marysuevirus | The Mary Sue Virus: Beyond Death (Reply)

Title: The Mary Sue Virus: Beyond Death
Chapter Eighty: Exposed
Fandom: Anita Blake universe
Rating: 18 and up
Warnings: graphic sex and violence, language, anything else i can toss in.
Disclaimer: the recognizable characters and places contained herein are the property of LKH. i'm merely borrowing for the sake of entertainment. no money is being made from this venture. the Sues are the sole property of their originators, Ginevra, Dazzledfirestar, Nanaea, SilverFoxChan and ladydeathfaerie. the concept and title of The Mary Sue Virus are used with permission from Dazzledfirestar.

Author's Notes: so much plot. we're drowning in it. all the damn plot. some of it not even planned!

The Mary Sue Virus: Beyond Death - Index Link

Aedan was snuggled into Jean Claude's hold and, together, they stared out at the dark surface of the lake. There was little to see beyond the reflection of the full moon ripple with the water's movement, but it was some how captivating. It was the same lake they'd come to after their date at the amusement park. He understood now why Aedan had gone silent as she had on the carousel that night. How the sight of that little girl had undone everything he'd worked to achieve. Their visit with Katie at her grave had perfectly illustrated the reasons for her reaction.

He held back the sigh that threatened to spill out. The visit to Katie's grave. He'd realized halfway through that it was not as well thought out as Aedan had wanted him to believe. In fact, he was certain it had been mostly a spur of the moment thing. And going there had wrecked Aedan in ways she hadn't expected. Even now, after more than an hour away from the girl's grave, the melancholy Aedan had fallen into still lingered. He considered bringing up the conversation about what a wonderful mother she'd make but nixed the idea almost immediately. Because he was sure that it would only make her feel worse than she did. He had no desire to intensify her sadness. Even if he did think she'd be a wonderful mother. Even if he could easily imagine her cradling a small, pale bundle of child with crimson hair and brilliant blue eyes.

He shook that thought off. He was too caught up in the notion of Aedan being pregnant for his own good. He couldn't even begin to explain why he thought as he did. Perhaps it was simply a reaction to seeing her interact with Tina. To seeing her hold Katie as if she was the most precious being in the world, dead or not. Perhaps it was some long forgotten desire that had once held him in its thrall. But that had been a long time ago. He'd had hundreds of years to come to terms with the fact that he would not have a family. Even so, some part of him yearned to see Aedan with a child in her arms.

It had been a few days since she'd done the impossible and saved them all. He still had problems with her going to Obsidian Butterfly for help and could only wonder what had prevented the woman from slaughtering Aedan the moment they'd met. Whatever the reason, he was far more grateful than he could put into words and was already considering what kind of thank you gift to send to the other Master.

They'd both healed from the ordeal. At least physically. After indulging in a few select donors and a day's sleep, the wounds were completely healed and his energy restored. Aedan's healing had taken longer, mostly because she'd gone off to save Rhia instead of resting. Not that he faulted her for saving her friend. Just that he wondered, more often than not, if she had a death wish. Because she certainly acted like it.

As it was, the physical marks of their encounter with Vittorio were gone. The emotional scars would take longer. He suspected that was what had prompted Aedan to suggest having a date in a cemetery. Of course, she had a very morbid sense of humor, so that could have played a role in her choice. No matter the reason, allowing her to take him to the cemetery had been a bad idea on so many levels. Because for the first time in many, many long years, he yearned for the one thing he simply could not have.

His thoughts, and the silence clustered close around them, were shattered when Aedan's cell chimed out an incoming call. She roused herself from his hold, one hand dipping into her coat pocket to pull the offending item out. "Aedan, let it go," he suggested quietly. She glanced up at him as if she had no idea what he was saying and thumbed the screen of the phone, accepting the call with that one touch.

"Kinkade," she said, her eyes locked on his.

"Aedan, I have something I need you to look at. Can you come to the station?" He could hear the voice on the other line and frowned. Zerbrowski. Which meant police business. Hadn't she had enough of police business to last her a lifetime?

"Now?"

"Yes. Right now. Its important." There was no arguing with the detective's tone of voice.

"Now isn't the best time, Zerbrowski. I'm on a date and--"

"You're out with Jean Claude?"

"Yeah. We're on a date," she repeated, a note of exasperation touching her words.

"Bring him with. I think he should sit in on this meeting,"

The suggestion, which didn't really sound very much like a suggestion to his ears, saw Aedan sending a look of confusion his way. Jean Claude frowned, not certain he liked this turn of events. But there was no way they could say no without it becoming an issue for her. So he gave her a faint nod. "Okay. We'll be there in about half an hour."

"I'll let the desk sergeant know you're coming. He'll bring you to me when you arrive," Zerbrowski told her, then hung up. Jean Claude heard the call disconnect. Aedan frowned at the phone before tucking it away in her pocket.

"That was really bizarre," she said, then heaved a sigh. "Alright. Let's go and get this over with. Maybe we can go back to our date after the fact."

"Maybe. And maybe this is a sign that we should simply go home. Our date has consisted of visiting a child's grave, depression, and silence. I can think of much more enjoyable ways to spend our time." He made sure to put an extra touch of sensual suggestion into his voice.

Aedan stared at him a moment, then inched closer so she could go up on tiptoes and press a kiss to his lips. "I think I like the way you think. Let's go see what Zerbrowski needs, then we'll go home and try out some of those things you're so obviously thinking." There was a husky, seductive quality to her voice that nearly did him in right then and there. It was a challenge to ignore his own needs and desires.

He nodded, slipping his arm around her shoulder to steer her back toward the waiting car. The Wicked Truth melted out of the shadows and followed them to the limo. Jean Claude hoped that the meeting with Zerbrowski was blessedly short.

~*~

The desk sergeant escorted them down the hall to Zerbrowski without saying a word. Jean Claude could feel a touch of tension running down Aedan's spine, making him wonder if she was nervous about the meeting or if it was simply irritation at being disturbed while out. When they stepped inside the what looked suspiciously like an interrogation room, it was to find that Zerbrowski was by himself, sitting on one side of the only table in the room with an assortment of files spread out on the surface before him. There was a laptop on the edge of the table, lit brightly. The screen displayed the logo of a program that had obviously been queued up for use.

