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Chapter Text

The cobblestones were slick with rain as boots sounded against them, almost slipping in the rain before righting. The chorus of "leech" and "get back here, bastard" sounded behind the man. He cursed, running faster as a bullet skimmed his ribcage and slammed into the brickwork of some poor sods house. He vaulted a parked cart, temporarily stalling the uniformed men. A calloused hand wiped bloody tears out of desperate blue eyes. He turned a corner, not sure where he was running, but he knew he had to get away from the men. Get away from *his* men, or what had been his men.

Geoffrey McCullum was running for his life, or at least, for what was left.

-

McCullum wasn't sure what had happened. He was on a solo patrol through the Docks, when something grabbed him from behind. He struggled, but whatever it was clamped to his neck was far stronger than any mortal man. He felt his life draining from his body, lips and hands going numb. His heart slowed, and then...it stopped.

He woke up, which was already unexpected. He felt...wrong. like his body had been taken apart and put back together incorrectly. He was...in a pit filled with corpses. He choked, scrambling for his footing and reaching bloodied hands for the edge to pull himself over. Once he crested the side, he just layed on the stones, breath coming heavily through cracked lips. When he raised his eyes, he saw something glowing. A luminous red in a colorless world. He wanted, no, needed it. McCullum dragged his aching body towards the light, when he got in range he lunged, tackling it to the ground. Something in his unthinking mind told him to bite down, so he did. When the liquid filled his mouth, he gasped in relief. After a few seconds, but what could have just as easily been hours, it started to dry up. He bit down harder, teeth gnawing away until the gush turned to a trickle. He released his jaws, the light falling to the floor extinguished.

It took Geoffrey a moment to recall who he was, and what he was doing. But once he did he felt like he was going to be sick. On the ground below him lay a Skal, a nasty looking creature with the skin peeled viciously away from it's neck. At least it wasn't a person, the back of his mind said, as he rebelled against what had just happened. No...this couldn't be happening. The leader of the Guard of Priwen...a leech. He wanted to vomit.

He backed up, not realizing he'd shadow jumped until his back hit the wall on the opposite side of the mass grave. He gagged, the sweet taste still coating his tongue. Knowing what it was...what he was, didn't make it taste any less sweet. He drew another ragged breath just as a patrol rounded the corner.

They started at him, for just a moment. They recognized him, he could tell, recognize what he had become. The patrol captain opened his mouth, and McCullum ran.

-

McCullum lost them...he thought. But when he realized where he was, he'd rather be running from Priwen again. The West End of London was full of pompous wankers who thought themselves better than the average joe due to the fact that they were born with a silver spoon in their mouths. And worse, something he hadn't noticed earlier when he was running for his life, the sun was rising. It hasn't registered at first, because the rising of the sun usually meant he'd been out patrolling for too long and it was time to go to sleep, but now the sun meant burning. Burning and death. Geoffrey was maybe starting to panic. He passed a closed storefront, and a stall that had presumably been left for the day. There were no abandoned houses around here, no dark alleyways or open sewer grates. He was eyeing up a possibly unused storefront when he bumped into someone. The man stepped back, face apologetic, but then he tilted his head in concern.

"Excuse me, sir. Are you alright?" The man said, sounding worried. His blood smelled... tempting. Geoffrey shook his head, he would never kill anyone to feel his unholy thirst. He shook his head to clear it.

"M jus' peachy," McCullum replied childishly. He had probably ten to fifteen minutes max before the sun was up and he didn't want to be on the street when that happened.

"Apologies for, ah, running into you. I'm heading home from my job. I'm a doctor, Doctor Jonathan Reid. If it's not too forward, are you in need of any medical attention?" The stranger asked, and Geoffrey turned back to look at the annoyingly persistent man.

He was tall, roughly the same height as McCullum was. His eyes were so grey they were almost white, set below heavy eyebrows. His nose was horribly crooked, and he had a scar running from his nose to his cheek. He had a full beard not quite concealing a frown, and his midnight black hair was slicked back and curling slightly behind his ears. He was handsome, Geoffrey had to privately admit, but even the possible good looks of a stranger wasn't going to matter when he caught fire.

"No, I'm...I got lost. Do ya know if there are rooms to rent 'round here or anything? I've got some shillings on me." Geoffrey said, cursing the rapidly lightening sky.

