Disclaimer: Everything you recognise from the film series isn't mine.
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The Lone Wolf
Considering her age and reputation, Selene was aware that this particular plan was probably a petty step on her part, but she doubted that anyone would complain about it. She had spent the last few centuries basically forced to put up with Kraven's advances due to his status in the coven, but now that she had a valid reason to actually punish him she was going to enjoy it. Once the initial contact with Lucian had been made, Amelia had been generous enough to give Selene permission to confront Kraven herself so long as she didn't do any serious damage to him in the process, and Lucian had even confirmed that she was free to retrieve Michael afterwards.
Selene didn't entirely like the idea of 'retrieving' Michael that Lucian had implied, as though Michael was just an interesting specimen rather than the most surprising… friend… she'd made in almost all her centuries as a vampire, but right now she had to think of the wider picture. Lucian had assured her that Michael wasn't currently in danger, and as surprising as she would have found that thought just months ago, she believed him. Michael might not be comfortable at this point, but he would be safe, which meant that her main goal now was to punish the traitor.
When she walked into the room Lucian had informed her was Kraven's current location, Selene literally felt like laughing when she saw the hopeful expression on the former regent's face when he saw her.
"Thank God!" he said, trying to look at her with a sense of urgency that seemed pitifully exaggerated. "There must have been a traitor in the coven; I was lured down here-!"
"You came here," Selene corrected, not even bothering to draw her berettas as she looked at Kraven. "You were in league with Lucian from the moment you claimed you'd killed him."
"What?" Kraven said, his acting almost exaggeratedly bad as he looked at her in desperation. "That's- how could you-?"
"Soren confessed to everything after he was caught at the train station, and Singe and Lucian confirmed his testimony," Selene cut him off, folding her arms as she continued to glare at the man who had spent so long revelling in a status he had never truly earned. "Did you honestly think any of this would work? You were going to let Lucian kill the Elders and then present yourself as the man willing to negotiate with the lycans? Even if you got away with your reputation intact after you let the Elders die under your watch, the idea that any of us would accept that you were smart enough to negotiate a deal where nobody else could… even you should realise that you're incapable of that."
"I led the coven for centuries; how dare you-?"
"We both know that you only had any kind of authority because of Viktor's orders," Selene glared at him. "How long do you think you would have lasted once he was dead and you had to depend on your own reputation?"
"When I only had a pack of lycans to contend with?"
"You don't even know what Lucian had planned, and you underestimate the lycans if you think they would have fallen for any of your 'plans' that easily," Selene countered, shaking her head in exasperation. "I know of many of my colleagues who wouldn't have gone along with your orders once you had failed to save the Elders no matter what excuse you came up with, even if I like to think some of us might have listened to Lucian's side-"
"WHAT?" Kraven yelled (Selene couldn't believe that he had the nerve to look indignant at that declaration). "You would- you dare to suggest that an animal would be-"
"We might have seen lycans as feral beasts, but I know that I never considered them idiot monsters the way you seem to," Selene countered, giving the former regent a scathing glare. "You continue to underestimate everyone and you have a very inflated opinion of yourself."
"Inflated- how dare you- how could you do this?" the former regent sputtered until he finally yelled at her in exasperation. "The whole coven knew I had plans for us-!"
"There would have never been an 'us'," Selene said, hoping that her gaze demonstrated all her accumulated hate and disgust of everything she had been forced to endure from Kraven over the centuries. "If you honestly thought that I would ever do anything with you beyond tolerate your presence in my life, you're a bigger idiot than I thought you were, and I already wondered how you could think of anything beyond your next bag of blood."
"Idiot?" Kraven repeated indignantly. "When I managed to fool everyone-?"
"Because nobody could believe that you would be deranged enough to make a deal with our kind's greatest enemy to ensure your own advancement," Selene cut him off, shaking her head in exasperation. "I suppose Lucian was the one to make the offer while you were cowering in a corner or something like that?"
Kraven's indignant expression said more than a verbal protest ever could, and suddenly Selene wasn't interested in hearing any more. She had allowed her frustration with Kraven to define her life for several decades, on and off, tolerating him only because he had Viktor's approval, and now that she didn't have to put up with him any more she ultimately didn't care about anything further. Finally free to do what she'd been longing to do for literally centuries, Selene drew back her fist and punched Kraven in the face, allowing herself the satisfaction of feeling his nose break under her fingers.
Sent flying backwards with an agonised yet mumbled yell of pain, Kraven tried to get back to his feet, but his counter-attack was almost pitiable as he flailed desperately in her direction. Selene wasn't sure if it was just the broken nose throwing him off or if he was genuinely that bad at fighting, but decided not to question it, simply grabbing Kraven's outstretched arm and pinning it behind him.
