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Chapter Text

It was growing dark on the day that Gavin decided to finally share his past. He was sprawled across his bed, Jeremy on one side and Ryan on the other as they pressed close together, basking in the gentle intimacy of people who trusted one another innately.

“You know, boys, I think it’s finally time I told you about my past.” Gavin spoke up to the ceiling, knowing the other two would hear him without him having to raise his voice. He let out a chuckle as he felt both of his boyfriends turn to him in shock.

“Are you, are you serious, Gav? Do I finally get to hear about the origin of all your random werewolf knowledge?” Jeremy had turned onto one side, face partially pressed into Gavin's shoulder as he watched his much older boyfriend calmly prepare himself for his upcoming story.

“Yeah, do we finally get a chance to understand the enigma that is Gavin Free, vampire extraordinaire?” Ryan grinned down at him from where he had propped himself up above the two of them on one elbow, the other hand coming down to run across Gavin’s chest, fingers brushing old scars as he went.

“I suppose if you want to see it that way. And yes, J, you’ll find out all about the werewolves.” He smiled at his two boys before shimmying himself up the bed to rest against the headboard, Jeremy’s head coming to rest somewhere on his upper chest and Ryan slipping an arm around his waist as he settled beside him.

“Okay, so I suppose I should start at the beginning,”

“That is where you classically start.”

“Shut up, Ryan. Okay, so I was born in 1637 in a little town just outside of Oxford in England; I had three siblings, two brothers and a sister, and a mother for most of my life there. My father died of consumption when I was pretty young and I became the eldest man in the house. I worked for a courier service from when I was about nine, first just running messages around my town, then extending to Oxford and the surrounding areas.

“When I reached eighteen, I started running messages and packages all over the South, and I found myself in London more and more as the years went on. Somehow, throughout all of this I had managed to find myself engaged to a pretty young woman from my town.” He paused for a moment, his eyes lighting up, “Actually, wait a second.”

Scrambling over Ryan, Gavin slid off the bed onto the floor and started searching beneath it, leaving two very confused men behind him.

“Ah ha! Found it!” Gavin pulled an old trunk out from under the bed, dust coating the top and the lock stiff as he tugged it open.

Peering over the side of the bed, Ryan and Jeremy got an eyeful of stacks of old, thick sheets of paper, most of them wrapped in a protective covering. Gavin seemed to rifle through for a bit before coming upon a certain piece. After lifting the trunk up onto the end of the bed he shimmied his way back in between his two boyfriends, coming to rest sitting crosslegged at the head of the bed.

“So, here we are.” He declared, holding out the first page he had collected. It turned out to be an old picture, barely more than a sketch, of a family of five. The mother leaned over her five children, arms wrapped around the entire group and a huge smile on her face which was matched by each child before her. Ryan and Jeremy’s eyes were drawn to the tallest boy, a lanky child who hadn’t seemed to grow into his limbs yet but was recognisable by the wild thatch of hair on his head.

“Ha, you were cute as a kid, Gav.” Jeremy giggled, pressing close to Gavin’s side to get a better look at the faded picture.

“I was not, don’t be silly, Lil J!” Gavin hushed, but the happy glow on his cheeks gave himself away.

“Glad to know you were always a gangly little fuck, Gav.” Ryan chortled, dropping a kiss to the top of Gavin’s head.

“Yeah, yeah,” Gavin blushed, “Anyway, next picture.” The next picture he held before them was smaller, and obviously painted instead of sketched. “That’s her. Meg.” The woman before them was stunning; thick, dark hair falling in waves around a soft, open face. Her wide eyes and gentle smile suggested innocence but the slight tilt of her lips and raise of her eyebrow hinted at the humour beneath the façade.

“She’s beautiful Gav.”

“Yeah, I can see why you wanted to marry her.”

“Well, she was way too good for me, but for some reason she agreed anyway.” Gavin ran a careful finger over the ancient paints, tracing the edges of her face, cheek down to jaw in a practiced sweep. “Not that we ever got the chance… We were waiting to get married, she came from a large family and my mother didn’t have the spare money to pay for a wedding so we were saving up ourselves.” He chuckled, “She wanted to open her own business, making dresses from her own designs…”

The beat of silence which followed was broken by Gavin’s continued story. “So I was twenty-eight and she was twenty-three the last time I was in my home town. I was heading off for a job in London and staying in the city to act as personal courier for some hot-shot judge or politician or someone, I don’t know, I can’t really remember.”

“What happened Gav?” Jeremy had pressed close to him once again, head resting on the Brit’s shoulder.

“Don’t be so impatient, Lil J, good storytelling can’t be rushed.” Jeremy’s two older boyfriends laughed at his frustrated huff, settling into comfortable positions for the rest of the story.

“It was 1665 when I died…”

-------------------

The sun was beating down on the back of Gavin’s neck as he jumped off the carriage and tossed a few coins to the driver in thanks, the idea of walking through the streets in this weather had been unbearable.

“Okay then, The Dancing Fox inn issss…” Gavin spun in a slow circle, taking in his surroundings, “Right over there.” He made his way towards the solid-looking building with a smile and a skip in his step. Swinging the door open he was met with a surprisingly small group of people for that late in the afternoon but shrugged it off in favour of going to speak to the woman behind the bar.

“Good afternoon, Miss.” The woman was pretty enough that Gavin was sure she drew in somewhat of a crowd, bright blonde ringlets framed the most beautiful pair of blue eyes he would see in years. “I believe my employer booked a room here under my name? Gavin Free?”

The young woman’s eyes lit up, “Oh of course, Sir. We have your room already made up for you, I can take you now or if you would like we have some food ready for service, I imagine you’ve been travelling for an awfully long time!”

Gavin smiled gratefully, the young woman’s enthusiasm catching, “I would appreciate being shown my room, I could use a quick nap before dinner I think.”

“Of course, Sir. If you would follow me, please.”

After being shown to his room, Gavin dropped his bag beside the door and collapsed on what was to be his bed for the next month. The place certainly wasn’t the fanciest, not what he would have expected had he been staying with his employer, as he sometimes had before. But it would do, and the people seemed nice at least.

Curling up on his side he drifted off to sleep, looking forward to a hot meal when he woke up.

-------------------

Three weeks into his stay and even Gavin “Just will yourself better” Free was considering dropping his job and leaving the city. The streets had become more and more empty as he’d spent his time running around for the judge, the word on the street being that the plague had sprung up again and that anyone with any sense was leaving the city for pastures new.

But Gavin wasn’t a quitter, after all one more week was nothing, he’d been here three times that long already.

He wasn’t expecting to be awoken that night by the sounds of shouting and banging in the main common area of the inn. Rubbing sleep from his eyes he stood to go and investigate the source of the noises, finding the innkeeper and his daughter furiously arguing with a group of men outside the doors.

“What’s this all about?” He spoke up from his place in the doorway, curiosity warring with panic as he recognised the familiar scene he had been seeing more and more over the last week or so.

“It’s nothing to worry about Sir, we’ll have this sorted out in just a moment.” The young woman answered him, her voice much calmer than her now frazzled appearance.

“Sir, we have discovered that someone on the premises is infected with the plague, therefore we must place the property under quarantine until such a time as we declare it safe for you to leave.” One of the men spoke up, the innkeeper raising his voice to argue.

“I run a reputable, clean, establishment Sir, wherever the gentleman caught this illness it was not on my property.”

“We acknowledge that, Sir, but we must still place you under quarantine until we see it as appropriate to release you into the public.”

“If you acknowledge it then why are you doing this to us?! You condemn us to death for nothing more than having a sick customer?! How dare you?!” The young woman was screaming by the end of her tirade, fear and desperation mixing to create a completely new face to the beautiful lady Gavin had spoken to when he arrived.

"It is out of our hands Miss, may the Lord have mercy on you, all of you.” With that final rehearsed phrase, the man stepped away and the door swung shut. The silence which swept over the inn was shattered by the sound of nails being hammered around the entrance, sealing their fate, followed by the wailing of a terrified young woman.

-------------------

By the fifth day Gavin thought he would be in the clear, whilst the others were showing signs of illness he seemed perfectly fine.

And then his tongue seemed to swell in his mouth, his vision grew blurry and he became unable to keep down any food he consumed. Buboes sprouted and just the sight of them made him gag at first, but even he could become accustomed to seeing the large, black growths which ring the tops of his legs and decorated his armpits.

He only grew sicker after that, the world a blur of darkness and pain as he accepted the inevitable. Later on it was difficult to understand how he had not heard the sound of boards being pried from his window, how the heavy footsteps which slipped across his floorboards didn’t wake him from his stupor. How the feeling of fangs in his throat felt like a blessing because, finally, something different than the constant, aching pain he’d been cursed with.

It wasn’t as difficult as waking the next morning to the ability to breath clearly, to sight which seemed to glow with colour and limbs which moved when asked. It wasn’t as difficult as the questions which ran through his mind as he held down his first drink of clean water in days with no problem.

It definitely wasn’t as difficult as trying to explain in his mind why, when he made his way to the entrance of the inn the innkeeper and his pretty daughter lay slaughtered on the floor, or why a man with cracked skin and a crooked smile filled with teeth filed sharp gazed dazedly up at him before closing his eyes and drifting into oblivion.

What was easy to understand was that he couldn’t go back, not to his family or his job, not to beautiful Meg and his future. Something was wrong with him, he could feel it in his bones, in his blood. In the way his teeth were trying to puncture his lip. In the way the innkeeper’s daughter looked delicious in a way she hadn’t before.

He left The Dancing Fox an hour later, clutching his bag with the taste of blood on his lips, desperately hoping to wake up sometime soon.

-------------------

The two men at his sides sat silent, absorbing his words but still clinging to the man between them just a little more desperately than they had before.

“So that’s how I became a vampire, a bloodsucker, a terrifying creature of the night, a-”

“Gavin, stop.” Ryan, clutched his hand tight, watching the man carefully. “Are you okay?”

Gavin sighed, air puffing over the immortal’s face, “Ry, you need to understand that this was a really long time ago. I’ve accepted the hand that fate dealt me multiple times over, and as much as it sucked I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Because, if it hadn’t happened I wouldn’t have you two.” He reached his hands out to pull his two boys close, pressing kisses to their lips one after the other.

Everyone seemed to have calmed down after a short break, although Ryan and Jeremy still refused to let go of Gavin. “So what about the wolves then, and what happened with the vampire that turned you? How did you end up here?” Jeremy seemed to be full of questions and after their cool down period Gavin was more than happy to answer.

“Well the werewolves didn’t come in until almost a year later, 1666, the year of the great fire. But a lot of stuff happened before that…”

-------------------

In some ways Gavin had gotten lucky, the number of people who had fled London in the wake of the plague had left plenty of houses empty and ripe for the taking. But for every blessing he found in his new life it seemed as though he’d been cursed three times over. Having a roof over his head didn’t make up for the nauseating thirst he couldn’t kick, or the whispers in his mind which clawed at his sanity.

It certainly didn’t make up for knowing that he could never return home like this.

So he wallowed, hiding away in a house about a mile away from The Dancing Fox. He found that his thirst could be sated slightly by drinking the blood from whatever unfortunate creatures made their way through his doors, rats mostly, but the occasional dog, fox or cat was a surprising welcome change, even if he had cried the first time he sank his fangs into the flesh of a soft, sweet little tabby cat. But it was better than the alternative.

Any time he found himself tempted to leave the house he forced himself to remember the remains in the Inn, how the creature which had made him this way had grinned with madness in his eyes as though he was never more content than when surrounded by death.

He couldn’t let himself become that at any cost.

But a time came when the animals seemed to know to steer clear of the house, and the throbbing of blood through the veins of those who passed by the house was calling to him so loudly that Gavin swore he could hear it even when he pressed his pillow over his head and sung the songs his mother taught him as a child.

So he ventured out that night, snaking his way through the vaguely familiar streets seemingly aimlessly. He wandered, a part of him craving an encounter with some poor unfortunate soul whilst another screamed and rebelled.

In the end the choice was ripped from his hands, the scent of blood pulling him towards a dark alley where he found a sobbing heap of a man leaned up against the wall.

“Sir, please, please help me! I don’t know what- what happened!” The man was a wreck, both hands pressed against his abdomen in a way which didn’t manage to prevent the blood leaking down his wrists. Gavin shook himself, the man was practically begging on his knees for assistance and all he could think about was the ruby red liquid oozing across pale skin.

He knelt beside the man, one hand coming up to rest on his shoulder comfortingly. “What happened to you?”

“There, there was a man, he came at me with a knife, told me to give him everything I had.” The man’s words were quieter now, both of them probably knowing that he wasn’t going to make it but Gavin refusing to take these last moments of comfort away to slake his animal instincts. “I told him I didn’t have anything to give him and he just-” The man shuddered, “He wouldn’t stop, it hurt so much…”

Gavin almost had to strain to hear the whispered words now, it wouldn’t be long. “He is gone now, Sir. You can sleep if you wish.”

“Thank you, lad.” Eyelids fluttered but Gavin could still feel a pulse through his grip on the man’s shoulder, pushing the monster further to the back of his mind, coiling it like a spring. “It was kind of you to listen to an old man’s dying words.”

“It was my pleasure, Sir. Now rest.” Those final twenty seconds felt like the longest of Gavin’s life, waiting for the tell-tale final beat of the man’s heart, for his final breath to release. His teeth were already sharpening to points in his mouth as he watched, disgusted in himself for taking any kind of pleasure in this madness.

As soon as the final sign of life fled the man’s body Gavin leant over and sunk his fangs into the man’s neck, the puncture wounds allowing him to draw deep draughts straight from the poor sod’s artery. The blood was metallic and tangy and should have been the most disgusting thing in the world, but to Gavin it was like drinking straight from God’s cup. He prayed for forgiveness he knew he didn’t deserve as he drank the corpse dry.

It felt wrong to just leave the body there but Gavin honestly didn’t know what else to do with it. He did his best to cover up the bite marks, not wanting to raise suspicion any more than your run of the mill stabbing victim would normally. Returning to his acquired housing he felt both full and empty, the pit in his stomach opening to swallow him whole as he allowed himself to fall into bed.

