A/N: Title of this chapter is from the poem "Requiem" by Robert Louis Stevenson. I always liked that poem, but mostly I used it for this chapter because of it's ironic use of the word "hunter" and (although I know that technically it's supposed to be about death) the feeling of homecoming that it always evoked in me, which works for the end of this chapter. :) This looooong chapter. *rolls eyes at herself for once again failing to write anything of reasonable length*

Chapter Nine: "And the Hunter Home from the Hill"

The wheels of Zero's bike crunched on gravel as he parked quickly in a stand of trees that stood halfway between the road and the Onyx nightclub. His body protested slightly as he hopped off the bike, still shouldering his gear bag. He ignored the sensation because now was not the time for distractions. Not far away, back up the hill a bit, he could see the flashing lights of an ambulance and emergency vehicles casting a twisting red and white glow into the large, stately trees that flanked the entrance to the main drive. There was a small crowd of at least twenty people knotted together there, some in uniform, most in evening wear that probably cost as much as Zero's bike. The hunter could hear the panicked murmur of many voices trying to talk at once. Farther down the hill, the shape of the nightclub itself loomed dark against the inky, silver flecked waters of a moonlit lake.

Normally, a remote location like this would have been horrible for the nightclub business, but the Onyx pandered to the elite who wanted to party away from prying eyes and to the social-climbers who wanted to act like they belonged in that set, whether or not they did. There was a nearby lodge associated with the club where out of town guests could lodge, or where locals could go for a weekend get-away if they could afford the exorbitant rates. The club was frequented by both humans and vampires alike, although of course, the former did not know about the secrets of the latter.

The strong scent of fear and blood in the air was heady and the young ex-human hunter had to close his eyes for a moment, forcing himself past the vampiric reaction that initially rose in him until he was able to focus on more useful data from his senses.

The main knot of human presence gathered around the ambulance at the head of the drive meant that hopefully most of the club patrons had already been evacuated and rounded up. On his way in, Zero had recognized the hunters in the paramedic and police uniforms who were helping the injured and making sure everyone stayed together. He heard the sobbing, frantic sound of a woman repeatedly trying to make a call on her cell phone, but he knew she needn't bother. Containment efforts had already begun, which meant that signal jammers were creating a communications dead zone around the entire area. Last thing they needed was multiple calls to emergency services or somebody with a cell phone camera uploading pictures of a Level E on a rampage onto the internet right from the scene. The advent of modern technology made keeping the vampire secret more troublesome than in the past, but fortunately the fact that internet hoaxes and faked videos were a dime a dozen balanced the scales. Still, it was better to keep as much of a lid on things as possible and out in the country like this it was easy to blame the lack of reception on the location. It also served to make everyone even more eager to stick close to the "officers" and ambulances.

The panicked club patrons were obviously desperately glad to have a soothing official presence to protect them and weren't about to go wandering anywhere away from them too soon. The badges and official looking vehicles would bring comfort and engender immediate trust, which was why they were being used. When all was said and done, the ruse would make it easier for the hunters to alter those people's memories and place the suggestion of some more "reasonable" explanation for the panic and injuries at the club this night. Although in all likelihood, some of the hunters present actually were paramedics and policemen. Those were useful professions to hold for those of their kind.

There were some hunters who specialized in cleanup and containment, but that was not usually Zero's job. His involvement and training was geared towards removing the threats themselves. Towards that end he slipped past the hubbub around the emergency vehicles and hid his bike in the trees, proceeding on foot towards the main structure of the nightclub itself from which the scent of blood was emanating the strongest. He could sense the presence of a number of vampires in that direction. He went in on foot so as to move more silently and not herald his arrival.

The Onyx resembled a mansion, built right on the edge of a man-made lake which fed off of the nearby river. A glance at the rows of expensive sports cars parked outside spoke volumes about the social class of its clientele and told Zero that whatever cover story was used for tonight's events, it was going to end up splashed all over the front pages of tomorrow's newspapers. People were always interested when something befell the upper crust.

The cars gleamed pale and shiny in the crisp moonlight. Zero ducked behind a Lamborghini and dropped the bag from his shoulder. He preferred to go into a situation light, so he pulled out a couple of items that he thought he might need and pushed them into his pockets, leaving the bag with the rest of the gear stashed behind the vehicle. Then he slid the Bloody Rose from inside his jacket, clicked the safety off, and continued on across the carefully manicured lawn towards the club.

The building appeared dark, but Zero soon realized that that was because the windows were all either covered or blacked out with some kind of one-way reflective glass - the better to protect its patrons' privacy, no doubt. As he approached he could hear the heavy, thudding sound of a base line pounding away from inside the structure. Apparently, the music in there was still playing. It was loud enough for him to feel it thrum in his chest as he slid up the stairs and onto the porch.

The door was ajar. No light was being cast from within, but the music flowed out through the gap. Pouring from darkness into darkness like blood pumping from a wound, it pounded away to the arterial beat of its own rhythm. Zero spotted a small symbol glowing faintly on one side of the entryway which told him that at least one other hunter was already on scene. He recognized the symbol as belonging to Haru, one of the hunters with whom he and Yagari had recently shared their extended mission.

If answering a call which involved multiple responders, like this one, it was not uncommon for hunters to tag the scene when they arrived in order to let other hunters know they were there. Zero had the advantage of being able to smell the human presences, but most hunters could usually only sense vampires. The unique markers also let you know who was on the scene, which could sometimes be useful if you knew your fellow hunters' tactics and weapons of choice.

Zero added his own tag to the door post, twisting the charm silently and initiating it with a touch of his fingers before slipping inside.

The darkness within the club and the throbbing rave music engulfed him like a being plunged underwater. His eyes adjusted quickly as he slid down a short hallway and turned a corner which led into the club's main dance floor area. There was more light in here, but it was the swirling, flashing, chaotic light of a dozen colored spotlights and strobes bouncing off reflector balls all around the room. The schizophrenic illumination and the twisting, mobile shadows that it created generated more confusion than clarity.