The man, Dr. Reid, brightened, "unfortunately no, but I believe I have an alternative for you, as long as you're not some sort of murderer." He said with a joking smile, like he didn't actually believe the bloody and filthy Irishman infront of him was a threat.

Geoffrey narrowed his eyes, "an' what would that be?" He asked, apprehensively.

"I live just around here, a block away infact. I've a guest room you can commandeer for the day. Forgive me for saying so, but you look as though you've had a rough night." Reid said. The man was either some sort of saint or a naive fool.

McCullum snorted, a rough night didn't cover it. Normally he'd have told the man to screw off, but anxiety was churning in his stomach at the idea of burning. He didn't exactly have a choice. "I'll, uh, take ye up on that. An I'm not gonna hurt ye, would be a bad way of payin' ya back."

Reid laughed, "truly it would be. I've also got a water closet that you can help yourself to, unfortunately the water isn't likely to be warm." He said apologetically.

McCullum snorted, most Priwen bases didn't even have electricity. The thought of Priwen however, sent a blade of guilt into his heart. His breath hitched, and he hadn't noticed he'd zoned out until a warm hand rested on his shoulder.

"Sir, are you alright?" Reid asked, the words making Geoffrey flinch, and the man withdrew his hand. McCullum mourned the warmth as he nodded his head unconvincingly.

"Alright, this way please. And tell me if you're about to faint, that would be appreciated." Reid said, hovering near Geoffrey.

"M fine." McCullum grunted. The other man shrugged and started walking, Geoffrey trailing in his wake.

-

He didn't know what he was expecting, but it certainly wasn't a massive red brick *mansion* complete with stone lions guarding the front gate. Reid smiled awkwardly.

"Please, come in. Ah, do be quiet, my family is still asleep." Reid whispered, beckoning McCullum up the stairs. As he showed the newborn vampire the guest bedroom, complete with the privvy down the hall, it dawned on Geoffrey that he'd forgotten to give out a crucial piece of information.

"Thanks, doc. And, um, my name is McCullum. Geoffrey McCullum. Are ya often hearding strays into yer home?" He said, attempting to make a joke.

Reid snorted, "hmm, no. You're my very first, ah, 'stray' as you said. You just...looked lost, I suppose. And I apologize, it was rather rude of me to not ask for your name before. I was... distracted by your appearance. I was worried you were injured." The man admitted, a small blush dusting his cheeks.

Geoffrey paused. The man was *worried* about him? "Nah, I'm fine, Reid...thanks. You said not to wake yer family earlier. Ya got a wife an' kids?" He asked, dreading the answer. He knew he was being stupid, but he'd never really been looked at like this before - like he was worth looking at.

Reid chuckled, "ha, no. I work the night shift for a reason, I've very little attachments. I live here with my mother who is in ill health, our butler whose just as old as she is, and my sister who recently moved back in after losing her husband in the war. It's... a lot, sometimes. I often just sleep in my office at the hospital, but I'm glad I wasn't tonight, otherwise I wouldn't have met you." The doctor said earnestly. "We're...roughly the same size. I'll see if I can't find you something else to wear that isn't covered in mud and blood. Good morning, Mr. McCullum." And with that he was gone.

Geoffrey stared around the guest room. When he focused he could see the heartbeat of the doctor in a room across the hall, presumably digging for fresh clothing. A little further away he saw the heartbeats of three other individuals. One of them was sickly, McCullum noted, probably the man's mother. He wasn't sure what to make of Jonathan Reid to be honest. He invited a complete stranger into his home with his fragile family, offering him a bed, a wash, and even fresh clothes. The sun had risen outside and he could feel it pressing on him. He yawned.

Geoffrey wandered down the hallway into the bathroom. The opulence was a bit much, he thought distractedly, turning on the tap. He'd planned on a short bath, but when he sank into the lukewarm water, he almost groaned out loud. The warmth felt so good; he hadn't realized how cold he'd been. Cold as the dead, forever and ever. He shivered, but it had nothing to do with the temperature. He heard a gentle knock on the door, and a familiar voice called out.

"Mr. McCullum, I'm leaving clothes for you outside the door, I hope they fit. I will be sleeping in the room across from yours if you need anything. Please feel free to stay as long as you'd like." Reid said, hesitantly. Geoffrey gave a noncommittal "yeah" and watched as the heartbeat moved away from the door and into the aforementioned room.

