While Jade and Tori waited for Andre to arrive they kept their gaze steadily on the manhole. Nothing was heard or seen yet but they remained vigilant. In the distance they could hear orders being made to send people home just in case there were vampires that had gotten through. Guards roamed the streets, guns at the ready.

"We were too late," Tori said, her voice quiet as she glanced at the two dead guards. Jade sighed, like a weight was placed on her, and unsheathed a machete strapped to one guard. Tori understood what she was going to do and turned away while Jade stabbed them through the heart in order to make sure they wouldn't come back. Andre returned without Beck, a strip of grenades strapped around his torso and a satchel with what Jade figured to be his handmade dynamite.

"Beck said you needed me?" he greeted. Jade cleaned off the blade she held on one of the guard's pants then set it aside.

"First I need you to stay here while Vega and I get rid of the bodies. We don't want any more vampires attracted by the blood. Once that's done you're coming down with us into the tunnels to collapse some and secure the passage. It'll lower the chances of something like this happening again," she explained.

"Good call. Ok then. I wish I could help you girls, but, we both know who has the real muscle here," he acknowledged, teasing just a little to lighten the tension.

"Yeah, we do," Jade agreed with a small smile while turning away to start dragging the bodies to the hole to dump them. Tori helped her until they were all cleared. Jade then jumped in the manhole too. Andre looked over at Tori whose golden yellow eyes followed Jade until she disappeared. She flicked them over to him when she felt his own eyes on her. He shrugged and she jumped in after Jade. Her abrupt landing behind Jade made her spin around with her gun raised.

"Dammit, Vega," she growled. Tori snickered and nudged her.

"Just me, West," she teased, her clawed hand coming up to rest on the barrel of the pistol. She pressed it down towards the ground while leaning closer, a challenge. Jade's brow quirked and she smirked.

"Careful. You wouldn't want to get distracted, wolf," Jade whispered, pulling away to holster the gun then pushed her back so that she could haul up two bodies, one under each arm. Tori did the same and stacked the last one over her shoulder. She grunted under the weight and Jade stopped to look at her.

"You ok? It isn't too heavy?" she checked.

"No, it's not. I'm just hungry and running a little low on energy," Tori mentioned. Her metabolism kicked her ass sometimes. She ate a lot and often felt bad for consuming so much when there was barely any food in the first place. Finding the animals was hard enough. Most of their meat came from hunting them and she made sure to help out. She craved meat all the time so she just made sure to catch extra for herself.

"You'll get used to it," Jade responded, leading the way through the tunnel. Tori frowned, upset Jade herself had so little to go on. From what Jade shared about being what she was she learned that blood was the sole source of energy. Low blood intake meant low energy, and in turn, low strength. If a vampire didn't remain stationary in sleep during the day they wasted extra energy and it weakened them considerably. Direct sunlight damaged their skin and eyes which were sensitive to it. A lack of blood in such a situation could kill the vampire from starvation, but in Jade's case she was right on the fence. She got by just so, not too bad but not too good either. Even at night she was better but weaker than any being like her could be in top condition. For Jade, every day she was starving. Tori whimpered at the thought, making her vampire companion glance back at her.

"You sure you're fine?" Jade questioned, her steps heavy and body straining. Tori could see it, the pain of starvation lining every muscle and bone in Jade's body. She acted so strong and threw herself into danger first before anyone else could get hurt. She wished she could help, but testing her blood on Jade's body proved futile. Her body rejected it and she was sick for a day. At least they knew what reaction vampires had should they try to drink her blood. Still, Tori wished she could at least convince more people to donate. She thought that after Jade did so much for the colony she should have been treated better than she was, but maybe Tori was just naturally caring, even to what was supposed to be her enemy.

"Yeah," she finally answered.

"You're awfully quiet now. What's with the silence? Before I couldn't get you to shut up," Jade teased, gaining a laugh from Tori.

"Just thinking," she replied, her eyes taking in every detail she could while she could see. She hoped when she couldn't see her memory would make up for it.

"Of?" Jade questioned.

