Sick or Sane?

[Dane]

-3:25 A.M A few miles outside of Rome in a nature reserve.-

"Why thank you. See was that so hard? In hindsight you should have probably told me the location of the den a few hours ago. You would have avoided a lot of pain." Dane reached into one of his pockets to pull out at a handkerchief which with he began wiping his bloody hands. "How rude of you to spill blood on my jacket. I got it just a week ago. Honestly I don't know if I can get rid of the stains." He began removing the article of clothing as he glanced down at his new friend. "You don't look that entertained and here was I thinking we were both having the time of our lives. Oh well... time to carry out my end of the deal. I am a man of my word." Dane smirked as he bent over to grab his revolver, sitting just inches from the restrained hands of his new buddy; a bloody batter lycan tied to a tree with a number of silver needles sticking out of his body. Unfortunately he was still very much alive. “You’re rather fortunate I'm kind enough to grant you the sweet embrace of death. It would save me time if I just left you here to bleed out."

The lycan had tried his best to not amuse the vampire. He'd tried his hardest to not reveal the location of the new den in Rome, but Dane's offer of death was so much more appealing than having a giant silver needle slowly pushed into his heart. "You're a sick bastard." He whispered while his eyes began to water. "There are too many of us." Dane began shaking his head as his prisoner spoke. "Bastard? Technically yes. Sick? I don't think so, but you should know that. Vampires don't get sick... nor did you mean it in the other way? Because, that's a common misconception people seem to have about me. If I weren't sane would I have been able to get all the information I needed out of you? Case and point. Now then. Any last words?"

-5:50 P.M Rome Lycan Den -

The day started off the just like any other for the Lycans in the new Den. There were no signs of trouble and went uneventful. When you're at war with vampires it was rarely the day you had to worry about. It was always the night. Yet, lately there seemed to be little to zero vampire activity in Rome even during the night. They were all but exterminated from the city. With many of the young lycans out in the city and most of the higher ranked officials in Sweden; it was almost understandable that they weren't prepared for the Vampire King crashing through one of the windows in the main hall with guns a blazing. He was armed head to toe, wearing dark combat boots, pants and a vest. In his hands two desert eagles outfitted to shoot silver bullets.

10 minutes was the amount of time Dane gave himself to find Lucia and get out. It was not a co-incidence that the sun would be setting in the same amount of time. Lucia with her sensitivity to the sun could not leave the safety of the den until then. The initial attack caught the lycans off guard. It also left the room Dane currently stood in rather void of life. The four lycans that not a minute ago were sitting around a table conversing were now dead. All he used were four shots; each shot precisely into the head of the lycan. There was little time to stick around. The rest of the den was probably converging on his location. It didn't take a genius to figure out that they were under attack. While he could have easily waited for each lycan to come at him one by one, he preferred to be on the move.

He was quickly on the move. Dashing through the hall ways, shooting down any lycan he encountered. He was simply too quick for them. Even those who were strong enough to transform at will found themselves with a bullet lodged in their skulls. Yet, his ammo would only last so long... and after only three minutes he found himself out of bullets, however, it made almost no difference. Dane was a thousand year old vampire. It would take more than a room full of lycans who were at best a decade old to take him down. Dane had the strength to tear them limb to limb and he wasn't shy about showing it off. The next lycan he encountered (one who seemed to be guarding a stair case heading down) was the first to be introduced to The Vampire King's sheer power. In beast form the werewolf quickly found himself being wrested to the floor only to have his face punched in. Stairs leading down? If Lucia was anywhere she would be beneath ground safe from the sun light.

[Lucia Drusa Severa]

A pain in her throat and mouth woke the girl from a deep sleep to instrumentals of Mozart's Requiem playing on the stereo, to drown out the sounds of the Den above. If she had required breathing to continue living, Lucia would have found swallowing painful. Something tight pulled at the inside of her mouth; it felt like the skin was stretching beyond its capacity. She was so thirsty; unbearably so. Unwittingly, her muscles flexed and her jaw clenched hatefully; something sharp threatened to stab out from under her shoulder blades. How long had it been since she fed?