He got out, got dressed, and made his way back to the guest room. He could hear the doctor moving around in his room, and McCullum had to admit he was tempted to knock and start up another conversation. It wasn't everyday that you were invited cheerfully into a posh house like this one. As he pulled back the duvet on his borrowed bed, he let the weight of the day hit him full force. He was a vampire, an Ekon, he presumed. Geoffrey had to be more careful now if he wanted to survive. He had been tempted to put a bullet through his heart and end his cursed existence, but Reid had put a pause on that for now. He collapsed on the bed and allowed himself to mourn his losses before the sun pulled him down into oblivion.

Waking up wasn't like anything he'd done when he was human. He came out of unconsciousness suddenly, gasping for air he didn't need. For a second he forgot where he was, but then it all came back to him. He was a leech, and he was in some posh bastard's fancy mansion. Right. He got up, certain the sun was down but uncertain how he knew that. He turned on his blood sight, noticing that the doctor was in his room hunched over his desk. The rest of his family were downstairs, probably in the "parlour" or "drawing room" or something equally fancy. He left his room and knocked on the door across the hall.

"Enter." The voice called out distractedly.

Geoffrey walked in the door, not sure what he was expecting, but a bedroom-slash-labratory wasn't it. Reid put down his pen, turning towards Geoffrey like he was all that mattered. He was glad he no longer had the ability to blush.

"Ah, Mr. McCullum! Good to see you looking better! I unfortunately am going to be leaving soon, work waits for no man as they say, and with the Spanish Influenza it's all hands on deck." Reid said, wearing another three piece suit. The only difference was that this one was blue with a black button up underneath.

"Call me Geoffrey. Where do ya work?" He asked, legitimately curious. He wasn't sure what it was, but he was fascinated by the doctor.

"The Pembroke hospital. I'm the head night shift surgeon, actually. The administrator, Doctor Swansea, hired me immediately upon my return from the front a few weeks ago. He's a brilliant man, even though he's far more superstitious than I'd believe the average doctor to be." Reid said, unaware that he'd dropped a bombshell on the Ekon. Of course he worked for bloody Swansea.

Reid checked his pocket watch and grimaced, "I'm terribly sorry, but if I don't leave now I will be late."

He walked passed Geoffrey, and the Ekon trailed him like a baby duckling. The men made it to the front door without being spotted by Reid's family.

Reid shook Geoffrey's hand, and the vampire reveled in the warm contact. With that they took their leave, each heading in opposite directions.

-

It was a month before he ran into the doctor again, but he was beginning to suspect something else was going on in London, and not just the flu. For one, there were more Skals than usual, and they were different as well. Most Skals looked like the decomposing corpses they were, but these ones were purulent, and on more than one occasion McCullum had tried to take a bite out of one and it had exploded. He'd managed to secure a number of hideouts all throughout London, and had no problem catching and drinking the blood of other leeches. He hated how easy it was for him to be the creature he despised most.

He dodged a Priwen patrol, the grief in his chest still present, when he saw the doctor next. He was talking to an older man, pressing a vial of medication into his hands. With his vampiric hearing, Geoffrey could tell that Reid was insisting that he took it for no charge. That gave the man a tick in the "saint" column, McCullum chuckled. Once the old man had left, Geoffrey sauntered up to the doctor.

"Dr. Reid, what are you doing in the East End?" Geoffrey drawled. The doctor didn't even startle, he just turned around with a smile.

"Mr. McCullum, it's wonderful to see you! I've been rather busy at the hospital and on my rounds. I was actually doing a house call when I ran into an older man with an awful case of bronchitis. The community here has many needs, and it makes me regret just being one man." Reid said, rather melancholic. "We had a nurse resign recently. The rumor is that she was blackmailing one of our benefactors, but I'm uncertain if I believe that. Either way, it makes more work for the remaining staff." He frowned. McCullum didn't know the man well, but he knew that he was thinking hard on something.

"How 'bout this, doc? I walk ye back to yer hospital and ya tell me what yer thinking so hard on." Geoffrey smirked.

Reid rolled his eyes, "I'm actually out here looking for the night shelter, but you're welcome to accompany me."

"Why's that?" Geoffrey asked. He was confused why the posh doctor was looking for the local homeless encampment.

"Well, you see, a patient at the Pembroke hospital, a woman named Harriet Jones, escaped the hospital last night. She took with her a man named Sean Hampton, who Edgar is convinced is her aggressor, however I am not so certain. They both left a large amount of blood behind, and I am worried they are injured. Dr. Swansea sent me out to look for them, and Hampton has a shelter here I was told."

