Teena: See? Told you I was almost done. This covers various and 
sundry... Explanations to Duo, catching Heero up on stuff he missed 
while he was away... Stuff like that. Oh, and why Heero was perfectly 
alright going about in sunlight in the show.

Duo: And Jean-Claude gets himself in trouble...


Danse Macabre
Part 6



 Heero opened the office door and walked in, face and body language 
both completely neutral. Duo and Quatre exchanged frustrated looks, 
and Duo bounded over to toss an arm across Heero's shoulders. Heero 
blinked, surprise breaking through his mask.

"Saaa, Heero, HOW many times do I gotta tell you, you keep too damn 
many secrets! Partners are supposed to tell each other EVERYTHING! 
Especially cool stuff like being able to hop dimensions! Can I see 
your fangs?"

 Relief and affection flashed in Heero's eyes, but his face showed no
expression as he shrugged off Duo's arm. "Hn. Baka."

 Duo staggered back, clutching at his heart theatrically. "Ack! I'm 
stung to the quick by your witty repartee!"

"Bite me," Heero replied, smirking faintly. "Oh, wait, I forgot, 
that's my job, isn't it?"

 Duo's jaw dropped and his eyes widened in shock. He spun to face 
Quatre. "Tell me you heard that too. Tell me I'm not just having an 
auditory hallucination."

 Quatre laughed quietly. "Heero's been a little...different since we 
got here. He was a master vampire long before he was the 'Perfect 
Soldier'."

"That reminds me! People keep saying that! What IS a 'master' 
vampire?"

"A master vampire is more powerful than other vamps. They tend to have
more special abilities, and there are things masters can do that 
regular vampires can't," Anita explained. Duo blinked.

"Like what?"

"Mainly, have a human servant, and power over some type of animal."

"What kind of animal?" Quatre asked, wide-eyed. Anita shrugged.

"Pretty much any kind. I met one who had control over butterflies. Not
very impressive, but he seemed happy enough with them."

"Uh, let's back up to this 'human servant' thing," Duo said, frowning.
"What's up with that?"

"A human servant is a human bound to a master by vampire marks. The 
human gets various abilities, resistance to poison, faster healing, 
stuff like that. If the human OR the vampire dies, usually the other 
one does, too. I'm Jean-Claude's human servant, technically speaking. 
If he EVER treats me as less than an equal, I will kick his 300-year-
old ass."

"Warning understood," Jean-Claude murmured amusedly. "We are a 
slightly unusual case, because we have a third person bound to us. My 
wolf, Richard."

"You're a triumvirate?!" Heero asked, shocked. "That almost never 
happens! There were only two, and one of them is Council!"

"There is still only two," Jean-Claude informed him. "Sabin and his 
are dead by our hand. Sabin had gone insane from trying to feed on 
animals and cold blood."

 Heero shook his head sadly. "A shame... I knew Sabin, he was a 
friend. Almost obsessively in love with Cassandra, though."

"Yes... That was his downfall, I'm afraid," Jean-Claude replied. "Now
that you are here, shall we tell Duo about his unfortunate situation?"

"Unfortunate situation?" Duo asked, baffled. "What situation?"

 Heero lightly tapped Duo's injured arm. "Those weren't done by any
ordinaly animal. You were scratched by a wereleopard, which means that
there's a high chance YOU will become one."

"Heero? I know this is probably a dumb question, but you've been 
acting really weird, so... Are you KIDDING me?!!"

 Jean-Claude chuckled. "He is not joking. You may soon have to begin
wearing your silver cross outside your shirt, lest it burn you."

"If we get you home before full moon, you probably won't change, Duo.
Your dimension is low-magic. Of course, if you've already changed by
the time we leave, you're screwed. Lycanthrope for life," Heero told
him. Duo stared at his arm, wide-eyed in shock.

"That gives you a serious time limit, though. Full moon is only about
a week away," Anita informed them, frowning. Heero cursed under his
breath.

"I don't know if I can do it in that short a time. It's hard enough 
just transporting MYSELF between dimensions. This time, there's five 
of us, AND our Gundams. I don't know if I'll have enough power."

"Could we help? Between the three of us, Jean-Claude, Richard, and I 
have a lot of power," Anita offered. Heero shook his head.

"No, it wouldn't work. All the power has to be inside the circle, and
everything inside the circle gets transported. It has to work that 
way, because any power from outside the circle would be a tie to that 
world, so we'd just end up where we started."

"What about us, then?" Quatre broke in. "Why can't you draw power from
us?"

"The only way for me to use power from you would be if you used the 
spell, and it's a difficult spell, a beginner wouldn't have a chance."

"Heero... That is NOT the only way," Jean-Claude said quietly. Heero's
eyes widened and he shook his head emphatically.

"No. No way, Jean-Claude, not a chance. Number one, I doubt it would 
be enough, and number two, he AND Trowa would have a fit about the 
main side effect."

"What are you two talking about?" Quatre asked, snapping out the 
question.

