Prompt: #44 Endanger

Summary: War was never a time to have any doubts.

A/N: This continues the storyline that was started in Chapter 25, for the Supernatural Prompt. It could also be read alone.

Periclitatus is Latin for "put in peril, endangered".

Periclitatus

He knew he was moving too fast. His reaction was too rash. To look at him, he is sure that he looks like he is running blindly. It was partially true, but he knew exactly where he was going. It was the lack of deliberation and unknown variable of success as an outcome of this confrontation soon to take place. Most likely he would probably fail. He knows he is dashing too quickly into what was sure to be a heavy battle without a clear strategy. Actually, no planning whatsoever. He knows that what he needed to do was wait until he and his friends could come up with a more solid place. If he would just take a moment to stop long enough to think more coherently. He knows that he should not have come this far alone. Perhaps if he had been rationally thinking he would have. There was no room for rationality when all he can see is the image of Stella being tortured and that was enough to get him to dive into the darkness that he was now descending. They had never had the luxury of time on their side and no more was it evident than now. It was either run now or risk never seeing her alive again. The mental image of her dead body was enough to galvanize him. To see it in reality would be something he would never recover from. He would lose his mind completely. Perhaps he already had with just the possibilities. This was the only option. Getting her back was the only victory. He does not care if he does not make it back out of this. All he can think about is reaching her and getting her out.

That is all that matters.

It had not mattered that everyone had tried their best to reassure him that it was not his fault that she had been taken. They had, of course, fallen on deaf ears because he refused to believe such a lie. It was entirely his fault and he refused to believe otherwise. He was supposed to be their leader. He was supposed to keep them all safe. He was supposed to make sure that the one he loved the most would never, ever be captured in the first place! The ugly truth of the matter is that he had never even gotten the chance to tell Stella how much she meant to him. If she should die without knowing that she had changed him so profoundly, he could not even fathom the degree of regret he would feel. He refuses to think of it like that just yet though. He would not fail her. He would not hold himself back from having her, no matter that they might not ever have a real future together. If all they could ever have were brief interludes amid the nightmares of their lives, he would be happy with that. He would be thankful. A starving man did not reject a morsel of food because he considered it too little.

It is not your fault.

He wishes he could believe that.

How were you to know?

He should have known.

She knew the risk. You could not have stopped her regardless.

Knowing and accepting were not the same thing. If he had tried harder, he could have stopped her from doing it. He should have risked her anger instead of relenting. The plan had been to lure the enemy to them by using Stella as the bait. A plan that he had refused vehemently, offering himself to be the bait instead. A request that had been flatly denied by everyone else. He was the leader. The whole purpose of the plan had been so that they could take advantage of the distraction so that he and a small group of their most gifted Undeads would have an easier chance to break into the main headquarters of their tormentors. Once inside they were to destroy the files in the mainframe, cutting off their network while helping whatever other Undeads being held captive to escape. A twofold plan that had been a great success. That is, until he learned that Stella had been captured in the chaos that had ensued. It had not mattered that five men had tried to restrain him once he had found out. They had not been able to stop him from storming out of their secret encampment and running as he was now.

Yes, it was a trap. Yes, her capture had been intentional. Yes, he was going to kill them all for having the gall to take her away from him. They tried to tell the public that he and the rest of the Undead were unnatural monstrosities. Well, he would show them just how correct they had been. He had been able to keep the majority of his powers contained. They had never been able to measure just how destructive the full potential of his powers could achieve. They did not deserve the restraint anymore. They would see just how much of a monster he truly was. He would be the last image their eyes would see before the life drained from their bodies.

At least he had never denied that he was a monster. They, on the other hand, had taken the high road by claiming to be normal. Normal, all while butchering people that were considered different. That was more monstrous than anything he had ever done. It was more evil than anything he would ever do. The experiments they had conducted. The torture they had inflicted. The pain they had given made them the monsters.

This confrontation could very well be the catalyst to finally ending the war. No more running. No more hiding. No more fear. This was the breaking point. This is where he would draw the line of his tolerance. No more covert attacks. He was coming. They would not only know, they would see him coming right at them and they would feel fear in knowing that they would not be able to stop him. He was going to end it, now. He would see to it that they never had the ability to hunt down others like him again. What he does hope is that maybe, just maybe, he would have the chance to finally tell Stella how he felt. That he would finally get to kiss her as he had been wanting to for so long he has forgotten when the urge had started. To have her in his arms, even if it were just this once, without the guise of protecting her would be enough. If he were meant to be the martyr, so be it. So long as he was granted this last wish.

I am coming Stella. I shall not fail.