Of course Swansea would send his human employee to investigate what was most likely a vampiric matter. "Okay then, tell me what yer thinking, and I'll come with ya."

As they walked along, the doctor told him a strange and concerning tale about the blood of those suffering with the Spanish Flu. To a civilian like Reid, it was puzzling, but Geoffrey knew what it meant even if he didn't fully understand how. The flu victims were turning into Skals.

"...it's almost as if there is a secondary epidemic going on underneath the Spanish Flu." Reid concluded, coming worriedly close to the truth. Geoffrey shuddered, a Skal epidemic under the normal human one, he assumed from what Reid has told him about aggression and "animalistic tendancies" in those affected. How many of the dead were truly dead, and how many that were dragged off to a mass grave turned later on?

"Hm, that is worrying," McCullum said distractedly.

"Indeed," the doctor continued, "the people here are reluctant to talk with me, but I believe I've narrowed the area down to near the old warehouses."

"Lead the way then," Geoffrey said amicably, following the man's long strides towards the warehouses.

-

It took a few hours, but they found the shelter around eleven at night. Approaching the shelter, Reid was getting a lot of nervous looks, which made sense with his attire. Geoffrey barely got a glance, but one of the women standing out front gave both of them a sour look.

"Who're you?" The woman bit out, nasal voice unpleasant.

"Ah, I'm Dr. Jonathan Reid," the man replied, seemingly unaware of the hostile look he was recieving. "I'm looking for Sean Hampton. Is he here?"

"Why're you looking for Sean?" The woman asked, narrowing her eyes aggressively. She was a slip of a woman, but from the way she was palming her waistband, she was armed.

"He left my hospital rather suddenly, and against medical advice. I was hoping to check on him." Reid said, raising his hands in surrender.

The woman seemed to take that gesture as a personal affront, bearing her teeth at the doctor. "He's fine, eh? Now bugger off."

Seeing Jonathan wasn't going to get anywhere with this woman, Geoffrey stepped in. He put his arm on the doctor's shoulder in the universal gesture of "he's with me," and gave the sour woman a smile. "Dr. Reid and I don't mean any harm, lass. We just wanna see Hampton and then we'll be on our way, see?" He said, Irish voice soothing the woman's nerves. Even though Reid seemed to always mean well, his obviously rich upbringing was an irritant to even the most amicable citizen.

"Fine," the woman huffed, "But if ya so much breathe in a way I don't like..." she trailed off threateningly, letting the men pass.

The inside of the shelter was sparce, but warm and homey. Another woman, who looked similar to the one outside, came over with a kind smile.

"What can I do for you gentleman?" She asked, voice so similar to the woman outside that they had to be sisters.

"Lookin' for Sean Hampton." Geoffrey said before the doctor could open his mouth.

"He's not well." The woman said hesitantly, glancing at a side room that McCullum could tell housed the man. Or, he had been a man. The Sad Saint had turned Skal.

"Lemme talk to him, Reid. He's prolly gonna be apprehensive about...you. Why don't ya ask around, see if anyone else needs medical attention." Geoffrey said, thinking quickly. Skals were aggressive buggers, and he really didn't want to get the doctor killed. He was...beginning to warm up to the man, even if he was a toff.

Reid bristled, "we came all this way to see Hampton, and now you're not wanting me to?" He asked, a hint of exasperation in his voice.

Geoffrey sighed, "no. Just wanna talk to him first."

Jonathan rolled his eyes, but aquiesced. "Very well, but if he is sickly you will allow me entry." He demanded, already walking off towards a lethargic looking man slumped in a nearby chair.

"Ya ya, Reid. I'll find ya." McCullum rolled his eyes, slipping into the side door.

Geoffrey's initial assessment was correct, the man had indeed turned. His skin was patchy and dry, complexion pale, and his eyes were a sickly yellow. "Ah, Mr. McCullum. You've changed, as have I. The Lord challenges us all." Hampton simpered.

"M as Catholic as ya are, Hampton, and I know bein' turned ain't from the Lord." McCullum growled. Sean's cloudy and wistful expression rubbed him wrong.

"It is God's will, who am I to question it?" Hampton said dreamily. Geoffrey narrowed his eyes, the Skal was obviously not in possession of his faculties.

"Yah? How long before ya hurt someone? It's a foolish way of thinking, this." He said, stepping towards the Skal. He'd seen creatures like this, so lost to their hubris and bloodlust that they snapped like a rusty chain blown in the breeze.

