Author's Note: I'll be honest, this is not my best chapter. It feels filler-y to me, although after my long absence from updating, maybe it will be useful. I don't have much inspiration for this story right now, but I have started writing the next chapter which is more action-filled. I really do want to finish this fic, especially after how much effort I've invested into it. I'm in a fanfic mood at the moment which is why I'm making myself update Dust by Dawn. Since my last DBD update, I've moved to a different country (hello USA!) and added a puppy to the family, which is taking up a lot of time but I wouldn't change it for the world. When I do get the time to write, it's in the 30 minutes puppy spends napping.

If you like my writing-style and want a more mature/adult approach to a fic, I've recently published a MayxDrew assassin AU fic (The Mistakes We Make), which I'm much more inspired for at the moment. I'd love you to check that out, but mostly I just appreciate I still have readers for Dust By Dawn and all support for this fic is greatly appreciated. The reviews keep me going, and I try to respond to them all, but I'm sorry if I forgot to respond to any reviews for the last chapter. If it's been a while since the chapter was posted and then a review comes in, it tends to slip under the radar- but sometimes that is exactly what inspires me to write the next chapter. Anyway, at the moment I'm trying to do a chapter for a chapter: i.e, each chapter for TMWM I write, I make myself write a chapter for DBD, and that seems to be my greatest motivator right now.

So, I do hope you like this chapter, but I also won't blame you if you skip this chapter and wait for the next update lol. You should probably skim at least the second half of this chapter though, as it does set some stuff up for the future that you might not want to miss... anyways...

Enjoy.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Old Friends, New Enemies

White collapsed on her bed, looking overwhelmed to be home.

"You have no idea how much I missed you all," she croaked as if there was a lump in her throat. Tears of joy sparkled on her cheeks,.

White is home, May marvelled silently. Her head spun with all of the night's events, but the most important right now was that White was home.

The girls had changed into pyjamas and locked the bedroom door so they could catch up properly—and not risk being overheard.

"I can't believe we finally have you back!" Misty leapt forward suddenly to envelop White in a huge hug.

May exchanged a glance with Dawn and then they jumped in to create a giggling dogpile on the bed.

When they finally pulled apart, Misty had a question: the question they were all thinking.

"How did you escape?"

White chewed on her bottom lip before replying.

"N," she said after a lengthy pause.

May nodded. It wasn't for a few moments that the one syllable answer sunk in.

Yet none of them were confused or angry or struggling to understand the implication.

They all accepted it.

When did we all start to acknowledge that not all vampires are evil and not all of them are our enemies?

Was it just because N arrived at the ball with White and it was clear she trusted him? Or was it more than that?

"He really betrayed his vampire friends and got you out of there?" Dawn asked. She sounded the most wary, and had a guarded expression on her face.

"Yes." White looked at her feet. "We had a few conversations over the days I was imprisoned and we both realised we have a lot more in common than we ever could have thought. Clearly you guys have realised the same thing." She looked up at Misty. "I can't believe you danced with Ash."

Misty smiled slightly. "He's not so bad."

Whatever was happening here—whatever they each seemed to have started to realise on their own—it was dangerous and forbidden… and right. May couldn't explain it, but it was. It felt right.

"Our real enemies aren't the vampires," May said. "It's Hunter J. She wants to destroy all of us. She tried to capture Drew and she tried to kill Dawn."

Thankfully no-one latched onto the part she let slip about Drew. She'd forgotten her friends didn't know about that. It happened so long ago. So much had happened since. Her friends had all changed their minds about the vampires, but still… she didn't want to field questions about why she'd saved him. Why even back then she'd gone against sacred slayer code. Especially since she could barely make sense of it herself even now.

Misty nodded. "And she might be working with Grace."

It was May's turn to be shocked. "What?"

"Oh, yeah, I forgot. White and I saw Hunter J sneaking out of the Christmas Ball through a servant's door, and then we saw Grace sneak out the exact same way. Remember how Grace was in a meeting for the whole duration of the Ball?"

