AN: So you guys kind of get this later than everyone else. BUT, you get the edited version, so it's not quite as sucky. Not sure if that's a consolation, but there ya go.

I apologize in advance for those couple paragraphs where Toni is explaining her situation and leading them to her apartment because I know that it is all kinds of awkward. However, after rewriting it three times, I decided I wasn't wasting all my editing time on that. So, just...ignore that. I'll do better next chapter.

HiNaBN (c) Tessa Stone, not me

"This is it. Worth's place." Hanna tugged open the heavy metal door, unmarked in any noticeable way and located in the most nondescript alley off of the most nondescript street the taller zombie had ever seen. Even when he peered inside, what he could see didn't seem very impressive. Dirty concrete floors, peeling paint on the walls half-hidden by faded posters, a single bare bulb hanging from the ceiling to throw yellow light into the room and accentuate every stain and dirt-smear.

To be honest, he had been kind of hoping that Hanna was dragging him through a shortcut. The thought that there was actually a doctor in that cesspool, especially one that was presumably going to give him a right hand again, was just the slightest bit terrifying. This was the kind of place whores went when they had unexpected pregnancies; where mobsters went to get bullets removed from their guts. It wasn't where sort-of-dead people went to have parts sewn back on.

Then again, he doubted there was a place for that, so perhaps he shouldn't complain.

"Don't tell me ya need a patch job already," a rough-looking blonde man said from behind a worn desk, Australian accent apparent even as he ground it out around a hand-rolled cigarette. He was leaning back in a dilapidated old chair resting against a peeling wall, feet propped up and looking relaxed despite the annoyed tone in his voice. "Thought I told ya to stop with all that runnin' around and losin' body parts."

"Hey, I'm not here for me this time," Hanna said with a sheepish laugh, hands raised as a shield for the glare the supposed doctor was shooting his way. "This is my new friend Gallahad," the man's eyes flicked with disinterest in his direction for a second before resettling on Hanna, "And uh…well…you know how you're always telling me not to mess with my own stitches or else they'll come apart? Well, funny story…" Hanna's hand grasped at his empty wrist and held it up for the man to see, pushing back the coat sleeve even though the lack of a hand was blatantly obvious. The other man reacted with only a raised eyebrow; an understatement to say the least.

"First ya kill the guy, then you chop off his damn hand? Now see, Hanna, this is why people don't like you."

"What! I did not kill him! I mean, someone did, but it wasn't me!" He returned the other man's glare full force, though the effect was somewhat lost as he responded with an amused smirk. "And I didn't chop it off, it just kindasorta came off accidentally are you going to just sit there or are you going to sew it back on?"

The blonde man stared at Hanna for a moment, looking for all intents and purposes like he was just going to sit there, thank you very much, before he shrugged one bony shoulder in a gesture that looked like it might have been a yes. Still, he took his sweet time getting up, lowering his chair legs down to the hard floor carefully, standing up and stretching so hard that a distinct "pop!" could be heard from the man's back, stabbing out the cigarette in his mouth on the wall and immediately pulling another from the pocket of his (it probably used to be white) coat.

"Well, come on if yer comin'," he growled. They followed him to a back room that was almost empty, the only pieces of furniture being a desk full of drawers littered with medical supplies and one shiny examination table that looked like it would be cold for a person who was alive.

"Sit down," the doctor ordered, turning around to look through the top drawer of the desk. The tall zombie went to remove his coat – while Hanna tugged again on the sleeve, which was still not helpful – and sat on the gleaming surface, detached hand resting beside him, so still he couldn't imagine that just sewing it back on would give it the ability to move again.

The doctor – Worth, he reminded himself – turned back with a needle and a spool of thick black thread in hand and got to work immediately. The zombie held his hand in place while Worth carefully lined up his wrist and began making small, neat stitches to connect the two bits of flesh. He had expected it to hurt, but he barely felt the pinch and tug of the needle as it passed through his skin, at least not on a level that was unbearable.

"So where'd ya pick up tall, dark, and dead here?" Worth asked, his attention still focused on his stitching; the question was clearly directed at Hanna.

The redhead began to excitedly recap the entire story, though neither of the men seemed to be listening. The doctor was focused too much on his task, and the zombie couldn't stop staring at the rhythmic way Worth worked, as if sewing to some unknown beat, creating clean and neat stitches that blended in nicely with the others and lent no weight to the idea that it had ever come off in the first place. Whatever doubts he'd had about the man's skill as a doctor evaporated. He obviously knew what he was doing.

When the doctor finished, the taller zombie flexed his hand experimentally and found it worked just as well as it did before. It looked like he wouldn't have to go through the rest of his unlife without a hand after all. He slid off the table and turned to thank Worth, but the blonde man was already preoccupied with Hanna.

