A/N: Inspired by just about every supernatural sci-fi/fantasy thing I've ever read. In particular, a shout out to Jim Butcher's Dresden Files… 1x2X3, 5x?, 4x? Expect multiple pairings, some het and some not, and also some breakups and…changes.

Warnings: Language, violence, sex, language. Angst. AU. Gore.

A/N #2: Thanks to my awesome beta, Cuzosu!

A/N #3: This fic is winding down - Chapter 20 will be the end. You might have guessed, or been told by me, but there WILL be a sequel to this. I just wanted everyone to be prepared.

Umbra

Chapter Eighteen

To say that having coffee with Solo was a surreal experience would be like saying that sex with Trowa and Heero was pleasant.

Solo had a car and had insisted on driving them to the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf – because he hated Starbucks. Solo had a car and he had opinions on corporate coffee. Duo couldn't wrap his mind around it.

He had ordered a small, regular coffee while Solo had ordered a very large, very complicated sounding drink. While they waited on their orders, Solo made small talk about the weather and casually flirted with the guy making his drink.

By the time they sat down at a table in the back of the coffee shop Duo was convinced that they had entered some alternate dimension. Or that he was dead.

"So," Solo said after taking a sip of his ridiculous looking drink, "what have you been up to for the last four hundred years?"

Duo blinked.

"Um…"

"Relax, Duo, I'm not going to murder you in front of all of these humans," Solo swept out a hand to encompass the coffee house.

"But you are planning on murdering me?" Duo tried to confirm.

Solo smirked.

"As I was said before, you've been very bad – you've got Treize and nearly the entire Council ready to execute you, you've got the shape shifters in the region agitating to kill you, and you've forgotten your vow to serve God and keep humans safe from the monsters."

Duo closed his eyes. That last was by far the most damning, and he knew that Solo held it against him that he had agreed to serve the Council.

"Not to mention you've managed to find yourself a Soul Mate," Solo added with a sneer.

Duo arched an eyebrow.

"Jealous?"

"Jealous of the fact that you have found another soul to bond with? Jealous of the fact that you've been free and wandering the Earth for the last four hundred years while I suffered in a silver coffin, forgotten by all? Jealous of you?" Solo shook his head. "I'm not jealous of you, I'm jealous of your lover. Jealous that he shares your bed and your heart when it is my right to do so. I thought you knew me better than that, Duo."

"I knew you," Duo agreed. "Four hundred years ago, but then you shut me out. You destroyed our connection – you abandoned me!"

"I abandoned you? Am I the one who gave in to those torturous bastards? Am I the one who sold my soul, sold my God to those creatures?"

"No, I did that," Duo quietly agreed. "I thought I was protecting you, and it's my fault that I was naïve enough to think that the Council had any honor, that they would release you. But I did my best, as your servant, to preserve your life. And I am one of those creatures."

"No, you aren't." Solo reached out a hand and ran it over Duo's cheek.

It was the first time Solo had touched him in half a millennium, but the palm of his hand felt exactly as Duo remembered it.

"You know I had my first taste of coffee the day I found you," Solo said. "In Jerusalem. It was nothing like this, mind you. I suppose that's fitting, hm?"

"Just do it, Solo," Duo whispered. "Just kill me. I can't sit here and play whatever game it is we're playing. Just – end it. Please."

Solo arched an eyebrow.

"I haven't finished my coffee yet – and neither have you. Besides, I asked you a question and you never answered it."

Duo sighed.

"What – what question?"

"What have you been up to for the last four hundred years? Aside from serving our enemies and turning your back on our faith. Those I'm already familiar with."

Duo remained silent.

"Tell me about your Soul Mate. I have to say, he feels incredible. His magic is very pure and very warm – like sunshine, isn't it?"

"You felt him?"

"Through you. I tried to sever our connection completely, but some thread of it must have remained. All these years I've felt faint flickers of your presence but it wasn't until recently that I felt him. How did you meet?"

Duo scowled.

"A mutual friend."

"Hm. And what is he? His magic is very different."

"He's a Gypsy."

"Ah! That explains why he's so different. He's also very powerful."

Duo sighed. "He's also a shape shifter."

Solo's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"He's a what?" His voice was barely audible, but the rage behind his question sent shivers down Duo's spine.