Zerbrowski looked grim. As grim as Jean Claude had ever seen the man look. He lifted his head when the door closed behind Aedan and himself, pinning them both with a stare that did not bode well. One hand motioned to a pair of chairs on the unoccupied side of the table. "Have a seat." He felt the tension in Aedan's spine spike higher, but she did as instructed without saying a word. Jean Claude followed suit, wondering if he needed to have one of the brothers place a call for him.

The man stared across the table at them silently for several long moments, until the atmosphere in the room was fraught with tension and distrust.

"Alright, Zerbrowski. I'm here. I put my date on hold to come the moment you called. Now maybe you can explain exactly what the fuck all this is about," Aedan said, allowing a touch of her anger and displeasure to leak into her words. She'd put her blank cop face on and with it had come that wall that Jean Claude hated so much. The one that cut her off from him, so he had no idea what she was thinking or feeling. "And where's Dolph?"

"I assume Dolph is at home," Zerbrowski began, a tone edging his voice that suggested he was furious and holding on to the emotion by sheer force of will. "As for why you're here... Let me tell you a story."

"Fuck the story. Just get down to it. Or I'm going to get up and walk out of here. And I won't come back." Aedan left the last word of her sentence, ever, silent. But it was implied. Her statement brought forth a sigh from Zerbrowski, and he promptly shifted through all of the files to find a specific one.

"Once upon a time, a series of murders started happening in my city. They were brought to the attention of myself and my boss by the local Federal Marshal, who was versed in the preternatural and all that went along with it," Zerbrowski said, little to read in his voice. He laid the file before Aedan, flipping the top open to show the body of a young woman taken under brilliant light. It made her blood far too red and her skin far too white. Jean Claude flicked his gaze Aedan's way, to see how she reacted. Not even an eyelash moved. "Over the course of several more murders, it became obvious that said Federal Marshal was hiding important information from us. We let it slide."

Aedan met his stare across the table and never even blinked.

Zerbrowski started flipping photos over, going from one victim's image to the next. Each picture was filled with blood and gore, obviously taken at the crime scene and not meant for anyone outside of law enforcement to see. "The investigation wore on. More bodies piled up. No leads were forthcoming." The photos stopped turning to show a smiling family of three for a moment before being flipped to show the same family as corpses. He tapped the photo with one finger. "Then, the anomaly. The Harris family. There was seemingly no reason for the Harris family to die. Neither parents had lycanthropy. Their daughter didn't fit the profile. Soon after, a flier hit the street. With a picture. No names or numbers. But it was a place to start."

Zerbrowski paused in order to draw a piece of paper from a file at his elbow, which he placed down before Aedan. It was simple, with a warning to be on the look out for two people shown in the picture. And instructions to contact an alpha if they spotted said people. The photo in the flier looked like a family Christmas card picture, every one dressed nicely and smiling for the camera. Jean Claude recognized one face. Which told him who the rest of the people were. "We got this from the Feds. One of their people got it off the streets. Someone had put this out in an effort to find these two." Zerbrowski pointed to two faces. "We still don't know what happened to our lycanthrope murderers."

Again, Aedan stared at Zerbrowski. Her face remained blank. She said nothing.

"The killers became a dead end. But Dolph wasn't ready to give up his investigation. So he started digging into the killers' family. Found out a lot of interesting stuff. Reports to child protective services. Hospital records. Things like that." Zerbrowski took the flier back and put it away, then lifted another file and laid it before Aedan. Opened it so she could see the paperwork contained within. "The more we dug, the more we found. And the more we realized that there were so many things that simply didn't add up. Then the Feds got involved in the investigation."

"Everybody needs a hobby," Aedan said flippantly.

"The more the Feds dug, the worse it all got. There were dead bodies piling up. A warehouse full of children. And then we find out that our Federal Marshal had a very personal stake in the whole deal. That she was really familiar with the murderers and their family."

Zerbrowski fell silent a moment, watching Aedan with a hard stare that did nothing to unnerve her. She stared back, waiting for whatever came next. What came next was a file. One Zerbrowski dropped in front of Aedan with a slapping sound

"Finally, we have this." He opened the file with one hand to show more crime scene photos. These were of a burned out building, little left to signify what it had been before the flames. All Jean Claude could see was some scorched skeletal framework. Little else. The top photo was turned over to show charred corpses. The one under it was more of the same. And the one following. And the one after that.

"Why are you showing me arson photos? Was the fire set by someone in the preternatural community? Did you find the corpse of a shifter in there?"

"No. Nothing like that. The Feds called us to this particular location because the warehouse that got torched belonged to Carter Solomon. Your father." Zerbrowski turned the last photo over to reveal papers. Aedan glanced at them before lifting her eyes to his face.

"Carter Solomon is not my father," she replied.

"Cut the shit, Kinkade," Zerbrowski snapped. He drew one of the crime scene photos from the pile, a close up of one of the corpses. Then he pulled another glossy image from another file. He slapped it down in front of her. Jean Claude found himself staring at a face that bore striking similarities to that of Carter Solomon. To her credit, Aedan did little more than stare at the image of her half-brother. "This was one of the corpses. Mark Solomon. A sibling."

She raised her stare to Zerbrowski, face still utterly blank. "This should be of interest to me because why? Those people were never family to me."

"It should be of interest because he was blood. But if that isn't enough for you, Aedan, then maybe this is," Zerbrowski spat and tapped a button on the keyboard. The screen flickered to life, showing several different files. "Mark Solomon had shit uploaded to the cloud. The Feds found it when they were digging into his life, trying to figure out why he'd have been shot to death inside a warehouse that was torched. Along with five other men. This shit is sick, Aedan. Just watch."

The man's finger pressed a button. A file was highlighted, then the screen changed and an image flickered to life. It was of a small, square room with little by way of furniture except for a table placed in the very center. The camera was focused on the table, which was presently bare, save for the cuffs at each corner. Jean Claude risked a glance toward Aedan and saw that she watched the screen with a blank face. Worse than that, he felt nothing coming from her. Nothing at all. He had a very bad feeling about all of this.

The video continued. Jean Claude knew it was a video because there was no reason for Zerbrowski to show them a single frame photo of absolutely nothing. And he wasn't disappointed. Several moments later, the sound of the door opening filled the air and a trio of people came into view of the camera. There were two large men that he didn't recognize. Between the two of them, they carried a limp figure with its head hanging so that there was no way to see the person's face. But he had no need to see that person's face. Because he knew...

