Heart's Price

by Severitus

--Part 10--

The night air was perfect, Frank thought, as he stood by the window. He felt better than he had in days. Except for a lingering soreness at his neck, where a small gauze pad had replaced the full neck wrapping, he was good as new. Well…new, at least. The 'good' part was still up for debate. Reaching a hand up to his throat, Frank fingered the thick, twisted scars there. Earlier, when Daedalus had removed the wrappings, he had allowed Frank to peer at the damage.

Katerina had made a royal mess of him. Almost the entire left side of neck was a mass of scar tissue, stiff and unfamiliar beneath his fingers. And, as Frank had feared, the blood-sucking bitch had done permanent damage to the tendons. He'd never be able to turn his head more than a fraction to the left again. The damage had been too severe by the time his body had begun to change for it to heal entirely. Frank was especially bitter about that. He didn't like the idea of being…damaged in any way. He didn't think it would be cause for discharge from the department…but he would forever be stuck with the reminder of the attack.

Frank turned reluctantly from the window and paced slowly across the room, brain railing at his confinement. Though he was mostly recovered, both Daedalus and Julian had insisted he take it easy for at least another night. They'd promised him free reign of the mansion the following day, and Frank used that promise to keep his restlessness in check. He'd never been a man for idleness, and it chafed at him to be stuck in Julian's bedroom, especially while most of the clans were still combing the streets for Katerina. Though logically he knew there wasn't much he could do (after all, since his 'education' hadn't begun yet, he'd most likely just make a fool of himself), he chafed at being left behind. He was an officer of the law…he should be out there doing his job, not sitting on a bed with thousand-dollar sheets, being waited on hand and foot.

Growling, Frank whirled on the spot, and froze when he saw the window.

Katerina Novolski stood in the frame, the bright outside garden light illuminating her wild hair, giving her the appearance of a banshee. She wore the same tattered clothes as before, still stained with dried blood. With a jerk, Frank realized a lot of it was probably his. His face, however, nearly froze the blood in his veins. Her face was contorted in a vicious grin, eyes burning brightly in her shadowed face.

"I've been calling you, you know," she purred, the words garbled by the oversized fangs crowding her lips. "But your Prince's pet Nosferatu…he has blocked my call. But no matter," she said, gliding toward him across the floor. Frank stepped back, eyes darting frantically about the room for a weapon. But there was nothing…nothing that would stop a crazed vampire, anyway.

"Come, my childe," she purred, one grotesque, gore covered hand extended in invitation. Frank curled his lip, sneering.

"Fuck no," he replied. Katerina frowned, and her brows furrowed in concentration.

"Come," she hissed again, only this time, it was more than words. It felt as if an invisible cord had sprung to life between them. However, unlike the link he shared with Julian, or even the one with Cash, this one sang with anger and hatred. It burned like a hook had been sunk into the back of his brain, pulling insistently toward the crazed vampiress. Frank staggered, curling his hands into fists as he fought against his own body. His muscles spasmed, fighting against his will to answer her call. She was his sire…and she possessed a connection to him unlike any other. The thought filled him with rage, and his eyes swirled with color.

"Come get me, bitch," Frank growled.

Katerina shrieked in rage, her body coiling in fury. Baring her teeth like a wild animal, she leapt at him, claws stretched toward his throat. Frank met her halfway. His greater weight carried him to the ground on top of her, but he didn't stay there for long. Her face twisted horribly, fur spreading up her cheeks and down her neck as she clawed at him. Frank was barely able to keep her claws away from his neck. He didn't want to find out what would happen if he was damaged further, so soon after healing from her last attack. Frank's years of training had kicked in an instant, and he fought to subdue her, to get at least one of her flailing arms pinned to the ground. But she was slippery as an eel, twisting her body in ways that no human assailant was capable of. His frustration distracted him, and in an instant she turned the tables.

His skull slammed against the floor as she flipped him over, instantly leaping to crouch on his chest, her bare feet digging into his thighs. She screamed in his face, her eyes filled with a madness that Frank had very rarely seen in his life…and never face to face. Frank had a vague sense of her claws sweeping for his chest before her weight abruptly disappeared, and a furious and very male yell was echoing in his ears.

Rolling to his feet, Frank stared in shocked relief at the scene unfolding. Cash and Daedalus stood by the open doors, their eyes fixed. And Julian…he stood above Katerina, one foot planted firmly at her neck.