"He's a shape shifter – a lion – and the son of a lion god. He's an alpha, obviously. So… that's where the powerful part comes in."

"You allowed a shape shifter to… you are not the man I remember." Solo shoved his coffee away and stood. "Come." He turned and started to walk away.

Duo reluctantly rose and followed him from the coffee store and back into the car. He was quite convinced that Solo would make short work of killing him.

"Why?" Solo asked.

"Why what?"

"Why him?"

"He's my Soul Mate. I didn't exactly have a choice now, did I?" Duo sneered.

Solo started to drive, heading to the north of the city. The sun was setting, sending bright rays of fiery light into the sky, and Duo thought it was a nice metaphor for his own impending death.

"You did," Solo insisted. "You could have chosen not to ever touch him."

"No, I couldn't have. He's… fuck, Solo, he's my Soul Mate! All I want to do is touch him! I don't care that he's a shape shifter!"

"I see."

Solo fell silent, and Duo didn't want to provoke him any further, but if he was being driven to the site of his execution, there were a few things he wanted to know first.

"Why are you killing women, Solo?"

The golden haired man sneered, but his gaze stayed focused on the road.

"Solo, what happened to your vow? In Avignon, you swore to never again take the life of someone too weak to defend themselves. You swore to me that you would never do this again."

It had been only a few months before their eventual capture by the Old Council, and Solo and Duo had been the last left of their brotherhood. Those days had been dark and tense, and Solo's hobby of killing prostitutes had become more of an obsession. When Duo had discovered his master in the process of murdering a twelve year old girl he had intervened. Solo had promised him, before God, never to give in to those dark urges again.

"Solo?" He prompted now.

There was no answer, and with a sigh he looked out the passenger side window.

It was completely dark now, the road illuminated only by sparse streetlights and silver moonlight, but Duo could easily recognize the desert near Red Rock, where he had gone hiking with Trowa, and where he had torched the corpse of the assassin sent to kill him.

Solo pulled over once the glow of the Strip had faded and parked the car in the rough desert sand. He got out, slamming his door behind him, and Duo slowly followed suit.

Solo was pacing in the dark. The dim moonlight glinted off his hair and shone on his pale skin.

Duo sat on the hood of the car and waited.

"You believed in me," Solo said after a few minutes of tense silence. He stopped pacing and stood in front of Duo, his magnetic blue gaze locked onto Duo's.

Duo frowned.

"I don't understand."

"Before, you always believed in me. You would have followed me into the bowels of hell."

"I still would," Duo reluctantly admitted with a sigh. "You're my master. Whatever else – I will follow you."

"Hm. But you don't believe I'm right, not anymore."

"Do you?" Duo asked. "Do you believe that it's right to take the lives of women whose only sin might have been to sell their bodies? Do you really think that deserves a death warrant? Do you think that we are in any place to judge anyone else? Our hands are stained, Solo, so red with blood that they will never be clean."

"You've never believed in God," Solo sighed. "That's your problem. Even when you were studying at the church, you only ever believed in death, never God, never salvation."

"Yeah, well, death's the one thing that's never let me down, now, has it?" Duo asked. "You're right – I didn't ever believe in God or anything like that, but I believed in you. Your faith was incredible, and I wanted to follow you, to serve you as you protected the innocent – the flock, right?"

Solo nodded.

Duo shrugged. "But that was four hundred years ago, Solo. Things have changed since then. Not just me – not just you. The whole world is a different place now. And I'm not sure we have the right to pass judgment on the humans or magic users. The flock has gotten a lot better at defending themselves."

"You've completely lost your way, haven't you?" Solo reached out with both hands and cradled Duo's face. "No wonder you've been so miserable all of this time. Without me around you've only been able to wallow in the misery of the world. There was no one to show you the path of righteousness, of light."

Duo found himself leaning into Solo's touch. Solo leaned down and pressed his lips briefly to Duo's forehead.

"I never thought I'd be able to touch you again," Duo said. "I thought – Solo, you're right. Without you I didn't have anyone to show me a path, so I made my own. It's not the one we started on, but… it's my path now. If this is where it ends, so be it."

Solo sighed and dropped his hands back to his sides.

"So fatalistic. I'm frankly shocked that you haven't killed yourself yet."