Zero blinked, wincing slightly as one of the strobes hit him in the eyes. He ducked quickly to the right, instinctively hiding in the shadows as his vision returned. The dance floor was empty and in a state of destructive chaos. Chairs and tables had been over turned and broken; glasses and bottles were spilled and smashed everywhere, the strong smell of expensive liquor mingling with the even stronger smell of blood and death. The area was large and lent itself to concealment with private booths, islands of lush built-in foliage and dangling curtains dividing up hidden areas towards the back. The shattered shapes of broken furniture twisted and writhed under the spinning lights, combining with the architecture and making it hard to tell if the area was truly empty or not.

The entire room reeked of blood. Zero could see huge crimson splashes of it on the walls and floor. A dark, terribly still figure lay sprawled across the bar – a woman, or what was left of her. She was lying on her back, her throat almost completely torn out. One arm hung limply over the side, blood dripping slowly from the manicured fingertips down onto the floor, mingling with spilt wine and martinis.

The sporadic flashes of the strobes illuminated the scene like something out of a B rated horror flick, only this wasn't the movies, it was real. That woman wasn't getting up again once the take was over and her loved ones were going to have to deal with her loss without even getting to know the real truth of how she died. Zero felt the dark heat of anger burn through him, beginning to boil his blood. Animals had done this - animals that needed to be put down before they killed again.

He held his gun ready, canted back slightly against his shoulder, barrel pointed up in the ready position as he slid along the wall, staying out of the path of the roving lights as best he could while he scanned the room. The sensation of vampire was making his skin prickle. He knew there was someone in here, probably more than one. The heavy, coppery ambrosia of blood in the air was messing with his senses as much as the pounding music and flashing lights, making it impossible to pinpoint them, but they were here.

Somewhere else in the house, possibly upstairs, he heard the muffled, but distinctive retort of a gun being fired. Must be Haru. The shadows shifted on his right and Zero swung around just in time as a figure launched from the darkness with a soft, inhuman cry. For a moment he could see the wild red eyes and dripping fangs as the mad vampire lunged for him with the unnatural speed of their kind. The bloody rose was already up and Zero pulled the trigger. The 'E twisted its body at the last moment and Zero felt a warm spray of blood across his cheek and one side of his jacket. The vampire's body slammed into him a moment later and they both went down.

Blood instead of dust meant it hadn't been a kill shot. If an ex-human had fallen far enough, you could shoot them almost anywhere with an anti-vampire weapon and they would shatter because they were too weak to withstand it. But this vampire must have only recently fallen and had just had a lot of fresh blood, apparently. Zero needed to hit either heart or head to finish the job.

The young hunter rolled with it as his attacker took him down to the floor, fangs snapping and straining for his neck. Some part of his mind registered that the creature had once been a woman. Probably a beautiful one. Her long hair whipped and slid across his face as she tried to get at his neck. At least fallen 'E's were usually predictable. They all wanted one thing. Blood.

Zero struggled with her, holding her shoulder with his left hand in an iron grip and twisting his head back, away from her while he swiftly shoved his right hand up between them. His right hand was still holding his gun. He fired point blank into her chest, easily hitting the heart this time and the writhing, struggling weight atop him suddenly disappeared as the vampire dissolved into soft, pale ash. For a moment her face was frozen over him, the red bleeding out of her eyes and leaving her looking hauntingly normal for half a second. Then her features dissolved along with everything else and she was no more than a memory. The pale dust settled atop him, sticking to the blood on his jacket and drifting to the floor.

Somewhere inside, Zero hoped that when their tortured bonds with this earth were broken, the spirits inside these unfortunates found freedom and rest. He would never admit it, especially since many other hunters were of the opinion that vampires did not have souls, but sometimes it seemed like when the bodies crumbled to dust like that, there was a faint gust of wind that came from nowhere, almost like the soul of the departed sighing in relief as it fled. Of course, that was probably sheer whimsy, so he tried not to think about it, but when your occupation was to kill, you found your own ways of dealing with that.

Zero rolled quickly to his feet, but as he did so a heavy weight hit his back, pitching him forward. A second vampire landed on him with a jarring thud, striking the hunter powerfully in the kidneys with his knee. Pain seared trough Zero's senses and a small swell of old terror shuddered through him like ice. Trapped on his stomach, he couldn't bring his weapon up, or get any decent leverage to throw off the incredibly strong, incredibly heavy weight pressing down on his back. A fist tangled in his silver hair, jerking his head up from the floor and canting it to the side, exposing his throat. At the same moment, Zero felt the hard sole of a shoe stamp down on his gun hand with almost crushing force, before the Bloody Rose was kicked out of his grip. His hunter senses roiled with warning. Shit, there were two of them ganged up on him now, how many of the buggers were there?

The vampire on his back had tugged Zero's head to the right, exposing the tattooed side of his neck. The E was apparently unwilling to bite through the hunter mark, however, and quickly yanked Zero's head to the left instead. That half moment of time was all Zero needed.

Pale, thorny vines sprang out of his body like a writhing, curling mass of snakes. They twisted up around the vampire on his back, curling around the E's arms and throat and jerking him back. The vampire who was standing shrieked and kicked Zero in the head.

Stars exploded in Zero's vision and his head throbbed but he kept control over his powers, rolling away as much as he could around his own vines. The strong, silvery cords looped tighter around the captive vampire's neck, turning slender and sharp like razor wire. Zero couldn't really see what he was doing from this angle, but he had learned how to use the vines, how to sort of "feel" with them, even when he couldn't see. He gave the vines around his attacker's neck a quick, hard twist, using them like a garrote and severing head from body.

