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

Thanks to ShalBrenfan and LionQueen!

Chapter 7: Nice Little Pep Talk

Max stood at the edge of the docks, looking out into the sunrise. Her thoughts were trailing back to Xavier and the clan he'd joined. The Talos family had found him and a woman, Danica, had turned him. She made him her liaison to other vampires clans and families, Pureblood and not. She knew she should have killed him when she had the chance, but she didn't. Her and the men had been on a reconnaissance mission two days ago, and she found him feasting on some Goth girl in a back alley of one of many vampire clubs. She wasn't able to kill him and it was as simple as that. Max knew she had been more than beyond lucky when Whistler showed up.

"Come with me, Max," he begged languidly, walking closer to her. Max was frozen, unable to move and breathe, much less talk. "Come back to me."

"Why are you doing this to me, Xavier?" she asked quietly, her voice coming out weak and breathless. Xavier just chuckled, his newly acquired fangs barring out over his lips in a charming smile.

"Because I love, baby sister," he replied simply, reaching out a hand and caressing her face.

Max closed her eyes tightly, leaning into his hand as she bit her lower lip. She could feel the tears in her eyes, and she could feel her heart racing. She knew she should be driving a silver stake into his heart, but it felt so good to have him close again. Xavier gently pushed her hair back over her shoulder and leaned in. Max was shocked to find herself turning her head to the side, giving him more of her neck willingly.

"We'll never be apart again," he promised and hissed as he opened his mouth wider.

"Hey there, sweetheart. Mind if I cut in?"

Max's eyes snapped open at the familiar voice of Whistler. She saw the old man standing behind Xavier, who turned to attack him.

"NO!" she shouted at him, grabbing his arm, but he pushed her back into the wall. She heard a gun shot and opened her eyes to see Whistler on his back and Xavier running out of the alley and into the night.

"You okay, tree stump?" he asked her, sitting up and breathing heavy.

"Y-Yeah, I think so," she replied shakily.

"Good. Now," he began, rising to his feet with a grunt and limped over to her, "don't let that shit happen again, you got me?" Max looked from his eyes to his outstretched hand, unable to tell if he was mad or concerned.

"I got you," she replied, taking his hand. "Whistler?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't tell Eric."

If Whistler hadn't showed up when he did, she would have been turned – again – by her own brother. That was a little closer than she wanted to be with him, ever. It didn't matter though. She'd heard from Shen earlier that morning, and he told her that he'd heard about a new Vampire in the city, working for someone called Sciver. He said the new guy fit the profile that Cam had sent him of her brother. That settled it. Xavier was out of Los Angeles and in Detroit. Talos wised up.

Sighing deeply, Max closed her eyes and looked as though she was trying to fall asleep. Blade, she noticed over time, seemed to take this pose many times. Of course, he was sitting indoors, behind the locked door of his room, and she was standing outside, in plain view of any passerby. She probably looked crazy.

"It wasn't your fault, Max."

She turned her head ever so slightly to look over her shoulder. There he was. The old man she'd been thinking about himself. Max sighed again, for what felt like that millionth time that day, and turned hr eyes back to the sunrise.

"You can say that all you want, Whistler, but I know it was," she replied. "I never should have let him go. We never should have separated. I screwed up."

"I'm not saying you didn't, but that don't mean it was your fault," he argued as he limped to stand next to her. "You did your best. That's all anyone else can ask of you."

"Not you. Not Eric," she retorted calmly, noting how he was staring into the sky like her. "The both of you, from the moment he brought me back, have been on my case about everything. From the way I hunt, to the way I fight, and even the way I talk and act – everything. You guys don't ask for my best; you demand perfection."

"If we seemed tough on you, Max, it's 'cause we don't want you to end up dead. Or undead, for that matter," he added quickly. "You're a good kid, and a you got great potential. I won't lie about that, but I am sorry that things had to play out this way."