"Stuff," she answered distractedly. It was Jade's turn to laugh now, the sound held back but nice to hear all the same as it bounced off the walls surrounding them. Tori told herself she would try to get Jade to laugh more often. She liked when they shared moments where Jade dropped some of her walls.

"Ok then, well, we're here," she announced, dropping the bodies and glancing up to see the moonlight from outside shining in through a crack in the hastily placed slab of stone. Jade tsked and pushed it aside. She climbed out and made sure the coast was clear then had Tori toss her the bodies. She threw them aside and offered Tori a hand up out of habit for her human companions. Tori didn't bother reminding her that she could get out on her own and just took her hand. Jade pulled her up but Tori made sure to do some of the work too so that Jade wasn't wasting energy that she couldn't afford.

"It looks like they cleared out for now," Jade observed while looking around. Tori inhaled with her nose to the air.

"The closest is a few yards away. Let's head back in before they smell me and start swarming again," she advised. Jade nodded and walked back to the hole in the ground. Tori caught herself checking out the way Jade's body moved with such lithe, slender, grace even if she wasn't in the best condition. She crouched down at the hole and dangled her long legs over the edge.

"Vega, come on!" she called to her in a stage whisper. Tori shook her head then jogged over to leap in once Jade fell in to land a bit unsteadily on her feet. Tori replaced the slab of heavy concrete before they strode quickly back to the other end. Jade made note of which tunnels they should collapse on the way. Andre was quick to hold them at gun point when they returned but removed it with a relieved sigh when he saw it was only them.

"All set?" he asked them while walking over. He lowered himself down the handholds then they set off for the tunnels Jade had mentally marked off after replacing the manhole. They started from the far end and worked in towards Sanctuary. At the last tunnel they found a hole at the back big enough for a full grown man to wiggle through.

"There's the rat hole. As suspected," Jade commented, kicking at the wall next to it to point it out to Tori and Andre who shone his light on it. Tori's body relaxed a while ago so that she looked as ordinary as ever once again. She couldn't see without Andre's light directed ahead of them so Jade naturally took the lead.

"We're lucky more haven't found it," Andre said, crouching to set up the explosives. As he worked they watched his back. When he was almost done it looked like an easy job accomplished when both Jade and Tori heard the telltale skittering of something coming through the hole.

"Andre!" Jade warned him, grabbing him by the back of his hoodie to yank him away and get him moving. A vampire scrambled out with a hiss followed quickly by another. Jade shot one then the other but more were already coming through.

"They're natural mole rats aren't they?" Andre jested, getting an irritated growl from Jade. They kept them back just fine and Jade aimed for the explosives now that they were far enough away from the blast. A vampire fell from the ceiling where another hole was present, interrupting her aim. It jumped at Tori, nails catching her across her upper arm, but Jade shot it dead before it could do anything else. Thinking quickly, she snatched a grenade from Andre's belt and chucked it over the vampire's heads.

"Get down!" she screamed, diving for the ground. The others did so too just as it went off, triggering the other explosives. The tunnel collapsed, crushing the vampires. What they didn't expect was a chain reaction that reached the part of the tunnel they were in. Jade and Andre got up in time to move but Tori had been the closest to the back so that a good sized boulder fell with a sickening crack on her foot, pinning her to the floor, a howl of pain leaving her lips. She clawed at the ground, trying to get free, golden yellow eyes panicking until Jade put on the breaks and doubled back for her.

She pulled Tori out from under the rubble and threw the whining hybrid over her shoulder before pushing herself to run as fast as she could. Andre waited for them with worry clear on his face at the opening to the tunnel they had been in. With one last push of all her strength Jade tossed Tori ahead of her towards Andre who crumpled under her unexpected weight. The tunnel fell, sending dirt everywhere. Tori and Andre coughed the heavy dust and dirt out of their lungs and waited for it to clear. Tori's body was full of adrenaline and fear. Her foot burned in pain that climbed up her leg but she didn't care about that. She was more worried about Jade who she couldn't place in all the chaos.

"Jade!" she called through the dark. She got on her hands and knees to crawl over to the figure sprawled out on its stomach, highlighted by Andre's small flashlight. It was her, but she seemed to have lost consciousness once she had been pinned under the boulder crushing her legs.

