Author's Note: Surprising amount of anticipation for this chapter. I hope it reaches your expectations

"Are you going to kill me, Holly?" Shadow asked calmly, his dour tone apparently unaffected even in the face of imminent death. "It would hardly be fair, especially considering that I just saved your life. Again. And I am afraid that if you were to cut my throat I would be unable to prevent my colleagues from putting a bullet between your eyes. On the other hand, if you let me go you have my word that you can walk out of this building freely, unharmed and unfollowed, although I think it's about time we talked about things. Don't you?"

Shadow could feel the shake in her hands where the knife was almost vibrating against his skin, and the back of his neck had become mysteriously wet, it was most unlike Holly to cry.

"Holly." Shadow sought for words, "please. Don't do this, I don't want you to die."

The knife slackened slightly, from here there were about a hundred ways Shadow could escape but he refused to use any of them. If Holly decided he would die then that is what he would do for despite everything he was unable to harm his friend.

"I'm... sorry." The knife came away and powerful hands turned Shadow around and then wrapped around his body in a crushing embrace and then Holly was sobbing into his chest. Never good at emotions, Shadow for once got it right and put his arms around her, cradling her into his body as two years of pent up grief, hatred and guilt left Holly's small body via her tear ducts. Finally she let go and Shadow wiped a tear from her eye, their relationship had subtly changed in that embrace, no longer we're they just friends but neither were they lovers in the traditional sense but they had both shared an experience each profound. Shadow's death bound Holly to him as her outburst of grief bound him to her.

Finally Shadow spoke.

"I know, and I am sorry as well, sorry for all the lies. I knew what you were from the moment I laid eyes upon you but you never knew me until we were staring down the sights if a gun at each other. My fault really." There was a long pause. "I never took the shot, I want you to know I never took the shot."

They embraced again. And so the wounds each carried inside began to heal. At least until someone in the background cleared their throat.

They both jolted apart, startled. Shadow's eyes fell upon his grinning squad. He met each's gaze, his own message clear.

'Mention this to anyone,' his eyes said, 'and there will be nowhere on this plan far enough away for you to escape me.'

Warning given without a complete lack of speech Shadow made an attempt to be somewhat more cheerful. "Well once I've locked the doors, who wants a cup of tea?"

Unable to meet his fiery glare his squad voiced their acquiescence.

Shadow put the tray of drinks onto the table which dominated the centre of the main control room, the holographic display covered in stains from the bottoms of cups, a bit of cleaning was way overdue on that front.

He handed each their cup, "Ash, teas, white, two sugars. Sally, coffee, black, four sugars. Nick, tea, white, no sugar. The same for myself and for Dan and Holly we have a full meal." He chuckled at his own joke before handing each a glass filled with a deep crimson liquid. Dan drank slowly but Holly gulped half the glass down before her eyes widened.

"Who's blood is this?" she demanded as an unnerving thought occurred to her

"Mine." said Shadow calmly. "Humans do after all have potentially two pints they can easily function without."

Holly seemed to be turning a pale green at the thought of drinking her friend's blood. Shadow sought to ease the problem.

"It's fine Holly, the fact I gave you the glass shows I don't mind, if anything it's a service I am quite happy to provide, despite the slight light-headedness it brings. Surely it's better that I gave you my blood freely than that you have to get it from some poor soul from off the streets?" The question was entirely rhetorical but Shadow's brevity had helped soothe Holly's troubled mind. Shadowed continued speaking. "Anyway, I've got loads stored in the freezer's in case I ever needed a transfusion, admittedly after all this time I'm going to have to sort through which bags are usable and which aren't, but once I've sorted through them feel free to help yourself if you're feeling peckish."

The way with which Shadow talked so freely about his own blood did not ease Holly's stomach which was beginning to feel queasy again, particularly when after taking a cautious sip from the glass Holly found herself liking the taste. It was all to easy for her to imagine gorging on the blood reserves, the sheer amount would be intoxicating, the boost it would give her mind abilities would make her unbeatable, every creature – human, werewolf, witch, shapeshifter and vampire – would have no choice but to obey her and then when the buzz wore off she would drain the source of her newfound power dry rendering him useless to others of her kind...

Holly shuddered; with that much blood easily available it would be all to easy to slip into that mindset, she made a note to which her thoughts more carefully from then on. Surfacing from her thoughts she found the room silent, but it was a companionable silence, everyone merely taking the the time to enjoy the safety the building represented as they focused on their drinks.

Finally drinks finished Shadow bid everyone good night after assigning them all rooms. About an hour later Holly entered the room she had been assigned only to find him asleep on the floor. A warm smile crossed her face at his rather misplaced gallantry. Carefully she lifted him, careful not to wake him. Despite Shadow normally being an exceptionally light sleeper he stayed sound asleep, perhaps it was Holly's presence or perhaps the safety net the warehouse seemed to provide for him. Holly laid him on the bed and covered him with the quilt before she too prepared for sleep on the floor.

Author's Note: Really not how I intended the chapter to go but it just felt... right, writing it that way, it was almost as though that's how the story wanted to be.

As always please review. Particularly as this is my first attempt at a chapter not focused on or as a prelude to violence.