The weight on his back disappeared and Zero retracted his vines quickly as he rolled, staying just ahead of the other vampire who had ripped a leg off of one of the tables and was now swinging it down at him, trying to crush him from a 'safe' distance. The wooden bar hit the ground by Zero's head, splintering slightly from the impact. Zero rolled to his knees, searching for and quickly spotting his gun a few yards away. He knew Haru and perhaps other hunters by now were on the scene and he was loath to keep fighting with his vines lest one of them should see him. Outside of Yagari, Kaname and some dead Level E's, no one had seen his powers yet and that was the way Zero liked it. Having other vampires underestimate him was good and not having other hunters regard him as even more of a vampire freak was preferable.

If the situation had been desperate enough, he would have done what he had to do, but as it was, he had another plan. His hand plunging into his pocket, Zero pulled out one of the small, modified flash bang grenades he had taken from his pack. He pulled the pin and tossed it, diving behind a table and screwing his eyes shut. It detonated almost immediately and Zero could see the searing flash of light even behind his closed eyelids. Quickly, his eyes opened and he sprang to his feet, diving past the howling, blinded vampire and snatching up his gun. He fired two swift shots to head and heart and the figure dissolved.

Zero thought he could just hear someone calling to him above the thudding of his heart and the pounding of the music that was still rocking away. He turned to look and as he did the music finally stopped and the overhead lights came on. Zero winced at the sudden change in lighting, feeling momentarily blinded himself as his eyes struggled to adjust.

"Hey, Kiriyu, you okay?" Zero recognized Haru's voice and quickly stopped rubbing his eyes, trying not to blink too painfully.

"Yeah," he returned, nodding to dust that scattered the floor around him like spilt ash trays. "There were three down here. This area's cleared. What about the rest of the house?"

Haru nodded upwards. "There was two upstairs, I got one, the other ran, he may have come down here to hide with his cronies, but we'd better search the house to be sure. I'll take East, you take West."

Zero nodded and they split up again, Haru heading out the door and down the hall to the other side of the house. The young hunter combed carefully through the large room and the hidden areas in the back. He found two more bodies, victims of the E's rampage, but no more vampires. There was a back door to the club that let out into a garden with a swimming pool and access to the lake. Zero tensed as he saw a dark shape crouched in the shadowy bushes by the pool house. He could sense vampire out here and he approached cautiously with gun leveled, but the figure didn't stir.

Stooping cautiously, Zero pushed a few branches away to get a better look, already able to tell that something was wrong about this. Quickly, he realized that the shape was not a vampire, it was another dead victim. The body was a young man in a ruined dinner jacket, huddled in the bushes as if hiding, still clutching his torn throat with lifeless fingers although his blood had ceased to flow. He must have escaped the carnage inside only to bleed out in his hiding place in the garden. He still looked terrified. What a horrible way to die.

Zero frowned. He had not yet grown jaded to the constant death and tragedy into which his profession led him. Just in case, the young hunter leaned down and checked the man for a pulse or any signs of breathing. As he suspected, unfortunately, there were none.

Suddenly Zero felt a strange, frightening numbness seize him. The sensation of vampire was even stronger but his reflexes were strangely slowed, like he was moving through quicksand. A moment later he was flying sideways. He hit the grass with a soft jar, another body landing on top of him. "There you are, you troublesome little..."

The face of the vampire over Zero's registered shock for a moment as it got a good look at him, and the strange numbness making Zero feel like he'd been given a general anesthesia eased a little. Zero took the advantage while he could, rolling them both over and pinning the other vampire to the grass.

The vampire was male with dark hair and eyes. He was nicely dressed and his eyes did not burn red. Something wasn't right, but all Zero knew at the moment was that he had been attacked by a vampire and he responded accordingly.

He jammed the Bloody Rose against the man's neck, stilling his struggles. The other vampire felt the biting prickle of the anti-vampire weapon against his skin and his eyes widened. "Y-you're a hunter?" he gaped in surprise.

Even through his reactionary haze, Zero could tell that this man was not acting like he was insane. He wasn't trying to go for Zero's throat and his eyes did not burn. That was the only reason Zero hadn't pulled the trigger yet.

"Yeah, and you like to butcher people?" Zero returned darkly, his hand tightening on the trigger.

"No! No, I'm not one of them. I'm not an 'E!" the vampire protested in an angry hiss, obviously disdainful of being mistaken for such, but also obviously unnerved at finding himself in such a disadvantaged position with a hunter. All Zero had to do was squeeze and he'd be incapacitated, if not mortally wounded.

Zero growled as he stared down into the alarmed, angry, but ultimately sane eyes below him. His blood was up and he really wanted to pull the trigger, but he could tell that this one was different. This vampire was a brighter flame in his hunter senses than the others had been and he was a lot stronger. This one was a fricking aristocrat, which explained the numbness that Zero had felt a moment ago, the man must have been using his powers on him. His presence troubled Zero.

"Oh really? Then what the hell are you doing here and why did you attack me?" he demanded, the gun still pressed hard into his opponent's throat. He straddled the man, knees pressing into the prickly, well trimmed grass.

"I'm doing the same thing you are!" the other vampire rasped indignantly but desperately around the pressure. "I'm here for the four E's. You're an ex-human, I saw you crouching there in the shadows over a body and I thought you were one of them, I didn't know you were a hunter!"

Against his will, Zero believed him. He was an ex-human and he was splashed with the blood of one of the fallen vampires in question, which was no doubt messing with his scent. But that didn't mean he had to like it, or like this jerk either. He dug the gun a little harder against the side of the vampire's Adam's apple.

"Well you're a little late because if four of them is all there were, then they're all dead already. Who sent you to clean up?" he demanded. He didn't recognize this vampire and they were in Kaname's territory. It was pretty unusual for an unbidden noble to be operating on his own initiative this close to a pureblood's residence, but Zero was fairly certain that Kaname hadn't sent this jerk. He wouldn't have sent anyone who wasn't aware of Zero's involvement. Besides, if Kaname was going to meddle, he would have sent Seiren and Zero would likely have never known she was there. Zero had a feeling that had happened before, but he couldn't prove it.