"Well, we're all sorry about something. I'm sorry I couldn't kill my brother. I'm sorry you couldn't kill him and had to save my sorry ass in the process."

"HEY!" he barked, snapping at her to look at him. Max just rolled her eyes and scoffed quietly, arms crossed and thoroughly not in the mood to listen to him anymore than she had. She ignored Whister, and he didn't like that one bit so he forced her to look at him by grabbing her arm.

"Hey! What the fuck!" she protested, but his grip only tightened. "Oh, my God! You are freakishly strong!"

"True, but that's beside the God damn point," he stated. "And now that I have your undivided attention, I'm gonna give you the best piece of advice you're ever gonna get. Stop wallowing in self-pity, you stupid self-absorbed brat, and grow up! Act your age, God damn it!"

"Is this suppose to motivate me?" she asked uncertainly, looking at him in surprise. "'Cause, let me just tell you, old man, you suck! Maybe you could try a nicer tone and be, I don't know, less insulting. Just a thought."

"Christ, you really do sound just like him," he mumbled despairingly, rubbing his face tiredly as he released her arm.

"Like who?" she asked suspiciously, remembering he'd said those words to her many times in the past.

"No one," he replied. That was always his answer. "Now, listen. You're a damn good fighter and smart, too. You got what it takes to live through this war, if you stop blaming yourself for every God damn thing that goes wrong!"

"Easy for you to say," she countered angrily. "When your family died, you got to kill the bastard that got them! Me? I couldn't kill my brother and I haven't been able to get near the fucking cock sucking bitch that turned him! I nearly got bitten and you had to save me! You had to clean up after me! I'm not…I'm no good at this anymore, Whistler," she admitted in defeat, starting to calm down as she sat down on one of the posts. "I'm crashing."

"You're good, tree stump," he told her firmly, and she smiled a bit. "Trust me, you're good."

"Not good enough," she retorted quickly, and Whistler sighed this time. "You should've just let Xavier kill me."

"Okay, that's it! I can't tell you you're good anymore if your not gonna open your ears and listen; not my style. So, you got two choices. One, give up, leave, and get yourself dead as soon as you hit the city tonight. Or two…go see a group of friends of mine, and let them help you," he offered, saying the second hesitantly.

""Friends"?" she echoed with an amused smile as she looked up at him. "You have friends beside B and I? I'm hurt, old man!"

"Yeah, friends. Remember what those are?" he questioned bitterly, starting to grow impatient. "They're a pack of hunters; call themselves the Nightstalkers."

""Nightstalkers"?" she questioned and scoffed with an eye roll. "Sounds like a bad Saturday morning cartoon, or some cheap ass comic book," she mused and smiled when he smirked.

"Yeah, well, they're pretty good at what they do. Blade doesn't know about 'em yet, but I'll tell him, eventually," he said lightly.

"Eventually meaning?"

"Whenever the hell I want!"

"Keeping secrets from the big man? Not the smartest move, old man." Max shook her head, wagging her finger at him teasingly. Whistler decided to ignore her.

"Now, you're gonna go to them – don't worry, they'll know you're coming – and they'll…well, you'll find out when you get there," he told her and started to limp away. "The choice is yours, Max!" he called over his shoulder. As he walked away, he started to count.

Max sat there for a moment, thoughtful once again. Whistler was just looking out for her, so what harm could it be meeting these Nightstalkers of his?

"Hey, Whistler!" she called out. Whistler stopped, smirking proudly as he turned around. Max had gotten up from her post and was jogging to catch up with him. "Where do I find these friends of yours?"

"I thought you'd see it my way," he stated with a smile and proceeded to give her directions to the Nightstalkers base, the aptly nicknamed Honeycomb Hideout.

A/N: I know I skipped over Xaiver, but that's only because he's not a major character. Not in this part, and not so much in the sequel. Yes, there is a sequel. I've already started working on it. Xaiver will be in it, but not for very long. Sorry.

P.S.: Four pages total.