"Please stop before you humiliate yourself any further," Selene said, tightening her grip on his wrist as she glared at him. "As much as I would enjoy it-"
"SHUT UP!" Kraven yelled, sputtering through his bloody nose as he tried to turn around to face her, only to be met by an upward elbow that sent him flying back into the wall. Walking over, Selene nodded in satisfaction as she confirmed that his nose was now certainly broken and there was a gash on the back of his head. His natural healing should help him recover from the damage easily enough, but she'd already said everything she wanted to say to this idiot.
"It's over, Kraven," she said, hauling him to his feet and taking a grip of his wrists once his hands were pinned behind him. "Amelia can decide what to do with you now."
Selene could already anticipate that any trial was going to be interesting at best, particularly given what Singe and Lucian had already implied regarding the lycans' motives for their actions, but right now she had more immediate personal concerns.
It was funny how nobody ever thought about how frustrating it was for kidnap victims to just have nothing to do until they were actually in that position. Whenever Michael had watched films with that kind of storyline, he'd tried to imagine how everyone else must have felt trying to find the captured person, but once that he was in that position he could appreciate that it was just as frustrating for the prisoner as it was for the people trying to rescue them.
At least the others could try and rescue the kidnap victim; he had been basically unable to do anything since he woke up. He'd tried to get at the straps holding him down, but with that drug his captor had mentioned keeping him in human form, all he could do was strain against his bonds and hope something changed soon. Trying to make this table fall over was an option, but since Michael couldn't see how that would actually change his current situation he would stay upright and hope something would change soon. He had some hopes that the explosion he'd heard earlier meant something was about to change, but he couldn't hold out hope for that when he was stuck in enemy territory and didn't even understand why he was here…
When he heard footsteps coming towards him, Michael tensed in anxious anticipation for whatever might be about to happen, but he immediately relaxed when Selene stepped into the room.
"Are you all right?" she asked as she walked over and began to work on undoing his straps.
"I… I think so," Michael said, flexing his stiff arm as she released the first strap. "The guy in charge had some stuff to say about how I was the last mortal descendant of the original immortal, but I didn't really understand any of that…"
"It's part of their plan to create a hybrid as a weapon against the coven," Selene explained as she bent down (and Michael was not going to think about the fact that a beautiful woman in black leather was on her knees in front of him) to release the straps on his legs. "Their chief scientist theorised that descendants of the original immortal would possess certain traits that would allow them to combine elements of both viruses to create a new species."
"…Really?" Michael looked at her in surprise even as he stepped out of the chair. "So… how would that work?"
"Hopefully we won't have to find out," Selene said, indicating the door behind her. "Let's go; Amelia is waiting for you."
"Amelia?"
"The currently awake vampire Elder."
"Elder?" Michael repeated. "Is that a… something specific?"
"The Elders are the three leaders of all vampires," Selene explained, as she led the way down the corridor. "They rotate which of them is active every two centuries; Viktor turned me-"
"Viktor?" Michael looked at her in shock as the name rang a bell. "That lycan who was here earlier was talking about him."
"He was?" Selene looked at him with a new sense of caution. "What was he saying?"
"He… well, he basically blamed Viktor for starting the war."
When Selene stopped walking and looked silently at him for a moment, Michael wondered if he'd crossed a line, but then she shook her head and looked back at him.
"You're certain of what that lycan told you?"
"He… seemed pretty sure about it," Michael nodded cautiously. "I mean, I get that he's got his own view of this whole situation, but there's got to be something behind a claim like that…"
He shook his head in frustration. "I'm sorry I'm just dropping this on you; it's been a rough few days…"
"It's… not your fault," Selene observed, looking upwards for a moment before she sighed and turned back to face him. "I'm just having to realise that I knew a lot less about this war than I thought I did…"
"Hey, it's not your fault that someone lied to you," Michael said, crossing his fingers that was the right thing to say. "This is… well, it's complicated."
"I second that," Selene responded with a grim shake of her head. "It seems as though everything became more complicated once I met you."
"I'm-"
"Don't," the vampire cut him off before he could even decide what he was going to say next. "You did nothing more than get me thinking about things I should have thought about long ago."
"…Thanks," Michael nodded back at her, deciding to offer a grateful smile for the compliment. "So… what now?"
"That's up to Amelia," Selene observed with a brief nod. "Only an Elder can make the kind of decisions we're about to face."