"He's suggesting I give you the marks, make you my human servant. If I
did that, I could draw power from you. But we would be bound forever,
you would live as long as I do, without growing old. You would 
probably outlive Trowa, watch him grow old while you stayed young and 
strong," Heero replied automatically, responding to Quatre's command 
tone. Quatre paled, slowly sinking into a chair.

"Trowa..."

"It could be more, if you wait a week," Jean-Claude added. "It's 
actually wonderfully convenient for you, Heero. Servant and cat both 
available."

 None of the people in the room even saw him move. One moment, Heero 
was standing near Duo, the next, he was across the room, holding Jean-
Claude against the wall by his throat, eyes flashing angrily.

"I will not use them like that. If you EVER speak of Duo in such a 
manner again, I will tear out your beating heart and carry it into 
the morning sun, do we understand each other?" Heero hissed, flexing 
his fingers in emphasis. Jean-Claude lifted an eyebrow.

"Quite clearly, mon ami. Would you care to release me now?"

 Heero growled softly, but let go of Jean-Claude, stepping back and 
turning his back on the other vampire. Quatre and Duo stared at him 
in shock. A moment later, Duo's eyes narrowed.

"Heero... Your animal is the leopard, isn't it?"

"Yes..."

"So... With me and Quatre, you have the makings of one of those 
triumvirate things? Is that what he's talking about?"

"I won't until you change, and hopefully, we'll be gone before that."

"Drop it, Duo. It's upsetting him. Heero, there's something I've been 
meaning to ask," Quatre said quietly. Heero looked over at him.

"Nani?"

"I've seen you out in daylight. And just now, threatening Jean-Claude,
you said you would carry his heart into the morning sun. How can you 
go around in the sun without dying?"

"It's one of my abilities... An incredibly rare one among vampires. To
my knowledge, I'm the only one at the moment. I can go out in the sun,
and I neither burn nor rot. It hurts a great deal, of course, but that
doesn't really matter."

"The Council calls him the Daywalker. If there is another, he or she 
is hiding the ability. Many envy it, even among the Council."

"Why do you think I left?" Heero snapped angrily. "Envy turned to hate
all too easily. I fled because I didn't feel like fighting the 
Council. I am more powerful than several of them individually, but 
several of them are more powerful than me, and I am outnumbered."

"Less so than you were. The Earthmover is dead."

"Dead? I didn't think anyone could kill him..."

"Anita did," Jean-Claude said, smiling faintly. Heero blinked.

"Then why aren't you overseas, part of the Council?"

"I refused, and defended my position to the Council's envoy."

"I imagine THAT was less than enjoyable. Who did you have to kill to
make them leave?"

"No one, though Padma came close."

"Padma," Heero hissed quietly, eyes flaring. "You should have killed 
the bastard."

"We were already in enough trouble for killing a member of the 
Council, adding another would have signed our death warrants," Jean-
Claude stated calmly. "Fernando, however, was not so lucky."

"Good," Heero replied with a faint sneer. "He was a weak, pathetic 
rat, hiding behind his father's power. I hope he suffered."

"He had raped Richard's Geri and one of Anita's leopards. She gave him
to the pack and pard for justice. Believe me, mon ami, he suffered."

 Anita's cell phone began to ring, interrupting the conversation. She
opened it up and put it to her ear. "Anita here. ...You found one of
them? Which one? ...Chang? Okay, keep him there. ...JASON? Oh, 
geez... Of all the groups to find him... Yeah, we'll hurry, thanks. 
TRY to keep Jason from traumatizing the poor kid..."

 Anita turned the phone off and put it away, turning to face the 
group. "Okay, the wolves found your friend Wufei in the woods. 
They're gonna keep him in one place so someone can go get him. Better 
hurry, Jason's in the group that's got him treed, and Jason can get a 
little playful. Who's going?"

"I'll go," Heero told her. "Wufei respects me."

"Me, too!" Duo piped up. "Wufei treed by a bunch of werewolves? I 
CAN'T miss this!"

"Okay. I'll have to come too, since I know roughly where they are, and
I'm not sure the pack will listen to you guys," Anita 
explained. "Quatre, do you think you'll be okay here by yourself?"

"I won't be by myself, Jean-Claude will be here," Quatre replied with 
a faint smile. Anita blinked, running one hand through her hair.

"Good point... Do you think you'll be okay stuck here with Jean-
Claude?"

 Jean-Claude got a faintly offended, faintly amused look, and Quatre 
just chuckled. "I'll be fine, Anita. I'd like to hear more about 
Heero's past, anyway."

"Okay. We'll see you later, then."


tbc...


Teena: *grins* Very eloquent and elaborate threat, Heero. Protective 
much?

Heero: *glare*

Teena: I've been leading up to this triumvirate thing for a while. 
Aren't I clever? *wanders over to Duo and looks over his shoulder, 
grinning* And now we get to torment Wuffie. 




Teena Maxwell-Yui
Azrael, Archangel of Death
Many other things, too, but it takes too long to type them out