In the movies, Dracula wears a cape, and some old English guy manages to save the day at the last moment with crosses and holy water. But everyone knows the movies are full of shit and that Dracula's just a myth. Unfortunately, what everybody doesn't know is that myths are just as real as everything else.

Italo Calvino once said "Myth is the hidden part of every story, the buried part, the region that is still unexplored because there are as yet no words to enable us to get there."

But I don't really believe that. I believe that Myths are what we want to believe happened
What we tell ourselves happened, in order to assuage our guilt over what did happen. I knew the end was coming before almost anyone else and I did not save everyone. I will have to live with that guilt as well as the knowledge that not saving everyone is what saved the world. My name is
Hannibal King and this is the story of how I saved the world with the help of my most hated enemy
a Day walker named Blade.

A crystal tumbler sailed through the air, heading for Hannibal's head. Hannibal ducked, causing the glass shatter against the wall, raining needle-sharp shards of crystal down into his spiky hair. Taking his life into his hands, Hannibal decided to work on cooling his Sire's temper. He hoped that this attempt would be more successful than his last two, which had left his body bruised in numerous places and his white muscle shirt in shreds.

"Asher you need to calm down." He said, keeping his voice soft and unaggressive. A difficult task, given his own troubled state. While not in a murderous rage like Asher, the untimely death of his Sire's mate still pissed him off. This, despite the fact that he hadn't even liked the guy.

Given the cause of Asher's anger, he would have preferred to be able to let Asher's temper run its course, but he was worried that Asher would do something reckless. Something like pick a fight with his mate's killer. In his present emotional and underfed state, Asher wouldn't stand a chance in hell of defeating Blade. The Daywalker was just too powerful.

Asher threw himself against the solid mahogany table that sat in front of his fireplace, with a scream. It fell over with a crash, the tabletop split down the middle and two of its ornately carved legs fell off. The centuries old piece of furniture just was not able to stand up against Asher's temper.

The obsidian and amber chess set that had held a place of honor, atop the table, slid across the tiled floor. The board stopped perilously close to the crackling fire, chess pieces skittered in every direction.
Hannibal winced. Asher would regret treating the chess set with such disrespect once he calmed down. Deacon Frost, had given the set to Asher as a gift to celebrate their tenth anniversary as mates. Decades had passed since then, but the set remained one of Asher's most prized possessions.

Hannibal hurried forward to gather the pieces up before any of them could be harmed. He had not even started, when Asher turned to him, hair standing on end, eyes glowing with rage, and fangs bared. Hannibal froze like a fly who realized it had flown into the spider's parlor.
Hannibal could not take his eyes off of Asher's face, which was frozen into a rictus of anger. Every hair on Hannibal's body stood on end. Asher was acting almost as crazy as his sister and Hannibal was always wary of pissing Dacina off.

Asher approached Hannibal, his steps slow and measured, his soft-soled shoes silent against the terracotta tiles. Once they were nose to nose, Asher growled, "Get out!"

Hannibal decided to follow Asher's order, rather than further antagonize him. He left Asher's quarters. However, he did not go far. Asher had told him to ‘get out' and technically the other side of Asher's door was ‘out'.

Once he was out of Asher's line of fire and in the hallway outside of Asher's room, Hannibal was finally able to relax. He half collapsed onto the freshly waxed tiled floor, his ass landing with a thump. Leaning back against Asher's door, Hannibal stretched his legs out and propped them up on the black metal railing across from the door. Asher's room was in the westernmost corner of the highest floor of the Phoenix tower and the railing was all that stood between Hannibal and a twenty-nine story drop down to the tower's lobby.

Thanks to the secluded nature of Asher's rooms, nobody would be able to get to Asher without stumbling over Hannibal first. Hannibal had always thought that the single entrance into Asher's room was a bit of a fire hazard, but in this case it suited his purposes just fine.

Hannibal jumped as something hit the other side of the door, jarring his back and sending a loud bang echoing off the skyscraper's UV filtered glass walls. Hannibal slipped his hand into the pocket of his cargo pants, retrieving a battered and pack of cigarettes and a silver Zippo, engraved with the Talos family seal. The same seal was tattooed onto his belly, a sign of his loyalty to Asher.

Hannibal shook a cigarette out of the carton and brought it to his mouth. Flicking the lid off the Zippo back, he used his thumb to turn the wheel and set the lighter fluid aflame. Lifting the flickering flame up he set the cigarette alight. The first breath of smoke was pure, nicotine tinged heaven. It was almost enough to make up for the fact that he was going to be stuck in the hallway for who knew how many hours. He could only hope that his Sire would be reasonable enough to let him back inside, once he had finished destroying his room.

Hannibal was just about to snuff out his sixth cigarette when a large booted foot came out of nowhere and did it for him. He probably would not have cared, as mellow as he was feeling, had the foot not slammed down on his hand for good measure.

He looked up from his inspection of the booted appendage that had pinned his left hand against the floor. It did not surprise him when he saw Jarko's ugly mug looking down at him. He had been expecting something like this. Dacina would not miss an opportunity to rub Asher's face in Deacon's death, even if the actual act of rubbing in, was done by her lap dog.

Moving fast, so as not to give Jarko any warning, Hannibal slipped out the silver knife he kept in the back of his pant's waistband, and slammed in down into Jarko's boot. It penetrated the leather and got lodged in the meat of his foot. Jarko howled and jumped back, allowing Hannibal to push himself up off the floor. He grabbed ahold of Jarko's black muscle shirt, while the big lug was still off balance, and used his grip to force Jarko's head down to his level.

Then Hannibal got into his face. He was not about to let a walking turd like Jarko anywhere near Asher while his Sire was in this state. If that meant going toe to toe with a vamp that was a hundred and fifty years old, and a outweighed him by a hundred pounds, then so be it.

Giving Jarko a cocky smile, Hannibal started razzing him. "So what's a big lug like you doing in a place like this? Huh, big boy?"

"Dacina wants to see Asher. I am supposed to take him to her."

Hannibal did his best to sound surprised. "Really? How shocking. Why ever would she want to see Asher at a time like this?" Jarko did not show any reaction to his sarcasm.

"She wants to talk to him about how his mate betrayed all of the vampire Lords."

"Surely you don't think that Asher knew anything about those unfortunate happenings?"

Hannibal was actually pretty sure that Asher had known all about Deacon's plan to kill off all of the vampire Lords and use the power of their blood to become a Blood God. He just was not stupid enough to tell Jarko that. "After all, that would be treasonous and foolish. Asher is not either of those things. Unlike his sister"

Hannibal got the feeling that Jarko had understood the insult, when he grabbed Hannibal's shoulders and slammed him against the door of Asher's quarters. Then he pinned Hannibal there, by pressing his arm against his throat.

Hannibal retaliated by kneeing him in the groin. He let go of Hannibal, fast. To busy shielding his family jewels to continue acting intimidating.

Hannibal doubted he would stay down long. He also doubted that one good hit would be enough to keep Jarko from trying to get through him, and to Asher. To make sure that did not happen, He leaned back against Asher's door. There was no way Jarko was getting passed him, unless of course it was as a pile of dust. "Let us drop the pretenses, Jarko, we both know that Dacina couldn't care less about Deacon killing off the Vampire Lords she just wants to tell him that she ‘told him so'. I am not going to let either you, or the bitch who holds your leash, rub Asher's face in the fact that the man he defied Dacina for, is dead. He is pissed off enough, as is."

"Dacina disagrees." Jarko growled, launching himself off the floor and towards Hannibal. Only to end up back on the floor after his face met with Hannibal's foot.

After that, things deteriorated quickly into a no holds barred, wrestling match, punctuated by the occasional grunt and scream when either Jarko or Hannibal managed to implement a particularly painful move.

They both froze when Asher's door slammed open, unexpectedly. Asher stood in the opening, fangs bared. The growl he let loose was even scarier than the one he had used earlier, to get Hannibal out of his room.

For a guy who claimed not to be afraid of anything, Hannibal was impressed by how white Jarko turned upon seeing just how pissed off
Asher was. Not that Hannibal, himself was much better. He would have been running scared, if he hadn't seen the flash of humor in Asher's eyes.

Of course that spark of humor wasn't enough to make Hannibal act rashly. A happy Asher was a bitchy Asher. Which meant that he was not surprised when Asher grabbed Jarko, tossed him against the hallway's metal railing, held him there, and hissed "Pets should be seen, not heard. Now get out of here before I put a choke collar on you."

Jarko nodded like a bobble-head and ran away as soon as Asher released him.

Hannibal bit down on his fist to keep from cracking up. Once Jarko was out of sight, Asher turned to Hannibal. Hannibal did his best to act serious, but he could not keep the corners of his mouth from twitching.

Asher rolled his eyes at the sight of his spastic fidgeting. "Stop fooling around. We have plans to make. Get some blood and alcohol and get back here."

Giving Asher a jaunty salute, Hannibal headed off to the kitchen to fetch the requested libations.

Glass clinked and rattled, as Hannibal tried to balance a tray filled with bottles of whiskey and blood on his left hand, while opening Asher's door with his right. After a bit of fiddling, he finally managed to enter the room, only to find Asher nowhere in sight.

Despite its owner's absence, the room showed signs of having be straightened up. One of the mahogany table's legs was being used as firewood, while the other three were stacked in the wood box. The two halves of the tabletop were propped up next to the mantle. Asher's prized chess set was carefully placed on the bedside table, one of the few pieces of furniture that had survived Asher's rage. Glass shards and puddles of alcohol were still strewn about the floor. Hannibal was going to have to call somebody to take away the tabletop and mop the floor, once his meeting with Asher had finished.

Hearing the sound of running water from the in-suite bathroom, Hannibal assumed that Asher had decided to take a shower, after cleaning up his room. Hannibal set his tray down next to the chess set and laid down on Asher's richly appointed bed, to wait.

Asher came out of the bathroom, in a cloud of steam, less than ten minutes later. He had a towel wrapped around his waist and was using a second to dry his hair. His undressed state allowed Hannibal to see just how thin and wan he had become. Hannibal had known that Asher had stopped eating because of his nerves over Deacon's plan, but he had not realized that he had become so thin, that his ribs were visible. Hannibal was going to have to make sure that Asher drank his blood, instead of just the bottled human blood he'd had brought up from the kitchen. Nothing put meat on a vampire's bones faster than drinking the blood of another vampire.

Asher dropped the towel he had been using to dry his hair on the floor and plopped down on the bed next to Hannibal. Hannibal could not keep from shivering when Asher cuddled up against him. Asher was dripping freezing cold water all over him.

"Have you heard the rumors, Han?"

"What rumors?" Hannibal asked as he brushed his fingers through Asher's hair. While Asher pondered his answer, Hannibal pushed Asher's head down onto his shoulder, hoping that the close proximity to his neck would trigger Asher's thirst.

"They are saying there is a cure for vampirism."

Hannibal froze. He had known that Asher was upset, but not this upset. Like people said, suicide was never the answer and that was doubly true when it came to vampires. Being careful to keep his voice even, he asked, "What would you do with a cure?"

Asher chuffed a quite laugh. "Not what you're thinking, though it is good to know you're worried about me."

"Don't be stupid. Of course, I am worried about you. You are my Sire. I care about how you feel, even if I never got along with your mate."

