Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ For Love of Darkness ❯ Cost of Humanity ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer: GW is not mine, nor will it ever. Enough said. The guest character, I'm not telling who either, also does not belong to me.

 

 

Chapter 1

Cost of Humanity

 

April 27th, AC 198

Wufei leaned against the doorframe. Duo pounded his head against the floor, screaming in pain. Wufei had heard that the change to a Vampire was painful, and watching Duo for the third night in the row cemented that knowledge in his mind.

The braided teen screamed. He slammed his head into the wooden floor. Blood dripped to the ground. Wufei rushed forward. “Duo!” He grabbed the changing young man. He threw Duo onto his back and secured his hands above his head.

Duo instantly froze. “No, don't do it…. Please… don't do it….” he begged. Wufei flinched slightly, realizing that the Vampire had done the very same thing to Duo that night.

“I won't hurt you, Duo,” Wufei said calmly. He pulled Duo into his arms and listened to the gasps of pain and felt the racing heartbeat. “I won't let you go through this alone.”

Duo stopped breathing the instant Wufei's lips touched his own. The kiss lasted only a couple of seconds before Wufei pulled away.

“I'll always be here,” Wufei stated confidently. Duo stared at the Chinese man, confused, before a cry caused by a wave of sharp new pain ripped through the night. Wufei held him as he trembled through the pain.

 

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Wufei turned to look back at Duo one more time before he left. The braided teen had fallen asleep only half an hour ago, exhausted from the harsh night of changes brought on by the Vampire attack. He was laying on the bed, sound asleep and oblivious to Wufei's movements. Wufei smiled and quietly shut the door behind him.

 

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The Preventors office was strangely quiet as Wufei walked through the aisles towards Commander Une's office. He ignored the secretary's surprised warning and stormed into the woman's office. Wufei slammed the door behind him. “I want to get a transfer to the night shift,” he demanded.

“Let me call you back, Sally. Just after I finish murdering Agent Chang,” Une said coldly. She put the phone down. “What do you need, Chang?”

“I want to get a transfer to the night shift,” Wufei repeated.

Une's eyebrow rose slightly. “What about your partner, Agent Maxwell?”

“Him too.”

“Alright. Is there a reason with the sudden change in shift preferences?”

“Duo's just been under a lot of stress recently.”

“I heard from the Council already, Chang,” Une said calmly. “Now I want to know what exactly you're going to do about him.”

“I'm going to take care of him.”

Une glared at him. “You must be kidding. How will you feed his thirst for blood?!”

Wufei frowned. “I'll work it out. I know some magicians who can make blood replacers.”

“Blood…” Une's eyes widened. “You can't be thinking of feeding him by yourself! You'll die!”

Wufei turned away from the aggravating woman. “I won't let anyone harm him again!” he snapped. Une instantly went quiet. “Just give me the transfer, and I'll take care of him!”

Une stared at the Chinese man. “Fine, I'll give you the transfer, but if anything unnatural happens during the night shift that harms anyone else, Chang, and I'll make sure Duo Maxwell is put where he belongs.”

Wufei knew that Commander Une had always been one of the more conservative Light agents. They thought in purely black and white. A Vampire, by definition, was Dark, and to the conservative party, every Vampire that was identified should be killed or locked up where they can test weapons on them. Wufei had already gotten three Councils members on his side should he have to fight for Duo's freedom.

Wufei accepted the victory and walked out of the office.

 

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Wufei walked through the front door and was instantly assaulted by a pleasant aroma. His mouth watered slightly at the smell of a freshly cooked dinner. He quickly quelled the urge to run into the kitchen and devour everything. It was hard though.

The Chinese Preventor moved into the kitchen. Duo turned to look at him. Duo was paler than normal, and he looked exhausted. The braided teen was already past the point of no return to become human again. Wufei knew that he had to start providing Duo with blood soon. Otherwise, Duo would begin hunting humans, and the body count would start rising. If that happened, even the three Council members wouldn't be able to help Duo.

“Dinner's ready,” Duo said calmly.

Wufei smirked. “I could smell it.”

“Well, sit down.” Duo motioned to the table. The two pilots went over and sat down at the table.

Duo and Wufei talked quietly over the food Duo had cooked for them. Wufei smiled slightly. He hoped that Duo was finally through the worst of the changes. It was almost too much for the Chinese man to listen his friend cry out in pain.

So Wufei wasn't prepared for the sudden shiver that seized the braided teen and threw him from the chair onto the floor. Wufei shoved his chair back as he stood up. He rushed over to Duo. He lifted the trembling teen and carried him into the bedroom. Wufei deposited Duo on the soft bed carefully; here, Duo would be able to move around as much as possible and not hurt himself.

Duo curled up on the bed, shaking viciously. Wufei began to worry. `Something's wrong with this' he thought quickly. Wufei felt Duo grab onto his shirt and looked down. The braided teen was covered in sweat, and he gasped for breath.

“F-Fei…”

Wufei pulled Duo closer to his chest. He felt the braided pilot stiffen slightly, the memory of the rape hard to shake off. “I'm right here,” Wufei said reassuringly. Duo visibly relaxed. A few minutes later, Wufei registered the fact that Duo was asleep. Wufei got up off of the bed and left the room. He walked downstairs into the kitchen to clean up the dinner Duo had worked hard to make.

“You know you should start giving him blood soon,” a firm voice said behind him. The Chinese man spun around to meet the intruder.

“How did you get past the seals?” he demanded.

