((Warning - contains somewhat graphic imagery.))

There were distinct advantages to being in the company of an elder vampire who could insert her voice into your head at will. That was how Nick had known when it was time to usher Willow, Anabelle, Aly, and Lauren out through the back door of the club, toward the car that was waiting for them. As the fight began in the nightclub, the doors of the car slammed, the engine revved, and the vehicle shot out of the alley. Regardless of how certain the plan might be, Lauren was taking no chances. She wanted to be at the penthouse within minutes, and that meant a little speeding. In the back seat, Willow handed Aly to Anabelle, forcing the more delicate vampire female to sit in the middle of the seat. She wasn't going to take any risks with her daughter.

Nick was in the front seat beside Lauren, checking and rechecking his sidearm. Though he wasn't sure if it would be much good against Josef, it might, at the very least, catch him off guard. They were gambling on getting to Valerian's penthouse before Josef realized they were gone, but Nick knew from experience that they couldn't be too careful. "How much farther?" he asked, clearly anxious to reach their destination, more out of concern for his daughter's safety than any fear of Josef.

"A few minutes," Lauren told him in a tense voice, concentrating harder on driving than she might normally have done. But then, she didn't habitually travel at these speeds with Aly in the back. "The most dangerous time will be when I have to stop and key in the code to get into the parking garage."

Behind them, Anabelle gasped suddenly, her eyes snapping to the front of the vehicle. "Josef didn't take the bait," she said in alarm. "Julian thinks he's following us."

"Terrific," Nick muttered sarcastically, leaning forward to open and rifle through Valerian's glove box. "Your boyfriend didn't happen to mention hiding any weapons in here, did he?" he asked, not finding much of any usefulness thus far.

"Not my boyfriend, and no, he didn't tell me about any weapons," Lauren answered a little sharply, pressing down on the accelerator. She heard Anabelle squeak in the back seat, knowing the blonde was not as at home with modern technology as the rest of them, but had to leave it to Willow to keep any fear from getting out of control.

"I've seen Josef fight," Willow pointed out, her eyes fixed on the road behind them as the car weaved with terrifying speed through the traffic that still peppered the city. "He has no technique or tactics."

"And that's what makes him dangerous," Nick pointed out. He'd argue with her about what Valerian was to her later, if there was a later. "Jesus Christ. Who actually keeps gloves in their glove box?" he asked, tossing a pair aside and finding nothing terribly useful, except maybe a ballpoint pen. It might come in handy if he could shove it in Josef's eye or something. "We should have thought this out better," he grumbled to himself. "Did Julian say anything else?" Nick asked, glancing back at Anabelle, who had gone even whiter than usual for a vampire her age.

"It's too late to complain about it now," Lauren pointed out, pulling the car sharply into the dark overhang of the parking garage. It was quiet, and there was no sign from behind of their pursuers as Lauren rolled down the window and leaned out to punch the code in.

Anabelle hugged Aly protectively on her lap, her eyes wide as she looked at Nick. "No, he's ....they're fighting," she said worriedly. "I don't know what?s happeni-"

She jumped violently as Lauren let out a yell. The dhampir was struggling with a dark figure who had loomed from the darkness - a figure that reached into the car and pulled her bodily out through the window as the window behind Nick's seat smashed. Josef reached into the car as the trio shrank back, his expression dark with triumph as he aimed his touch for the baby girl ....and Anabelle did something remarkable. Scowling at the older vampire, she pushed Aly into Willow's arms, removed her stiletto shoe, and stabbed the heel into the back of Josef's hand.

Taken by surprise as they were, Nick's instincts kicked in, and he shoved his door open, sharp teeth shining in the moonlight, eyes turning fiendishly yellow as he gave himself over to the monster inside him. A clawed hand grabbed hold of Josef and threw him away from the car, only then leveling his gun at the vampire and taking a shot in the dark. Loaded with silver bullets, unless it was a lucky shot, it was unlikely to kill, but it would wound and hopefully slow the other vampire down.

