Author's notes: I hope I explained that cold issue well enough here. Anyway, I might just finish up the next chapter after this and post it tonight, if I get the chance.

The hours seemed to melt away, oh so quickly. Michael and Star lying in that field of dampened grass, waiting for their underwear to dry, and clinging to each other in a half-sleeping state. They were perhaps closer now than they ever had been, on the brink between life and death, with a tremulous hold on their final shred of hope...thanks to their little hunt on the lake.

"I miss your bike," Star whispered against Michael's ear, pressing even closer to him.

"I don't," he replied quietly. "It was a shit bike, Star." He was lying. Sure, compared to David and the others, Michael's bike really wasn't much to brag about...but it wasn't as if he didn't have a thousand mundane memories associated with it. Pleasant ones. Un-marred by the first summer he'd spent in Santa Carla. Days of driving through Arizona heat for the sake of a ride, or weekends when he'd somehow manage to cajole even Lucy into riding behind him to enjoy the feel of wind beating against her as he powered around their neighborhood. It was a shame his experience with the Lost Boys pretty much corrupted it all. Made him resent even having a bike, though it did in a very remote way lead him down the rocky path of saving Star. For a short time, anyway.

"It wasn't that bad..." Star kissed his chest, pushing herself up and gazing down at him. "When do you want to start heading back?"

His eyes wondered up to the setting sun, hazy and quivering on the orange horizon, and he flinched. Even through his sunglasses, the light was a bit much. "We really should get going now..."

"But?"

"But...just a few more minutes aren't going to kill us..." He hoped...

"Michael..."

He jerked, looking at Star. He could swear he felt her whisper the word in his mind...but that was impossible.

"Michael."

"What?"

"If this is the last day we have together, I want you to know that the last two years have been...amazing."

He snorted, turning his head to let his cheek slightly brush against a few blades of tall grass around his arm still propped behind his neck. "Yeah?"

"I mean...every night I've pretty much been terrified to even breathe, or sleep, or do anything but look over my shoulder and wait for them to just come running out of the shadows to rip our throats out-"

"Yeah, that's definitely amazing," Michael rolled his eyes.

"..." Star frowned, reaching to his cheek and letting her fingers trail ever so slightly against his skin, "I mean the rest of it has been nice. Just...being with you."

Michael avoided looking at her, letting his eyelids slowly drift closed, "yeah..." he mumbled, "I like being with you, too..."

"I love you, Michael." The words came out in a whispered rush, as if she were afraid to even say them aloud.

"Mmmmhm...Me too..." He yawned, falling into a very light slumber. And he wasn't lying...but damn, sometimes she just talked too fucking much. More so now that they'd been together for two years than that first week together, when every single sound or movement in that cave during their short and intense moments of intimacy seemed to make her jump and drive her closer into his arms. But even if the chatter was sometimes grating, he wasn't sure whether he'd really want her to stop. The day she did, she would not longer be Star. And he would no longer be Michael.

"Don't forget this. Don't ever forget this," he vaguely heard her gentle whispers against his cheek, as she too fell asleep at his side. If only the sun could stay in the sky forever, and protect them from the darkness creeping ever closer. The darkness that had stripped away pieces of them both when they first tasted from that sacramental bottle, and killed a part of both Michael and Star without their knowledge, even after Max's blood had died in their veins before it was replaced by David's. The very darkness that left them both chilled to the bone each and every day since, and would only warm them when they finally gave in to it...

Even though they were locked together in the grass, aware of their surroundings, present together in the fading light of the day...this afternoon together had felt more surreal and dream-like than the actual nightmare of David forcing himself on both of them.

Streaks of wind kicked through the meadow, pressing tall bundles of grass to the ground in sheathes of dark green, tickling at Star's hair and blowing it from her face just enough to make her shift and pull away from Michael's chest. Cracking her eyes open, she felt a sinking sensation in the pit of her stomach as realization hit. They had slept through the rest of the day. What's more, they were well into the thick of the night, and three elongated shadows painted hers and Michael's legs in black as Marko, Paul, and David looked down on them together, not bothering to wear their human masks in favor of watching terror blossom on her face.

