100% Freshie, Chapter 19 --PG-13

[librarian_7]

Disclaimer: The characters from Moonlight are copyrighted by CBS, and no infringement is intended.
Special note: This work takes place in the world of Moonlight, but your favorite vamps are not the main focus. Sorry about that; try to enjoy the story anyway. You might be surprised.
100% Freshie
Chapter 19

“What have you done to Danger?” Will’s turquoise eyes narrowed with anger, and glinted silver, staring at the young vampire who stood on the doorstep with the freshie cradled in his arms.

Tyler swallowed hard. This was rather unpleasantly like the time in high school he’d brought a girl home drunk. He guessed in a way, that was exactly what he was doing here, too, and winced to himself at the pun. Now is not the time, he thought, for bad vamp humor. He shifted Danger’s unconscious body in his arms, and tried not to sound as guilty as he felt. “She’s all right.”

“If she were all right, she’d have walked in under her own power.” Will moved forward, not bothering to disguise his unnatural speed, and grasped Danni’s jaw to turn her head. The fang marks on her neck stood out, rough scarlet against her white skin. Will’s mouth tightened, and the look he gave the younger vampire was anything but friendly. He realized, with surprising bitterness, that he couldn’t justify voicing what he felt. He’d made all too damn sure that Danni saw herself as a free agent, and if she chose to give her fair throat to this little punk of a newbie, it was surely her decision. He should be thinking she deserved whatever happened to her. Instead, he found himself wanting to kick this guy’s undead ass. It was obvious he’d taken too much blood. He held out his arms; at least she was home safe, and he could take care of her. He’d been waiting for her to come in, killing time before making the dismal trek across town to sit with Hunter, as he had done every night recently. It was bad enough dealing with that evidence of stupidity on his part—he could have done without seeing Danger this way tonight. “Give her here.”

“Why don’t you let me carry her in, man?” Tyler was starting to feel a bit territorial himself, unwilling to pass Danger over. Will didn’t answer, but he also didn’t move. He stood with his arms held out for her, and Tyler had no choice but to comply. Will limited his commentary to the slightest of growls, transferring the sleeping freshie from Tyler’s arms to his own. Danger stirred slightly at his touch, nestling against his chest like a trusting child.

Tyler felt that he should say something, but words were failing him at that moment. What the hell? he thought. It’s not like Will Spence is owed any explanations—from me or from Danger. She’d talked a little—not much, but a little—about her first vamp, and what Tyler had caught from her scent was the abiding sorrow that lingered within her when she thought about Will’s abandonment of her and Hunter. He wasn’t sure, knowing what he knew, that he could speak civilly himself under the circumstances. And besides, he thought defensively, he had made sure she got home in one piece. He’d seen freshies at the clubs left in worse shape, and deserted. If he asked Will to give her a message from him when she woke, he thought, Will might conveniently forget. He supposed he’d call her in the morning before he went to his freezer. But he couldn’t just walk away without speaking. He looked straight at Will as the vamp turned to carry the girl inside her apartment. “Take care of her,” he said softly.

Will had the grace to nod, before he turned away.


Three hours later Will sat very still, looking down at Danger. He couldn’t explain it, but he enjoyed watching over this girl as she slept, her face bare of the consciousness of her experiences. It was better, he admitted to himself, when such vigils were sweetened with her blood freshly taken within him, but somehow she slept better when he was near, and he found that knowledge oddly comforting.

It was true of the others as well. Hunter was calmer for his presence, and had begun to show signs of returning from that far place where her mind had fled in retreat. If Serena were here, he thought bitterly, she’d chide him for not feeding from the shattered freshie. Cold-hearted. Kostan had her pegged pretty accurately in some regards. He couldn’t do it, even though it was not as if it would create any stir; the staff of the private hospital where she was being kept were aware of her background and the genesis of her condition. They were used to dealing with freshies. Will thought he might even own an interest in the place. He’d have to check with his accountants sometime. The chances were even better that Josef Kostan had the controlling interest, if through several layers of intermediaries. That vamp had a fang in every vein in town, it seemed sometimes. Including, Will reflected tiredly, the freshie sleeping before him.