"No way," May breathed.

"Grace was meeting with Hunter J?" Dawn asked.

"Seems so," Misty said.

"Grace really is working against us," Dawn declared, her eyes dark. "We can't trust anyone outside this room."

"Not even the boys?" White asked. "Black?"

"Especially not the boys. Red won't give us a straight answer about what happened to Leaf. There's no good reason for her not coming back with him." Misty's tone turned sour.

Dawn stood up determinedly. "We need to go to Slayer High Command and find her."

"Wait!" May's eyes widened. "I just remembered. Gary cornered me at the Ball and asked where Leaf was. I told him 'cause I didn't think it mattered if he knew. I think he already went looking for her."

"Gary?" Dawn repeated incredulously. "He and Paul are the worse vampires. If he's looking for Leaf, there's no telling what he'll do when he finds her. We have to find her first."

"Gary's not as bad as he seems," White said. "Don't worry. Leaf can look after herself and although I will never forgive the things Gary and Drew have done, I truly don't believe Gary would hurt her. Things are changing at the castle. Grace is the person we have to worry about now."

"And Hunter J," May added.

"Hang on." Misty dropped her head into her hands, rubbing circles into her temples. "Let me get this straight. Gary went looking for Leaf, but he probably won't hurt her. Grace and Hunter J are our real enemies. Some of the vampires want peace and seem to be on our side, but not all of them are—especially not Gary, Drew, and Paul."

May almost spoke up, but managed to hold her tongue. She didn't have any proof that Drew wanted peace. Suddenly she realised she'd never heard him say that at all. They had formed an uneasy alliance to fight Hunter J. Not to work together for peace like White and N or, apparently, Misty and Ash.

What does Drew want?

She hadn't really thought about it until now. She'd been so focused on Hunter J and protecting her friends that she never stopped to wonder at what Drew's ulterior motives might be. Their interactions at the Ball had been confusing and exciting and strange. She couldn't deny that she'd enjoyed being in his arms—that she had wanted to kiss him… but now it was hours later, cold doubt was creeping in: doubt that she didn't really know him; doubt that it was all just a game to him.

"Did you ever think we would be having a conversation like this?" White asked, a smile on her lips.

"I could barely think anything other than getting you back from the castle," Dawn said, gazing at White as if checking she was real and not a ghost.

"I mean, before all this started. Before the TWAS boys got here. Did you ever think we'd be questioning everything we ever learned about vampires and… our own commander?" White's voice became quiet.

May shook her head. She never thought she could ever see Grace as anything other than a mother figure. Now she didn't know if she could trust her at all… it was terrifying and horrible, and yet it was worse that she'd started to work with a vampire—started to see a vampire as something other than just a monster to be hunted.

Can I trust you, Drew? she wondered silently.

"No," Misty said with an edge to her voice. "But we are here. Up is down and left is right, but we have to keep going. The citizens of Kalos are depending on us. I don't know what Grace's motives might be, but if they were for the good of the region, she would have no reason not to share her plans with us. Whatever it is must be bad. So, let's pretend to not have an inkling of what's going on, and we'll see what we can learn. And if Leaf isn't back soon, we will go and find her. As much as I'm starting to trust Ash, I don't trust Gary as far as I can throw him."

"Agreed," Dawn said.

May quickly added assent, though it took White a moment to add her voice.

"We can't really do anything tonight," Dawn said with a sigh. "Let's get some sleep."

"In my own bed!" White exclaimed lovingly, spreading out her palms to caress the sheets.

Despite saying they should leave, they all lingered another few minutes… which turned into a quarter of an hour… which turned into half an hour. It almost felt like if they left, White might vanish into smoke. It was crazy and incredible to have her back, and none of them wanted to leave. But, eventually, they did.

It was probably sometime around two or three in the morning when May trailed back to her own room.

She opened her bedroom door and closed it gently, letting the click of the lock fill the empty space.

