FicWad

That evening, once everyone was awake, Joe had gone over the recording with the other three hunters, frowning once more at how scared James was. He had spoken to James not too long after the initial phone call so he knew their supplier was still doing just fine, but the rest of the message presented an issue. Pete was enraged at the thought of William going after his younger brother, who he hadn't seen since he lost his normal life. As far as the Wentz family was concerned, Pete was either dead or had disappeared and just never came back. Which left the current discussion to be not much of one; they would meet up with William.

Pete was willing to go to any length to save his brother as long as he didn't come in contact with him and throw off the story of him being gone. Even if it tug at his heart to think of his lost family. The conversation was turning heated since Pete was determined to go after William alone and simply kill him, but Patrick and Joe were arguing with him, trying to help him see it was stupid to do so. Andy's brown eyes were watching the whole affair unfold as he listened to the conversation, waiting for the right moment to speak his own mind and hopefully keep Pete from being stupid.

"I can take him alone Patrick!" Pete exclaimed as he slammed his fist on the table, leaving an imprint in the marble. "I don't need your help with this!"

"Like how you could take him alone when we were in the middle of the brawl I got turned in!?" Patrick snapped as he stood up from his chair to glare down at Pete, who flinched at the reminder. "You're not going after him alone because you and I both know he won't be alone!"

"You honestly think William would go somewhere alone?" Joe questioned, frowning at his friend. "He always has at least two to three guards with him, and he's just going to leave them behind to meet with you face-to-face? Come on, Pete, you're smarter than that."

"Joe's right," Andy spoke up, startling the other three with his sudden entry into the conversation. When Pete looked at him, Andy offered him a smile. "You are smarter than this Pete," he continued with his voice calm and collected. "If you go after William alone, you run the risk of being either killed or captured, and if you're alone we won't know what happened to you unless you return harmed or unharmed."

Pete flexed his jaw muscle as he looked at his friend, who wasn't trying to challenge his already hot temper like the other two. Sure he was saying the same thing as them, but Andy knew how to handle him better than anyone else. He always had.

"We all know you want to protect Andrew, I want to protect my old friend too, but we have to figure out the best way to do this." Andy looked at Patrick who had been stunned into silence by Pete allowing Andy to talk to him at this point. "Sit down Patrick..." When Patrick had sat down, Andy looked to Joe. "When did he want to meet us?"

"The messenger said tonight, to the woods outside of the city," Joe answered. "He didn't say anyone in particular, he said 'you and your friends'."

"Which tells me all of us, and William wouldn't plan to face the four of us alone," Andy said as he looked at Pete, who was slowly calming down more. "He'll have protection with him Pete, not in the form of weapons, but muscle. I know you want to take him down, you've every right to want to do so, but if there's a danger to us that he knows of, we should hear him out." When Pete opened his mouth, Andy held up a hand to signal for a moment more of silence, which Pete gave him even though he was fired back up. "I know it's a danger to him to, and I hate to help the disgusting bastard, but if what he says is true then it protects us as well."

Patrick and Joe looked to Pete, who looked down at his hands as he folded them on the table. Andy was right, and Pete hated to admit it, but it was going to be difficult for him to let his friends be around the man he was bound and determined to kill. If William were to hury any of his friends, he wasn't sure how he would react. And, if this all turned out to be a trap he would never forgive himself for letting any danger come to his friends. He looked up at Andy, who was calmly staring back at him and let out a deep sigh.

"If what you're saying is right then I want to have reinforcements to back us up," Pete said slowly. "I know it's short notice, but I think we need to call Gabe and see if he can loan us some long distance support that can hang back and wait for some kind of signal from us as to whether or not to move in and help."

Andy nodded and gave his friend a smile as he reached over and put his arm on his shoulder. "Go call Gabe, and while you do that Patrick, Joe and I will work on getting geered up, okay? We won't even be discreet about what we have on us when we get there, so he can see not to mess with us if it will make you feel better."

"It will..."

The three watched as Pete got up and left the room before the two turned their attention on Andy. "I'll never understand how you get through to him," Joe said with a shake of his head as they all stood and left he meeting room, migrating to the armory together.