Asher snorted. "Did not get along with, huh?"

"What? I am trying to be nice. Isn't 'not getting along with' the politically correct way of saying we tried to kill each other?"

"It is a way of saying something alright, you idiot." Despite Asher's attempt to sound annoyed Hannibal could still hear the amusement in his voice.

"So what do you want the cure for? Are we getting rid of the walking turd? Or maybe we could cure Blade. I wonder how the cure would affect a Daywalker?"

"And you wonder why I don't let you plan anything?"

"I don't so much wonder as think you should make an exception. My plans are fun!"

"Too much fun, or do you think I forgot your plan to have the minions dance the Macarena to distract Blade so that they could kill him?"

"Oh come on, Sire. That plan would totally have worked, though I admit that having them dance the Funky Chicken might have been a better idea. I mean just imagine Blade's face if every vampire in the area started flapping their arms and clucking at him."

Asher chortled. The image of Blade shrinking in fear from a horde of clucking vampires was absurd enough to make anybody laugh.
Hannibal smirked. It was good to hear his Sire laughing again. Giving into his baser instincts, while Asher was distracted, Hannibal flipped over so that he was straddling Asher and pushed them both, down onto the bed making sure his neck was positioned against Asher's mouth.
Asher stopped laughing and did his best to dislodge Hannibal, without much luck. For all Asher wanted to ignore the thirst, his vampire instincts were all about survival. It only took a few seconds for him to latch on to Hannibal's neck and start feeding voraciously. Hannibal shuddered. There was nothing quite as exquisite as having his Sire feed from him, and it had been close to a week since Asher had last done so.

Thanks to his uncontrollable thirst, it only took ten minutes for Asher to finish off his meal. Hannibal almost wished it had taken longer, despite the fact that he was already feeling woozy from blood loss. With a quick shove, Asher pushed Hannibal off of him and onto the bed. Despite his displeasure at the quick dismissal, Hannibal was pleased, considering this another sign of Asher's recovery. Even if Hannibal had surprised Asher there was no way that he have been able to successfully pin him down, unless Asher was extremely weak.

They lay side by side in silence for a while, neither wanting to break their peaceful mood. It was so peaceful that Hannibal began to nod off. Only to find himself dragged awake when Asher grabbed his arm and pulled him into an upright position, much to his displeasure. He was still a bit woozy and the room wasn't doing him any favors with the way it was twirling about.

He was considering flopping back down onto the bed when a tumbler full of room-temperature blood was shoved into his hands. Looking up he met Asher's warning glare and quickly decided against making one of his quirky remarks. Asher did not seem to be in the mood to put up with it and he really did not want to have his Sire force feed him like he was some newly turned fledge.

He watched over the brim of his tumbler as Asher paced the floor. He suspected that Asher was getting ready to make one of his grand announcements, which wasn't necessarily a good thing. For all he was smarter than Dacina, Asher wasn't necessarily more stable. "I want you to take the vampire cure."

Well that settled it, this was definitely one of Asher's more insane plans. "You want me to what!"

"Don't be purposely obtuse Han. I am not in the mood."

"I am not trying to be obtuse. I am trying to diplomatically not call you crazy."

"What did I do to make you think I am crazy now?"

"I don't know, but I think it has something to do with the fact that you just asked me to kill myself."

"I did not ask you to kill yourself."

Hannibal gave Asher a look that hopefully made it obvious exactly how stupid he thought that statement was. "Then what exactly did you just ask me to do? Because it sure sounded like you asked me to become human and leave you to your own devices while you're contemplating suicide."

Asher returned Hannibal's look with an even dirtier one. One that practically shouted ‘shut up Hannibal and pay attention.' Hannibal shut up.
"First of all, I am not contemplating suicide, and second of all I did not say that you were going to stay cured, fool. I said you were going to get cured. And before you get smart with me, no it is not the same thing. I need somebody I can trust to look into some of the rumors I have been hearing from the Hunter community. That person is you."

"Even if I agreed to this crazy scheme, what makes you think that a bunch of Hunters are going to take in a cured vampire? Also, if you are refusing blood, you're suicidal. "

"They will accept you because they're desperate. The vampire population is skyrocketing and Hunters are getting killed off faster than ever. I will feed you information that they need and they will accept you no matter what misgivings they have. If you say I am suicidal one more time, you will regret it."

"So what exactly did you hear that would make you willing to risk a move like that? How about calling you borderline suicidal?"

Asher took slow deliberate steps towards the bed where Hannibal was resting. Hannibal tensed up, preparing himself for some trick on Asher's part. He relaxed somewhat when Asher walked past him and towards the bottle of whiskey. As soon as he did, he was knocked off the bed by a pillow.

Jumping up, he spun around to face Asher, glare firmly in place despite the chuckles he wanted to let loose. Asher showed no signs of having used such an undignified weapon as he leaned against the wall next to the nightstand, sipping at his tumbler full of whiskey. "There are rumors that Hunter scientists are creating a biological weapon that will be able to kill every vampire in the world."

Hannibal tensed. He might not have been the sharpest kid in school but even he knew that biological weapons were bad news all around.
"So am I supposed to destroy this weapon?"

"Not exactly. The original plan Deacon and I were working on was to re-engineer the weapon so that it would modify vampire DNA to match Deacon's Blood God DNA. That plan is not going to work now, but there are other ways to deal with the problem of an ever increasing number of weak vampires. You are going to feed the Hunter scientist who's working on the weapon the information they need to create the cure. At the same time you'll feed me information about their work so that I can have my scientists create an inoculation that will render the weapons effects useless. Then all I have to do is inoculate the vampires I want to keep alive and watch as the rest are destroyed."

"Are you sure you want to go that far?"

"Why doesn't it surprise me that you think this is extreme?"

"No doubt for the same reasons you and Deacon did not tell me about your plan in the first place, Sire."

"No doubt."

"So are you going to answer my question?"

"Yes Han, I am sure that I want to wipe out the majority of the world's vampire population. If vampires keep reproducing at the rate they
currently are we are going to outnumber humans within five years. Which means we're all going to starve to death in half a decade, right after humanity becomes extinct."

"What about Dacina's final solution?"

"That vacuum sealed human bullshit? Do you really think that is better than extinction?"

"No, but I am not sure genocide is a better solution than that 'vacuum sealed human bullshit'."

"Either the vampires die or everybody dies. It is not a nice fact but it is the truth. Even if we went with Dacina's solution, we would only buy ourselves a few decades. I plan to make sure that everyone I care about lives as long as they possibly can."
By this point Hannibal was practically pulling his hair out with agitation. "And what if your plan fails and you can't make a cure? What if we all die because we helped the Hunter's create a way to kill us? Damn it Asher, how is this you not acting suicidal?"
Asher gave Hannibal a sharp glare for the last comment but he at least seemed to understand that Hannibal was actually worried about his supposed suicidal tendencies. "So I allowed my upset over the fact that my mate died to keep me from eating for a while and now everything I have to say somehow proves that I am suicidal."

Hannibal lost all control and started yelling. "It does when you are discussing genocide and extinction!"

Asher carefully put his now empty tumbler down onto the nightstand and approached Hannibal. He easily dodged the sloppy punch Hannibal threw at him and wrapped Hannibal in a tight hug. Hannibal immediately tried to escape, but Asher seemed not to notice the fact that Hannibal was kicking him in the shins like a petulant child. Once Hannibal had calmed down sufficiently, Asher began talking again. "We're not discussing my committing suicide, Han. We're discussing my dying of natural causes, or as natural of a cause as a vampire can die from."

"No, we are discussing helping a bunch of Hunters create a way to kill vampires."

"And?"

"And what? The eventual death of everybody on earth?"

"What did I say about being intentionally obtuse Han? We are also discussing a way to stop said Hunters from killing us."

"Completely untested ways that have no guarantee of success!"

"True, but I am willing to take that risk if it means that we have a chance of living longer than a few decades."

"I am not."

"Yes you are. If you were not willing then you would have tried to tie me to the bed by now."

Han could not help snorting at that statement. Mostly because it was true. No matter how much he did not like the direction this conversation was taking he still cared about his Sire's opinions. Which meant that no matter how much he protested, he was going to go along with Asher's plan. Not that he had to make this easy on Asher. "Do not tell me your whole plan is for me to get cured and join the hunters?"

"And what's wrong with that plan?"

"It is a stupid plan. Not to mention it makes it sound like you're trying to commit murder instead of suicide."

"Admittedly, it could use some work, but it is still better than having you convince the Hunter's you're harmless through interpretive movement."

"Am I ever going to live that down?"

"Probably not. After all, most people aren't stupid enough to make a suggestion like that while standing in the same room as ten of the most powerful Vampire Lords in our world."

"What can I say, my big mouth is my best feature. Now let go of me you big, blood sucking Care Bear before somebody gets the wrong idea."

Asher let him go, though not without a pithy comment of his own."What are they going to think, that we are both gay? I hate to tell you this but we are vampires. We're bisexual by design."

"So, that doesn't mean we have to act like it. If you keep this up I am going to have to recommend that we perform We are Men, Men in Tights for Blade next time we see him." Asher cracked up after that comment and Hannibal soon joined him. They both ended up laughing so hard that they collapsed next to each other on Asher's bed. Every time they came close to calming down their eyes would meet and they'd be off laughing again.

When they had both finished laughing, Hannibal decided that it was time for them to get all the details of the plan worked out. "So what's the rush? You and Deacon had the original plan completely worked out but the one you are asking me to help with doesn't seem to have a lot in common with it. I would hate to think we were taking this many chances on the fly."

Asher reached for the Whiskey again, taking a large swig straight from the decanter. "That's because there aren't many similarities. The original required Deacon to become a Blood God. Without his blood we're going to have to improvise. As for why I am in such a hurry, it is because Dacina is up to something."

"What is this mysterious 'something'?"

"I don't know and that's what's so concerning. If my sister is keeping secrets from me it is because she knows I wouldn't approve of what she's planning. Which means I need to complete my plan before she can complete hers."

"What's to say that her plan isn't just more of the vacuum packed human crap? She knows you never approved of it."

"Even if it is, she has to have done something worse than just kill a couple more humans if she's being this secretive."

"Jarko was asking for you to visit with Dacina just before we started fighting. Maybe she'd tell you more about her plan if you went to see her."

"Maybe, but I am not willing to take that chance. I need her to keep thinking loosing Deacon drove me insane. That way, she will believe me if I tell her I sent you away. Not to mention it will keep her from trying to kill me once you've gone."

"And you wonder why I don't want to leave you alone here. Are you sure you do not want to come with me? I am sure any Hunter cell would be glad to have your knowledge at their disposal."

"Tempting as that sounds, I have to keep an eye on Dacina and we both know it."

"True. Now, how am I supposed to make contact with these illustrious Hunters of yours?"

Asher grabbed a city map out of the drawer of his nightstand and spread it out on the bed between where he and Hannibal were sitting.

There was a section of the map that was surrounded in red ink. Asher pointed to a red star that was drawn over top of a building near the center of the outlined area."I have had my people following one of the most active Hunter cells in the area, this is where they're based. If anybody has the vampire cure it will be them. What you have to do is get them to give it to you."

"How am I supposed to do that?"

"Get them to capture you, steal it from them, or slaughter them all in their sleep, I don't much care. My intel says that they have nothing to do with making the weapon so they're of no real use to us."

