It was day, Johnathan could tell. His internal clock was yelling at him to get up and run at least 5 miles, but he remembered that he wasn't home and thus he couldn't pretty much just go out and run anywhere he wanted. Or rather, he didn't want to be running around a city he didn't know, around people who probably didn't like him very much. So far, the people at the hotel had been very polite and friendly, but it was their job to be so, and he didn't want to take any unnecessary risk on the streets. He was aware that Dublin was an incredibly safe city, all things considered, especially in modern times, but once you are programmed with battlefield awareness it's hard not to see every unfamiliar place as unsafe and full of potential dangers. He instead decided to make use of the hotel's exercise facilities for workout. He dressed in a sports pants and a black sweatshirt, then proceeded to the gym. He wanted to not think about last night's discovery, and so he plugged a pair of earbuds to his music player and jacked the earbuds as deep in his ears as comfortably possible and blasted music as loud as safely possible. The music and the subsequent strenuous exercise allowed him a moment of peace, after which he had to face reality: Daniel was right. He had found her, the woman that had been on his mind for months, in a dream that tormented yet soothed him. Someone he was sure he loved. But now what? Yes, he had found her, but they were both complete strangers to each other. More to the point, why was he sure that he loved her? He wasn't sure, there was actually no solid reason for him to say that he loved her, yet that was the only way he could describe what he felt for this anonymous woman. It was incredibly silly, and he was aware of it.

Daniel is gonna have a jolly time, bugging me with his traditional 'I told you so'. At least one of us will be happy…

O'Donnell was wide awake, something he was no longer used to. The couple had arrived to their room almost two hours ago, completely exhausted from their night trekking, Mavis even more so, since she had been flying and climbing all the buildings she deemed interesting. The girl had fallen asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow, in one of the rare occasions where vampires fell into a deep sleep, but her husband remained wide awake, unable to scape to the unconsciousness of sleep. Instead, he was seating by her side, watching his wife sleep comfortably, her lips pursed in a light smile. He ran the back of his hand long her exposed cheek, making her curl into herself and cuddle. He couldn't avoid smiling at it, completely touched by the involuntary moment. He couldn't avoid thinking about the last night, when he took Mavis to Sean's restaurant. He really meant what he had said. He didn't feel worthy of her, especially considering his past. But at the same time, he felt extremely happy that she had decided to see beyond his past, that she had decided to stay with him, of all people. He knew he wasn't what Count Dracula called a 'Zing', he had had a small talk about these (and more) issues with Mavis' father, and thus, he knew he wasn't the girl's love of her life. But it didn't matter, they were both pretty much in love, and that's what mattered in the end. The only matter at hand was that of his short life-span. It wasn't that he was afraid of being bitten and turned into a vampire (far from that), the problem was… that Mavis had doubts about it. Despite them being married, Mavis wanted him to be one-hundred-and-ten percent sure that he wasn't going to regret that decision, because once made there was no turning back.

Not that it required much thinking.

That was the magic of love, as silly as it sounded to him. It made you consider (and decide) things that you wouldn't even think about before. Perhaps if he had been asked some years ago if he would willingly turn into a vampire he would have some doubts about the issue. But now? He wanted nothing but being a vampire, to spend the rest of his life, however long that would be, with Mavis and little Nate, the people who had brought new meaning to his life. That's why he wanted to get this over quickly, to go back home and finally get Mavis to bite him. And then… nobody knew what came next, but that is the whole point of life, isn't it?

Thinking about the present dilemma with his company made him wonder what it was all about. Summers hadn't given any details to him, other than a persistent 'Come here right the hell now'. The uncertainty was killing him, he didn't want to lose the company and the financial stability that it provided for him and his newly-formed family, but he certainly wasn't thrilled to be there. In the end, he decided to take a walk through the Merrion in order to clear his head and get a little tired. He was around the Restaurant area when he bumped into a familiar face…

Daniel was having breakfast in the Restaurant, going through his copies of the contracts with Flintridge (formerly O'Donnell) Logistics, readying himself to make heads roll if needed be, but he wasn't losing his main logistics company to a bunch of pussy-wad executives who were afraid of keeping their promises just because they were afraid of Uncle Sam leaving their asses flapping in the wind. Daniel had tried very hard to avoid doing business with that kind of people, but know he was trapped with them and he had to show them that the client was always right, whether they liked it or not…

"Marlow?! What the hell are you doing here?"

