School and writer's block made it hard for me to complete this update before, but here we are! Read and review :D

He's a wily one.

Demetri trades punches with the vampire before throwing him flat on his back, the latter scrambling to get back on his feet as quickly as he can. He's faster than the others he's dealt with and gets back up at a quicker pace, racing over to this night's choice of victim. "Well, I'm sure they wouldn't miss another of the humans, would they? There's so many of them around, after all." He doesn't disagree with that but he does disagree with a lot of other things. That includes exposing all of them for his needs. "You're not doing this just for the food, are you?" he asks, trying to stall while he figures a way to achieve their best-case scenario. Demetri's number one priority is to take the vampire down, but he knows Sophia would be upset if she thinks that he could've helped the girl but chose not to. She doesn't understand how high the stakes are.

At least that's what he's been telling himself.

"I have a feeling you know the answer to that question, my friend," the man in front of him answers, a hand holding the human girl's throat in a vice. "Well, I can't risk our exposure," Demetri replies coolly. "The risk is too great."

"Then I guess one more human doesn't matter to you." Not really.

"If that's how you want this to go down, then," he says, heading for the vampire in front of him who is preparing to sink his teeth into the human's throat. He registers the sound of a car in his background, and it grows exponentially louder till it comes almost crashing to a halt, barreling into the man in front of him as she reverses quickly into the wall behind her. The impact throws them off, the girl landing a fair distance away while the man gets displaced just a little, nose flared in anger. Demetri already knows who the driver is before she steps out, her eyes focused on the man in front of her.

"You let your human toy live, buddy?" the killer turns to him, sneering. "Well, she smells so, so fucking good, I have to say. Maybe I can have a taste?" He doesn't move as fast Demetri would expect, inching his way slowly towards Sophia instead. The man's eyes are alight with animalistic glee as she steps back, making her way towards the injured girl instead. "Ooh. Two for the price of one. I like that." He stalks towards Sophia, and Demetri is calculating the best way to get her out of here alive. It's not looking too good, given how focused the killer is on her now and knowing that if he runs, that man will get to her first.

She starts moving away from the injured woman, in a direction he at first doesn't understand why she's taking. "I guess this is all a game to you," she asks the man, keeping her eyes locked on her face. It takes a minute for Demetri to realise she's putting herself in a path where he would get to the killer first and not her. Whatever her plan is, it's both brilliant and a death wish.

"Yeah, it kind of is," the vampire replies nonchalantly. "What's the most fun part for you?" she asks him, voice even. "Mmm," he shakes his head quizzically, walking closer to her, "maybe the torture?" She changes her slow pace again, this time putting him even closer to Demetri while increasing the distance between her and the former. If the killer has caught on, he doesn't care. "But there are no marks on your victims apart from the teeth," she counters. "Well, there's certain torture in slowly draining you of blood while the venom burns you inside out, my dear." "Hmm," she replies, just as coolly as before - he sees her fist is curled upon something. There's a glint of silver before a stream of blood makes its way down her arm and she turns to him, mouthing only one word.

Now.

As the killer races towards her in the frenzy of fresh bloodlust, Demetri throws the entirety of his body weight into capturing the killer, his neck in a lock as he twists it hard enough to make the skin crack. She pulls out a lighter and what looks like pepper spray out of her hand, shooting the aerosol straight through the small flame as he sees a flash of deadly anger in her eyes. The plume hits the exposed crack in killer's neck and Demetri steps back as the flames start to engulf the head, Sophia rushing to the girl to tend to her. Her wound is deep enough for the smell of her blood to hit him with full force, the previous events having only increased his hunger.

Every nerve in his being is telling him to just go over and have his way, to taste the source of that sweet smell after he's done burning this body to ashes. Their eyes meet for a second and she understands as he leaves the scene once the task is done, walking as fast as the charade of being human would allow him to. Once he's sufficiently out of sight of the public, he races out of the city and to the mountains, putting as much distance as he can without being too far to get back to her if needed. The thirst is burning his throat so he settles for the two late-night campers in the thick wilderness, teeth sinking into each of their bodies with ravenous speed as he drains them dry. It helps that they smell fairly appetising, but it doesn't erase the smell of her blood from his mind or his senses.

Demetri takes a deep breath, inhaling lungfuls of clean mountain air as he looks for another source to fill him up. There's plenty of animals around, but he knows that will only fill his stomach but intensify the want for her blood more, so he travels further down the Olympic trail. There's the scent of another human - a hitchhiker, he finds out after coming close enough to see him - and he goes in for the kill again, drinking until he's full. The burning in his throat now gone, he makes his way back to Seattle, taking a short stop at a cliffside. The moonlight shines on the tranquil sea, and he sits down at the edge, closing his eyes for a moment.