The men maneuvered their prize up onto the table, securing both ankles and wrists to the table. At least she was fully clothed. Thank the powers that be for such small miracles. He let his senses wander over to where Aedan sat, not surprised that he came up against the thick, impenetrable walls she had erected to protect herself from the mania of a disturbed parent. He wanted to glance at her, see if there was anything on her face. But he didn't. Because he was sure there was nothing.

He saw the moment she became aware of her surroundings. Anyone who didn't know her would not know what to look for. But he saw it. He knew. And he remembered their conversation that night, remembered the fear she'd felt. He listened only with half an ear to what the men were saying, paying more attention to what they were doing. Rage rushed through him when the one touched her as if she were some kind of play thing.

Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of a phone going off. One of the men answered and asked questions. Listened to whatever the person on the other end had to say. Ended the call with a careless toss of the phone. It clattered down on the surface of a smaller table on the other side of the room. "What'd he say?" The question came from the man who had been touching her.

The man who answered the phone looked up and gave a grim smile. "Whatever it takes to get the information he's looking for."

"Really? Anything at all?" The second man put his hand on her leg again, a leering grin on his face. "This is going to be fun."

A moment later, a fist landed in her stomach, bringing her eyes open while she gasped and coughed. Talking ensued, during which the men insulted her and she returned the insults with smart ass comments. That earned her a metal pipe to the abdomen.

This time, Jean Claude did turn to look at Aedan. Her face was blank. Not even her eyes gave away what she was feeling. But he could feel the walls crumbling, could sense the emotional trauma that came with the viewing of the video. It was one thing to have lived through it, everything hazed over by constant pain. It was another to watch it happen, to see what they'd actually done. He wondered at her strength and ability to keep him out for as long as she had. He wondered how she'd survived.

Zerbrowski let the video play, occasionally speeding it up to get through periods of no activity. When they got to another torture session, he slowed it to normal speed and let it play through. Jean Claude watched as the men used pipes on her. As they used knives. As she took an opportunity to prove to them she wasn't helpless. One hand found purchase in the crotch of one of her kidnapper's jeans. Fingers squeezed. A fist caught her in the chin. The knife, again. And then they tried a new trick. The one with the knife undid the cuff holding her arm to the table, then lifted her arm so he could put a new cuff around her wrist. So that he could pull that arm up and up until her shoulder dislocated. Her scream was the last thing they saw or heard before Zerbrowski stopped the video.

"What the fuck is this, Aedan? There are hours upon hours of this. I've seen more of you than I ever wanted to. I haven't gotten sick at a crime scene in years. But I had to empty my trash more than once after watching this." Zerbrowski stared at her for several moments, until it became obvious she wasn't going to answer. Then he turned his stare Jean Claude's way. His eyes were burning with rage and disbelief and betrayal. "And you. You lied to me. You looked me in the eye and you lied to me. You told me she was on vacation from her phone. The whole time, you knew this was fucking happening." With the last of his words, his hand motioned toward the camera. The image was frozen on Aedan's face and the pain that twisted it.

Jean Claude stared back, incapable of putting anything into words that didn't involve threatening violence and murder. Not something to say in front of a police officer. Zerbrowski's mood sank further at the lack of speaking on either of their parts and his gaze hardened. "I could arrest you. Have you thrown in jail for lying to a police officer. Obstructing justice. Endangering the life of a law enforcement official. And probably a few hundred more charges. You should have notified the police the moment you discovered Aedan had been taken! It was a police matter. Not a private one."

"Technically," Aedan drawled, voice shattering the tension in the room. It was soft and hoarse, devoid of emotion. And it drew Zerbrowski's gaze her way in the blink of an eye. "It was a federal matter. Not a local one. Kidnapping of a federal employee is a federal crime. Or have your emotions blinded you to the fact?"

Jean Claude very distinctly heard the man grinding his teeth in frustration. "The police should have been involved. You're one of our own," he told her, voice terse and words bitten off sharply.

"The police were involved. Jean Claude called Federal Marshal Ted Forrester. And he enlisted the aid of Janika Odon. Who happens to be a member of the Federal Bureau of Investigation," Aedan told him, her gaze locked with his. "And, no. I'm not. I'm no more one of your own than I am a mere human."

Zerbrowski's fist slammed down on the tabletop, making it and the contents it held jump just a bit. Making Aedan flinch just a bit. If Jean Claude hadn't been looking, he would have missed it. But he'd seen it. And he realized that she was very close to losing control. He couldn't even begin to imagine what would happen if she did. "Goddamn it, Aedan! You're a cop. Same as me. More than that, you're a friend. Dolph and I had a right to know someone had taken you and threatened your life. We had a right to try and help find you. Your boyfriend over there," Zerbrowski snarled, breaking off just long enough to stab a finger in Jean Claude's direction. "Your boyfriend told me that you were on restriction from your phone. Which, as we've just seen, is a big fat fucking lie!"

"He was protecting me," she snapped, lifting her head just a bit. Making a show of a bravery she didn't feel. Jean Claude wanted to reach out and lay a hand on her arm. Wanted to offer her his support. But she wouldn't take it. Not now, with someone else watching.

"Protecting you? Protecting you from what? What the hell could he possibly have been protecting you from?"

"From having you find me like that," she replied quietly, one hand motioning almost limply toward the laptop. "From having to sit around with your guts twisting in the wind while you wondered if you'd find me at all. If you'd find me in time. What kind of shape you'd find me in."

"Don't you mean so that Forrester could have free rein to do as he chose?" Zerbrowski demanded.

"No. I mean so that no one had to deal with the shit I suffered. No one but me. Because, up until now, no one knew what had happened in that room." Her temper was swimming up to the surface, starting to pour out in her words. "Thanks to you, it isn't my burden to carry anymore."

"Aedan," Zerbrowski began, but she shot him a glare before turning to look Jean Claude's way. There was regret and sorrow in her eyes.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I tried to keep it from you. You didn't need to see it. You didn't need to carry it around. I didn't know Mark was filming it." She gave a shake of her head, snorted a sound of some emotion that he couldn't immediately name. "Knowing Mark, he probably jerked off to it."

"Aedan. Ma mie. You had no reason to keep this from me," he whispered softly.

