AUTHOR'S NOTE: A warning, this chapter has some graphic content.

I've been wanting to write this chapter since the beginning. I am so excited to get it out to you guys! The title is from Chevelle's "The Red" Awesome song if you want to check it out.

Chapter 15- Seeing Red Again

Gus bounced impatiently as the line rang for the third time. "C'mon..." He was trying to call in some more reinforcements as they waited for Adam to do his thing and let Shawn know they were coming.

"Hello?" Coraline's voice answered her phone.

Gus breathed a sigh of relief. "Coraline, it's Gus, we found where Shawn is being held! Are you in town?"

"Gus, I'm so sorry! I'm in LA. I won't be able to make it in time."

Gus spirits fell. He hoped one more vampire would be able to show up to help them. As much as they tried to hide it, he could tell Mick, Pierre and Carlton seemed extra worried and that worried him. Worried him enough to risk Mick's glares over calling in his ex-wife. "It's okay. I was just hoping..." He trailed off, trying to get his emotions in check.

The last time they'd been through something like this, there hadn't been time to worry, to think of all the worst case scenarios and everything that could go wrong. He'd had six days this time to worry about his friend. "I'll get there as soon as I can Gus. I have something important to talk to you about when I get there okay?"

A head popped in Gus view making him squeal and jump, almost dropping the phone. "Guster get off the phone!" Carlton hissed before going back to his own car to continue waiting for Adam's signal that everything was ready.

"I'm sorry. I gotta go, we're going in soon." Gus whispered, hoping the pent up detective wouldn't hear him.

There was an awkward pause, as if Coraline was thinking what to say. "Be careful Gus. I-I'll see you soon okay?" She then hung up.

Gus blinked as he saw the caller ID go back to his home screen. He could have sworn she was going to say something else. He cursed under his breath and climbed out of the Blueberry, shoving his phone back in his pocket. Shawn was the important thing now. Gus knew he'd have to worry about the sexual tension between him and Coraline later.

Walking over to where most of the group was waiting, he watched the power station. They'd made sure they were a ways away, so they wouldn't be seen or heard. There were some outbuildings about a forth of a mile away that gave very good cover, while still being able to keep an eye on things.

"It's been almost an hour. Do you think he went turncoat?" Pierre asked.

Gus snorted. Of course Pierre would be the first to say that. It's probably what he would do.

"I haven't seen anyone come out." Mick stated, looking through binoculars. "Should we give him another couple of minutes?"

Carlton shook his head. "We gave him forty five minutes. Either something went wrong, or he told them we were coming. Times up."

Gus looked over at Henry, who was nodding in agreement. The elder Spencer had been wanting to rush in as soon as they'd gotten there, so it was no surprise he was all for going in right now.

Seeing the rest of the group agreed as well, Carlton went over the plan again. "Despereaux, you Henry and Guster go to the back. Make sure no one gets out that way. Mick, Beth, and I will sneak in the front and try to catch them by surprise. Once they're out of the way, we can look for Shawn."

Juliet all but jumped out of the car. "I'm coming too."

Pierre and Mick looked at each other and slinked away, not wanting to get involved in this argument. Gus couldn't blame them and wished he could cop out as well, but Juliet was his friend too, and he didn't want to see her hurt.

Carlton practically pulled his hair out. Gus had been witness to this argument at the station, which resulted in Juliet even being there with them in the first place. "No O'Hara. We need you to stay here and radio for help if things go bad. The Chief has Josef's number. He'll know what to do."

"Don't lie to me Carlton. You don't need me on the radio. You're letting Beth go..."

"Beth isn't my responsibility! You are. I can't have anything happen to you."

Henry and Gus cut in before Carlton could get any angrier. They could see the more they pushed Juliet to not go, the more adamant she would be to go, so they tried a different tactic. Gus grabbed her hand, "Juliet, I know you want to go... but think about your baby and how much Shawn would kill us if we let you go in there."

Gus could see he was getting through to her, as the anger started seeping out of her eyes, replaced by worry and guilt. "We'll be careful, and I promise we'll get him back."

Juliet looked up at Carlton, "You'll keep your radio on?" He nodded. Juliet slumped back down to the seat of the car, giving her silent consent.

With that situation taken care of the vampires and humans split up into their various groups, gearing up. The humans were given guns with silver bullets in them, while the vampires carried larger knives and stakes. They couldn't risk using fire, that was dangerous for them as well, so the only other way to kill a vampire, was to take it's head.

