Dance With the Demons + Part 13 (cont)
Of Life's Blood

+

Hours later, Duo came back into the world, sighing to himself. He was lying on his stomach, snuggling into his warm pillow. It was so comfortable, it felt like warm velvet on his cheek. He ran the hand closest to his face over the pillow. Licking his dry lips, Duo buried his face deeper into the softness.

At least, he tried to. Now that he was a little more awake, Duo realized that his pillow was a lot firmer than he remembered. He cracked open one eye, blinking a few times to bring the room into focus. Then he looked up and met Heero's blue eyes staring down at him.

Both of Duo's eyes shot open as he took full stock of the situation. Quatre was missing, and his `pillow' was Heero's chest . . . the, uh, chest which his fingers were absently caressing. He put a stop to that right away. He also came to the conclusion that he was practically lying on top of the vampire, and his leg was currently flung over one of Heero's. And the warm weight on his back seemed to be Heero's arm. Well. This was a wonderful position to wake up in. Remember the sarcasm, Duo told himself. Remember the sarcasm.

Duo stayed absolutely still. Shock. Yes, that's it, he was shocked into stillness. And silence. That's why he wasn't moving. Heero's body was hot underneath his, the heat from the vampire's bare skin seeping though the silk of Duo's pajamas. Bare skin? Duo shifted his body. Heero was naked. Completely naked. Completely naked in the same bed as Duo. Duo was presently wrapping himself around a completely naked Heero. The vampire looked very pleased with that fact.

"Gah!" Duo said intelligently, trying to extract himself from Heero's embrace.

Heero merely crooked an eyebrow at him.

"What are you doing?" Duo asked furiously when Heero refused to loosen the arm he had around Duo.

"What am I doing?" Heero repeated. That was another very annoying habit the vampire had. "I woke up when the grip you had on my arm became painful, Duo," he said. "As soon as I retrieved my arm, you latched onto me," he continued with a smirk.

"Uh huh," Duo said doubtfully. "Do you MIND?"

Heero sighed. "It's just as well, I'm hungry. And if I'm hungry, you must be ravenous."

Duo's hand immediately flew to his neck. Heero seemed to find that very amusing. The vampire somehow managed to move down on the bed so that Duo stayed exactly where he was, but was now looking directly into Heero's face.

"No, Duo, I didn't intend to feed on you." A pause. "Unless you're offering?" His tone was teasing.

Duo grunted. "You wish. Let me up."

Heero brought his other arm up to lay it lightly on Duo's waist. "Why? I'm comfortable," he said, his face only inches from the braided man's.

"Uh . . . ." Duo was finding it hard to think. Step one: find problem. Heero was too damn close. Step two: remedy problem. Move so Heero is no longer close. Preventing factor: Heero wouldn't let Duo move an inch away.

Duo grinned. Heero's eyes narrowed.

Using the hand that was resting on Heero's chest for leverage, Duo pushed himself up and over Heero. The vampire grunted as his eyes widened a fraction. Duo, however, kept moving. He rolled over Heero and onto the opposite side of the bed, away from Heero. He was quite pleased with himself.

Or, he would have been, except his foggy brain neglected to factor in one thing. Well, possibly two things. The sheet had been pulled almost entirely off of Heero, baring a continuous line of skin, including one very well formed thigh and buttock. And that led to the second thing; Duo had overlooked the possibility that Heero could and would roll with him, thusly placing the vampire directly on top of Duo, propped up on his arms, with one of Duo's arms trapped between them.

The situation hadn't improved.

In fact, it had gotten decidedly worse. Heero's lower body was pressed firmly against Duo's, and the thin pajamas he wore were not much of a barrier. Duo swallowed again. Hard.

"That worked well," Duo said sarcastically.

"That's a matter of opinion," Heero replied, his breath tickling Duo's throat and his blue eyes dancing. The blue fires in them were muted, but Duo still felt his eyes drawn inexorably to them.

"What's with you anyways, Heero? You're fucking GIDDY," Duo huffed. The vampire was acting strange. Duo had seen Heero slightly miffed, pissed, confused, amused, and blank. The last of those seeming to be the dominant expression. Right now, however, Heero seemed . . . playful. That was troubling.

"We're going hunting," Heero breathed.

"Huh?" Duo stopped trying to maneuver his pinned arm out from under Heero.

"Howard has given me the details on the assignments that our task has forced you to neglect," Heero said easily. "They others have taken care of the three minor ones. You and I, Duo, will complete the last. We hunt." The vampire's eyes were bright with excitement. Duo found it infectious.

It had been a long time since he had been asked to hunt down and destroy a renegade monster. Suddenly, Duo was a bundle of excited nerves.

"Species?" Duo asked.

"Unconfirmed. Suspected lupine or feline; possibility of humanoid eliminated."

"Kill count?"

"Three attributed," Heero replied. "Two together, one separate. Approximately three miles apart; suburban, exterior kills. A sixteen hour time difference between time of death."