"Put your faith in the Lord, Mr. McCullum." Hampton said, not even looking at the Ekon.

Geoffrey growled again, surging forward to grab the Skal by the lapels of his ragged clothes. "Yer a fool, leech. And yer gonna feel worse when ya start snackin' on yer flock."

“I'd never do such a thing,” he protested, eyes flaring a sickening yellow in the hunter's grasp. McCullum pivoted and all but threw the beast into a nearby chair as he loomed over him. He was in no mood for this.

"Sure, sure," Geoffrey bit out sarcastically, fingering the blade at his hip. “Tell me about Harriet Jones." He demanded, hoping Hampton was lucid enough to comply.

"Poor Harriet was turned, but not by me. I was attacked by the docks a few days ago, by a man named William Bishop who'd turned Skal. I believe him to be my inadvertent Maker." Sean began, his voice almost human, only to be interrupted by Geoffrey.

"So ya knew about all of this before? How?" McCullum asked, stunned.

"The Night Shelter isn't only open to desperate humans." He said cryptically, but McCullum saw red.

"So yer telling me, that ya let leeches come here an' rest too?!" Geoffrey snarled. "That's a recipe for disaster and ye know it!"

Sean raised his hands to try and placate the enraged Ekon. "They've live deep beneath the city for centuries, and have never hurt a soul. That is where Harriet now resides. She is a different type of Skal, and her mind is twisted with hate, but she is with her people now. No harm will come to her, or the humans here. Have faith in the Lord."

McCullum growled, "show me then. Take me to these 'peaceful leeches' if ya expect me to believe ya."

Hampton paused then, but just for a moment, before directing the Ekon to a small metal door set in the wall. He opened it with a small key in his pocket, ushering McCullum down into the dark. The two vampires looked at eachother for a moment, before Geoffrey descended into the darkness.

-

He emerged back into the Night Shelter about twenty minutes later, dazed. He'd met Harriet Jones, a strange Skal with a twisted and hate filled mind, but also an entire colony of...peaceful leeches. Their leader, a Skal called Old Bridget, had been apprehensive at first, but she'd warmed up to the newborn in no time; even giving him information about the epidemic. More and more Skals were being created every night by the influenza, and if something wasn't done soon, the whole city could fall.

He made his way back to the main room, where he was confronted by a frustrated looking Jonathan Reid.

"Mr. McCullum, where have you been? I've been tending the residents here for over half an hour, and when I knocked on the door no one answered!" Reid burst out, manners temporarily squashed down in his fervor.

"It's nothing, doc." McCullum said, a hint of mesmerism slipping unintentionally into his voice. "Talked with Hampton, and he's feeling alright. A little sickly, but better. And Harriet Jones isn't here, he doesn't know where she went. Ya can talk to him though if ye want." He felt a pang of guilt at the human's slightly clouded eyes as he parroted back the vampire's words. He hadn't intended to mesmerize Reid, but he had to admit that it was convenient, even if it made guilt balloon in his chest.

"Alright, I'm glad he's feeling better. Although, Edgar won't be happy that Harriet Jones is still unaccounted for. But yes, I'd like to see him if he's up for it." Jonathan said, foggy eyes clearing. He knocked carefully on the door Geoffrey had just exited, and he hoped that the Skal had enough sense to not talk about vampires around the doctor.

"Please, come in", a fragile voice sounded out, and Jonathan opened the door. Hampton was still sitting in the chair, although now he had righted himself. He still looked slightly dazed, but he seemed to be attempting to keep it together for the human's sake.

Reid walked forward carefully, "Mr. Hampton, I am Dr. Reid, I tended to you at the Pembroke before...you left. Dr. Swansea sent me to make sure you were feeling alright? Although, Mr. McCullum told me that you were feeling better." He looked over the man professionally, frowning at his sickly look.

"Aye, I am feeling much better. The Lord provides,” Sean said vacantly.

"I see," Reid replied to the Skal warmly, "I understand feeling apprehensive, especially in a medical facility. I'm just glad you're feeling better, but if you start feeling ill again, well, you know where to find me."

Jonathan finished his impromptu examination, looking in Hampton's eyes and listening to his heartbeat. He seemed a bit wary but satisfied, however, exchanging pleasantries before seeing himself out. Geoffrey stood there in silence, watching the doctor work. He had to admit that watching Reid examine his patient was fascinating. Every move of his eyes or flick of his wrist had meaning behind it.

