Pet Shop Of Horrors Fan Fiction ❯ Die By the Sword ❯ Chapter 2

Die By the Sword - Part 2
By: Missfortune
Disclaimer: I don't own Petshop of Horrors or another series that you'll find mentioned that I'm not going to give away yet ^_^
Warnings: A/U, OOC, a little blood, a little death a little bad writing on my part?
Notes: Now things sort of come together and you all get over your urge to kill me hopefully.

Leon Orcott had woken up in his fair share of strange places over his lifetime, but this had to be one of the weirdest. It was dark, cold and confined and he could smell the strong odor of formaldehyde all around him. Cold metal stung the bare skin under his back and generally freaked the hell out of him. He took a deep breath to calm down before he screamed his head off. It took only a few minutes of screaming and cussing and generally panicking, but soon a light shown on his face and he was rolled out into the light. A pale and shaken face looked down at him. Leon sat up and grabbed the collar of the man staring at him in horror.

"Where the hell am I?" he demanded.

"Y-y-y-you're in th-th-the morgue." The man stuttered.

"What?! Why?" Leon screamed pulling the pasty-faced man closer.

"Y-y-you're d-d-d-d-d-dead!"

Leon glared at him. He looked down at himself. He looked back up at the man and took a deep calming breath. "DO I LOOK DEAD TO YOU?"

Terrified, the man fainted in Leon's grasp.

"Un-fucking-believable." Leon muttered, dropping the man as he got up off the freezing metal tray.

At that moment, another person ran into the room. A bearded older gentleman in a white lab coat looked at him with disbelief. "What the hell are you staring at? Can I get some damn clothes here?" Still staring, the man nodded dumbly. "Well?"

The man scurried over to a door and emerged with a set of unfamiliar clothes, which he handed to Leon. Leon slipped into the slightly too large clothes and turned to look at the man. "Who are you and why am I here?"

"I'm Dr. Franks and you're here because you're dead. Well you were dead....Or at least we thought you were dead." The man rambled looking extremely bewildered.

"Well obviously you thought wrong." Leon stated sourly. "What happened and how long have I been here?"

"You were attacked. A man injected you with a cocktail of narcotics. You Oded instantly and the paramedics were unable to revive you. You've been here for a few hours at least."

Leon vaguely remembered him and D tracking down some killer cat when some screaming lunatic leapt out of a wardrobe and shoved something into his chest. Everything went fuzzy from there. "Shit! D! Doc, you gotta phone I can use?" Leon demanded urgently.

"Over there, on the desk."

Leon ran over to the phone and dialed the number of the Pet Shop. He let it ring for a good five minutes, but nobody answered. "Aw hell." D thought he was dead, of course he wasn't answering the phone, he'd probably gone into mourning already. "Dammit. Hey, where's my stuff? My badge, my wallet?"

The doctor left and came back in carrying a clear plastic bag with his belongings. Leon snatched it and took everything out. He shoved it all in his pockets. "Somebody is going to be hearing about this." Leon threatened as he stalked out, much to the Doctor's dismay.

"Hey wait! You can't just-"

"Watch me!" Leon yelled back as he stormed out of the building barefoot, ignoring some of the funny looks he got. Outside, he flagged down a cab and was soon speeding towards China Town. He threw some bills at the cab driver and leapt out of the car before it had even come to a complete stop. He leapt down the steps three at a time. The door at the bottom was locked, much to his annoyance. He started banging on it. "Hey! D! Let me in!"

After about five minutes of raising hell he heard a tired voice on the other side. "I'm sorry, we are not open. Please come back some other time."

"D! Open the damn door it's me! Leon."

For a moment there was silence. Then an angry voice answered back. "How dare you mock my pain? I suggest you leave before I call the authorities."

"No! Really! D! It's me!" Leon yelled desperately.

After another minute there was a soft click of the lock and the door flung open. D's face went from one of anger to shock and immediately ran into joy as he threw himself at Leon. "Detective! They said you were dead! They took you away. Oh Leon, I thought you were dead."

Leon was alarmed when the usually calm and collected Count dissolved into tears. He hugged the slighter man gently. "Hey, hey, it's all right. Stop crying now, I'm not dead. I'm just fine." He stroked the Count's fine hair and murmured soothing words, surprised at how natural it felt. "Look, it's kinda cold out here. Let's say we go in and get some tea." Leon suggested as he rubbed D's back.

"Oh yes, I'm sorry. Let's have tea." D said, stepping back and rubbing the tears from his eyes. Leon smiled at him and swept an errant strand of hair behind his ear so he could clearly see the Count's face. D smiled up at the detective before retreating to get the tea.

