Chapter Text
Scott braces himself, waiting for the burst of pain from a silver bullet, but it never comes. Instead, he hears a small squeak of pain, and he realises there’s no more weight in his arms. He looks down in horror at the small, bleeding black and white bat on the floor. He drops to the ground and carefully picks Abolish up out of the growing pool of blood, cradling him gently in his hands.
He hears Morcant’s small noise of horror and regret when the other vampire realises what he’s just done. The gun clatters to the floor, but he doesn’t approach Abolish, knowing Scott would likely attack him.
Abolish lets out another small squeak of pain, the sound weaker than before. He shifts, pressing his face against Scott’s palm. Scott can see the glint of silver from where the small bullet is still lodged in Abolish’s small, furry body. The half-vampire must’ve involuntarily shifted into his bat form as soon as he felt the pain, something that happens to a lot of younger vampires when they get injured.
“It’s alright, you’re going to be alright. We just need to get the bullet out, and then you’ll be able to heal,” Scott murmurs to him.
He stands, ignoring Morcant’s presence, and carries Abolish to the couch. He places him on the couch carefully, kneeling in front of it.
“Abolish, darling, can you try and shift back to your normal form for me?” He asks softly, gently stroking the bat’s head. Abolish chirps, the sound strained, and after a long moment, he turns back into his regular form, a groan of pain leaving his lips.
“Ow,” Abolish mutters, weakly pressing a hand against his chest, the wound sizzling from the silver. His white button-up shirt is rapidly growing red around the bullet hole. He tries to sit up, but Scott gently pushes him back down.
“Don’t move,” Scott says softly as he runs a hand through Abolish’s hair. Even while injured. Abolish purrs weakly and leans into the touch, though the purrs are cut off as Abolish coughs into his fist, pulling his hand away to see blood.
“That’s probably not great,” Abolish murmurs, his voice and breathing laboured as he stares at the blood on his hand before his gaze shifts to the growing bloodstain on his shirt.
“You’ll be fine once we get the bullet out,” Scott repeats, the words more to comfort himself than the bleeding man in front of him. “And you’ll need to drink some more blood to heal up. Then you’ll be fine.”
“Scott, I’m only half-vampire. I don’t heal as quickly or as well as a full vampire,” Abolish admits, grimacing in pain as he shifts slightly on the couch. He coughs again, more blood coming up. “And I’m pretty sure I can die without being staked.”
Scott’s eyes widen, and he lets out a fearful chirp. He frantically moves Abolish’s hand off the wound to press his own hand against it, putting more pressure on it than Abolish can in his weak state.
“You could try feeding him some of your blood. Elder vampire blood has a fifty percent chance of having healing properties when ingested,” Morcant says, finally speaking up.
Scott hisses as soon as he hears Morcant’s voice, sending a death glare his way.
“Maybe so, but it also has a fifty percent chance of making the person drinking it a permanent thrall,” Scott says, continuing to glare at Morcant until Abolish starts to cough again. Scott quickly turns back to the injured man, chirping again in worry, his instincts trying to take control to find a way to save his fledgling Abolish.
“What about turning him fully?” Morcant asks, staying far away from Scott, knowing the vampire would pounce on him if he got any closer.
“I think the cure made it so I can’t be turned again,” Abolish murmurs, his voice getting weaker by the minute.
“But we could try. Then you would be able to heal fully with blood,” Scott says, a hint of desperation in his voice. His eyes widen as he sees Abolish’s eyes close, and he lets out a flurry of concerned chirps before regaining control of his voice. “Hey, hey, keep your eyes open. Stay awake for me, okay darling?”
Abolish mumbles something incoherent, squinting up at Scott as he fights to stay conscious. His breathing is laboured and shallow, the sound almost wet.
“Please, Abolish. I only just found out you’re still alive. I can’t lose you again,” Scott whispers, resting his forehead against Abolish’s shoulder.
Abolish purrs weakly as an attempt to calm Scott down, knowing his voice isn’t going to work very well anymore. He decides to try speaking when his quiet, stuttering purrs make the vampire let out a barely audible sob.
“Turn me,” he manages to mutter. Scott lifts his head up and looks at Abolish, wiping away a tear with the hand not putting pressure on Abolish’s wound.
“Are you sure? What if it kills you instead?” Scott asks quietly, and Abolish tries to ignore the way his voice cracks slightly on the word ‘kills’.
“Do it. ‘m dying anyway,” Abolish whispers weakly, coughing up more blood right after finishing his sentence. Scott nods after a moment, and Abolish sees fear in the vampire’s face for the first time.
Scott leans down, and Abolish feels a small exhale of air against his neck as the vampire takes an unnecessary breath. He barely has time to prepare himself before fangs slide into his neck, right where Legs had bit him all those years ago to turn him the first time. His breath hitches in pain before the vampire’s venom numbs the area, along with the pain from the bullet wound. He sighs in relief, not having realised just how much pain he was in. Abolish is vaguely aware that he’s still dying, but without the pain, all he can feel is Scott’s soft hair brushing against his cheek.
Scott drinks the bare minimum amount of Abolish’s blood necessary for turning. He knows the man barely has any left to spare, if the formerly white shirt almost entirely red from blood is anything to go off of. He injects both his numbing venom and his turning venom into Abolish before carefully removing his fangs from the dying man’s neck. Scott bites into his own wrist and gently presses the bleeding wound against Abolish’s mouth.
Abolish parts his lips weakly, letting Scott’s blood drip into his mouth and down his throat. He has to fight extremely hard to stay conscious, and as soon as he knows he’s ingested enough of Scott’s blood for a regular turning to work, he lets himself pass out.
Scott pulls his wrist away, not even noticing as his small wound knits itself back together, his gaze locked on Abolish. The half vampire breathes raggedly one more time before his chest falls still, his arm going limp and dropping off the side of the couch.
Morcant lets out a horrified chirp, barely stopping himself from rushing over to his son Abolish, lest Scott lash out and attack him. He knows the elder vampire has many centuries more than him under his belt, and he would stand no chance in a fight against him.
“No, no, no, you can’t die. I need you, Abolish. Please.” Scott pleads softly, gripping Abolish’s cold hand in his own. He drops his head onto Abolish’s chest, tears gathering in the corner of his eyes as he whispers into Abolish’s bloodsoaked shirt.
“Please don’t leave me, Abolish. I...I love you.”