Selene trudged through the forest. She cursed Leon in general, and basically didn't want to go back to Nueve Esperanza. She finally sat down after about ten minutes of walking, sat down on a large, flat rock, afraid to collapse from exhaustion again.

"Something bothering you again?" asked a voice.

Selene smiled. James.

"Ah, a smile from the unsmiling stone-cold statue."

"What do you want?" she asked good-humoredly.

"A new car, a smoking-hot wife, maybe a couple thousand dollars," he answered, sitting down next to her.

"Don't be such a wise ass," she teased.

He smiled and placed one hand around her shoulders.

"It would seem," he said, squeezing her shoulder, "that every time I've seen you out here, you've been troubled. Should I assume the same for this time?"

Selene hung her head. "Have you heard about Leon?"

"Word travels fast."

Selene groaned in disgust. Duh. "And probably even faster now that Erika's staying with us."

"Yeah."

James leaned her head against his shoulder. She frowned. "When he left, I never really dealt with it," she said, meaning Leon. "And now that he's back, I really don't want to deal with it."

"That's understandable."

"Is it?"

"Yes." He took her head off his shoulder and faced her. "Selene, your whole family was wiped out in one night. Gone, just like that. Along comes a guy who's gone through the same things you have, and only a day before, too. So you two get down with each other, fall in love, blah, blah, blah."

"No, not 'blah, blah, blah,' at all," she interrupted.

He shushed her. "Then you think, 'Well maybe he'll propose to me,' but he doesn't. He leaves you a brief note saying he's gone to Australia with no explanation following that. Now, since you didn't deal with the death of your family, why would you deal with something stupid like this, right? So you go another 400 years with this tumor, and now it's time to get this tumor taken out." He paused. "Now it's time to deal with Leon, now that you've dealt with the death of your family."

Selene sighed. He made it sound so simple. And maybe it is, she thought. Leon's a dick now, anyway. Her head had finally stopped ringing from her initial meeting with Leon in the lobby.

"So," he continued, "I say you go home, talk this out with Leon, and that's that. It's not like you're still hung up on him, right?"

"Right," she answered, but it rang oddly false in her own ears. Right, she answered uncertainly within herself.

She began to walk back, but realized after a few steps that she was about to collapse again. James ran to her side while she fell to the ground.

"Shit," they both cursed.

"Just leave me here," she insisted. "I'll be fine."

"Yeah, in how long? Minutes, hours? Nah." He picked her up in his arms, and held her tightly. "Where to, ma'am?"

Selene looked into his eyes. "You-you don't have to."

"I want to. Why would I leave you, my superior, on the side of a road in the middle of a hot day like today?"

He carried her into the lobby, where he placed her into a chair.

Michael came rushing over, as well as Damien, both of whom were still awake.

"What happened?" Michael asked.

"We had a free-for all, and I won," James answered sarcastically.

Michael glared at him.

"Thank you so much, James, really," she answered.

Again, Michael asked, "What happened?"

"I went for a walk," she answered. "And then decided to come back." She left out the part about her not wanting to come back. "I collapsed, and James saved me."

"And he just happened to be there." Damien didn't say it like a statement, but more like an accusation.

James began to say something, but Selene cut him off. "Shut up, Amie." She sat up and stood. "I'm tired, and I'm going to bed."

Derek and Marc ran by her. "Emergency in the city," Derek shouted over his shoulder.

Selene rolled her eyes. "Great," she muttered. "What is it?" she asked Derek.

"Contacts say that a mass of vampires are heading into the sewers."

"Why would they be going there?" James and Damien both asked.

"We don't know, but we do know that they were carrying large metal crates."

"Weapons," Michael guessed, like everyone else had.

"Of course," Marc answered.

"I'm going," Selene said.

Damien, Michael, James, Derek, and Marc rang in with "Me, too".

"No," Selene ordered. "Derek, Damien, and James, stay here."

The three protested, but Selene remained firm. "We need someone to run the place in my absence, and we need to make sure our two lovely guests" – Erika/Daisy and Leon – "remain as happy as they can and stay put."

The three reluctantly agreed to stay, and within ten minutes, Selene, Michael, and Marc were out of Nueve Esperanza and on their way to Budapest.

Selene drove her car, Michael was in the passenger's seat, and Marc was in the back.

When they were well into the city, Marc suddenly said, "This is it, this is the train station that leads to the sewers."

"Are you sure?" Selene asked. "I don't remember it being here before."

"Me neither," Michael agreed.

"No, it's definitely here." Marc seemed sure, so the three exited the car.

"Watch the exit outside, and our backs," Selene ordered Marc.

Michael and Selene entered the subway station together. In 200 years, the stations had remained basically the same. Now they were more black and sleek, and were made mainly of marble.

Marc had told them to follow the tracks straight ahead when they entered, so that's what they did. They looked to make sure that no one was watching, not that anyone was.

"You would have said 'yes'?" Michael asked suddenly, as they were following the tracks.

"What?" Selene was confused.

"If he had proposed to you that night, is that what you would have said?"

"Michael, now is not the time for this shit."

He didn't let up. "He calls you 'Selly,' like a nickname. What a fucking creative—"

"Shh." Selene turned around. "I thought I heard someth—"

Suddenly, Selene was thrown into a wall by a large Lycan.

Pieces of the wall fell on top of her, and Selene passed out for a second. She had forgotten that she was still too weak to be walking, let alone sparring with 7 to 8 ft Lycans.

"Selene!" Michael began to transform, and grabbed the Lycan by the throat. He was well aware, even in his Hybrid form, that there had been Lycans that had either remained neutral or joined the Death Dealers' side. Let me guess which side they're on, he mused.

The Lycan broke free and knocked Michael aside. Selene, in the meantime, had woken up and slowly gotten up. Michael fell on top of Selene, knocking her down again.

Another Lycan appeared.

Selene ducked one of its swings, which smacked the other Lycan, who had been standing too close. Michael took the opportunity to punch the hitting Lycan's ribcage, and sent it flying into the wall. Selene grabbed the other Lycan's arm and pushed it into the opposite wall, and kneed it hard in its groin area. The Lycan snarled and snapped at her with its teeth.

Selene let go, back up, and pulled out her gun. She fired off the first half of the clip at its skull, and it dropped to the floor, dead.

Michael, behind her, had pulled the Lycan opponent's head off, making a grotesque and loud cracking sound that echoed through the tunnel.

Selene turned in time to see Michael's adversary fall to the ground, the loser.

Selene expected Michael to change back into his human form, as he usually did, but all Michael did was lick his lips and grin at Selene.

Suddenly, words flashed through her mind:

'Maturing,' in the immortal sense, meant that an immortal gained more control over its immortal abilities. For some immortals, they went through a period of a loss of control over their tempers and rage. It was more dangerous among Lycans, since they had more raw power, and was also more common among them. The period usually only until they'd claimed their first victim, which had to be an immortal of the opposite race.

For example, if the immortal was a Lycan, the period ended after their first vampiric kill, and vice-versa…

And an overwhelming wave of terror flowed through Selene's veins as she realized what that meant for her.

It would mean that she had to fight Michael.

plays dramatic music

Sorry, but the chapter's been ready for a few days -- I just haven't had time to put it up.

The next one should be up very soon.

KATEB819