Memories

Blood Ties

Disclaimer: What do you think?

If you want to use Tora, or any of my other characters, PM me.

Tora dived under the bed and pulled out the box coated in silver, an effective vampire repellent. Flicking the catches open, she flung the lid back and smiled. Etana had come up trumps again. A quiver of arrows that were wooden- and silver-tipped, bottles and bottles of holy water, a vast plethora of Jewish religious symbols and mirrors, prisms and a blacked-out jar marked 'Bottled Sunlight' which Tora had a sneaking suspicion was actually sunlight which Etana had somehow trapped. A list of instructions lay underneath the quiver, written in Japanese. Tora picked it up and quickly scanned the page.

Dear Logan. I sincerely hope you never need this kit, but if you do, I hope you'll use it well. To use the sunlight jar, only peel back the black covering. If you're ever surrounded… I'd open it, but then you'll need to replenish the jar by leaving it in direct sunlight for two hours and then closing the lid tightly. You'll have two hours of light if you simply peel it back, but if you open the jar, you'll suddenly get two hours of direct sunlight in a matter of seconds. I don't think you'll be able to use the symbols as you never shared my faith, but if there's anyone who can use them, hand them over immediately. Try to keep the whole kit up to date. Oh, and if you use the arrows, try and get them back. Silver-tipping is incredibly difficult to do as the shaft kept crumbling to charcoal. The wooden tips are okay unless they're wearing armour. Oh, there's some water guns in the other box. If facing one of the more powerful vampires, dip one of the silver-coated arrows with the religious symbols engraved in the holy water and convert to a theist religion. Or Buddhism. Etana.

Tora half-peeled the black cover off and was treated to a brief flash of warm summer sunlight before covering it up again. She smiled ferociously. Etana might not be able to directly interfere with human affairs now unless it was someone dying, but she could certainly give a helping hand. Tora wouldn't have known Etana had this box unless sheet of paper had been found in the hospital next to an old man who had requested his life support machine be turned off.

The note had been short and sweet, written in English to 'my daughter', an odd fact considering the man didn't have any family at all. All it had said was Under the bed in New York, lies a box of silver, filled with blessed water and arrows of light. Fire them at shadows and hope you shall remain alive.

It had been reported as a minor oddity, asking if anyone knew anything about this riddle. Tora had known instantly who had been behind it. Knowing Etana, she'd have been writing 'poetry' when the job came up and she'd have 'accidentally' left it behind. No actual breaking the rules, but still helping out. Typical Etana.

Death tutted softy.

"Typical. You know, I sometimes wonder if it was worth taking her on, and then she does something that completely revolutionises the Afterlife and makes my life so much easier."

"Death…?"

"Yes?"

"You aren't alive."

"Well lah-di-da Miss I'm-Alive-And-You're-Not"

Curt grabbed Logan's arm.

"Dad…"

"Yeah?"

"I know you won't let me go, but when you find her, give Jubes this…"

"Sure thing."

He took the little packet and grinned at him.

"This from Maman?"

"No. From me. Wade gave me a couple. It's an amulet to protect vampires from the sun. You know…"

"Thanks kid."

"And Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"Am I too young for a girlfriend?"

Logan stared at him for a long moment.

"Let's discuss that when I get back, shall we?"

"Sure thing Dad!"

Logan turned and got on the boat. Tora was sitting in the corner, fingers pressed to her temples, deeply immersed in another reality. No point saying goodbye. She'd barely notice.

He climbed on the boat, after soaking his gloves in the water from Etana's kit.

"Again, she saves the X-Men. If I'd known, I'd have revoked farseeing rights…"

"Ah, don't be a spoilsport Death."

"And what do you want me to do? Spank my son-"

Tora's eyes flashed silver.

"We have blood."

"I don't need blood."

"We have Etana's blood."

Silence for a long moment. Then Scott grabbed Tora's hand.

"What the hell are you planning?"

"You were 'friends' weren't you? Or as close as a vampire lord and his hunter can be."

"I cared for Etana. She was the one bride who I would have chosen over all the others, even you Ororo. She was never turned, no matter how hard I tried, how often I drank. You fail to realise how wonderful her blood was…"

"Oh, I know. I know how one drop of her blood can heal you from the most grievous wounds and give you huge amounts of energy."