Chapter Text

A month after turning and Gavin was finding it hard to believe that the thing he was most grateful for was the rise of violent crime in plague-ridden London. He had taken to patrolling the streets at night, helping anyone who he could and drinking from anyone he couldn’t as some sort of sick compensation. He didn’t like it but he knew that the alternative of hunting people through the streets was something he’d hopefully never be able to stomach.

After four bodies in just over two weeks Gavin had found that he no longer needed to drain the people he found, a few mouthfuls would sustain him. But something dark in the back of his mind screamed for him to relent, to give in to whatever drove him to these monstrous acts and indulge himself. So far he had been successful in driving it away, but he could feel himself weakening.

In all the time that he had been staying in the house not once had someone knocked or really shown any interest at all in the stranger slipping in and out of their neighbour's home. So when he was awoken by polite knocks (not to the front door but to the wide open window he had been using as an entrance) it was understandable that panic gripped him for a moment.

Stowing his fear, he forced himself to make his way to the opening, surprised to find a reasonably well-dressed man with black hair peering through the entranceway. 

“Oh, hello! There you are! It’s good to finally meet you.” The man extended a hand but Gavin refused to move closer, huddling somewhere near the door in case he needed to make a quick escape. The man huffed as he dropped his hand back at his side. “Youngsters these days have no manners.”

“I, sorry but, who are you exactly?” Gavin stammered, something about the man raising the hairs on the back of his neck.

“Oh! My apologies! I’m Dr Heyman, but you can call me Joel. And I don’t believe I know your name, despite being familiar with your work.” Gavin flinched away at his words, ready to bolt. “Oh, no, no it’s okay, you don’t need to be afraid. You’re not in trouble, I just thought you could use some help?”

Weirdly Gavin actually felt soothed by his words, his muscles releasing just a touch of their tension. “Help me with what?”

“Well with your new you, of course! The change is hard on anyone; I can’t imagine how it has been to have to fend for yourself for so long.” Joel sighed leaning forward to rest his arms on the windowsill nonchalantly. “I’m just impressed that you haven’t outright murdered anyone yet, although looking at you now it kind of makes sense, you look more of a brain than a brawn kind of vampire.”

“I’m sorry, did you say vampire?” Gavin was blinking at him incredulously, all fear gone in the wake of this ridiculous man’s babbling. “Vampire’s aren’t real.”

“Oh aren’t they? Well then I hate to break it to you but you don’t exist.” Joel seemed to be cleaning under his nails with a file he pulled from his sleeve.

“But, that’s impossible! I can’t be-”

“I’m going to stop you there. Yes, you can be. Yes, you are. No, it doesn’t mean you’re a monster, you’ve already proven you don’t have to be to survive. Yes, I am too. Now come with me. You can get cleaned up, have a real meal and then I’ll explain everything to you properly.” Joel had extended his hand once again, this time with an open palm, beckoning Gavin closer.

“How do I know you don’t just want to get me out there so you can murder me or something?” Despite his reservations Gavin was sneaking his way across the floor, grabbing his bag from where he’d hidden it behind a shelf.

“You don’t, but really, what do you have to lose?”

------------------

“So you just followed some weird dude who told you he was a vampire?” Gavin could hear what they liked to call Ryan’s ‘disapproving dad’ voice starting up and laughed softly at his boyfriend.

“Well, I really didn’t have anything to lose. I couldn’t go back home, everyone I knew in the city was either in that inn or thought I was dead, I was living alone in an abandoned house and feeding on scraps. It couldn’t go on like that forever.” Usually Gavin could think about that time in his life with minimal emotions, but with both of his boyfriends surrounding him and worrying about something which seemed so long ago to him he couldn’t help but begin to feel the familiar pangs of anxiety from that time. “I haven’t changed that much since then. Spending that long alone, with no one to talk to but potential victims… Honestly it was starting to get to me.”

Jeremy and Ryan seemed to have pegged on to his growing upset, cuddling closer to him in a silent attempt to cheer him up.

“So what happened after? I’m assuming Joel didn’t eat you, since you’re still here.” Ryan frowned jokingly at the vampire, squeezing his arm around him slightly.

“Oh, no, turned out that Joel really was a vampire. He worked in the morgue for the police force, that was how he’d worked out I was out there. It’s really only thanks to him that I ever found out anything about being a vampire, if he hadn’t turned up I’d probably have gone feral and started taking out civilians.” Gavin’s voice was light but the underlying truth was starkly apparent to both of his listeners.

-------------------

“So I’ll bring you in as my assistant, no one should question it since with the recent increase in crime we’ve been swamped.”

“Okay.”

“And until a time when I’m sure that you can keep yourself safe and in check you’ll be living with me. Once I’m sure you’ll be okay on your own I’ll set you up with somewhere to live.”

“Uh, okay.”

“We’ll start you on some training for control and such soon. Although from what I’ve seen in doesn’t seem like you’d need much.”

“Um, thanks?”

“Look, Gavin.” Gavin almost walked into the back of Joel as he suddenly stopped in his full-speed powerwalk down the street. “I really want you to understand that this is all for your own good. It may seem extreme now, especially to someone who hasn’t really lost control of himself yet, but being able to blend in with society is the greatest skill someone like us can master. If no one ever suspects anything then no one will put themselves and you at risk but making dangerous accusations.”

“I understand.”

“Do you though?” Joel was watching him carefully, something in his face making Gavin suspect that this was a test of some kind.

“Look, I get that I haven’t snapped yet. But if you saw what I did after that guy broke into the inn you’d be willing to do anything not to do the same. Those were good people; they didn’t deserve that.”

Joel watched him for a second before offering him a thin smile, “Hmm, maybe you do understand.” They continued walking through the near abandoned streets, this time Joel keeping a pace which allowed Gavin to walk at his side. “Could you describe your sire to me? I may need to inform some people of his demise.”

“My sire?”

“Yes, your sire. The person who turned you?” Joel sounded impatient but Gavin was already beginning to understand that that was more of a personality trait than an emotion when it came to the older man.

“Was that the man in the inn? Why would he- why would he do what he did?” It was a question Gavin had been asking himself for a while now, trying to puzzle out the reasoning behind the man’s actions.

“From how you described it, I would say yes. And, most likely, he was an ancient,” At Gavin’s blank look Joel sighed, “A really old vampire, usually over four hundred years old. Once we reach that sort of age something starts to go wrong with the way our brains work, it’s the time when we are most dangerous. We begin to act erratically and it’s not uncommon for it to end the way your sire did, with a bunch of people dead.”

“Oh, that’s… Shouldn’t someone do something about that?”

“We try, but there’s not much to do, apart from make sure that everyone knows about it and keep an eye on anyone close to us. Sometimes the ancient has enough clarity of mind to stop themselves from turning someone, but usually the madness has taken hold enough that they barely even know what they’re doing. Turning someone is all to do with intent and power, the sire basically forces their own power into the person they’re feeding from and, if it takes, they become a vampire. But it drains the sire’s life force, which is probably what killed your sire in the end.”

Gavin was having trouble taking this all in, his head whirling with the sudden influx of information. “So if I were to try and turn someone-?”

“You’d die, and they probably would too.” Joel turned a gentle smile on him. “You definitely don’t have enough power to turn someone yet, you’d drain yourself trying and your body would latch onto the nearest energy source, which would be whoever you were drinking from. It’s just generally a bad idea to try and turn someone anytime if it isn’t an emergency or clearly thought out before hand.”

“Okay, that makes sense. No turning people until I’m a big vampire.” He grinned up at Joel who just groaned and carried on walking.

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Almost a month later and Gavin had finally begun to settle into the life Joel had offered to him. It had been rocky at first, him not liking having such strict rules placed upon him when he was used to so much freedom. But Joel had his best interests in mind and Gavin had to trust in him.

Joel had begun teaching him some basic control techniques, but upon finding him already able to hold his control reasonably well he had moved on to some more complicated vampire powers.

They were currently going over the basics of psychic skills, being able to calm the person you were drinking from to minimise their struggling and therefore the amount they risked being seriously hurt.

“Come on Gavin, this is easy, you can do it.” Joel’s calm voice was the opposite of helpful right now.

“It’s not bloody easy and I can’t bloody do it! Stop saying that!” He was currently practicing on a werewolf friend of Joel’s, called Adam, who had been willing to literally stick his neck out for the sake of Gavin learning the skill.

“Hey, Gav, you’ll get it. Just try again.” Adam’s voice was somehow helping even less than Joel’s and Gavin found that he suddenly, desperately needed some air.

“I’ll uh, I’ll be right back.” He stood on shaky legs and made his way out of Joel’s office where they had been practicing. Finally reaching the garden after what seemed like an eternity to Gavin he heaved in great lungfuls of air in an attempt to calm himself down.

He was so absorbed in his breathing that he didn’t hear Joel’s tell-tale light footsteps behind him until the man spoke up. “Are you okay, Gavin?”

“I, uh, yes, I’m fine. It all just suddenly hit me, everything that’s happened. It doesn’t seem real.” Gavin hadn’t realised until now that he was shaking.

“You’d probably be surprised to find out that that’s pretty normal. It’s not every day that you find yourself turned into something you didn’t even know was real.” He ushered Gavin over to the wooden bench set to one side where he knew the younger man liked to sit sometimes. “Now, what’s holding you back from the psychic control skill? Because I know you can do it.”

“I suppose it’s just that it shouldn’t be possible, everything that’s happening, but the mind control I can’t rationalise, there’s no scientific explanation which doesn’t involve vampires. So I suddenly have to just accept that this is happening, has happened, to me. And it’s not great…” He grimaced up at his teacher.

“I see, it makes sense. But how about this? You put all of that out of your mind, because I know that you have real potential to become an amazing mental-focused vampire, you just need to keep training. So you’ve got to stop doubting yourself and get yourself into gear, because you could do great things if you just let yourself.”

“I, alright, okay. We’ll try again.”

“That’s my boy.”

-------------------

“Joel was…” Gavin paused, eyes downcast as he chuckled to himself. “Well I wouldn’t say he was like a father to me, maybe a weird uncle?”

“So he just took you in? No questions asked?” Jeremy was leaning in, invested in the story his boyfriend was telling.

“Yeah, I think he felt a bit guilty. There’s kind of an unspoken rule between vampires, that when one starts to go downhill the others in the area make sure they don’t cause any harm to the humans nearby. There are stories about old vampires taking out whole villages when they fly into a rage…” Gavin muttered introspectively, glancing up when fingers wiggled between his own.

“Hey, we’ll make sure you never hurt anyone.” Ryan smiled softly, eyes warm.

“Thanks.” Gavin seemed subdued for a moment before letting out a chuckle. “Look at me bringing down the room. And just when the story was starting to get interesting.”

“Ooh, is this the werewolf bit?” Jeremy grinned, leaning forwards to press against Gavin’s side.

“Yes, love, it’s the werewolf bit.”

-------------------

Gavin had lost track of how long he’d been staying with Joel when he was finally allowed to leave the house unsupervised. He had to admit it was a bit of a rush to be able to wander the streets alone once again, and he found himself relishing the silence as he made his way through the winding streets, the darkness like a shroud around him.

It had been easy for him to wander further than he planned, ignoring those around him as he went. A drunk staggered past him, probably on his way home from the pub, and a pretty young lady called out to him from the street corner but he waved her off with a smile.

It was much more difficult to ignore the sounds of screaming and the raising of alarms which announced a fire.

He spun on his heel and ran in the direction of the cries, if he could help at all then he would.

As he drew closer to the blaze the heat hit him, smoke filling the air as the bright glow of flames lit the city before him. People dashed about, ferrying water to help fight the fire which only seemed to spread further and further across the city.

Gavin moved swiftly through the streets, barely noticing the heat as he focused his hearing past the crackling of the flames in an attempt to hear anyone who may be trapped.

His search proved fruitful as he heard a weak cry from somewhere to his left, sprinting down a near-abandoned street close to the centre of the blaze. He listened closely, desperate not to lose the voice amongst the various other sounds of the night as he chased it to a small house with the door sealed shut.

The fire had obviously leapt to this building some time ago, the flames burning low and constant, smoke billowing from every crack it could find to escape.

Gavin slammed himself against the door, feeling it give slightly under the force of his body. He grunted as he stood back, gazing at the wood stonily before ramming it once again.

This time the wood popped open, a wave of hot air streaming past him as he fell into the burning building. He didn’t allow himself more than a moment to recover, eyes already darting around the room, trying to find the origin of the voice he’d heard before.

Slumped in the corner, holding a rag over his face as he gasped desperately for breath, was a man with dark hair. Gavin hurried to his side, fussing over him as he checked him for injuries before he tried to carry the larger man away from the blaze.

It was then that he noticed a flash in the man’s foggy eyes and really looked at the man who lay before him.

“You’re a werewolf?” He gasped, coughing heavily now that he forced himself to breath so that he could speak.

The man nodded, going to remove the rag to answer him. Gavin’s hand shot out, holding the rag in place before frowning.

“No, don’t move. I’ll get you out of here and to somewhere safe.”

The werewolf’s eyes crinkled gently in what Gavin figured was a smile as the vampire hooked his arm around the larger man’s waist, ducking under his arm to help support his weight.

“Okay, here we go.”

-------------------

Gavin had lugged the werewolf back to Joel’s house, although it had taken longer than expected after the man went limp in his arms about halfway there. He didn’t even try to get the door open on his own, instead banging his arm against the wood noisily in the hopes that the older vampire would hear him and come to his rescue.

It took a couple of minutes for Joel to answer the door, eyes wide as he glared out at the darkness of the early morning.

“Gavin? What the hell? What happened?” Despite his questions he ushered his student through the door, pointing him towards a low sofa where he could lay down his burden.

Straightening back up Gavin stretched to relieve a crick in his back which had been bothering him for the last ten minutes. “There’s a fire, a huge one! I was out walking and I had to try and help. When I came across him I realised he wasn’t human and I couldn’t just leave him there to be looked at by a human doctor in case they noticed something odd…” Gavin trailed off at Joel’s blank stare.

“Why were you-? Oh never mind. You did the right thing bringing him here, but he’s your responsibility.”

Muttering and heavy footsteps made their way down the stairs in the main hallway, both vampires turning to take in the sight of a ruffled-looking Adam. “Wha-? Joel, Gav, what are you doing up this late?”