"Someone much higher up than you, so if you don't want to get in trouble with Kuran-sama, I suggest you let me go," the vampire on the ground returned coldly, a hint of his haughty condescension returning.

Zero smiled darkly, actually quite amused that this idiot was trying to use Kaname against him. The other vampire had used a lawyer's wording – not actually stating that he was taking orders from the pureblood, but letting it be assumed by his word usage. The fact that he obviously didn't expect the ex-human to know any better and to be cowed by the mention of that name told Zero that this fellow was well informed enough to know that Kaname was in charge around here but apparently wasn't from this area himself. If he was, he would have heard of the pureblood's hunter protégé and put two and two together. There weren't many ex-human hunters after all. Actually, Zero was the only one as far as he knew.

"Kaname didn't send you, and I don't think he'd like your implying that he did," the hunter said, intentionally letting his familiar use of Kaname's name give the other vampire something to think about. "So... want to try again?"

The other man paled at Zero's words, confused and having to quickly re-assess his situation. As unlikely as it seemed, this ex-human was obviously in the pureblood's favor. He could imagine no other reason why the 'D would dare to speak of him so casually. "I never said he did!" the man protested quickly. "I just meant... I don't think he'd like you interfering with a noble's business." It was a lame save and Zero let his contempt for it and for the other vampire show clearly in his steely eyes.

"These were your E's, weren't they? You were responsible for them, but you screwed up somehow and now you're trying to cover your ass, is that it?" Zero guessed, yanking the man to his feet, regarding him warily, but ultimately pulling the gun away. Much as he might like to shoot him, he didn't recognize this man from a kill list and he wasn't an 'E. Too bad.

Zero gestured back towards the blood soaked club with his gun. "Why didn't you deal with them before they got this bad? You like watching them suffer, is that it?" the young hunter's eyes were hard and accusing. Aristocrats couldn't begin to imagine the torment experienced by ex-humans as they descended into madness. Zero could.

"They weren't mineand what happened was unfortunate and unforeseen, that is all. They were stable; there was no way to predict that they would fall so quickly," the other vampire huffed, still off balance from a moment ago and saying a bit more than he intended.

"You're trying to tell me that it was totally unexpected? Four of them all falling at the same time?" Zero did not look impressed or convinced.

The other vampire shrugged as if annoyed by all the questions. The only reason he was still tolerating them - now that Zero didn't have him pinned anymore - was because the boy was a hunter and he didn't want to cause any kind of bureaucratic headache over this situation. "They belonged to my boss, Mr. Girard. We are staying at the lodge not far from here. He is involved in a very trying situation and was a little rougher with his attendants than usual. Apparently their constitutions were too weak. We didn't realize they had gone over the edge until we found them missing. I came to collect them as soon as possible, but..." he gestured around. "Obviously, it was too late."

What the vampire wasn't saying told almost as much as what he was. This Mr. Girard wasn't a pureblood. If he was, the aristocrat would have mentioned his name right away instead of using Kaname's. Girard was probably another noble, but apparently higher up the food chain than this genius. Zero's blood simmered at the man's attitude. "A little rougher on them than usual" was doubtless a polite way of saying that the bastard had misused and drained them so much that it tipped the scales on their already compromised systems and plunged them into full blown blood madness. It was no surprise that in that state they had made a beeline from the lodge to the nearest place where there was a concentration of human scent and human blood – the night club. This Mr. Girard was a hundred times more culpable for what had happened here than the poor E's who had died tonight, but Zero knew he was sadly beyond the reach of punishment, not unless it could be proven that Girard or this man had willingly endangered the public by creating a menace and not dealing with it.

It was doubtful that such a charge could be made to stick in this kind of a circumstance, but Zero was in a dark enough mood to try, or to at least inconvenience this dirt bag for as long as possible. "Let me see your ID," he demanded darkly.

The other vampire pulled out his wallet and turned the requested documentation over crisply. Zero quickly noted from the foreign documents that although he fit in perfectly well here and was probably an expatriate; the vampire in question was listed as a resident of a different country. His visiting papers placed him as a new arrival. That fit with what Zero had deduced earlier.

"You're not from around here, Khang," he noted aloud, reading the vampire's surname off his ID and fixing him with a suspicious gaze. "Entry stamps say you arrived only yesterday. Are you telling me that you and your boss brought four Level Es into the country with you?" There were stiff laws against knowingly transporting E's across borders and Zero was pleased to see that the smug Khang was starting to look a little concerned.

"No, no," he assured quickly. "I told you, their fall was unexpected. They were quite sane when we brought them here."

Zero doubted that they could have been quite sane one day and crazy the next and he supposed the other man was exaggerating a bit. He meant they had been controllable before. "Right," he let skepticism drip from his tone. "And why are you here?"

"Mr. Girard and I happen to represent the Thetados Group," Khang said with more than a hint of self-importance in his tone, as if he expected Zero to recognize the name and be impressed. Zero did recognize the name, immediately, but not for the reasons the other man hoped.

"We had to come here rather suddenly to deal with a troublesome legal matter that has arisen. Naturally, Mr. Girard brought his attendants with him. They were gifts from the leader of our syndeo, Laroche-sama. What happened here was unpredictable and unfortunate, and that is all." The way Khang reverted to his heritage, sliding into using an honorific for their syndeo leader as opposed to the more western title he applied to his immediate superior indicated that this Laroche probably was a pureblood, which explained why he was giving out ex-humans like they were Rolex watches.

Zero knew now that the man sounded like a lawyer because he probably was one. Khang and Girard must be the representatives from Thetados who had come to keep legal proceedings over the stock Kaname wanted tied up until it was too late. The overwhelming urge to shoot the man came back with a vengeance, but Zero repressed it, his mind quickly spinning over some other, more useful ideas. This was too good a coincidence to pass up.