"I did. Because you've dealt with enough crap in your life. Don't forget." She paused to tap her temple, reminding him silently that she had Anita's memories to tell her about his life. Then she turned back to Zerbrowski and the soft look was gone. Her face had gone hard and cold. Lifeless. More like a statue than he'd ever seen. Her hand motioned to the screen again. "If you'd been involved in this, if you'd been there when Ted found me, you and Dolph would both have crowded around my hospital bed and asked question after question until I was forced to either throw you out or tell you what you wanted to know. He wouldn't have left me alone with you. He would have been there to hear everything I said. I didn't want him to know."

Jean Claude watched as Zerbrowski reached up and ran his hands through his hair. It was left a disheveled mess that more eloquently than words spoke to his mental state at the moment. "Aedan. What those men did to you... That isn't a burden you carry alone. That's something you share with people. So that they can help you carry it. So that the weight of it doesn't bow your spine and break your will. I'd be a piss poor friend if I didn't want to help you carry that."

She glared at him defiantly. "This one is. No one else needed to know."

"Why? What was so horrible about it that you were willing to make a martyr of yourself?"

"Because those men you saw in the video? They worked for Carter Solomon. That call they got? That was from Carter Solomon. He wanted them to torture Jean Claude's daytime location from me so that he could kill him in his sleep. That makes it my burden. My horror. A man who sired me hated my mother so much, hated what she'd become so intensely, that he was going to kill every vampire he could. He hated me so intently that he was willing to let his goons torture me. He hated me so much that he wanted me dead." She stood and stared down at him, face cold and blank and impassive. "You can't carry that burden for me, Zerbrowski. Jean Claude can't carry that burden for me. Think Dolph is going to carry it? He hates the vampires almost as much as Carter Solomon. Think he'd have batted his eyelashes if something had happened to Jean Claude?"

"Jesus Christ, that man fucked you up good. Your thinking is all twisted up because of him," Zerbrowski said softly.

"No. I'm a realist because of him. I know how the world works. I know how people look at me. I know what they see when they look at Jean Claude. Half the world thinks he's this ethereal creature of beauty and grace. The other half sees him as some kind of demonic immortal determined to destroy everything they hold dear. I don't even get that. I'm a freak to be used to get what they want. Nothing else. That's how Carter Solomon saw me. That's how Animator's Inc. sees me. That's how you and Dolph see me. At least Jean Claude has decency enough to admit it."

There was so much hate in her words. So much anger. She turned away and headed for the door, shoulders thrown back and spine stiff. She paused at the door a moment, took a breath and turned to look at Zerbrowski across the room. "Lose my number." She didn't have to say the permanently part. It was blatantly obvious in her tone.

One of her hands curled around the knob and turned it but before she could give it a pull, the door swung inward, forcing Aedan to move out of the way. They found Dolph standing in the doorway. He didn't look happy. His gaze landed on Aedan, then slid to where Jean Claude sat. That deepened his frown. He shifted his attention to Zerbrowski a moment. Finally, his gaze landed on the image of Aedan's face frozen on the laptop screen. His frown intensified once more and he pushed his way into the room, using his height and his bulk to drive Aedan even further back from the exit. The panel shut with an ominous click behind him. "What the fuck is going on in here?" he demanded.

"I'm leaving. That's what's going on," Aedan insisted. There was just a faint hint of a quiver in her voice, letting Jean Claude know she was on the verge of losing control. He rose to his feet to shift the focus in the room toward him. To shift the power in the room to his advantage. Though Dolph was taller than he was, Jean Claude was well schooled in drawing attention his way.

"The hell you are," Dolph replied, ignoring Jean Claude for a moment. One arm raised, the hand on the end of it pointing at the laptop's screen and the image frozen there. "Not until you explain what that is." His eyes swiveled back to Zerbrowski. "And you. I want an explanation from you, too."

"I thought you were taking the night off," Zerbrowski said, completely avoiding Dolph's demand.

"I was. But it isn't every day that my second in command calls the goddamn Master of the City down to the precinct. The desk sergeant called me the minute they walked in the door," Dolph said, tone clipped and harsh. It was obvious he wasn't happy. His attention shifted back to Aedan. "You. Sit down. No one leaves until one of you explains to me exactly what the hell is going on here."

"What's going on here is Zerbrowski is fucking up what was once a perfectly good friendship," Aedan said. Her words carried the hurt she felt, driving the anger from Zerbrowski's face.

"Aedan--"

"Save it, Zerbrowski. I do not want to hear your excuses."

"Quiet! Both of you!" Dolph said, voice rising ever so slightly above its usual volume. When they both fell silent, he leveled a gaze on Aedan. "What did Zerbrowski call you down here for? Why is the Master of the City standing in my precinct?"

Aedan stared at Dolph a moment. Fought with that part of her that wanted to tell the world to go to hell. Jean Claude saw it when the urge ran out of her and defeat took its place. There was a subtle shift in the way she held herself. In the set of her shoulders. She gave Dolph a look that he likely wouldn't understand, then shot a scowl at Zerbrowski. Finally, she crossed the room and, before either he or Zerbrowski could stop her, she hit a button on the laptop and unfroze the video that had been playing. "Enjoy," she said thickly. "Might be time to pop some popcorn."

Jean Claude reached out and took hold of her hand, used it to pull her silently to his side. She refused to look at him. Instead, she glared daggers at Zerbrowski as the video continued. As Dolph was treated to the things her captors had done to her. As Jean Claude was allowed to see more of what they had done to her.

Dolph let it play for five minutes before he shut it off, the screen going black with the push of a button. He turned his attention Aedan's way, his frown so deep that it would have frightened even the most hardened denizen of the dark. "I ask again. What is that?"

"Carter Solomon's way of saying I don't deserve to exist," she replied quietly. She was no longer looking at Zerbrowski. She refused to look at Jean Claude. And she wouldn't look at Dolph, either. Instead, her gaze was locked to the blank screen, as if she could still see the events playing across the screen. And perhaps she could. After all, she'd lived through them. One didn't generally forget the violence visited upon them.

Dolph looked at Aedan, obviously not pleased with her response. His gaze lifted slowly, drifting to Zerbrowski a moment before coming back to rest on Jean Claude. This because the other man had shaken his head, refusing to explain the video to Dolph. Jean Claude could see that Dolph wasn't going to let it go, that he would keep them there until someone answered his questions. That would be bad, because Aedan was already on the verge of breaking. If she was forced to endure much more of the torment that had been visited upon her person, he was afraid she'd snap. "Forgive me, ma mie," he said to her softly.