Looking around the pitch black, stone room, Lucia barred her teeth at nothing, and crawled on hands and knees across the floor to the mini fridge nearby. Cold blood wasn't exactly her ideal meal, but since living in close range with the Werewolves, the Hybrid had been hesitant to take warm blood in front of her companions. That, and being the temporary ruler of the Den in Rome didn't exactly leave the girl a lot of free time; time that was already restricted to the nighttime hours.

While a lot of the occupants in the Werewolf Den of Rome were recently bitten and green, Lucia's mother had summoned two or three senior members of the Pack to aid her. However new to the race they were, though, it didn't take a genius to figure out after at least a week in Rome that Lucia wasn't exactly your typical Werewolf. She had special chambers away from the main area of the Den, located in the basement; and not just for privacy. Though the daughter of the Mother of Lycans, Lucia Drusa Severa was more than just a Lycan. She had her father's blood in her too; and like him, could not withstand the rays of the open sun on her skin. The girl had never seen daylight with her own eyes. She was too young to even go a minute in its burning, hateful glares, and was forced to remain behind dark curtains and stone walls to shield the effects.

Poking holes into the blood pack with her teeth, Lucia rested against the mini fridge, closing her eyes while draining the bag as quickly as a juice box. Not her ideal breakfast, but it would fare. As the last of the blood was drained from the pack, Lucia heard the sounds of conflict rising above the music playing from her speakers. She looked to the ceiling as if seeing through it, and stood carefully. Just great; not even two weeks here and the Den was under assault. But from what?

Grabbing some knives, the Hybrid girl pulled on a bra and a blue summer dress, tying it hastily in the back while making her way up the granite stairs to the main floor. From the very entrance of the staircase, Lucia heard a grunt and a sick, heavy weight drop down a few steps, followed by the lightest of footfalls. Fuck; Alena would not be happy with the body count from her new Den. The sounds of Werewolf defeat did not stop the girl, however, and she climbed the stairs silently, pausing at the corner where the staircase turned upward. She could hear nothing.

Gathering her courage and resolve, Lucia turned quickly, holding tight to knives in each hand to approach the intruder, only to be faced with a familiar visage. The handsome and powerful countenance of the man before her was one she'd known in her youth, a Vampire of some considerable repute in her father's power. He hadn't aged a day, though Lucia surely had grown into a beautiful young woman.

"Dane?" Lucia paused where she was, her arms lowering. Bright red eyes stared back incredulous at the blood-stained Vampire, and the girl's eyes watered slightly. "Why didn't you help him!? You were his friend!" She ran at the man, dropping her knives and pounding her fists into his chest. While she'd felt terrible at the certain death of the Werewolves in the Den, Lucia hurt worse for seeing Dane. From what she'd known, he had been present at the mansion in the United Kingdom when Victor rose against her father, Raven. In the years since she'd trained considerably, but now she felt torn; all the trust she'd had toward Dane when she was young rose again. But he'd been the one to attack her mother's Den now, that was clear, and he hadn't helped her father? "How could you?!"

[Pablo]

-5:00 P.M Rome Lycan Den -

It was going to be a great day. At least that's what Pablo had convinced himself in the morning after waking up. It was back to Italy for him, back to fighting the good fight against his vampire enemies. However, now it would be different. Pablo was no longer another officer with a small squad under his control. He was now the new leader of the den in Rome. After Geoff's 'resignation' Alena decided that Pablo would occupy the position left by the traitor. This was a very exciting time for the young lycan; even though at first Pablo wasn't sure how he felt of the promotion. He never imagined himself as a den leader; instead he imagined he would continue to live contently with his special-ops like role. At first he had every intent to not accept the promotion, but after a while of giving it thought and of course realizing it was a huge honor there was no way he could say no to Alena. Not to mention that he didn't want to offend the pack-mother in any way.