"Jade…" Tori whimpered, brushing at her cheek. Her skin was clammy and cool under the dust coating it. She was too still. A tear cleaned a track down Tori's dirty face and then she was up, digging her claws under the boulder. She readied her muscles to lift and then pulled up, grunting in exertion. Andre saw what she was doing once his light pointed at them. He dropped it to grab Jade under her arms and drag her out.

"I got her," he yelled and Tori let it go with another grunt. She was panting for air but didn't stop moving until she had Jade in her arms, resting on her lap.

"We need to get her back home. If we get everyone willing to donate she'll heal and come around. Don't worry," Andre told her, squeezing her shoulder to try and comfort her. Tori nodded and then stood with Jade cradled in her arms. She held her close, tightly pressed to her, while Andre took point. Walking caused her pain and she limped the whole way but Jade was in worse shape. She wasn't going to let her own minor pain affect her and she wasn't going to stop to rest when Jade was in danger. When they reached the manhole Tori passed Jade to Andre who only then realized just how light she really was.

Where Tori was packed with dense muscle and toned despite her low food intake, Jade was malnourished in comparison. She should be just as strong or almost as strong as Tori yet here she was, fragile and suffering because she couldn't ask more of the humans that hated and took her for granted. He never knew she was this badly starved. It was just like Jade to sacrifice her own health for others. He should have known by now that she was a silent sufferer. It was then Andre decided that he would make sure she made a full recovery and have her blood intake raised. Animals and cannibalism of her own kind were not enough. It was scraps and he had had enough with everyone's shitty mistreatment of her. They would have to give more to the one individual who worked hard to make sure they survived. It was the least they could do.

"Andre," Tori called to him, bringing him out of his furious thoughts. Tori had already removed the manhole and was waiting for him to pass Jade over. She climbed out with her and Andre followed. After the manhole was covered she turned for home.

"I'm taking her back to the apartment just in case she wakes up hungry," she told him.

"I'll round up some donors and get her something proper to eat," he replied. She nodded and rushed Jade home. Once inside she set her on her bed. She came back with a first aid kit and set it all out. First she worked on cutting Jade out of her torn and bloody pants. A stray bone pierced her pale, red washed flesh in some places, making Tori squeeze her eyes shut. Once they were off she used a wet rag to clean most of the blood away so that she could better see the damage even though she didn't really want to. She was spared having to do more when she heard someone come into the apartment. She rushed to cut off the intruder but it was just Cat.

"Please, help her," she pleaded. Cat was one of the best medics there, having hung out with and learned from veteran doctors as her side skill. She quickly noted the way Tori walked right off the bat.

"That's why I'm here. I came as fast as I could once I got the news. How about you relax and get some water? You might want to get off your injured foot. I'll take it from here and let you know when she's all patched up, ok? Plus, I don't think you want to be around when I set her bones, do you?" she responded, her high voice low with stoic seriousness Tori had yet to hear from her. She cringed at the thought but shook her head.

"Ok," she gulped, leaving the room quickly. As Cat suggested she got herself a glass of water and sat down heavily on the couch. Her relationship with Jade had started off so forced and rough. Jade treated her like a pet she didn't want, but that slowly turned into a kind of companionship between them. She began trusting Tori with little things. Slowly they worked up from there and became…what? She wasn't sure, but she settled on best friends, partners, colleagues, someone she could trust with her life despite the fact that they were built to oppose each other. She didn't know what she would do if something happened to Jade. She might even lik-

"Hey, how are you holding up?" Andre asked as he entered their apartment followed by Beck. She had been so deep in thought she hadn't heard them until Andre spoke, interfering with her thought process.

"I'm fine," she mumbled.

"You don't look fine. Here, I brought food. We can all sit down and eat while Cat works and then revive Jade afterwards with the blood Andre brought," Beck suggested. Tori set aside her cup and stood with a grateful smile. She opened her mouth to reply when there was a crash and a scream from the room. Tori was the quickest of the three to react, leaping forward to shove them aside and sprint for the room. She ran in to see Jade holding Cat by the neck, yanking her down, bringing her closer to her bared fangs. Her eyes were hard and wild, feral. She snarled when Tori entered, eyes flicking to the hybrid. Tori's frame trembled, yearning to allow her body to change in reaction to Jade's hostility, but she remained calm. She took a step forward and Jade responded by dragging Cat down to the bed so that she was laying in her lap, arms pinned down and neck exposed to Jade's teeth.

