Author’s Note: You’ll be getting three parts this week as there will be no Afternoon Fic during Seven Days of Summer.
Mac sat in his office going over paperwork, to sore to move from the desk. The heat pad was helping his aching back, and he was determined to get more blood tonight, for both of them. He had the advantage of hiding in his office to lick his wounds, Danny was stuck in the lab bending over a microscope cursing Blade’s name each time he had to straighten back up.
For the past six weeks Blade, along with Hannibal, who was as much as bastard Mac remembered Uncle Dan saying he was, had been working on their training. There had been many moments Mac ended up on the floor because of Hannibal.
The fifth time Mac got up, he bent over groaning at the aching muscles. ‘Where the hell did you learn that, and you better fucking teach me.’
‘Little tiny assassin from hell.’ He winked at him, then got back into position. ‘You’re thinking like a human, stop.’
‘I’ve been a human longer than a Vampire.’ He argued back, but moved back into position, this time paying more attention to how Hannibal was moving.
‘Think past it. You can move faster, see farther, hear more … use all of it.’ Hannibal danced around him. ‘You are a natural Hunter, I’m half tempted to send you to Singapore to train with Yasuke and said tiny demon assassin, but right now you’re not likely to leave New York any time soon.’
Mac took a few deep breaths, centered himself in the moment. He shifted before Hannibal moved, then countered the attack. The two moved across the work out mats, in a true fight of give and take. Until in a blink Mac had Hannibal on the ground, foot to his throat. The Hunter smiled at him, and before Mac could react he was staring at the ceiling, pretty sure at least one rib was cracked.
‘Good. Again.’ Hannibal pulled him up, and they went again.
Afterwards he let him Feed but not enough to heal all the aches and pains. ‘If you heal that fast you don’t learn the lesson.’
It made sense, it was how he learned in the Marines to duck, crawl, dodge out of the way. It also had taught him how to work through the pain. But right now he was sore and grumpy as fuck, and was hating the name Hannibal King.
Most of their training had been individually, getting them used to the skills before training them as a Hunting pair. Which made sense, Mac’s skills were different from Danny, he was formally trained as a soldier. Danny knew how to survive gangs and the streets, they also realized he had a tendency to flinch when someone attacked … a hold back from his abusive childhood, so Blade was working with him on how to get past it.
And just when they would get the hang of working with either of them, they would up the game by bringing in different Hunters.
Peter Parker was sneaky.
Cameron Poe was a bastard.
Carl Lucas was terrifying.
Though Mac had to admit, he felt more alive than he had in years. He was also physically stronger, and not just from being a Vampire. According to Stella his ass was looking amazing, and by the way Danny couldn’t keep his hands off it, he was inclined to believe her.
He had noticed Danny was looking less like a scared street rat and more like a fighting tom cat. He had confidence in himself that he didn’t have before and it was showing. The cops that used to give him a hard time, stopped when Danny turned on them, calling them out for being hypocritical assholes, and if they wanted a round with a Messer he was up for it.
It was one of the rare moments, he let Danny fuck him at the labs in the back bathroom no one used. He wanted to feel the power from his Mate, and he knew Danny needed to claim him. Stella just gave the two of them a look, tossed a pack of baby wipes at them, and smirked as she walked away.
The two had started meeting other Vampires in the city. Some due to training, others had stopped by to introduce themselves. Mac had known about Lennie Brisco, even worked a case with him, admired the man greatly. Wasn’t surprised he had been a Vampire, and felt a greater sense of loss knowing they had actually lost him earlier that year.
He got along with Elliot Stabler instantly, Danny said it was the Marine thing, he was likely right. Stabler had told him about his wife and kids, and that it took him dying to save his marriage. Though she wasn’t his Mate, the two worked out their issues and were happy. Elliot took more time to be with his kids, knowing one day he was going to lose them.
Gregory House.
Mac still not sure what to do with the snarky bastard, though it would seem he liked Danny. They had met him and his Mate, Wilson, after Danny had been injured in a training session.
Mac was working with Blade with the Katana, the fights were intense making Mac move faster and smarter. He had pushed Blade back, and ready to go in for the kill when he felt a searing pain across the Bond, which gave Blade the distraction he needed to knock Mac flat, sword tip to his throat. ‘You can never be distracted even by your Mate.’
‘What happened to Danny?’ He easily pushed off his hands, and flipped onto his feet. A move he never would’ve been able to do as human.
The two quickly made it to the other room, to see Hannibal holding Danny’s arm gently as he worked to calm him. ‘It hurts but I’m sure you’ve had worse.’
‘Fuck you, but sadly I have.’ He breathed through his nose, letting it out through his mouth, working to get his ‘heart’ rate under control, more like his panic. ‘Not the first broken arm I’ve had.’
‘Won’t be your last, kid. Not as a Hunter. I’ve broken way too many bones, the good thing is healing time a lot quicker and less itchy.’ He glanced up to Blade. ‘We got a doctor nearby?’
‘We can call Sid.’ Mac moved next to his Mate, taking Hannibal’s place. ‘Are you okay?’
‘I bobbed when should of dodged.’ He cringed, but was starting to calm down. The break was clean, but it hurt like a bitch.
Mac wasn’t sure if Blade’s evil chuckle was a bad or good thing. ‘Who’s Sid?’ Hannibal asked sitting down next to the two of them, working to distract Danny from the pain.