While Pablo had started the day off in Oslo very anxious, by the time he reached Italy he was still very anxious. The flight seemed to do nothing towards calming his nerves. By the time he'd stepped outside of Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport his excitement had peaked. His right hand began to shake while feeling of butterflies rampaging through his stomach overcame him. Oh man do I need to calm down or what? He quickly made his way to a nearby bench and sat down. Pablo began to breathe slowly. What are you doing? You're using to charging right into hordes of vampires with a smirk on your face. How is it that a little responsibility has you shaking like Pete in a snow storm? Man up. "You're right inner voice... I'm mother fucking Pablo. I've killed hundreds if not thousands of vampires. I've leveled buildings to the ground. Having to keep a bunch of lycans in check shouldn't be a problem." He said loud and proudly in reply to his inner monologue, unbeknownst to a few eavesdroppers giving him strange looks. It's a nice day. I think i'll walk...

Pablo's walk to the den was a rather pleasant one. He had cut through a park while the sun was on its way to setting. There was just the slightest breeze that kept him feeling cool. Unfortunately for Pablo the fifty minute walk would be the last pleasant part of his day. While five blocks or so away from the base, Pablo strolled down the side walk to the tune of his cheerful whistle. Both his stroll and whistle came to a simultaneous end as he picked up the unmistakable scent of death. Frozen in his tracks Pablo's face turned a sickly pale. It didn't only smell like death... but lycan death... and lots of it.

[Dane]

As Dane made his way down the granite stairs he paused. There was somebody making their way up it. Was it another foe ready to be laid to rest or was it Lucia? He hesitated to reach for the silver combat knife on his belt. If it was The Wolf Mother's offspring he wished to not appear as a threat. He would take his chances without the blade. Worst case scenario it was another lycan ready to be put to sleep. So he waited, with his arms folded, resting one of his feet on top of the bloody pulp that was once a lycan's head and smirking just the slightest bit.

Dane's eyes lit up as it turned out to indeed be Lucia who was climbing the stairs. "Hello Lucia, it's nice to see you recognize me." Hundreds of thoughts flooded the vampire's brain at that moment. Many of them involved using Lucia to hurt her mother, some were sinister, all were sick.... and yes he had noted that the hybrid was now a very beautiful young woman. After Alena had disrespected him nothing was off limits.

The vampire held his hands away from his body as to show he wasn't armed. "I'm not here to-" Dane had come to Lucia prepared for many things, some of him expected her to be angry, an actual fight would not have surprised him, but he hadn't quite expected this; Lucia dropping her weapons and running at him with what appeared to be tears in her eyes. It was almost disappointing. Never had he imagined that the offspring of the once great Raven to cry. Perhaps it was the werewolf blood in her. At least she wasn't physically weak. He had held his ground as Lucia hit his chest with was the equivalent of a hybrid love tap. None the less he could feel his body recoil.

"I..." He bit his tongue. Dane already knew what he was about to say, but he didn't want to make it seem like he'd prepared an answer. "I couldn't help him. If I tried I wouldn't be standing here right now. Your father died in a duel... If I jumped in well... the body count would have been well above one." For once in his life the vampire was telling the truth. There had been a crowd spectating the fight, if he had tried to stop Viktor they would have torn into him. Through his very long life time Dane had never seen a man brave enough to jump in on a duel to the death. "Believe me; if there was an opportunity to help him I would have taken it..." Now that was a lie. Raven's death in truth hadn't bothered Dane much. At worse he lost a drinking buddy who made for good conversation. Not matter the victor Dane saw the fight as an opportunity to move up in the vampire's ranks. If Viktor died the position of second in command would have been open, if not he knew he was more than capable of defeating a weakened Viktor in a fight over the metaphorical vampire crown.

"I'm here to make things right though. Your father never wanted you to be a weapon... not for either side. This isn't your war to fight." He held out his hand for her to grab. "You're going to leave here with me, if not for yourself... for your father."