O'Donnell?! Shit, shit, shit!

"O'Donnell? I could ask the same! Your company is trying to back down from their deals!"

"What?! Who told you that?" O'Donnell was now really pissed. I leave my company in trust of somebody else and suddenly they are trying to ruin it? Summers has a lot to explain!

"Your guy Summers. Apparently, the people who have bought shares on your company want to turn tail and leave us on our own."

"Wait a second, shares? I have not authorized the sale of shares from my company!"

"Well, it gets better, your company was renamed to Flintridge Logistics. Your new 'partners' apparently don't want to carry your name in their businesses"

O'Donnell was now furious. He was going to tear Summers a new one. He hadn't authorized any of this, and now he understood what was so urgent that he needed to come him. If Summers hadn't called him to ask him for help in kicking these pansies out then he was about to try and kick him out of his own company. Whatever the reason, heads would be rolling in the evening.

"Jesus, I didn't think it was that bad" he could finally say, trying to keep his cool while rubbing his forehead.

"I knew you weren't on board with this, but sadly I have to deal with them, since you've gone off the radar for the last year" Daniel added, trying not to make it sound like a rebuke.

"Yeah, sorry, but… I have a son now, you know? I am no longer able to drop everything and tend to the company. I've got a family to take care of. That's exactly why I left Summers in charge, but apparently I made a mistake. Sorry, Dan. I'll be kicking some ass in the evening, will you be there?"

"You bet, I'm not going to let some guy in a suit jeopardize what we have tried to build all these years"

"Amen to that. I'm leaving, I have to go to bed, been up all night long." He said good bye and returned to his room, now mentally exhausted because of the rage he had felt when finding out his company, the first great achievement of his life, was in bad hands and being destroyed. His pace was brisk, but he arrived to his room before he realized what was going on. He swiped the card on the reader and the lock disengaged, and then he slowly opened the door, just enough to peek inside. The young vampiress was still in bed, her sleep undisturbed. He slipped inside and laid himself by her side. It took him a few minutes to fall sleep, during which he watched his adorable wife pout slightly in her sleep. He finally escaped reality into dreamland, his arm by her hips and their faces just millimeters away from each other's.

Daniel watched O'Donnell leave, and he released the breath he had been holding. The redhead prayed that Johnathan hadn't seen O'Donnell's wife: Daniel knew that, despite the fact that Johnny didn't remembered Dracula's daughter, he would recognize her instantly, and more to the point, if this Zing thing was real, it would happen again. And that would end up in disaster, both for Johnny and for her. The girl was now a mother, if O'Donnell was right about having a son (and why would he lie about that?), and was married, to topple things. Johnathan, on the other hand, was a different person than the one she had met. The easy-go-lucky kid from almost 5 years ago was gone, and gone for good, and it was a real possibility that, even if the girl chose him over O'Donnell (highly unlikely), she would be disappointed to see he was no longer the person she fell in love with.

What a friggin' disaster. This is going bad really fast…

He had buried his face in his hands, and when he looked up again he saw his brother, arriving to the restaurant and heading for his table, probably for breakfast. The man had a disappointed look in his face. No fucking way…

"What's going on? You look like someone kicked your dog."

"I… uhm… I had a wakeup call last night"

"A literal or figurative one?"

"Figurative, of course" Johnathan rolled his eyes while saying this, slightly annoyed, yet amused by his brother's attitude. It didn't make things any better, though.

"What was it, then?"

"I… I found her…" An awkward silence fell between both of them. Daniel tried very hard to hide his alarm, and apparently he pulled it off. Drama used to be his hobby at collage, and it came in handy at the moment.

"Your… dream girl?"

"Yep"

"And?"

"You were right. What now? I know she's here, and I finally know what she looks like: yet, I still don't know her at all, I don't know if she knows I exist, if she'll feel like I do… I don't even know if she's single…" he sighed heavily, resigned to reality, "Go ahead, we both know how much you love to say 'I told you so'."