“Gavin found a stray.” Joel answered curtly, walking past his friend to close the door which had been left hanging open.

“Bloody hell, Joel, he’s not a lost dog! He was trapped in a fire!” Gavin hissed, loathe to wake the sleeping werewolf when he so obviously needed the rest.

“What? A fire?” Adam made his way to Gavin’s side, gazing down at the young werewolf.

“Do you recognise him?” Gavin looked up hopefully, if they knew which pack the man belonged to it would be much easier to get him home.

“Never seen him before, he must be a newcomer.” Adam ducked down to inspect the younger man closer. “I’ll tell you what though, he’s, or at least he used to be, a soldier. You don’t get scars like those from everyday life, not when you’re a werewolf.” Now that he’d pointed them out, Gavin could see faded scars up the length of his arms and a couple peeking out of the collar of his shirt.

“Huh.” It was interesting, but not relevant right now. “Well if we don’t know what pack he belongs to can he at least stay here until he’s recovered? I don’t know how long he was in that building for but it must have been a while…” Gavin looked hopefully over at Joel who just rolled his eyes before nodding sharply.

“Fine. He can stay. For now.”

Gavin and Adam exchanged a grin.

-------------------

“So you saved him from a burning building? That’s pretty heroic, Gav.” Ryan grinned down at him, reaching over to ruffle his hair.

“Yeah, pretty sexy too.” Jeremy growled jokingly. “You breaking down a door to save someone’s life.”

Gavin flushed before pushing the pair away from him, “Shut up! You two are horrible.” Despite his protests he was smiling brightly as he allowed the two close to him again, Ryan wrapping an arm around him and Jeremy snuggling close to his side.

“So what happened? Did Joel let him stay?” Jeremy seemed pretty invested in the story from the excited lilt in his voice.

“He did, we managed to talk him around. Pass me that box.” He gestured towards the box he’d been pulling pictures out of before, Jeremy passing it over to him before watching him rifle through it for a moment. He pulled out a small drawing, it was rough but it was still easy to make out Gavin as one of the figures within it.

“That’s him.” Gavin jabbed his finger at the other man in the picture, slightly taller than Gavin and much broader, with dark hair and a playful grin. “That’s Dan.”

Chapter Text

“Gav! Wait up, B!” Dan’s voice drifted down the street, followed by the sound of heavy footfalls before Gavin was practically tackled from behind, juggling groceries so as not to lose any.

“Christ, B! Be a bit more careful next time!” He grinned at Dan despite the near accident, eyes lighting up at the sight of his friend. “You alright? I haven’t seen you for a few days.”

Dan rolled his eyes at him. “That’s because you went all creature of the night on us, I’m pretty sure this is the first time you’ve seen daylight in a week!” The werewolf nudged him with his shoulder, grinning cheekily.

“Sorry, Joel’s had me working nights at the station since he’s been busy, I should be round more now though.” He smiled up at his friend, the pair walking in companionable silence towards the house.

It had been a few months since that fateful night he’d fished Dan out of a burning building. At first the werewolf had insisted on leaving, but upon finding that his home and all his possessions had burnt up in the blaze he’d quickly caved and given in to Gavin’s forced hospitality.

Unsurprisingly, they’d become fast friends. It was nice for Gavin to have someone who at least somewhat understood what he had gone through.

Dan had been turned on the battlefield against his will by an enemy soldier. It wasn’t until he got home, discharged due to his injuries, that he’d realised that something was wrong. The wounds which littered his body had begun to heal much faster than usual, he was practically back to normal within the week.

But he couldn’t go back to the army, he’d been discharged for a reason and if he went back now he’d certainly be treated with suspicion at the very least. So instead he’d set about trying to make a life for himself in London, using the money he’d saved up whilst in the army to buy a little house of his own.

That was all gone now, of course. But at least he had someone to tell him what was happening to him now. No more dealing with transformations by locking himself in a room and praying. Now he had Adam there to guide him through life as a werewolf, and Gavin and a (sometimes begrudging) Joel to make sure things went smoothly during the full moon. They made a weird pack, but it worked.

He’d never been more grateful to a group of people in his life.

But he knew things were going to change; Joel had been dropping hints that Gavin might be ready to move out on his own soon, and Dan himself had been speaking with a young werewolf woman Adam had introduced him to the month before. So it didn’t surprise him when, a couple of months later Joel gave them a gift of a large house just a couple of roads over from his own, far enough away for some independence without being too far away to offer help if it was needed.

Gavin had some trouble settling in to life away from Joel's protection; although he still saw him several times a week, memories of the time before the man found him would play in his mind and nightmares of the night he was turned wracked him regularly. Dan did his best to sooth him, but he found it rarely worked.

It wasn’t until a couple of years later, Gavin moving into the house next door to make room for Dan’s new wife Mae, that he began to handle the terrors better. He rarely had nightmares now, and when he did he would pop round to Dan and Mae’s house for tea in the morning, the woman’s sunny personality lighting up his day in a way that few in his life had before. Gavin couldn’t have been happier for them when they announced Mae’s first pregnancy.

It was during this time, with Gavin often offering up his help around the house, that they received an unexpected visitor.

Light knocks at the door had Gavin glancing up from where he’d been putting away some groceries, “Don’t get up, I’ll get it!” Gavin shouted in Mae’s general direction, receiving a grateful grunt in reply from the heavily pregnant woman.

Smiling to himself he headed to the door, not stopping to check who was waiting behind it before he swung it open.

“Gavin, it is you!”

Gavin suddenly found himself wrapped in deceptively strong, thin arms, his whole body going stiff at the unexpected hug. “I, um, who-?”

He wasn’t expecting the punch, light as it was, and he glanced down into eyes bright with tears only to take a step back in surprise.

“Meg?”

A watery smile answered him.

-------------------

“Meg, as in Meg Meg?” Jeremy looked at him wide-eyed and Gavin could only Grin back.

“Yeah, apparently after they’d found out about my ‘death’ she’d decided to move to London to expand her business. A lot of her customers were there anyway so it made sense. So one day, she’s just walking down the streets, when-”

-------------------

“-Bam, there you are, bold as brass just strolling along as though you’re not supposed to be dead!” Meg frowned at him, arms crossed sternly before her. “What happened Gav? We all assumed you’d died in the plague when we didn’t see you again, your poor mother was distraught!”

Gavin sighed, opening the door further to usher her inside. “It’s a long story, you should probably come in.”

-------------------

“So what did you tell her?” Ryan asked quietly, hand gently stroking over Gavin’s shoulder subconsciously.

“The truth, I sat her down and explained everything to her.” He huffed a small laugh. “I figured she’d either believe me or think that I’d gone mad, either way things would work out alright for me.”

“And? Did she believe you?”

“Well, it was a bit hit and miss at first, but after a while everything seemed to just fall into place for her. I suppose there’s only so much evidence you can argue against before you just have to accept the truth…” He looked wistful for a moment, “Once she understood what happened she was a lot more understanding, we decided to keep in contact; partly so she wouldn’t worry about me and partly so I could get updates on how my family was doing. She’d pop round or send me letters with updates on what was happening in their lives; my siblings marrying, the births of my nieces and nephews, changing houses and jobs and all sorts of things.” He smiled wistfully, miles away in his head. “It was nice, to still have some connection to them.”

“But you can’t just keep getting good news, not when you’re practically immortal and everyone around you is aging like normal. I got a visit from Meg one day, I think it was not long after Dan’s third kid was born so I must have been in London for close to ten years. She sat me down and explained that my mother’s health was failing, that she probably didn’t have long left.” Gavin sighed heavily, the air heaving out of him as though it took some great effort.

-------------------

It was against Gavin’s better judgement that he was here, wrapped up in a long hooded coat and sending silent thanks to whatever god would listen that it was cold enough to give him the excuse to hide his face. He trudged down familiar streets, noting the slight changes since he’d last been here; houses which had once been abandoned now filled to bursting, children running around the feet of women he’d known as a young boy.

He sighed as he reached the painfully familiar house, the old brickwork still the same as he remembered. He wasn’t surprised to find that his key still fit the lock, and swiftly turned it before slipping into the dim room beyond. A figure was laying on a bed set up near the fire, wrapped in a thick blanket and apparently asleep.

Gavin slipped across the room, eyes locked on the person in the bed as he made his way around to the side the person was facing, hungry for the sight of his mother for the first time in far too long.

The floorboards creaking below him roused the old woman, she shifted restlessly before pushing herself into a seated position and glancing around the dim room sleepily. “Hello, who’s there?” She squinted at the shadowy figure hiding near the door, straightening her back as she glared at whoever was hiding. “Come out, whoever you are! I may be an old woman, but I’m much more capable of defending myself than you think.”

Gavin couldn’t help but chuckle, his mother was still every bit the firecracker she had been when he was growing up. “Calm down, Mama, you’ll hurt yourself.” His voice met a silent room as he stepped forwards, pulling his hood away from his face to allow her to see him properly.

“Oh.” Her face cracked, eyes wide as tears slipped down her cheeks. “Gavin? You’re alive?” She held her arms before her, open wide in a way which was familiar to Gavin after so many long trips away from home for work. It barely took him three steps to melt into his mother’s hold, face pressed against her neck as he caught a few calming breaths. “How…? What happened?”

Her voice was croaky, although whether that was from tears or illness Gavin did not know, either way he had to take a moment to gather himself, eventually drawing away to sit on the edge of her bed with one of his hands still held between her cold palms.

“Mama, I… Something happened when I was in London, it meant that I couldn’t come home. But when I heard you were ill, I- I knew that if this was my last chance to see you I couldn’t miss it.” He wasn’t crying but his eyes were wide in his skull, grip tight against her hand.

“What happened, lad? What could have possibly kept you from us for so long?”

He told her his story, leaving out some of the gorier details so as not to upset her but still making sure that she fully understood the scope of what had happened. When he had finished he took a deep breath, eyes locked on the blankets spread below him to avoid seeing the look on his mother’s face.

A gentle hand brushed his chin, turning his gaze towards her expectant eyes. “I only have two questions for you, my lad. Are you safe, and are you happy? Because as long as you are those things, I can rest easy.” Her eyes were warm as she watched him fumble for an answer, chuckling at him softly. “Are you safe, Gavin?”

“I, um,” He paused, “Yes.” He answered decisively. “I’m safe Mama.”

“Good, I’m glad to hear it. Now, are you happy? Do you have people there for you? I know how you get when you’re alone.” He took a moment to draw in the familiar scent of his surroundings, eyes slipping closed as he remembered the comforting feeling of finally having someone to look out for him when he met Joel and Adam. The support and love he felt every time he set foot in Dan and Mae’s home, children running to greet him.

“I’m getting there, Mama. I have-” He sighed, “They’re not you, but I have a family there, Dan isn’t my brother but he’s the closest thing I have now, and his children call me their uncle. Joel isn’t my father but sometimes he looks at me the same way I remember dad looking at me.” He sniffed, fighting tears back valiantly. “They’ve helped me, they still are.”

Gentle hands cradled his head and he noticed the odd expression on his mother’s face as she watched him, a mix of pride and sadness. “That is good, my boy.” She ran a thumb across his cheeks, catching a stray tear with a strained smile. “You look so much older, Gavin.”

A wet chuckle left his lips unbidden as he shot her a wilted look, “I’ve barely aged a day since you last saw me, Mother.”

“Perhaps not in the face, but your eyes, lad, they’ve aged like a man at war.” She leaned forwards to press a kiss to his brow, chapped lips brushing his skin as he tilted his face low. “My precious boy, I do not know what will come to you in your life, but I know it will probably not be easy. But I want you to remember to walk tall, and to smile, and to never forget that I love you.”

Tears were rolling down his face, dripping against the blankets, but Gavin couldn’t find it in himself to care. He curled close to his mother and sobbed like he was a child again.

-------------------

“Gav, you alright?” Ryan ran his hand down his boyfriend’s back, offering what comfort he could as the vampire buried his face in Jeremy’s hair, holding the shorter man to him tight.

The Brit nodded, sniffing before pulling away from his youngest boyfriend. “Yeah, yeah I’m okay.” Ryan nodded along, noting that the lad didn’t seem to have been crying, although his eyes were slightly red. Despite his protests that he was fine, Ryan pulled Gavin close to him, pressing a comforting kiss to the crown of his head. Gavin struggled weakly, but relaxed into the larger man’s arms as Jeremy looked on with a soft look on his face.

“We can stop if you want, Gav. Maybe this is too much for one day?” Jeremy suggested sympathetically, sneaking forwards to rest his cheek against Gavin’s back, effectively sandwiching the skinny man between the two of them.

Gavin groaned into Ryan’s chest, pressing his face close before pulling away with a sigh. “No, I’m okay. I need to get this out now I’ve started, you know?” He was met with nods as he settled back in, all three of them pressed close together.

“So, uh, what happened to your mom, Gav? If you don’t mind me asking…?” Jeremy’s curiosity got the better of him, although he was grateful that all Gavin did was cast him a soft look. “Did she…?”

“Yeah, eventually. That winter was a hard one, I suppose between her illness and the cold it was just too much. I never told my siblings, and I assume neither did she because they never came looking for me, so that was the last time I saw any of my family…” He sighed, snuggling close to his boyfriends for comfort they were more than willing to give.

“Meg told me when she passed, and she helped me get through it, but I didn’t see her as often after that. She still tried to visit, but she was busy with her work and I could never hold that against her, I swear she’s the biggest workaholic I’ve ever known, didn’t know her limits at all.” He shook his head with a small chuckle.

“But I stayed with Dan and Mae, moving from job to job every decade or so so that no-one would catch on that I wasn’t aging. It was… peaceful.” He smiled softly.

-------------------

“Gavin?” The shout reached Gavin up in his office easily, and he slipped out of his chair and down the stairs to greet whoever was waiting for him below.

“Joel? I thought you were out of town until next week?” He asked casually, rubbing at an ink stain on his fingers agitatedly.

“Hmm, yes, something’s come up and I’m going to have to leave for a while longer than I originally planned. A friend has called in a favour so I’m heading to America to aid him with something and I’m not sure when I’ll be returning. I wanted to let you know before I left, and to tell you that even when I am not there you are free to use my house as you see fit.” Joel nodded decisively.