"Well at least I get to have some fun before playing human. You could have some fun too, you know." Hannibal said, as he gave Asher his best pathetic look, hoping to get him to agree to accompany him to the Hunter's outpost and share in the fun.

It did not work, though it did make Asher smile."Stop that you idiot, I am not going to go with you. You're more than capable of taking the entire Hunter cell out on your own, though I will kill you myself if you let one of them cause any lasting damage. Now get out of here before you get in more trouble."

Hannibal looked at his Sire sitting there, calmly holding out the folded up map for him to take and decided to do something rash. Something that would make Asher mad enough to stay alive until he returned. While he reached for the map with his left hand, he grabbed the back of Asher's head with his right and planted a wet smooch straight on Asher's lips, before running out of Asher's room at top speed. This time he was happy when he heard all hell break loose inside Asher's quarters.

Hannibal cracked the door open and looked inside the cavernous space. It was amazing just how threatening public restrooms could look with the lights off. He could hear his targets whispering to each other and laughing among themselves. He rolled his eyes. In his last six months as a human, Hannibal had grown tired of the shear banality that most of the vamps he went after indulged in. You would think that they had better things to do with their afterlives than play cat and mouse with every weak human they could get their hands on. It was almost enough to make him want to start hunting Hunters again, just so he could hunt something challenging. Unfortunately, he could not do that without drawing undo attention to himself and making it impossible to infiltrate the Hunting community. Which meant he had to follow vampires who were stupid enough to get themselves caught, in hopes of running into a Hunter who was on the job.

He continued to listen to the vampire's idiotic posturing inside the bathroom, until he heard a quiet whimper. A whimper that sounded disturbingly like it came from a child. That got Hannibal's attention, and fast. Neither Asher nor Hannibal would stand for any vampire targeting a child. Children did not have enough blood to make them a good meal, which meant that these suck-heads had no business messing with this kid. He was not going to be able to wait until the Hunters showed up to deal with his targets, after all.

Even though these vamps were low-class and extremely weak, Hannibal really wasn't looking forward to taking on five vamps on his own. It was not that he could not do it, it was just that the chances of injury skyrocketed with odds like that.

Of course, odds had never been enough to stop him, he had always been the ‘fly by the seat of your pants' type, like Han Solo. He loaded his crossbow and prepared to enter the bathroom. This was going to bite. He kicked open the door, making it slam against the tiled wall with a bang.

The unlit bathroom left Hannibal at a severe disadvantage. Luckily, he used to be a vampire, so he knew how to turn that around to his advantage . He took a second to hit the light switch, stunning the vampires for a few seconds by the sudden change in illumination. One of the drawbacks of having strong night vision was the inability to adjust to sudden changes in light.

Hannibal was able to take the first three out with crossbow bolts before they had time to recover from the shock. The other two had more than a passing ability to fight, working together they got in a few good kicks and punches before he was able to bash one of their heads into the bathroom counter and kick the other into a bathroom stall. The young girl who was hiding in it started screaming, attracting everyone's attention. The only good thing about that was that the vampire in the stall with her was too busy giving her a fangy leer to fend off a silver stake to the heart.

Hannibal kneeled in front of the girl, carefully brushing the vamp's ashes off her. She startled at the contact but calmed down enough to stop screaming. The breathy sobs she gave instead broke Hannibal's heart. He kept petting her attempting to get her calmed down enough to talk to him. When she started screaming again, he jumped.

A baseball bat slammed into where his head had been before his startled jump. Hannibal spun and came face to face with the vampire he had thrown into the sink, who had not been smart enough to run while Hannibal's back was turned. He was barely able to get his arm up in time to stop the vampire's second attempt at smashing in his head. Pain sliced through his arm. He probably would have had his brain bashed in by the vamp's next swing had the little girl not grabbed one of his stakes and slammed it into the vamp's foot. That gave Hannibal enough time to grab a stake of his own and slam it into the vamp's chest. He and the girl were covered by ash.

Strangely, the girl seemed to have calmed down. Hannibal could not help but question exactly how a little girl knew what to do with a stake. Still, he was not going to further upset the kid by asking questions involving the undead. Instead, he decided to do what he did best. Act like a goof. "So what is a sweety-pie like you doing in a place like this?"

The girl replied by giving him the look that children the world over gave when confronted by an adult they thought was acting nonsensically. A look that informed the adult that the child thought they were completely insane, and that the child was not impressed by this fact. Then she started giggling

Hannibal loved making kids laugh. "So do you have a name, kiddo?"

The girl gave a few quiet hiccups before replying. "You're silly!"

"That I am. So how did you end up with these posers?"

"They're not posers, silly, they're vampires."

"Vampires huh? I thought that vampires were myths."

The girl gave him another look. "You have stakes."

Hannibal looked down at his vest and belt full of weapons and then looked back at the girl making a surprised face. "So I do. Now how did those get there?"

The girl rolled her eyes at his antics."I'm not supposed to go anywhere with strangers."

Hannibal smiled. It was good to hear that despite everything the girl's personality still shown through. "I am Hannibal, and you are?"

"Zoe."
"Well Zoe now that we're not strangers any more, how about we get you home."
The newly dubbed Zoe made her opinion of his rather messed up logic known. "Just 'cause I know your name, that doesn't mean you're not a stranger."

"True, but we're running out of time. We're in the bathroom of one of the most well used subway systems around and I would rather not be caught sitting with a little girl while wearing all sorts of odd weapons."

"Why does that matter?"

"Well, Zoe carrying around stakes and a crossbow is usually considered to be a sign of insanity and hanging around with you might make somebody think I like little girls too much."

"How can you like little girls to much?"

"You know what, that's a very good question. And one I'll answer when you're older. Somehow I doubt your parents would like me explaining it to you."

Zoe stuck her lip out in an over exaggerated pout."I am sure mommy wouldn't mind."

"Well I am not brave enough to take your word for it so I think I'll just wait. Now how about we blow this popsicle stand."

Zoe gave him a blank stare at that comment. There were times when Hannibal felt really old and this was most definitely one of them. Still, he could not afford to dwell on that fact, because if he dwelt on his mortality he would go back to Asher before the job was done. Completely unacceptable.

"Hold on tight."He swung the girl up off the grungy tile floor and onto his hip. He ignored the startled jump she gave as her butt left the floor. He also ignored the way her ratty sneakers dug into his ribs as she attempted to kick her way out of his arms. With the arm he'd injured while fighting the vamps he scooped up his slightly damaged crossbow and did his best to hold it steady. With no way of knowing if the sounds of fighting had attracted more vamps, having a working weapon was a must, which meant that logically he should have the bow in his good arm. He considered Zoe more important than his bow, however, and he did not trust her not to get scared and run off if he put her down.

He edged out of the stall where he and Zoe had been ensconced keeping his bow up, his arm shaking more than he would have preferred. He carefully began edging for the bathroom door, barely sparing a thought of gratitude for the fact that Zoe was being quiet. Despite this, she continued to kick him. It did make him wonder yet again how much she knew about vampires.

He relaxed a little once they had gotten out of the bathroom. Having room to maneuver was good for his nerves. Once he had checked out the area for any lurking bloodsuckers, he relaxed his arm and let Zoe slide down until her feet hit the concrete. He was careful to keep a hand on her wrist. For now, he was going to take her back to his apartment. Hopefully, one of his contacts would be able to get him some information about Zoe and help him get her home.

He walked just slow enough to keep from looking suspicious and kept his bow down by his side as he dragged Zoe along with him to the subways exit. They only saw a handful of people and despite her distrust of Hannibal, Zoe pushed up close to his body instead of calling out to any of the odd-looking folks who hung around the station at two in the morning.

They had almost made it safely up the station stairsto street level when Hannibal sensed somebody coming up behind him. He could not hear his pursuer, but the way the hairs on the back of his neck stood up told him enough. He quickly turned around, using one arm to yank Zoe behind him while pulling the crossbow up with his other arm, all in vain.

Before he could get off a single shot a knife was pressed against his throat. Said knife was being held by a pretty green-eyed woman. The woman had a personal arsenal of stakes and other vampire hunting paraphernalia that far outweighed his own. It looked like he had found the Hunter he was looking for, after all. Now he just had to figure out how to extract himself from this situation without risking Zoe.

Pinning him with a look that promised blood, the woman said "Let Zoe go."

The fact that this Hunter knew Zoe well enough to call her by name certainly proved that his suspicions about Zoe knowing too much about vamps was true. He released Zoe's hand, expecting her to go running to the other hunter. He was surprised when she grabbed ahold of the back of his legs instead. That certainly put a new spin on things. If Zoe was scared of this chick then he was not about to hand her over without a fight. Not to mention that he took offense to the fact that she still had a knife at his throat."And why should I give her to you, Hunter?"

"Her mother is worried about her. Not that it is any of your business. Why should I leave her with you?"

"I saved her from a nest of vampires, unlike you."

"I was busy saving her mother. Not to mention it is not a nest if I killed the leader and his top cronies."

"Mommy?" Zoe poked her head and shoulders around the barrier of Hannibal's legs.

"That's right kid, your mom is safe and sound. Now how about you come away from there."

"Uh-uh." Zoe shook her head and hid behind Hannibal's legs again.

"Well Hunter, It seems that she doesn't trust you. Care to take a wild guess as to why?"

"Not really, Asshole."

"That's too bad." Hannibal arched his back painfully, pulling his throat out of range from the Hunter's knife. He then hooked his foot behind her left leg and pulled it out from under her. Making her take a stumbling step back, this gave him enough room to point his crossbow at her chest. "Let's try this again, Hunter. Why exactly should I give Zoe to you."

"How do you know her name?"

"You are not very good at answering questions are you?" He squeezed the bow's trigger just the slightest bit, but it was enough to make the string pull taunt and the Hunter tense up. He got the feeling that she was not used to being bested by anyone, much less someone she had pegged as a lowly Familiar.

"I am not about to tell you why I need her. Unlike me, you have no connection to her mother. There is no telling what you would do with that information."

"I assure you that I am a Hunter just as you claim to be. I am seeking information about why you want Zoe because I have no other way to verify your claim of working with her mother. Now if you have nothing further to say I think Zoe and I will be leaving."

The implied threat was enough to loosen the Hunter's tongue."She is the daughter of one of the Hunter scientists. They were attacked while they were heading to our hideout and I was sent out to retrieve them."

"See. Was that so hard?" Hannibal gave the chick a falsely sweet smile, but his mind was awhirl with more important matters. He'd gotten some Intel that said the Hunter scientist that he was looking for, would be passing through this Subway station sometime within the next few days. It seemed highly unlikely that two such scientists would show up at the same place and time. Which meant that Zoe's mother was most likely the scientist he was looking for and that he needed to get into this Hunter's good graces.

"Yes." The woman bit out.

She seemed to sense his distraction as she aimed a kick at his crossbow arm. She hit his forearm, in the same place the vamp had less than a half an hour before. It did not quite make him scream, but it made him drop the bow. He had been preparing for something like this since he'd started talking to the Hunter, so it only took him a few seconds to use his other hand to pull a knife out if the holster at the small of his back, and press it under her chin when she moved to punch him. One of the advantages of having a longer reach "Will you stop trying to kill me!"