‘Our ME.’ Danny shrugged then regretted it. ‘He knew something was up, within seconds. A few days after being Turned we had a case, that had brought Sid out to the scene. He stood there staring between Mac and I, eyes narrowing slightly. He didn’t say anything, did his job and that was it.’
‘Until the next day he called me down to the morgue to discuss the case, then locked me in his office demanding to know what I was doing….’
‘What the hell Mac?’ Sid glared at his friend. ‘Tell me you are not sleeping with Messer?’
Mac stared at his friend for a few moments, not quite sure what to say.
‘You are! What the hell? You’re not forcing him are you? ‘Cause I swear Mac if you’re using your power over him, I’ll take you down myself…’ Sid paused halfway through his tirad when Mac hugged him. ‘Okay what the hell.’
‘Thank you for looking after Danny, and not my career.’ Mac stepped back. ‘It’s not quite what you think, yet exactly what you think.’
‘I went on to explain to him about Vampires and that we were Mates. He then made me sit on the table, and let him do an exam. Afterwards he claimed that I could rent a room in his morgue as I was as dead as the other occupants.’
Hannibal laughed. ‘I need to meet this guy.’
Thirty minutes later Gregory House banged open the door, growled at Blade, stalked over to the rest of them, took one look at Danny and sighed. ‘You’re going to be trouble I can feel it.’ He got his patient situated on Blade’s kitchen table, set the arm, ignored the scream, and shoved a blood packet into his mouth.
Danny sucked on it while staring at House not sure if he wanted to kiss or kill him. Wilson explained that was a normal reaction, though most went for kill.
Mac was pulled out of his thoughts, when a familiar redhead stepped into his doorway, taking off his sunglasses. “Detective Taylor.”
“Horatio Caine.” He stood, biting back the pained groan, moving across his office hand out towards his guest. “What brings you back to New York?”
Horatio took the hand in a firm grip. “We got a call from Blade.”
Mac blinked a few times, then focused his attention onto the Miami Detective, and the lack of a heart beat. He reached behind him, and closed the door, and motioned towards the chair in front of his desk. “I can’t be too far from my heat pad if you don’t mind. Blade and Hannibal are slave drivers.”
“It was mentioned you were being trained as Hunters.” He slipped the sunglasses into his suit jacket, then unbuttoned it as he sat down. “He brought us up to speed on the situation, I’ve added Sassone to my list of potential threats.”
“You’re part of Sylum?” He settled back in the chair, sighing softly as the heat warmed his back.
“I’m Nico’s Head of Security.” The redhead chuckled at the look, he was getting. “Would you believe when we met, I had no idea about Vampires? A few months later Speed was shot during a case, died in my arms because I panicked, only to rise off the autopsy table.”
Mac understood the tone in Horatio’s voice. He knew the emotion, the same one he had when he saw Danny laying on his kitchen floor, not breathing. “Speed is your Mate?”
“Yes.” The smile was soft, he was obviously very much in love with him. “I ended up in the world of Vampires, and then dragged into a war. Old enemies of Sylum attacked, and through the aftermath I was promoted to Head of Security. I’ve been on the job for less than a year, and I’m ready to quit being a CSI just to deal with it full time.”
“Is that an option?” Mac asked. He had wondered how they were going to handle responsibilities between the Clan and the city of New York, though he was noticing some of the two overlapped.
“Maybe down the road,” he shrugged. “When Blade told us about Danny’s Turning, then yours we decided to come up and visit. Speed had kept in contact with Danny after the case, the two get along pretty easily.”
“I had no idea.” He would have to talk to Danny later about it later. “So what does Speed do for the Clan, I’m still very new at this.”
“He’s Nicolaus’ Clan Advisor.”
“Oh.” Mac leaned back in his chair. Now he understood Blade’s comment about having odd connections to the Vampire community. “I really need an org chart.”
Horatio chuckled. “Give you the best piece of advice I got from the previous Head of Security. Do not piss off Nick, and I’ve seen him pissed and let me say you don’t want that coming for you. He’s dedicated to his family, Speed has the soul of his lost son. While, Antonio Crisafi, Nico’s Second in Command, has the soul of his daughter. They are as loyal to him, as he is to them.”
“So it’s all about family.” Mac was starting to see the big picture, from the information he got from Blade and others he had met over the past weeks. There had been talk about Past Lives, and he had known about Peck, having the soul of Murdock’s lost Mate, and Uncle Dan’s threat to come back around, but so far he hadn’t experienced the sensation. “I can admire that.”
“You don’t have to worry, he’ll like you.”
“Why do you say that?”
Horatio gave him wicked smirk. “You shot Sonny, and was willing to Hunt the bastard as a human, just for hurting Danny.”
“Blade mentioned something about humans who have Hunted, and that one was a Vampire now, do you know who he’s talking about?”
“No, and I’ve asked around, and usually just get a smirk in response, which is never encouraging. I do know of the Winchesters, only because the father was in the area when the Manor was attacked, which when you do get some free time, you need to go see it. Sylum Manor is amazing, and beautiful when the gates aren’t getting blown off the hinges.”
One of Mac’s eyebrows raised at the comment. “I’m thinking lunch and you can tell me a story …”
Danny opened Mac’s door, and gave him a grin. “Speed and I are going to lunch, bye.” And with that they were gone. Speed gave his Mate a cheeky grin as they left.
“That’s not a good thing, is it.” Mac commented, wondering if he should contact Blade.
“No.”