Michael fought down a surge of anxiety as Selene kept walking and led the way to the end of the corridor. With nothing else to do, Michael walked after her, ears constantly alert for any sign of something that might indicate an imminent attack from some other lycan, but it seemed as though there was nobody else around them as they walked. After a few moments, they turned a corridor and Michael found himself facing a large group, some wearing dark uniforms similar to Selene's attire while others were dressed in a more random mixture of clothing. The two figures at the centre of this gathering were the lycan he had spoken to earlier and a woman in a suit similar to Selene's own leathers, who held herself in a manner that suggested she was the one in charge.
"Selene," the woman nodded at the new arrivals, reinforcing Michael's impression that she was the leader of the vampires gathered here.
"Michael," the lycan said, giving Michael an approving smile.
"Lucian," Selene said briefly before she turned to the woman. "Lady Amelia, permit me to properly introduce you to Michael Corvin."
"Greetings, Michael Corvin," the woman now identified as Amelia said, walking over to hold out her hand. "It is a pleasure to meet you."
"Uh… hi," Michael said, lost for what to say to the woman who was apparently the leader of a vampire nation. This 'Lucian' guy was apparently the equivalent for the lycans, but from everything he'd heard Lucian was more of a covert leader where it sounded like Amelia was a relatively legitimate figure. It was a relatively subtle distinction, but it still felt like there should be a difference to him…
"I am glad to see that you are well, Mr Corvin," Amelia nodded politely at him as she shook his hand and then turned back to Lucian. "And it is good to see that you were telling the truth about his survival."
"You doubted my word?"
"Centuries of suspicion do not go away in a matter of minutes," Amelia observed. "If this is going to work, you must recognise that there will be people suspicious of you regardless of what I say; I am sure that there will be some trouble from your own people."
"That is… a fair point," Lucian nodded, even as he shot a brief glare at the lycans gathered around them.
"OK, so… how do we do this?" Michael asked, hoping nobody would feel like he was overstepping his boundaries by asking that question. "I mean, from what Lucian told me… well, it sounds like this war of yours is… I mean…"
"I understand," Amelia nodded at him before she turned to Lucian. "Are these the key members of your forces?"
"My chief lieutenants are all present."
"Are there some you can trust to keep everything… under control while you are away?"
"Away?" Lucian looked at her in a more pointed manner.
"If my people are going to accept any kind of… arrangement… we need to discuss the exact details of what started this war in a relatively public venue where both sides can answer all relevant questions," Amelia said. "For what it may be worth, I stand by my previous vow that none of your people will be harmed by mine unless they attack first."
"I… accept that," Lucian said, before his eyes narrowed. "So long as both of us acknowledge that our people have the right to defend ourselves if the other attacks them first."
"That is fair."
"And when this matter is discussed Viktor must be awake."
"It is Marcus's time-"
"He can be awoken as well, but Viktor must be there," Lucian said firmly. "He is the reason this conflict began; he must witness the final judgement."
"…They will both be awakened," Amelia said, her manner controlled as she looked at the lycan leader. "But you must understand that I cannot allow too many of your people to be present when Viktor and Marcus are recovering."
"They will be listening to the evidence and allowing to speak in their defence; they don't need to be at full health-"
"But you must recognise that my people will not allow lycans to be in the presence of vulnerable Elders," Amelia cut him off. "You may have a limited number of lycans at the meeting, but I will have at least the same number of Death Dealers present as well.
"…Reasonable," Lucian nodded after giving the matter some thought. "Michael Corvin can represent us-"
"Me?" Michael looked at him in surprise. "Hey, I told you I don't want to be part of this war-"
"Your allegiance to Selene and your ties to us make you a suitable candidate to represent both sides," Lucian observed. "My people will trust you because you are one of us, and the vampires will at least tolerate you because you are important to Selene."
Michael tried not to feel embarrassed at the way this man he'd only just met was so casually talking about him being important to a woman he'd only known for a few months who was at least twice his age, but when he looked at Selene and saw the warm gaze she was giving him in turn… the way her eyes softened even as her head was turned so that only he could see it…
I don't know what this is… I don't know how far we can take it… but I know I want to find out.
"…OK," he turned back to Lucian with a tentative nod. "So long as Selene's there as well."
"Of course," Lucian and Amelia said, the two leaders exchanging a surprised look at each other before they resumed a more formal discussion. Michael was only partly assured that Selene was clearly just as surprised as him at this latest turn of events, but he was starting to feel like he was getting almost ridiculously over his head. He still wasn't sure if he could consider himself 'adjusted' to everything involved in becoming a werewolf in the first place, and now he was being expected to sit in on some kind of trial for a group of immortals?
How did this become my life?
It was only when he looked down and found Selene's cool hand in his that he reminded himself of the main reason he was willing to put up with this kind of craziness. This might be more than he had expected to happen in his life when he first moved to Budapest, but after everything Selene had come to mean to him, he knew that there wasn't much he wouldn't be willing to do to help her.