"Why should I? You are trying to kidnap the child I am supposed to be taking care of. What part of this situation makes me want to let you live?"

"How about the fact we're on the same side?" To prove that, Hannibal pulled his knife away from the girl's throat. "Or maybe it is the fact that I am a cured vampire, who has every reason in the world to stick it to the vamps and help the Hunters. Now if you don't mind I had like to move this little meeting of ours somewhere more private. I don't particularly want to explain to the police what I am doing in a subway station at night, with a little girl I don't know"

The woman looked like she was going to refuse, but after a group of drunken young men can stumbling down the stairs and almost ran into the three of them, she did as Hannibal suggested and began moving towards a more secluded spot. Hannibal and Zoe followed closely behind her, though Hannibal made sure to stay between Zoe and the Hunter. Once they were safely ensconced under the staircase, the Hunter turned back to Hannibal and restarted their previous conversation. "Cured huh? Then tell me something. Why, exactly, have not I heard about you.? Hunters keep track of the vamps they cure to make sure that they don't try to get turned again."

"And who says I got the cure through traditional means? You would be surprised what's for sale on the black market, these days."

"Exactly when did you get this cure off the black market?" The woman asked.

It hit Hannibal, then, what she was really asking. The rest of the Hunters must have investigated the brutal murder of their brethren. They had then noticed the missing vials of cure and connected it to the mangled and bloody corpses left behind. He had to admit that he was impressed.

It looked like he had been underestimating the Hunter groups. He would have to be more careful how he killed Hunter cells in future. Not that it was a big concern, he had sworn off killing Hunters until after he discovered the scientist who was working on the vampire killing weapon. It would stink to find out that he had accidentally killed his target before they could be of use. The woman was giving him an impatient look and practically bouncing from foot to foot. He needed to defuse the situation if he wanted to get out of this encounter intact.

"Five months ago. The guy I got it from said the owner was in a hurry to off-load them. Apparently he somehow came to the attention of the Talos family and needed to disappear fast."

The Hunter stopped bouncing after hearing that, but it did not mean Hannibal could relax, not with the way she had come gunning for him. It looked like it was time to fall back on old habits and act harmless. Too bad, he rather enjoyed acting the part of a dangerous Hunter.

Hooking his thumb into one of his belt loops, he pulled down revealing some skin, but more importantly his Familiar tattoo. The woman's eyes were drawn right to it. "I was stupid in my youth. Had bad taste in women, if you catch my drift. One night I went to a party and was introduced to a chick with a killer attitude. I was entranced, started trying to court her. It was not until after I woke up changed that I learned what she was. I was pissed, but there was not anything you could do about being turned back then. That changed when I heard about the cure. I figure if I got myself cured, I would not be under her thumb anymore. That did not really work out since she took my decision to be cured as a personal insult. You just got to love those overly possessive chicks."

The woman curled her lip in disgust. "Love isn't exactly the term I would use."

"What term would you use then?"

"I would say fear. If you've got the Talos on your tail, what makes you think that there is any way you can protect anyone, much less a child."

"I might not be able to, but you're not exactly doing a good job convincing me or Zoe that you can protect her better. All you have done is try to make me look bad. If you want to take Zoe with you, than I suggest you at least try talking to her, and explaining why she should trust you. Because I am not going to force her to go with you."

"Why don't you come with me, Zoe.? Your mom is waiting for you, and you don't want to disappoint her, now do you? I am sure she would be unhappy if she heard you were talking to strangers."

Hannibal bristled. Whoever this chick was she most definitely did not know the first thing about raising children, speaking to Zoe in such a snide and condescending tone. Zoe might be too scared to inform her of that fact, but he most definitely was not. "Listen lady, I don't know what you're thinking but let me tell you something. You do not talk to kids like that. Zoe is a good, smart girl. She informed me of the 'no talking to strangers' rule and waited until I introduced myself to go with me, something you have yet to do. Now why don't you ask Zoe nicely if she wants to go with you and then we'll see how things go from there?"

The woman gave Hannibal a glare that left him with no doubts about the fact she wanted to see him dead for talking to her like that. He did not much care what she thought of him as long as she listened to him and modulated her tone when dealing with Zoe. Luckily, she seemed to be much better at listening than her temper implied. She managed to keep her tone light and friendly when she addressed Zoe again. "I am sorry Zoe, your mother and I have been very worried about you and I just yelled because I was so happy to see you. Now why don't we start again. I am Abby, and I am a friend of your mother's. If you want to see her I can take you to her now. How does that sound?"

For all Hannibal could see right through Abby's big, fake smile and attempt at being friendly, her bad acting seemed to be enough to convince Zoe, as she finally came out of her hiding spot, behind Hannibal's legs. Looking up at the red headed huntress, she considered whether or not to go with her. She came to a decision and released the death grip she still had on Hannibal's pants. She took the hand Abby held out to her and began to follow her deeper into the subway station.

Hannibal was disappointed and a bit annoyed. Things had been going well up until Zoe turned out to be braver than he had expected.
She had innocently managed to ruin his plans to get in good with the Hunters, and he couldn't help but be proud of her for it. Even as it completely messed up his entire timetable for meeting the Hunters. He had been planning on insisting that he needed to accompany Zoe to the Hunter's headquarters. Now he did not have any reason to meet the little girl's mother, which meant he had no way of knowing if she was the scientist, he was looking for or not. Now he would have to come up with a completely melodramatic and overly-complicated plan to find the Hunter's hideout. Maybe something involving a batman'-esque tracker.

Before Hannibal could finish making up a new plan , Abby stopped. Turning sharply on her heal she threw a piece of paper at him before continuing on her journey. Keeping a wary eye on Abby, Hannibal opened the paper. Inside was a note with Abby's number and a request for the two of them to meet up later in the week. That took all the fun out of things.

Four days later Hannibal found himself waiting to meet with Hunter in the local mall's food court. The mall was bustling that evening. Families and couples were sitting at most of the tables and the line in front of Chick-Fil-A was atrocious, full of strollers and screaming kids. Hannibal bypassed that whole section and went for the Steak Shop. There was nothing like eating a Philly Cheese Steak, it was one of the things he'd missed most about being a human. Once he'd gotten his order he went to sit at one of the tables at the center of the food court. He would have preferred to sit somewhere a little less crowded, but the skylights sent sunlight streaming down onto the tables at the center of the cavernous room and Hannibal wanted there to be no doubt as to his continued humanity. He also wanted to continue to give the impression of being harmless to his fellow humans and sitting next to a table where a large group of obnoxiously screaming kids were seemed like the best test of humanity he could think of.

He started up a discussion with the brood's parents in hopes of giving Abby the impression that he had only taken an interest in Zoe because of her youth. Which was true, but the fact that he would have suspected her of having connections to the Hunter community had helped. The discussion was actually relatively interesting as the 'brats', something their father affectionately called them, had been trying to get their parents to agree to sign them up for lessons at the local dojo. The parents had been unsure about signing them up for something that could encourage their violent tendencies. Hannibal extolled the virtues of learning how to control your violence, while imagining the brats getting some respect beaten into them.

The three of them were still talking when Abby arrived. In fact, Whistler had to tap Hannibal on the shoulder to get his attention. Turning away from the little family Hannibal gave Abby an assessing look. He had done some research into "Abby" after their last get together and he was interested to see if he could spot any family resemblance to Blade's sidekick.

As far as he could see, there was not any. Abigail Whistler might as well have been Abigail Smith for all the impression she made with her auburn hair bundled up in a loose ponytail and her body hidden by a baggy green coat and a peasant skirt. In fact the only remarkable thing about her was the fact that he could see the definition of the guns she had strapped on under her jacket. He would have to be careful not to let their discussion get too heated. The last thing any of them needed was to have mall security call the police on them for carrying weapons.

Putting on his best "I am a gullible fool" grin Hannibal made his apologies to his new friends and turned back to his food. Whistler sat down across from him. Hannibal passed her the extra soda he had purchased "So Hunter, I've been wondering. If you hate ex-vampires so much why did you invite me here? Or have you decided to trust me since you held me at knife point?"

"Do not try to be funny, I invited you here today as a favor to you. If you're going to be of any use as a Hunter you need weapons that you did not make by melting down silver spoons or buying garlic from the produce section of the grocery store."

"And you're going to help me out of the goodness of your heart? I might be stupid but I am not that stupid." Hannibal really needed to think before he spoke. Insulting Abby while he was attempting to act harmless was not the brightest move. Luckily, Abby did not realize that his statement was anything more than foolish posturing. All she did was send him a glare that conveyed the statement ‘Shut up, stupid.' very clearly.

Whistler broke eye contact and pulled boxes out of the duffle bag she had brought. She placed her hand on top of them before Hannibal could indulge his curiosity and open them. "You shouldn't do that. Nobody wants mall security to see what's inside those."

It did not take much thought to guess what she was talking about. "Oooo. New toys!" Hannibal definitely liked that idea. He loved anything that could make a bang and most of the items he'd seen the Hunters using during his last few months of spying on them, made big bangs.
"Inside the boxes you'll find a nice new UV flashlight and four clips of Sun Dogs."

"So what exactly are these oh so mysterious Sun Dogs? From the clips comment it sounds like it's some sort of bullet, but I know for a fact that guns don't work on vamps. Well, unless you're trying to piss them off."

"These bullets do. They are explosive rounds that give off concentrated UV light. You put one of these inside a vamp and they'll be ashes in less than ten seconds."

"Sounds cool! How do I get more?"

"You don't. We will be keeping an eye on you. If you survive long enough to need more we will see that you get them. You have to remember that you are still an unknown in this fight. We won't consider you a Hunter until we've seen you fight and you've proven yourself worthy."
Hannibal grinned. This meeting was going better than he had expected. "Awww, don't you trust me? I saved Zoe after all."

"Don't be stupid. My team and I are not going to trust you until we have seen you in at least five fights, not to mention that we don't need another Hunter right now. "

This just kept getting better and better. Whoever had decided that this girl was the person to discuss Hunter business with him was an idiot. She had told him everything he needed to know to infiltrate her Hunter cell and discover for himself if Zoe's mother was the scientist making the vampire genocide weapon. "Fine, but you'll see I am going to be a great Hunter."

"Of course you are. Look, I have wasted enough time here. I have vampires to hunt. Try not to get yourself killed." With that comforting comment Whistler got up, slung her duffle bag over her shoulder, and headed for the door that led to the parking lot.
Hannibal did not try to stop her. He had plans to make. He had to figure out how to "accidentally" run into Whistler a few more times and who he had to kill to get into her Hunter cell. Easy.

The bell over the door jangled a merry greeting as Hannibal entered the rundown diner. He shook the water out of his hair, completely ignoring the fact that his white muscle shirt was soaked through. If there had been any young women in the diner, they would have been swooning over the view of his very well defined chest. This was not that kind of eating establishment. The people who ate here did not care about anybody else. They were here to drown their sorrows in bad coffee and homemade pastries. Since nobody cared about anybody else, nobody would notice Hannibal meeting with Asher. It was the ideal place for their secret meeting.

Hannibal plopped down into one of the diner's ugly booths. He gave a slight smile as the red vinyl seats squeaked under him. This type of dive always reminded him of the restaurants he went to as a child. He half liked and half hated the feelings of nostalgia it gave him.

