Chapter Text
Scott threw the paper aeroplane Shelby had made and watched it glide across the room. He sighed as Pyro shifted against him, the fledgling’s attention was wholly caught on the flying object. Scott wanted to melt into the sheets and disappear but Shelby kept looking at his face and Owen was twitching against his back with nerves. No one had enjoyed their outing by the looks of it.
Legundo sat in his spot, awkwardly glancing at the door as they waited for Abolish. The two wanted to do a debrief and all Scott could think about was the kinds of punishments he was going to receive.
Abolish was worse off than just the arm, he had bruises all across his body from being thrown with the full force of a panicked vampire and Legundo briefly mentioned the meetings and reports he had to do to keep his place by Legundo’s side.
Scott was so screwed… Events like these had lasting consequences for weeks and the amount of regenerating he’d have to do from all the deaths-
Shelby got in his face. “Scott.” She hissed.
“What?” He asked dully.
She narrowed her eyes and swept her gaze over his face. Maybe he had zoned out again, it was getting irritating how closely Shelby watched him. He was fine.
“You-“ She started.
The door opened and everyone’s head turned to Abolish. He gave a weak smile with his arm in a sling and his other holding a bowl of blood.
“Sorry I’m late.” He apologised as a woman behind him closed the door.
“You’re all good.” Legundo replied, he shuffled unnecessarily so Abolish had plenty of space next to him.
“Here.” Abolish ignored Legundo’s movements as he kneeled next to the nest and held out the bowl. Usually Scott grabbed it but this time he didn’t, Pyro was closest but he stayed curled against his side, Owen turned his face away and Shelby looked over each of them helplessly before taking the bowl.
“Thank you Abolish.” She said. He nodded and retreated towards Legundo. “Here.” She held it under Scott’s nose, he cringed before smoothing out his expression and smiling at her.
“You should eat it.” He said. “And you, Pyro.” He turned his attention to him.
Pyro made a small whine, ducking his head and shifting in a way that usually meant he wanted Scott’s wings to be out.
Scott… was glad he hadn’t revealed his wings to Abolish. As he stared at Pyro he thought about how awful it would be to lose them, the facility had never known about them and within a few years the ability to summon them had fled Scott anyway.
What would it be like to feel them ripped off his back? Would the organisation be swift or slow about it?
“Scott?” Pyro looked up at him with a frown.
“We’re not letting you get away with starving yourself again.” Shelby said.
“I’m not starving myself.” He forced a smile as he turned to her. “There’s only one bowl Shelby, you and Pyro should have it.”
She hesitated then reached out to Owen. “Owen? You should-“
“Not going to happen.” He growled. “Eat.” He snapped.
“O-okay…” She sent a helpless look to Pyro before drinking her share and passing the rest to him.
“We’ll get you more.” Abolish said. “I requested someone to retrieve the extra bowls since I couldn’t carry them.”
Scott glanced at him and his injured arm, his eyes dropped to the silver knife at his hip. He was right… They wouldn’t let him get out of this without a returning strike.
Abolish caught him looking at the sheathed blade. “Don’t worry, this is just a cautionary measure. I can’t enter the room without it but I’m not planning to use it.”
Owen had gone still behind Scott, everyone’s attention had moved to the only weapon that had ever been allowed in the room.
“We need to talk about what happened.” Abolish attempted to change the subject. Scott already wasn’t listening, he couldn’t stop thinking about what was going to happen to him. Pyro showed no signs of life next to him and neither did Owen, it made Scott remember all the times they’d waited for their next appointment. Scott was hyper aware of every movement, Abolish kept his hand gestures contained, Legundo kept looking over each vampire for their reactions, Shelby kept fidgeting- “Scott.” Abolish interrupted his own speech.
Shelby and Legundo turned to him.
“Hey.” Legundo said softly. “Scott, look at me.”
Scott locked his eyes on him, the vampire approached exceptionally slowly past their invisible boundary line and into the nest. Idly Scott noticed how Owen didn’t growl and Pyro didn’t move a muscle.
“Scott, what are three things you can hear?” He asked.
“What?” He frowned.
“Just three things.” Legundo insisted.