He let Jonathan walk ahead, and waited for him to engage in conversation before Geoffrey turned back to the Skal, the dreamy look still plastered on his face. As much as the man was clearly trying to hold onto his humanity, it was a losing battle.

McCullum shut the door softly, walking over to the Skal who had returned to his seat, looking at Geoffrey with the peaceful expression of men at the gallows. “Are you to be my judge and jury then, Mr. McCullum?” He asked, although they both knew he could already guess the answer.

“Aye,” Geoffrey replied, feeling the familiar detachment sweep over him, an attempt to play unaffected by killing a sentient being, even though it was a leech. “It'll be quick,” he promised, plunging his short blade through the Skal's heart. Hampton spasmed pitifully before slumping down, blood staining his ragged clothes. Hurriedly, Geoffrey opened the door they'd exited earlier and placed the body inside. Those other leeches would take care of it, and as long as they weren't hurting humans, he could leave them alone…for now.

As they stepped out of the shelter, Jonathan turned to smile warmly at the hunter. "Is your offer of walking me back to the hospital still on the table? I've significantly depleted my medicine stores tonight. After the citizens here got over their apprehension, a great many of them needed assistance."

"Sure, Reid. I'll walk ya back." Geoffrey said, grateful that his mesmerism hadn't damaged the doctor permanently. He didn't think he could live with himself if it had. He was rather confused by Jonathan seeking out the vampire's presence. He was cursed, what could he possibly have that Reid could want? Lost in his own head, he didn't notice the soft smile Reid sent him, as he looped his arm through his companion's.

Chapter Text

Geoffrey stopped by the hospital the next night, secretly hoping to see Reid. He dodged the staff members, reading the plaques on the offices until he found one that stated "Dr. J. Reid". He knocked, hearing a familiar voice drawl distractly; "enter". McCullum pulled open the door to a large office, eyes roving over bookshelves and microscopes, and even a large healthy plant in the corner. The doctor looked distracted, peering at something in a vial before filling page after page of a notebook.

"What's so fascinating?" Geoffrey quipped, and Reid raised his eyes from his desk, looking as though he'd been pulled out of a rather confusing dream.

"Have you ever heard of the Ascalon Club?" Jonathan said, horrifying McCullum. The man continued, "they reached out recently and asked for me to stop by. I'm unsure what their interest means, however. I live rather close to their building, but all I've ever heard is that they're prestigious and secretive."

'What did you tell them?" Geoffrey breathed, nervous for the response. He knew the club was full of leeches, and he didn't want them anywhere near the doctor.

"I told them that with the influenza I am rather busy, and have no time." Jonathan said, unaware of the sheer relief blanketing McCullum's form. "They were surprisingly cordial, asking for me to come by when I have time. Although I don't see that happening anytime soon."

"Ah," McCullum grunted, trying not to show his feelings, "might be fer the best. I've heard some odd things about Ascalon."

"As have I, but if they have information on this epidemic as they said, it might be worth it," Jonathan mused.

Geoffrey hummed, he doubted that nest of snakes had anything but harm meant for the doctor; after all, the humans they took interest in never stayed human for long. "Any plans for tonight?" He asked, trying to distract both Reid and himself from the cursed club.

"Actually, yes. I've a house call in Whitechapel, a woman summoned for a doctor to treat her sick children." Jonathan admitted, and McCullum noticed that the doctor was indeed packing his medical bag. "You're welcome to join me if you want." He offered, seeing Geoffrey's conflicted expression.

"Aye, thanks." The vampire responded, glad once again he could no longer blush.

-

The walk to Whitechapel was far more pleasant with Jonathan by his side, and it gave him a chance to see the doctor work. It was fascinating how he seemed to know everyone in London, and how the citizens of the city seemed to hold him in high regard. They made their way to the house in question in what seemed like no time. Reid checked the address on the piece of paper one more time before knocking on the door. A small woman opened it, glancing at Jonathan's white coat before ushering the men in.

"My daughters, Agnes and Lucy, have been coughing for the past few days, but recently they've both had the chills. I fear it's the flu." The woman whispered, her voice frail with worry.

"Let me take a look at them, then," Jonathan soothed. "What is you're name, ma'am?" He enquired as she lead them to a side room.

