Before he knew what had happened he was leaving a small airport in Ireland and heading to a farm who knows where, it was his idea to lay low for a while and it should be somewhere nobody would look for them. Scud might have exploded but B would know from the scent that he was still alive, a person can look like someone down to the tiniest freckle but scent was scent. Hell Blade probably knew it wasn't him before the fucker bled out, he had found out a few minutes ago about what would have been his gruesome fate. After Blade had destroyed the nest he went back to doing his job, leaving the mechanic for dead. She had been watching and waiting for her chance to get him out of there and patching him up. Once the vampire hunter had vacated the building for the Reapers, she dragged over the corpse of his look alike and sliced his hand off, tossing it under a pile of familiars.
He only remembered being called by his real name and someone tying a belt around his bleeding arm. Once he was conscience enough to see who it was, his insides flooded with relief. She was alive, he tried to say her name and say goodbye. By then he had sworn he would never make it out alive, as soon as he saw the shadows crawling through the doors and all over the walls he was pretty sure they'd both die here. He couldn't even warn her, they had already seen her and three had already latched onto her shoulder, neck and arm. Scud didn't even fight the fucker that was chewing on his arm, he only screamed in pain. He screamed at her to leave him and run as fast as she could, it was a useless warning as she had been bit first. He must have blacked out from the blood loss because when he woke up she was kneeling in front of him, slapping his face lightly, getting him to focus.
His drooping blue eyes wandered and took in every trickle of blood that came from the bites on her, she should've bled more. Maybe they hadn't sunk their teeth in as deep as he had thought, was the attack that quick? A pile of ash surrounded her when he heard her question "Scud I need you listen! Do you want the antidote? There's only enough for you and it's only strong enough to cancel out the Reaper mutation" his breath was short already and he started running a fever, "You take it, kid." He huffed out and she frowned, "I'm covered Josh, I just need your consent" she had his face in one hand and the needle in the other. "Do it" and then the needle sunk in, he blacked out and woke up in the car next to her and the plumes of smoke that surrounded her.
Eleanor, fuck it was good to call her by her real name, had been on the phone for short intervals with this guy 'King' getting info on what happened that night. The cell phone rang in the car she had picked up as she drove and she told Scud to put him on speaker. "You guys are in the clear, Blade offed Reinheart and Chupa, and the Reapers got everyone else. Last we heard the big man's gonna do some clean up and head your way," Scud panicked a little B would have one hell of a good reason to ash him, he tongued the tips of his slightly enlarged fangs.
Eleanor glanced sternly at Scud, her lips where slightly pursed only stern, he knew that look 'Keep your mouth shut' "Does he know where we are or is he just following that nose of his?" Eleanor asked not taking her eyes off the road; they still had a long drive until they reached the old cabin. "No, he knows Scud isn't dead and his Whistler's M.I.A. We checked the airport and he's all booked for London, he might make his way over to you depending on whether the vamps migrate." Okay, he could breathe a little now crisis averted. Blade was gonna be in London and as long as they laid low he wouldn't be set out to fry, fuck suckheads where fragile. "We'll keep on our toes; I'll fry any that come over. Got any news of the vaccine?" Scud adjusted himself in his seat; the jetlag was getting to him. He thought it was daytime, the sky was so clouded and grey that he couldn't really tell from behind the UV protected windows. "The detox? Oh yeah, its in the cabin with Whistler, gotta go I'm needed." The line went dead and Scud shut almost dropped the phone, this King fucker probably did that on purpose. Whistler? "Relax, you're not gonna die asshole." She didn't even look at him as they parked in the already open shed, it was a little creepy that it was open for them already but he didn't say a word trusting his friend.
The walk to the medium sized cabin was short when you look at it; Scud carried a decent sized suitcase while Carolyn had one of the duffle bags over her shoulder and the other in her hand. Scud wished the trudge from the car to the front door was longer, the suitcases were a nice excuse to take a little longer even though the woman would know he's faking it. He hoped that 'Whistler' was a nickname for whoever was inside the cabin waiting for them. When the door opened and they walked in setting the luggage wherever it fell he spotted a woman sitting on a couch with a mug on the coffee table. He hair was done up in a bun and she wore a brown leather jacket, either 'Whistler' was taken out and she was a vampire or the pretty eyed brunette was Whistler. He felt like gawking, putting on a playful smirk and hoping it would work, Jesus she had a tight butt. "Eyes up here, pothead" the huntress ordered as she moved into the kitchen/dining room, oh yeah she was a Whistler.
No doubt about it, not even a second wasted on pleasantries and greetings. "King sent me over to make sure you got home safe" she addressed the woman and turned to Josh, "and that you take the detox" the corner of his mouth twitched, so he wasn't gonna get even a nights worth of study. He really wanted to test out the strengths and flaws of suckheads from this point of view; they had plenty of weapons to ash them but not enough to question them. "They've been working on it so it's a sure fire chance on fledglings." Whistlers looked a little amused that she still used the old terms for babies. Scud let out a breath, let the pain begin.