“Ah, thank you, Joel. And thank you for letting me know, do you have any idea how long you will be gone?” He asked curiously, absentmindedly running his fingers over the key to Joel’s house which he always kept in his pocket.

“I don’t know, possibly a few months, maybe a few years, but it may be long enough that I am going to say goodbye to Daniel and his wife before I leave, just in case.” It was a sad reality that Gavin had recently had to accept; after almost thirty years of friendship with Dan and Mae he had to acknowledge that they were growing older, something Joel also understood.

“Of course.” Gavin mumbled, subdued. “Is Adam going with you?”

“Where else would he go?” Joel chuckled, and Gavin felt a little better knowing his surrogate-sire would still have the werewolf at his back, even if said werewolf was now pushing on in the years. “We leave in two days’ time, so if you need to speak to me before then I will be at the house. If you choose to follow me at some time, go to Boston and get in contact with one of the vampires there, they should be able to point you in my direction.”

“O-Okay, good luck out there, Joel.”

“Good luck, lad, keep your chin up.”

-------------------

A few years after Joel left, Gavin, Dan and Mae made a decision to pass their houses on to some of Dan’s own children and move back in to Joel’s house, which had been left empty since its owner had left. Being back in the familiar halls felt a lot like coming home to Gavin, although in a hollow way because there was no echoes of Joel and Adam laughing or arguing in the distance.

Dan and Mae were both in their sixties by then; not frail, because werewolves rarely lost their strength to something as mundane as old age, but certainly feeling their age. Gavin helped support the pair, using money he’d saved up as well as some which had been left to him by Joel to give the pair a comfortable retirement. Their children argued that they should help to pay for them, but Gavin refused, telling them to keep their money for themselves and their own families.

It came as no surprise when Gavin woke one morning several years later to the muffled sounds of crying. Dashing to the couple’s room he found Mae cradling Dan’s hand between her own, although even from where he stood in the doorway Gavin could tell the man would not be responding to his wife’s whispered words.

Gavin gathered the mourning woman in his arms, holding her close as they sobbed together.

The funeral was soon after, Gavin using some of his connections through work to ensure Dan had the best sending off possible. He stayed at Mae’s side the whole time, a supportive arm and a shoulder to cry on for his old friend. He drew some stares standing amongst Dan’s family, a light-haired, golden-skinned sore thumb amongst a sea of dark-haired, pale faces, but he couldn’t find it in him to care. This was his family, and Dan was his brother, he would be here for them and for him for as long as they needed him.

It came as even less of a surprise when less than six months later Mae failed to meet him for breakfast. He made his way to her room, knowing what awaited him but still feeling the heavy lump of dread in the pit of his stomach.

Her funeral was more subdued, both him and the children still reeling from Dan’s in their oh so recent memories. Once it was over Gavin slunk away from the wake, heart heavy as he entered the silent house and finally allowed it all to sink in.

The next couple of years wore on him as it seemed he had more funeral invitations than living friends; Dan’s children still visited their ‘Uncle Gavin’ but they had their own lives to live, and slowly they drifted away.

If Gavin had to pinpoint a moment when he made his decision, he didn’t think he would be able to, but slowly he found that the house seemed to drag at him more than the happy memories of the place lifted him up. It seemed that Joel would not be returning any time soon so he packed the essentials and left, intent on making his own way in the world.

-------------------

Jeremy was clinging to Gavin’s arm, eyes damp after listening to his story, he buried his face in the Brit’s chest and sighed heavily. “Okay, that’s enough for tonight. We can keep going tomorrow if you want, Gav, but…” He squeezed his eyes shut, refusing to look up at his boyfriend’s face.

“I think that’s a good idea. You look exhausted, Gavvy.” Ryan’s soft tone shifted through the room as he gathered the pair close to him, pressing a kiss to lips which were damp with tears.

Gavin could only nod, holding his boys close as he let sleep take him.

Chapter Text

It had been a busy day, everyone kept occupied by a feud between two clans of pixies on the outskirts of the city and a harpy who’d been causing trouble near the centre of town. Gavin had been running back and forth between the two groups of pixies, acting as backup for Michael and Mica as they tried to get through to the warring families before they were forced to step in to prevent something more extreme happening.

When he finally made it home late that night he barely had the energy to chug a bottle of blood and quickly grab a sandwich before dragging himself to his room. A sleepy smile split his lips as he swung his door open, finding his two boyfriends curled together on his bed waiting for him. Jeremy seemed to be dozing with his head in Ryan’s lap as the older man read with a content look on his face.

Gavin slipped into the room quietly, Ryan glancing up with a welcoming smile as he made his way towards the siren song of clean, comfortable clothes. Once he was more appropriately dressed he slunk his way towards the bed and wrapped himself around Jeremy from behind, nuzzling the werewolf happily.

“Huh? Oh, Gav, welcome back.” Jeremy turned his head slowly, reaching one hand up to rub at his eyes and grinning sleepily. “Everything end up okay?”

“Yeah, it’s fine, we managed to stop world war pixie from starting. It’s surprising how calming Michael can be when he tries… Zephyr says hello, by the way.” Gavin mumbled, a wide smile splitting his face. “But let’s not talk about work, I’m done with work for now.” His face ended up pressed between Jeremy’s shoulder blades and he let out a happy noise when a large hand came to rest in his hair.

“So what should we talk about then, Gav? Or should I just go back to my book?” Ryan rumbled from above them as he ran his fingers through the mess which was Gavin’s hair after a day running around the woods.

“No, no, I want to talk!” Gavin bolted up straight, rocking back to sit on his heels before diving for Ryan’s book. The mage held it high above his head, snickering as Gavin attempted to climb him to reach it. Jeremy grumbled unhappily from where he was trapped somewhere under the pile of limbs.

Eventually they settled, Gavin pulling Jeremy to him in apology as Ryan set his book to one side with a happy sigh.

“So, what do you want to talk about, Gav?” Jeremy mumbled, face pressed comfortably into Gavin’s chest.

“Well, maybe we can finish my story from yesterday?”

Ryan slid into his usual position on Gavin’s other side, hooking one arm around their shoulders as he let out a concerned noise. “Are you sure, Gav? You seemed a bit upset last time. Maybe you should wait a few days?”

Gavin cocked one eyebrow at him, smirking slightly, “I’ll be fine, Ry. And anyway, it’ll be better to get it all out at once, whilst it’s still in my head, you know?”

Ryan obviously didn’t really get it, but he didn’t protest, instead snuggling closer to his boyfriends and cutting Gavin an expectant look. “Go on then.”

“I’ll be fine, Love, really.” He chuckled, pressing a kiss to Ryan’s cheek and then one to the top of Jeremy’s head when the werewolf whined for attention. “Okay, where were we?”

“You just left London.” Jeremy provided helpfully, earning himself a squeeze from Gavin.

“Oh yeah! So I left London and set out for Europe…”

-------------------

Gavin felt like he’d been travelling forever, and he had quickly decided that he hated the ocean.

Instead of doing what any normal person would have done, aka making his way to France as quickly as possible and then travelling over land from there, he’d decided instead to travel by ship to Gibraltar in Spain where he knew one of Joel’s old friends lived, managing to find passage on a reasonably small vessel owned by a friend of a friend.

He had written ahead, and Matt had said it was fine for him to stay with him for a while, but Gavin was determined not to overstay his welcome. Plus, he really wanted to see what Europe had to offer, and spending all his time in the house of his adoptive-sire’s friend in British territory wasn’t really going to yield the adventure he was craving.

So when he finally made it to land (with maybe some slightly overdramatic ground kissing involved) he followed the instructions to Matt’s house with a spring in his step. Although he had spent the trip weighed down by the memories of everyone he’d lost in the last few years, now that he was here he felt lighter, as though the weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Perhaps it was the scent of the ocean, or the warm, clean air, but he felt good whatever it was.

 Matt was as happy to see him as ever, Gavin always equated it to checking up on a friend’s child. Even if they were adopted like Gavin it was still a thrill to see how someone you cared about had helped shape another human life (or vampire life, he supposed.) He was ushered inside, offered refreshments and pleasant conversation until Matt seemed to realise that he was pretty much dead on his feet, a slight shake to his hands as he clutched the glass of blood he had already drained.

“Oh, sorry, Gavin! Come with me, I’ll show you to your room and you can rest up before dinner.” Gavin nodded gratefully, setting his glass down before rubbing at tired eyes. He followed the older vampire through hallways until they reached what he presumed would be his room. “Here we go! Everything should be in order, but if you need anything don’t be afraid to ask.” He smiled softly as he stepped away, allowing Gavin his own space.

“Thank you, Matt, you’ve been so generous I don’t know how to thank you!”

“No need for thanks, you’re family. Now, have a good rest and I’ll see you at dinner.” With a nod he walked back down the hall, leaving Gavin to settle in on his own.

If he was being honest, Gavin didn’t take any time to gawp at his surroundings, instead he simply dropped his belongings by the door and fell into bed, eyes already closed as his head hit the pillow.

-------------------

Gavin was enjoying his time with Matt. The older man had been showing him the surrounding area, introducing him to anyone he thought he should know and giving him a basic rundown of how things worked for vampires outside of London.

“We all try to keep an eye on each other out here, it’s easy to get lost in the crowd in larger cities, but you need to remember that if you’re in the middle of nowhere and something happens it’s always good to have someone watching your back.”

In particular, he made sure that Gavin got to know a small group of travelling vampires made up of five members. Four of them were German, accents starting to slip away after several years away from home, whilst the last was a young woman from France who they had found on her own after being turned. Gavin had clicked with them instantly, choosing to spend time with the small group whenever Matt was busy or out of town.

He spent a few months that way, getting to know his new friends better and settling into life outside of London. All five of them were younger than him, only having been turned in the last forty years, but they seemed much more well-travelled than Gavin, having spent almost all of their time since turning moving around the continent and seeing new places. He listened to their stories, on the edge of his seat as he heard of their exploits both as a full team and on the rare occasions they split off into smaller groups.

It lit a fire in Gavin, his urge to move and explore lighting up as he hung on their every word. Bruce urged him to come with them when they left in a few weeks, but he wasn’t convinced. Something in his mind screamed that it wasn’t safe, that they had no destination, there was no house to return to if something went wrong. He was the oldest of them, he would feel responsible if something went wrong, even if the others would never blame him. He told them he would think about it and headed back to Matt’s house with the decision weighing heavily on his mind.

He put it from his mind for a while, going through his day to day business as usual and convincing himself that he wasn’t purposefully ignoring Bruce’s group. So it came as somewhat of a shock when he returned home one day to find everyone gathered in the house, apparently having been invited over for dinner by Matt.

“You don’t mind, do you Gavin? It’s just that with them leaving soon I figured we could give them a proper send-off.” Matt smiled softly, ushering the younger vampire into his dining room where their guests awaited at the already set table. The others seemed to perk up at the sight of him, Elyse grinning from where she sat beside the only empty seat.

He settled himself with an awkward smile to the group, only to turn to be pounced on by an excited-looking Elyse. “Gav! It feels like we haven’t seen you in ages! Where have you been?” Her head was cocked to one side with an innocent expression on her face, and Gavin couldn’t help but smile back at her.

“I’ve, uh, been busy, I’m afraid. But it’s nice to see everyone again.” His eyes slid away from her after his awkward response, only to be caught by Bruce across the table from him.

“Have you thought about our offer, Gavin? We’re probably going to be heading off in a week or so…”

Matt glanced between them suspiciously, “What’s this then, boys?”

“Oh! We asked if Gavin wanted to come with us when we left next week!” Elyse chirped, “But he said he wasn’t sure…”

“But Gavin, lad, the whole reason you came here was to explore! And you won’t find a better group to do that with.” His eyes softened when he noticed the tension in Gavin’s shoulders. “You don’t have to, of course, but I wouldn’t want to regretting not taking this opportunity. Anyway, if you find that you need it you know you’re always welcome in my home.”

His gentle smile allowed Gavin to take a deep breath, gathering himself slightly. “I’ll, I’ll think about it tonight. Ask me before you leave and I promise I’ll give you an answer.” He cast a determined look Bruce’s way and received an answering nod.

“Okay! Well now it’s time to eat!”

-------------------

“Did you go with them?” Jeremy was leaning forwards, legs crossed beneath him and elbows on his knees as he listened to Gavin intently.

Gavin chuckled, “I did, and it was one of the best decisions I ever made. Travelling with the guys was pretty top, and there was definitely never a dull moment.”

“So did you see anything interesting on your travels?” Ryan chipped in from his place at Gavin’s side, arm hooked around the vampire’s shoulders.

“Oh, yeah! We went all over Europe; we spent a lot of time in Germany though, I think the guys liked being surrounded by familiar accents.” He let out a sigh before perking back up again, “And I got to see a vampire wedding!”

“Is it any different than a regular wedding?” Ryan asked, leaning forwards as though taking mental notes for his files.

“Not really, I mean other than the fact that pretty much everyone there was a vampire. It was at night though, but that may have just been Elyse playing up to the drama, who knows?” He laughed at the memory, eyes bright as he spoke about his friends.

“Have you never met the guys, Ryan? I’m sure we must have been up to visit them since you’ve been here…”

“I. I don’t think so?” Ryan’s expression was the definition of stumped as he dug through his memories for Gavin’s group of vampire friends.

“Trust me, if you’d met them you wouldn’t be having that much trouble remembering, they’re kind of unforgettable. They live up in LA now, Geoff corresponds with them on cases which end up crossing the state lines, since they’ve got a bit more freedom to move around than us.”

“Wait, I think I know who you’re talking about. Funhaus, right?” Ryan’s eyes lit up in recognition.

“That’s them, I’m sure they’ll pop up at some point, can’t quite seem to shake that lot.” He laughed under his breath before snuggling back into Ryan’s arm and nudging Jeremy with his foot. “Anyway, so I ended up travelling with them for a while, getting up to all sorts of shenanigans, but once my travelling itch was scratched, there was something else I needed to do in Europe.”

-------------------

“You’re leaving?”

Five disappointed faces stared back at him as Gavin tried to avoid their gazes.