"Maybe… it's not a good time to say it right now"

Both men had nothing else to say, and so, the day went by without them ever again touching the subject again, Daniel deeply worried about his brother, and Johnathan deeply depressed about being unable to be with the love of his life. Evening seemed to come too slow for their liking.

"Do you really have to go right now? Can't it be another day?" Mavis was now worried, the nightmare she had had before their travel was now haunting her again. She could remember how vivid it all was, and she was really scared that it might become true. Her husband could see the fear in her eyes, and stopped buttoning the vest of his three-piece suit to sit on the bed by her side. Mavis looked down, trying to hide the tears that were beginning to well on her eyes. The Irishman used his index finger to gently lift her face by her chin, noticing the trails the tears left on her puffy cheeks.

"I think there's something you're not telling me" he said, with a sweet, yet serious tone. Mavis looked at him, as if pleading for him to forget it, but the man wasn't having any of that. "What is it?"

She tried to calm down, to tell the nightmare as clearly as she was able to. She told it with great detail, almost as if recounting something that had just happened. When she was done she couldn't avoid sobbing, and O'Donnell couldn't do much but hug her tightly and try to calm her as best as he could.

"It's ok, honey, it's ok. I understand."

"Do you? Paddy, do you understand that if something happens to you… I'll be alone? That little Nate won't have a father figure in his life? How can I expect to cope with that? I don't know what to do, I don't know how to react if… if that happens…" she was losing it, and Padraigh could tell. He put his hands at the sides of her face, and used his thumbs to wipe the running tears. Mavis was finally calming down, so he embraced her again and let her cry the remaining tears. She was still sobbing, but it was subdued, and it gave him an opening to talk.

"I know it's something hard to think about… I felt the same way when…" his words got stuck in his throat, unable to come out. Even after all these years, his parents' death was a very sore spot for him, "But if anything happens… I know that you are strong, stronger than you think, and you are not alone, there's your Dad, and Claire, and all your aunts and uncles… what I'm trying to say is, you will never be alone, even if I… well… you know… You are a very brave girl, and I'm proud of that, and I know that there's nobody else in this world whom I'll trust little Nate to except you. If anything happens…. then… it was meant to happen, alright?" Mavis didn't wanted to think that way, it made her feel helpless, but she had to admit that there was some truth to them. If it happened, there was nothing they could do to change it. She nodded at him and gave a weak smile, barely a quiver of her lips. O'Donnell gave her one last, long kiss, before returning to dressing himself up. He left Mavis on the bed, in a pensive state.

Sarah Cooley was sitting by the reception desk, going over the new memorandums sent to every employee of O'Donnell Logistics. Flintridge Logistics, she corrected herself. It had been more than one year since anybody had seen Padraigh O'Donnell in the premises, and ever since Wesley Summers had taken over, the company was being flushed through the toilet little by little. At first they were small things: paycheck reductions, a few staff lay-offs, less contracts taken. But overtime, the changes began to be notorious: strange guys in suits strolling around feeling like they were in control, more people laid-off, and suddenly they began backing out from their contracts with their best customers. In her humble opinion, Summers was destroying the company that Padraigh O'Donnell had worked very hard to build. Whether by accident or intentionally, she didn't know, neither cared.

"Good evening" she heard from the other side of the desk. Her shift was about to finish, and she had to read the paperwork before leaving, so she addressed the newcomer without looking at him.

"I'm sorry, public hours have finished, please return tomorrow from 7:00 a.m. to 19:00 p.m., Mr…"

"O'Donnell"

"He's already arrived, master"

"Good, the plan is in motion. Prepare for the target. I've been waiting for this day for years."

"Yes, master"

So, there's that. I'm late, I know. Last weekend was pretty echtic, so I couldn't write freely as I wanted. But, I made it up to you, and I hope you like this one chapeter. The next chapter is going to be the turning point, so you won't want to miss it. If you liked this chapter, please review, I love to read what you think about my work.

On a side-note: I was recently watching Martin Mystery (ah, childhood memories!) which is an incredibly awesome cartoon, and I felt like i could write something about that. For those of you who DID watched the show, I guess some of you agree with me that pairing Martin and Diana would be awesome, so, if you would like me to write that fic (probably a one-shot, although I COULD write a long-ish story about it) please leave your input in the reviews section.

See ya when I see ya (probably next weekend)