"So you're here for the hearings regarding Thetados trying to renege on selling Mission Oil shares to Kuran Corporation?" A new light of interest had filtered into the hunter's steely heliotrope gaze.

Khang looked shocked and Zero supposed that the actual details of the case were probably not something of which the general public was aware. "I'm not really at liberty to discuss my company's business matters," the man answered slowly, starting to sound suspicious and unsettled. His expression had already told Zero everything he needed to know. "Now, if there is nothing further, I should go let Mr. Girard know what has happened." He was obviously looking for a quick exit.

Zero cast about with his senses to make sure they were still alone. He tried to come up with a clever way to work into what he wanted to say, but quickly abandoned that idea. Psychological finesse and subtle manipulation were Kaname's style, not his. He usually found a pistol to the head, either figuratively or literally, to be more effective.

Zero caught and held Khang's arm in a firm grip, arresting any thoughts he had about leaving. "We're not done," he warned. "You and your Mr. Girard caused a mess here tonight and cost at least eight people their lives." Zero included the ex-humans in the body count for which he held them responsible. "You transported four level 'E's across international borders and you willfully and negligently endangered the public..."

Khang eyed Zero with distaste, trying and failing to pull his arm away, which did not seem to improve his mood. "All of which will be hard to prove, but would certainly be inconvenient to have to deal with," he said darkly, his lawyers mind cutting quickly to the chase. "Let's not play games, hunter. What is it that you want in order to make this go away?" Khang figured he could recognize someone on the take well enough.

Zero knew that Khang was right, legal channels would probably not do much good in seeking justice for what had happened here besides inconveniencing and embarrassing the Thetados group and putting them on the bad side of the Association for a while, but Zero had his own ideas about how to make them pay.

"Lose the phony documents you're using against Kuran Corp and drop the case," Zero said simply. "Honor your agreement and sell them the shares as promised." It wasn't like he was asking them to do anything illegal, quite the opposite. He knew of course, that that suggestion was not going to go down well though.

Khang actually laughed, although he was looking at Zero with mounting concern and suspicion. This ex-human was way too well informed; he must have quite the inside track on Kuran's dealings. If boy were a noble, Khang would have guessed he was part of Kuran's inner circle. In any case, it was clear that the young hunter was serving the pureblood's interests. "You've got to be joking!" he scoffed scornfully. "There's no way that that is an equal trade, even if I had the power to authorize it."

Zero looked bored and raised an eyebrow. "Oh? I didn't realize you valued your life so cheaply. Not that I don't agree, but..." he shrugged.

Khang had gone past incredulous into furious now, he had had all of this impudent, infuriating ex-human that he was going to take. "Don't you dare threaten me, 'D. Tell Kuran he can forget it. He can do nothing to us, we're protected," he hissed angrily, his eyes flashing dangerously. "Laroche-sama will not tolerate anyone taking aim at his people or attempting to force our hands. If Kuran tries something, I promise you, it will start a war."

Zero smiled coldly, releasing Khang's arm and carelessly polishing a smudge of vampire blood and ash off the side of his gun barrel. "Wars go both ways, Khang, but who mentioned Kuran doing anything?" he inquired coolly, a silvery edge of steel in his tone.

"We were talking about this situation, here, tonight. You've caused a lot of trouble. The Association doesn't tend to like people who cause a lot of trouble. You want to know something interesting about us hunters?" Zero's tone was almost conversational... almost. "We don't usually get reasons passed along with the execution lists. Oh, sometimes we do, but most of the times it's just names and faces and nobody really asks any questions. The lists aren't just for E's you know, I've seen plenty of higher blood vampires pop up every now and again. Who knows? You could show up on them tomorrow."

Zero fixed the other vampire with a cold, dead, meaningful stare. "You want to know something else interesting? No one challenges the lists. For instance, say that tonight's little escapade made some people think you were part of... I don't know a plot or something to disrupt the peace. Say that you and Girard did somehow show up on the lists tomorrow and were duly taken care of by various hunters doing their jobs. Your Syndeo may not like it, but do you really think Laroche would find it worth causing trouble with the Association? Especially after what happened tonight? Ultimately, you're replaceable. No use crying over spilt milk and all that, you'd already be dead and there would be no advantage in it for him to raise a fuss. In a situation like that, it's not as if it was an inter-Syndeo dispute or anything..." The hunter eyed the noble coolly. This side of politics, Zero understood quite well. The Hunter's Association's rules were accepted and followed by the vampire community, not so much out of fear of the hunters themselves, as because any group which struck against them would be quickly and ruthlessly put down by their peers in order to keep the peace.

The current hunter and vampire truce lasted only as long as the status quo was maintained. Until the majority of the vampire population should decide that war was again preferable, they knew they had to at least keep up the facade of patrolling their own in order to keep things from descending into chaos again. The Council of Elders held considerable power, and they did not currently want war. Therefore, everyone else continued to tow the line.

It cut both ways, since the Hunter's Association also had to be mindful of not pushing too hard and provoking an incident, but given the rather large carte blanche they generally had to work with under the accord that had been set up several centuries back, it was not usually a problem.

Zero knew that what he was suggesting was not nearly as easy as he made it sound. The lists could be and had been tampered with or unduly influenced before course, but it took a lot of doing and carried an automatic death sentence if you were caught and convicted. It was also highly unethical for hunters to trade on their status to exact bribery or favors from the vampire population - which didn't mean that it didn't happen, but like police officers on the take, it was still a corrupt and frowned upon offence.

But Zero had no intention of actually doing any of what he was implying. Heck... he wasn't even threatening the guy, was he? He was just filling him in on some interesting facts about hunters along with some theoretical scenarios to illustrate them. Conscious that he was dealing with a lawyer, he was careful to keep it all on a hypothetical level. If the blood sucker chose to let his imagination get away with him and read more into the conversation... well that wasn't his fault, now was it?