"You kept me going," Duo admitted, "for the longest time. Every Saint's Day I tried to summon you. I wanted to see your face just one last time – to beg for your forgiveness. I needed that, before I could die."

Solo arched an eyebrow.

"Well?" Solo prompted.

Duo swallowed hard.

"I tried to save you Solo, but I was too weak and naïve to know what would happen. Because of me, my stupidity – my lack of faith, yes, that too – you've spent the last four hundred years locked in a coffin and I've lived without a heart. I can never forgive myself for that, and I don't actually expect you to. You have every right to punish me."

"You were going to tell my ghost to punish you?" Solo asked, a smirk playing on his lips.

"No," Duo growled.

"Hm." Solo walked away and stood looking out into the desert, his back to Duo.

"Your shape shifter – would you die for him?"

Duo frowned, even though Solo couldn't see him.

"Yes," he answered.

"And your servant? That witch?"

"Yes."

"What about that null?"

Duo swallowed hard. He had no idea how Solo knew about Heero.

"Yes, of course."

"Of course?" Solo turned around. "I'm amazed that you would so freely give your life for a null, a witch, and a pet. In days past you put much more value on your own survival."

"Things have changed, Solo."

"I'm getting that." Solo approached him again and sat on the car beside Duo. "What is it you think I'm going to do to you?"

"Kill me? Maybe torture me a little first? I'm not sure if you will be able to absorb my magic like you do with Ephemerals – I'm not human, so there's a good chance that when I die my magic will just dissipate back into the earth."

"And why am I going to kill you?"

"I failed you and I… I did abandon you, your path, your faith. When I thought you died, when you cut our connection – I turned my back on all of that."

Solo nodded.

"So I'm guessing Treize never told you that I've been searching for you ever since he released me so that I could restore our connection and that I threatened to kill him if he harmed you?"

Duo blinked and looked over at his master.

"Ah… no. Sort of the exact opposite, actually. He told me that he released you because you promised to help him fight the new legislation and in return he would give me to you to punish."

Solo nodded. "Treize always twists the truth to suit his own purposes. He did promise me that he would return you to me. But it wasn't so that I could punish you. I made it very clear that I would help him, and then you and I would get the hell away from him and his damn Council."

"What?" This was the polar opposite of the information that Duo had been operating under. "But you – you hate me. That was the last thing I felt from you, before you cut me off. I could feel your rage, your loathing."

"I did," Solo confessed. "But I've had four hundred years with nothing but my own thoughts. I know that you tried to save me. Duo, you loved me more than life itself. I knew that – I know that. Why would I ever want that to change?"

Duo frowned.

"And yet it has, hm?" Solo reached out again and ran his hand through Duo's hair. "For the last four hundred years you've lived under the assumption that I hated you so much that my spirit had the strength to deny your Summoning. I can only imagine how painful that has been for you."

"Not as painful as being locked in a silver coffin," Duo muttered.

"No," Solo agreed. He brushed Duo's bangs back. "Duo, God led me to you one thousand years ago and I knew, from that moment, that my life's work was to protect you and love you. You've been my brother, my partner, my lover. We exist as two faces of the same coin, Duo. We always have, and we always will."

"I don't know what you're saying."

"I'm not going to kill you, Duo. Even if I did want to, I couldn't. You're mine, but you aren't mine to kill."

Duo breathed a sigh of relief.

"So…"

"But you are mine," Solo repeated. "You bound yourself to me and you agreed to serve my will until death parted us."

Duo swallowed hard. He had a very bad feeling about this.

"This Council must be destroyed, Duo. This Council and the Old Council. The humans have no idea the mistake they have made. It is our duty to end this sham of justice and to eliminate this threat to the continued survival of God's children."

"Solo –"

"You will serve me in this, Duo. For four hundred years I have been imprisoned. I returned to a world that is riddled with violence and grief. If magic truly could improve the lives of humans why hasn't it? The Council must be destroyed. We will have our vengeance, Duo."

"It's not that simple, Solo. There are laws and – "

"The laws of criminals are not just," Solo insisted. He shook his head. "I understand that you are afraid."

"I'm not afraid!" Duo insisted. "Fighting the Council is going to get us killed, no doubt about it, but I'm not afraid to die. Solo, this is madness! Things don't work this way anymore! This is no crusade!"

