Lilly had fallen asleep, without meaning to, on the couch. Ginger had offered her some food, and although Lilly's stomach was empty, she had no desire to eat. But around late afternoon, when the sun was just starting to set and the shadows in the parking lot were growing longer, she was hit with such a strong surge of fatigue that she closed her eyes only intending to rest for a few minutes, and entered a deep, deep sleep.

Eric emerged from the basement of the bar, along with Godric, about twenty minutes before full dark had come. Ginger was the first to greet them, telling them that a total stranger wanted to see them, and that she was waiting in the main room of the bar.

Curious, but slightly wary, the younger of the two vampires came forward, to find none other than Lilly, asleep on the couch. He stopped, actually surprised for the first time in a few decades, and just watched her. Godric, sensing his Childs surprise through their bond, came to stand next to him. Lilly was splayed on the leather couch, one arm hanging over the side, the other above her head. Her torso was angled so that her feet were resting against the floor, and her head was tilted back. She kept her mouth open when she slept, but the two vampires immediately sensed her discomfort, even in her sleep.

She was mumbling, her mouth opening and closing. They at first thought she might have been saying something, but soon realized she was just mumbling incoherent words while she slept. Suddenly, as if she were shocked, she flinched, her eyes clenching shut like she was in pain. The arm above her head came down to wrap around her stomach, and she curled her feet into her so she was in a tight, protective ball. The vampires watched in awe as Lilly subconsciously showed pain to them. For the first time they had seen this woman in pain, showing weakness, and it fascinated them, but also gave them a strong erge to approach her, and relax her tense muscles, maybe even trace the lines around her eyes and even out the cresses in her forehead.

And amazingly, a small, lonely tear escaped her eye, and rolled down her cheek. It was so clear, so small, and it landed on her shirt, making that one little spot damp. Lilly dreamt about war, brutal, bloody war. She dreamt about killing, about being killed, about her friends dying. She dreamt about the blood, the fear, the hate and the anger. She dreamt about fear. She cried out in her dream, not knowing she was crying out in reality. She cried in her dream, and did not know that a tear was falling in reality. She was being stalked by vampire in her dream, but she did not know that two of them were watching her at that moment.

She woke up with a gasp, just as one sunk his fangs into her neck, tearing it open, spurting her blood across her pale skin. She sat up on the couch, her hand flying to her throat, where she rubbed it to make sure there was no open wound, no blood, no pain. Her heart was beating, and she closed her eyes, struggling to make it normal again. When she felt the dream fading into the back of her mind like all of her other nightmares, she realized someone was watching her. It was an odd sensation, like someone was peaking in on her private moments, violating her space and privacy. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up, and she raised her head slowly, remember where she was, knowing she had slept longer than she originally intended. And sure enough, the two, ancient vampire stood there, both looking at her curiously.

"What do you dream about?" the older one asked, Godric.

"I dream about war." She choked out, wiping her damp cheeks and standing up. "I need help." She said, and the vampires sent her dream into the backs of their minds, and focused on her new question.

"Why would someone like you need our help?" Eric asked, suddenly amused. Images of the night before, her fighting skills, popped into his mind, and his curiosity spiked farther.

"I am being hunted down by an old vampire. He sent men after me the other night. They killed my horse." She said. "He has acquired many vampires, and I cannot fight all of them off by myself. As it turns out, you two are the only vampires I can trust." She explained, not linking how she had to rely on vampires for assistance. It made her feel weak.

"What is this vampire's name?" Godric asked, already intending to help the young woman. It would give him an opportunity to find answers.

"Mason." She said, hoping neither of them knew the vampire. But of course they did.

"Mason, turned over two thousand years ago, the ruthless murder of vampires and humans alike?" Eric asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Yes."

"How do you know this Mason?" Godric wondered aloud, waiting while she came up with a decent, yet not too revealing answer.

"We have a… personal connection, one he feels requires revenge." She answered after a long moment, hoping they would stop with that.

"What personal connection?" Eric asked, and Lily could see the disapproving look Godric gave his child. She felt suddenly grateful for the elder vampire.

"Eric…" Godric warned quietly. The younger of the two vampires turned to the elder, a look of annoying respect apparent on his face.

"Godric, if we are to protect this woman, notice how I place emphasis on the if, we should know how ruthlessly this Mason will come after her, and then in turn us."

Godric stayed silent, contemplating.

"Okay, my child, ask." He said finally, and Lily sighed in defeat, hunching her back forward and preparing herself. Does she tell them, or does she run now, get away before they both get the answers they've been craving. She didn't know, so she just sat there and waited to hear the questions.

"How do you know Mason?" Eric asked immediately once he had his maker's permission. It was amazing, Lilly thought, the connection and love both of the vampires had for one another. They were unlike any other maker and child she had seen.

"I killed someone he knows." She said, trying her best to not reveal any information. Eric raised his eyebrows, as did Godric. "Okay I killed a lot of someone's he knows, but there was one he cared about a lot that I took from him." She explains further.

"And what someone would this be?" Godric asks this time, surprising Lilly.

"He was his, um, he was his child." She says uncomfortably, massaging the back of her neck so she had something to do. She heard the very audible sound of fangs clicking into place, and instantly her muscles tightened and her hand flexed as if to grab the knife in the belt around her waist.

"Killing someone's child is very, very dangerous thing to do, Lilly." Godric says so quietly it was almost a growl.

"You don't think I know that?" Lilly snapped, looking up to see the two very angry vampires. "It was war, Godric. War means death. War means pain. War means loss.