He has to learn to deal with her smell better. If they continue being together, there will be times when accidents happen and she will bleed. Will he lose control like this every time? And what if he isn't able to leave in time or if he gives in? Demetri knows there's only one solution to this problem, and it isn't one he can decide all on his own. He takes out his phone and after a cursory check to make sure the thing works, decides to call her, the phone ringing for a while before she picks up. "Hey." Hearing her voice helps him centre himself, and he takes in another deep breath as he hears the sounds of people moving around on her end.

"I called 911 - we're at UW's Medical Center right now and the girl is now stable. The cops have already talked to me, and I've been seen to by the medical staff. They do want me to be here for another day or two for some questions just in case."

"That's good."

"Are you okay?" she says, and he hears the bustling sound die down behind her. "It's totally fine if you don't want to talk right now or see me right now." Funny, her priorities are.

"Believe me, all I want to do is see you right now," he answers, looking down at his bloodied clothes, "I don't think it would help us be inconspicuous if I showed up at the hospital with the amount of blood that is on my clothes."

"I retrieved your coat," he hears some shuffling around after she says that, "okay, good. I was just doing a double check to make sure I had all our stuff on me. I'll rent a car and meet you wherever you want if that's okay?"

"That is ideal."

"Okay, just text me where you're going to be and I'll see you as soon as I can make it, alright? I have no head trauma so I've been cleared to drive." `

"Alright, be safe." There's more he wants to say, but it's not something he wants to say over the phone, not for the first time, so he just sends her the coordinates and waits, checking her location as she makes her way to the ridge he is at. It takes her about ninety or so minutes but she makes it there. As soon as the car stops, she steps out and walks up to him, hands cradling his face as she kisses him gently. "I have blood all over me," he remarks, Sophia shaking her head as she chuckles, her nose brushing against his. "You're okay, and that's all that matters," she tells him. They stay that way under the cloudy night sky for a while, her head moving to rest on his chest as she just holds him. "I should be the one saying that you know," he says into her hair, making her look up as she once again takes his face in her hands. "Just because you're near indestructible doesn't mean you can't be upset or not okay," she says back, running her fingers over the streak of blood marring his cheek.

Sophia insists on driving back as well, so he takes the opportunity to sit back and relax, the peaceful piano music a welcome sound. The get to their hotel soon enough, and he dons his coat before the two of them make their way through the lobby and up to their suite. She drops her stuff by the door before heading for the bathroom, the sound of rushing water following suit. "We both need a good shower," she tells him, eyes lingering on his frame as he follows her in. She stands under the shower fully clothed, water running down her face in rivulets. "Come on in."

Demetri steps in, the water washing away the blood dried on his face and hands. His shirt, rusted with the dried blood, sticks to his frame as he's eventually soaked. "You could have died," is all he says as his eyes lock with hers. She moves to take his shirt off, revealing the scars beneath from battles past. "Like you, it's a risk I am willing to take," she replies, her fingers lingering over his chest, and she moves to kiss the one on his shoulder. No words are exchanged but at this point, he feels he doesn't need any to get his point across to her. He moves to help her take her shirt off, and she winces when it catches on her bandage; they'll have to change that after. "How were you not scared?" he asks her, still unable to understand that bit of what happened. "Someone else's life was at stake at that very moment," is her simple answer, voice as even as the moments she was face to face with a serial killer.

There's dried blood on her forearm and while the wound has stopped bleeding, the faint smell of her exposed blood lingers. "A lot has happened today, and I've realised that life's too damn short to keep some things to yourself till the right moment. I want you to be able to tell me everything, even the fucked up stuff. Especially that." Her eyes come back to meet his and she looks like she might cry. "I want you to know that I'm in love with you. All of you."

"Well, lucky for you, that's exactly what I wanted to tell you," he says, his voice tight as he tries to keep his tone light. He's not said this in centuries, and it means even more now. She's seen all of him - the good, bad and ugly - and after all of that, she's decided that she's still in love with him. "Are you always this smarmy telling people that you love them?" she says with a shaky laugh. "No," he replies, kissing her palm as he curls his fingers over it. "I haven't said this to anyone in a long, long time, centuries truly, and I want you to know that I mean it. I love you, with all of my being and I can't bear you getting hurt on my account. " In this quiet where no one else can hear them, amongst all the blood and hurt, all that hangs in the air are their declarations.

"It'll be okay," she whispers while closing the distance - like them, it's their own atypical version of a kiss in the rain. They make their way to the remade bed after the shower, Sophia settling into the covers next to him after she finishes bandaging her hand. "Is it fine if we just stay like this?" she asks him, a tentative hand on his arm. In response, Demetri pulls her close and over the course of a few minutes, she falls asleep, holding him.

She's right - they will be okay.