Gus had actually asked earlier what would happen if they gave themselves up willingly. Mick was the one to answer, "If they give up willingly we might be able to cut a deal, but I doubt it." Carlton didn't look happy about the idea of them getting off that easy, and Gus kept his mouth shut about the subject afterwards. They really didn't believe Shawn's captors would give up, ever, and were fully prepared for the worst. Mick was a bit of a bleeding heart when it came to lost causes, which is why Shawn, Carlton and Morgan were even still alive, but Gus wasn't even sure at that point if Carlton would feel the same way if they did end up giving up.

Gus didn't envy Carlton's position. He imagined having to balance being an officer of the law, and protecting the existence of vampires wasn't the easiest thing to juggle. Eventually a choice for the greater good had to be made, despite how much his conscience would hate him for it later.

"Gus! Get your head out of the clouds! Let's go." Henry called. Giving one last apologetic glance to Juliet, he followed Henry and Pierre to their station at the back door.

Once the group got to the power station they split up. Mick, Beth and Carlton quietly moved to the front of the building where it looked like a few of the offices were. Adam had said they were mostly staying in the basement and main power cell area due to the openness, but they didn't want to take any chances. The only thing going for them is the fact that Shawn hadn't explained much of their condition to them, so the group would be able to use their ignorance to their advantage.

A few steps in, Carlton stopped suddenly and froze in place, his eyes were closed and he seemed to be listening to something. Mick listened too, and could hear moving around in the next room. Something about the way Carlton stood, however, told Mick it was something else. 'What?' Mick mouthed. They couldn't risk talking, the others would hear them at that point for sure.

Carlton shook his head and mouthed, 'Nothing.' before continuing on.

Both Mick and Beth shared a worried glance before following the detective. Pierre had eventually taken them aside and told them his concerns about Carlton and his line. It frustrated Mick that there was so much he still didn't know, even after being a vampire for almost eighty years. Pierre didn't know much more himself and, having no idea how Carlton would react around Shawn's other fledglings, had asked Mick to keep a close eye on him because of this. Neither believed Carlton would turn against them, that was out of the question, but there could be other effects.

Mick and Carlton both cocked their heads at the same time. They'd started to hear voices coming from the next room. Trying to be even quieter, they snuck closer to the closed heavy set door leading to what could only be the main power room.

Soon, they were close enough that even Beth would be able to hear the talking as well.

"Carlos! We got the info. Have you seen Ben? We have to go over the plan."

A voice with a slight Hispanic twinge answered, "Hell if I know. He left a couple hours ago."

Mick's heart jumped into his throat. Ben wasn't there. They couldn't back out now though. They'd have to wait around till he came back, if he came back, and that fact made this whole rescue mission a lot more dangerous. Sticking with the plan, Mick and Carlton positioned themselves on both sides of the door. Mick had is knife, Carlton pulled out his gun, Beth had the rear and her own gun. They were ready. With a nod of agreement, they burst in the room on the unsuspecting pair of rogues.

As the door crashed inwards Zack and Carlos, startled, turned to face the rushing vampires. "Shit!" Zack shouted and pushed Carlos down, out of the way. A bullet tore through his side before he was able to get himself out of the way. He screamed in agony as the projectile seemed to burn it's way through him and he stumbled back behind some cover.

Finally getting a look at their attackers, he could see they meant business. One was armed with the gun that shot him, the other with the biggest knife he'd ever seen. Luckily, Carlos had already backed up behind one of the larger transformers, out of the way of fire. "Who the hell are you!" Zack figured if he could distract them enough, he'd be able to give Carlos the chance to flank.

The one with the gun demanded, "Where's Shawn?"

Goddamn it Adam! Zack figured out what had taken him so long to case the museum. He'd given them up to these guys. They looked more like cops than anything, plus he remembered Shawn said something about working for the cops. "I'll tell you if you let us go..."

"You tell us where he is, right now, and this won't have to go the wrong way." The one with the sword demanded.

Zack's eyes flicked to the side to see Carlos was almost in position. "C'mon. It was an honest mistake." The one with the gun let out a low growl and Zack could swear he almost felt the dude's anger vibrate through him, but he couldn't focus on that now. He was more concerned that the guy had growled in the first place.

It meant he wasn't human, and odds are the other one wasn't either. It hit Zack that Shawn was right, they had come for him, just as he said they would. He knew there was no way that these guys were going to let him and his friends live after what they'd done to the guy, so there was no reason to reason. They'd take these guys out, and get out of town. It was the only way.

"CARLOS!" Zack yelled and Carlos jumped out at the pair. Carlton swung his gun in Carlos' direction, giving Zack the opportunity to pounce and take him down. The gun went skittering away out of both of their reaches. Each of them had changed, giving up the ruse after Carlton had given it away with his angry display.

