A/N: And two characters from the newer series make appearances! Well, no, it's more they take the place of OCs I'd planned because I now have canon alternatives. Love it when that happens. Enjoy, my dears!
He had to leave the mansion in more than a bit of a hurry after the little 'discussion' with Selene. Well, Vlad mused, it was less 'had to leave' and more made a strategic retreat because she was reaching for her favoured gun. The gun that happened contained the argentalium bullets with a holy water coating. They tended to burn a little and he wasn't quite in favour of having bullet holes in this particular coat; it was his favourite. Jack and Barry would be okay, Selene was many, many, things, but Vlad knew that she wouldn't hunt two children. They'd keep Robin as leverage. Maybe he should have taught him how to handle a gun properly. Ah well, everything's clearer in hindsight, isn't it?
It didn't taken Vlad long to make his way back to his London apartment. He stopped off on the way; popping into a nightclub which noise pouring from it to pick up a snack. The breather was tall, blonde with dark lowlights, tanned, with bright white teeth and clearly spent far too much time on his own personal grooming for Vlad's own liking but feeding from him killed some of the hunger pangs. O positive wasn't his favourite, but it would do. He left the breather living; compelling him to forget the incident. He was far too boring to be turned. Wiping the excess away from the corners of his mouth, funny how there was always excess no matter how much of a careful feeder you were, Vlad pushed opened the front door of his apartment. "Your Grandness!" The voice of Dan reached Vlad's ears, and he was irritated to find it was as eager to please as ever.
"Oh," Vlad rolled his eyes, tossing his keys on to the sideboard. "Forgot you were living here," he paused, considering his words. "Well, no, truthfully I'd hoped you'd been slain." He moved into the apartment, looking round. He'd give Dan this, he'd kept the place tidy. "Anything I need to know," he asked, picking up a newspaper from the table and beginning to flick through it. Dan jumped up from his seat, opening a drawer and handing Vlad over a pile of mail. Tossing the paper to the side, Vlad took the mail from his supposed bodyguard.
"Oh," Dan said, digging in his pocket and pulling out a scrap of paper which looked as though it had been there for a while. "And you keep getting phone calls." He squinted at the piece of paper. "From a … Princess Adze?" he glanced up. Vlad had given a visible shudder at the mention of the name, a look of distaste appearing on his face. Dan frowned "Um, is she someone who should be contacting you or …?" he trailed off, not entirely sure how to finish. Dan was a relatively young vampire, he had been turned during the Victorian Era and had been raised to believe women were delicate, frail creatures in need of protection. Becoming a vampire opened his eyes in many ways.
"Technically, I guess," Vlad said. His tone was distinctly unimpressed, as he frowned at a letter he was reading. He shook his head at it, giving an irritated sigh, before scrunching it up and throwing it over his shoulder. "Adze's my wife," he said flippantly. Dan stared in shock. How hadn't he known about this? "Political match, you understand." Dan didn't. "Must be time for us to try to make an heir again," Vlad pulled another face. "Gorgeous girl, but neither of us wanted the damn marriage. We just use it for official things now." Vlad frowned. "That's odd... she called and she wrote?" He opened the letter.
"Maybe your Lady Wife has grown fond of you in your time apart, Sire," Dan said. He had never really understood the complicated world of vampiric political matches. "Maybe she just wants to see you again?" Vlad was intently reading the letter, his face expressionless. "Uh, oh!" Dan gave a small exclamation as he remembered something. "I've been keeping an eye on the Melech and Strigoi situation, Sire, just as you commanded" he said solemnly, "and I'm pleased to report that they would appear to have left the country." Dan grinned.
"I know," Vlad said. He didn't sound happy. "That's why Adze wrote," his grip on the paper tightened. "They've been … visiting the family." There was an edge in Vlad's voice that made Dan step back, and when the Grand High Vampire looked up at him, Dan wanted to run and find a Slayer to confess his crimes. "Why didn't you inform me of this earlier?" The Grand High Vampire snarled at Dan, whose mouth opened to respond but no sound would come out. "Don't answer; it was rhetorical." The letter was dropped to the ground, as Dan's half finished mug of blood was picked up and hurled at the wall, smashing on impact. A plate quickly followed, then a large knife found itself sticking out of the wall. It would be comical, if it wasn't for the fact that it had sliced opened Dan's arm as it speed past.
The bodyguard hissed, free hand clutching over the wound in the now hanging arm. "Tell me, Dan," the Grand High Vampire stalked over to him, kicking him in the shoulder of the injured arm, and knocking him further to the ground. "Tell me why I shouldn't dust you right now for your sheer stupidity?" Dan opened his mouth to answer once again, but the Grand High Vampire clicked his fingers and it was as though Dan's voice had been stolen from him. "Because the way I see it, something blindingly obvious was happening and you were too dim-witted to notice!" The Grand High Vampire was raging, and Dan tried to drag himself away. "Why I am surrounded by incompetent fools?" There was a loud, scoffing, angry laughter. "I'll kill you, and regain some intelligence, shall I?"
"It would be a waste of your energy." A soft voice at the door spoke.
Vlad turned around. "Who the hell are you?"
"Bertrand du Fortunesa," said the vampire. "I was supposed to be your tutor." He let his gaze flicker over the scene. "Better late than never."