[Lucia Drusa Severa]

'He's dead; what's done is done.' For years Lucia had been told that from Werewolves who thought they knew what she was going through. 'There was nothing that you or anyone else could have done.' Close to six years now, those words had been used to try and console the Hybrid, even Szandor had told her to move on; the past cannot be changed. Only her mother had told her it was alright to feel mad and hurt. Though her father was dead, there was always revenge, and Alena had promised to help Lucia take that revenge. Yet... what had her mother done against Victor since then? Little and less.

Raven had tried to bring his daughter up to be a lady in all circumstances, but sometimes the anger and despair were too much to handle. In the last year and a half/two years, Lucia had made progress in leaps and bounds, trying to use her father's memory as a tool to be productive in all her endeavors, rather than a source of rage. But Dane's words struck her hard. She'd come to terms with the fact that there was nothing she could have done to save Raven; she was 11 years old when her father's second in command rose against him, but Dane hadn't been so young and helpless. Looking into the Vampire's face, Lucia believed him; and it stirred a seething anger from nowhere, "No one did anything to stop it..." Her voice was almost a whisper, trembling softly with poorly concealed malice, "The body count should have been higher!" The girl's fists curled into tight balls, her knuckles turning white, but she managed to refrain from adding that Dane should have been included in that count. It was just the anger talking. The little girl in her wanted to take his hand and run away. The Hybrid in her hoped going with Dane might bring her closer to Victor, closer to her vengeance, closer than her mother had gotten. It had been years since Lucia felt like a girl anymore, the Hybrid had carved out what remained to make room for its two dueling aspects.

Taking a slow, deep breath, Lucia counted to herself. For my father... yes. And just like that, the heat left her face and chest, and her thoughts were clear. Extending her hand, the girl held it out to Dane, but paused, leaving her fingers hovering over the man's grasp. "Why wait until now to come for me, Dane?"

[Pablo]

(Co-written by Dane and Pablo)

Breathe in... Breathe out... it will be ok. Pablo ran those words through his head at least a half dozen times. The very simple process of focusing on his own breathing is what kept the lycan from falling apart. As he had rushed through the broken doors of the 'new' den Pablo was greeted by an overwhelming smell of death. To a lycan not all death smelt bad. Sometimes it was pleasant, usually resulting in a fresh meal. However, to lycans or to at least Pablo nothing smelt more nauseating than a dead fellow lycan. The urge to vomit was the least of his problems though. The den had been attacked, it didn't take a genius to realize this, yet Pablo's gut told him the culprit or culprits were still lurking around.

The lycan assured himself vampires were to blame for this; their scent still lingered in the air. What else could massacre a building full of lycans. The thought only troubled him more. The sun was still out, only the most powerful of vampires would be able to assault the den at this time of the day. At that moment Pablo could feel his heart drop. Did he have any hope? Vampires with the strength to resist sun light were few and far in-between. So few that it was less than likely more than two attacked his new home.

"Oh man, this is bad." Pablo said to himself as he stepped into the rec room. Four bodies... all still sitting in their chairs, each one with a bullet wound dead smack in the middle of their foreheads. "They didn't have time to react." The young man bit his lip. What did powerful vampires gain from attacking this den? Massacring pups only to attract more lycans; bigger and stronger ones to Rome? As Pablo turned away from the faces of the corpse he recognized too much the boy bit his lip. Tears began to form in the corner of his eyes. I'm to blame for this. If I wasn't off celebrating their hard-earned victory, we would have stood a chance. No... I can't even believe that lie. I would have been massacred with the rest of them. There's no time to cry Pablo, you can mourn later, it's time to avenge the fallen. Standing upright and sticking his chest out proudly Pablo quickly swiped away what little water formed around his eyes. He knew why a vampire would attack here... If the Queen's daughter was still alive he would save her. With a new sense of resolve Pablo pushed forward and followed the trail of bodies.