"Are you refusing to serve me?" Solo asked, his voice cold and deadly.

"No," Duo breathed. "Solo, we cannot do this. We will be hunted down not only by magic users, but by humans. You've broken their laws too. Those women you killed – Solo, why?"

Solo shook his head.

"No. You will not turn this on me, Duo. I'm not the one –"

"Solo, they were innocent women. They were weak and they had done nothing wrong. You stole their lives and their magic. You broke your vow to me and you broke your vow to God. You protected no one by killing them."

Solo swallowed hard and looked away.

"You are not the man you once were, Solo. All this time… Solo, you've been tortured for four hundred years. I think you are letting that cloud your judgment."

"You think?" Solo hissed. "That is my judgment. Revenge on those who first harmed us. Duo, no one should have the power that they do. No one should be able to take away four hundred years!"

"I know," Duo agreed.

"They took you from me! I can see it in your eyes, you've… you've moved on. With your null and your pet. I've been left behind."

"Solo, I don't–"

"Don't you dare lie to me, Duo. Your love for me has faded."

"No, it hasn't," Duo argued. "And fuck it all, I wish it had! But I would be lying if I said that I didn't still love you. I always will, Solo. You're right. We are two sides of the same coin, and I've been without half of myself all of this time. But Solo, things have changed. We do not belong in this world, not anymore. The humans don't need warriors like us anymore. They've got new shepherds." He thought of Quatre and his desire to make the world better without resorting to violence. He didn't agree with Quatre all of the time – rarely even half the time – but he knew that the Arbiter was right. Quatre was what the humans needed. "We will only make things worse, for everyone. We're broken, Solo, you and me, and we can't fix them like we are now."

Solo frowned.

"What are you suggesting?"

"This is it, Solo. This is the end for us. You murdered innocent women, and I've… God, I've killed so many people in service of this Council. I've done so many things… it needs to end, Solo. It has to. But I don't have any idea how. We can't kill the entire Council. We can't," he repeated when Solo started to speak. "There are good people on that Council. Quatre, Sally, hell, even Sylvia."

"Treize?"

"He has to be stopped, Solo. I think he's trying to create a big enough, messy enough conflict that the humans will have to intervene and they'll realize just how wrong they were to make magic legal."

"They were," Solo muttered.

"No, they weren't," Duo argued. "We have to move forward. Progress is good, and this is progress. I can't let Treize ruin this."

"You can't?"

Duo frowned. "Solo you are still my master, and I follow the Old Ways. I will obey you – but I'm not your slave."

Solo snorted a laugh.

"You've never been my slave. I swear, Duo, if we hadn't bonded when we had, I'm not sure if I wouldn't be your servant. What happens to me?In this new world of yours"

"What?"

"After you kill Treize, what happens to me?"

Duo sighed and met Solo's gaze.

"Justice," he said.

"Justice? Shall I be executed for killing seventeen women when both of us have killed hundreds? We've killed children, Duo. They were shape shifters, they were animals, but the humans won't understand that. You don't seem to understand that anymore. What justice is there for a man who has done what I have? What justice is there after four hundred years in a coffin?"

"Solo –"

"No, Duo. There is no justice. God has turned his back on me, Duo. My faith…" he shook his head. "I am unworthy to serve him, but I am too selfish to simply die. I want those years back. I want you back."

Solo leaned forward and kissed Duo, his lips firm and forceful.

Duo found himself instantly responding to the sensations. He felt like a man who had been wandering in the desert searching for water – and at last, here was an oasis. He reached out and buried his hands in Solo's hair, relishing the weight and texture of it.

Solo pressed him back so that he was laying on the hood of the car and covered Duo's body with his own. Their tongues dueled for control of the kiss and Duo moaned in pleasure when Solo's hands found their way under his shirt and caressed his bare skin. He tugged Solo's shirt out of his pants and reached under the hem to knead Solo's back and ass. The other man groaned and thrust his hips against Duo's, straining for more contact.

"I've missed you so much," Solo said. He pulled away and looked down at Duo. "Look at you. So perfect. So beautiful." He kissed Duo again, but the intensity of their previous kiss was gone. This kiss very nearly felt like a goodbye, and Duo found himself following Solo as he tried to pull away.