She made no reply, but he felt the tension along her shoulders and in her neck grow tighter. He allowed a finger of his power to brush her spine, a silent promise that he wouldn't let anything happen to her.

"Aedan is correct. What you saw on that video was because of Carter Solomon," Jean Claude began.

Dolph's frown grew, if such a thing was possible. Jean Claude certainly hadn't thought it was possible for that look to deepen any further. "What does that mean?" he demanded.

"Carter Solomon appeared pious and Godly to the world. He was anything but. He wanted to rid the world of vampires and lycanthropes. Anything that he deemed foul and evil and tainted. He used homeless people to stalk vampires. His children launched a campaign against outspoken members of the lycanthropic community. But this wasn't enough. He wanted to make a name for himself. Something he felt would bring him celebrity. That would earn him his God's respect. He wanted to do this by staking me in my sleep," Jean Claude said.

Dolph stared at him for a heartbeat before his brows pulled together in confusion. "So he tortured Aedan?"

"To convince her to reveal my daytime location," Jean Claude told the other man.

"And... what? Aedan was going to rejoin his flock, thankful that he'd rid her of your presence?"

Jean Claude shook his head. "No."

"You're telling me that Carter Solomon wanted Aedan dead?" Dolph asked, sounding incredulous. His gaze shifted from Jean Claude to Aedan. She wasn't looking at anyone, head turned and tilted down so that her hair spilled across her face and hid it from view. "What kind of father wants his own child dead?"

"I told you. Carter Solomon was never a father to me," Aedan whispered. Her voice was thick and wet, tears gathering in preparation of falling. Which was why she wouldn't look at Dolph. Or Zerbrowski.

Dolph considered that a moment, then brought his attention back to Jean Claude. "So you're telling me he hired those men to torture information out of her?" At Jean Claude's nod, Dolph's expression darkened. "How did they even get their hands on her? Are you saying Carter Solomon had those men kidnap and then torture her?"

"Yes."

"When did this happen? Why wasn't RPIT informed of her kidnapping?" Dolph demanded. His gaze shifted among the three of them, obviously expecting someone to answer his questions. His temper only grew when no one was immediately forthcoming. "We should have been involved with the search and rescue. With the whole thing from the very beginning. I should not be finding out about this now, after its already happened."

"That's why I asked them to come down here. Because I wanted someone to explain that to me," Zerbrowski finally said quietly. "I was concerned about a friend and colleague."

Aedan lifted her head. Her face was stony. And her eyes... They were so empty. As if the questions had managed to kill something inside of her. Perhaps they had. "RPIT was not called in because the moment those men laid hands on me, it became a federal case. Which means it fell under the jurisdiction of the FBI. Or the Federal Marshals. Jean Claude called Federal Marshal Ted Forrester. He, along with FBI agent Janika Odon, investigated the kidnapping."

"Damn it, Aedan," Dolph began, but she pinned him with that empty stare.

"What, Dolph? Are you going to tell me that you should have been informed because you're a cop? Because you're my friend? We both know that isn't true. You don't want to know me. You've been suspicious and antagonistic and accusatory ever since Anita's death. So don't act like you were worried about me."

"How was I supposed to be worried when I didn't even know it had happened?" Dolph demanded. He ran his hand across his head in agitation, shifting the short bristles of his hair with the action.

"I don't need you to worry about me," she replied, a touch of chill in her voice.

"Someone obviously needs to worry about you. In the short time I've known you, you've tangled with a demon and somehow managed to survive. You've been the victim of several assassination attempts launched by Anita's killers. You were the last person to see a suspected murderer alive. You've been found to be related to that same murderer, as well as at least one other. And you've been kidnapped and tortured. I've only known you for four months, Aedan."

"You don't know me, Dolph. You don't want to know me. You've worked with me. There's a vast difference. And, hey. I get it. You hate the vampires. Not every one has to love them or even like them. But you've done nothing but take your personal bias out on me since that night Anita died on the road. You blame me for her death. You blame me for a lot of things that are well beyond my control. Guess what?" She fell silent and stared at him, every last bit of frustration and sadness and hurt she felt suddenly showing on her face for him to see. Aedan finally shook her head at him. "I'm done with it. I'm done with all of it. You can continue to call me in on all of the weird and bizarre and fucked up shit you see. I don't need to ever sleep again. But that's where it ends. There will be no personal fraternization between us. Ever. Because I do not have the mental strength to fend off your anger and hatred for shit I have no fucking control over."

Aedan pulled away from Jean Claude and took a few steps away, then halted in her tracks. She retraced her steps so that she stood by the desk. She sifted through the pile of files Zerbrowski had laid out until she finally found what she was looking for. One hand held up the glossy photo of Carter Solomon's children. "This image? Its a lie. These people were never happy. They were miserable because Carter Solomon used and abused them at every turn. All to fill his own personal needs. He didn't care who he stepped on in his attempt to rise to glory. He fucked his own children and broke their minds. Turned them into perverse beings who took great joy in abusing people. In hurting and maiming those they didn't understand. That included me."

She tossed the photo back on the desk and glared at Dolph. "They were never, ever my family. I don't want to hear you even suggest such a thing again. Carter Solomon killed my mother. He tried to twist me into something he could use for his own gain. When that didn't work, he wanted me dead badly enough to call a bounty hunter and put a price on my head. I should have died a long time ago. If I had, it would have been by his hand. So don't you ever call that man my father. Don't ever call those people my siblings. Don't do it. And don't call me unless you have a crime scene that you can't fucking solve on your own. Because I won't answer it."

Aedan looked at Jean Claude. "Let's go. I'm done."

He inclined his head at her. "Of course, ma mie."

The two of them crossed the room to the door. Jean Claude kept himself between Aedan and the other two men, a barrier that he could sense she so desperately needed. When they reached the door, she once again put her hand on the knob. This time, before she twisted it to open the panel, she turned to look back into the room over her shoulder. "By the way. Anita's murder? You can close that, too. The people responsible for her death have been dealt with. All of them. Including the two thousand year old vampire that orchestrated the entire thing."

Her words left both Dolph and Zerbrowski silent, temporarily stunned by the admission. She tugged the door wide and stepped into the hallway. "You're welcome."