"Mi-" She squeaked, as Marko leapt forward and wrapped a hand around her mouth in one swift movement, dragging her kicking and clawing away from her companion as he roused himself.

"Now, now, Star...I think you need to calm down," David drawled, stepping towards them and placing a gloved hand on her forehead while Marko obligingly tipped her chin up just enough to force her to meet the leader's gaze.

Michael, meanwhile, was pushing himself up on his elbows, and barely registering what had just happened before Paul launched himself upon the boy and restrained Michael against his chest, though he didn't bother to cover his mouth to silence him.

"Leave us the fuck alone!" Michael howled, trying to jerk himself from Paul's grip, unsuccessfully. The older vampire grinned gleefully, shifting until they were pressed closer together.

"We got a live one!" He cackled, glancing back over at David, who by now was focused on Michael with a cruel sparkle in his eyes.

David ran a tongue over his fangs thoughtfully, pulling away from Star and nodding towards the curly-haired vampire. In an instant, fangs were buried deep in Star's throat, and she couldn't do anything but scream against the hand pressed hard against her mouth.

"STAR!" Michael cried out, feeling a new surge of energy and rage boil over, and he threw his head back to butt Paul hard in the face. The vampire cursed, grabbing at his bleeding nose and giving Michael the chance to stumble forward in an attempt to pull Star from Marko's grasp. But he was, of course, far too slow...and this only gave David the opportunity to tackle him to the ground and pin his hands behind him, using a free hand to tear at Michael's hair and jerk his head back to he could watch Star lose consciousness in Marko's arms, blood trickling slowly down her neck around his mouth, eyes a sliver of terrified gold.

David leaned down, dragging a tongue over Michael's ear and chuckling darkly, "don't worry, she'll be alright. We just thought it might make things easier to deal with that shit you both drank today. After all, your bodies are temples, aren't they?"

"MOTHER FUCKER!" Michael's angry cursing as he tried to buck and throw David off, fruitlessly. The leader was too strong for him now, made all the more powerful with his own blood rushing through the boy's veins instead of Max's.

"Really, Mikey, you're such a little bitch sometimes..." Paul complained, rubbing at the blood beneath his nose and dripping over his chin.

Before Michael could send back an angry rebuttal, David's fangs were sunk deeply into his neck, tasting him, savoring him, and ultimately draining him until blessed darkness washed over the boy and he was pulled into the same abyss Star floated in nearby. His last thoughts before he completely lost consciousness were in self-disgust and confusion when he realized he was hard.

The first thing Star felt as she awoke was the press of cracked leather at her back, and a throbbing pain in her right ear. It had healed ages ago when she'd cast the symbol of her link to the Lost Boys into the ocean...but she could feel a slight weight hanging from her earlobe, and realized David must have re-pierced it while she was out.

Sluggishly, she opened her eyes, and found herself staring across a booth table at a similarly dazed Michael, fully dressed and...his own earring on full display. She tried to speak, but he gave a quick shake of his head and shot her a warning glare, nodding to his right. She squinted, letting her eyes trail about the room. They were sitting in the booth in an old dive bar, that much was clear. But where were the others? And...she looked down at herself, frowning...what the hell was she wearing?! A lacy black half-shirt? A matching bra? A LEOPARD PRINT MINI SKIRT?! Those...bastards! They'd...they'd stripped her and treated her like a dress-up doll while she was unconscious?! The irony that she was more upset about her clothes right now than the situation they were in escaped her for the moment, and perhaps it was a form of self-defense. Focusing on something that irritated her at least helped push the fear away. And if she recalled his sick tastes correctly, Paul was the one most likely to have decided she'd look best dressed as strung-out hooker.

"Just stay calm," Michael rasped, flinching as he spoke. His voice was cracked and pained, and she wasn't surprised...he had a nasty wound on his neck, caked in dried dark clots.

"Calm?! You're one to talk!" Star hissed back at him, and took a gulp of air at the intense wave of pain that seemed to radiate from her throat with that one exclamation. She didn't doubt her neck looked just as bad as his right now.

Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Star tried to push herself up so she could climb out from the booth, but her legs were too weak, and she only fell back down in the process with an undignified huff.

"Yeah, tried that," Michael snorted. "Just keep quiet, maybe we can buy ourselves some time if they don't know we-"

BANG!

The entrance of the bar was kicked open, and in strode Paul, Marko, and David. But no Dwayne...

"I've got a proposal for you both," David stated as he drew towards the booth and slammed his hands down at the edge of the table, smirking.

"Go to-" Michael began, and David's hand snaked out to grab at his neck, purposefully pressing at the raw area of skin that had just been torn open only a few hours before.

"Keep your fucking mouth shut when grown-ups are talking, Michael," the leader of the Lost Boys hissed, gazing at him intently for a solid thirty seconds until Michael went lax in his seat, reluctantly submitting. There wasn't much else he could do right now, as weak as he was.

Paul and Marko wondered over to the bar counter, throwing themselves into a pair of stools and watching David's performance intently.

"As I was saying," David continued, pulling his hand away and drawing it towards his mouth to lick up the little droplets that had formed on his fingers when he worried the wound on Michael's neck. He'd removed his gloves already, which only made Star wonder if perhaps he'd already planned on making a demonstration like that.

"I've got a proposal for you both. You see, I wasn't sure whether you really knew what you were trying to turn down, running away from us...trying to kill me," his eyes flew to Michael's face with that remark before he continued, "etcetera...etcetera. So me and the boys decided maybe it would be best to show you what you're missing. And don't worry, I'm not going to drag you up to a hill on a beach somewhere and organize a buffet. We don't really have the time for that, do we? So...Paul took on the task of...relieving this bar owner of his duties, and pretty soon we'll be opening for a late night happy hour."

David wrinkled his nose, continuing, "and clearly that afternoon snack you both had was proof enough you haven't completely rejected my gift."

"W..." Star licked her lips, "what's your point, David?" She asked quietly, forcing herself to stare him straight in the face for the first time...well...ever.

Marko snickered, biting at the thumb of his glove while his eyes danced gleefully, and Paul leaned back on his stool.

"Girl's grown some balls, Davey..." Paul trailed off, "probably some of that good dream loving brought it out, huh?"

Star glared over at Paul, and if she wasn't afraid of David's wrath, she might have thrown out a retort to match Michael's own impulsive attitude. But she was smart enough to remain quiet while David continued his dramatic little lecture. She didn't miss his performances, that much she was certain of.

"You've probably noticed one of my boys missing from our little party," David cut to the chase, pulling back from the table and digging a fresh pack of cigarettes out of his coat pocket, slapping it against his palm. "He got homesick. I think he said something about paying your little brother a visit..." he looked back at Michael to gauge his reaction. And luckily, the boy was smart enough to keep quiet...though there was no missing the anger and hatred burning in his eyes, radiating from his posture.

"Of course, if we make this little party a quick one, I might be able to catch up to him...change his mind. All you two have to do is prove to me that you're stronger than the blood. That you'll spend the next hour catching up with me and the boys, no fighting, no running. And if at the end of that hour, you haven't completely given in to your hunger...I'll let you both go. I'll let you go, and I'll convince Dwayne to leave that little blonde fuck alone too. If not...I'll still stop him, but you'll both come home with me, no fighting, and rejoin our happy little family. What d'ya say?"

David grinned, pulling a cigarette from the pack with two clawed fingers and drawing it to his lips. He didn't light it just yet. Instead, he waited for their response.

"What's it gonna be, Star? Michael?"

Star closed her eyes, centered herself, took a deep breath, and looked back across the table at Michael, who looked just about as worried as she felt. If they were together, maybe they could fight it again. Maybe they could push the hunger away, and this would all be over. David would leave them alone, and he might even have a way of severing their connection to him. Make them human again...

They really didn't have any other options.

"We agree," Michael rasped, raising a shaking hand and sliding it across the table. Star took it in hers, and stroked the top of his palm, weakly.