"You're good at this," Duo grudgingly conceded. "But I'm going alone." It was worth a shot, wasn't it? Heero couldn't tag along EVERYWHERE.

Heero actually smiled, a full genuine smile that reached his eyes. Duo felt his stomach drop out.

"No, Duo," Heero's voice dropped low. "I want to hunt with you."

"Are you going to get in my way?" Duo asked sourly. Great. His first REAL hunt in months and he had to drag along Heero the Giddy Erus. Nice to know he'd be helping Heero get his jollies.

Heero looked at him like he had said the stupidest thing in the world. Quite possibly he had.

"Okay, okay, I get it. You're a vampire, you can hunt." Duo tapped Heero's nose meaningfully. "Now get up so I can get my breakfast." His stomach growled to punctuate his words as he tried to prop himself up on one elbow.

"What would you like for your breakfast, Duo?" Heero asked, not making any movement to get up.

Duo sighed, flopping back onto the bed. "What do you want, Heero?" Damn it. He probably shouldn't have asked that, given Heero's current mood.

The vampire was silent for a long time. "Mariemeia is wrong," he said finally.

What the . . . ? That was a far cry from what Duo was expecting. "Wrong?"

"Yes, wrong. You are not merely a catalyst." Heero's eyes had lost their playful glint and Duo felt a little disappointed. "I remember what your touch is like, Duo. For three days I watched over you, and twice you have touched me. Once, you almost owned me." His cobalt eyes acquired that far away look that Duo had only seen once before.

Duo nodded. He only fully recalled one incident, but he knew what it was like to touch Heero's mind. Calling it a rush was like saying the universe was big - it didn't do it one bit of justice. He waited to see where Heero was going with this. A small part of his brain was back to screaming at him again, yelling at him that it was ridiculous that he was having a serious conversation with Heero in this situation. Duo promptly told the voice to shut the fuck up.

"The power that you take, you make it your own. And when you give that power to others, you make them yours as well."

"I . . . I know," Duo said. "What Mariemeia was saying sounded right, as far as it went." He snorted then. "Like hell I was telling her that."

The corners of Heero's mouth turned up in a small smile. Duo half wished he would smile like he had just a few minutes ago.

"Always careful, aren't you, Duo?" Heero's eyes shifted back to the present.

"I kinda have to be. Everyone seems out to get me, one way or another. Makes a guy jumpy."

The vampire shifted slightly, making Duo's already rising shirt move even further up. Duo felt his breath catch when the bare skin of his stomach came in contact with Heero's. What the hell was wrong with him? This was Heero, for Christ's sake! Insanely dangerous master of creepy crawlies; hell, he was the fucking definitive creepy crawly! Duo found his heart rate escalating at an alarming pace. And it had nothing to do with fear. This had gone too far.

"Alright, get to the point or get up, Heero," Duo demanded, trying to get his body back under control. Heero had to feel the rapid beating of Duo's heart; he thought his ribs were going to break from the sheer force of it.

"You asked me what I wanted," the vampire murmured.

"Yeah?" Duo's stomach did another of those little flip-flops. So much for calming down. His mouth was suddenly dry.

The tiny voice in his head was right, this WAS ridiculous. Duo tried to blame it on some trick of Heero's, but the vampire had done nothing that he could detect. Even his eyes, the one thing that usually held Duo captive, were just eyes now. Duo found he could look away easily, maybe get up if he wanted to; Heero wasn't holding him down with that much force. But he didn't want to look away or get up. He didn't want to move an inch.

"I want to feel your touch again."

"What!? What the hell does that mean?" Duo stared up incredulously at the vampire.

Heero's eyes had changed again, drowning blue. "You know exactly what I mean."

Duo narrowed his own eyes. Okay, so he did know what Heero was talking about. What the hell was he up to now?

"What the fuck are you trying to do, Heero? I almost killed you the first time, and the second time you pushed me away. Are you with us, Heero? On the same wavelength, right?"

"Duo."

"What?" the braided man snapped irritably.

"Just do it."

"Why?"

Duo made the mistake of searching Heero's eyes for an answer. Looking into the burning cobalt flames, Duo knew he was lost. The rest of his protests died on his lips when he felt the stirring in his mind. Once again, the world slowed down, veiled in color. But not black. This time, he saw the world through vision tinted blue.

"I want to know." Heero's lips moved, but Duo heard the vampire's voice echoing in his mind.

Duo's world sped back up. He watched the colors of Heero's eyes blend and merge. "What do you want to know?" His voice sounded detached in his own head.

"If you can own me."

Lifting his free hand, Duo rubbed the tip of his index finger over Heero's lips. He opened his mind again, reaching out for the almost familiar sensation of the vampire's touch. Duo dropped his hand down, splaying his fingers above Heero's heart. He felt the sluggish beat echo in his mind even as he felt Heero's power swell up and wash over him.

There was no resistance in Heero; he didn't try to fight Duo off as Sally had. His life spilled out and into Duo, making his skin tingle and burn. Duo knew he could rip everything from Heero in that moment, take his power, take his life. The vampire was trusting him.

