I only have higher and higher to go." He said, "You guys are all stuck, thwarted by your lousy generations, but soon I'll be strong enough to do the unthinkable!"

"Well…that finally got the lead out of your asses…" He chuckled, taking another puff, "Then we finally moved up the date to Victor's assassination. But by then, it didn't matter. The rest of the Camarilla already knew what your plan was. By the time you guys carried it out, there was already an entire air squad ready to take you down." He shrugged, "We may have played along at first, give you some sense of false hope, but in the end you were doomed to fail."

"Then I had to be careful. I knew the counterattack went off too well. So everyone was gonna be suspicious. Everyone thought there was a 'spy' amongst us. And I used it to my advantage." He chuckled, eyeing Catalina, "Damn, imagine if people actually listened to you? Then…hey, who knows? Maybe more of the Anarchs would have survived." He said, "But, oh well, you guys were desperate for members, am I right?"

"The 'spy' provided a problem though. Cause then Nines said we were gonna lay low and do nothing until it was resolved. He…really liked doing nothing, didn't he? No wonder you lost." He shrugged, "At first, I was pissed off, because with us sitting around doing nothing, I wasn't gonna get any work done, but then…I realized I was doing my job." He said, "If the Anarchs were doing nothing, Strauss was freed up to deal with the Sabbat and the Kuei-Jin. He never had to worry about the Anarchs dealing a surprise attack either, because I would always be there to warn him."

"For a while things stayed the same, but then, it finally changed." He said, "I don't know who the hell did it, finally, but someone burned the Last Round to ashes. Maybe it was a group of Independents or something…" He shrugged, "Then it caused Nines to make battle plans, which I eagerly egged on every step of the way. Once he suggested taking out a Tremere Chantry, I knew that this was it. It was finally going to end. Everyone was going to fucking die." He said, "I made the call to Strauss and the other members of the Camarilla in Isaac's office, and by then they were basically prepared. Nines basically marched towards his death." He snickered, then shrugged, "I mean, sure, every single Anarch could have died. But…hell, it's better this way. Now you can go out and tell the rest of America that Strauss is going to make the country a Camarilla one."

He was practically out of cigar by the time the speech was over, "Killing Isaac was my last job." He said, "After all, he could have just hit the reset button by ordering more troops in." He said, "So I had to keep bullshitting that I was a real Anarch for a bit longer. Pretend to care about you guys, pick fights with the Camarilla Ventrue, Cadmus…so on, and so forth. Then no one would question me if I…took off for an hour or so to kill an old bag in Hollywood. What can I say? The last domino fell." He said, "Well, it's been real."

Catalina clenched her fists, she had clearly had enough. She dashed towards him with two of her swords out.

Even still, Catalina was no Killian or Damsel when it came to Celerity. Sirius laughed, a cigar in one hand, he used his free hand as a glow of green snakes came out of it. A respondent one went around Catalina's head.

They could tell it was a Setite power right away because Catalina fell on the ground and starting having an orgasm. "I've been waiting a long time to do this, Assamite trash!" He threw the cigar fragment away and took his gun out, setting it to automatic and emptying a clip or two inside of her. Catalina started bleeding, but she did nothing to fight back. All she did was moan Sirius's name in pleasure on the ground.

Anastasia went in to attack next, but she fell towards a similar fate. Hit by the green glow of Serpentis, she fell on the ground and moaned in pleasure to her new infatuation. Sirius reloaded his gun, stomping on Anastasia's torso. She coughed up blood, "That's right…keep 'em coming, who's next?" Sirius smirked. His eye went from Anastasia's weakened body, to Skelter, and then to Killian, "Look guys, it's her entire stay in the Anarch movement in a nutshell. Covered in blood and sexual juices, am I right?" He stomped on her again, this time cracking something, "Get real. You didn't need me to fuck up your entire movement. You guys were doing a fine job of that yourselves. The Camarilla and the Sabbat treat all this like a job, while you guys were reliving high school or some shit…"