The other vampire looked livid, but his face had drained of color. Apparently he was quite aware that his Syndeo head would easily sacrifice him and his before stirring up trouble with the Association. This Laroche may be willing to protect them in a matter of what he considered to be simple business for the sake of whatever ties he had with Orion, but in the end, Zero knew that those parasites thought only of themselves. Laroche wasn't going to stick his neck out for something that ultimately only benefited someone else. He didn't want a war with Kaname anymore than the pureblood did; messing with a Kuran was not something to enter into lightly. The fact that Kaname didn't want one either and could afford it less balanced the scales, but in the "theoretical" situation that Zero was proposing, Kaname's involvement would be completely impossible to prove.

"Of course, if you and Girard were to meet untimely ends, I'm sure they'd just send in replacements," Zero shrugged again, continuing in the same, calm tones. "It wouldn't make a difference to the court case. But you know, it might make a difference to you. Of course if, on the other hand, Kuran's attorneys were to suddenly find some compelling and irrefutable evidence that your case is a complete sham... well, that wouldn't be your fault, now would it? I'm sure you're excellent at shifting the blame. Everybody could go home happy." Zero gave his gun another polishing swipe and pushed it back into his jacket. He could hear footsteps, far away on the other side of the house and he recognized Haru's scent, it was time to end this before the other hunter's search led him here. Zero had done all he could. He'd played his hand, now it was up to Khang and Girard on whether to call his bluff or fold.

If those two bastards pressed on though and if they cost Kaname control of Mission Oil through their deception and betrayal, if they were the reason that Kaname had to submit himself to some low-life cheating bastard... Zero really would find a way to kill them. They already deserved it for tonight, and that would be the final nail in their coffin. His eyes spoke that truth so clearly that it left no room for Khang to doubt him and his sincerity.

"Just something to think about. Have a good night and enjoy your stay." Zero's voice dripped sarcasm as he turned and walked away without waiting for a response. Khang was only a lackey in the grand scheme of things; Zero suspected that Girard would make the final call, but Khang was the one who would have to convince him. Engaging his survival instinct was what would get the ball rolling. Zero could only hope that that had been accomplished. Tomorrow would tell. It might all have been for naught, but it was worth a shot.

Zero met Haru around the house on the other side of the gardens and both confirmed that their searches had come up clear for any more Level E's on the property. Zero hung around for a while to assist with the clean up. It took several hours for all the survivors to be accounted for and for their memories to be systematically erased or altered until they all believed that it was a group of thieves with vicious dogs who had broken into the nightclub to rob the wealthy patrons. Then the dogs had gotten loose and things had gone horribly wrong.

Dealing with the bodies, the follow up investigations and the inevitably necessary paper trail were other people's responsibilities. Once his part was done Zero gathered his gear, removed his tag from the doorpost and walked back to his bike.

As he mounted the motorcycle and revved the engine to life, he had many things going through his mind. The victims, the E's, Khang... he found that he couldn't manage to feel guilty over the slight abuse of his position as a hunter that he'd perpetrated. He was normally quite scrupulous about such things, but Khang and Girard didn't deserve his pity. They were scum who used people and wrecked lives without concern. If he could make them squirm and help Kaname at the same time, he didn't see a problem with that. Maybe it was the vampire inside him that thought that, but right now Zero was so pissed over everything that he didn't care.

The cool wind whipped his hair about his face as he rode back towards home, almost managing to hide the scent of death clinging to him.

Zero entered the house quietly and headed immediately for the stairs. He sensed that Kaname was probably up here somewhere, but hoped he wouldn't run into him right away. The hunter knew he smelled of sweat, blood and death. He would feel very wrong, embracing Kaname with the blood and dust of dead vampire still clinging to his clothes and skin. He'd done what had to be done, and felt no regret over it, but for him "bringing his work home" was something that he generally tried to avoid as much as possible.

Zero used the hall door to let himself quickly into his bathroom. He locked the door, shed his clothing, stuffed it down into the hamper and stepped swiftly into the shower. Zero turned his face towards the spray and breathed slowly. The hot water and cleansing steam felt good as it attempted to wash away the past few hours.

Kaname knew Zero had returned from the moment his sharp hearing picked up the growl of the young hunter's bike coming up the drive. It was tempting to go down to meet him, but Kaname stayed where he was. He knew that Zero preferred to have a little space when he initially returned from a hunt. He also wasn't sure whether Zero was still angry with him, or what kind of mood he'd be in now.

Kaname had learned that for some reason, Zero was usually either deliciously amorous and aggressive or unreasonably irritable and truculent upon returning from a hunt. If it was the former, then Kaname tried to make sure he was available because he loved Zero like that. If it was the latter however, the pureblood generally tried to give him a wide berth until the mood passed. Zero excelled at being irritating when he wanted to be.

Once he heard the sound of a door shutting elsewhere in the house, the pureblood closed his laptop and slid out of the chair he'd been occupying. He quietly made his way down the hall and let himself into his lover's bedroom. As he'd expected, he heard the shower running in the bathroom. He smelled blood mixed with the water, but it wasn't Zero's blood.

Kaname sat down on the edge of the bed. He had also showered, but that was much earlier and his hair was dry by now. The silk burgundy robe he wore clung lightly to his body, contrasting with his pale skin. Tonight he figured it didn't much matter whether Zero was interested, irritated or indifferent. He needed to be near him. He was somewhat afraid of being near him after what had happened today, but he knew this was where he needed to be. Both because of his own need to be close to the ex-human, and because he felt like he owed it to Zero. He'd been unfair to Zero in many ways lately, and he wanted to make it up to him.