~*~*~*~*~

He watched as Aedan walked past him, her steps slow and precise. He could see that her shoulders were held just so. He'd seen her do that before. It was the position she adopted when she was hurt and she didn't want anyone to know. Only this didn't look like the physical kind of hurt. It looked more emotional. A glance at her boyfriend's face after she'd disappeared through the wall of curtains pretty much confirmed that for him. "Let me call you back, honey. I have some things I have to deal with."

"Okay, Ted. Give the girl a hug. She obviously needs it," Donna replied. He liked that she was so intuitive and it prompted a faint smile. "Love you." She disconnected before he could even consider responding in kind. Edward put the phone back in his pocket and got up, muscles still a little stiff after his encounter with Vittorio's people, and crossed to where Jean Claude stood. The man looked as lost as a kitten in a fog, which was saying something.

"Date didn't go well?" he asked softly.

"She took me to Katie Harris' grave," Jean Claude replied. Edward had to stop the sigh that came at that bit of news. Damn. Not a good way to spend the evening.

"She blames herself for Katie's death," Edward returned. Jean Claude nodded.

"And she will not listen when I tell her otherwise." The vampire sighed before letting silence settle over them for a moment. His voice, when it came again, was filled with wistfulness. "She would make an amazing mother. I was convinced of this when I saw her with Tina. But I am even more certain after her encounter with Katie earlier this evening."

"Tina?" Edward asked. He hadn't heard of a Tina. Had there been another family killed that he didn't know anything about?

"Her half-sister," Jean Claude supplied. Edward stared at the other man in unmasked surprise.

"Solomon had more children?"

"Yes. After Aedan. Tina is ten and she can raise the dead," Jean Claude informed him.

Edward couldn't seem to stop staring. The whole fucking mess just seemed to get deeper and deeper. "How many more children?"

"Fifteen. They range in age from thirteen to just a few months old. Apparently, Carter Solomon was trying to create an army of necromancers that he planned to use as his personal assassin squad. He did not realize that his powers had no affect on anyone like Aedan."

"How many did he get?"

"Just Tina. Who is now in the tender care of Angel Cervantez. I believe she is considering taking Tina in permanently," Jean Claude said.

"How does Aedan feel about that?" Edward couldn't imagine her giving up a blood relative so easily. She'd proven to be stupid about the one she already had.

"She is glad that Tina has a home where she will be loved for who she is. Not what she can give someone. She plans to mentor Tina so that the child learns how to use her powers effectively. And properly. She would love to be a surrogate mother to the girl, but she has said she will not do it because she does not feel she would be a good mother."

"She's selling herself short. She'd be a great mother," Edward replied softly, recalling that night he'd found her alone at Katie Harris' grave. "She's scared. She thinks she'll be like Ruth Ann. Cold and indifferent. Or, worse, she's afraid she'll be like Solomon." Edward gave a snort to let Jean Claude know what he thought of that.

"There are some similarities that I saw between Aedan and her sperm donor," Jean Claude began. Edward found himself shocked very briefly at the idea that the vampire even knew the term sperm donor, much less used it as it was intended. "However, she is very much her own person. She would never be like Carter Solomon. Or even Ruth Ann." The vampire paused and heaved a sigh. "But, as she has told me, it is a moot point. She does not wish to have a child with someone she does not love and since I cannot be the one to get her pregnant..." he trailed off, leaving the end of that sentence hanging in the air.

"And that's why she walked through here like someone kicked her dog?" Edward asked. It seemed an odd reason for Aedan to be bent out of shape. Not an impossible one, just an odd one.

"No. There were other matters to tend to this evening and that is what has her so upset," Jean Claude informed him. Edward frowned. The tone of the other man's voice suggested that what ever else had happened, it had been bad. It was on the tip of his tongue to ask what those other matters were, but Jean Claude lifted a hand. "If you wish to know what troubles her, you will need to ask her yourself. This is her tale to tell."

For a moment or two, Edward wanted to be pissed that Jean Claude had essentially tossed his own words back in his face. But the look the man wore suggested that such wasn't the case, that whatever had happened while he was on his date with Aedan was something she had to explain herself. "You know she doesn't want anything to do with me," Edward reminded him.

"And yet, she risked her very life to come save you," Jean Claude pointed out mildly. He walked off before Edward could say any thing else. Well, shit. When he put it that way...

~*~

He considered knocking on the door, but discarded the idea almost immediately. Because if he knocked, she was going to tell him to fuck off. So instead, Edward opened the door and let himself into Aedan's room. The sound of running water drew his attention to the bathroom on the other side of the large chamber. The door to the smaller room stood open. He could see the tub gleaming brilliant white under the bathroom lighting but saw no sign of Aedan. For just a moment, for a split second, he worried that she'd done something utterly stupid. But the moment passed and he discarded the notion simply because she was far too stubborn to give up. She'd proved it to him time and again.

He shut the door behind him, certain that whatever took place in her room, Aedan would want it to stay there. The plush carpeting silenced his footsteps as he crossed to the open door and peered in. She stood before the mirror hung over the sink, staring into its depths as if searching for some answer only the reflective piece of glass could provide. Her clothes were in a pile at her feet and he couldn't help but notice the fine tremors that raced up and down her limbs. Along her spine. And there were silent tears running glistening paths of despair down the curve of her cheeks. "What's wrong?" he asked her, voice as gentle as he could make it.

She blinked, a slow thing that said she was fighting hard to bring herself under control, but never looked away from the mirror. "I'm naked," she whispered. There was no force behind her words. No emotion. But he saw the dismissal for what it was. She wanted him to go away. Saying she was naked was her way of saying it.

"I've seen you naked before," he replied with little inflection.

"So have Dolph and Zerbrowski," she said. There was a faint hitch in her voice for just a moment. But it was long enough that he heard it. He reached behind the door and curled his fingers around the robe hung on a hook there, then handed it to her.

"Put that on, then let's go sit down and you can explain to me exactly what that means," he told her. It was a testament to the state of her mind that she took his words as an order even though that was not how he'd delivered them. He left her to slip the robe on while he moved over to the tub and shut the water off. By the time he was finished, Aedan had gotten the robe on and the belt tied. She allowed him to prod her into the main room and over to the couch. She sat without a word. "Tell me what happened."