Leon allowed a relieved smile to play across his lips as he walked into the familiar room, sitting down on the comfortable couch and waited for the accustomed cup of tea to soothe his jangled nerves. They thought he was dead. They sent him to the morgue and stuck him in one of those little freezing holes in the wall. How in the world could such a thing happen? There was so much technology around, how could they not tell that he wasn't dead? Obviously he wasn't, he felt fine. He'd pinched himself enough times in the overly long taxi ride from the morgue to know that he wasn't dreaming.

D returned with tea and a plate of small fruit tarts. Instead of sitting across from Leon, he sat beside the detective as though reassuring himself that the man was actually there and it wasn't some cruel dream. Mischievously, Leon reached out and pinched the Count's wrist.

"Ouch." D looked up at him with wide confused eyes.

"You're not dreaming D." Leon grinned as he took the teapot from D's nerveless grasp. Leon poured two cups of the sweet smelling tea and carefully handed one to D. D took the proffered cup, allowing his fingers to gently brush against Leon's.

"I...I'm so happy that you're not gone Detective."

"I'm sorry that I scared you like that."

"It doesn't matter now. You're here." D looked up at him with a smile, before leaning against the detective.

Leon stared at him for a moment, before hesitantly letting his arm slip over the Count's shoulder. Licking his lips nervously he gently laid D's head on his shoulder before leaning back into the couch with D in a loose half embrace. D let out a contented sigh as he settled into the easy position. They sipped their tea and Leon watched, amused as D struggled to fight off sleep. He stroked D's cheek, drawing his attention away from his teacup. "You can go to sleep. I'll still be here when you wake." D nodded and made himself more comfortable on the couch, reluctant to leave the newly revived detective. Contentedly, Leon held the count as they both spent the night on the couch, happy of the body next to them.

Morning had been more normal than the previous day. Leon woke up to an absence at his side. He yawned and stretched his arms over his head, hearing the muscles pop in his back. Scratching his head he went in search of the Count. He found D in the kitchen preparing a large breakfast, which they both sat and ate slowly, stealing glances at each other and occasionally catching the other's eye before glancing away shyly. It wasn't awkward, it was simply tentative, neither completely sure how to react especially after the high emotions of the previous night. They were determined to not feel like it was wrong, because it wasn't. They both felt that last night had been a breakthrough, an epiphany that they both shared. So before Leon left, both of them were pleasantly surprised when D pressed a quick kiss to Leon's cheek before pushing the Detective out the door with a reminder that he had to come to life again.

So with the memory of D's kiss lingering on his cheek, Leon set about the monotonous process of filling out the forms that he needed to be resurrected in the eyes of the law. There were lawyers to see about misdiagnosis and doctors to see for physicals. Papers that needed signatures and fingerprints and disbelieving stares to shrug off upon seeing his face in places where people thought for sure they'd never see him walk again. Through it all Leon could still fell the soft warm sensation of D's lips and it kept him going, but once it was all over he needed just a few minutes to breathe.

Getting in his car he started driving and he didn't stop until there was no place left to go. He parked the car in a beach parking lot and took his shoes off. He rolled up his pants and got out of the car. Throwing his head back he took a deep breath of the salty ocean air as he wiggled his toes in the warm sand. Grinning and not caring who saw him, he ran down the beach to splash into the frothy waters of the ocean. He threw his arms up over his head and let out a happy whoop as he splashed around in the water like he was five years old.

He would have continued his impromptu celebration if a strange tingling in his head didn't distract him. There was a strange sucking sensation like the last swirl of water going down the bathtub drain and he suddenly knew that he wasn't alone. Turning, he found a man wrapped tightly in a black trench coat staring at him with disturbing intensity. Leon was immediately on guard, completely aware of the feeling of danger that oozed from the other man.

"Can I help you?" Leon asked, walking out of the water.

There was a light chuckle. "So you're a fresh one," the other man said. "A very pretty one, such a shame that I shall not get to have any fun with you before you die. You see, it is always best to kill the young ones before they realize what they are."

Leon frowned, what was this lunatic talking about? Slowly, so as not to tip the man off he put his hand over his gun, ready to draw at a moments notice. "What the hell are you babbling about?"

"You see, some people like quality, I however am one for quantity. The more young ones I catch, the more powerful I become. But enough chitchat. Your time has come. Now don't disappoint me, put up a good fight ok." The man opened his coat and pulled a long sword from a sheath around his waist.

"What the hell?"