She’d been tossing and turning when he came in to check on her, but had quieted without waking at his touch and the soft murmur of his voice. He’d managed, earlier, to get some orange juice down her, and some water, but he knew she was still in serious need of fluids to replace what she’d lost. He sighed, cursing silently again at the young vamp—Taylor, was it, no, Tyler—who had had the gall to do this. Will could read enough from the smells to realize it had been entirely consensual and that the boy had no ill intent, just a minor slip in self-control. It happened. And God knew there was something about this girl that just made you want to drink and drink. If she didn’t learn how to stop them, some vamp was going to go ahead and drain her dry one of these nights. Will found the prospect unexpectedly depressing.

An hour before dawn, he roused Emma and asked her to keep an eye on Danger for him, to keep her in bed for the day.

This coming night, he’d need to find blood. He frowned. Three regular freshies he’d had, before he chose to pull that brilliant cut and run. And now—still, he had plenty of phone numbers of freshies he’d fed from before. In the event that failed, there was always what the vamps called the “buffet line” outside one of the clubs. While he had no intention of spending time seducing blood out of some wannabe, there were plenty of experienced girls up for a quick bite.

For now, the slight edginess of dawning thirst would help keep him focused on staying awake and alert as he sat with Hunter through the morning.

She was showing signs of improvement, even in these few days since he’d found her, and just the day before she had been moved to a far pleasanter room. The furniture-less cell was behind her, and while Will found her new surroundings still sterile and unworthy of her, he was cheered by the sight of her sitting up, eating breakfast with minimal assistance from the nurse’s aide. Will smiled and gestured the woman away, moving in to take over.

He thought when she looked at him, the haunted look was leaving her eyes. She might even recognize him. Or maybe not. Will sighed. Back when he’d been involved in the film industry, if she had been a character in a movie, no matter how deeply damaged her mind was, there would’ve come a day when the clouds parted, and suddenly he’d find his Hunter looking out of those extraordinary eyes of hers with the laughing devotion he had once known. This was all too painfully real, however, and he knew intellectually she’d have to walk a long road back to any semblance of her old self. So what, Will thought. I’ve got time to see this through.
He stroked her hair, and she looked at him vacantly. Not yet, not today, but sooner or later he would see recognition in her eyes.

Since he’d been Turned, Will had rarely had his sleep troubled by dreams. As Serena had put it long ago, “Have nightmares? Darling, we are nightmares.” Nonetheless, when he finally tumbled into his freezer past noon, the chill confines of it did not bring him the surcease from his thoughts he’d hoped for. He had to force himself to stillness. He’d been drawn back to L.A. by a growing sense of unease he could not explain, but which seemed to permeate his consciousness. He’d never been a big believer in the so-called “blood bond” some vamps seemed to form with their regular freshies. The closest he’d ever come had been with poor Firefly, and look where that had gotten him. Her. Both of them. Why would he want that again? The pain of her death, and his part in it, had been nearly unbearable, and he thought that only his overly broad selfish streak had pulled him through it. Not only the immediate aftermath, but the decades following. Not in itself a very comforting thought.

He tried to remember again why he’d left L.A. Why it had seemed so imperative to remove himself from the situation. It was galling to think that at his age, with his experience, he might need advice, but he wished he had someone to turn to now.


Emma had managed to keep Danni in bed through the day by invoking Will, although she could see that his authority wasn’t what it once would have been. By early evening Danni insisted on moving out to the living room couch, promising to be quiet, and dutifully consumed more orange juice and Gatorade than she would’ve dreamed possible.

After Emma brought Danni some supper, she sat down in one of the chairs across from her. “Well,” she said, “so that was pretty stupid.”

Danni smiled wanly. “I know. But Tyler—there’s just something about him. He’s a sweet guy.”

“He’s just another vamp. And he nearly killed you.”

Danni sighed. “He took a little too much. You’re being over-dramatic.”

“Right. Sure. If it’s no big deal, how come Will stayed with you all night?”

Danni frowned. “He did?” She thought she’d dreamed him, dreamed that presence in her room hovering like a guardian angel.