“Uh, yeah, I want to head down to Italy and see if I can find where my Father grew up…” It had been on his list of things to do since he made the decision to leave London, and he was determined to keep his promise to himself.

“We could come with you? Save you travelling on your own?” James offered hopefully, Elyse peering wide-eyed over his shoulder.

Gavin sighed, finally bringing his eyes up to meet them, “I appreciate it, but this is something I need to do on my own…”

The feeling of a hand clapping down on his shoulder almost made him jump, his attention darting to where Bruce stood at his side. “We understand, Gavin; this is important to you. We won’t stop you, but just promise me you won’t forget us if you ever need anything?”

Gavin shook his head with vigour, “Of course not.”

“Wunderbar! Now, when are you leaving, we’ll make sure you have everything you need.”

“Oh, you don’t have to do that, I’ll be fine-”

“Nonsense, if we can’t come with you then at least let us make sure you’re properly equipped. Come on, we’ll head to the market!” Bruce snagged his arm, dragging him from the room as the others followed behind giggling at his misfortune.

-------------------

He had split from the group somewhere in central Austria, everyone else heading east towards Hungary whilst he began making his way south. The trek was long and gruelling, hitching rides when he could and feeding from the local wildlife. The eventual sight of what he knew must be his father’s hometown sent relief flooding through his body, the promise of somewhere to take shelter from the pelting summer sun calling to him.

When Gavin finally staggered into the small town he found that, despite his excitement, he didn’t really know where to go from there. He’d made it to the place his father grew up, but now what? It seemed unlikely that he’d be able to find any family he still had here, and even if he did manage to find them he had no proof that they were related. So instead he found himself wandering idly, taking in the area with poorly-disguised interest.

Eventually his body made the decision for him, begging him to find somewhere to sit down. He felt like his legs would give out any minute, and the near-stifling heat of the midday sun was certainly not helping. He must have dozed off because the next thing he knew the sun was much lower in the sky and a tall woman was blocking the light from his eyes.

She cocked an eyebrow at him, a heavy looking basket resting on her hip, “ Sei nuovo.” She peered at him suspiciously, “Di dove è?”

“Um...” Gavin stuttered as he shuffled into a slightly more dignified position, sitting upright against the tree he had been resting under. “Do you, uh, do you speak english?” His father had spoken Italian and now he was kicking himself for not pestering him to teach him even the basics whilst he had the chance.

“Oh, yes.” The woman’s voice was thick with her accent, but there was something comfortingly familiar about her tone. Gavin smiled at her in thanks and she offered a guarded one in exchange. “Sorry, I asked where you were from. But I suppose your response answers that question. Why are you here? There is very little nearby.”

“I, um, my family on my father’s side is from here, I wanted to see where he came from...” Gavin trailed off, once again casting a look around the small town, now calming down in the cooling afternoon air.

“Merda, you must have money if you would waste it on something like that.” She scoffed, eyes rolling skywards. “Do you know the name of whoever lived here? Perhaps I can help?”

“He was my grandfather, Ilario Grosso, but my father took my mother’s name when my grandfather died.” It felt strange to speak of his family in different terms, but he couldn’t really tipping her off that he was close to a century old.

“Hm, Grosso?” Gavin nodded. “It sounds familiar, perhaps I could ask around for you?” She seemed to consider him for a moment, head cocked to one side. “So, what is your name then?”

“Gavin, Gavin Free.” He smiled, offering her his hand. She allowed a small smile to slip past her lips and gripped his hand in a tight shake.

“A pleasure to meet you, Gavin, I’m Mirella.” As she pulled her hand back the basket almost slipped from where it was balanced on her hip and she rushed to grab it. “Ah, merde, this damn thing.” She resettled it with a growl.

“Ah, allow me?” Gavin reached for the basket but she pulled away with a grumble. “Sorry, sorry, it’s just, you said you’d help me and I feel like I should repay you? That thing looks heavy?” He still held his hands before him, offering his help if she wanted it.

“Fine, take it, but don’t think about running off! I’ll catch you before you even realise I’m after you.” She smirked, setting it into his waiting hands before turning back towards the path she must have been walking on when she had found him. “Come on then, follow me.”

Gavin scrambled after her, following her confident steps as she made her way further away from the centre of town. Out here, any hustle and bustle left from the workday was missing and Gavin found that the near silence was calming enough for him to relax, simply watching Mirella before him as she weaved her way off of the main path and down towards a dilapidated-looking building.

Gavin paused as he managed to get a proper look at what awaited them, “Is that…?”

“Oh, yes,” Mirella answered, slightly flustered as she hurried to explain. She spun around to answer him, the backdrop of the setting sun and the ancient church striking quite a pretty picture. “This is the old church; my father was the priest here until he died ten years ago. I was away at the time, and the townspeople had already begun construction on a new church since this one was falling apart, when I came back, it just made sense to move back here…” She sighed, “I hope it doesn’t bother you?”

“No, no of course. It just caught me by surprise.” Gavin reassured her gently, gesturing for her to continue walking as they talked, “So you’ve been living here on your own? Doesn’t it get lonely?” He cringed as he realised how she could read into his words, but she started talking before he could say anything.

“A bit, I suppose. But when I moved in there was a family of cats living in the church, they seem to have decided to adopt me so I’m never really alone.” Laughing gently, she opened the door, letting him in before closing it carefully behind them. “Well, welcome. If you just set that down over there?” She gestured towards the kitchen and Gavin jumped, he’d almost forgotten he was carrying her basket.

“Oh, of course.” Hurrying to the kitchen, he placed the basket down on her table, turning to head back to her before suddenly tripping over a small furry body and barely catching himself on the wall. “What the-?”

He looked down, only for a pair of soft brown eyes to peer back up at him, blinking sleepily before yawning in his direction. “Ohhh, hello, little kitty!” Ducking down, he scooped the small animal into his arms, fingers scratching her behind the ears as she released a deafening purr.

“Ah, you found Florentina, I was going to warn you about her, sorry. She’s a bit lazy…” Mirella reached out to pet the small cat, a soft smile on her face as she did so. “Do you like cats?”

“I love them, we used to have one when I was a child.” Gavin finally looked up from the tiny bundle in his arms to take in the room around him, frowning slightly as he did.

“Sorry for how the house looks, it could do with some work but it’s too much for me on my own, so I’ve just been living with it.” She had drifted away, now sorting through the assorted items in her basket to put them in their correct spots.

“What if I help you?” Gavin asked quietly, hugging the little sand-coloured cat to his chest instead of meeting Mirella’s eye.

“What? Why would you help me?” Suspicion threaded through her voice as she watched him, although he managed to put out quite an innocent image cradling the cat as he was.

“Well, you said you’d help me find my family and I want to help you if you’re helping me.” She nodded, one eyebrow still raised. “Plus, I need somewhere to stay whilst I’m here, so what if you let me stay here and I’ll help you fix up your house?” He looked up before darting his eyes back down to Florentina, “If that’s okay with you?”

“I… Merde, fine. But if you do anything odd I’m throwing you out.” Mirella groaned, running a hand through tousled hair.

“Yes, of course, thank you.” Gavin ducked his head in thanks before cuddling the cat close.

“We’ll make a start in the morning. But for now, if you’re going to be staying here you should meet the other cats.”

Gavin grinned, looking around excitedly, “There’re more?”

Mirella laughed at his enthusiasm. “Yes, of course, follow me.”

Chapter Text

“How’s the work going?” Mirella’s soft voice drew Gavin’s attention away from where he was carefully filling a hole in the wall.

“It’s alright, at this rate it should be habitable soon enough.” He glanced around the small room he’d decided to start his work on, a spare bedroom which had fallen into disuse after Mirella’s father had been unable to fix some damage caused by a storm. From the random collection of items scattered around and the pile of pilfered blankets in the corner he figured that the cats had been using it as their home.

Mirella sighed, slipping further into the room as she took in his progress, “Well, it’s certainly looking better than it was.” Gavin had cleared the rubble, throwing it out through the conveniently placed hole in the wall, before setting to work patching up said hole. He’d only begun that morning and already it was looking much more welcoming. Of course, at some point he’d have to deal with the invading flora which had begun taking over, but he would worry about that another time. “At least the cats will have somewhere more sheltered to live.”

Gavin nodded as he placed down another brick, careful to line it up perfectly before sitting back to admire his handiwork, “Not bad for someone who’s never built a wall before.”

“You’re lucky I knew enough to show you or you’d have been useless to me.” The woman had come to a stop just behind him, peering over his shoulder at the half-built wall. “But I will admit you’ve impressed me, good job.”

The sound of voices seemed to have roused the small bundle of cats which had been keeping watch over the renovations to their room, three kittens stumbling away from a yawning Florentina on unsteady feet. Gavin leant down to sweep the trio into his arms, snuggling them close to his face until one batted at his nose playfully. “Hey you, little Alba, stop that.” He grinned as the tiny kitten batted at him again, pressing a kiss between her ears.

“I swear they already like you better than me…” Mirella sighed, although a smile lifted her cheeks as Florentina twined between her legs. “Come on, dinner is ready.”

She ushered Gavin, kittens still in hand and with a lazy mother cat trailing behind, into her small kitchen and pointed him towards the table before turning to grab the food. Gavin leant down to place the kittens on the floor, the trio immediately tripping over each other as they moved to climb over their languid mother. He chuckled at their antics, watching for a moment whilst Mirella put the final touches to their food.

He smiled in thanks as a plate was placed before him, waiting for her to take her own seat before beginning to tuck in. They ate in a comfortable silence and, although the food didn’t last long, Gavin couldn’t help but take this time to take in his new friend.

She was older than he had initially guessed; she refused to tell him her exact age, but did admit to being older than the thirty which he claimed to be. From what she’d said, Gavin figured she must be in her late thirties or early forties, either would be possible if she was blessed with good genes or good luck. Thick, wavy hair framed a normally closed-off face, although at the moment she seemed more unguarded than usual, comfortable with Gavin despite their reasonably short time together.

Her skin was darkened from time spent in the sun, barely-noticeable freckles dotted her cheekbones and leaked across her forehead. She was more than willing to explain that she took every opportunity to complete her work as a seamstress whilst warmed by the pleasant weather.

Gavin couldn’t help the surge of friendly affection for the woman before him, she had been so accepting and trusting even when she had no reason to believe the half-truths he told her to explain his presence in the town.

She glanced up, catching his eye just before he managed to look away. Chuckling slightly at his light blush she asked conversationally “Do you have any plans for the evening? I thought perhaps I could show you a card game my father taught me, if you’d like?”

Gavin smiled softly, “I would like that, but I planned to take a walk this evening. Perhaps tomorrow?”

She seemed a little disappointed, but still offered him a small grin, “You know, with all these walks you’re taking I’m almost tempted to think you’ve got a lady friend in town.”

Gavin flushed a bright red, spluttering as she laughed behind her hand. “No! I mean, no, of course not. I just enjoy taking some time to myself.” He crossed his arms, looking every inch the petulant child he hadn’t been for many years.

“I know, I know, you know I just like to play with you.” She smirked. “But you know if there is someone you’re-?”

“No!” He stood, leaving his empty plate behind him and barely avoiding tripping over one of the kittens which had settled beside his foot. “Thank you for dinner, I won’t be long.”

She waved him off with a small smile, setting to collecting their plates from the table. He made a quick escape before she could start asking any more questions, fleeing through the front door only to draw short at a demanding meow from beside him.

Sat on the wall beside Mirella’s house was a large tomcat, head tilted as he watched Gavin sleepily. “What, Leo? Don’t look at me like that.” He moved to leave, taking several steps away from the cat before he heard the tell-tale pattering of paws behind him. He whirled around and stared into the furry white face. “Why are you following me?”

Leo simply sat where he had been standing, watching Gavin carefully. “Fine, come with me if you want, but don’t blame me if you see something you don’t like.” The cat meowed at him before jumping up into his offered arms and pressing his face under Gavin’s chin. “Sure, now you’re friendly. Don’t go judging me for telling lies when you leave Florentina to look after the kittens all day while you laze around outside.” The cat butted at him and stared out in the direction of the wooded area in the opposite direction of the town.

“Okay, let’s go you big oaf.” Despite his words he petted the cat as he walked, a comforting rumble rising from the fluffy creature. It somehow made what he was doing easier.

Gavin had accepted early on that he would have to find a source of blood for himself, and that however he found it he would have to keep it a secret from Mirella. Her religious upbringing would surely mean that if she realised the manner of creature she was living with she, to put it mildly, would not be happy.

So he did his best to keep everything a secret, only taking trips out to the woods when he absolutely needed to. For the last day or so he had been feeling the hunger clawing at him and had been having to make a conscious effort to spend less time with Mirella. But now, with Leo purring away in his arms, he finally had a chance to go hunting.

As he hit the treeline he allowed his control on his senses to slip, his hearing and sense of smell sharpening until he managed to catch the trail of a small group of deer somewhere to the north. He crouched down to place Leo at his feet, staying low as he began making his way through the thick foliage.

The scent became stronger as he drew closer, the soft sounds of animals foraging filtering through the air as he did his best to keep silent. He sent out a message of thanks to Bruce and Adam who had taught him how to hunt when he first started traveling with them.

Leo moved beside him, small body low as he hid his light fur amongst the dark shadows of the forest. As the deer came into view, Gavin placed a careful hand on Leo’s back and the cat froze in place before sitting back on his haunches with an expectant look. The vampire stroked a hand through his soft fur for a moment before preparing to pounce.

His mind shifted gears, dropping into the mind frame of a predator instantaneously. He leapt, catching one of the smaller deer which grazed on the edge of the herd, the others scattering in shock as he brought the frozen creature to the ground with a crash. His hands clasped the animal’s neck as he did his best to sooth it before twisting sharply and ending its life.

His focus narrowed to the dull heat of blood sluggishly travelling through the deer’s body, his pupils contracting as his fangs slid comfortably into place. He didn’t allow himself to think about what he had done, instead sinking his fangs deep into the animal’s flank and desperately drawing a mouthful of blood.