Carlos was otherwise engaged in a cat and mouse with Mick, who was looking for an opening. "C'mon, man! Bring it!" Carlos teased, jumping back and forth just out of Mick's reach.

Mick roared in frustration and pounced forward, catching Carlos off guard and they tumbled to the ground. Mick held up his knife, ready to drive it through the other vampire, but Carlos got a hand free of his grip and grabbed Mick's wrist, pushing the knife away. Gritting his teeth, Mick grew his fangs and his eyes changed to white. He then tried to push down harder, but the younger vampire held his own and they were in a stalemate.

Only feet away, Zack and Carlton were wrestling on the ground. Carlton was on the bottom, but had his hands around Zack's neck. Zack was pushing him away with a claw to the face. "AAH!" Carlton yelled as Zack's claws dug in. He let go of Zack's neck and punched him off of him.

Carlton got a look at Mick having trouble with Carlos. Pierre's words came back to him and he realized with his other siblings around, Carlos was actually a match for, maybe even stronger than an older vampire like Mick. He turned to help but was taken down by a swipe of Zack's legs.

Almost biting his tongue with the impact of slamming face first to the floor, Carlton rolled and stopped Zack from stomping him in the head, which would have been very bad. "Shit!" Carlton rolled out of the way just as Zack's foot made heavy contact with the ground.

"You goddamn cops!" Zack growled and tried to take another stomp. Carlton knew he wouldn't be able to move in time, so he took a page out of Shawn's book and aimed for the only open reachable area on Zack.

The young vampire howled in pain at the crotch shot. The distraction was enough to let Carlton get back on his feet. "You dirty scumbags are going down." He hissed as he engaged Zack once again.

Meanwhile, Mick had head butted Carlos and was able to break the stalemate. He'd gotten a good slash across Carlos' chest causing him to screech out in pain as the silver blade left its mark. "Give up." Mick bargained as Carlos grimaced, amazed he was still bleeding after a few seconds. They'd obviously never learned about a vampire's allergy to silver. "You still have a chance to get out of this alive."

Carlos' gaze became unsure. He looked over at Zack and Carlton who were fully engaged and shook his head. "You can't ask me to do that."

"Adam has." Carlos' eyes widened in shock. "Your friend cares about you man, look at what you're doing." Mick pleaded.

"I..." Carlos stuttered, looking lost. A crash from the front caused Mick to look towards the noise. The pause in action seemed to make up Carlos' mind. Using the distraction, Carlos bent over and quickly grabbed the nearest pointy object he could aiming it at Mick's chest. It didn't hit him full on but was enough to knock him down as Beth came fleeing into the main room, with Ben not far behind her.

Pierre sighed as the group took up position at the back door. Henry and Gus' hearts were beating so fast it was distracting, not to mention the fear pouring off each one. He could understand their concern, he was admittedly concerned himself, but Pierre was used to working alone. He was good at working alone. There were very special circumstances where he didn't mind having just a partner, and actually offered to take Shawn under his wing, so to speak, but having the other two men with him was way out of his comfort zone.

"Could you please manage to calm yourselves. I can barely hear myself think." Pierre whispered quietly.

Henry's eyes flashed and he was about to say something abrasive when Gus covered his mouth and shook his head. Deflating, Henry decided glaring at him would suffice.

Pierre smirked and went back to listening. He heard the unmistakable crash of the inner door slamming open which meant the fight had started. Yelling and scuffling ensued. It was hard for Pierre to just stay put, but if one of them got away it would be a nightmare, so he forced himself to wait.

Another crash from near the front of the building caught all their attentions. Oh great. Pierre grumbled to himself. It was a variable could potentially be a giant wrench in their plan. It almost sounded like someone got passed them and was running out the front. He debated going, but he doubted the two humans could take a vampire if they decided to flee out this way.

Weighing the options he decided to check it out. He turned and gave Gus and Henry the most serious look he could muster. "I've got to see what that was. Stay here. If anything comes out that door. Shoot it... a lot."

Gus was sweating now. "Oh my God. How could this get any worse."

"Chin up Burton." Pierre gave him a wide smile before heading off towards the noise. "I'll come running if I hear you scream."

Ben ran into the room. There were two other vampires attempting to kick the crap out of his gang mates. He'd just stepped out for a snack, or two, and everything had fallen apart. He saw Carlos seemed to have one of the other men down for the count but Zack was having a lot of trouble with a guy who's whole persona screamed 'cop.' Ben took a flying jump at Carlton. He caught the detective around the waist and slammed him to the ground. His knees pinned down Carlton's arms while he pressed one arm to his neck. The other hand had drawn his gun and was currently pointing it at the detective's temple.