Scott flicked his ears and heard everything in the room. Abolish’s heart was steady though his breathing pattern was unnatural, the guards kept walking around outside and Legundo was deliberately moving his hands against his clothes so they made a sound.
“You, Abolish and the guards.” He replied with narrowed eyes.
“Good, two things you can smell?” Legundo continued.
Scott opened his mouth and tasted the air. “What are you doing?” He asked. He could smell his coven and he noted how Legundo was deliberately minimising his scent in the nest.
“How about one thing you can taste?” Legundo said seriously.
“Poison.” Scott growled. He watched as everyone’s eyes widened, he couldn’t help his answer though, it overwhelmed him how strong the taste of poison was when he focused on his tongue. His throat burned and he blinked as he waited for it to tear apart his stomach. They would feed it to him for weeks after he’d hurt one of their own just to see how he would handle it.
“Do you need to eat?” Legundo asked carefully.
Scott hissed. He wouldn’t touch a drop of blood unless it was forced upon him. Pyro hastily put distance between them, even Owen leaned away in case things turned south.
“What about from the vein?” Legundo slowly offered his arm. Scott stared at it unable to comprehend what he was offering. “I know eating is hard, especially when… well, I am a vampire, no poison that can harm you would stay within me without harming me too. I am a safe food source.”
Scott knew this, he knew this well. He also knew that accepting the offer would form some sort of relationship with Legundo, they could not be distant acquaintances, the vampire would mean something to him.
Scott growled warningly and returned to making eye contact.
“You do not have to if you don’t want to.” Legundo said gently. “Usually a coven member would do it but you can’t eat from a fledgling and Owen is as starved as you are-“
“I know how this works Doctor.” Scott replied.
Legundo nodded carefully. “I am not a doctor right now Scott… I am Legundo. I just want to help…” Scott stared at him. “Give me a yes or a no. If you don’t want it then we can try correcting your senses through a heavily scented object-“
Scott grabbed Legundo’s arm and pulled him forward, Legundo adjusted quickly to make up for the jerky movement, Scott kept his eyes narrowed on him.
“Do what you must.” Legundo encouraged.
Scott bit down sharply and glared at Abolish who had moved forward with his hand hovering over his knife.
So much for trust…
He drank deeply and flared his nostrils at the scent of blood. Legundo tasted dreadful as all foreign vampires did but… there was no doubt he was healthy, Scott could sense the nutrition in his veins.
The feeling of poison corrupting his body fell away as he feasted. Legundo kept relaxed which made the feeding more satisfying, Scott didn’t know how he did it, he knew he wasn’t making it easy on him.
Legundo’s presence swirled around and settled against him heavily, the two were on new but welcome grounds. Scott accepted his sacrifice with his elder powers and watched Legundo sway.
“Scott.” Abolish warned. He tensed ready to intervene, Scott pulled away before he could make a further move.
Scott traced his thumb over the bite mark on Legundo’s wrist. “Pray you didn’t make a mistake.” He let go of him.
Legundo drew his wrist to his chest and looked him over. “If you are feeling better than it was worth it.”
Scott frowned. He could see Legundo was getting used to his powers touching him, the older generation of vampires worked very differently from the younger ones, it had been an advantage even before Scott got captured.
“Are you... ok?” Shelby asked.
Scott blinked and looked over to her. Owen was frowning and Pyro looked scared in his peripherals.
He sighed. “I’m fine.”
“Was that a blood pact?” Owen snarked.
“No… we didn’t trade or barter.” Scott answered seriously. “Neither of us have to uphold anything.”
“But those kind of deals exist?” Pyro asked in curiosity.
Scott hummed noncommittally, he wasn’t going to reveal what could and couldn’t be done with vampiric magic.
Legundo shifted to move away but Scott grabbed him. “Thank you…” He said. He didn’t really know if that was enough or if this was the first stepping stone to crazier stunts in the name of ‘saving him’.
“It was quite alright.” Legundo replied.
It wasn’t. Scott knew the vampire hadn’t known what he was signing himself up for.
He let go and Legundo slowly moved back to Abolish.