Dane still held out his hand, waiting for her to grab hold of it. He needed to know she had his trust. "There are a number of reasons. Sometimes it was your company, sometimes I knew not of your location, and for a while I haven't had a fair enough reason to take you away from your mother. I thought... doesn't a young girl deserve to be with her only living family member? I did not have the right to take you away from her, not until she started to betray your father's wishes. A wish that I’m very sure she was aware of." It was at that moment Dane's ear twitched the slightest bit. Was there another living soul in this building? The vampire turned his head, ready to speak but only to be greeted by a size nine boot to his face. A kick so powerful it sent the vampire King into Lucia and down the stairs. Landing gracefully and now standing in the middle of the narrow stairway was Pablo, his face bearing anger and determination.

One of the many things life as a lycan taught Pablo was how to be unseen and unheard. If he wanted to live a life of solitude he could disappear and never be seen by a living soul again. Sneaking up on a vampire, even one as powerful as this was rather easy. Unlike usual Pablo wouldn't take his time to say something witty or gloat, he had to press the advantage while he still had it. When the vampire crashed down one flight of stairs Pablo was already upon him. Before a few well thrown slugs to the face Pablo picked Dane off of Lucia and hurled him down the other set of stairs into the hybrid's room. "Very sorry, but you need to get out." The lycan offered his apology in the form of a growl.

Pablo quickly darted his way down the staircase into Lucia's room. Finally he had the room to shift, the stairway was far too narrow. However, he was only disheartened to find his enemy standing tall on the opposite side of the spacious room brushing the dirt off of his shoulders with a smirk on his face. "That was fairly impressive, I can say that I haven't been kicked like that in a while. I'm almost eager to see what your true self has to offer." Cautiously Pablo stepped forward while glaring at his adversary. "Don't be too eager. You might never get to see it." Pablo replied back sternly while quickly reaching for the loaded desert eagle hanging out of the back of his pants. He didn't hesitate to unload the mag full of silver bullets upon the vampire menace.

Too call Dane quick was an understatement. While it was natural for a vampire to be very fast, this particular one took it to a whole new level. There was perhaps no being on earth ever that could keep up with the vampire king. It came at the sacrifice of some physical strength, but when you were a thousand years old few beings could match your strength either way. Pablo wide-eyed witnessed the speed first hand. It was almost heroically how Dane managed to avoid every bullet, not to mention the gun Pablo tossed that followed the hail of silver. Then, in almost a blink of the eye Dane's fist became familiar with the lycan's face. Pablo had been hit in the face many times, a good amount of them by lycans, creatures who are regularly stronger than lycans. This... was different though. To Pablo the force was unrivaled, never had a single fist left him sprawled across the floor. However, it wasn't the strength that worried him. It was the speed. He was faster... day he say it... even faster than Pete. This was troublesome, but Pablo was never one to give up anything. This fight is far from over... It's time.

Dane was already again in mid attack. With one hand around the lycan's ankle he effortlessly flung him towards the wall. However, while a small human had left the floor, it was a lycan considered very large by werewolf standards that went flying towards the wall. With his muscular legs, Pablo propelled all ten feet of himself off the wall and forward at Dane. While the sight only made Dane's smirk wider, it resulted with the lycan slamming into the vampire. Both creatures went crashing into the next room; while in mid-flight Pablo managed to wrap his arms around the vampire. Standing upright he held the vampire in a bear hug and began to squeeze with all his might.

[Lucia Drusa Severa]

"I thought... doesn't a young girl deserve to be with her only living family member? I did not have the right to take you away from her..."

Lucia had never wanted to return permanently to her mother's care. She'd been tricked the night her father was murdered, lured out into the gardens by a familiar voice speaking to her mind and the feeling of a mother's gentle affection. Walking through the moon flowers and the dragon fruit flowers, the girl had discovered the source of the voice to belong to a Werewolf named Szandor Colden, whose face she only vaguely remembered from before she moved to London. His scent and voice were all Lucia needed to recall that this Wolf had been close with her mother, and she greeted him pleasantly. "I'm here to return you to your mother, My Lady," he'd said, but hadn't let her say goodbye to her father.

Sure, Lucia had missed her mother, as most kids would. But Chastity, her father's consort in the years leading up to his murder, had been very kind and was suitable for when the girl desired the company of a female or when her father wanted her dressed nicely. Chastity had not, however, been able to offer relevant advice or empathy to a growing Hybrid who's tastes grew more bloody every year and had often seemed resentful toward Lucia, knowing who her mother was.