"You still haven't answered my question." Solo said. He sat back and ran a hand through his disheveled hair.

Duo frowned and sat up as well.

"Which question?"

"What you've been doing, for the last four hundred years. I want to know."

"Like a blow by blow account?"

"Just the highlights," Solo said. He leaned back so that his back and neck were curved against the windshield.

After a moment Duo did the same.

"I became the Old Council's Executioner," he started.

"I know that part. I don't – tell me what I missed."

Duo let out a sigh.

"God, Solo, you missed so fucking much." He gave a bitter laugh and was ashamed to feel tears burn at his eyes. "Music, Solo. I'm telling you – music is the single greatest achievement of the humans. Bach, Rachmaninov - Queen!"

The next few hours passed too quickly for Duo. He gave Solo a history lesson in music, art, food, and technology – all of the things that had long fascinated both men – and the more he told Solo, the more he remembered, and the more he realized just how much Solo meant to him.

Experiencing those things the first time around, hearing Beethoven for the first time, learning how to waltz, trying Spam – he had desperately wished to have Solo at his side then. Now, hearing Solo's baritone chuckle at his stories, he wanted nothing more than to give Solo back that time.

"Son of a bitch!" Duo had a sudden sensation of the skin on his back being ripped open. It felt as though he was being lashed with a silver whip. The sensation came again, forceful enough that Duo curled into a ball, struggling against it..

"Duo?" Solo moved down beside him. "What is it?"

"Argh!" Duo gritted his teeth against the pain. It took him a moment to focus, but since it was clear that he wasn't actually experiencing physical pain, Trowa had to be.

"Duo!" Solo grabbed his shoulders and Duo felt the other man's cold, silver magic flow into him. The pain dimmed.

"It's Trowa. My Soul Mate. He's being tortured." Duo tried to reach out to him, but whatever Solo had done made it a little difficult to send his magic down the line to Trowa.

Solo scowled.

"By who?"

"Treize. He belongs to him."

"Duo, you are – " Solo cut himself off and jumped off the hood of the car.

"Give me your hand and I will renew our bond."

Duo's hands instantly clenched into fists by his sides. Solo arched an eyebrow.

"Well?" He prompted. "If you want to help him, if you want us to kill Treize, we should do this the right way."

The prospect of having their bond opened again filled Duo with dread. It was ironic that he had wished for nothing but the feel of his master's body and magic for four hundred years. But now that he was confronted with the possibility he was unable to take it.

It felt like a betrayal of Heero and Trowa. But hesitating felt like a betrayal of Solo.

"I can't," he finally decided. "I can't do that again."

Solo frowned.

"Why?"

"I'm not yours anymore," he finally admitted, and all of the plans he had tenuously made to show Solo everything that he had missed evaporated. The real world replaced his dreams and he forced himself to think logically. There was no future for them, no way that the two of them could exist as they had before.

"I know," Solo agreed. "You belong to them. The null and the pet."

"Please, stop calling him that," Duo asked. "And they belong to me, too. I can't just turn my back on that."

Solo arched an eyebrow.

"But you can turn your back on me?"

"Solo, no, I'm not –"

The other man kissed him again and Duo responded almost against his will.

"You can't even resist this," Solo pointed out. He pressed his lips against the pulse in Duo's throat. "What makes you think I need your permission to restore our bond?" He whispered against Duo's skin. "You aren't just mine anymore, but you will always be mine, Duo." He pulled away.

"Let's go save your pet."

Up Next: The showdown

Definitions:

Council: the body that presides over magical creatures and users in the US. The Old Council refers to the European Council.

Dryad: A nature spirit, like a Sprite. Another Old One. Usually associated with a tree, and different 'families' of Dryads are associated with different trees.

Ephemeral: a human who can use magic. Used interchangeably with witch.

Jinn: alternately Djinn or Genie. They are spirits, supposedly created by God (if you're Muslim), and can be good or bad.

Old Ones: the powerful magical races. Vampires, Shape shifters, Faeries, and a few more to be named later!

Old Ways: reference to the way that the European Council ran things or the way things were before magic was legal. Sally Po refers to the old ways – a reference to the practices of Native American Shamans, and NOT the Council.

Null: a human without magical ability.

Shaman: A Native American mystic or holy person. Used in this context to mean an Ephemeral.