If Zero told him to leave, he would go, but if Zero let him stay, Kaname would give him anything. He didn't want to admit how much he'd worried while the hunter was gone. A dozen times he'd almost followed him or at least called Siren, but he knew that the last thing he needed to do was give his lover more reasons to be furious with him. He'd attempted to distract himself with work, but it had still felt like a slow kind of torture.

It was a relief now to just sit on Zero's bed and feel his presence in the next room. To know that in a few minutes he'd see him come through the door. Kaname couldn't lose him. He could face anything but that.

Really? Can you really face anything else? Then why is it you still hide from your own past? Kaname frowned slightly as the question fingered uneasily through his mind. He'd had far too much time to think about such things alone in the big house this evening with nothing but his stymied business endeavors to distract him.

His fingers absently caressed the small object in his pocket. He'd been carrying it with him a lot lately, indicating his silent unease with the choices he'd made in the past. Kaname pulled the small cube out of his pocket and turned it over slowly in his hands, looking through rather than at it, as if it were a window to the past. A window he wasn't sure he wanted to open. The cube itself was nothing special, just a square of lead crystal, deceptively heavy in his palm considering its small size. It was only a key of sorts. The lock and the power to turn the key lay inside the pureblood himself.

Should he use it? Kaname slowly spun the cube between his fingers, the transparent crystal glittering dully in the dim light. Maybe he should. Maybe it was the fear of what lay unknown that was worse than what he actually did remember. Maybe it would be easier if he just got it all out in the open. Maybe... maybe he could find the courage to tell Zero the whole, horrible, sordid affair if he could be really sure he was giving him the whole truth and there wasn't some nasty surprise that was going to come up and smack him in the face later.

Kaname reasoned that he was older now and stronger. It was all so long ago; surely he could deal with the memories in a clear-headed, clinical manner now. Maybe. How could he be sure? How could he be certain of the result when he didn't really know what lay behind the locked doors?

He did know though, didn't he? He'd not been a complete fool, knowing the danger of indulging in complete forgetfulness and denial. After all, those who did not remember the past were oft doomed to repeat it. He'd left himself with more than enough memories to know what had happened... at least, up to a point. It was just the details he hadn't needed... right? Or was there something other than just more of the same beyond the point where his memory blanked out? He couldn't be sure. Once, he had been, but now... after his dreams and the disturbing flashbacks he was having... now he wondered. He wondered what he had done and if there was a reason he had not let himself remember. The answers to those questions remained just beyond his reach, trapped in the prism.

Instinctively, it bothered Kaname to think there might be information about an opponent that he should know and didn't, but then again... it might give said opponent a leg up if he was weighted down with painful details that he had obviously felt the need to lock away in the past. But it was a young teenage boy, little more than a child who had needed to lock away those memories. He could handle it now, surely... why was he so afraid?

In the shower, Zero could sense that Kaname had entered his room. He found himself smiling slightly under the hot water. His lover could be so predictable sometimes. He liked to come into the other room when Zero was showering and wait for him on the bed. On more than one occasion, he had exited the shower to find the pureblood completely naked, lounging on his coverlet and waiting for him. It was far too easy to remember what it felt like as he slid onto the bed, over his lover, Kaname's flesh warm beneath his and Zero gave a rueful smile as he found himself reacting quite strongly to those thoughts. Perhaps it was twisted, but it wasn't unusual for him to be easily aroused after a hunt. It probably had to do with the leftover adrenaline and the way his hunter and vampire natures had merged when it came to carrying out his duties. He never wanted to enjoy what he did... but he could not deny that the danger of it, if nothing else, was quite a rush.

He soaped himself a little more firmly, resisting the urge to touch himself which would only feed the fire. Kaname had been kind of a flake lately, so Zero wasn't sure what to expect. Usually though, if his lover came to his room after they'd been fighting, it was with the intent of engaging in make-up sex. The sweetly devious pureblood knew that if Zero accepted, it meant the fight was really over. Just at the moment, Zero was not feeling adverse to making that kind of treaty. With everything that had happened, it seemed like their arguments had happened yesterday instead of only that morning. He wasn't upset anymore, too much had happened and he found that his desire to be with Kaname was definitely outweighing any need to stay angry.

It was a crappy situation that they had found themselves in over this whole Orion and Mission Oil deal, but it was one that they would face together, and Zero already felt better for at least having had an opportunity to try to do something to help.

Kaname was still distracted by his inner quandaries, but managed to hear Zero exiting the bathroom in time to quickly slip the cube back into the pocket of his robe as the hunter entered, towels around his neck and waist, his hair freshly damp from the shower.

Zero noticed the move, but didn't think much about it; it was Kaname's thoughtful expression that caught his attention. The pureblood didn't exactly look like he wanted to make out, which was slightly disappointing, but he didn't let that show. Instead, he turned a questioning look upon his lover as he pulled the towel from his shoulders and dropped it onto the back of a chair. "Something wrong?" he inquired quietly.

Kaname shook his head as his gaze turned towards the other boy, a little relieved that Zero hadn't objected or even reacted to his presence inside the hunter's sanctuary. "Not particularly, I was just thinking." It wasn't really a lie. Still, Zero wasn't totally convinced.

"Oh, what about?" the hunter held the towel around his waist with one hand while digging in his dresser drawer for his pajamas with the other. He was pretty well past the point of feeling self conscious about changing clothes in front of his lover. They had seen and explored just about every inch of one another many times by now. Zero's warm, relaxed body felt a tingly surge of renewed interest as that thought led to some rather erotic memories of just how thoroughly he knew the pureblood's body, inside and out.

Kaname shrugged, hands sliding into his pockets as he watched Zero drop the towel and change into a pair of loose silk boxers with quietly rapt attention. Zero kept his back to him, but his gaze slid across the lean, muscular shape of Zero's back, butt and thighs and the strong, graceful curves of his hips. It was definitely a good way to take his mind off the issues that troubled him. His fingers played silently with the cube in his pocket.