"Heero . . . ." Duo's voice was husky and low with the rush of power. "I could kill you."

Heero's head dropped down, his hair touching Duo's forehead. "I know," he gasped.

Lazily, Duo felt Heero's power mix with his own inside him. It changed, became something more, but retained some part of Heero. It blended and merged like the endless swirl of color in Heero's eyes. The sensation was intoxicating, every nerve in Duo's body sang with power so intense it walked the fine line between pleasure and pain. Under his hand, the beat of Heero's heart sped up as his own heart rate slowed down. The two met in the middle.

Duo's breathing was labored. He could take Heero's power, but he couldn't make it his own, not completely. Letting his eyes close, Duo started to push the transformed power away, out of his body and mind, back into Heero. A small sound deep in the vampire's throat stopped him.

Struggling to reopen his eyes, Duo met Heero's gaze. A fine sheen of sweat had broken out over the vampire's body.

"Does it hurt?" Duo asked with morbid curiosity.

Heero's lips were parted slightly. The tip of his tongue darted out to wet them. "N-no. It's . . . like nothing I've ever felt before," he said, his voice faint. The whiteness of his fangs showed in stark contrast against his lips.

A bemused smile spread across Duo's face. He held the power back, feeling like his body would explode from the pressure. He had to release it before it killed him. An idea blossomed in Duo's mind; a better way to return Heero's stolen energy.

Keeping his eyes on Heero's face, Duo tilted his head to the side, exposing his neck. The vampire's eyes widened as comprehension dawned. A fine trembling began in Heero's arms as he held himself above the braided man.

"Take it back, Heero," Duo whispered.

Heero lowered his head, his lips brushing the pale skin of Duo's neck and the throbbing pulse just below the surface.

"Are you . . . ?"

"Just do it," Duo said with a slightly amused tone overlaying the apprehension in his voice. "Take my blood and take back your power."

A shudder ran though Heero's body and a groan was drawn from his throat. Duo clenched his eyes shut, waiting, not knowing what to prepare himself for. Heero's breath was hot against his neck, then he closed his mouth over his skin. A sharp pain and then a slow burning spread out from the broken skin as the vampire's fangs sank easily into him.

Duo's eyes shot back open when he felt Heero begin to suck gently on the wound. He drew Duo's blood out of his body, bringing the power with it. He could feel it slide through him, touching him in a way that was almost intimate. Duo began to tremble beneath him, sensations washing over him and threatening to drown him under their intensity.

A soft cry escaped Duo. He felt Heero's hand cradle his cheek as he fed on his blood and their combined power. The energy flowed out of Duo from the wound at his throat, into Heero, and then back inside Duo's body where his hand was pressed over the vampire's heart, creating a continuous circle. It flowed though him in a brush of soft velvet.

Duo's blue-tinted vision swam. He tried to pull himself closer to Heero, arching up towards him and whimpering as the forces inside him escalated until he was certain he would pass out.

Duo swallowed twice, forcing his voice to work. Still, all he could manage was a weak, "Heero . . . ."

Heero's fingers were shaking where they rested against Duo's face. He growled deep in his throat, pressing his mouth firmly over the bite. Duo quivered, his fingers digging into Heero's skin.

Duo felt his eyes drifting closed. The energy he had drawn from Heero was rushing through him now, leaving burning trails that turned icy as they faded away, only to burn again. Then, impossibly, it grew larger, devouring him in frozen flames.

A strangled cry was brutally ripped from Duo as the power exploded over him. He wrenched his arm out from where it was pinned, clutching the vampire to him as if his life depended on it. Heero tore himself away from his neck, throwing his head back with a primitive scream. He stayed there, suspended for a single moment in time before he collapsed, rolling to lay beside Duo and dragging the sheet with him. Duo fell back onto the bed, his breathing ragged. Twin trails of blood trickled down his neck. He peered at Heero through heavy-lidded eyes. The vampire turned his head, watching Duo with eyes swimming with power and something very much akin to lust or passion. His lips were swollen and tinted red. A small drop of blood trailed from the corner of his mouth.

Duo brought his hand up slowly to wipe away the blood on his neck. He raised his bloodstained hand in front of his face. The blue tainting his vision melted away.

"I couldn't," he said, focusing his eyes back on Heero, his hand still raised. "I can't own you. And you," Duo swallowed, pushing away the tightness in his throat, "and you can't own me."

Heero reached up, covering the red stain marring Duo's palm with his own hand.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Duo: *gulp* Wow.
Heero: Agreed.
Blue: *smirk*
Duo: And that wasn't even sex . . . .
Blue: Nope.
Wufei: I feel neglected.
Blue: *pats Wufei's arm* There, there.
Wufei: *sigh*
Quatre: And just when is it MY turn?
Blue: Its okay, Wuffie.
Wufei: *halfhearted voice* Don't call me that.
Quatre: MY turn. When is it MY turn?

[part 12] [back] [part 14] [back to Blue Soaring's fic]