"Your turn, zombie boy."

"Aw, come on, how is that fair!" Hanna practically whined. "I told you nothing was wrong with me! We just needed to get Ulysses patched up!"

"Yeah, and the last time ya told me that, ya almost lost yer fuckin' head." Worth glared in a way that suggested he was not to be questioned. If he noticed the name change, he didn't mention it. "Now sit down on the damn table before I have to strap you down."

Hanna grumbled in annoyance but did as Worth said, hopping up onto the examination table and pulling off his shirt in one move. The other zombie stared at the sight that met his eyes. Namely, the giant scar the zigzagged its way across the smaller zombie's chest, secured in place by thick staples and the grace of god. Again, he found himself wondering just what it was that Hanna did. What could he have done to obtain such a massive scar?

Hanna noticed him staring and hunched down so his arms rested on his knees, hiding his torso from view. It was casual enough that it could have been pure coincidence, but the way the redhead averted his eyes and said "Something wrong, Ignatz?" with a forced smile told him it wasn't.

"No," he said quietly. There was a time and place for everything, and here and now was definitely not for asking questions. At least, he thought, not ones that were so very personal.

"Yer seal's a little worn down," Worth said, ignoring their little exchange in favor of staring at Hanna's back. Curious, the zombie joined the doctor on the other side of the table and was surprised to find a large runic circle drawn over the span of Hanna's back, though it seemed silly to get surprised by anything at that point. Especially after seeing the younger boy's chest.

"Gonna have to get yer uncle to redraw that when he gets back," Worth continued, "Otherwise yer soul's gonna go poof."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll mention it if he ever decides to show his face again," Hanna said, a tinge of annoyance in his voice. "Anyway, it should be okay for at least another year before I really have to worry." He noticed the older zombie staring at the mark and grinned. "Hey, Galileo, what's with the staring? You've got one of these too, don't you?"

"I don't think so," he said. "At least, I've never seen one on myself."

"It's probably just on your back or behind your ear or something. I'll look for it sometime; it'll probably need to be redrawn too." Worth moved, testing out the joints on Hanna's arms, legs, and even his neck with no gentleness as he tugged and stretched. He pulled on every one of Hanna's stitches – even the ones on his face, though the younger boy whined the whole time – and grunted in satisfaction when none of them came loose.

"This has gotta be the first time you been here that I don't need to do major surgery. That's one hell of an achievement, kid."

"Well, it had to happen eventually," Hanna said, slipping his shirt back on, carefully avoiding the staples on his chest. "It's been a while since I've had a job, anyway, so it's been quiet lately."

"Yeah, well, let's hope it stays that way," the doctor said with a yawn. He cracked his neck with a loud snap and headed back to his chair, the two zombies trailing behind him. "If ya had a damn bit of sense, you'd stop goin' on those suicide missions. Ya know, I spend about half of my supplies just tryin' ta keep you in one piece. I gotta pay for that shit."

"Yeah, yeah, fine," Hanna said with a laugh that said he was going to disobey Worth the first chance he got. With that taken care of, they were gone, back out into the cool night air – well, more like very early morning air, the zombie thought as he noted the position of the moon. Only a few hours left until sunup.

They didn't talk much on the way back, though Hanna broke the silence by loudly humming what sounded like "Killer Queen." The dark-haired zombie's mouth curved into something resembling a smile. He had only known the boy for a few hours, but the atmosphere between them seemed so comfortable. He wondered if it was because they were both of the walking dead variety, or if it was just Hanna's nature. Whatever the reason, it was kind of nice. He had been wandering alone for so long, without even memories to keep him company, that he hadn't realized how much he wanted companionship. He would be the first to admit he didn't expect it to come from someone like Hanna, but with the way things had gone in the past few hours, he couldn't find it in himself to complain.

Though it was very late (actually very early) when they reached the cottage, the pair were curious to find they had a visitor. She was a young girl, maybe twenty or twenty-one, with blue streaks through her dark ponytail and a blue fauhawk cutting across the top of her head. She was bundled up in a bright blue coat, presumably to match her hair, thick black gloves, and boots that were the wrong type to go crunching through the snow in. Her face was distraught as she stared at the ground, seemingly lost in thought, but dropped into polite and businesslike when she noticed them approaching.

"Mister Cross?" Her eyes flicked between them as if she wasn't sure who to address, until Hanna stepped forward with a somewhat goofier grin than usual.

"That's me. What can I do for you?"

"Oh, I'm so glad," the girl sighed in relief. "I thought you were asleep, since it was so late." The taller zombie watched her size Hanna up, eyes going slightly wide when she seemed to realize just why he wasn't asleep at such an hour. Still, she pressed on, seemingly unphased by the less-than-alive boy before her.