Cissy wiped dark tears from her eyes, "Then just go! If you're gonna be of fucking use to your goddamn husband in the red tower, then go! Get the fuck out of here, tell him what you did!" She screeched, her voice even more unpleasant than Damsel's when she was screaming, "But just know you made a huge mistake. And yeah, this is coming from me! Me!" She threw her hands in the air, "Go! Tell him you tricked us with your mind powers. Because that's a real man's war, isn't it? Doesn't it just get your blood pumping, taking candy from a fucking baby? Maybe when you realize what the hell family is, what the hell friendship and loyalty is, you'll realize what you're missing out on. But you go, have fun in that fucking wasteland of rotting flesh. We'll be waiting for you to come crawling back on your hands and knees so we can kick the dirt in your eyes and send you off!"

Skelter meanwhile had to hold Killian by the collar to keep him away from trying anything, "You heard her."

"You think I'm leaving so easily?" Sirius snickered, walking over Anastasia's body, and leaving the two girls in their love-struck, vulnerable positions, "How cute."

"Is Isaac not enough?" Skelter asked, "Jack? Nines, Damsel?"

He snickered darkly, diving at Cissy, and tackling her to the ground. He bit into her neck and punched her in the chest, clawing at it for a bit after that. As if he were trying to remove her heart from her body.

She screamed, trying frantically to squirm away from him, "Christ, someone help!"

Killian came barreling in, his added mass to the dogpile was enough to send it into a fumbling mess. Cissy took the opportunity to run inside.

As soon as his senses were somewhat gathered, Killian activated Potence and Celerity to the max, reeling back to punch Sirius in the face as hard as he could.

Sirius coughed up blood, both Cissy's and his own. He tumbled back into the grass, getting up and repositioning himself rather quickly.

Catalina and Anastasia both began to frenzy, heading towards the nearest creature, which happened to be Sirius. Sirius frowned and avoided them both. Anastasia, however, wouldn't give up, and as a punishment, Sirius smashed her jaw with the butt of his pistol, nearly snapping it off. He shot her a few times as she was downed, "Jeez…dirty animal…think she'll grow something like you…" He smiled at Skelter.

Skelter merely held a hand up and sent a pair of wolves after Sirius. Killian mentally reset his priorities and worked on holding Catalina back, securing her arms and hoping the frenzy would run its course.

Sirius took a deep breath, only having seconds before the wolves would attack him. He blew out a mighty sandstorm. One that ripped through all the Anarchs, as well as the scenery around them. The foundation of Skelter's house was challenged massively, and all windows in the house and the Jeep shattered instantly, the latter fell to its side, then on the foot, then to its other side, nearly rolling a complete circle.

When the sand cleared, all the Anarchs were covered in horrid scars. They had seen Sirius's sandstorm before, but they had no idea what it was capable of.

Killian heard Sirius's voice the loudest as he left, "Any of you fucks come back to my city, and I'll kill you personally!"

Skelter waded through the sand, slowly scooping Anastasia up and giving her a miserable, desolate look. He held her close, then brought her inside.

Killian slowly scooped up Catalina, sniffing as he looked outside one last time, then headed in.

It was hot. The air was muggy, full humidity, thick clouds towered above the world. A low pressure system of the gods grappled onto southern California without mercy.

She came up there to wish a few final words. She couldn't care less about anyone else, but, she at least felt like she should give Damsel a few last words.

She remembered the warmth Damsel emitted when she first joined…

"Uh…hey!" She chirped, nervousness seeping through her voice, "Uh, you can…call me Damsel, okay?" She gave a warm smile then, "Looks like it's just you and me in this sausage fest, huh? Sounds like a hell of a good time. Wonder how good we can train 'em."

Maybe Damsel wasn't the strongest. Maybe she wasn't the most organized, or most patient, but she was one of the most hospitable Anarchs there were. She was just so unbelievably human, in a movement surrounded by animals. She was a leader when she was a follower. She was den-mother, the mother of a bunch of untamable animals. She was a miracle worker.