"My kill," Jade growled low, her sharp nails digging into Cat possessively. She bit her lip in pain but held back any noise.

"Jade, please, it's just me," Tori whispered, holding out a hand and continuing to advance. Her gaze didn't register recognition so Tori licked at her dry lips and tried again, anxious. At any time the vampire could bite Cat. Even if she didn't drain her dry she would become infected. Tori had to tread lightly but act fast.

"You're too weak to stop me if I take her," she growled, turning her careful steps into slow, stalking, ones. Jade visibly tensed, her eyes focusing on Tori's every movement.

"Are you challenging me?" she hissed, enraged.

"Yes," Tori confirmed. Jade began loosening her hold on Cat, moving to attack Tori the closer she got, but then she spotted the other two behind Tori and reclaimed Cat.

"You think you can trick me?" she demanded. Tori's brows furrowed but then she looked back to see Beck and Andre who froze under her glare before backing away, sensing that they came in at a bad time.

"No, they're gone. It's just me and you. The winner gets the prize," Tori told her, gesturing to Cat whose eyes widened. A predator's smirk crossed Jade's lips. She released Cat to shove her aside before vaulting off the bed to attack. She charged and met Jade head on, throwing her weakened frame to the floor. They hit it hard, cracking the wood paneling under them. Jade cried out in pain and Tori forced back her own pained expression at hurting her. Jade's nails dug into her side and she gasped, smacking it away only for Jade to flip them over violently and sink her teeth in Tori's neck. She screamed this time, striking for Jade's throat in a sucker punch that made the vampire choke and withdraw. Tori shoved her off and sat up, clutching at her torn neck, panting.

Jade was ruthless in her hunger crazed state. She was a true killer. She lunged at Tori again, biting into her shoulder and latching on. Tori thrashed and tried to fight her off. The first few gulps of her blood passed Jade's lips before she pulled away. She staggered, clutching at her torso. Disoriented just a little from blood loss and pain, Tori still managed to drag Jade to her feet and get her to the tub just in time for her body to reject the blood she had drank. Tori held her steady on her knees, a hand holding back her hair while the other rubbed at her back. When all of it was out Jade slumped on the edge of the porcelain tub, limp and ghostly pale. Tori hugged her close with a whine, and rested her forehead on Jade's back. She felt so frail, nothing like the strong individual she knew Jade to be.

"Tori?" Jade questioned. Even her voice was weak and ragged.

"Yeah, I'm here," the hybrid answered quickly, sitting up to gather Jade in her arms. Only then did she notice the black shorts Jade wore along with the bandages wrapped around her thighs and calves down to her ankles.

"I told you I can't drink your blood. I'll get sick. Stop trying to help me you stupid mutt," she grunted out, her eyes fluttering closed and her momentary scowl sliding off her now slack features. Tori allowed a small chuckle at that and leaned down to place a kiss on Jade's forehead. She then picked her up and took her back to the room, setting her on the bed. Beck and Andre were there calming a nervous Cat.

"Her dormant, 'animal instincts' I guess you could say, must have been triggered when she woke up with someone she didn't know near her while she was in a vulnerable state. It took her a while to even get used to me being in the same house when she slept, let alone in the same room. She didn't recognize you and perceived you as a threat, or prey," Tori explained, brushing away a lock of Jade's hair before sitting down next to her.

"Is that what happened?" Andre spoke up. Tori nodded.

"Maybe you should leave the rest to me? I'm the only one she knows well enough and the only one strong enough but also immune to the virus. I can handle her alone," she insisted. They all exchanged a look before Andre gave her the blood and they left, wishing her good luck. She thanked them then locked the front door once they were gone. She returned to Jade's side, contemplating how she would get most of the blood in her mouth without making a mess, which would waste some of it, and she couldn't afford that. Jade was out cold, no doubt slipping away by the second. She had to think quickly. She stared down at the two packs in her hand and grimaced when an idea came to her. It was for Jade. She had to do it.