All of that was irrelevant now. Dane wanted to give Lucia as normal of a childhood as she could have? That possibility had never occurred to the girl before and it struck her as a charming sentiment, she could have kissed him for it. Stepping foreword slightly, Lucia entwined her fingers with the Vampire's...

...And was thrown down the staircase as Dane was kicked, the force slamming the Hybrid in between the stone wall and the current Vampire King. Dust and pebbles fell over Lucia as Dane was pulled off her and thrown the rest of the way down. Blood rushed up, warming the girl's cheeks, and her sight went red. How could she have let someone just sneak up on her like that? She was the daughter of the King of Bats and Queen of Wolves, for Satan's sake, both races known for their keen hearing. Not only that, but she'd been charged to run this damn Den for the time being; who had attacked her? She'd been caught up in other thoughts, but damn it, she should have been able to hear the intruder and warn Dane or at least dodge the move herself. Her embarrassment did not show as profusely as it was felt, but she would make the intruder pay for the slight, whoever it was.

Lucia pulled herself from being slightly embedded in the wall and looked in the direction of Dane and the intruder. It took a moment for the Hybrid's sight to clear, but she could smell them in physical conflict, hear the taunts. As the anger cleared from her sight her eyes narrowed and she jumped down, skipping every step and landing directly in her room. Her skin and bones ached, begging to hurt something, to change into the Hybrid form Lucia had inherited, and her claws flexed, curling into tight fists. Long brown hair tussled slightly and trailed behind her as Lucia darted into the next room where Dane appeared to be engulfed by a massive brown beast. Without a moment's pause, Lucia charged and jumped the beast from behind, grabbing a large tuft of fur, digging claws into the back of the Werewolf's neck with her right hand to pull back the beast's head. Pulling back her left fist, the Hybrid centered her strength and anger into her fist and punched the wolf in the side of the head by his eye, letting out a battle-cry with the force.

[Dane]

Pablo wanted to smile; nearly every fiber in his body told him to. He HAD the bloody vampire king, the fight was done, over, finished, badabing-badaboom pack your bags and go home folks. The mighty vampire Dane was currently being crushed comfortably between Pablo's massive werewolf arms and his just as if not even more massive werewolf chest. All Pablo to do was squeeze. POP! There went a rib nearly making the werewolf lad crack a smile. Still, he could not... though nobody would blame him. It's hard to feel joy when knowing as den leader the greater majority of your werewolves were laying dead in pieces only a few flight of stairs away. POP! POP! POP! POP! Four more ribs and still not a single bit of concern on Dane's face. For Pablo watching the vampire grin from ear to ear throughout the rib popping was a little unsettling. Sure there was pain, but after a thousand year of living there were few things that could truly make one hurt. To a vampire it wasn't the breaking of ribs, all though he was very aware that staying in his current predicament would mean certain death from squashing.

Luckily Dane always had a contingency plan. This one came in the form of a young vampire/werewolf hybrid girl with the uncanny ability of becoming easily confused. Yes, it was Lucia who he believed would certainly come to his aid. Unfortunately, Pablo had the same belief... and unlike the vampire he was incorrect. Who could blame him though? She was living in a werewolf den that a certain vampire just attacked; killing dozens of her pack members. "Lucia finish him!" The lycan barked loudly as the hybrid charged into room, not expecting what was about to come. He was ready to have Dane's blood spilled on him; he was not prepared for the cheap shot to the back of his neck. First came the roar of pain from the hybrid claws burrowing into his skin, yet he still managed to keep the vampire in his crushing hug. Then there were the punch to mostly the side of his head, there was now blood in one eye, but more importantly as he flinched from the hit Pablo momentarily for less than a split second lessened his squeeze.