"Alice, Alice Underhill. Can you help them, doctor?" She pleaded. Geoffrey stood in the door frame and watched Reid work. Once he seemed satisfied, he stood back and rifled through his bag.

"Ms. Underhill, I believe your daughters have both come down with pneumonia. It's not the flu, I promise." Reid started smoothly, and the mother sagged her shoulders in relief. "I reccomend bed rest, as well as cool compresses for the slight fever. I also have some low dose pain medications, and cough suppressants for them as well. If you don't see a significant improvement in a week, you can send for myself or another doctor again." He sent a reassuring smile to the overwrought woman, who surprised both Reid and McCullum by sweeping the much larger man into a hug.

The two men politely extracted themselves from the home, and as soon as the door closed, Reid looked on sheepishly.

"That took far longer than I expected. I apologize if you had anywhere to be."

McCullum chuckled, "nah, my nights are rather free." Especially for you, he thought to himself.

The doctor brightened, but as he was about to speak, a loud voice sounded behind the two.

"What're ya two doin'?" A very inebriated voice called out. Reid whirled around, and Geoffrey cursed himself for his distraction. He should've sensed the man, especially now that he recognized the weapon in his hand.

Jonathan raised his arms soothingly, but if anything it seemed to irritate the man more. "Apologies, sir, but we are just passing through. I'm a doctor."

The man spat at Jonathan's feet, earning a disgusted look from Geoffrey. No matter how drunk the man was however, he managed to point his gun dead center on Reid. McCullum had to squash down an inhuman growl.

"Bloody toffs wandering the streets a' all hours." He slurred. "Got anything fancy in yer bag then, doc."

"Not particularly, no," Reid said coolly. His tone reminded Geoffrey that the doctor had seen war; this probably wasn't his first time being held at gunpoint.

"Lemme be the judge of that," the man said, stumbling forward. Reid didn't move, palming his own revolver in his waistband.

Geoffrey opened his mouth to protest, but a look from Reid silenced him. The man had it under control, he thought to himself, trying to sooth his erratic thoughts. Or Jonathan would have had it under control, had the drunk not caught himself on the edge of the building, shook his head, and fired.

The world seemed to slow in McCullum's eyes. He saw Reid's pupils widen as he ducked, although Geoffrey knew he'd be too late. He called on his unholy leech tricks, determined to save the man he'd come to care for, even if it would scare him away forever. He shadow jumped, landing infront of the doctor in a whirl of darkness, just in time to take a bullet to the shoulder. He felt it lodge in his shoulder blade, and he hissed at the pain, fangs lengthening in response. He tilted forward slightly, surprised to be caught in the arms of the doctor. Geoffrey heard the footsteps of the drunk clumsily run off, his common sense seemingly restored underneath the sheen of alcohol.

The pain dulled his senses, and he barely noticed Reid laying him down on the wet cobblestones and scrambling to unbutton his shirt. McCullum could feel the bullet being pushed out of the wound, and Reid was just in time to watch the last of the wound heal. His eyes were wide, not with fear but with fascination as he watched the slightly puckered skin smooth over until there was no sign of the injury.

"Geoffrey...what?" He breathed, rubbing a calloused hand over where the weeping gunshot was just seconds prior, blood still staining his skin.

"I...I can explain." Geoffrey said, half reassuring and half soothing.

The incredulous look on the doctor's face didn't fade as he helped McCullum to his feet. "Let's find somewhere private, and then you're telling me everything." He said firmly, and Geoffrey had no choice but to nod his head in compliance and defeat.

McCullum took Jonathan to one of his hideouts nearby. The doctor didn't even comment on the sorry state of the place, instead keeping his eyes on the vampire. Understandable, Geoffrey thought, even though it hurt. He'd give the man the truth, and then watch him run away screaming. He'd seen it before in the Guard, in new recruits who were shown what was truly in the dark, and he was expecting the same reaction in the doctor. However, he was mistaken.

"So you're telling me that there are four known subcategories of vampires? And they all vary so incredibly? That's fascinating. Is there a certain criteria that a creature would have to fit in to be deemed a 'vampire'?" Jonathan asked, interrupting the other man mid-speech.

"Um, what?" Geoffrey stammered. He had been prepared for the running-and-screaming reaction, not...whatever this was.

"Well, from what you've told me, Skals eat flesh, correct? while Ekon and Vulkod drink blood? So, drinking blood wouldn't be a common symptom of vampirism then since they don't all share it. Just another thing the Penny Dreadfuls got wrong, it seems." Reid explained, as though he was the one in control here. Although, maybe he was.