When she made it to the graveyard, she was surprised to see another figure there, kneeling over Nines's grave. She heard gentle sobbing too, and figured maybe she should leave, before she did a double take.

It was Skelter.

Crying.

She stepped closer without realizing. He froze up a moment later, then turned back and looked over his right shoulder. She had never seen him like this, never seen him make that face, never seen his cheeks damp with tears. Never seen him shake with embarrassment and misery.

She looked at the ground, "My mom always said…well…uh…it…it was Italian…but…it basically translated to 'what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger.' I guess truer words can't be spoken in your case."

He turned and stared back at the ground, "Why are you still here…" He asked, his quiet voice even softer, "Why haven't you run yet…? Why haven't you left me? I'm gonna be the death of you…"

"Give him another chance." She said, "Wasn't that Nines's motto?"

He readjusted himself. It seemed kneeling with his dog leg was extremely uncomfortable. "You gave me at least a-hundred a' those…"

"Mmm-hmm." She said, "We need to get going. We need to leave the state." She said, "And we're going with you."

He shut his eyes and shuddered, "I'm gonna kill the rest of you."

"No, no you're not. You just need help…badly. You just need to hold onto your humanity, get some of it back maybe. Like Nines, he may have been Brujah, but he never frenzied, right? It's possible."

"He took my ability to feed…he took my balance…he took my ability to walk…he ain't gonna stop until I can't talk, until I can't think…"

"Then now would be a good stopping point."

"How…?"

"I…I don't know…" She admitted, "But…but you shouldn't be alone."

"I want to stay…" He wearily stood, using the headstone to steady himself. "I don't want to leave the Anarchs…" He hastily rubbed his tears away and looked at her, "But I'm too dangerous like this. For you."

She took a step or two back, "Time apart might be…helpful…"

He looked away, then covered his eyes as he let out another sob, whimpering something that sounded like, 'But I love you so much'.

"We'll still be in the same movement." She said, "And…hopefully it will grow into a larger one, one that can sustain itself."

He gave a little nod, "Is this it…?"

"For now."

He gave a little nod, "Yeah…yeah, okay…good…" He rubbed at one of his eyes, "Are you with Killian?"

She looked a little surprised at the mention of Killian. She shook her head.

He gave a weary nod, "I…I don't want you to…stay away from him like he's the plague. I think if anyone's gonna go nuts next, it's gonna be him…he's been holdin' us together for a while now, as much as I hate to say it…I think he needs help to…dammit, we all do."

"It'll be on my shoulders, then." She said, giving a bittersweet smile, "I feel all better. I feel like I finally got everything out these past few days…with all the arguing and frenzying. It'll be up to me to help everyone."

"You…you let someone know if you need help too, alright?"

"I will."

His head hung low as he looked at his leg. "He's gonna take me one day. I'm gonna have no say, no chance." He looked up at her, "You need to put me down if I go again. It ain't worth it."

"You can't just not try to gain your humanity back and then say 'oh yeah, guys, kill me if I frenzy again, by the way.' That's irresponsible."

"I am gonna try, but it takes time. He's not always as patient as I am. And that's sayin' something."

"You sound like me when I was going through pot…" She said, "You don't want to sound like me when I was going through pot."

"Look, I get it, I sound like an idiot, and it is my fault. I am an idiot. But this ain't an addiction. This ain't something I can crack with willpower. It's too late for that. I'm already past the threshold. I'll do anything within my power to stop, but if something does happen, you need to get rid of me. If I can't change after this…after all these fucking chances, I'm not gonna change, ever."

"That's not true."

He sighed, "Alright…we'll cross that bridge when we get to it…"

She nodded, "Did you want to come back with me…or do you need more time?"

He briefly looked at Nines's grave, "Yeah. Let's go back."

A/N: And that brings an end to Skeltstasia…I think it had a good run while it lasted? Okay, but let's be real for a minute, would you really want to date someone with a wolf leg, even if they were a saint? Heh, heh, thanks for reading!