Unfortunately vampires are bloody quick, less than a split second was more than enough time for Dane to pull loose a hand. Pablo thought a punch to the head from a hybrid hurt; five punches... three seconds... to the face from the god damned vampire king? This was a new level of pain. Oh and that free arm was shortly followed by the other. If it wasn't enough Pablo still hadn't registered what had just happened. Was his face on fire? Did his head just explode? There were no clear coherent thoughts, just mumbo jumbo as he felt two hands wrap around the back of his head. They began pulling with too much strength for him to fight at this point; his face was brought forward as Dane head-butted the lycan's nose. That was it... Pablo let go of the vampire who landed gracefully with both feet on the ground. The lycan recoiled, stumbling backwards resulting in him collapsing onto the floor.

Total victory was near for the vampire, but there was still a role he needed to play. "This is not your fight. You should not have to choose between wolf and bat." Dane spoke angrily at Lucia. "And you..." The vampire turned to the fallen lycan... collapsed on the ground still in his beast form. "If I didn't know better I'd say you were beaten. Unfortunately, for you I do know better." Dane reached for a silver knife on his belt as he approached Pablo. "I know that upon losing consciousness a lycan reverts back to their human body. So, tell me kid... still got fight in ya?" The mass of fur stirred lightly. "Of course there is. I've heard of you. You're the one they call Pablo aren't you?" Dane knelt by the lycan's side. He gave the lycan a gentle love tap. "I've heard the tales of Rome and how the lycan Pablo a massive werewolf in a tiny human body tore through vampire after vampire. Your ferocity is said to be unrivaled by lycan kind, your strength only the strongest of vampires can compare to, with an drive to cleanse the world of vampires unrivaled by none ,yet here you lie on the floor... is this your form of surrendering?"

Betrayal... how could a single vampire take on an entire den even if it was filled with mostly pups? It didn't make sense... it shouldn't have been possible and it wasn't. Lucia was to blame... she was a traitor to the lycan cause, but why? Why help this god awful vampire hell bent on ending all of lycan kind. It made him angry... not that it did much. His head had almost quite literally just exploded and felt like it weighed at least a few tons. The lycan had the urge to keep on fighting, just not the ability to. That was until Dane started yapping... and did not stop.

"Or wait... there are rumors of your resourcefulness, you're quite handy with explosives aren't you? Is this where you set off a bomb to distract me while you make a daring escape?" Pablo didn't find Dane's words frustrating. They served as reminders. He was ferocious... he did want to clean the world of vampires... everybody knows he loves explosions, and yeah he was pretty fucking strong... "You forgot one thing." The lycan mumbled quietly turning his bloody face up to look at the vampire. "I fear nothing, especially not death." Here came the second wind... Pablo could feel it coming, Dane could see it coming, and hell Lucia probably could to. The lycan still lying on the floor quickly swiped at the vampire hitting him across the room and into the wall. It was then Pablo lunged onto his feet and charged across the room.

"I don't do surrendering." He growled as he lunged at the spot of the wall the vampire was buried in. "Good!" Could be heard coming from the hole in the wall as the lycan went crashing into it. They the two were out of Lucia's sight in the room over as a howl turned shriek of pain could be heard. Emerging from the hole was Dane dragging a naked human Pablo with a knife in his chest across the floor. "You interfered with the fate of our fight... you decide his." He yanked the silver blade; all of it still intact out of Pablo's chest. "Decide quickly... he's not well and we must get leaving."

[Lucia Drusa Severa]

Jumping back as Dane freed an arm, Lucia landed a meter behind the large, brown Werewolf, her bare feet making the softest of 'pat's on the marble floor, auburn hair falling over her shoulders and down her back. She felt a little better after letting some anger out through the punch, but now her knuckles wanted more, and the itch was almost more than she could contain. However, hold it in, she did. The young woman stepped lithely aside, just enough for Pablo to land on the floor without touching her, but her smile faded as Dane turned his anger toward her.