He swallowed with a sigh, the animal below the surface calmed as hot liquid spilled down his throat. The peace of the forest had returned once the herd of deer fled, but Gavin’s senses were sharpened with the sudden influx of blood. He could hear the slight shifting of leaves, the rustling of some small mammal making its way through the brush. The overwhelming scent of blood filled his nostrils, the taste cloying against his tongue, almost blocking the outside world from his attention.

But the sound of a branch breaking had his head shooting up, eyes wide and body stiff as he scanned the surrounding area for a threat. Leo watched him sleepily, having settled himself beneath a large tree nearby, but just behind him a pair of shocked eyes framed by wavy hair stared back at Gavin.

He stumbled to his feet, fully aware that he must look a mess right now and that the evidence was incriminating at best, but he had to say something.

Mirella still watched him as he attempted to gather his senses, faltering over half words as he tried to find an explanation which wouldn’t result in him being chased from the town by an angry mob.

“I, I can explain this.” He finally spoke, voice gravelly and weak as he reached towards the woman he had begun to regard as a friend.

She took half a step back, but did not run, which he couldn’t help but count as a good thing. Either that or she was so scared she was frozen in place, but Gavin was choosing to look on the bright side of things.

So he waited, for her to grasp was what happening and say something, anything, which would help him to decide how to proceed.

“I just, what are you?” She stuttered, her accent thick with panic as she slumped backwards, allowing her weight to be supported by an old-looking tree. Leo trotted up to her and she stooped down to scoop him into her arms, clutching him close desperately.

“Do you really want to know? Because I can just leave if you want, you’ll never see me again.” It almost physically hurt Gavin to make the offer, but the idea of his friend being truly terrified of him hurt worse.

“No, not- not yet, just answer, please?” She was watching him warily, although the longer she kept her eyes on him the more she seemed to relax, stroking Leo as he lounged in her arms.

“I’m a vampire.” He decided it was easiest to just say it flat out, one sudden shock and it would be over.

The laugh was not expected, his head shooting up to catch sight of Mirella muffling giggles in Leo’s fur. “Of course you are, why not?” The laughing continued, a slight hysterical edge to it. “Merde, what would my father say?”

“Mirella? Are you okay?” Gavin took a step forwards and she tensed, arms squeezing the cat just tight enough for him to give a warning hiss. She immediately relaxed her arms, but her eyes were still saucer-wide, pupils blown in panic as Gavin watched her hesitantly.

“I’m- Maybe, maybe I’m okay. I just need, I need a minute to process this.” Leo pawed at her face and she huffed at the concerned cat. “Will you just stay away for a little while? Come to the house in a few hours once I’ve worked this all out?” Her eyes shined with fear, and something in Gavin told him that if he didn’t agree he may well lose this woman for good.

“Yes, of course, this is a lot to take in.” He stepped back, careful to stay just far enough away from his kill to not draw attention to it. “I will see you then?” He asked hopefully, hands clenched at his sides.

“Yes, I’ll- yes.” She nodded as though in a daze, backing up without turning her back to him until she deemed she was a safe enough distance away and span on her heel to make a quick exit.

Gavin sighed, turning back to the deer with a huff.

-------------------

Gavin wandered through the forest, following a familiar path towards the small river which wound past the town. Crouching at the riverside he scrubbed at his face in an attempt to remove any remaining blood from his skin, cupping water in his hands to clean out his mouth. He sighed, sitting back on his haunches as he took in the surrounding area; night had fully fallen and the sounds of nocturnal creatures made the woods seem more alive than they did during the day.

The hooting of an owl had his head lifting, its silhouette blocking the moonlight for a moment as he lay back in the short grass with a groan. He forced himself to relax, tension seeping from his limbs as he watched the night sky through the leaves.

“Fuck.”

-------------------

The door creaked as he opened it, silently slipping back into the house in the hopes that he could avoid a confrontation for at least a little while longer.

He was apparently out of luck, eyes widening as they locked on the sight of Mirella perched on the edge of her seat, Florentina curled in her lap as she gazed at Gavin sullenly.

“Sit down, please. We need to talk about this.”

Gavin couldn’t answer if he tried, his tongue dry enough that any attempt would have failed on the spot. Instead he slunk to the chair opposite her, sinking into it with shoulders hunched as he waited for her to speak.

“I, I understand what you are and, I can’t say that it doesn’t bother me.” She sighed, eyes steely as she watched him. “But, I’ve travelled a lot in my life, and I knew that there was something strange about you from the very start. I wasn’t expecting this but-” She stopped herself, a sharp bark of laughter leaving his lips.

“I’m not going to throw you out, but I need you to promise me that you aren’t a threat to me or the townspeople. I need to know I can trust you…”

Gavin was leaning forwards, a hopeful glint in his eye as he listened intently, “Yes, of course, I’d never harm anyone here.”

She stood, arms limp at her sides despite the small smile on her face. “Good, then you’d better get to bed, because you need to get back to work in the morning.”

-------------------

“So she just accepted you, just like that?” Jeremy was lounging beside Gavin, one of his hands holding the vampire’s loosely.

“Yeah, she was a pretty amazing woman. She just, took it all in her stride.” Gavin smiled fondly. “It was nice, after everything that happened in London, to just have one person to look after. I could make sure that she was safe, and happy, and healthy and I knew how long I had with her, nothing was going to sneak up and take her before I expected. It was peaceful, I think I needed that after all that-” He flailed his arms, words failing him momentarily.

Ryan chuckled at his side, fingers shifting through his messy thatch of hair. “Did you stay with her for long?”

“I was with her until she died, almost thirty years after we met, she spent almost all that time helping me to track down my family, but we never had any luck. And then I gathered my things, made sure her house was looked after, and headed to Germany to find the Funhaus guys.” Gavin remembered leaving that small house, the grave freshly dug as he turned away from it. But he had left feeling lighter than he remembered being since before he was turned, and he could never find the words to thank Mirella for that.

“Where did you go then? Did you keep traveling around Europe?”

“No, when I managed to catch up with the guys they were planning to head to America. I suppose I got swept up in it, and ended up travelling here too. And the trip was miserable! I hated every second of it! But then we landed and it was such a bizarre feeling, knowing that I was further away from home than I’d ever been before. But we pushed through, and I headed to Boston to hopefully find Joel.

We found him, eventually, and I stayed with him for a few years. Then I moved into my own place, but I had the itch again. There was a whole new continent to explore and it didn’t take long for me to head off on my own.” He frowned, brows drawing together. “America was a weird place then, it still hadn’t really settled, hadn’t really decided what it was. And civilization was in pockets, whole areas just left to the wild. And it was so big!

“So, I travelled for a number of years, sometimes on my own, sometimes joined by Joel or some of Funhaus. But eventually, I found a little town in North Carolina which took my fancy and settled down. I lived outside of town, away from the bulk of people in the forest nearby.” Gavin paused at the sound of Ryan groaning at his side. “Oh yeah, Ry, you know what’s coming.” He cackled, pressing against the immortal.

“Do you have to?” He moaned, face pressed against Gavin’s neck to smother his reactions.

“Of course! You wanted to hear the whole story! And you wouldn’t deprive Lil’ J of the story of how we met would you?”

Jeremy perked up from where he’d been listening sleepily, “How you met?”

“Yep!” The p popped as Gavin spoke, a grin on his face at Ryan’s suffering. “So it was a pretty peaceful day, I was out hunting in the woods when…”

-------------------

Gavin ducked to the side just in time to avoid the arrow which struck the tree beside him.

“What the-!” He couldn’t get the words out before a heavy fist was flying towards his face, forcing him to scrabble away with a grunt. His eyes shot up, taking in the image of the well-built man before him covered in a scruffy coat as he tried to subdue Gavin. “Wait, wait, what’s this about?!”

His words were ignored, wide eyes flooded with adrenaline locking on him as the man lunged once again. Gavin thought he could hear another voice shouting in the distance but the blood rushing to his ears blocked any attempts to understand. Every part of his body was tense, ready to bolt as soon as he saw an opening.

The man threw another punch, Gavin ducked below it and began to make his way through the trees, ignoring his urge to turn around to see if he was being followed. He wound his way through the forest, forcing himself to take the most circuitous route possible on his way back home. When he eventually saw his house in the distance, peeking through the trees, he finally allowed himself to release the breath he had been holding.

Wide-eyed, he bolted across the small clearing towards his house when, with only a few more steps to go he felt a sharp burning sensation in his side and dropped like a rock. He writhed against the feeling, trying to pull away from whatever was causing him pain until he finally realised that whatever it was was embedded in him.

It felt like eons before two figures came to stand over him, one taller than the other even in Gavin’s dim vision. He tried to lash out at them but his limbs refused to respond and he had no choice but to go limp there as he was picked up by the larger man and carried towards his own home.

Chapter Text

The air was punched from Gavin’s lungs as he hit the hard wooden floor. He took a moment to gather himself, eyes pinched closed as pain continued to jolt through his side, before he finally set his eyes on the men who had attacked him.

Well, man and boy.

The pair were obviously related, the young teenager a spitting image of the older man. Messy blonde-brown hair adorned each of their heads, slightly covering opposite expressions on near-identical faces. The older man (Gavin assumed, the father) was peering at him with a fierce guarded intensity, distrust obvious on his features. In comparison, the young man beside him practically seemed friendly, something similar to concern twisting his lips into a soft frown.

“You can never let them get the jump on you, son. Nature’s already given them enough of an advantage, as it is.” The gruff voice spoke over him, the son looking over at his father sadly.

“But, we don’t know if he did it? What if he’s innocent?”

“Don’t feel bad about it, none of them are truly innocent.” The older man crouched at Gavin’s side, one large hand pressing into his side and eliciting a whine of distress. “And anyway, they’re more durable than you think. Always remember that they might look human, but under that they’re something else entirely.”

Gavin assumed the son nodded, the father didn’t seem like the kind of man to not require an answer, but Gavin didn’t see it as his eyes were screwed shut as the man clutched whatever had pierced his side, twisting it just slightly and causing Gavin to squirm.

He screamed, a small part of him thanking whatever deity would listen that he lived so far from anyone else, when whatever the man was holding was torn from his side.

With it removed the burning began to recede, bleeding already slowing and Gavin found that he could breathe easily again. He allowed his head to slump to the floor, eyes finally slitting open to cast a glare at the two hovering above him.

The father grinned at him, something worn in his expression as he examined him like he was an odd curiosity. “Hello there, vamp. We’ve got a few questions about some missing people that we think you might be able to help us with.” He said questions but Gavin recognised this for what it was, an interrogation.

“Fine, but can I at least get off the floor? It’s murdering my goddamn back.” He grumbled, not waiting for an answer before he scooted himself to a seated position, although he didn’t push it so far as to stand straight away. Instead he leant against the wall, happy just to have one side covered against this apparent psychopath.

One hand clutched to his side to stem the remainder of the bleeding his groaned as he took in the state of his floor. “That’ll never come out…”

“Is this really the time to be worrying about your floors? There are twelve people missing.” The deadpan expression of the father caught his attention and he quirked an eyebrow at him.

“And you think I had something to do with it?” He scoffed, groaning as the movement jostled his wound. “I haven’t fed from a living person in close to a hundred and fifty years, I’m unlikely to break that streak in one of the most animal-heavy places I’ve ever lived. It would just make more work for me…”

“And it would be morally wrong?” The teen piped up, the first time he had addressed Gavin directly.

“Exactly! See, he gets it!” He gestured at the boy with his free hand, a wan smile directed at the father.

“Hmph, well, if it wasn’t you then perhaps you can point us in the direction of whatever it was? You seem to know these woods pretty well, have you noticed anything out of the ordinary?”

“Not that I can think of… I can point you towards the less travelled areas though, if anything is hiding out there it’ll be in one of them.” Gavin crossed his arms over his chest, now mostly just hoping that the pair would be leaving soon.

There were a few minutes of the father shuffling papers, Gavin scanning the maps he laid before him to mark the areas he thought they should check. A tense silence hung over the pair, the son hanging back from them after a warning look from his father when he tried to join them.

With their business completed Gavin was more than happy to wave the pair off, a sarcastic smile on his face as they filed past him by the doorway. The father kept a stony expression as they left, but the boy turned to offer him a small smile and a whispered “Thank you” as he shuffled past him.

“James! Come on!” The shout had the boy’s head whipping up, dashing across the small clearing to meet his father at the treeline.

Gavin closed the door slowly, one arm wrapped around his still aching side as he allowed himself to slink towards his bed. He’d definitely earned an early night after this.

-------------------

“You shot Gavin?!” Jeremy practically screeched across at Ryan, eyes wide with both concern and the urge to break down into laughter.

“It was only a little arrow, nothing major.” Ryan shrugged, although Gavin felt his arm tighten slightly around him as he defended himself.

“No, it was one of those horrible special vampire arrows hunters used to use; silver tip and blessed wood all dipped in holy water. It burned like a bitch, Ry!” Gavin whined, pressing up against his immortal boyfriend.

“Sorry for what I did two hundred years ago, Gav. But you would think you’d have gotten over it by now?” Ryan pouted, leaning away slightly from Gavin’s aggressive snuggling.

-------------------

Gavin guessed from the lack of light leaking through his windows that he had managed to sleep into the night. And he probably would have still been sleeping had it not been for the relentless pounding at his door.

“Alright, alright! I’m coming!” He shouted, lugging himself out of bed and dragging his heavy limbs towards the door.

He tugged it open to reveal the boy from earlier, red faced with panic as he jumped back at Gavin’s sudden appearance. “I’m, I’m sorry, I didn’t know who else to go to, I just-!”

“Calm down, kid, come in, come in.” He ushered the teenager into his hut, closing the door softly behind him after casting a curious look outside. “Now what happened?”

The teen had settled himself at Gavin’s table, head in his hands as he did his best to calm himself down. Gavin sat across from him, allowing the lad a moment to gather his thoughts. He considered reaching out to rest a comforting hand on his shoulder, but drew back, aware that the boy probably wouldn’t respond well considering their professional enmity.

It was a couple of minutes before the boy looked up, blue eyes ringed with red locking on Gavin as he waited patiently. “Sorry, for turning up like this, I didn’t think it would be a good idea to go to someone in town, and I figured that since you’re what you are you might be able to help me, but you don’t have to, but I’d really appreciate it if you-”

“Stop spouting nonsense and actually tell me what happened and I might be able to help you?” Gavin offered, attempting to keep his voice even in the hopes of calming the lad. It seemed to work, the boy pausing to watch him silently, although he didn’t seem to be able to find the words he needed. “Okay, James, right?” The boy nodded. “Alright, now slowly tell me what happened.”