Emma nodded, and was about to say more, when they heard Danni’s phone. “I’ll get it for you,” she said, rising. It was Will’s ringtone. Emma answered it, not wanting the call to go to voicemail, and then handed the phone to Danni.

“ How are you doing, darlin’?” he asked.

“A little weak. Emma’s on me like a mother hen. Worse.”

“She’d better be.” He paused. “I’d like to come by, Danger, if that’s all right.”

Danni looked at Emma with a questioning frown. “Sure, Will. Of course.”

He disconnected then, leaving Danni slightly puzzled. Neither of them could feed him tonight, and he’d never been in the habit of dropping by solely for the pleasure of their company. For lack of a better focus, Danni looked down at the phone in her hand. She must’ve missed a call; she had a new voicemail. She dialed and listened.

“Hey, Danger, it’s Tyler. I just wanted to tell you I’m really sorry if—if I went too far. If you’re—you know—willing—I’d like to, uh, see you again sometime. I mean, I understand if you’re not interested. But I really enjoyed talking to you. You know? Anyway, I hope you’re doing okay. Call me.”

Danni smiled and saved the message, and the number.


When Will walked in a few minutes later, Danni couldn’t help but smile, even as something nagged at the back of her mind. He looked his usual spectacular self—and even for a vamp, he was extraordinarily handsome—and his gliding, sex-on-the-hoof walk was the same as always, but there was something different about him. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but it was there. She could tell he’d fed recently, yet his eyes were still tired.

He smiled warmly at her as he approached. “Hey, Danger,” he said, “how are you doing?”

“Like I told you, I’m fine, really. Emma’s just—just being tiresome about things.”

Will shook his head. “She’s doing what I asked her to, babe. You’ll allow that I might have a little more experience in these matters than you?” He paused. “And letting someone take care of you—that’s not such a bad thing, hmmm?”
Danni smiled a bit ruefully. “When you put it like that, no, I suppose not.”

He reached out and caressed her cheek with one finger. “Danger, I want to speak to Emma for a few minutes. I’ll be back.”

“I’m not going anywhere, Will. I’ll be right here.”

He smiled again, and this time it seemed to reach his turquoise eyes.

Danni idly flipped through channel after channel with the remote while she waited. As usual, there was nothing on.

When Will reappeared, he came and pulled a chair up close to the couch. Sitting down, he took the remote from her and turned off the tv. Then he sat back and regarded her for a couple of minutes.

“Danger,” he said finally, “when I left—I didn’t—oh, hell. I’m not used to this, but—I’m trying to apologize.

Damn, he was hard to resist when he was looking pitiful, Danni thought. Her eyes filled with tears. Still, she had to give it a shot. For Hunter’s sake. “You familiar at all with the phrase ‘Too little, too late,’ Will?”

He looked away. “Yeah.” There was another long pause, then he looked back at her, and said just about the last thing she expected. “Danger, I came over here tonight to ask you—to ask you if you’d commit to blood exclusivity. With me.”

Danni was thunderstruck. She couldn’t quite comprehend the question. “You—want me—to be exclusive?”

He nodded. “I asked Emma also. It’s a change—for all of us. But I thought it was time. Will you be exclusive?”

Dannie closed her eyes. She was not sure she wasn’t dreaming or possibly even hallucinating. This was what she’d wanted, what she’d hoped for, from the moment she learned about the concept. From the moment she’d learned about him. Images of Will, and all the other vamps she’d known, these past few months, cascaded through her head.

She took a deep breath, and reached one hand out to lay it gently on his arm, noticing that the most recent visible marks on her wrist were from his last bite.

“No,” she said.

[francis]

Will is so possessive about Danger, but he didn’t make that clear to her. Maybe he needed this to wake up. Tyler is a decent guy, but he has no power in this situation.

That vamp had a fang in every vein in town

Brilliant and very funny line!
I’m glad that Hunter is improving in Will’s presence. Seems they both need those sittings to heal. He is much more aware of his mistakes now.
It’s out of character for the old Will to be so concerned, but it’s surely an improvement to the new Will. And Tyler sounds like a boy after his first date. Endearing. But not very vamp-like.
The last paragraphs are so tragic. Now that she could get what she always wanted, her trust is shattered, it’s too late.