"You- He..." Lucia wanted to protest Dane's reproach, but stopped herself short; the Vampire was talking down to her like she was a child, but she wouldn't play the part of one if she could help it. Exhaling silently, the daughter of Raven Lestat and Alena Wulf stepped back out of Pablo's reach as Dane neared the fallen Werewolf. The initial shock and embarrassment from being pushed down the stairs began to regress as Dane taunted the Lycan with a lecture, and guilt moved in to its place. Mom wanted me to look after this Den and I just went and attacked the man who was supposed to be taking over... The guilt did not come into her conscious alone, however, and her thoughts conflicted viciously. You do not know this Wolf, it is not your concern. Mother trusted me. I was supposed to look after the Werewolves here. You didn't know the one who affronted you was a Wolf. Your reaction would have been the same had it been a Vampire. That much was true, at least. Though it didn't ease the thoughts of how angry her mother would be when she found out.

Throughout her inner conflict, Lucia's face remained calm and collected, her posture straight, fists held clasped in front of her lap. The Hybrid rested her eyes on Pablo as he spoke up, red orbs scrutinizing the shape-shifter, watching the man's resolve seem to gather once again. The force with which Dane was thrown across the room and against the wall was surprising, and Lucia tensed, should the Wolf decide to clock her across the head to make things fair. Obediently, Lucia did not move as the fight was taken into the other room. Though her face showed no emotion as Pablo was dragged back into the room, the Hybrid was surprised at how young the Lycan before her appeared to be. He couldn't be much older than she was, but every blow from Dane was quite apparent on the Wolf's body. With the talent and strength the Lycan had shown throughout the fight, Lucia expected him to have been older.

Lightly brushing dust and rubble from her dress, Lucia met Dane's gaze as he addressed her, speaking politely, "You make it difficult Not to choose, Dane, when you enter my Den and kill Werewolves under my supervision." That much, at least, she wanted to say. The smallest of smiles formed at the corner of the mix-breed's lips, "I will go with you, but I want his life. I want to have one Wolf with me."

[Dane]

It was rather difficult for Dane to justify his method of 'saving' Lucia from the werewolves. Did they need to die? Not really, he could have just as easily sneaked down here and convinced Lucia to leave without a single bit of bloodshed. But, there no was fun in that and somebody had to pay for taking Rome away from him. "I'm well aware that I've made things for difficult for you, but I know that one day you'll understand why and thank me for it." He responded back calmly. Dane let go out of the bleeding lycan and began cleaning his silver knife with a handkerchief from his pocket. Was she giving him an ultimatum? A smile crept across the vampire's face. It sure did look like it. It was funny how well things play out sometimes. She was making him agree on something he already wanted; to take the lycan prisoner. First he'd taken Alena's daughter away from her and now he had one of Alena's most trusted officers... this night was truly great. Dane hesitated from replying quickly. He shortly glanced away before looking back at Lucia.

"You know you aren't giving me much of a choice. Pick the kid up, he's your responsibility." He said-with the knife now clean he dropped the handkerchief, hid the weapon and turned away before heading up the stairs. Dane made sure he stayed a few steps in front Lucia, because the despite the few broken ribs he could not hide the smirk on his face. Lucia thought she had a choice in any matter at hand. Pablo was hardly her prisoner and yet the boy probably gave her a strong sense of responsibility and power. The boy was his, Dane would relish at the opportunity of experimenting on both the lycan's mind and body. He thought he knew everything he needed to know about the creatures... like how as a rule of thumb the bigger the human, the bigger the beast. Yet that clearly wasn't the case with the lycan he fought today. A little digging into the lycan brain wouldn't hurt him too much.

As Dane lead Lucia out of the staircase he made a mental note to avoid as many bodies as possible, sure the one with the punched in face at the staircase was unavoidable, but the back exit of the building allowed for a less scenic route. Not that it helped hide the sweet smell of death. To be honest he liked the smell, there was a good chance Lucia did too. He stopped at the back exit, turning back to speak with the hybrid he looked her directly in the eyes and rested a hand on her shoulder... "We're just a short car ride and plane flight away from being out of here for good." He paused for effect. "I need to know that you trust me, I trust you." The vampire waited a few seconds for her response before opening the door.