"Ah, Ororo. You look as radiant as ever. I'd bow, but circumstances prevent me. And Blade, always a pleasure to see my self-proclaimed nemesis. Half human. Half vampire. All irrelevant."

Etana sauntered in.

"Hello Vlad."

"Etana!" The vampire lord sounded genuinely happy. "As ravishing as always. Red suits you. Do you remember the dinner in Calais, in –oh, when was it- You wore that stunning low-cut red dress with the corset and we spoke politely, danced and then you staked me through the heart?"

"Could never forget it."

They were chatting softly, like old friends.

"When did we last meet?"

"'99. The bucket of water over the door."

"That was you? Ah, I should have guessed. You shifted my dust perfectly you know? Wonderful sleep… Have you reconsidered my offer?"

"Sorry sweetheart. You've been out for a while. Married and a mother, that's me…"

"Who should I offer the most profound of congratulations, all the while plotting to kill him and steal his wife?"

"Steve Rogers."

"Ah, the typical all-American boy-next-door. Etana, I'm ashamed of you. Stooping so low…"

"Vlad, we have a problem. A vampire problem."

Emma glanced at Scott who shook his head. The message was clear. Let Etana deal with this.

"And you resurrected me? What problem would be so terrible you could not deal with it my dear?"

"Your son."

"Ah… Xarus, I presume?"

"Exactly. You should have let me stake him and scatter the dust across the nations when I asked."

"How was I to know he would turn out so…disappointing?"

"Here's the deal. You defeat Xarus, reclaim the vampire throne and we go back to our old deal, plus a little extra."

"What 'little extra'?"

"One pint of my blood a month, free of charge."

Silence for a long moment. Then Dracula's lips curled up cruelly.

"My, my. You do have a problem, don't you? Your blood? The blood of the Shadow? The sweetest of the mortals? My dear, you have a deal. Now release me."

Etana walked over to the console and Scott caught her arm.

"Etana, what are you doing!"

"Saving your sorry hide. Oh, and don't tell Steve about Vlad's…obsession. It's slightly creepy."

"You're telling me!"

Dracula's lips curled up in exactly the same cruel smile.

"How much blood?"

"Enough for you to have one pint every four months for three years. More than you used to get, wasn't it? You'd get a taste, what, every sixty years or so? Every time she failed to kill you, you got a drink? Wasn't that your deal?"

Dracula nodded slowly. Then he nodded.

"I accept. Her blood in exchange for my…services. Summers, consider your vampire problem, dealt with."

Tora turned away, stared at Scott for a long moment, then spoke very softly.

"She's saved our hide yet again Scott. One day you're going to have to admit that Etana was an X-Man. She was one of us."

"No. She wasn't an X-Man. She was a loose-cannon. Like you're becoming. What was that just now!"

"Me saving lives! Does that bother you Scott? That I'm saving real, human lives? If I hadn't brokered this deal, we'd be scuppered! Lost! Defeated! I know what you've planned with Logan, Scott and I don't like it! But I'm going through with it because I think we need to survive! We need to save lives, because that's what the X-Men are about! Saving lives! And if you've forgotten that, then maybe you need to step down as leader!"

"Are you challenging me! You want to be leader, fine, you lead."

"I'm no leader Scott. That's your job. But do it properly, or we'll find someone else who can do it."

"You're stepping too far Tora."

"No Scott. You are."

She turned and stalked out, her hair –uncut for a long time so now rippling around the small of her back instead of cut to her shoulder blades- streaming out behind her. Scott blinked.

"Did Tora just tell me I'm not cut out for running Utopia?"

Emma shook her head.

"I think she's telling you she's fed up of how you're running Utopia."

Scott pinched the bridge of his nose.

"How do we fix this Emma? How do we fix us? How do we fix Tora?"

"I don't know darling. I don't know…"

"And Tora registers her anger for the first time. Kind of sweet."

"I think she was channelling Kurt just then."

"No, feel the emotions. Anger, that's Tora. Disappointment? That's Kurt."