She set aside one and then tore into the other with her own sharp teeth. She took in a mouthful, cringing at the metallic taste and thick texture, before bringing her mouth to Jade's. With a hand at her chin for more ease of access, she passed the blood from her mouth to the vampire's, her tongue brushing Jade's in hope that the taste alone would wake her. With a start Jade jerked into motion, her sharp nailed fingers lashing out to dig and hold on to Tori's shoulders. She pulled away from Jade's slightly open mouth to begin pouring in the rest of the bag. Jade opened her mouth wider for more then took the pack from her and sucked all she could from it. She threw it aside with a growl and sat up, holding a hand to her head.

"Fuck, what happened?" she demanded, groaning.

"Jade? Is that you?" Tori checked, even at the expense of sounding stupid for sure if Jade really was back.

"Of course it's me. Who else would it be?" she snapped back with clarity. Tori couldn't help but smile. Before Jade could ask why she was smiling like an idiot she pulled her into a huge hug. Jade went rigid before Tori's familiar and comforting warmth permeated her cold body. She sighed and then wrapped Tori in her arms too. Her nose inhaled the scent of blood, but not just human blood, Tori's strange and unique blood as well. She pulled back to see it smeared across her neck, shoulder, and side. Tori hadn't paid much attention to her injuries because she was too caught up in Jade, but they were all pretty much healed except for her aching foot.

"What the hell happened to you? Did I…?" she questioned, face falling into disappointment when she finally came to the only conclusion that made sense. She began to worry what else she might have done, but Tori quickly calmed her.

"You didn't know. You were confused and hungry and in pain. Jade, listen to me," Tori tried to say, holding her in place when she moved to turn away. A sting of pain in her legs made her suck in a breath and glance at her wrapped up lower half. Jade refused to look at the hybrid so Tori cupped her face in her hands, making her. Jade's brows knitted together and an expression Tori never saw before rested in her eyes and face. She was scared. Under the pain and sadness and anger and frustration and anything else that might be tearing her apart from the inside out, she was scared. Suddenly, Tori understood the true use of her scissor sharp jabs. She was pushing everyone away so that she wouldn't get attached.

People would see her as unresponsive to anything they offered her. She hoped they would give up. She wanted anything they could offer but was too scared to break again. She would rather wallow in her own lonely corner than drag anyone down with her. But Tori wouldn't let her. Not this time. Even if Jade would be the one to kill her she would stay by her side. She owed it to the self-sacrificing vampire that was more human than anyone she had met so far. Because who else had been willing to die for those they loved, as well as strangers, and not ask for anything in return like Jade had? She did it for her brother and failed, but now she did it for this last handful of people who frankly didn't deserve it, in Tori's opinion. All that she had done and she still wouldn't take one thing for herself, too afraid it would be taken back.

"This is why I can't…" Jade began, only for her voice to crack. Tori smiled at her tenderly and stroked her cheek with her thumb before leaning in without hesitation and kissed her. It was chaste but warm and cleared away the vampire's ever present insecurity. It felt pure despite the blood staining their lips.

"I've got you Jade, and I'm not letting go no matter what you say," Tori mumbled after their lips parted, now centimeters away. She looked into Jade's monochrome eyes to see the gears turning in her head. Jade didn't want that three worded phrase of endearment, affection, and adoration to even find a place in her ever again, but she couldn't fight it. Not this time.

"You look like you have something you wanna say," Tori said with her bright smile reassuring Jade. She placed a lukewarm hand to Tori's warm cheek.

"You're an idiot," she finally stated. Tori laughed, her smile growing and bringing a soft one to Jade's full lips. She shook her head and then brought Tori in for another kiss. They smiled against each other's mouths, feeling nothing but happiness in that moment. They enjoyed it while they could. With the sun climbing high into the sky, Tori pulled Jade into her arms and curled up around her. She wasn't going to move until it was time for her to wake up. Jade knew this so she returned the embrace without complaint. She was never one to indulge but she figured she could allow it at least once.