“Right… so,” Abolish looked over everyone. “Something about what I’ve said or done has set you all off.”
“Evidently.” Owen curled up while maintaining a glare.
“Can you tell me what it is so I can-“
“It’s unwise to bring a knife in here.” Scott said. The room fell silent. “As much as you think it’ll protect you we can easily use it against you.”
Abolish swallowed and nodded carefully. “You wouldn’t hurt me deliberately, I know it was an accident, it’s protocol that I-“
“I don’t think it matters whether it was an accident or not when you’re dead.” Scott said lowly. “A knife isn’t going to protect you, if a vampire wants to kill it kills.”
Abolish shared a look with Legundo. “We’re trying to accommodate your circumstances. You’ve all done well regardless of the hiccups during the tour-“ He said.
“If you want to know what’s bothering us so much.” Scott replied darkly. “It’s the lying. Your Organisation wants minimal damage and minimal casualties. We are a risk. You either get us in line or you get rid of us, and since you don’t want to get rid of us just yet…” He gave a pointed look to the knife. “Instead of talking you should get to the point, how are you going to punish us for our behaviour?”
“Scott!” Shelby hissed. “They’re not-“
“He’s right.” Owen said. “I’m sick of dancing around the truth. You gave us a test and we failed, what are the consequences of that?”
Abolish’s eyes widened, Legundo looked sick at the notion. “We’re not going to hurt you.” The vampire said. “We’d never-“
“You can’t say never.” Scott glared. “You have to protect your own.”
“We’re not against you.” Legundo insisted.
“But we’re against you, our very existence is a burden at best and a threat at worst.” Scott said.
Legundo whined glancing at Abolish helplessly. The sound was so uncharacteristic Scott actually stiffened at the noise.
Abolish rushed to place a hand on his shoulder. “You’re alright Legundo.”
The vampire shook his head and brought a hand up to his face.
This wasn’t… Scott reached out with the new connection he’d formed with the man. He gathered him up and squeezed in reminiscence to a hug. Legundo yelped as he went boneless in Abolish’s arms.
“What-“ The human fumbled to hold him up.
Ok… too heavy handed. Scott pulled his power back and kept his presence softer.
“You just… how did you-?” Legundo’s eyes fluttered as he tried to get his bearings.
The vampire shouldn’t be reacting like this, unless his fledgling/sire bond was really damaged from-
Scott tilted his head and looked the man over. He’d been a soldier… which could mean his sire turned and dumped him. It could’ve been an accident or something more sinister as Scott had seen many times in the past but regardless, Legundo was damaged. Like them.
He hid it so well… Scott had dismissed most of the signs he’d seen.
“Are you hurting him?!” Shelby asked. She grabbed Scott’s arm.
“What? No.” He kept his eyes on them as Abolish tried to get Legundo sitting on his own.
“You didn’t tell us you had powers like that. Would’ve been handy on some of those scientists.” Owen remarked.
“Does no one here understand how vampires work?” Scott grumbled. “What happened to your sire Legundo? How big is your current coven? You shouldn’t be reacting to this over a simple-“ He groaned in frustration. “Aren’t your coven accommodating their bonds with you?”
Legundo locked his eyes onto him. “I uh…”
Scott knew that look. “You don’t have a coven…” He realised.
“I do.” Legundo forced himself to regain his composure.
“How big is it?” Scott narrowed his eyes. If he had one it clearly wasn’t large enough.
Legundo’s eyes moved to Abolish in a cry for help.
“Abolish?” Scott hissed. “Abolish is your coven?”
“No, no-“ Legundo tried to defend but Scott had already connected the dots. The way Legundo reacted to the human’s presence, the fact they came as a pair, it all pointed to them being bonded.
“Do you have any vampire bonds?” Scott asked. “Even one?”
“I…” Legundo looked uncomfortable. “I’m working on it…”
Scott rolled his eyes. “Working on it.” He scoffed. “And then you offer your blood to a random vampire. Do you even know what you just did?”
“I fed you…” Legundo frowned.