He sat observing the other patrons in the mirror that covered the diner's wall for a few minutes before the waitress came to take his order. She was wearing a yellow button down dress just a few shades brighter than the diner's dingy yellow walls. She had a white apron tied on top of it. Hannibal would not have been surprised to see somebody dressed in exactly the same outfit on some old TV sitcom. She would fit in better there than she did in this diner.

The waitress stared at him for a couple seconds, smacking her gum. Then she said "You can't stay if you don't pay for at least a coffee." She pointed at a sign leaning against the old cash register. It had probably been white once but now it was a smoke stained yellow. It was decorated with a large black smiley face, beneath which was the quote. "No coffee, No service."

That was a quote Hannibal could get behind. Coffee was the lifeblood of the world, after all. Giving the tired looking waitress a smile he ordered two cups of coffee a slice of cherry cake and a slice of banana cream pie.

Asher came in a few minutes later. Hannibal was happy to see that he was looking better. "How's it going, Daddio?"

Asher sat down across from Hannibal, "You know I don't like it when you call me that, Childe."

"Aw, you're no fun. So what have you been up to? You're looking better."

"Revenge will do that to you. I have been working with the information you gave me about the weapon and I think my scientists are getting close to having the basics for an antivirus cooked up. I am still impressed that you managed to get inside the Hunter cell."

"Aw, you knew I could do it. After all, that is why you picked me for this job. Has Dacina started suspecting anything yet?"

"Not yet. She has been too busy with her master plan. She's got two farming facilities set up and she has become obsessed with some sort of temple in the Iraqi desert."

"Well that's good then. Has she been leaving you alone?"

"More or less, you know how she gets. She is freaking out over every little detail. It is gotten to the point where I almost feel sorry of Jarko. At least I would if he wasn't a masochist."

"True, true. So do you have the information for me?"

The waitress dropped the pie off at that point. Both Hannibal and Asher gave her a smile and stopped talking until after she was two booths away. "Cherries. You always did know how to appeal to my sweet tooth, Hannibal."

"But of course. What kind of Childe would I be if I did not know your tastes." Hannibal took a large bite of his pie. His eyes slid to half-mast. The pie was one of the best banana cream pies he had ever tasted.

Asher cleared his throat, drawing Hannibal's attention away from his pie-gasm. "Should I leave you two alone?"

"Funny. Did you bring the file?"

Asher reached into his briefcase and pulled out a file full medical printouts, dealing with the biological and physical symptoms of vampirism. "This should be enough to let your doctor friend finish making her the weapon. Now why don't you tell me about these Hunters you have been working with?"

Asher's voice was sly and Hannibal suspected that he knew more than he was admitting about how Hannibal had come to be a part of the Hunter group. Hannibal blushed. "Well, there's a little girl, the daughter of the scientist who is working on the weapon. She is a real sweet heart. It is almost like having a little sister. Her mom acts like a mother to both of us. Most of the Hunters are dweeby, so they are fun to play with and not much of a threat. There is this one Hunter though. She is the daughter of Blade's companion, Whistler. She is a real firecracker. She can beat me at hand to hand almost half of the time, and she's an even better marksman than I am."

"It sounds like you like them. That is a dangerous thing to let happen. Particularly considering why you are a member of their group. You need to be more careful, I had hate for you to have your heart broken when you comes for you to betray the Hunters and return to me."

Hannibal could not meet Asher's eyes. He had known he was getting in too deep with the other Hunters but hearing his Sire say it made the knowledge much worse. "I'll be careful, Sire."

"Of course you will, Childe." The sarcasm was heavy in Asher's voice. They both knew that Hannibal was not the type to be careful or to guard his heart well. Once Hannibal gave his loyalty to someone, he stayed loyal. Hannibal really did not want to listen to Asher's remonstrations about being foolishly loyal, so he decided to cut their meeting short.

He quickly tried to stand up, slamming his knee against the edge of the table as his butt slid across the vinyl booth. He had to bite his lip to muffle the curse he let loose.

He was about to stomp off in an even worse mood than before, then he heard an odd muffled clucking sound. Looking up, he tried to find the source of the noise. Asher was leaning over his cup of coffee, shaking. Hannibal was immediately concerned, fearing that he had made his Sire cry.

Then he realized what the clucking sound was. "Are, you laughing at me?" he shrieked.

Asher looked up at him, his hand clapped over his mouth. Hannibal could see that he was trying to straighten his features, but he could still hear the laughter threatening to bubble up in Asher's voice. "Of course not, Childe."

"Uh, hu. then what exactly were you doing?" Hannibal wanted to know how he would explain his atypical behavior.

Asher had dawned a overly-sorrowful expression by this point. "I was merely using a breathing exercise I learned in Lamaze class to control my sorrow, over your foolish behavior."

Hannibal stared at Asher, eyes wide, jaw slack. Pictures of Asher walking around with a beach-ball beneath his professionally tailored suit coat was enough to strike him uncharacteristically dumb.

Asher burst into laughter, no doubt proud of the fact he'd managed to best Hannibal, for random comment of the night. Hannibal soon joined him, the sounds of their merriment filling the diner and making the diner's down-trodden patrons stare at their table in shock.

Hannibal settled back into the booth. Now that the akward moment caused by his split loyalties had passed, he felt comfortable continuing the meeting with his Sire. Though this time he would make sure that their conversation didn't touch on serious subjects.

Hannibal snuck back into the Honeycomb Hideout around seven o'clock the next morning. He'd spent hours talking to his Sire and drinking strong diner coffee. He was both wired and happy.

He headed up to Sommerfield's lab, to give her the file. Sommerfield was shocked by the amount of data he had and was not shy about showing it. "Where the hell did you get this information, Hannibal? This type of data is not available to just anyone. You know how obsessive vampires are about not letting anybody get ahold of their blood. Nobody wants another Reaper vampire incident. Tell me exactly what you did to get this data. If you risked your life, I will beat you with my cane. I don't want Zoe to have to deal with somebody else she cares about dying, just to could get information that might not help."

"Relax, I did not do anything to dangerous. I have some contacts from back when I was a vampire. One of the Familiars got in touch, said he had some information that would be of interest to me. I met him in a neutral place with plenty of other people around. Perfectly safe. "

Sommerfield hit him with her cane.

"Ouch! What the hell was that for?"

"That's for being stupid. Being safe would have involved having Abby go with you as back up. "

"Come on Sommerfield, you know how Abby is with vamps and Familiars. If I had taken her with me I wouldn't have a contact, I would have had a corpse."

"That might be true. Mind you, I believe Abby would be able to put the importance of the information before her personal feelings about vampires. Next time you have a meeting like this you had better tell me so that we can discuss your options. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes Ma'am."

"Good. Now why don't you go find Zoe. She was following your example and driving Abby insane last time I saw her. I am sure that Abby would be glad for your help in taming her."

Hannibal smirked. Abby was not a morning person and Zoe had probably driven her half-insane. He could not wait to drive her fully insane, so he quickly headed down to the kitchen.

"Hey, half pint. You want to play a game of vampires and Hunters?"

"Yay! Aunt Abby is being boring again."

"You know how Abigail hates mornings baby girl."

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean she has to be mean. "

Hannibal leaned on the table next to where Abby was morosely stirring her cereal. "Were you being mean, Abby?"

Abby growled in reply.

Hannibal and Zoe giggled. "Come on pumpkin, let us go hunt some vampires."

"I've got to go get my weapons first, silly."

Hannibal let out a squeak of feigned fear."Weapons, why do you need weapons? Surely you are not trying to kill your poor vampire Uncle?"
Zoe giggled and jumped off her stool, running up the stairs that lead to her bedroom, full speed."Do not go anywhere Uncle Han. I 'll be right back!"

Hannibal took the seat Zoe had just vacated, smiling as he heard the crashes that came from Zoe's room. Zoe really loved playing vampires and Hunters.

"You shouldn't encourage her to play games like that you know." Hannibal turned to Abby. She was the last person he would expect such a comment from.

"Why shouldn't encourage her to play games like this. She's most likely going to become a Hunter one day and its good practice."

Abby slammed her spoon into her bowl with a loud crack. "It is not good practice Han. You are teaching her to think of this as a game. It is not a game. It is real life with real consequences and if she is going to survive then she needs to think of everything that attacks her as being possibly lethal."

Hannibal had to bite back a growl. He had known that his and Abby's ideas of child rearing differed but he had never realized that those differences were so pronounced. "I disagree. I played cops and robbers as a child and I turned out fine."

"Turned out fine. Is that how you describe being turned into a vampire cabana boy?"

"Zoe's right. You are being mean today. I would suggest you take some time off and get some sleep, because if you say something like that
to Zoe I will rip you a new one, and then I will sic Sommerfield on you. Do I make myself clear?" Hannibal was leaning over the kitchen bar now, his face mere inches from Abby's.

"Fine, but I am telling Sommerfield what you're doing to Zoe." Despite her agreement, the scowl on her face was enough to make her true opinion on the matter clear.

Hannibal decided to give her one last warning before he resorted to ignoring her. "You do what you think is right Abby, and I'll do what I think is right."

"DUn, dun, duuUUN!" Zoe took a flying leap off the steps that lead up to her room. She was dressed in her old easter dress, a leotard and a pair of woolen gloves. She was also carrying the suction cup bow and arrow set that Hannibal had gotten her for her birthday.

Hannibal gave his best evil laugh and started running away, holding back some of his speed so that Zoe could keep up. Zoe gave chase, laughing all the way. No matter what Abby said, Hannibal would not trade playing games like this for anything

The virus was almost completed when Blade came crashing back into Hannibal's life. He and Zoe were watching a late night showing of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone when the news station interrupted with a special report. Hannibal was about to change the channel when A news caster came on and announced that there was news about the serial-killer known as Blade. Hannibal gripped the bowl of popcorn so hard that his knuckles turned white. He wanted to kill the bloody damphire for what he did to Deacon, and what Deacon's death had in turn done to Asher. He and Zoe watched in awe, as all hell broke loose on the TV.

The picture bobbed wildly as the cameraman was forced to make wild adjustments in order to keep both the Charger and the windswept reporter in frame. Hannibal tuned out the reporters nasally voice watching intently as Blade's Charger sped forward, following two people on bikes down a busy street. Hannibal could only watch in shock as it left every car on the highway in the dust. That speed most definitely meant that Blade had made an illegal modification to his car. Even if the police did not know about the warrants out for Blade's arrest, he was dead meat if they could catch him. It would not be long, he couldn't keep that speed up forever.

The camera wavered wildly for a moment and when the Charger came back into sight, Blade was trading shots with the bikers, while still driving at break neck speed. Hannibal could not believe how crazy Blade was acting, not that the riders on the bikes weren't equally crazy. Blade was lucky somebody had not died in this stupid shoot out. Then Blade managed to ram the bikes and send the riders flying into his car and Hannibal decided that somebody was definitely going to die in this mess.
Hannibal was proven right as one of the riders came flying out of the windshield of Blade's car. Blade slammed on the brakes and came to a jarring stop, before jumping out of his Charger and shooting the helpless rider in cold blood. Hannibal was expecting the victim to explode into ashes but instead he just laid there on the street bleeding out.