- - - - -

It was quite easy for Patrick and Pete to find William Beckett, following his scent to his location in a clearing, and the four hunters were surprised to see that he was indeed alone as he had said he would be. He regarded the four with calm eyes but Andy noticed he had tensed since they came to stand in the large clearing with him. Andy was just as tense even though he gave the same calm facade as William. The four had their weapons within easy reach, and Willliam's eyes were doing an inventory of their arsenal; though they had weapons also hidden in and under clothing.

"So you chose to hear me out, Peter?" William's purring voice pierced the silence as he spoke, his eyes dancing to the young vampire.

Pete drew his lips back in a low snarl that exposed his fangs. "Don't call me Peter," he growled. "I go by Pete, not Peter, and yes, we chose to hear what you had to say. If there's a danger to us we would like to get rid of it; even if we are a bit confused as to why you would tell us about it."

"It's simple really," William said with a smile as he snapped his fingers and several Dandies slid into the clearing from their hiding spots, surrounding the group. They formed a semi-loose circle around the men, eying them as if they were dinner. As they closed in, but didn't yet attack, the four didn't take any risks and quickly drew their own weapons, ready to defend themselves as best they could in the out-numbered fight. William's voice cut through the sudden air of tension. "What's threatening you,," he said as he moved to the dandy closest to him, "is also a threat to me."

"Why should we believe anything you have to say now?" Pete snapped as he narrowed his eyes at William. "You said you would be alone, and this is definitely not alone. Anything you say could just be more lies."

William nodded as he toyed with a lock of hair on the head of the Dandy he had approached. "And I understand your lack of trust," William said as he looked to Pete, "but look through my eyes, will you? We are enemies, that much is painfully clear to me. I knew that if you and your group did show, then me being alone... Well I wouldn't be very safe, would I? Your weapons are as much for your protection as my men are for my protection. And, notice how they don't advance? I merely wanted to make you as aware of my protection, as you had made sure I was of yours. They won't attack unless you do. Now, do you plan on listening, or attacking me?"

When no one answered at first, it was Patrick who stepped forward. "We'll hear you out, William," he stated calmly, "but we will decide when you're done, where we go from there."

"Thank you Patrick," William said with a brief nod of his head. "Now, there appears to be a new creature lurking about Chicago, that doesn't mind attacking vampires. How it is to the humans I don't know nor do I give a damn, but what I do care about is the fact that a few of my men have been killed."

As William continued to talk, Andy only paid half-attention since they already knew what we would say; any theatrics he added in past more than one of his Dandies being killed, didn't matter.

So the story Gabe told us was true, Andy thought as he kept his ears trained beyond William's droning words, listening for any signs of attack from the men surrounding him and his friends. There was a woman who killed one of William's Dandies. His lips twitched in the barest hint of a frown as he noticed he was hearing a faint, alternating buzz. From time to time it stopped before continuing again, and it was starting to grow a little louder as Andy focused on it.

...hate that I need their help...

Andy tensed, his fingers flexing on his taser rod as he tried to calm himself and force William out of his head. But as he searched his mind, he realized he hadn't felt the vampire probing, but he had only heard him in his head. He also realized that the buzzing had renewed the minute he had lost his focus on it. Even though he was confused as to what had just happened, he focused on the buzzing again, making it grow louder, more clear once more.

...could die instead of my men!

"So will you help?" William questioned, snapping Andy out of his stupor.

"Why should we help?" Joe questioned, his eye boring into William as his finger flexed on the trigger of the net gun he held in his hand. The net inside had the newest addition of having been soaked in liquid mercury and left to dry before being put in the gun. The dried mercury would paralyze any vampire inside until it could be killed. It was Joe's new favorite item of theirs.