“We, we left here and headed towards the area you marked down for us. It seemed pretty peaceful for a while but we started hearing strange noises so father was on his guard.” He sniffed quietly, hands running over each over nervously. “We’d been walking for about an hour when something dropped out of one of the trees and landed on father. I- I tried to help him but he told me to run and get help and I didn’t know where to go so I came here.”

Gavin sighed, nodding slowly as he listened to the boy’s tale. “Okay, do you think you could take me back to where your father was attacked?”

“I- Probably? But, you’re going to help me?” James was watching him cautiously, an expression eerily close to his father’s on his face.

Gavin pushed himself away from the table, standing with a stretch before turning back to the boy. “Of course, what do you think I am? I couldn’t just leave a kid like you to fend for himself against whatever’s waiting out there. Now come on, up you get.” He ushered James to his feet, nudging him towards the door before heading to a small case pushed into a corner of one room.

“You’ve got weapons?” He asked casually as he dug through the box, finally pulling out a long knife and matching sheath which he attached at his hip.

James turned slightly to show the bow on his back, “I’ve got a knife too.”

“It’ll have to do.” Gavin grumbled, rising to move to the lad’s side. “if you’ve still got any of those special arrows you used on me, I’d suggest you get them ready. Whatever’s out there is definitely unholy, hopefully it will feel them as much as I did.”

He pushed the door open, nudging a gaping James out before him before turning to look at him. “Okay, where to?”

-------------------

They had been walking for what felt like forever, the familiar areas of the forest had melted away into unknown wilds and Gavin was definitely keeping his guard up. He kept close to James, not willing to let the boy out of his sight for a moment in case whatever was out there decided to jump on the lad. He seemed like a good kid, Gavin didn’t want anything to happen to him.

James drew up with a soft gasp, Gavin almost running into his back at the sudden stop. “What? What is it?”

“Here, this is where we were attacked.” Now that he pointed it out, Gavin could see the tell-tale signs of a struggle. The leaf litter on the ground was disturbed, areas of it completely swept clear, and low branches hung at sorry angles after being half snapped from their trees.

“Hmm, okay, give me a moment.” Gavin closed his eyes, ignoring James’ curious look, and released his hold on his senses just enough to extend his hearing. He held his breath, everything around him seeming to fall away as he listened closely for any sound of distress or struggle. He couldn’t hear anything but the scent of fresh blood invaded his mind, dragging his attention forwards from where he stood.

“This way.” His head darted up, the siren song of spilled blood pulling him in the direction he assumed James’ father had been taken. The lad scurried along behind him, knife drawn and managing to look about as threatening as one of Mirella’s kittens, as he gradually worked his way through the undergrowth.

The scent of blood had started high, but it seemed to be making its way back towards the ground, Gavin’s head swivelling as he followed the smell carefully. Another scent leaked around the hot iron of the blood, something rotting and dark which had his nose twitching whenever he caught it; he fought through it, following wherever his nose led him.

They had probably been walking for close to twenty minutes, their pace slowed by the thick undergrowth they had to fight through, before they reached what appeared to be an opening leading to an underground cave. Gavin turned to send James a stern look, motioning for him to stay close as they took cautious steps into the darkness.

Gavin didn’t kid himself into thinking that whatever was residing within the cave didn’t already know they were there, but he still kept his footsteps silent as they moved deeper into the blackness. A short while after the darkness had taken over completely James had snuck one hand forward, bunching his fist in the hem of Gavin’s shirt in an attempt to keep track of him whilst he was essentially blind. Gavin didn’t mind, even he was having trouble making out the rocky walls and uneven ground they were traversing.

A light was just beginning to emerge at the end of the tunnel when something went whizzing past Gavin’s head. He automatically grabbed James, tugging him behind his back as he attempted to press himself against the wall.

Another arrow came shooting out of the light, grazing Gavin’s shoulder and causing him to hiss in pain. In his distraction he loosened his hold on James and the boy slid past him, dashing towards the light before another arrow could be fired. 

“Ah, shit!” Gavin grumbled, darting after the lad in the hopes of catching him before he found whatever had been shooting at them.

He drew up suddenly as he burst into the cavern at the end of the tunnel, his attention caught by James knelt beside a figure propped up against the wall. James’ father was clutching his bow, a deep tear in his shoulder where dark red blood seeped between his fingers.

“Sorry, son, I thought that monster was coming back to finish me off.” He was breathing hard, fingers clenched around his wound tight. He nodded at Gavin in acknowledgement, motioning for him to come closer. “I know what this thing is, and I know how to kill it. But I’m going to need your help, vampire.”

“Gavin.”

“Gavin, yes. I’m Haywood, Ryan Haywood, and you’ve met my son James.” He motioned down at the teenager crouched at his side, Gavin nodded slowly.

“Well, now that we’re all introduced, what do you need me to do?” Gavin hovered near the pair, tense with the knowledge that they were currently in the beast’s lair.

“The creature we’re dealing with is a wendigo. It needs to be destroyed with fire, but I’ll need you to distract it long enough for me to ensure we get it the first try. I don’t think any of us want to deal with a pissed off wendigo.” Haywood shuddered, placing a hand on his son’s shoulder.

“What should I do, Father?” James asked softly, eyes wide.

“Keep back and provide covering fire. But try not to draw the creature’s attention, we want to keep it in one spot.” James nodded, shifting back to check on his bow and find a suitable spot to shoot from. Haywood turned back to Gavin, eyes hard as he spoke.

“You need to be careful, that thing is as strong as a vamp and twice as reckless, it doesn’t care about its own survival, only destroying and feeding. Don’t let it get a hold on you, you won’t get out of it again.”

Gavin set his expression, fists tight at his sides. “Of course. Just don’t hit me with that fire and we’ll be good.” He smiled weakly at Haywood before moving into position near the entrance of the cavern, easily visible from the tunnel. He stood, eyes closed and senses open as he listened carefully for any sign of the wendigo.

Gavin waited, tense, as the sounds of the forest filtered down through the tunnel. A slight shifting had his eyes shooting open moments before a grey-skinned lanky figure burst from the tunnel and tackled him.

He ducked just in time to avoid the creature grabbing him around the waist, instead lightly scratching his shoulder as it flew past him. He whipped around, fangs already dropping as he grabbed the wendigo from behind and hurled it behind him. Spindly limbs flailed as the creature landed hard, flipping over jerkily to face Gavin once again.

Now that he could see the wendigo clearly Gavin could not supress the shiver which ran up his spine. Teeth like needles were bared at him in a lipless mouth and bloodshot eyes nearly popped from their sockets, all set within a gaunt and pale face which only bared the vaguest resemblance to a human.

He didn’t have much time to take in the thing in front of him before it pounced once again, teeth latched around his wrist and dragged him to the ground. Gavin slammed his free hand into the creature’s face, desperately trying to release himself as the dagger-like teeth sunk into his flesh.

The skin split beneath his fist but no blood leaked out, instead a thick, clear liquid seeped slowly from the wounds, releasing a foul stench which sent Gavin reeling back. The wendigo still clung to his arm, snarls sneaking out from between its bared teeth.

The creature suddenly reeled back, head whipping around to focus on a quivering James in the corner. Now that it was facing away from him Gavin could see the shaft of an arrow buried deep in the creature’s shoulder and, taking a page from Haywood’s book, leaned forward and clasped the shaft, twisting it slowly and watching as it tore through flesh.

The wendigo flailed violently, claws grabbing at Gavin and leaving his upper body littered with scratches. He powered through, holding the creature in as still of a position as possible and doing his best to keep its attention as Haywood dashed forwards and doused the wendigo’s front in some sort of oil, the scent reaching up and burning at Gavin’s nostrils.

He jumped away just in time to avoid the lantern Haywood threw. The wendigo went up in a whoosh of flames, the smell of burnt, rotten flesh permeating the room and loud screeches forcing Gavin to cover his ears desperately. Blood dripped down his wrist from the bite wound and the scratches across his faces stung in the heat of the flames, he staggered back from the burning body until he hit the wall and slid down to sit on his heels.

Haywood stayed close to the creature as it burned, occasionally splashing a little more oil on it to keep it burning. The cavern was rapidly filling with the foul stench of burning flesh, smoke filling the upper reaches of the space causing James to devolve into coughs across from Gavin.

He groaned, pulling himself to standing and motioning for the others to follow him as he made his way out of the cave towards the promise of fresh air. Haywood cast one final look back at the burnt husk of the wendigo before starting his slow hobble back towards the forest, pack slung over one shoulder.

-------------------

Gavin had offered his cabin whilst Haywood healed up, although the wounds seemed less dangerous once they were cleaned up and seen in the light of day. They had finally made it back to Gavin’s home in the early hours of the morning, by the time everyone’s injuries had been tended to the sun was tauntingly high in the sky and Gavin was more than willing to ignore the fact that singing birds normal meant it was time to wake up.

He offered the pair his bed, dragging his feet as he made his way to his couch and settled in for a nap, careful to lie on the side which hadn’t recently been shot and bitten by a wendigo.

When morning (see: early afternoon) came, Gavin woke with a stretch and nearly fell off of his improvised bed. Both of the hunters were still sleeping so he made for his storage chest and grabbed the flask of blood he’d managed to collect two days previously. It wasn’t fresh anymore, but it would be better than nothing.

Gulping it down with a groan at the stale taste, he felt a familiar warmth flood through him as his body took the final nudge and healed the last of his more minor wounds. It would probably be a few days before the bite and arrow holes healed completely, but he could live with that.

It wasn’t long after that the pair of hunters awoke, Haywood seeming gruffer in the light of day, although his son shot Gavin a grin behind his father’s back. Gavin would have grinned back had it not been for Haywood’s stern expression between them.

“We shouldn’t overstay our welcome; I think we will be getting on our way soon.” The older man seemed almost regretful for his words, but that didn’t change that he had said them. Gavin wasn’t sure if he was quite disappointed, he had certainly enjoyed spending time with other people, but the way they had spent that time had been stressful to say the least.

Gavin watched silently as Haywood checked through their packs for supplies, mumbling about how they would have to stop in town before they left. James stood to one side awkwardly, watching his father sullenly whilst casting Gavin looks out of the corner of his eye.

With their supplies checked the pair were ready to leave, Haywood making his way towards the door with Gavin and James trailing behind him. “I- Thank you for your help and your hospitality. You, you didn’t need to help us, especially after how we treated you, so, thank you.” Haywood nodded at Gavin, something which looked suspiciously like a smile twitching on his lips. James nodded along, smiling brightly up at Gavin with blue eyes shining.

“Well, it would have only been so long before that thing ventured further out and then I would have had to deal with it so…” Gavin waved the man off with a smirk before suddenly turning serious. “Look, if you’re ever in the area and you need somewhere to rest up or something, feel free to use the cabin, even if I’m not here. You’re, you’re out there helping people and I want to help you, even if it’s just a little bit.”

“You could come with us?” The lighter voice piped up from Haywood’s side, both men looking down to watch as James squirmed under their scrutiny.

“I don’t think so, a vampire working with hunters, what would people say?!” Gavin scoffed sarcastically, shooting James a warm smile before patting his shoulder. “Look after yourself, kid.”

-------------------

“I wonder what your dad would think of this?” Gavin pondered, lifting his and Ryan’s joined hands between them.

“Honestly, I don’t think he’d mind that much.” Ryan mused, watching the vampire grin at him as Jeremy perched his head on the other man’s shoulder.

“Really? So you don’t think he’d care that I was a man, or a vampire, or foreign or almost twice your age?” Gain listed them off on his fingers, Jeremy nodding along with him.

“Well he might have an issue with the fact that you’re such a smartass.” Ryan dodged Gavin’s messy swipe before diving in to plant a soft kiss against his cheek. “But, he liked you, he told me after you left that you were, and I quote “one of the good ones”, which doesn’t sound that great now, honestly. But really, we’ve got to take what we can get.”

“I’ll take it as his blessing then.” Gavin smirked, pressing his lips against Ryan’s before twisting to catch Jeremy in a surprise kiss. “You on the other hand,” He grinned, patting Jeremy’s cheek. “He’d definitely have an issue with you, you’re obviously just trouble waiting to corrupt his precious son.”

Jeremy fumbled for a response, spluttering slightly before settling for a pout. “Sure, the baby werewolf is going to corrupt the two-hundred-year-old immortal and the old as balls vampire. That sounds right.”

“Hey! I’m not old as balls, don’t be horrible, Lil’ J!” Gavin whined, butting up against his boyfriend with puppy dog eyes.

“Well, I mean technically, you are as old as your balls.” Ryan mused before being pulled down into the cuddle pile.

“Shut up Ryan, I liked you better when you were little and still scared of me.”

Chapter Text

Gavin spent years settling down roots only to pick them back up again and move further west. It was fascinating to him, watching the way his surroundings changed with every move, forests and plains and mountains all contained within this one country. It wasn’t until he reached the west coast, the warm weather and welcoming beaches of California drawing him in, that he finally settled for longer than a few years.

By then he had picked up a love of photography, turning it into a career in the early 1900’s before branching out into film. With a more permanent address he began to get visitors much more regularly, and it wouldn’t be uncommon for Elyse or Adam or Joel to stay with him for a few days; taking the time to catch up with old friends helped him feel grounded, despite feeling the distance from his home more keenly than he ever had before.

The feeling of time passing was distant, and it was easy to ignore as long as he remembered to take precautions to avoid being found out. He’d almost been caught out a few times; now that he was working in such a large industry it wasn’t unknown for him to cross paths with people he had worked with a decade before and they always noted how he hadn’t aged a day. Gavin would just laugh it off and try his best to avoid that person for however long he needed to be on set.

His first big shock of his new career came from the familiar face of a minor actor. Gavin had been setting up for a shot, fussing around his camera as he waited for the call to film, when he’d heard someone call his name softly. He perked up, assuming it was the director, ready to start filming, but when he turned he was met with an eerily familiar face which he was having trouble placing.

