FicWad

Haha I know this has nothing to do with this chapter, but I just edited the first one and Ficwad was being snarky with me. It literally told me "Richard Nixon could not have updated that story any more than you have." Had to share. Go on now, keep reading!

Pete slowly woke up, but he could barely move because of the pain shooting through his body.

"Patrick, why am I on the floor again?" he muttered, his face pressed against the cold cement.

Patrick didn't answer, but Pete could hear Andy and Joe calling for him.

"He's awake, be careful," he heard Joe say.

"Damnit, don't act like I can't hear you," Pete said loudly.

He opened his eyes and got up with a grimace. The room remained blurry until he focused and almost gasped. He was standing in a holding cell, and the guys were staring at him like he was a lab rat. Just as he looked at Patrick, the memories of last night came flooding back.

"Don't be scared," Patrick tried to comfort him through the glass.

His fingers explored his fangs, but he shouted, "What the hell do you mean, 'don't be scared'?! I'm a fucking vampire!"

"Pete, we'll get Beckett--"

"Damn right we are! Do you think I'm gonna stand here and..." his words trailed away.

A few moments of embarrassed and uncomfortable silence passed. Though Pete had just been Awakened, he could feel his new abilities creep up on him. He knew for a fact that all of them were completely scared, but Patrick seemed more anxious and worried than the others.

"We want to let you out, we really do, but it's just--"

"You know, I'm not a complete idiot, I know. Just...trust me."

Andy gave the other two an uneasy look, but Patrick nodded.

"But you have to understand...if you completely...turn, we have to put you back in," Patrick said.

"Of course," Pete said softly, wondering why they hadn't staked him already.
He might as well be dead.

Patrick opened the door but he was prepared for anything Pete could throw at him...almost anything but fully accepting Pete's fate as a vampire. Pete walked out and toward the main lab, lost in his thoughts. His head was exploding with pain, his disillusioned hopes floated around his head, and the intense need to feed was driving him crazy.

"Are you...uh, hungry at all?" Joe asked.

"Relax, I'm not going to devour you," Pete answered, rubbing his head, not entirely sure he spoke the truth.

"Well, I'm trying to figure out what we can give you to eat so you won't...feed," Patrick said sheepishly.

"Yeah, so I won't go on a crazy rampage," Pete muttered angrily.

Patrick looked over his shoulder and glanced at the other two, who nodded and left to another part of the hideout.

"We know it's not you," Patrick said softly, patting Pete.

"Don't worry too much, Angel from Buffy the Vampire Slayer taught me how to eat," Pete snapped.

Patrick sighed. "That's not--"

Pete stopped in the middle of the main lab and raised his arm to stop Patrick as well. If he still had a beating heart, Pete had no doubt it would have stopped. Gwen was huddled underneath a small blanket on the couch, sleeping fitfully.

Enraged, Pete grabbed Patrick by the collar and pulled him into the nearest filing room.

"Why the fuck is Gwen here?" he hissed.

"Dude, I don't know. I swear, it was like she knew you needed her or something, she just showed up last night without any warning. I had to let her in...she looked so scared that I thought Beckett found out about her."

Pete felt his knees go weak. He didn't know, how was he supposed to know? During one of the more painful fits of the second day of his Awakening, Pete had practically screamed her name in his mind. He needed her so badly, but he didn't know he'd actually be able to Summon her.

"Patrick, she can't be here. What if I...what if I lose control? I can't lose her to them too!"

Now Patrick grabbed Pete by the collar of his jacket and pulled his face close to his. "You can do this. I won't let you turn, and neither will she! You love her too much to hurt her."

Pete gaped at him and muttered, "Am I that obvious?"

Patrick rolled his eyes. "Look, I know you started hunting because of her but now you're hunting for Gwen. You want her to be safe..."

He continued talking, but Pete felt himself staring at Patrick's neck, the supple skin gracing it practically calling him. He wondered what it'd be like to taste his skin, his pain, his fear...

"Get away!" Pete shouted, pushing Patrick away and doubling over on the floor. For a moment, he told himself to breath, but then, his lungs didn't work anymore, oh God, why was he having these thoughts?