Bleeding from the heel jabbed into his hand, Josef hissed as Nick's claws gripped his shoulder, stumbling away only to spring up once more and charge his erstwhile childe. The bullet flew straight and true from Nick's gun, slamming the burning silver deep into Josef's shoulder, yet the pain only seemed to urge the monster on. His charge did not slow, claws out as he lunged at Nick, forgetting all wish to make Tobias suffer. Now he just wanted Nick dead.

On the other side of the car, Willow heard Lauren howl in pain, tasting the tang of dhampir blood on the air before the car rocked with the force of Josef's minion being slung hard against it. Lauren's arm snapped into view briefly through the open driver's window, tossing the passkey for the elevator to the two women in the back. She reached to finish punching in the code for the door, and lurched back once more as another clawed hand raked at her bare arm.

A voice sounded in Willow's head, though to her, it probably seemed like Nick had shouted it aloud: Get Aly to safety! All his concern in that moment was for his daughter, innocent and helpless as she was. Even Anabelle was capable of defending herself, if she was forced to do so, but not Alessandra. Josef might as well want Nick dead, since Nick wanted the same for his sire. This was the man - no, monster - who had tried to ruin his life, who had made him what he was and then left him to feed on his own wife in his blood madness. This was his sworn enemy and tonight, at last, it was going to be over, one way or another.

Nick caught hold of Josef as he lunged close, digging his own claws into the other's chest to grab hold and then flinging him like a ragdoll in the opposite direction of the garage. Nick then turned and leaped to Lauren's side, not bothering to hesitate before shoving a clawed hand straight through the minion's chest and ripping his heart out.

Willow shuddered as Nick's voice - her sire's voice - sounded in her head, the order traveling down her spine to stiffen her resolve and release her from her paralyzed terror. Responding to her father's mental call, Aly woke up screaming, sobbing in fright as she fed off the pain radiating from Lauren, the anger from Nick, the fright from Willow. Josef slammed against the concrete as Nick tossed him aside, dropping to the ground. In that moment, he was almost vulnerable, but Nick's action was what saved Lauren from having her throat sliced open. Josef's minion didn't even have time to scream as Nick ripped the heart from his chest, the body dropping with a dull thump next to Lauren as she rose to her feet.

The dhampir was bleeding from claw marks to her arm, her back, her neck, her eyes turned dull yellow as she snarled in pain. "Thanks," she managed, straightening to look for Josef as she finally finished the code that opened the parking garage.

The older attacker had disappeared from where he had fallen, a hiss in the darkness the only clue as to his whereabouts. But Willow was moving, clambering over into the driver's seat to slam the car into reverse and stamp on the accelerator. There was another dull thud as Josef was hit by several tons of modified vehicle, preventing his more stealthy attack from the rear.

"Stop messing around, get inside!" Lauren screamed at the trio in the car, advancing to keep Josef from following as the car shot forward into the garage.

Relieved, Lauren let Nick lift her up, knowing that arguing with the two vampires would only end with her being overruled as it was. Looking over Nick's shoulder, she called out to Valerian's shadow. "Adelia ....thank you." A gentle smile touched her face, grateful that the woman had kept Valerian alive. They might never be the best of friends, but she hoped they could at least be allies.

Adelia glanced her way, brows arching upwards, a little surprised at the show of gratitude. She was used to being mostly unseen, or at least, unacknowledged, though she was gorgeous, in her own way. She offered a rare nod of her head in reply before turning back to the task of cleaning up the mess. Once the door opened, Valerian led the other pair inside and over to the elevator where he punched another code in which would take them to the penthouse.