The woman laughed. She was tall and slender, with long black hair and dark red eyes. She wore a long, suggestive black dress with the symbol of the moon embroidered into the fabric at various places. “Any Neutral person can get in here easily. And as the Wish-Granter, I am eternally Neutral.”

Wufei froze. Ichihara Yuko was famous in the magical community for her ability to grant wishes, but only if the person was willing to pay an equal price. She also was one of the few people who kept a huge war from breaking out between the Light and the Dark. Wufei was grateful for her ability to keep peace like that; he did not want to fight another war.

“What do you want, Ichihara?” Wufei growled.

The Wish-Granter smirked. “I wanted to see the new young Vampire.”

“Has someone made a wish about him?”

“No, they haven't. I just wanted to see him myself.” Yuko smirked again. “He's very cute. He'd have to be to attract someone like you.” Her expression got serious for once. “You have to be very careful with someone like him, Chang Wufei. A lot of people would want to get their hands on a Vampire, especially an untrained one, and your friend won't know when to stop drinking your blood. You could die because of the person you're trying to save.”

“I know that.”

“You need to give him blood.”

Wufei sighed. “I'll give it to him tomorrow.”

“You must give it to him tonight. Otherwise, he'll go out hunting tomorrow night, and you know what will happen then.”

Wufei paused, his hand an inch away from Duo's untouched plate. His mind flashed a dozen possibilities of what might happen to Duo if the Vampire in him went berserk. The worst was Duo chained to a bed and being subjected to horrible experiments to find out just what exactly would kill a Vampire the fastest. “I want him to be human.”

“I can't grant that wish. The price would be impossibly high.” Wufei sighed in defeat. Yuko noticed the lost look in the Chinese man's eyes. “But I can grant him a small measure of humanity.”

“Like what?”

“Perhaps the ability to walk in the sunlight and be able to go for longer periods of time without the thirst for blood?”

Wufei felt relief wash over him. “What would I have to pay for him to have that much?” he asked cautiously.

“Each time he drinks your blood, you'll lose about half of your magic. It'll be temporary, of course, but should you be attacked within that time, I'm not sure you'll be able to adequately defend yourself.” Yuko's voice was stern and filled with warnings. “That will be your price for your friend's humanity. Are you sure you want to do this?”

“I'm sure.”

Yuko nodded. “Very well. Go up there and give him blood. Then he won't be in pain anymore.”

Wufei looked away from her and finished cleaning up the ruined dinner. When he glanced back, the smug woman was gone. He sighed. Wufei had absolutely no idea on how to feed a Vampire without becoming one himself. Granted, there were spells that could keep him from turning into a Vampire, but Wufei didn't know any of them.

Wufei sat down at the empty table. His mind was running in every direction, trying to figure out what to do with his situation. Suddenly his mind clamped down on a small tidbit of information he'd read during his time with Mariemeia. The change will occur only if the Vampire bites a person for the express purpose of making another Vampire. So, if Duo didn't want to make Wufei become a Vampire, the Chinese man was safe from infection. Wufei got up. He walked up the stairs and down the hall to Duo's room. He opened the door as quietly as possibly. He smiled slightly at the resting teenager on the bed. Wufei hated to wake Duo up, but he knew he had to.

Wufei went over to Duo and gently shook his slender shoulder. Beautiful violet eyes opened slowly. “F…Fei?” he asked sleepily.

“Duo, I need you to do something. I know you won't like it, but you have to do it.” Duo stared at Wufei. “It'll keep you from attacking other people, alright? You don't want to do that, do you?”

Duo shook his head slowly. “What do you want me to do?”

Wufei sat down on the bed. He noticed Duo flinch slightly. “You need to drink my blood.”

Duo paled sharply. “But that will… You'll become a Vampire!”

“Do you want me to become one?” Wufei asked softly.

“No, of course not!”

Wufei sighed. “Then I'll be fine.” Wufei held out an arm. “Just bite gently, and only enough to satisfy your hunger.”

Duo leaned forward. “I don't know how to do this.”

“Bite my wrist.”

Duo jerked back. “I can't!” he cried.

Wufei let out a long breath. He went into the bathroom and got a clean razor out of the drawer. He walked back into the bedroom. Duo stared at him cautiously. Wufei calmly dragged the blades across his wrist. Crimson blood flowed forth. Wufei saw Duo's eyes take on the familiar cat-like irises, and the violet-eyed teen licked his lips in thirst. “Here,” Wufei said calmly. He extended his arm again. Duo leaned forward, and Wufei hissed at the strange sensation of the blood being licked off of his skin. It didn't hurt. In fact, Wufei felt an euphoria wash over him.

The sensation lasted for only a few seconds, and then it was over. Duo laid back down. Wufei pulled the covers over the lithe frame, ignoring the sheer exhaustion he felt. He knew it was the price he'd paid for Duo to have a small measure of his humanity back. “Did I hurt you?” Duo mumbled.

Wufei shook his head. “It didn't hurt at all. If anything, it felt rather good.”

Duo blushed slightly. “Oh. That's good.”

“Don't worry about me, alright?” Wufei said calmly, leaning down to kiss Duo on the forehead. The braided teen shivered slightly. “Everything will be fine. Just go to bed.” Duo ignored the gentle command. Wufei sighed. Tonight was starting to catch up with the Chinese Preventor. “I'll be right here. Now sleep.”

The violet eyes slowly closed, and Duo's breathing evened out. Wufei finally allowed himself to fall asleep and recover from the blood loss. He wrapped his arms around Duo just as the world went blank.