"Surprise!" Ben grinned widely.

"Where the hell were you!" Zack demanded, clutching his side where the silver bullet hit. He'd started to realize how much it hurt.

"Well mom, I was hungry." Ben rolled his eyes sarcastically. Carlton's eyes flashed, knowing what that phrase indicated and tried to push him off, but Ben held him fast. "Where's Adam?"

Zack helped hold the squirming detective down and replied, "He's the one that turned us in."

Ben growled low and pressed harder on Carlton's neck, causing the detective to gag.

Beth, after fleeing Ben's approach, had since jumped in and managed to help Mick get the metal object out of his chest. Carlos tried to stop her but was surprised by Mick's well placed kick to his kneecap. Screaming in agony, Carlos went down for the count.

Pierre then came through the door a moment later and took stock of what was going on. His eyes went pale as he sped forward and grabbed Zack around the neck with one arm and with the other, pulled out the stake he had in his coat. He shoved it quickly and accurately into Zack's heart, taking him completely out of the fight.

Ben turned the gun on Pierre and fired, hitting him in the shoulder. Pierre groaned in pain and fell back but still kept a crushing hold on Zack. Pierre's retreat ended up giving Ben enough time to stand and point his gun at Carlton once again.

"MOVE AND HE'S GETTING ONE IN THE HEAD!" Ben shouted, his boot pressing down on Carlton's windpipe.

Everyone froze though most of them knew a bullet in the head, especially a regular one, would hurt, but it wouldn't kill the detective. The crazed look in Ben's eyes is what gave them pause, and showed just how unpredictable he was. Ben knew he had lost, but that only served to make him more dangerous and desperate.

Henry and Gus had since walked in the back door and stood watching from behind cover, their guns drawn, waiting to see what Ben would do. His decision was made for him when Juliet ran in through the door, leaving herself wide open. She'd apparently heard things going bad over the radio and rushed in to help.

Ben smiled and leveled his gun on her. Carlton tried to claw at his leg to stop him but there was no time. Ben's finger tightened on the trigger. Mick started for Juliet, trying to block the shot. The gun went off, but someone had already stepped in the way, the bullet tearing through his flesh harmlessly.

Shawn stood there, looking at the hole in his body curiously, as if it were just a mosquito bite. He then looked back up at Ben's shocked expression with a disturbingly Shawn like smirk of triumph.

Carlton, from the ground stared at Shawn in astonishment. His body was a mottled mosaic of days old blood and dirt. His arms and hands were bleeding heavily, multiple cuts on them were still healing, as was a ring of wounds around his neck where the makeshift metal collar still dug into it. He was dragging a length of chain behind him that was still attached to the collar. It looked like Shawn had ripped it away with his bare hands and escaped.

Ben's shock was short lived as he lined up for another shot. He wasn't fast enough for Shawn, who had swung the chain at him, catching him across the head, causing the shot to go wild and hit a wall. With a feral roar Shawn launched himself at Ben, wrapping the chain around his neck and pulling as the sound of crunching bone filled the area.

"Spencer no!" Carlton called, trying to get to his feet.

Shawn didn't listen. He looked in Ben's eyes one last time, and with a hard yank, Ben's head separated from his shoulders with a sickening snap and a sickening rush of blood from the severed arteries.

Almost instantly, Shawn fell to the floor in agony, as experienced Ben's death like it was his own.

Shawn hadn't expected it to hurt that much. As the connection with his fledgling was severed, he howled in agony and dropped the chain, clutching his head. It felt like a piece of his soul was ripped away from him. Tears sprung to his eyes as he screamed. He could hear a couple other surprised shouts join his own, but none of the others reached his own fevered pitch.

It had taken everything he had to get free of the wall. After he finished with Adam, he'd pulled and clawed at the chain, having given up on untwisting the collar days ago. One of the links groaned and started to break free. He'd almost severed several fingers on the sharp metal, trying to tear off the broken link. He was almost out when he started feeling the panic from his fledglings and the various pains from them getting hurt. It only made him more desperate to escape, he had to know what was going on.

With one last hard yank he had gotten free and raced out of the room to see Ben pinning someone to the ground. He couldn't see who he was looking at from his vantage point, but a red haze had filled his vision, blinding him to everything except the vampire who had taken everything away from him.

"Shawn!" A voice called out bringing his thoughts back to the present. Shawn shook away the pain, there were still two left to take out, and he'd be damned if he'd let them get the drop on him. When he felt a hand on his head, he acted. Grabbing the hand in a crushing grip, he faced his attacker preparing to show no mercy.

"O'HARA NO!"