“You connected to me.” Scott growled. “You offered yourself up to connect and since I’m an older vampire I can do whatever I want with that power, I could thrall you and command you if I so pleased and you wouldn’t be able to fight it because you have no vampiric bonds outside of me to pull you out of it.”
Legundo stared at him and Owen shuffled in a way that Scott knew meant he was distinctly pleased.
“That’s a pretty big screw up.” Owen said. “I wonder what the Organisation’s protocol for that is.”
“Owen.” Shelby hissed. “You wouldn’t do that though, right Scott?”
“No…” Scott sighed. “I’m just stating the danger, I wouldn’t have agreed to it if I’d known-” He eyed Legs. “That was a dumb move.”
“I- I see that now…” Legundo shared a nervous look with Abolish.
“Get out.” Scott said suddenly.
“Huh?” - “What?” The two said.
“Get out, talk about this, fix it.” He growled. “As if this situation wasn’t bad enough, Legundo needs to bond with someone else fast or all this work you’ve wasted on me will be for nothing. Your superiors are not going to let this go, not after that.” He gestured to Abolish’s arm.
Abolish straightened. “It was an accident.”
“Intentions mean nothing Abolish!” Scott hissed. “If I killed you then where would we be?!”
“You would still be safe.” The man answered calmly. “I would be dead… and someone else would take over your care. I signed up for this Scott, I know what the dangers are.”
“You don’t understand anything.” Scott replied. “You don't know who I am, you don’t know what I’ve done and what I’m capable of doing.” He waved at Legundo. “If you were wise to healing broken lost causes like us you wouldn’t have brought in a covenless vampire.”
The Doctor winced.
“Ouch.” Owen smirked.
“You’re being mean Scott.” Shelby whispered. “They’ve done nothing wrong.”
“They’ve put themselves at risk. That’s the number one thing they should be avoiding.” He said.
“Reward does not come without risk.” Abolish replied. “Most of the vampires in this organisation would not be with us if we gave up on them.”
Pyro appeared by Scott’s side. He pulled on his sleeve and when Scott looked down he found tears. “You really think we’re a lost cause?” He asked softly.
“What?” Scott’s mind screeched to a halt. “Why would-? I didn’t mean you.”
“Who did you mean?” Shelby challenged, she looked distraught. “Because while we may be broken,” her eyes welled with tears that flowed down her cheeks, “we are not lost causes. Not a single one of us.” She glared at Owen. “I refuse to believe it.”
Scott stiffened. “Shelby…”
“No.” She hiccupped then growled warningly. “I thought you were trying, I thought we were getting better!”
Scott wrapped his arm around Pyro and dragged him in. “I…” He frowned. “I can’t get better Shelby.” He replied weakly.
“You can! You just don’t want to!” She shouted.
Scott winced as her words pierced him. Did he want to…? Did he really want to get better? Did he want to pretend like everything hadn’t happened and that life could go on for someone like him?
He thought back to the knife on Abolish’s hip, all it did was remind him that there were enemies hard set on keeping him in his place. What if he got sliced down again? What if he felt the light just to lose it? What if he found punishments ahead of him with even craftier ways to make it hurt-?
Legundo’s presence rose up like a tidal wave and crashed into him. It was like a defibrillator that zapped him in the chest with electricity. Scott straightened and shot a sharp look to him, Legundo raised his chin challengingly.
Nothing the vampire could do would phase him, Scott had raised too many fledglings, fought too many battles through their bonds to bend to someone else’s power.
“I got your attention, good.” Legundo said. “Get out of your head.” He ordered.
“Excuse me?” Scott narrowed his eyes, ready to fight back through the connection. If he was going to be pushed, he’d shove.
Legundo’s energy appeared warningly around him and Scott raised his defences-
The Doctor grinned. “You’re going to get better and we are going to make this work.” He said. “So what if we’re connected now? Maybe I need to be involved this way, maybe you have things to teach me and I’m willing to learn.”
“I’m not teaching you anything.” Scott growled.
“You already have.” Legundo replied. “And even if you don’t mean to I will see more than I expected when I agreed to walk into this.”
Scott huffed. “What is wrong with you?” He glanced at Abolish.
The human shrugged in resignment. “We’re not good at giving up on people.”