"Ah yes, the most important part of this meeting," William mused, his lips pulling into a brilliant smile. "If you help me in ridding myself of this creature, I give you my word that my coven will no longer seek out you, your group, or any loved ones associated. Should any be stumbled across, they will be left alone, as if they weren't there to begin with. And just to show how much gratitude I would feel, I'll sweeten the pot for you boys." He stopped here to look down at the bug that had flown into his chest and stayed on his jacket, where it was promptly flicked away. William turned his eyes to Pete. "We'll move our hunting grounds away from Chicago. We will still live here since I originate from here, but we will no longer hunt here."

"And if we run across your men by chance?" Pete questioned.

"Then announce yourself and my men will vacate the area immediately," William answered, smiling as he eyed Pete.

"And you, yourself, will stop pursuing me?"

William gave a soft sigh, and when he spoke his voice was filled with longing. "As much as I would love to have you as my second-in-command, I do value my coven more than you. Yes, Pete, I will stop pursuing you."

"How long do we have to decide?"

"The sooner I have an answer, the better."

"And if you go back on your word?" Patrick spoke up, causing William's brown eyes to shift from Pete to Patrick in slight irritation.

"Then our truce will have been broken, wouldn't it?" William answered, his tone showing he thought Patrick shouldn't of had to ask such a thing. "We'll both be rid of the creature still, but things between us would just go back to the way they have been." Not like you might even survive an encounter with this woman, he mused in his thoughts, which Andy was startled to know he had heard them again.

"Then what's our incentive to help you?" Patrick questioned, making it clear he was not impressed with what William had to say so far.

"Surely you like the idea of me leaving you and your friends alone?"

"Not having you to worry about would be nice but if we have to consider you going back on your word, what, I ask again, is our incentive?"

William's eyes burned with anger his face didn't show. "I did mention the creature is killing vampire, yes?" He challenged. "Forgive me, Patrick, but you're no longer human, neither is Pete. At some point, when you come across it yourself, you could be the target. Do you want, or need, one more threat to your life? Or that of your friends?"

Patrick regarded him with an unreadable expression as he nudged Pete's mind with his own. What do you think? He questioned, his thoughts directed at his friend even though he kept his gaze fixed on William.

We should do it, Pete responded as he watched the Dandies who still stared at them as if they were prey. It would be worth it to try to get them to stop hunting Chicago. One less threat to worry about? Agree to it.

Patrick un-cocked his gun, that was loaded with mercury bullets, and slid it back into its holster before he stepped forward with an extended hand. "We only accept upon handshake," he said as he locked eyed with the vampire.

William's eyes danced with delight as he smiled wide and closed the space between them and took Patrick's hand into his own. "I like your way of taking control," he said as they shook hands. "I give you my word I will hold to our agreement." He let go of Patrick's hand. "Thank you again for coming out here gentlemen. Come along men."

"Wait."

William was caught off guard by Andy's voice, and he turned his attention to him. "Yes, human?"

"If you want our help, you need to find a way to relay any information to us," Andy said, earning a bored look that failed to hide the annoyance that radiated off of William. "The more information we have, the sooner we can kill the creature. Wouldn't you agree?"

"I'll see to it that a message with all I know gets to you," he agreed. "Anything else?"

"No."

The four watched as William and his Dandies until they were gone, before any of them relaxed. "Gabe?" Patrick called quietly. It was only a moment before the tall, lanky Latin man strolled into the clearing, smiling at his friends.

"Great job looking scared by the band of idiots," Gabe said with a chuckle. "If only they had known how outnumbered they were."

"Thanks for coming," Joe said as Gabe leaned on Pete.

"Eh, my buddies were walking willingly, and knowingly, into a trap," he said as he gave a casual shrug. "I had to be there." He looked at Andy, who was still reeling from having heard the thoughts of William Beckett. "Good call at the end there, Raggedy Andy," he smiled. "He was about to let that go."

Andy, not quite sure what had happened, or how, gave a shrug and smiled at the praise. "He's always trying to be slick about deals, you told us that."

"Let's get you guys home," Gabe said with a glance to the sky, "sun's coming soon, and no one of the undead wants to be around when the sun rises."

[A/N: I wish I knew what you guys were thinking of this story, especially since I have yet to get reviews on it. I really want to know where you guys would like to see it go, or anything you would like to see throw in. I can only know that if you review ^_^]