“Gavin? That is you right?” The man sounded unsure now and Gavin jumped to answer in an attempt to alleviate the man’s concern.

“Yes, I, I’m sorry, I can’t place you?”

“Well, I look a bit different than when we last spoke, I suppose.” The man mumbled, running a hand through short hair self-consciously. Gavin panicked silently at the thought that this man might recognise him from his childhood, he couldn’t just explain that away with good genes and luck. “It’s James, although I go by Ryan now…” The man sounded weary, and Gavin had to take a moment to dig through his memories to place the name.

“Oh! Oh, how are you-?”

“How am I not dead?” Ryan chuckled darkly, and now that he’d been introduced Gavin could easily see the lad from the cave in the man who stood before him, he looked scarily similar to his father now that he was fully grown. “It’s kind of a long story, and I don’t really think this is the place. How about if we meet later? We can talk then?”

Gavin took the offer gladly, waving the man off with a small smile before getting back to work.

-------------------

The day felt longer than usual, memories dragging on Gavin’s mind as he worked. Ryan came to find him as they were getting ready to leave and the pair headed to a small diner not far from Gavin’s apartment.

An uncomfortable silence settled over them as they glanced over their menus, Gavin not wanting to be the first to bring up the obvious elephant in the room. Eventually Ryan placed his menu down in front of him and cast Gavin a heavy look, “I know what you want to know, just ask.”

Gavin blinks at the other man’s bluntness, “What happened? Were you- were you turned into-?” His voice is halting as he tries to find the right way to ask. It doesn’t feel like Ryan is like him, but maybe he’s just having trouble noticing with the shock of it all.

“I- WE were attacked.” Ryan paused for a moment as a waitress brought them water, smiling in thanks at the young woman and only continuing once she was out of earshot. “Father was getting older; he couldn’t go on hunts like he used to so we’d set up in a cabin near a hotspot of supernatural activity. I went out on hunts alone and father would join me if I needed backup.”

He rubbed at his neck as he took a sip of water, taking the moment to gather his thoughts. “We’d probably been there for a year or so when it happened. I came home late after a hunt,” He muffled a sad laugh, “I don’t even remember what the hunt was now, it seems so insignificant. When I got back to the cabin the door was wide open and I could hear voices inside, so I tried to keep quiet as I went in but- someone must have grabbed me from behind.

“Everything from there is a bit of a blur, just voices and beatings and I-” He stopped, his breathing was ragged as he tried to force out the words and Gavin allowed him the downtime. The same waitress from before began to approach but Gavin made a face at her and she nodded understandingly, turning away from them to give them some time.

“They, they forced me to eat something. I passed out from the pain and when I woke up I could barely breath from it. And my father was-” He took a deep breath. “He was dead. And I was sad for a while but I found out that he got the best deal in that shitshow.”

“What happened to you?” Gavin’s voice was reedy, attempting to reconcile the image of the boy and his gruff father with the story he’d just been told.

“I can’t die.” His voice was devoid of all emotion, just another fact of life to Ryan.

“What? Are, are you sure?”

Ryan’s laugh sent a shiver down Gavin’s spine, his voice disturbingly buoyant as he speaks, “Trust me, I’m sure.”

Gavin can’t resist reaching out to offer Ryan a gentle pat to the hand of comfort, something which seems insignificant in comparison to what the other man has gone through. “Who did it? I’ll help you find them.”

“Gavin, this was seventy years ago, they’re definitely dead by now.” The gratitude in his expression belied his sarcastic tone and Gavin offered a gentle smile, withdrawing his hand back to his side of the table. “And as for who they were, apparently another group of hunters didn’t like the way we handled our business, they thought we were too soft on innocent supernaturals and that we deserved to learn a lesson for being ‘traitors’.”

Ryan’s eyes were dark with anger, although he managed to smooth his expression when their waitress finally made her way to their table.

With their orders placed Gavin settled a serious look on Ryan, “Look, I don’t know whether you’ll actually appreciate this or if you’ll think that I’m just looking down on you, but the offer is still there from when we met before. If you ever need help, just ask. I’ll give you a way to get in touch with me and some other contacts in case you can’t reach me. Don’t be afraid to ask for help.”

-------------------

When war was declared back home in Britain Gavin had to restrain himself from running back to his country. It felt wrong to read about all the men giving their lives when he was practically invincible, but all his paperwork said he was an American citizen so he sat tight and waited for America to join the fray.

It felt like ages, but a couple of years later Gavin signed up to the army fully prepared to do whatever it took to save even one person. He had hated the constant waiting, but he found that being under someone else’s command after living so freely for so long was almost harder. He had to stop himself from running headlong into battle, mostly because he knew that the other members of his squad were stupidly protective of him and his baby face (something which eased once they’d been in the field for a while and his beard had grown out) and would chase after him without a thought.

He was part of an eight-man rifle squad, and Gavin had never been more grateful for random chance when he met their corporal. Geoff was an odd man, seeming to jump between being a depressed mess over the situation they found themselves in and an organised, well-trained machine at the drop of a hat. Him and Gavin became fast friends, Gavin becoming his unofficial second when he exhibited his willingness to take risks for the good of the squad.

They worked on the outskirts of battles, cleaning up stragglers, so they were rarely on the losing side of any skirmish. Geoff prided himself on never having a casualty in battle, always making sure that his lads went back to base for treatment when they needed it.

-------------------

“So Geoff used to be your boss?” Jeremy asked lightly, although his hand was still wrapped around one of Ryan’s from earlier in Gavin’s story.

“Well, Geoff is still my boss, technically.”

“You know what I mean, Gav.”

Gavin shot him a soft look, “Yeah, I know. We got pretty close during the war, something like that will do that to you.” He rubbed a hand over tired eyes.

“It must have been hard.” Jeremy mused, looking down for a moment. It was hard to picture his boyfriend in the middle of a war like that. Suddenly, something hit him. “What about you, Ryan? What did you do during the war?”

Ryan shifted closer to them, “I was out there too. I’d already learnt a good amount about magic at that point so I spent a lot of time trying to keep other people alive. Eventually someone noticed how good I was with field medicine and pulled me into being a medic, which I was more than happy about because it meant that I didn’t have to risk being shot in the head and then explaining it to whoever found me…”

“Hmm, okay.” Jeremy turned back to Gavin, face suddenly serious. “Well, how did Geoff end up getting turned? I’m guessing it was whilst you were out there?”

Gavin laughed, light and strung out simultaneously, “I was just going to get to that bit before I was so rudely interrupted.”

“Oh, sorry.” Jeremy’s cheeks warmed slightly. “So what happened?”

“Well, we’d been given a mission further into enemy territory than we usually went…”

-------------------

Gavin really wished that he could say they ended up in this situation through sheer bad luck, or the intelligence of their enemies. But in truth, they had been careless and had left themselves open to attack.

They were stranded in enemy territory, most of their squad already dead, exhausted and beaten down. It hadn’t taken much for them to decide to take cover in the wreckage of an old farmhouse, Gavin propping their injured squad mate against a wall before turning back to Geoff.

“Well we’re in the proper shits now, ain’t we? What do we do?” Geoff was still standing with his head poking out of the front door, on the lookout for anyone who may have followed them. They were both scattered with minor injuries, a scrape here and a cut there, and Gavin was pretty sure that if he were human his arm would be broken in three different places.

“I don’t know, for now we need to rest and try and get Scott back on his feet, this seems like as good a place as any to stop for a while.” Geoff finally ducked into the building, ensuring the door was closed securely behind him, although Gavin wasn’t sure what good it would do when all the windows were smashed in.

“Fine, you take a look at him, you were always better at that shit than I was.” Gavin grumbled, moving to perch on a rickety looking table.

He watched Geoff work in silence, focussing on the man’s gentle hands and soothing words rather than the shitstorm they’d just run through, the sound of shouts and gunfire rattling around in his head. Even in the relative peace of the farmhouse Gavin couldn’t help but focus in on the slow ooze of blood from a cut above Geoff’s eyebrow. Geoff reached up to swipe at it distractedly, grumbling as he got back to work.

It seemed like an eternity before Geoff sat back on his heels with a sigh, “I don’t think there’s anything else I can do right now, I guess we’ve just got to hope he pulls through.”

Gavin hopped up to glance outside once again, still no sign of the enemy but the sun was beginning to set, the bright colours deceptively beautiful considering the events of the day. “So I guess we’re settling in for the night? It’s almost dark…”

Geoff groaned as he stretched sore muscles before letting himself slip to the floor. “I guess we are, may as well make ourselves as comfortable as possible, we’ll be here for a few days.”

As Gavin settled in for first watch he took in Geoff’s expression. It almost hurt to look at the man, everything about him screamed of a heavy weariness. Dark bags hung under his eyes and his skin seemed thin and drawn, pale like Gavin had never seen it before. Even his moustache seemed more lacklustre than he had ever seen it.

There were several days of nothing happening, Scott didn’t wake up but he also didn’t get any worse. Geoff said that was a good sign but Gavin wasn’t so sure. The two played card games using an old deck Geoff had been carrying around with him for months, the edges tattered and worn but still usable. They ran through every game they could think of before starting the cycle again, anything to stave off the boredom which tore at them.

By the third night they had given up on watches, it didn’t seem that anyone knew they were here, and they had been careful to keep inside to avoid anyone spotting them. That was their mistake.

Someone must have been waiting for them to let down their guards, because not long after they had drifted off to sleep Gavin was woken by the familiar sounds of German voices.

He had barely had the time to translate what they were saying in his head before he was throwing himself across the small room to cover Geoff and Scott as best he could.

Explosions rang out around them, Geoff waking suddenly as the house shook around them. “Gavin! What’s-!?”

Geoff’s question was cut off as the derelict building came tumbling down around them. Rubble hit Gavin’s back heavily, but he gladly took the blows for the other men, he could handle it, it would crush them.

There was a sharp crack against the back of his skull which sent the room tilting, and a piercing pain in his side, but Gavin still refused to move. He stayed as he was until the rubble settled, until the sounds of German voices drifted away from them and he was left in a painful silence.

He finally tilted slightly to the side, shifting the majority of the rock from his back with a groan. The pain in his side flared brightly and he allowed himself to release a long slow hiss at the feeling. He finally pried his eyes open to look down at the damage, only to find that he had been speared through by a solid pipe.

His eyes widened in dismay as he followed the line of the pipe down to the ground, only to find that it had speared through Geoff’s lower abdomen.

Now that he allowed himself to take in his surroundings he could truly see the damage of their folly. Scott lay to his side; he had been partially shielded but in unconsciousness he was unable to avoid any of the rubble. His right side was a mess of crushed body parts and blood, and Gavin was at least grateful that he had not been awake for his death.

Geoff was still alive, and Gavin thanked whatever god may have been listening that he was, because the idea of being trapped out here alone set his vision spinning more than any blow to the head ever could. Geoff’s eyes were locked on him, bloodshot and tearstained as he failed to make words and instead groaned painfully.

Gavin gasped, any movement tugged at the pipe speared through them and sent daggers of agony through his already overloaded system. He craned his head back to look behind him, estimating the amount of pipe left above him through blurry vision.

“Okay, I can do this. I ran into a burning building for a stranger, I fought a wendigo for a stranger, I can do this for a friend.” Despite his whispered pep talk it still took him a moment to build up the courage to grasp the pole beneath him and slowly drag himself upwards the couple of inches it took to free himself. Skin tore and the jagged end ripped through his insides, but he somehow managed to do it, collapsing to the side with a muffled cry as one hand continued to hold the pole steady in Geoff.

Blood seeped sluggishly from his wound and he had never been more grateful for his vampire healing, but that couldn’t help Geoff. He leaned over the man with his eyes focussed on his face. “Geoff, I, I don’t know what to do?! What do I do?!” He sobbed, partly from pain and partly from frustration. Later he would admit that it had also been the fear of losing his friend, but he would only ever admit that to himself.

He glared at Geoff’s wound, the other man peering blearily up at him through shuttered eyes, “How can I fix this?” He took a calming breath. “What can I do?”

The idea invaded his thoughts suddenly, hitting him so suddenly that he blinked in surprise. “I, I know what to do.”

He cupped Geoff’s cheek, tilting it towards him so the other man was blinking directly at him rather than towards the now-missing ceiling. “Geoff, can you hear me?” Geoff nodded slowly. “Good, now I can save you, but it will mean changing you in a way you can’t just come back from. I don’t know if I can do it if you don’t want it.”

Geoff was watching him carefully, eyes dark with pain. “You’ll become like me, and I’ll look after you whilst you get used to it, I promise. But if you don’t want it then I won’t, I just-”

Geoff’s shaking hand grasping his wrist pulled him out of his thoughts, his eyes were set in certainty and he nodded jerkily as Gavin stared at him. “I don’t know if it will even work, I’ve never done this before…” Geoff jerked his arm weakly, a wet gurgle escaping from his throat in the place of words. “Okay, okay, let’s do this.”

Gavin lifted Geoff’s arm towards his face, feeling his fangs elongate with the promise of blood. Geoff stared at him with wide eyes but didn’t attempt to pull away. Gavin could only hope that was some sort of consent to continue rather than him simply being too weak to try.

When his fangs broke the surface of Geoff’s skin Gavin suddenly realised that he had no idea what he was doing. He’d never turned someone before, and other than vague descriptions from Joel he had never even spoken to someone about it. It was all about intent, right? And power?

He pulled away for a moment, taking a final deep breath to gather himself before diving back in. Sharp fangs pierced thin, dirty skin and Gavin suddenly had doubts that Geoff could even be turned in the state he was in. He pushed the thought away, instead attempting to think only of turning Geoff, taking the smallest amount of blood possible as he did.

For a moment nothing happened until a sudden calm slipped over Gavin. He suddenly felt light, his eyes slipping shut as he focussed on where he could feel Geoff’s stuttering essence through the bite. He nudged his power towards him, feeling the slightest resistance before something gave on the other man’s end.

Abruptly, Gavin’s lightness fled, replaced by a draining feeling as his essence was pulled into Geoff’s. It left him panting against the man’s skin when he finally released him. Gavin was allowed a moment to take in the view of Geoff sitting up and tossing he pole to one side before he tumbled to the ground and the world went black.