"JULIET STOP!" Carlton and Mick shouted too late as Shawn's hand latched onto hers. She'd ran to him after he'd fallen and let out the most ungodly screams she'd ever heard anyone make. Her need for him had clouded her judgment.

Juliet gasped in pain as Shawn spun her around to face him. His grip was steely even with the slick blood. There was no recognition in his expression, only rage and hunger. She kept as still as possible. She knew enough about predators to realize one false move and he could kill her in an instant. He sniffed her and growled in need, probably coming to the conclusion he had a human in his grasp and not a vampire.

Carlton had risen from the floor and had tried to move forward. He was just recovering from whatever had happened to him when Ben died. Instead of the electric feeling he'd experienced when the others were made, he felt like a connection he didn't know was there was stripped away. It didn't exactly hurt, but it shook him to his core. A hiss in his direction from Shawn stopped his advance. He was absolutely terrified for his partner, but he didn't want to put her in any more danger.

Mick and Pierre had yet to move as well, coming to the same conclusion that Juliet had, one false move could end her life.

"Shawn..." Juliet tried again. Only serving to bring his attention back to her rather than Carlton. His fangs extended and his eyes locked on her neck. She took a chance, the only one she had. Juliet dragged the hand he had her by to her stomach, placing it right over their baby.

Shawn's brow furrowed, as if he couldn't figure out why she wasn't struggling to get away. He looked down to where she placed his hand, then looked back to her face. He released her, but kept his hand spread out on her pregnant belly, obviously listening to the baby and feeling it move. His eyes closed and his features slacked in relaxation.

Juliet brought her hands slowly up to his face and gripped it. "Shawn. It's me...please. You're okay."

Raising his other hand to cover hers, Shawn opened his eyes. They were still vampiric white, but he was definitely finally seeing Juliet. She'd gotten through to him. He looked at her face as if he'd never expected to see it again and in a raspy voice he asked, "Jules?"

Pierre lowered Zack's staked body to the ground quietly and gave Mick a nod in Shawn's direction. It was the only chance they had to grab him. They both knew the tender moment wouldn't last and he had to be restrained until they could get some blood into him and figure out how far gone he was. They circled around as he embraced Juliet, his face buried into her shoulder.

They both pounced, grabbing Shawn's hands and dragged him down to the ground, holding him tightly. As expected, he was all teeth and claws, hissing and growling.

Henry, Gus grabbed Juliet and pulled her away quickly. "Sweetie, he's okay. He'll be okay." Henry tried to calm her down.

"No! Please! Shawn! Stop struggling!" She yelled.

Shawn grit his teeth and started to push himself up when Pierre, deciding enough was enough, roared at him. The younger vampire turned his head away and practically flattened himself to the floor trying to get away from the display of dominance.

Mick widened his eyes in surprise at the thief, and Pierre shrugged nonchalantly.

Finally subdued and his rage gone, Shawn seemed to go slack and they realized just how injured and starved he was. His eyes were hallow, sunken and the whites were yellow, but fresh blood dripped from his face. Pierre took some on his finger and sniffed. "It's Adam's."

"Oh crap." Carlton, who had approached them, looked back the way Shawn came.

"Detective if you would be so kind as to keep him held, I'll go check it out." Pierre nodded towards Shawn.

Carlton bent down and his hands replaced Pierre's. Shawn's tired and hazy eyes landed on his only willingly made fledgling and he seemed to relax under their grips.

Pierre took that as an okay to go and he hurried down the hallway. The stench as he approached was unimaginable and he covered his mouth and nose with his hand as he entered the room. Bloody hand prints and droplets littered the floor and walls of the area and Adam lay on his back in a pool of blood near the corner of the room. His eyes were closed and he was unmoving.

Pierre realized Shawn had to have drained Adam only a short time before their attack had been launched if the warmth of the body was any indication. Upon closer inspection, he noticed Adam's arm, which had collapsed by his side, was also bloody, so was the area around Adam's mouth. "What on earth?"

Kneeling closer to the body and sniffing, Pierre realized it was Shawn's blood and not his own. Piecing together the snippets visions from the scents in the room, he figured out that while Adam lay dying, he had reached over and taken some of Shawn's spilled blood, realizing it may save his life. Adam had told them in his interrogation that he'd seen how the other two were made, so obviously he'd known what to do.

"This complicates things a bit." Pierre sighed and stood up as voices, including Shawn and Carlton, cried out the moment Adam opened his eyes.

END NOTES: I admittedly listened to Sick Puppy's "You're Goin' Down" a couple times while writing the fight scene. :)

I teared up while writing the Shawn and Juliet scene. I've had that planned out since the beginning and I was so happy it turned out so well.