There was little to be said on the ride up to the penthouse suite, but the moment the doors opened, there was an awful lot to react to. The first thing that hit them was the sound of Aly sobbing, utterly inconsolable without her father right there to reassure her that everything was all right. Willow was pacing with her, the relief on her own face stark as Nick came into view. The fact that he was carrying Lauren, who looked definitely the worse for wear, was not a reassuring sight, however.

"Oh my god," she declared, shocked. "Please tell me you won."

Behind her, Anabelle took one look at the injured warriors, and headed for the kitchen. She, at least, knew the importance of blood.

Valerian took up the rear and might have remarked that he kept the fridge well stocked with blood, but it seemed Anabelle had already discovered his cache. "We won," Nick quipped, the slightest hint of a smirk on his face as he very gently deposited Lauren on the couch and made a beeline for his daughter to assure her Daddy was fine.

"It's over," Valerian said, and as soon as he'd secured the door, he went to the couch to check on Lauren. He brushed some hair away from her face with gentle fingers, a relieved smile on his face. "Well, at least, we're alive," he said at last.

Aly reached for Nick as soon as he was in range, wrapping one arm around his neck to pull him close to both her and Willow, her sobs slowly beginning to fade. Relieved, Willow turned into that embrace, breathing Nick in as she kissed his cheek. "Thank God," she breathed softly, closing her eyes. "We were scared."

On the couch, Lauren stirred awkwardly, still fighting to stay conscious. "Wait," she complained feebly, arms moving as though she was about to sit up, unfocused eyes seeking Val. "Can't bleed on your couch ..."

"Don't be absurd," Valerian scolded, but then he was scooping her up in his arms and carrying her toward the bedroom. "Make yourselves at home," he called back to the others, clearly wanting some privacy. Anabelle was the odd one out at the moment, but with any luck Julian would come rescue her soon enough.

Nick said nothing, too filled with relief and horror to put any of it into words, glad it was over and that his family was safe, but wishing it could have ended differently. Still, they had won, and Aly was safe, and that was all that really mattered at the moment. He'd think on the rest later.

For the sake of the child in the room, Lauren bit down on the natural impulse to cry out as Valerian scooped her up, somehow managing to hold in even the whimper that tried to escape as he bore her from the main rooms and into the privacy of the bedroom. She heard the beep of the microwave as the door closed behind him. "Blood," she whispered. "You need blood, you're hurt."

He had tried to be as gentle as he could with her, but it seemed she was injured everywhere he looked. It was a good thing Josef was already dead, or he would have stopped at nothing to hunt the vampire down and do worse to him than even Lauren and Nick had managed. He laid her gently upon the bed, unconcerned about his own injuries, which should easily heal. The silver burn was the worst of it, but even that would heal in time without leaving a scar. "I'll be fine," he assured her once she was settled, crouching down in front of her to examine her wounds. "Let's worry about you first, shall we?" he said, more statement than question. After a moment's examination, he raised his wrist to his lips, sharp teeth biting down to pierce his own flesh before offering her a taste of his blood.

To her credit, she tried to resist the call of the blood he offered her, despite her instincts telling her to drink and heal herself. "You don't have to," she tried to protest, not wanting to pressure him into doing this for her. It was an incredibly intimate act, to drink of another's blood, far more intimate than anything they had done together thus far.

"I want to," he assured her, gravely. I need to. While it might have been easier for her to partake of the blood he kept stored in his refrigerator, his own vampiric blood was far stronger and capable of healing her wounds faster than human blood, either fresh or preserved. Not only aware of the intimacy of such an act, but also of the bond it might create between them, this was something he had never offered to anyone before, except with Adelia, and that had been for entirely different reasons. He didn't bother to ask if she'd rather decline; if that was the case, she was free to say so on her own, but he hoped she would accept.

Hating that it was not an offer made of his own free will, but made with the urgent need to see her healed, Lauren grimaced as she felt herself sob, so run down by the fight and her injuries that she couldn't put into words just why she was objecting. She reached for his wrist, sealing her lips about the oozing cut to swallow a mouthful or two of his blood.