Her head whirled with everything that had happened. White was home, Grace was working with Hunter J, and Drew had looked like he was going to kiss her at the Ball.

And she had wanted him to.

She shook her head and stood in the middle of the room for a moment, heavy with all the thoughts on her mind.

What she needed now was sleep, but she had a feeling that would be a far-off wish tonight.

She meandered over to her window, more from habit than anything. Drew had told her to text him, but she wasn't ready to reach out just yet. She needed to get her thoughts straight… she needed to sift through all the emotions their encounter at the Ball had brought up.

It was habit to stand at her window and gaze out into the night. Her eyes wandered down the street, finding the warehouse she and Drew had explored together—the place they had first realised they needed to work together because Hunter J was involved in something much bigger than just the slayer-vs-vampires war.

The darkness, lit by a couple of streetlights and a few stars far overhead, was comforting on her tired eyes. She started to blink slowly, until her eyelids were spending more time closed than open, even while standing.

She should go to bed…

A noise brought her out of her reverie. A few weeks ago, a sound like that wouldn't have even registered. But she had changed. Now, the soft purr of a quiet engine was one of the scariest noises.

May landed closer to the window and squinted down the street.

A large truck with a long, rectangular storage box on the back came to a stop outside Hunter J's warehouse.

May's heartbeat accelerated.

It could be nothing. But a truck that size should be making a great deal more noise… it had been muffled for a reason. If May had learned anything, it was not to ignore the small details.

As she watched, Hunter J jumped out of the driver's seat, closed the door quietly, and walked to the back. She opened up the doors to the storage bed and five people emerged from the warehouse to join her.

In twos, they entered the truck bed and re-emerged a minute later hoisting a large crate between them… a people-sized crate.

Or a vampire-sized crate.

May knew what they kept inside the warehouse. Frozen vampires, to be sold later to the highest bidder.

She watched three crates get unloaded and ferried into the warehouse, and then she pulled out her phone.

She had half a text composed—Drew, tell me you're alive…—before she stopped and took a breath. If he was fine, he would mock her mercilessly for her worry. She couldn't bear to reveal weakness to him like that. He had told her to text him, yes, but he hadn't meant tonight. He'd think she couldn't get enough of him, which simply wasn't true.

She deleted the text quickly and composed a new one.

Hunter J is moving crates into the warehouse… might be new captured vampires.

—May

She didn't feel like joking around, and telling him of Hunter J's movements was a legitimate cause to text.

She watched Hunter J's team unload a few more boxes—ten in total—and then someone got in the truck to drive it off while the others, Hunter J included, disappeared into the warehouse.

She remained at the window for twenty minutes, but nothing happened.

And no text came through.

Considering the options, she supposed it was unlikely that Hunter J would emerge again tonight—she'd be busy with whatever she had in this crates—and if she stayed at her window any longer, she'd drive herself crazy with worry that Drew wasn't texting back.

There was only one thing to do. Only one thing that Ould channel her energies into something productive.

With one last, longing glance down the street, she turned her back on the window and grabbed her stakes.

When she entered the training room in the basement, it was empty. She pulled out a dummy and set it up in the middle of the room, barely warming up before beginning with throwing practice.

After five consecutive shots to the heart, she switched to running through combinations, pretending the dummy was a vampire attacking her. She dove into rolls, jumps, sidesteps and her hand driving her stake into the dummy's heart again and again and again.

She was sweating but not slowing down when the elevator pinged, telling her someone was about to join her.

She didn't spare any thoughts being scared. Going gone were the days she envisioned emerald eyes glaring out of the darkness at her.

She continued her sequence, vaguely aware of someone standing on the edge of the room, watching her.

They applauded when she carried out a spin-and-backward-stab with her stake landing perfectly in the dummy's heart, again.

Breathing hard, she finally turned to face whoever disturbed her.

"Brendan," she said, panting. Her thoughts were a million miles away. "What are you doing down here?"