Blade ran away. Hannibal hissed. This was bad, really bad. Much as he would enjoy seeing Blade punished for all he'd done, he did not want the secrets of the vampires becoming common knowledge because of Blade's stupidity. There was nothing he could do about now, it so he decided to stay calm and act like nothing was wrong so that Zoe would not get upset.

"Come on Baby Girl. Since the movie doesn't look like it is going to come back on, it is time for beddy bye."

Zoe put on her pouting face and crossed her little arms in front of her chest, before using her feet to push herself deeper into the couch, so Hannibal could grab her."I am not a baby anymore Uncle Han. I should be able to stay up until ten just like you promised."

"I know, sweet cheeks but an emergency came up and you know the rules. No staying up late if Abby and I have to go Hunting."

"How do you know that you have to go hunting? Abby did not come too tell you and all you did was watch that stupid special report."
Hannibal grinned at both Zoe's attempts not to have to go to bed and the fact that she had grown up enough to make a valid argument for getting to stay up late. Still, he did not have much time before all hell broke loose in the vampire and Hunter world and he needed to get going. Which meant it was time to break out the big guns and bribe Zoe into going to bed.

"I see that I have taught you well, young Padawan. The special news report that interrupted the movie involved a Hunter. Your Aunt Abby and I are going to have to go check on him. Now into bed, my little monkey girl. I promise that as soon as I have a night free of Hunting I will rent all three of the Harry Potter movies and we'll stay up late watching them."

"Do you promise on you word as a Hunter.?"

"I solemnly swear on my honor as a Hunter that I will rent the Harry Potter movies as soon as possible and watch them with my favorite Niece. Good enough?"

"I guess. Thank you Uncle Han."

"You're very welcome sweet pea. How about we tuck you into bed now?"

"That's okay I guess, but I get blueberry pancakes for breakfast!"

"Agreed." Hannibal picked Zoe up and twirled her around until he was almost dizzy enough to fall over. Then he ran her up the hideout's stairs and plunked her into bed. He made sure to give her a quick peck on the forehead before he turned out the light and headed down to the hideout's main room and Sommerfield's lab. Something told him that she would be very interested to hear what the news was saying about Blade. After all, the Hunters' master plan to kill Dracula required Blade's help and he would not be able to do much if he was stuck in a human prison, or went crazy from a lack the serum that kept his vampire half, at bay.

Hannibal headed up to Sommerfield's lab to tell her what he had learned. He was less than halfway there when his phone started ringing. Stifling a curse, he headed back to his own rooms. Asher was the only one who had his number and he really did not want one of the other Hunters listening in on his private business. Once he had a suitable amount of privacy, Hannibal answered the phone.

Asher was on the other end of the line just as expected but unfortunately he was a not in the mood for chit-chat. "Hannibal, I need you to be quiet. I do not have time discuss things, so just listen, the FBI has just taken Blade into custody. The good news is that he is currently being held in the police station, which will not be hard to infiltrate, the bad news is that you need to get there before Dacina and I do, or my plan to stop humanities extinction is in the toilet. Dacina will not waste any time before she has Blade killed and we do not stand a chance of stopping Dracula unless Blade is still alive. So get to the police station, now!"

Hannibal heard the click on the line and slammed his phone shut. He tucked it into his pocket and ran for the stairs that lead to Sommerfield's office as fast as he could. He did not want to have to go toe to toe with Dacina and that was exactly what would happen if the Hunters were late to the "Free Blade" party.

Breaking into a Police Station wasn't as easy as it sounded. Every police officer in the place seemed to be on high alert. After fighting off over a dozen of them, Hannibal finally managed to make it to the interrogation room where Blade was being held. Just in time to watch as Dacina started baiting Blade. It was rather obvious that she had not gained any sanity in the years Hannibal had been away.
He was too late. The smart thing to do would be to cut his losses and wait for Asher to find a way to distract Dacina and help Blade escape, but nobody had ever claimed Hannibal was smart.

Taking a deep breath, He drew his pistols and vaulted through the two-way mirror and into the interrogation room. He shot the two low level vampires without much effort, but Dacina was a harder target. She managed to dodge an entire clip of Sun Dogs before she and Asher ran for it. Unfortunately, Jarko did not follow. Instead, he lunged for Hannibal.

Hannibal dodged out of the way but still took a glancing blow to his side. It was enough to send him staggering. He had forgotten just how strong Jarko was .Without vampire speed or strength he was hopelessly outmatched.

Jarko lunged for him again. This time he grabbed ahold of Hannibal's arm and used it to slam him into the interrogation room's cement wall. Then he began to slowly squeeze down on Hannibal's neck, choking him.

He would no doubt have died if Blade had not managed to break free of the straight jacket he'd been wearing. The punch Blade landed on the back of Jarko's head was enough to snap it to the side. Jarko dropped Hannibal and turned to face the Daywalker. Blade landed a few more devastating hits, before Jarko chickened out and pulled a runner.

Hannibal had pulled himself back upright, by that point and was able to enjoy the sight of Jarko acting like a complete chicken. Seeing that Blade was about to follow Jarko, Hannibal yelled. "Blade, Deal with him later! We have got to get you out of here now!"

Blade hissed at him, but did as ordered. The two of them left the interrogation room, though the hole Hannibal had left in the two-way mirror, and headed to the rendezvous point Hannibal had set up with Abby.

Abby was going at it with three vampires, dressed in police flack jackets when they got there.

"Whistler!" Hannibal yelled. He felt Blade tense up next to him upon hearing the name. In all the excitement he had forgotten that Abby's father had been Blade's companion. Still, it was not like he could break the news of Abby's existence anymore gently now that the cat was out of the bag. "It is time to go, we retrieved Blade. "

Abby nodded, not taking her eyes off her opponents. "Do you have an exit strategy., Han? These vamps are really cramping my style. "
"Duck." Hannibal yelled before using one of his guns to shoot the heads of two of her opponents. Enabling Abby to take out the third vamp, with ease. "Yeah, I've got a plan. There is a stairwell a couple yards away. I figure we should head of there as fast as we can, before anybody has the bright idea to seal it off."

"Right, let us go then." Abby ran ahead, not even bothering to check if they were following.

Fortunately, they did not run into any more vampires, during their sprint to the stairwell. The staircase was equally empty and Hannibal had even begun to think that they all might get out of this in one piece. Then Blade froze mid-step. "What is wrong now?" Hannibal asked, thoroughly fed up with everything that had gone wrong.

"My sword, They still have it." Blade replied..

Hannibal was less than impressed. They were running for their lives and Blade was worried about a stupid pig-sticker? "Are you insane? Worry about surviving now and your pimped out butter-knife later!"

Blade gave Hannibal a dark look before he ran back into the police station. Hannibal thought he was crazy for risking life over a missing weapon, but he was not going to let the Daywalker's insanity kill him He kept moving and quickly managed to catch back up with Abby. They busted through the stairwell door and into the police station's lobby, together.

The lobby was empty and it was child's play to finish their escape. At least until they reached the large plaza that lay in front of the station.
With a flurry of flashing lights and screeching tires, the plaza went from being empty to being filled with police cars. Hannibal and Abby tensed waiting to see what would happen, as police officers poured out of their vehicles and began pointing guns at them. The standoff was broken when a window on the tenth floor exploded, sending glass raining down into the plaza. Blade followed right after the glass, leaping out of the broken window and landing in a crouch, his sword clenched in his hand.

Hannibal had to admit that he was impressed. Even when he was a vampire, he had not been able to make jumps like that. He could definitely see why the entire vampire population of LA feared this man.

Not that the Daywalker's presence actually made their situation any better. Unless you counted the fact that a third of the police officer's were now pointing their guns at Blade, instead of Abby and Hannibal. Hannibal was beginning to think about doing something stupid, like surrendering, when the sound of loud rock music reached his ears.

A garishly painted SUV came rumbling up the steps, almost running over a few police officers, and coming to a stop between the police and the Hunters. A tall, black man sat in the front seat, his white teeth flashing in an excited smile. He yelled "Get in!"

Hannibal, Abby, and Blade were happy to oblige. They all ignored the bullets that pinged off of the side of the SUV, as the police tried to keep them from escaping. It did not work of course, the Hunter's had long since learned the advantages of bullet-proofing their getaway vehicles.
The driver gunned it, leaving the police behind with little trouble. Then they were on their way to the Honeycomb Hideout.

Once they were inside the hideout, Hannibal went to report the events of the mission to Sommerfield, while Abby showed Blade around. Sommerfield was sitting in her lab enjoying a glass of wine when he got to her lab. That was not an all together unusual sight, but he had never known her to drink while still on the job. Then he saw the smile on her face. "Did you finish it?"

"I did." She replied giving him a big smile, "We now officially have a weapon capable of killing every vampire on the face of the planet. At least we do if Blade agrees to help us. "

Hannibal was half-happy and half panicked. His job from the get go was to find out information about the weapon and now that it had been completed his job was done. Unfortunately, Asher's plan to turn Hannibal back into a vampire as soon as the cure was complete had hit a major snag, thanks to today's little confrontation with Dacina. There was no way that Dacina would let him become a part of the Talos family after he humiliated her by forcing her to flee. Which meant that he was stuck living with a bunch of Hunters while his sire was forced to deal with Dacina's temper without any assistance. They were both screwed and he did not have a clue how to change that fact.

Blade stomped into the hideout's garage, heading for the SUV, Dex had not used as a getaway vehicle. Hannibal had to admit that the Daywalker had good taste. The silver Land Rover would blend right in with the other cars on the LA streets. Of course agreeing with his taste in cars did not mean that Hannibal had to let Blade drive, as he seemed to be planning. Hannibal quickly skirted around Blade and got ahold of the driver side door before Blade could reach it. He had seen how Blade drove on national television, and he was willing to endure Blade's wrath in order to keep from being pulled over, as would inevitably happen if Blade went around driving like a maniac. Hannibal could just imagine trying to explain to the cops why they were aiding a wanted fugitive and carrying around illegal weapons, holy water, silver stakes, and garlic.

He would get a one-way ticket to the loony bin.

Blade scowled at him for getting to the driver side first, but he did not try to force the issue. Instead he headed to the passenger side door and go into the SUV. Once he was settled and Hannibal had started the engine, Blade began to outline his plan. "We're going to go after the weak link in the vampire organization. The Familiars. If we put enough pressure on them, they'll tell us everything we need to know, then we
can get rid of these Dracula-wanabees."

Hannibal gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white and bit his tongue to keep from saying the first, cutting remark that came into his head. Blade's plan was so brilliantly simplistic that a five year old could have come up with something better, and yet the jackass seemed to think that they should just go along with the plan, without comment. If he was any less invested in seeing that Blade was kept happy and alive until he killed Drake, Hannibal would have shown him the error in his thinking by opening the passenger side door, while the car was still going..

Deciding that he needed a distraction before he gave into his dark side and actually went through with his plan to toss Blade out of the SUV, Hannibal stabbed at the stereo's on button. He relaxed a little when the sultry strains of a Kenny G song, started ringing through the SUV. Revenge was sweet, and good for stopping murderous impulses. A cigarette would have worked better, but he really did not feel like dealing with cancer on top of everything else. He hated being human and having to worry about dying every second of every day.