He watched as she folded her hands in her lap and cast her gaze that way. He thought, for a moment, she was going to refuse to speak. But after several seconds of silence, her voice came so quietly that he almost didn't hear her. "Dolph and Zerbrowski know what happened."

He held on to his frown because that was such an open ended statement. There were probably a lot of what happeneds they could know about. Logic dictated that the what happened in question was related to her previous statement that the same two men had seen her naked. How the two statements related was the question. "Explain."

"Mark." It was all she said. It didn't explain anything. Yet. But he had a feeling it would. As soon as she found the words that would tell the story without forcing her to go through too much more mental abuse. She was weary and shredded apart. He could see it, could recognize the signs. He'd seen it before, in other faces.

"What did he do?"

"There were cameras in that room," she whispered. Well. That was disgusting. But not surprising. The Solomon kids had mostly shown themselves to be as perverted and terrible as their sire.

"Go on," he suggested lightly.

"The Feds investigated a fire set at a warehouse in the name of Carter Solomon," she told him, then paused a moment. "You wouldn't know anything about that fire, would you?"

Edward merely gave her a look that plainly said she was asking stupid questions.

Aedan drew a breath and pressed on. "In that warehouse, they found corpses. One of them belonged to Mark Solomon. So naturally they decided to dig deeper into his life. And they found a bunch of files he'd uploaded to the cloud. They sent those files to the police here. One of the files was of the sessions I was subjected to. Zerbrowski watched it. Then he called me and Jean Claude down to RPIT headquarters to chat about what he'd seen and learned."

She looked up at him and he saw again the lost teenager she'd been when he met her. "He apparently went and saw Jean Claude while I was missing. And Jean Claude told him that I was taking time away from my phone. So Zerbrowski was mad about being lied to. Mad about not being told I'd been kidnapped. Mad about everything. He played some of the video."

"You hadn't told anyone what happened," Edward guessed. Aedan shook her head in response. "You said Dolph knows, too. I haven't heard his name mentioned yet. How did he find out?"

"The desk sergeant called him when we walked in because how often do you get the Master of the City in your precinct. So Dolph came to the precinct and he arrived just as I was trying to leave because I didn't want to explain anything to Zerbrowski." He watched as her fingers tightened around each other. "Of course Dolph wouldn't let us leave and he wanted to know what was going on. So I played more of Mark's video for him and..."

"You need to talk to some one," Edward told her, drawing her gaze his way. Her eyes were wide and wet and filled with confusion. "Not any of your friends. You didn't want to share it with them before. I can't see that that would change now. And certainly not me. I am not someone who can help you figure out how to feel about what happened. Or how to work past it. I have my own demons, Aedan. Find a good therapist and talk to them. Don't end up like me."

She said nothing for a while, eyes locked on her hands. Then she gave a slight nod of her head. It was an acknowledgement of his advice. Nothing more. He hoped she took it and talked to someone about everything she'd seen in the past few months. Everything she'd experienced.

"I'm not going to ask you what happened. I don't need to know. What I do know is you went through hell and did everything in your power to protect the people you love. There's so much strength in you, Aedan. Strength that did not come from Carter Solomon. Strength that did not come from whatever it was Anita did to you. That strength is yours and yours alone. And there's nothing wrong with being strong. Strong is good." He kept his tone soft and gentle as he could because he didn't want her to think he was giving orders or instructions. "But sometimes, Aedan... Sometimes, its okay to be soft. Not weak. Soft. Do you understand?"

She frowned and lifted her head so that she was looking him in the eye. He could see the confusion in her gaze as she stared. "I think so?" she replied, sounding very unsure of herself.

"What do you think I mean?" he asked, deciding that it would be better to see if she'd gotten there on her own.

She hesitated a moment, as if worried that this was some kind of test she'd fail if she didn't answer correctly, then squared her shoulders and answered him. "You're telling me that its okay to need someone else. That its okay to lean on someone else for support and love and warmth. I shouldn't try to do it all myself. I should let other people into my life, let them share my joys and my sorrows."

"That is exactly what I'm telling you," he smiled. "You have a family here that you made for yourself. You've admitted as much to me. Let them show you what a family is supposed to be. Let them love you the way you deserve to be loved. Love them in return. Your life will be so much richer and fuller if you do. And you deserve that."

"Donna's making you soft," she replied. A second after the last word left her lips, they twitched up into a faint smile to let him know she was teasing.

He offered her a brief grin. Then his look turned just a little serious. "Donna gave me something I didn't know I needed. And she made me a better person because of it. I would have been a fool to throw that away. Even though I was sure I didn't deserve it. I love her. In whatever way I'm capable of loving her. Just like I love you in whatever way I'm capable of loving you. You're family. You're important to me. I never should have treated you the way I did."

It was the closest he'd ever got to a full apology. He didn't expect her to accept it. But he wanted her to know that he regretted hurting her. "Do it again and I'll take your balls off." There was only a slight touch of teasing in her tone. She fell silent a moment, then looked at him again. There was longing in her eyes. "What was she like?"

Edward sighed. It wasn't an unexpected question. But he was still unprepared to answer it. "Penny was... a free spirit. She knew her mind in ways few people did. I see that in you. It can be a good thing. But it can also be bad. Penny loved life. I don't know when I last saw her, but I remember that about her. She enjoyed things from food to laughter to music to movies to books. Anything, really. She just loved to live. She had this air about her that made people love life, too. She drew people to her like a moth to a flame. I know its an old, clichéd statement. But its the truth. People loved being around Penny. And she loved being around them."

Aedan frowned. "So she was nothing like me."

"You are more like her than you know," he replied, knowing exactly where her mind was going with that. "You are generous with your emotions when you care about someone. You're spirited. And intelligent. You have firm morals. Have definite ideas as to what is right and what is wrong. You're a lovely person, inside and out. You are so much like her. And you are so very little like him. Don't ever compare yourself to that sick bastard, Aedan. He tried to break you. More than once. And you beat him. You're not Carter Solomon's daughter. You've said it time and again. I'm repeating it here. You are Penny Lynn Hayes' daughter. And you are a powerful force to be reckoned with."

There was a firmness to his voice on the last of his statement meant to make her understand that he was serious. That she was nothing like the man who had donated sperm to her creation. She studied him a moment, then threw herself against him, arms going around him as she hugged him to her. Edward didn't hesitate to enfold her in his own embrace and return the gesture. "Thank you," she whispered into his ear.