"I could ask you the same thing." He walked forward, his eyes glimmering with warmth—but he wasn't smiling.

She shrugged. Her stake hung limply at her side as she realised her arm had started to ache. "Couldn't sleep."

"You're really made a lot of progress in your training, you know." He came to a stop in front of her, close enough for her to make out some of the black hair escaping his white hat.

"Thanks." She sounded terse, but she was exhausted. She didn't have the energy to pretend she was fine.

"May…" His tone was cautious. It made her wary; he seemed about to say something he didn't thinks he would like.

"May," he repeated, a little stronger, as if working himself up for it. "What happened at the Ball?"

The question genuinely confused her. "What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean."

"I really don't, I'm sorry."

Her forehead scrunched as she tried to think back to what he might be referring to. She didn't think he had seen her with Drew at all… though if he had, she would have to do some quick thinking to explain it…

"First, you disappear on me when I go to get you a drink and then I can't find you at all for our patrol, which you don't seem concerned about. And then White appears mysteriously in the middle of it… I just want to know what's going on, May." He sounded concerned, and maybe a little sad that she'd abandoned him.

She did feel bad about that. Once she'd seen Drew, she'd all but forgotten Brendan's existence.

"I'm sorry. The Ball was…" she struggled for words to explain without revealing anything. "Kind of crazy, you know? White escaping from he castle just eclipsed everything, and we all needed to just protect her and make sure she was safe while also protecting the humans there. We reorganised ourselves, it was just easier. But I should have kept you in the loop," she admitted.

He nodded, seeming satisfied with that part of the explanation."Did she tell you how she escaped?"

His tone was perfectly innocent, but the question left a bad taste in her mouth. Did it matter how she escaped?

"All that matters is that she did escape, and she's safe with us now." Even as the response left her mouth, she found herself wincing. She sounded too harsh, and that was only going to make him more suspicious.

A shadow eclipsed Brendan's eyes. "May…" he reached out, but didn't touch her. "We used to be good friends, didn't we? What happened to us?"

May swallowed. They did used to be good friends… she even used to have a crush on him. But she couldn't even begin to explain how she'd changed. Things were just different now.

"I don't know… I'm sorry, Brendan. It's just…" A thought suddenly occurred to her. "Red is being so cagey about why he left Leaf behind and where she is now, and we're really worried about her. I don't have the energy to care about much else right now, other than out duties, of course."

"Right." Brendan briefly glanced away, as if he knew something but didn't want to share it.

Irritation flashed under May's skin. Here he was, asking her about White, but not willing to share information about Leaf. He'd clearly come here just to find out what the girls were keeping from the TWAS slayers, but as soon as she started asking questions, he clammed up.

"Do you know where Leaf is?" she pressed.

"No," he answered, too quickly.

May took a step back, frustrated.

Brendan took a step forward and reached for her hand. This time, he didn't stop. He clasped her hand with his, and she stared down as he linked their fingers. Once upon a time, she would have blushed furiously at this kind of contact. But now?

She felt nothing at all.

"I'd like to keep training," she said, looking back up at him.

He dropped her hand, looking sad. "I'll leave you to it. But remember I'm always here if you need anything, even just to talk… okay?"

She nodded. But she knew she would never take him up on it. And it wasn't because their friendship had changed, or even because she had changed.

As she watched him leave, he looked exactly like the boy from her class at school she used to have a crush on. But he wasn't that boy anymore because all the TWAS slayers were hiding a secret much worse than the girls'.

May didn't know what it might be, but she knew in her heart: they were not on the same side anymore.

End Note:

So, a couple things happened that will be important in future chapters but nothing too interesting this chapter. Sorry about that, when this is the first update in so long. I wasn't really sure what else to do after all the excitement of the Ball. I promise next chapter will be more exciting, and I'll try to get it out within a week (maybe sooner). I'm really trying not to rely on inspiration to write, but to just sit down and make myself get words on the page.

Thank you for reading!

~Jay