Pulling off of the little used road that lead to the Honeycomb hideout, and onto the main drag, Hannibal headed for the nearest Familiar hangout, swaying along to the clarinet music and counting the seconds until Blade lost his temper. Hannibal was betting it would be soon. There were going to be finger marks permanently imprinted into the passenger chair from the way that Blade was gripping it, trying to control his temper, and Blade's grip just kept tightening.

They'd made it about two blocks down the road, when Blade blew his top and slammed his hand down on the stereo's power button, hard enough to make the button fall off. Hannibal watched as it bounced about, before finally landing in the driver's side foot well.
Great, now he was not only going to be denied his revenge, but forced to endure Blade's stoic scrutiny without even the comfort of music. That was just typical of Hannibal's life. He could already tell that today was going to be a great day.

It had taken over half a dozen Familiar hangouts, two dozen maimed or dead Familiars, and a goodly amount of uncomfortable silent car rides, but their Hunter group had managed to track down one of the Talos' most powerful Familiars. Hannibal had never even heard of Edgar Vance before, which was a bad sign. As Asher's head Familiar and second in command Hannibal should have either known or known of all the top Talos Familiars. The fact that he did not know about this one meant that he worked with Dacina exclusively and more importantly, it meant that he worked on something Dacina did not want Asher to know about. Something like her plan to vacuum pack humans and use them as a long-term blood supply. Hannibal could only hope that Vance had a strong enough constitution to withstand torture. He seriously did not want to have to deal with the fallout of Blade and Abby discovering what the Vampire Final Plan was and getting distracted to the point where they no longer cared about destroying Drake.

Hiding the discomfiting thoughts that were preying on his brain, Hannibal followed Abby and Blade into the Institute for Whole Being.

The elderly folks and college bums that littered the waiting room, at the front of the building, stared at the three of them. No doubt wondering why anybody would come to a Doctor's office and Health Center, dressed for war. Hannibal saw one of the college age kids point his camera phone towards Blade, Hannibal was willing to bet that he was planning to post the picture of his "close encounter" with a wanted and dangerous fugitive on his facebook. Which meant that somebody else would figure out Blade was here soon, and call the police. They needed to finish this up fast.

Not that time was really going to be an issue, given the way Blade was bulling ahead, pushing past the security officers that tried to stop him, like they were flies. Which meant that Hannibal got stuck knocking them out so that they did not follow the three of them up to Vance's office and cause trouble.

By the time he had caught back up to Blade and Abby, Blade was taking out Vance's PA. Not that, that it was too difficult for the big, burly, Daywalker, since the guy did not look like he'd been lifting anything heavier than a pencil in the last few years.

The three of them burst through the door and into Vance's office, together. A slight man, with faintly graying hair and a creepy thin-lipped smile was standing behind a big oak desk that sat in front of a large window that showed the majority of the LA skyline. The man was dressed in a loose white shirt and enough 'bling to bedeck a handful of rappers.

"Payback time, Vance!" Blade growled aiming his shotgun at the man's head. Abby circled to the right of the desk keeping her own weapon pointed at Vance. Hannibal was trying to figure out whether he should circle around the left side of the desk or continue to back Blade up, when he saw Abby turn white.

He rushed forward to see what had so upset the usually unflappable Hunter. It did not take long to figure it out. There was a body behind Vance's desk. A body that bore a frightening resemblance to Dr. Vance, except for the fact that it wore a bloodstained lab coat and its neck was torn up.

A horrifying realization hit Hannibal."It is not Vance!" he yelled. Unfortunately, his warning came too late. He had barely managed to begin pulling a silver stake out of his weapons belt, when Vance transformed into someone else. Hannibal could only assume that the handsome and muscle-bound man that now stood in Vance's place was Drake.

Now the question arose, what was he supposed to do about Dracula's presence.? He could not let Drake be killed by anything except the vampire killing weapon, but at the same time he couldn't be seen as helping vampires or he would blow his cover as a Hunter.

He decided to wing it.

When Drake sprang over Vance's desk, heading for Blade, who was still frozen in shock at Drake's sudden appearance, Hannibal stepped in front of him. No matter how pathetic Drake thought humans were, he wasn't about to ignore a silver stake wielding Hunter. In short order, Hannibal found himself speared by his own stake and being used as a human shield. This was not his best plan. Asher had better be really grateful for all the pain and suffering he was going through.

He did not pay much attention to Blade's posturing. Drake was no longer in immediate danger of being killed and Hannibal had faith that Drake's sense of self-preservation would have him rabbiting at the first opportunity. He just had to stay conscious until then. It did not take long. Blade was not exactly the patient type.

Once Blade and Dracula had taken their grudge match outside and left him bleeding on the floor, Abby was kind enough to pick him up again. He could have done without her spraying protein sealant foam into his stake wound and knocking him out, however.

When Hannibal woke up he found himself in the hideout's infirmary and wrapped up in a tatty orange blanket that Sommerfield had knit. Nobody had the heart to tell her that it was ugly as hell and full of holes, and it did not really matter because it was his favorite blanket, anyway.

Hannibal tried to get off the hospital bed, only to have to lay back down again, fast. His entire left side felt like it was on fire. Drake might have missed his heart by a good, few inches but he had done some damage anyway, which presented a problem.

He did not have his phone on him and even if he did, he could not exactly call Asher while Blade and Abby were hanging around. His best hope was to convince them to go hunting without him and then convince Sommerfield that she needed to bring him his phone so that he could call his contact and find out if they had heard anything about Drake. It was not the best plan, but he did not have a lot of options.
Hearing a rustle Hannibal looked over at the doorway that led from the hideout's main room, to the infirmary. Blade was standing there, staring at Hannibal.

"So Blade, you've seen the competition, do you think we have a chance in hell of winning or is humanity doomed to die out?" Blade did not answer him, not that his stoicism or the fact that he stomped off in a huff, was a big surprise.

Soon after Blade had vacated the premises, Abby showed up. She seemed to be in a better mood than Blade, though that probably had something to do with her belief that she was always in the right and the universe would protect her because of it. It was one of her more annoying qualities but given his own depressed state, her confidence was actually a boon. It was enough to make him smile, even if it was a uneasy smile."So how much do you think Blade hates me?" Hannibal could not resist asking her.

"He doesn't hate you, exactly." They both watched as Blade stomped passed the doorway, shooting a glare at Hannibal. "Okay, he totally hates you, but I am sure it is a good hate."

Hannibal did not bother trying to hide his incredulous stare at that comment. "You do realize this is me you're talking to and not Zoe, right? Speaking of which. Where is Zoe? I keep expecting her to come bouncing in here, asking every question that pops into her head, and keep me entertained."

"I think she's bugging Blade. She seems to find him fascinating."

"I find that vaguely disturbing."

"Well, maybe if you did not make her think that hunting was a game, she'd be a little more wary of strange vampires."

Hannibal glared at Abby, his good mood officially ruined. "First of all, Blade isn't a strange vampire and second of all, are you really going to do this now, while I am in severe pain, drugged, and almost died from blood-loss?"

Abby shifted guiltily. Hannibal suspected that she had forgotten his present state, in her obsession with winning their long time argument.

"So Sommerfield has a lead on where the vampire final plan is taking place. We figure that if Blade and I can capture Drake and bring him back here, we'll be able to use the weapon on him and destroy every vampire in the world."

"Ah, a good, old ambush and destroy mission. Am I the only one that thinks this plan sounds too simple?"

"Relax Hannibal, you're just feeling antsy because you're not going to be able to come along."

Hannibal was pretty sure he was feeling antsy because this plan sounded suspiciously like they were falling into a trap, but he knew that he wasn't going to be able to convince Abby of that. He would just have to hope that things worked out better than he suspected they would. In the mean time, he still had to figure out how to warn Asher that he was not going to be able to help with the plan to use Drake, and the Hunter's weapon, to kill off all the vampires that Asher did not give the cure to. "So when do you leave?"

"Trying to get rid of us already?"

Hannibal smirked. "Something like that. Would you mind giving me another shot of morphine before you head off to gear up?"
"Sure thing. Try to get some sleep while we're gone."

The shot did wonders and Hannibal found himself falling asleep before Abby had left the room.

Hannibal had just begun shaking the effects of the morphine off, when everything went wonky. Whistler was in the infirmary, and not his Whistler, it was her father. Which was impossible, seeing as he was dead.

The fact that Whistler was dead, soon became the least of Hannibal's problems. The fact that he was cutting off Hannibal's air supply was much more troubling. Hannibal scrabbled at the arms that were slowly choking his life off, trying to pry them off of his throat without much luck. For a guy who was pushing sixty, Whistler wasn't lacking in strength. Then a feeling of extreme power washed over Hannibal, and things started to make sense.

It was Drake.

That meant that Blade and Abby had walked into a trap. He had to warn them. It was going to be hard to manage, as he was too busy blacking out from lack of oxygen to do anything productive.

The next time Hannibal woke up things are even worse than before. There was something licking at his face and he was chained hand and foot. Startling away from whatever was licking him Hannibal wound up coming face to face with a Pomeranian, of all things.

As far as he knew there was no reason for a little, white ball of fluff to be in what he suspected was the torture chamber of Phoenix Towers, the Talos' headquarters. The sheer ridiculousness of the situation made him wary. He watched the fluffy-ball suspiciously, unwilling to take his eyes off of it for a second, least it try to tear out his throat. That did not keep him from being surprised when the impossible happened.
The dogs mouth opened impossibly wide, revealing a frighteningly large number of teeth, then with a cute little bark it is muzzle opened sideways and showing off a pair of scarily sharp fangs and a barbed tongue.

"Jesus Christ!" Was the only thing Hannibal could think to say at the sight. Dacina's sense of humor was just as sick as it had been before he had left Asher's side and joined the Hunters.

Hearing laughter, he took his eyes off the dog and looked around the room, trying to find the source of the merriment. He wasn't all that surprised when his eyes landed on Jarko.

"Come give Daddy sugar." The hulking vampire cooed.

Hannibal watched in horrified fascination as Jarko picked the dog up and made kissy faces at it. Hannibal was beginning to suspect that he was still asleep and having a morphine addled dream. He surreptitiously pinched himself, hoping that he would wake up back in the Honeycomb hideout. No such luck. He was still chained to the floor and being forced to watch a make out session between a dog and a vampire. It was enough to send shudders down his spine.

Hoping to distract himself from the spectacle that was taking place right in front of him, Hannibal began to inspect the room he was in.
It was definitely the Talos torture chamber. Nowhere else in the Phoenix Tower had a skylight that let unfiltered light into the building. The skylight was great for putting the fear into reluctant vampires but it was not much of a threat to him, at least not in his current, human, state. Not that he really needed the extra incentive to talk that the skylight provided. Not once he caught sight of Dacina sitting in the corner of the room, aiming a fangy smile at him. Dacina's torture skills were legendary and even the mere threat of being one of her victims, was scary enough to make full vampire's pee their pants.

Seeing that he'd finally noticed her presence, Dacina got up from her chair and approached Hannibal's kneeling form."Hello, again King. I would say it was nice to see you again but we both know that would be a lie." Kneeling in front of Hannibal she grabbed ahold of his chin and pulled him towards her. Then she kissed him.

Hannibal sealed his lips shut, trying to keep her tongue from entering his mouth. Only to have her bite his lower lip in revenge. He opened his mouth with a gasp. The taste of his own coppery blood entered his mouth along with her tongue. When he did not respond to her advances, she tore her mouth away from his and slapped him as hard as she could. The force rocked him back on his knees, tearing his chin from Dacina's grasp.