Over they years he had gotten used to pain but, fuck this hurt like a motherfucker. All he remembered was being surrounded by blood drunken vampires and a soft hand on his cheek coming from behind him and a sting in his neck. The man groggily took inventory of his body and weapons were he lay; a slight wince at the pieces of glass that cut into his back. The hunter sat up and took a deep breathe, the sun hadn't risen yet and he was for once grateful that he had fallen unconscious in a dark alley in the more dubious parts of the city. No one would question a man by a dumpster in a Dublin alleyway next to a pub. He limped a few steps before gaining his composure and hightailing it to his temporary home, he had commandeered a small warehouse and it had gone undiscovered so far.
Sometimes he wanted to laugh at the stupidity of the general public but he just let out a grunt as his bulletproof vest brushed a nasty gash on his arm. The nest he had tracking had moved to Dublin and the surrounding area, the city looked like it had been abandoned and only a few vampires came by to pick up a victim or lingered for whatever reason. The small pack he'd encountered looked to be on a recon mission, they sent out barely formed vampires to see if the big bad wolf had strolled into town, a sour chuckle left his lips. Blade was alone and he couldn't leave his weapons in the current hideout, if the vampires tracked his sent he'd be unarmed. With a scowl he cleaned his wounds and took inventory of what would be shoved into Challenger later, he looked at the car under the same tarp Scud had used to cover it while he worked it over.
Something sparked in his stomach, what it was he didn't know or wouldn't admit to it. "Waste of a weapons smith" he rasped out as he went for his serum, he was running low and his massacre of the covet would be cut short. He had to get back to the states or ask SHEILD for a new batch, as much as he hated the organization they owed him for cooling of Logan. He let his fingers grace a small scar from the mutant before picking up the cell phone they'd given him. He'd finish off the vampires and lay low until he could get back state side and continue going after the ones who took Whistler.
Two years later
Scuds wrist itched as the new tattoo healed, his eyes scanned the computer screen going over the formula and variables of the vaccine they were creating. He heard a sharp "thawk" whimper and as his protector questioned the high ranking suckhead, he should've seen it coming. The way the woman moved with ease and precision not entirely human, the slightly longer canine teeth and the instinctive hunter's moves, this wasn't the Eleanor he'd smoke joints and take on a few costumers with. Or rather it was just a little more revealed and not cleavage wise. She would've never pegged the woman as the vampire hunter she became; those years ago she was just a kid who had been sold to a sick fuck with a power trip. The vaccine was coming along smooth and fuck though he'd neglected the weapons orders from their new friends stateside. He'd received a few guns that needed to be altered and had some schematics for UV and silver nitrate bullets, El was taking over the weapons production so he could play mad scientist and work out some kinks in the serum for Blade.
How the people they worked with managed to keep him secret was beyond him but, who was Scud to question safety? His heart skipped and his stomach sank and heated up to a fuzz all at the same time when the tortured vampire a few yards away let a name slip from his cut up lips "Blade." If E made a face or flinched in any form he couldn't tell but, his back had gone ramrod straight and his blood seemed to have vaporized leaving him as white as the florescent lights.
Eleanor turned to him, darkened brown eyes cold with worry and he swore he could see the gears turning in her head. Before she even moves Scud was up, his heart racing as a he picked up the few things they owned and threw them into a few duffle bags. The bags went in the petrol green mustang before he downloaded the contents of the computer on to a flash-drive and tucked the laptop into his bag. A rush, a swirl of movement was all that anyone could say about their escape from the cabin, it was quick and efficient. They left the vampire chained up and before a window; a mechanism Scud installed would make the blinds shoot open as soon as the solar panels caught the first ray of dawn. It was an emergency protection mechanism but it worked when they had to ash a vamp in a particularly vicious way.
Eleanor drove, she always did, her jaw was tight and her eyes where hidden behind a pair of black sunglasses; it reminded Josh so much of him. The hunter they were running from, his stomach clenched and not from fear but hurt and something he couldn't, or wouldn't, identify yet. Blade was close by; he could almost feel it, a shiver went up his spine as he adjusted himself in the backseat to sleep. He wanted to talk to the hunter, explain what happened. He knew the healing glyph on his wrist would screw everything up unless Blade recognized it. Or maybe it would just make things even worse, Scud knew the tattoo and the leather wristband were formalities but they didn't bother him. What had sent a hurt clawing at his heart was the knowledge of what his protector was all along. The woman in driving the car had kept this a secret all her life. She had said she didn't know until it was too late but Scud could tell she wasn't one hundred percent truthful about it, she kept hiding something.
He wanted to sleep as the car moved closer to the docks, it had only been an hour since they left the cabin and the sun had started chasing off the night soon they'd make it to the docks where they'd sneak the car in and start the return trip to New York. His blue eyes reflected on the window glass as he laid there, arms crossed and his backpack as a pillow, so he's back to being a weapon's smith for a vampire hunter. Never in his life did he think this would be his dream job but ever since B had given his a shot Josh couldn't see himself doing anything else with his years. Josh Frohmeyer, the very much human and alive, weapon's smith to bad ass vampire hunters. A smirk attack his lips and his eyes brightened, La Marga be damned, Scud was gonna make a weapon so deadly vampires would piss themselves.