Disclaimer: I don't own Blade or any of its characters. I do Max, Xavier, Rev, and Cam, so no stealing!

Chapter 5: Growing Up

The ride back to the docks was silent.

Blade didn't bother to look at Max the whole way back, and Max would only look out the window as she bite at her thumb. She was completely distracted, and that was pissing her off even more than she already was. She didn't get distracted! Her focus was always clear and on the hunt, simple at that. But, now, with the new information regarding Xavier, she didn't know what to think at her. Her clear mind was fogged up, and there she was without a fan to blow it all away.

"You're back early," Whistler commented at the Charger pulled in and the two hunters stepped out. "How'd it go?" Max growled quietly and brushed past him, charged up the steps and into her new room, slamming the door behind her. Whistler looked from the door to Blade before raising his eyebrows. "Didn't go well?"

"No," Blade replied shortly and walked over to the gun rack.

"The short circuit didn't have any information for her?" he asked in both curiosity and shock, following the man he raised.

"He said that she should forget him and run," he replied. "This Talos Clan must be pretty dangerous to have Cam shaking in his boots."

"He's afraid of all vampires," he argued. "He's a jumpy little bastard. Has been since the day we met him, and he always will be. I'm shocked he's not dead yet."

"Yeah, well, he said that her brother is either dead, dying, or an open bar," he added. "My guess, based on her contact and Cam's, he's probably been turned."

"Another suck head on the prowl," Whistler commented with a shake of his head. "And it sounds like he's moving with the big boys. He could be trouble."

"When is there not trouble? We'll deal with it when the time comes," Blade told him testily.

"All of us?"

Both men turned to find Max standing behind them, arms crossed and face clearly dead set on them not dodging this particular question.

"All of us," Blade answered and walked past her and back to his Charger, his two guns reloaded.

"One big happy fucking family," Whistler added, pulling out a cigarette and inhaling the toxic fumes deeply. "Welcome aboard," he told her and she smiled.

"So, when do I get my own set of kick ass guns like him?" she asked, walking over to him with a coy smile.

"When you grow up," he retorted, blowing smoke in her face. Max coughed and waved the smoke out her personal space.

"First off, that's just rude. Second, can I have one?" She held out her hand expectantly and he smiled as he handed his pack and lighter over to her. "Thanks, old man."

"You sound just like him," he commented, watching as she lit up.

"Like who, Blade?"

"No, someone else I know."

"Who?"

"You aren't ready to know that," he told her, snatched his cigarettes from her and walked away.

"When will I be ready?" she called after him.

"When you grow up!"

P.S.: Two pages total.