She grabbed him again, her pretty white face twisted into a sneer."You are brave, King. Brave or stupid anyway, but you forget I have been twisting brave men to my will, since before you were born. You'll tell me what I want to know."

"And why would I do that? You haven't even asked me anything, you poodle lookalike."

"Funny, lover. Now let us get down to business. Why don't you tell me what your little group of Hunters wants with Blade?

"He's helping us make a new flavor of ice cream. You know super secret, hush, hush stuff."

Dacina slapped him again, this time making sure to keep ahold of his chin."You never were able to take things seriously, were you? I never could understand why Asher kept you around, useless idiot that you are. You know something, no matter how much you bluster; I can still see what makes you tick." She leaned forward and lapped up some of the blood that was dripping from his torn bottom lip. "You like being human, don't you King. I bet you'd do almost anything to keep from being turned back into one of us."

Hannibal really wanted to laugh in Dacina's face. Being turned back into a vampire was something he wanted, not something he feared, though he would really prefer not to have Dacina as his Sire. He wondered who Dacina thought she was kidding, saying she knew him, if this was the worst threat she could come up with. His attention was brought back to Dacina when she dug her manicured nails into his chin, leaving behind bloody half moons.

"Pay attention." She hissed motioning at Jarko.

Hannibal watched as Jarko went to the torture room's door and opened it. Zoe came in, followed by Drake. Hannibal froze. He had stupidly assumed that he was the only one Drake had taken, if Zoe was here than he was going to have to act more carefully. He would keep Asher's secrets as best he could, but he was not going to risk Zoe's life for them. Dacina seemed to realize that she had guessed his weakness correctly, if the toothy smile she was giving him was anything to go by.

Asher came into the torture room, while Dacina was giving Hannibal some time to think about where his loyalties lay. Asher's usually, perfectly coiffed hair was a mess, bits and pieces sticking up in every direction. Hannibal knew from experience that the mussed hair was a sign of just how distraught Asher was about his being captured.

"I see you were stupid enough to get yourself caught and trussed up like a pig at a barbeque." Despite the fact that Asher was visibly pissed about his current predicament, Hannibal could still hear concern in his voice. Despite the two years they had spent apart, Asher still cared about him. That was all Hannibal needed to know, to make his current predicament worth it.

"What the hell were you thinking.!" The sheer volume of Asher's voice made the question echo off the cement walls of the torture room.

"I was thinking that I needed to make sure Blade survived to complete the plan, what do you think I was thinking?" Hannibal's tone was petulant.

"I told you that you needed to show up at the police station before us, so that Dacina would not see you and would go on assuming that you had either run as far away from me as you could or had gotten yourself killed. Instead of following my directions, you showed up while we were extracting Blade and made a nuisance of yourself. Do you really think Dacina is going to let that go?" Asher rubbed his hand over his head, messing his hair up further. "Why could not you just stick to the plan, or failing that, trusted me to find a way for Blade to kill off Drake that did not involve you getting captured and tortured?"

Hannibal did not bother to stifle his snort."This is me we're talking about Asher. When have I ever done things the easy or the smart way.? I was late because my back-up had a hard time believing that my contact among the vampires could actually get me information that accurate, and don't even get me started on you risking your life to see this plan through. I am a hell of a lot more expendable than you, seeing as I am up shit creek without a paddle, if you die before I get turned again."

"And what do you think is going to happen if you die before I turn you, you moronic fruit-cake."

"Simple, Sire. I die and the plan keeps going. If Zoe and I are here, then the rest of the Hunters will not be far behind. Once Blade is here, the plan should take care of itself."

"And how exactly is that supposed to work?"

"What do you mean ‘How is that supposed to work'? I told you that Sommerfield had finished the vampire killing bio-weapon. She'll make sure that the others bring it with them to use on Drake."

Asher froze for a second, before meeting Hannibal's gaze. "Drake did not just take you and the girl, he killed every Hunter at your hideout. He did not get Blade, but as far as I know everyone else is dead, including your Sommerfield."

"It can't be," Hannibal whispered. He should have known, given the fact that Sommerfield would have fought until her last breath, to keep Drake from taking Zoe, but he hadn't wanted to know. He'd wanted to imagine that everything could still work out okay. Now he knew that nothing was going to be okay again. He hadn't been able to protect everyone he cared about.

"I warned you not to get too attached to the Hunters, Hannibal. I should have known you would not listen. Particularly when a child was involved."

Hannibal was still overwhelmed by grief and the last thing he wanted to here was an ‘I told you so'. Enraged, he lashed out. "Why didn't you stop him?"

Asher snapped. "How exactly would you have suggested I do that? Dacina is suspicious of me enough, as is. What do you think she would have done to me if I had interfered? She would have killed me, that is what! Be glad I managed to convince Drake to keep you and the girl alive."

"I am sorry, I am just-."

"Pissed, I know. I am sorry for your loss, but you have to get your head in the game. Our plan is almost done and we cannot afford to waste our only chance to see it to fruition. After all, the continued existence of both humans and vampires counts on it."

"So, no pressure. How is your part of the plan going?"

"It is going well. My scientists were able to create a vaccine that seems to stop the effects of the weapon. Admittedly, we weren't able to test how Drake's blood would effect it, but I am confident that the vaccine will work."

"Confident enough to turn me back into a vampire?"

Asher gave Hannibal a chagrinned and tense smile. "You always were able to see through my bullshit, weren't you Han. I don't feel comfortable turning you until after Drake is dead."

Hannibal really wanted to stay mad at Asher, but seeing him standing there all rumpled and pale, he just could not. "Have you been skipping meals again, you big idiot? On second thought, don't answer that. We both know you would be lying. I do not know how you managed to survive without me. Now, come here and drink before you keel over."

"I am not a child you know. Hell, I've got a good few centuries on you."

"And you get borderline anorexic whenever you're upset. Now, stop being an idiot and drink from me."
Asher grumbled under his breath but listened to Hannibal anyway. Kneeling down in front of Hannibal in almost exactly same position as his sister had a few hours before, Asher proceeded to sink his teeth into Hannibal's neck.
Hannibal was feeling woozy by the time Asher pulled away. Once he released Hannibal's neck, Asher cuddled up to his chest, as though seeking comfort. Hannibal did his best to oblige with the unstated request, rubbing his chin over Asher's head, instead of the cuddling his Sire, as he would have preferred, had he not been chained up. "You should leave as soon as Blade comes, Asher."

"And leave you? Now who's being an idiot?"

"I am not going to be able to come with you, Sire. At least not for a while."

Asher pulled away from Hannibal's chest, until their eyes could meet. "Why not?"

"If Sommerfield really is dead, then it is my job as Zoe's Godfather to make sure she's taken care of. I can't do that if I am a vampire with you."

Asher collapsed back onto Hannibal's chest. "It is not fair."

Hannibal kissed the top of Asher's hair. "No it is not, but you have all the time in the world. Zoe does not. It is not like it is forever, anyway. Another few years, maybe a decade or two, and then we can be together for the rest of our lives, or rather unlives. You should head back to your room now, Sire. Dacina will be back any minute and she'll get suspicious if she sees you cuddled up to me, despite the fact that I supposedly betrayed you."

Asher sighed, but still did as Hannibal asked and pulled away from his resting place on Hannibal's chest. "Stay safe until you're able to come back to me. And don't take too long or I'll have to hunt you down." He pressed a quick kiss to Hannibal's lips, before hurrying out of the room.

Hannibal tried to pry Dacina's hands off his throat. When Blade and Abby had broken him out of the torture room, he had thought he might actually stand a chance of getting out of Phoenix towers alive,. hHe had definitely been proven wrong.

As his vision started tunneling out into blackness, he was suddenly covered in ashes. He gasped for breath and then started coughing as he breathed in Dacina's remains.

He was grabbed by the arm and yanked to his feet, coughing the whole time. The breath was knocked out of him, further as somebody whacked him on the back, knocking the ashes off of him and almost sending him to his knees. Wiping his watering eyes, Hannibal was finally able to clear his vision well enough to see who was accosting him.

It was Asher. At least he was pretty sure it was Asher, if the messy blond hair was anything to go by. Asher's face was covered by a gas mask, and he had one of Hannibal's guns clenched in his hand. No doubt the cause of Dacina's death.

Hannibal considered thanking Asher for his timely rescue, but then he decided that, that would just encourage Asher to take more foolish risks like this. He yelled at Asher instead. "What the hell are you doing here? I told you to leave after Blade arrived. Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

Asher's reply was muffled to the point of being incomprehensible by of the gas mask, but the middle finger he held up in Hannibal's direction made the annoyance he could not express vocally, quite clear.

"Now will you get out of here?" Hannibal yelled.

Asher of course did not reply, though he did motion for Hannibal to follow him. They headed into the tower's lower levels, passing by the boardroom and heading down the hallway that led to the guest quarters.

They stopped at the second door from the end of the hallway. Asher opened it a crack, allowing Hannibal to catch sight of what lay within.

Zoe was sitting in the room's corner being guarded by a vampire. Hannibal rushed into the room, ready to take the vamp out. He underestimated the fighting ability of his opponent.

The vampire started bouncing around the room, like a rabbit on crack. Hannibal hated bouncy vampires. They were annoying, and hard to hit. Hannibal was just about to call for Asher to come take the frog wannabe out when the vampire dropped to the floor and started screaming, before exploding into ash right in front of Hannibal's eyes. Hannibal could hear screams coming from outside the room, hundreds of them, as though every vampire in the building was expressing extreme pain.

Then there was absolute silence. For a second Hannibal thought he had gone deaf, then he heard the soft snuffles Zoe was making. He rushed forward to comfort her, as best he could, rubbing her back and letting her cry into his chest.

Turning his head, he searched for Asher. He feared the worst when he did not immediately see his Sire. Then he caught a flash of movement out of the corner of his eye. Asher was standing in the door, gas mask off, smiling at him. Their plan had worked. Humanity world was saved, but not without a cost.

This was not the happy ending Hannibal had imagined two years before. He would not be riding off into the sunset with his Sire and as much as it hurt Hannibal to see his Sire leave without him, he would not regret his decision as much as he would have regretted leaving the little girl in is arms unprotected, more.
Zoe was his life now and what a life it would be.

Blade is still out there somewhere, doing what he does best. He is a weapon. His life is a war. And everybody knows the war never ends. But for me, the war did end. I am no longer looking for a way to kill Blade or to save the world. I do not have to.

Blade is going to punish himself for all eternity, always wondering if he could have saved, Whistler, the man he cared about most in the world. I like to think that its poetic justice for his taking the person Asher cared about most in the world.

Asher has found a new life working to remake the vampire world in Drake's image. He's happier than he was even when Deacon was alive, though when I talk to him I can still hear his sorrow over his mates death. Still, he's found new purpose in making sure the world doesn't end and in being the Sire of the world's entire vampire population.

Me, I am living the simple life. I gave up on war and hunting. Somebody else can deal with the werewolf threat. I have everything I need right where I want it.

I have a daughter in Zoe, a friend in Abby, and if in the dark of night if I dream about being a vampire, well that's okay because someday, when Zoe is old enough to take care of herself, my debts will be paid. I'll be a vampire again.