"He's mine! Mine!" she hissed past the weight on her throat. "I made him! He lived! He's MINE!" she thrashed and clawed, but even her formidable strength was no match for the weight of Julian's cold rage. His eyes were solid silver as he stared down at her, completely empty of mercy or human feeling.

"No, he's not," Julian said simply. Then, he held out a hand toward Cash, never letting his eyes leave the woman for a second. Cash leapt forward, pulling a long, wooden spike from inside his coat. Julian took it in his fist and, with one, deliberate stroke, drove it into the screaming Gangrel's heart. She froze in an instant, flailing arms dropping to the floor like a puppet with its strings cut.

"He's mine," he said firmly as he stepped back, the silver of his eyes beginning to fade back to deepest brown.

Frank stepped up beside him and wrapped an arm around his waist. Julian's body was still taut with rage, but most of his fury had been spent.

"You're all right?" Julian asked, finally turning from the body at his feet.

"Yeah. Barely a scratch," Frank assured. And at that, Julian's body relaxed, and he wrapped his arm around Frank's shoulders in a return gesture.

"How did you know?" Frank asked.

"You and I share a connection as well, Frank. I could feel your fear when she arrived, and I came as soon as I could."

"A connection? I thought that was just a side-effect from sharing blood."

"When you let me taste you, Frank, I showed you my heart, let you feel all that I am. And when you fed from me, the connection I started was forged anew. Right now it is still young…but in time, you will always be able to feel me, and I you," Julian said, and Frank felt a familiar warmth in his heart at the words. He very much liked the idea of the connection, the closeness to another person. He realized then, in looking at Julian's relieved face, and those of Cash and Daedalus, that he would need never fear being alone.

He was no longer a man caught between two worlds, stuck on the outside looking in. Now…he belonged, and that thought, despite all the trials he knew still awaited him, gave him hope.

Epilogue

Katerina was dragged out into the sunlight the next morning. Frank stood with Julian to watch, and gained a strange sort of satisfaction from the sight. In a way, his lack of empathy disturbed him. It struck him then that he was changing in ways beyond the physical. Would he have reveled in Katerina's death had he still been human? Maybe, maybe not. He'd never know the answer to that now.

Afterward Daedalus had removed the last of the bandages, and pronounced Frank fit. Once the Nosferatu had taken his leave, Julian pulled Frank down to sit on the bed beside him. Frank closed his eyes as the older Kindred gently touched the scars on his neck, exploring every knot and whorl of flesh as if committing it to memory. His feather-light touch ignited little ripples of pleasure that went straight to Frank's groin, and he leaned into the touch despite himself. Even when the fingers stilled, though, he kept his eyes closed, unwilling to risk seeing disgust in his lover's gaze. The warm, gentle press of lips on his own shocked his eyes open, before they sank closed again, this time in pleasure.

When Julian pulled back, he was smirking.

"Whatever you are worried about, stop it," Julian said firmly.

"Sorry," Frank muttered, quirking his lips in a half-smile. He should have realized he had nothing to worry about. After all they'd been through…what were a few scars?

"How are you going to explain this to your coworkers?" Julian asked, his fingertips making the sensitive scar tissue tingle again. Frank reached up and covered Julian's hand with his own, feeling the ruined flesh for himself. Because of the impossibility of hiding the scarring, they had decided that Frank would be out on medical leave for a while, due to injuries suffered during his brief 'kidnapping.'

"Oh, I thought maybe I'd call it a lion taming accident," Frank mused, then, in seeing a hint of silver swirling in Julian's brown eyes, added, "Or maybe wolf, hmm?"

"I'm sure whatever Daedalus comes up with to explain your neighbor's deaths will help us decide," Julian said, "At the very least, this will give us time to teach you how to live as Kindred, and for me to teach you…other things, as well," Julian purred, leaning close so that his breath tickled Frank's ear.

Laughing, Frank grabbed the larger man by the lapels and yanked him down onto the bed. "Other things? Somehow that doesn't sound like the usual curriculum," Frank said, trapping the other man by curling one of his legs over Julian's.

"Haven't you realized yet, that when it comes to you, nothing ever goes by the rules?" Julian said, propping himself up over Frank's chest.

"Well then…bring it on," Frank said with his trademark lopsided grin. Julian smirked, and leant to capture the grin in a hungry kiss. He didn't plan on letting a moment of Frank's 'medical leave' go to waste. After all…there was plenty of teaching to be done, and he had a very eager student.

-finis-

Hope you enjoyed my first attempt at a Kindred fic! Consider this a warm up, there's more (and hopefully better quality) on the way! Thank you for reading!