"My name is Toni Ipres," she continued. "See…I've had this vampire stalking me for a while. That's not really the problem, though, at least not anymore, because a friend helped me out with this spell to seal him up in one place. Namely, a coffin in the basement of my apartment." She smiled in a way that seemed to be a cross between sheepish and nauseous. "He's been down there for a few months now, and the seal is wearing off. I think I need to just kill him and get it over with, but I don't want to go down there alone. I don't really know if this is the kind of thing you do, but could you maybe help me out?"

"Hmmm…vampire hunting, huh?" Hanna looked thoughtful. "I've never really tried that before. Not that I need to…vampires don't really like me for some reason. Still, I mean, if he's pestering you that much, I guess we could help."

"You will?" The girl's face split into a wide smile. She threw her arms around Hanna's shoulders, rivalling him in enthusiasm. "Thank you so much!"

They left immediately ("Because why wait when a pretty girl needs help?") and followed Toni through the empty streets to her apartment building. It was a fairly small building, only two stories with maybe three individual apartments on each floor. But it seemed well-kept, at least.

"Nobody ever comes down here," Toni said, leading them down a flight of stairs to the basement. "They don't have any reason to, anyway. I'm the landlady, so I kind of have to. I guess it's a good thing, though, otherwise someone might have accidentally freed him."

The basement itself was pretty bare, with not much more than an old boiler to show for itself. It just made the black coffin in the corner with the runes drawn all over it all the more noticeable.

"This is him," Toni said, her voice low as if she were afraid he would hear them. She reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out two wooden stakes, offering one to Hanna. She smiled apologetically at the taller zombie before turning back to the task at hand. "Hopefully, he's asleep, or at least too weak to fight."

Hanna grimaced as he took the stake. "You know, a knife probably would have done just fine…stabbing something in the heart usually does a pretty good job of killing it, no matter what it's with."

"Oh." The girl laughed. "Guess I've seen too many movies." She took a cautious step toward to coffin, laying a hand gently on its surface. "You ready?"

Hanna nodded, and suddenly a hissing sound rent the air as Toni flung the top open. There were a few moments of chaos, where the coffin door went "bang!" against the wall and something that looked much smaller than a vampire went flying out and made for the open basement door.

"Caius!" He was already on it, pushing the door shut and snicking the lock. The thing – seriously, it was way too small to be a vampire – couldn't change course in time and slammed hard into the door. The zombie just barely managed to catch it before it crumpled to the ground.

"Nice catch, Oedipus!" Hanna jogged over to him, peering at his hands at the…bat. The redhead raised an eyebrow. "Okay, I may not exactly be an expert on vampires, but that's definitely not a vampire."

"The coffin's empty," Toni said, joining them. She was holding the stake up to her chest as she peered cautiously over Hanna's shoulder, visibly spooked. "That has to be him. Nothing else could have gotten in and there was no way for him to get out."

"But vampires are big bad scary monsters that suck blood and have fangs and make you count stupid things." He frowned. "This thing is…adorable!"

Before the two could get into any sort of serious discussion about what a vampire was and wasn't, the bat began to stir in the taller zombie's hand. Before he could close his hands around it, it was off again. But this time its target was much closer: Hanna's throat.

"Agh, get it off!" Hanna screeched as the bat sunk its teeth into his neck. His hands scrabbled at the small red bundle while Toni flailed to get her stake in place, panicked eyes looking for an opening that wouldn't involve stabbing Hanna. It turned out that was unnecessary, since the bat let go of the smaller zombie almost immediately, flying a few feet away and landing hard on the concrete floor.

"Oh man, a fucking dead guy! Are you serious? Shit, this is not my night!"

"It talks," the taller zombie said with a raised eyebrow. Hanna looked positively delighted by this news.

"Wow, a talking bat! That would make such a cool pet! What do you say, Nero, can we keep him? Please?"

"Uh, Hanna…"

"I'm not your fucking pet!" The bat glared up at him from the ground, the effect someone lessened when Hanna made an excited "Gnee!" sound at the expression. It opened its mouth, probably to spew obscenities in Hanna's direction, but fell back with a woozy groan. "So…hungry."

"I think this is our vampire," the taller zombie said, kneeling down beside the small red bundle. He scooped it up carefully and cradled the body against his chest. "It looks like the lack of blood really did a number on him."

"I've heard that some vampires can transform into animals," Toni said, staring at the bat in wonder. "I thought that was just a myth, though. Man, I just don't have the heart to kill him like this."

"Yeah, killing something so cute would really ruin my day." Hanna tickled the bat's cheek with one finger, managing to dodge the half-hearted bite. "Guess we'd better get some blood in him, then?" An idea seemed to hit Hanna then, making his grin go even wider. "Oh, man…Worth's going to love this."