He held her until she chose to untangle herself from his arms. When she sat back, she looked a little less shell-shocked. A little more like herself. But he could sense that the horrors of the evening lingered, waiting just beneath the surface for an opportune moment to launch a new assault on her emotions. "I'm sorry I kicked you out of my life. I should have let you explain," she told him.

"You were hurt," he reminded her.

"But that's no excuse to shut you out," she replied.

"Sometimes, we have to do what feels right in order to figure things out." He shrugged his shoulders at her. He wasn't going to tell her that he felt like he'd lost something amazing when she'd told him to leave. She didn't need to feel that kind of guilt. And, honestly, it was still sort of new and shiny to feel that way about someone.

Aedan huffed out a faint laugh. "Might want to tell Donna that, lest she decides to make good on the threat to spank me after she gets over the relief of you being okay."

"What do you mean?" he asked. There was definitely a story behind that statement.

"She came to visit me a week or so ago. And she told me I was selfish and childish for kicking you to the curb. She also said I needed a spanking. And that I'm disrespectful." This was something he hadn't known. He wondered if he should confront her about it. See what she had to say. Before that thought could really get going, Aedan's hand covered his and she turned such a soft expression his way that it left him slightly uncomfortable. "She really loves you. And you really love her. Don't you?"

"In whatever way I'm able to love her," he replied. Aedan gave him a smile.

"You're lucky you have her in your life. She came to me to try and convince me to work things out with you. I was a stubborn bitch about it and sent her packing. And then, when you were taken, she called me and begged me to help her. Despite my behavior toward her. She's the reason I came to New Mexico to get you."

"Which you should not have done. You risked your life unnecessarily for me," he reminded her. Aedan shook her head at him.

"I may have been mad at you, but there was no way in hell I was going to let those fucknuts kill you. You are part of my family, whether you like it or not. No matter what troubles come between us, that will not change."

Edward frowned at her. She still didn't get it. "You went to Itzpapalotl. She could have killed you."

"She didn't kill me. She was too intrigued by my showing up there. Too interested in what she could get from me. The price I paid for her power was a pittance compared to your life."

"We still need to talk about that," he reminded her. He would be eternally pissed that she'd gone to Obsidian Butterfly and put her own life at risk for his. He wasn't worth that kind of loyalty or love. "You had no business going to her. Nor should you have offered her any kind of payment for her power."

"You don't ask for something from the vampires without giving something else in return. They don't just give gifts for the sake of giving gifts. Everything with them has a reason," she explained in a tone of voice that suggested that she was speaking to a very small, very slow child. He frowned, unhappy with the implied comparison.

"What did you even have to give her, Aedan? She's got immortality and power out the ass. You had nothing to offer her that she didn't already have."

"I let her have a drink," Aedan said. She stared at him, daring him to deny that her payment was worth his life. He stared back, unable to process that for a moment. And then he shook his head.

"I am not worth that kind of payment, Aedan. You should have left me there. You should have stayed with Jean Claude. Kept him from falling into Vittorio's hands. Your life is tied to his. If he had died, you would have died with him." It was far less than he wanted to say. And far more polite than he'd wanted to say it. She'd been stupid to allow Itzpapalotl anywhere near her neck. And far too trusting. Because it would have been so easy for the vampire to have ripped her throat out. Aedan would not have been able to stop her.

"It would have killed something inside of me if I'd lost you, Edward. It took realizing I could lose you to make me see that I didn't want to. That I was stupid for sending you away." She paused and gave him a vaguely watery smile. "You're my family, Edward. For better or for worse. And I love you, in whatever way it is that I'm capable. I didn't have good role models growing up. I don't know if my version of love is healthy or not. I don't know if I'm healthy or not. But I love you. You've been there for me in ways no one else ever has. You protected me. From him and from myself. Even when you were scaring the piss out of me, you were still protecting me. I never had that before you."

He took a moment to let her words sink in. He knew she'd been petrified of him over the years, had realized early on that it was because of her father. He knew he'd cultivated that fear when he had to, had been a right bastard about it. And she was telling him that she'd felt safe with him, even when he'd been threatening her very life. Theirs was a very unhealthy relationship. He knew it. He knew he should be worried about it. But he wasn't. And neither was she, apparently.

"Anytime anyone threatens you, I'm going to come for you. And I will kill them if they try and stop me," she told him, voice soft. Words hard. Edged with the threat of violence and pain and death. And love. "The same goes for any of my family. I will not hesitate to destroy anyone who tries to take my family away. Any of it."

He believed her. He'd seen what she'd done to Vittorio. It looked like the vampire hadn't enjoyed it at all. And it was scary to think that she was capable of such unimaginable violence. He'd held on to the belief for a long time that she was above such things, that she would somehow manage to keep her hands clean. But there was no denying that Aedan was as deadly and violent as he was. Possibly even more so, because she could kill using means most people didn't have. He wanted to take her to task for it. He knew he couldn't, though. After all, it was the nature of the life they both lived. And he'd known she'd succumb to that nature sooner or later.

He just hadn't thought it would be this soon.

"Jean Claude's coming," she whispered. Her eyes were wide and he could see the apprehension on her face. She was afraid of what the vampire thought of her after seeing that video. Whatever was on it must have been terrible. "What if he's disgusted by me?" The childish tone in her words prompted him to reach out and take hold of her hands.

"You love him, don't you?" he asked her quietly.

"More than my own life," she replied and he didn't think that it was an exaggeration.

"I don't think he's disgusted by what he saw, Aedan. I think he's worried because you kept it all to yourself. I think he's scared of what that might have done to you. Or what it might have cost you. He cares about you deeply," Edward told her gently. He rose from his seat and stared down at her a moment, then leaned down and pressed a soft kiss against her forehead. "Let him hold you while you sleep. Let him know he's important to you. And most importantly, don't let go."

Edward turned then, heading for the door. He opened it just as Jean Claude was lifting his hand to knock. A look passed between the two of them, and then a nod of their heads. Edward exited the room and allowed Jean Claude to enter. He had every reason to believe that Aedan was in good hands, and that was the most he could hope for. He turned and headed up the hallway toward the room Jean Claude had loaned him for the past couple days. It was time to pack his things and head back to Santa Fe.

He had someone of his own to hold on to and never let go.