"Your head is mine!" The man dove at Leon, sword held high, with every intention of removing Leon's head from his neck. Leon reacted instantly, springing to the side and bringing a tight fist down on the back of the man's neck. The man stumbled, but didn't fall as Leon expected. Rather, he stopped and turned, a grin darkening his face. "Bravo, excellent reflexes, but they won't save you now." Again he dove for Leon.

Leon again dodged the man and turned to sprint up the beach. "Running will not save you! I will get you no matter what." Leon didn't bother to turn around. He focused all his attention on getting to his car to where his cell phone lay on the seat. Somebody needed to take this whacko into custody before he hurt somebody with his oversized kitchen knife. He was almost there when he heard a whistle in the air. He turned back to see the blade of the sword come rushing at him. He had seconds to dodge out of the way. He dived down into the sand, crying out as the edge of the sword caught him in his side. Spitting sand he quickly rolled over to see the other man looming over him. Dark hair fell into darker eyes that sneered down at him. "See now, I told you that you couldn't get away. Now that pretty little head of yours is going to be mine." Leon growled as the tip of the blade traced his throat, drawing a few beads of blood.

"That's what you think." Leon pulled his gun up and shot the guy in the heart, watching the man's surprise as the blade dropped from his hands and he looked down at the hole in his chest.

"These aren't the rules." He sputtered as he crumpled backwards into the sand.

"Whatever you crazy bastard." Leon spat as he pulled himself up, wiping angrily at the blood that had splattered his face. Leon picked up the sword and wiped it on the man's clothes before carrying it up the beach. He looked around the empty beach and down again at the body of the man lying in the red orange glow of sunset. Muttering, he made a quick anonymous call to the police about the man before laying the sword in his car and taking off.

Leon drove straight to the pet shop. He didn't even bother to put his shoes back on. He just parked outside, picked up the sword and ran into the shop. D was sitting on the couch talking to somebody opposite him when Leon burst in.

"Leon!" He exclaimed upon seeing the blood-soaked detective carrying in an equally gory sword. "What on earth happened to you?" he asked rushing up to Leon.

"Some loony toon pulled a sword on me and tried to chop my head off. So I shot him." Leon noticed distractedly that the person on the couch was nearly identical to D except for his eyes. He dropped the sword on the floor and allowed D to lead him over to the couch where D's twin stared at him with interest.

"Leon, where are you hurt?" D asked looking the detective over, and noticing that most of the blood was at his right side.

"He clipped me in the side," Leon said lifting his stained shirt to reveal whole uncut flesh. "What the hell?!" He grabbed his side, poking and prodding the unscathed, yet blood stained skin. "Where is the cut? I felt that damn sword cut me! There's a hole in my shirt, there's blood, but where's the slash?!" D watched worriedly as Leon stripped out of his shirt and checked himself over. There were a few old scars on his chest but no slice in his side and no hint that there had ever been one. "What the fuck is going on here?" Leon growled.

A chuckle beside them drew their attention. "Grandfather, do you know something about this?" D asked, gesturing towards Leon.

"I never thought one such as you would turn out to be an Immortal." Sofu D said, a crooked smile gracing his pretty face, as he looked Leon up and down.

"An Immortal? What are you talking about? If you know something you'd better talk." Leon threatened.

"Leon." D laid a calming hand on Leon's knee, trying to calm the human's jangled nerves.

"I can see that you will never change." Sofu said shaking his head. "But I will tell you what you need to know."

Leon settled back onto the couch, his hands automatically taking the cup of tea that D placed in them. He leaned into D as the count sat beside him on the couch, discreetly placing his hand on Leon's lower back and rubbing slowly. Some of the tension melted from Leon's frame as he readied himself to hear some explanation of what was happening.

"I know that you won't believe me if I simply tell you what you are. So I believe a demonstration is now in order." Neither D nor Leon had the chance to react as a knife appeared in Sofu's hand and he slashed at Leon's chest.

"Grandfather!" D cried reaching out to catch his hand.

"Hush," Sofu said, relinquishing the blade. "Watch."

D glanced over as he heard Leon gasp. His eyes focused on Leon's chest where the small gash began to close up as if it had never been there.

"How?!" D looked up at his grandfather in surprise.

"What the hell is going on here?" Leon demanded.

"It is simple Mr. Detective. Any harm that comes to you will be healed and you will not die, for you are an Immortal."

"Immortal, as in I'll live forever?" Leon looked at him suspiciously.

"That is of course," Sofu said with a slight pause. "If you can keep your head."

To be continued *sings* however, I would really enjoy feedback since this is my first major crossover and Petshop undertaking.