Oh, but the wounds were just an excuse, really. The offer came from the heart, wanting to bond with her in this most intimate way of theirs. Yes, he was making the offer to help heal her wounds, but if that was his only motivation, he could have just as easily given her blood from his own private stash, which the others were likely now sharing.

"It's all right, Lauren," he assured her quietly, as she drank from his wrist. "I want this," he told her, hoping she understood what he was trying to say.

Vampire to vampire, this offering of blood came with a surge of memories and experiences. Vampire to dhampir, it seemed things were a little more and a little less complex. As Lauren drank, she felt Valerian's lifetime; the time before he embraced the dark was blurry, out of focus, but she felt what he had felt for the centuries after he had taken the night for his day. And even as she swallowed, lying back against the sheets while the open wounds over her flesh began to knit themselves together once more, she still felt that connection, raising her eyes to his in wonder.

He wasn't too sure what it would be like for her as she shared his blood, his life - a culmination of thoughts and emotions and experiences. There was a lot of loneliness there, as there was with most vampires, and an offer from a vampire who had come to be something of a father figure to him. That vampire, of course, was none other than Tobias, but it wasn't quite clear what had brought them together. Valerian's connection to Adelia was even harder to understand - friend, sister, child, companion, but never lover. It was clear she seemed to owe him some debt of loyalty and allegiance, and though he felt otherwise, it was a debt she felt was still unpaid. It was the connection with Lauren that came through loud and clear and with it, the longing and desire for a deeper relationship - to, at long last, love and be loved for himself and not for some debt he owed or was owed in return.

With her strength returning amid that onslaught of emotion, Lauren pushed herself up, curling her hand to Valerian's neck as she drew his brow to hers. She closed her eyes, breathing him in as she reeled from the implications of what she had felt from him. That connection she had felt from the first was real; he felt it, too, and like her, he felt the urge to hope for something deeper, something more profound, that might grow from that connection.

Holding herself close to him as her wounds closed, her skin flushing a healthier shade of pink, she held her wrist to his lips, opening her eyes to meet his gaze. "I need you to drink, too."

"We have no reason to sneak away," Anabelle assured him with a smile. "The danger is passed. And besides, I am reliably informed that you are in bed with the one person who knows how to fit those special windows." She laughed softly, stepping back toward the door. "Rest easy, Valerian. The city will not empty while you sleep."

It was a strange feeling after all those years of being alone that he suddenly had a small group of friends. Not allies, but friends - people who actually cared for his well-being - not to mention the woman by his side, whose hand he had taken in his own, and to whom he had given his heart. "Would you tell Adelia I'm well, but I'm weary, and that we'll talk tomorrow?" he asked, hoping Adelia would understand. He could have shared that message with her himself, but he was too tired, and dawn was quickly approaching.

"I will." Anabelle inclined her head to them both. "Sleep well." And with the danger passed, they would all sleep well today, though the haunted dreams might revisit some of them when they least expected it.

Lauren licked the blood from her lips as the door closed behind Anabelle, setting her empty cup down. "Drink," she told Valerian firmly. "I need to wash before I can sleep. I can still feel my own blood on my skin."

"Lauren ..." Valerian started, when they were once again alone, a question on his lips that he was not sure how to ask, deciding it could wait until sunset. "I'll be here," he said, with a faint smile, a little confused by his own emerging feelings.

"I won't be long," she promised, leaning close to kiss him before slithering off the bed. "Do not forget to at least take your shoes off before you fall asleep." Never mind that it was at least an hour before first light; the night had been long, and filled with tension and pain. They were rightly exhausted.