The room was silent as both vampires remember their own wars and their own tragedies, and suddenly they looked at Lilly differently. Lilly could see the change too. She watched their eyes, watched them harden and go far away as they remembered their own battles. Then, when they came back to her, to the room they were in and the situation they were faced with, and they looked at her with… well she didn't know. Maybe they were looking at respect, maybe it was admiration, but she got the feeling that they were looking at her with pity. Like they were sorry someone else had seen the horrific things they had seen too.

"Yes, well you are right in that sense aren't you." Eric said quietly. Lily was surprised that she had managed to shock a thousand year old vampire, but then again, she had been shocked plenty of times too.

"Yes, I am." She said smugly and again it was silent.

Godric was looking at her closely, watching her, judging her. He looked at her throat when she sighed and how the air gushed out of her mouth. He watched the luscious pulse in her throat, and wondered again, like he had so many times before, what she would have tasted like. And then he saw the beginnings of her tattoos. That was when he got up, so fast, faster than even Eric could see. Faster than vampires should be able to get up. But he did. He stood up and that was all he did too. Just stood there and stared right at the base of her neck, where the dark purple strands were poking out.

Lilly followed his line of vision, and tilted her head to see what he was seeing. Instantly, almost as fast as Godric had stood up, she pulled the collar of her shirt up to cover the tattoo. Eric noticed it a second too late, and looked back and forth between Godric, who was staring at the now covered up skin, to Lilly, who was trying to act inconspicuous.

"What…" Eric started, and then stopped.

"Eric, leave us." Godric demanded. Eric looked like he wanted to do anything but that but since Godric was his maker, and his request was more like a command, Eric got up and walked away. Then it was just Godric and Lilly, staring at one another.

"Let me see your tattoo." Godric requested. Lilly thought he was trying to be nice, but failing completely.

"That is none of your business." Lilly said evenly, yet with as much conviction as she could muster.

"Yes, it is."

"No, its not."

They stared at one another, both trying to prove that they were stronger than the other. Or maybe more defiant. Either way, no one was winning, but they were both playing the game.

"If I am to protect you—" Godric began, only to be interrupted by Lilly.

"Don't pull that crap on me, Godric. These tattoo's have nothing to do with anything. And you know that."

Again, they stared.

"They look familiar." Godric began slowly, taking a step towards her. "Very familiar."

"They would to you, wouldn't they, since you've seen so much with your age."

"Yes, but those, they are ancient. Not some modern attempt at trying to replicate an ancient tribe."

More silence.

"Godric, let me see your tattoo's." Lilly asked after a moment. Because she knew him. She knew that since the first time she saw him, and saw his tattoos. She just needed to make sure.

"I'll show you mine if you show me yours." Godric said after a while, and Lilly smirked.

"Alright." She said after a moment, because Godric wouldn't; be able to recognize her tattoo's anyways. They were before his time.

He pulled off his shirt in one fluid motion and she saw the tattoo's that she had seen the other night, when they were at the lake. She got up then, moved closer to his marble hard chest, and ran her hands over it. Godric shuddered, and then held still as she traced the intricate patterns.

"You were a warrior." She mutters, and then looks up at him with her head tilted to the side. They stared at each other for what seemed like forever. "You were a man." She continues, tracing yet another intricate pattern with her finger tips. "You were a slave." She says again quieter, her hands stilling on a simpler, less beautiful tattoo. "You were put up for execution." Her eyes grow sadder and her hand pauses on the tattoo right under his ribs.

"Your turn." Godric says after a long, long time where Lilly just watches and watches, looking at the tattoo's, remembering.

Lilly stepped away, dropping her hand, which had now grown cold, to her side. Then she, too, stripped her shirt off, leaving her bra on, showing no self consciousness, although she had no reason to because all of her body fat had been burned off form years of training.

Godric started tracing, just as she had done with him, right below her collarbone. He didn't say anything like Lilly did, only looked, staying clear of her breasts, instead moving down her side with his chilly fingers, and causing Goosebumps to rise on her skin. Godric noticed, and looked up at her with a small smile before looking back at the tattoo's crossing in a winding thread across her stomach, around her back, and down her left thigh, like a snake. He turned her hand over, revealing the last, most intricate and detailed of all the tattoo's that was placed don't he inside of her wrist. He placed his palm over that one, felt the body heat coming off of her, then took a step away. They looked at each other, both half naked, looking at the tattoo's.

"You have one on your spine, don't you?" Lilly asked quietly, although she didn't want to know the answer.

"Yes." Godric answered after a while, and watched as Lilly flinched, then circled around him to look at it. He heard her groan, and then exhale slowly, as her soft fingertips trailed over the tattoo shaped like a spine, dark blue, insanely detailed. The process of getting it cut into the skin must have been painful, she knew that, so she respected it.

"Your village was attacked, everyone was dead. All accept you and a few other warriors." Lilly said, and Godric caught her hand behind him, and had her walk in front of him, never releasing her hand.

"You were taken prisoner." She says, looking into his eyes, her own so sad it almost made Godric feel something.

"You and the remaining warriors banned together and attacked the people of your new village, but were unsuccessful and were all condemned to death."

Godric was looking at her hard now, watching as her eyes filled with wet stuff. Was she crying? Was she crying for him?

"But a vampire came, and offered you life even after death, and you took it, because as a warrior, you loved nothing else but life and battle."

She finished. She sighed. She took a step back and retrieved her shirt, quickly pulling it over her head and onto her body as a protective shield, hiding her tattoos.

She expected question after question, insults, accusations, false assumptions, but instead he looked at her with no emotion, just stared at her, until she started to worry.

"We will offer you protection, but you must get rid of the problem on your own. You may sleep in the basement of the bar."

And with that, he left, walked out the door Eric had just walked out of, and didn't say anything else. He forgot his shirt, too, or left it there on purpose. But either way, she grabbed it and brought it to the basement with her to sleep.