"I was thinking of Pandora, actually," the pureblood admitted, telling part of the truth. He was watching his lover closely, trying to gauge if he was still in the dog house or not. Zero was acting almost disturbingly normal and Kaname wasn't sure what to make of it. Them being able to make small talk like this had to be a good sign, right?

When Zero turned around, his loose boxers could not hide that he was feeling at least a little aroused. The sight made Kaname's gut quiver both from desire and apprehension. The first he embraced, the second he tried to kick away scornfully. That was a good sign too, wasn't it?

Zero's eyebrows went up. He considered and then decided to dispense with wearing a t-shirt to bed. It was a warm night and the boxers were enough. He looked back towards Kaname as he shut the dresser drawer. Actually... he kind of felt himself hoping that he wasn't going to be in the boxers very long. He wanted to be with the pureblood, wanted to focus on the beautiful, strong yet soft body that he knew was hidden under the robe and to forget all about torn and broken bodies or ones that turned into dust. He wasn't sure whether Kaname was going to be game though, and he wasn't ready to be taken again so soon after this morning, so he bided his time.

"Pandora? You mean as in Pandora's Box, Pandora? Or somebody else by the same name?" he inquired, wondering if anyone would really be mean enough to name their child after such a well known ancient cautionary tale. He wouldn't put it past a vampire though, he supposed. "Because if you're sitting here at this hour, pondering Greek mythology, it's no wonder you look like you've got a headache." Crossing back to the bed, Zero dropped down onto it next to Kaname. He sprawled carelessly on his back and stretched the kinks out of his spine, letting his tired muscles relax. It had been a really long day. Oddly enough though, he wasn't tired. The almost jittery left over energy and adrenaline from the hunt had him thinking about things other than sleep.

Kaname grinned wryly, his gaze tracking Zero. He turned to sit sideways as Zero dropped down next to him. "Yes, I mean that Pandora," he asserted, enjoying the soothing effect of their light conversation and the fact that Zero apparently seemed to have forgiven him. Subtle wasn't Zero's thing, it would have been obvious if he was still angry or in a bad mood. Kaname actually liked that transparency about his lover. "She was given a box with dreadful things inside, and she opened it. Do you think it was weakness, as is usually supposed, that prompted her actions? Or was it actually strength because she thought she could face what was inside?" the pureblood mused aloud, his gaze going somewhat distant as they slid thoughtfully to the wall.

Zero's eyes narrowed slightly as his gaze rested on Kaname. He didn't know why, but he felt like this wasn't a random conversation at all. Drat Kaname and his bizarre subtlety... "I always thought it was curiosity. Wasn't that the whole gist of the story?" He pointed out. "Curiosity killed the cat and all that? I mean, Pandora didn't know what was in the box, wasn't that the whole problem?" Zero was a little hazy on the details to be honest, but he was fairly sure that was the case.

Kaname nodded slowly. "True, she didn't know," he conceded, admitting that the analogy was not perfect... or maybe it was. "But if she had... or if she had at least guessed... would it have taken courage, or stupidity to lift the lid, I wonder?"

"Personally, I'm going with stupidity. Kaname... what's all this about?" Zero asked softly, leaning up on one elbow with a concerned look.

Kaname smiled easily and shrugged, lying much more convincingly this time. "About? It's about Pandora. You asked what I was thinking and I told you. Don't blame me if the answer is over your head." The small bit of taunt in the last comment made Zero's eyebrows rise skeptically again.

The hunter smirked, shaking his head in amused disbelief. "Some things deserve to be missed," he retorted. "Kaname, I swear I will never understand how your mind works." Actually, Zero thought he could make some pretty good guesses. After the revelations in the car earlier, he thought Kaname was making veiled reference to the possible Pandora's Box of continuing to pursue whatever may lie behind Yuki's death. He knew the pureblood had always blamed himself for that and possibly finding confirmation that he had indeed been the reason someone wanted her dead was going to dig into old wounds. Zero didn't want to go there right now, or to try to figure out how he felt about it all, so he happily feigned ignorance.

Leaning up, he curled a hand in Kaname's burgundy robe, pulling the pureblood down towards him and stealing a slow kiss. "How about forgetting the Greeks for a little while?" he murmured somewhat suggestively.

Kaname was only too happy to agree, melting almost immediately into Zero's kiss and feeling warmth thread strongly through him. The pureblood's hands ran worshipfully up his lover's sides. "Does this mean... you're not angry with me anymore?" he asked softly, the hesitant light of hope in his aching gaze irresistibly compelling.

Zero gave him a small smile, promising smile. "Not necessarily... I think I ought to punish you, what do you think?" The playful tenderness in his heated gaze prevented any possible misinterpretation of his meaning. Obviously, he wasn't angry.

As intended, Zero felt Kaname's whole body tremble against him and the pureblood's dark eyes turned black with desire. Kaname was funny that way. Zero had discovered that his lover really liked it when he talked to him in that manner.

Kaname's breath escaped him in a soft, excited exhalation that brushed warmly against Zero's cheek due to their proximity. "Yes, Zero... yes, I think you should," he murmured huskily.

Zero kissed his way slowly across Kaname's jaw and down the side of his neck. "Tsk, you should be careful what you wish for, you know." He nipped the sensitive skin at the base of the pureblood's throat and Kaname jerked against him with a very attractive little gasp. "After all, I so owe you for that whole restroom fiasco earlier..." The hunter's smile turned momentarily devilish.

Kaname chuckled, returning the hunter's soft, hungry kisses as Zero tugged him down until he was almost laying spread atop the younger man, Zero's strong hands caressing and cupping his rear through the pureblood's silky robe with passionate possessiveness. "Whatever you say, Zero," he murmured, hands resting on either side of Zero's head as he softly parted his lips and took his lover's warm, probing tongue into his mouth, allowing himself to be claimed.