He smiled as she kissed him, before she slipped away to wash. He was not as bloody or tattered as some of the others. Lauren and Nick seemed to have suffered the worst of it, though he was not entirely sure how the others had fared at the nightclub. At least, they had all survived. Their long nightmare was over, though it would take some time before any of them felt safe. He wondered whether it had been Lauren or Nick who had torn Josef to shreds. There would be time for questions later, but some things were better left unsaid. The mention of his shoes confused him a moment, his thoughts getting fuzzy as dawn approached. He reached for the cup of blood Anabelle had so thoughtfully brought and took a sip, followed by another, until the cup was drained, but instead of feeling stronger, he only felt more weary. What they all needed was some well-deserved rest.

Under the streaming shower, Lauren forgot to keep herself under control. She could flicker in and out of her usual persona as much as she liked, but nothing could hide the fact that she had killed someone in brutal fashion tonight. Not only killed him, but suggested the manner of his death without even a hint of remorse. As her own dried blood washed down her skin to swirl in the drain, she cried ....tears for Josef, whose madness had left them with no choice; for Tobias, who had not been there to witness the end of the being who had set him on his path; for Nick, who had danced so close to the line of becoming what he was pursuing; and for herself, who had touched a darkness inside her that she had not truly known was there. It was horrifying, to realize that she was not only capable of those thoughts, but of turning those thoughts into actions.

Though his mind and body were weary, Valerian felt a strange grief come over him, a feeling of remorse like he'd never felt before, and he realized with shock that what he was feeling was Lauren - her thoughts, her feelings. Though he could not say what it was she was thinking precisely, he instinctively knew that she needed him. He soundlessly went to her, undressing quickly and joining her in the shower, his arms going around her to hold her close, as the water washed them both of the stain of blood and guilt.

Caught up in her grief, she did not hear him come to her, but there was no surprise as she turned to burrow into his arms beneath the steady fall of steaming water. For the second time that night, he had come when she needed him; he was there when she needed him to be. And she knew she didn't have to explain her pain to him. Valerian had been given a glimpse into the way she saw herself and the world around her. As soon as he knew that Josef's death had been her doing, he would understand her horror. And so she told him, between those wrenching sobs, holding tightly onto him with each staggered breath, trusting that this newly discovered darkness in her was not enough to send him running from her.

On the contrary, her confession only opened his heart to her more, understanding her horror at what she had done - at what she had helped Nick do. He held her close while she made her confession, never condemning or scolding or lecturing; only listening with an open heart and mind. He whispered soft, soothing words of comfort, caressing her back like a lover, until she at last turned quiet. It was nearly dawn by the time he got her settled in bed, the blankets drawn up over them both, still holding her in his arms, while the black of night turned slowly to the first gray of morning.

Lying in his arms, it seemed to take Lauren an age to find her voice again after crying herself hoarse for too long over something that was done and could not be undone. When she did, finally, find her voice, it was to whisper softly, "I'm frightened to sleep. Don't leave me?"

He stroked her hair, her face, leaving soft kisses upon her eyelids and cheeks and lips. They weren't the kind of kisses and caresses that were meant to entice, but to soothe and comfort. He thought perhaps he should tell her there was nothing to be afraid of, but he knew that would be a lie. As safe as she was there with him, she would never be safe from herself or of the horrors of her own past. He couldn't even begin to imagine what it must have been like for her to know she had murdered her own mother, and yet, it had been through no fault of her own. She was surrounded by people who loved and cared for her, despite that, and he was just one of them.

"I won't leave you. I promise," he told her quietly. He had kept his promise to stay alive, and he would keep this promise, too. "Go to sleep, love. I'll still be here when you wake," he told her, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead.

Love. Of all the things he could have said, it was one word, almost thrown away in his need to comfort her, that relaxed the tension from her form. One word that told her his promise to try was already being fulfilled. Nestling closer to him, Lauren brushed a soft kiss of her own to his chest, only too happy to be the one protected tonight. There would be time enough to go over the events of the night, to revisit what had been said and done, and to decide what else might need to be done in the future. For tonight, all she needed was Valerian to hold her close and keep the nightmares at bay.