"Andy! Joe!" Patrick yelled out, coming to Pete side.

Immense pain ripped through Pete's stomach, but he fought it, fought the urge to grab Patrick and suck him dry. Somehow the guys managed to lock Pete back in the cell without getting bitten.

"Patrick. Make...me that shake...I told you about. With lots of...garlic, rosemary, all that stuff..."

He didn't hesitate at the oddness of Pete's words. His best friend was dying, slowly and horribly--how could he refuse him? Patrick quickly turned to run to do as Pete asked, but he bumped into Gwen. He gave her an apologetic look, but she didn't notice him leave.

Once again she stared at the broken, crumpled figure on the cold floor of the cell. He didn't notice her at first, the pain was too much for him to handle. A scream escaped his lips, the fear evident in his eyes. He gasped, writhing but finally seeing her.

"Pete," she whispered, letting go a sob distressing enough to break his heart.

"Gwen,” he answered, unable to say more but saying everything with that one word.

Patrick returned with a large container filled up with a ruby mixture, his fingers shaking as he slipped it into the small door in the wall of the cell. Pete's stomach felt as though it would burst; he never felt this hungry before, even after a brutally long concert. He jumped across the cell, tore open the container, and downed the liquid.

Gwen shrieked, but Patrick turned her away and shielded her. Seeing a vampire feed was frightening enough, but seeing the man you loved for two years absolutely gulp down blood was something else. Her anguished sobs scared Patrick. He knew exactly how she felt, yet he knew he didn't have the option of falling to pieces. But what really scared him was the reality her tears threw at him. Patrick could pretend all he wanted, but his best friend was now a vampire.

"Gwen," a weary voice breathed.

She raised her head to see that Pete had gotten up and was staring at her, very close to the glass. Gwen let out a strangled cry and stepped toward the tortured Pete.

"Is it really you now?"

Pete nodded, his eyes pleading with her. Those eyes weren't the same ones she loved for years--they held none of the warmth she knew. But she still clutched at the hope that her Peter Rabbit hadn't disappeared, gone, and forever replaced by some ruthless vampire.

She reached for the door, but Patrick pulled her back. "There's no way in hell you're opening that door."

Gwen glared at him furiously. "Patrick, it's Pete. He's not an animal! You of all people should know that."

Ouch. She hit him where she knew he'd buckle. Sometimes Patrick felt like Pete was all he had in the world, and to accuse him of betraying Pete was more than Patrick could handle.

Gwen slowly opened the latches on the door, slipping in the cell only when she knew the door would close securely behind her. She trembled horribly, staring at Pete from where she stood.

She was so wrapped up in her emotions that she didn't see Patrick nervously pick up a gun outside.

With a whimper, she ran to Pete, throwing her arms around him and breathing him in. Though it had only been three days since she'd seen him, Gwen knew too much changed everything. Pete was so distant...the warm, comforting sound of his heart beating was no more.

"I'm so sorry," he murmured.
They crumpled to the ground together, her body cradled in his.

"How could this happen? To you, to us?" she said, beginning to cry again. This time Pete joined her.

"It was the Dandies, I swear there were only five of them, we could always destroy them, why didn't when then? But...Beckett, he...I'm so sorry, so sorry," he choked out.

"I told you! I warned you! But you never listened to me!" she yelled, sitting up and looking at him.

"I've made such stupid mistakes, Patrick warned me we'd slayed enough, But I couldn't...I'm sorry," he said, bringing her back toward his body and rocking her back and forth.

Gwen let out a pitiful sob, loud enough to make Patrick step forward. She breathed heavily into Pete's neck, her head sinking into his shoulder.

She whispered something into his skin.

Pete immediately jerked his head up. "What?"
He raised her trembling chin so he could see her eyes, but she tore herself from him. Patrick ripped open the door--she ran through, tears still running down her face. Pete tried to follow, but the door was already locked.

"Gwen. Gwen!" he shouted, banging the window.

Pete let out a yell, throwing the chair at the wall. He turned, his back sliding against the glass until he hit the ground.

Patrick didn’t need to know why Pete was so hurt, and yet as she ran by him he could hear the garbled and twisted words like a resounding echo.