McCullum stared, "Reid, I jus' told ya vampires were real, an' that I am one. I...aren't ye scared?" Geoffrey said tentatively, as though giving fear as an option would make the doctor afraid, but the man just chuckled.

"I am a scientist, if I ran away frightened anytime I saw something unusual or dangerous, well, I certainly wouldn't have gotten as far as I have. Vampirism is just a...condition that hasn't been explored yet. People with leprosy used to be seen as evil until the disease was understood, whose to say that being a vampire isn't the same?"

Geoffrey was struck dumb. He didn't know whether or not to laugh in relief, or hit the man standing infront of him in his already crooked nose. "I drink blood to survive, Reid. Vampires are bloody killers! I don' see how you're just accepting this?"

"I don't believe you're a killer," Reid waved him off, "in fact, you're one of the best men I've ever known." He said, smacking McCullum over the head with his sincerity. "But now, knowing what you struggle with on a daily basis, it makes me appreciate you all the more." He continued, leaving Geoffrey speechless.

For the next few hours, the two talked about vampires; their appearances, weaknesses, and strengths, along with Priwen and the Brotherhood. Jonathan was a model student, and his intelligence made McCullum appreciate the man even more.

"That sounds awfully like the influenza," Jonathan commented as Geoffrey talked about the mindless violence of Skals. The vampire froze, he'd considered the possibility before too, of course, but having the doctor back him up made the possibility seem all to real.

"Aye, that's what I was afraid of too. I think there's a second epidemic goin' around too, but it's not the flu, it's a vampire epidemic." Geoffrey finished with, the implications of this fact truly setting in.

Jonathan hummed, and the Ekon could almost see his brain working. "I suppose I should take the Ascalon Club up on that offer then."

"Wh-what?!" Geoffrey stammered, but the doctor wasn't disuaded.

"Well, they said they had information on the epidemic, did they not? And since they are also vampires, maybe they know something we don't." Jonathan said, thinking out loud.

"That's stupid, Reid. Goin' into a club o' vampires willingly." Geoffrey growled, but even the inhuman noise didn't deter the doctor.

"It'll be fine, McCullum. I can take care of myself. Besides, I know you'll be looking out for me and my return." Reid soothed. Well, he had him there.

-

It was two nights later than Reid managed to clear his schedule sufficiently to visit Ascalon. Geoffrey was nervous watching the doctor load ammo into his favoured service pistol. The vampire knew that if he got close enough to watch Jonathan, then the Ascalon leeches could sense him too. He hated letting the man go alone, even though it was unlikely the doctor would come to harm. Worst case scenario they'd proposition him for immortality, but Reid had already adamantly talked about his dislike for that idea.

He walked Jonathan as far as the treeline, his whole body chaffing at the idea of letting him go alone, but he paused regardless and watched the human walk into the lion's den alone.

Geoffrey wanted to stand outside all night and watch that blasted red door, but after thirty minutes, he realized that the longer he waited the more murderous he felt. He shadow jumped to the rooftops, searching the alleyways for any lone Skal, while keeping his ears trained on the club.

A few leeches worth of blood later: bitter, pungent, and deeply satisfying, he heard the red door open. McCullum lingered along the sidewalk, out of sight of any leeches, as he watched the doctor disentangle himself himself from a conversation with the doorman. Geoffrey had to fight back an intense urge to rip the other leech apart. He didn't own Jonathan, he scolded his instincts, but they said otherwise. The man made his way nonchalantly over to the sidewalk, and as soon as he ducked around the corner, he made a deeply unhappy face at his companion.

"I'm beginning to understand why you hunted vampires," Reid said, disgust in his tone. "It was jarring to see how little they cared for human life. They talked of the influenza and the war as one would talk of fictional stories or childish games, as though there were no lives at stake. And that's not talking about the human corpses they had laid out for decoration. However, they did give me two addresses in the West End where they believe pockets of infection have crept in. Why they didn't deign to do anything about it themselves, however, baffles me." Jonathan said, manners warring with the visceral discomfort he was feeling.

"Aye, leeches don't care about human life, they just care about getting fed. Prolly shouldn't have invited a war vet, then." Geoffrey joked scathingly.

Jonathan hummed, "indeed, although we did get information. Time will tell how useful it is. I'd be rather happy if I never had to see Ascalon ever again."

Geoffrey snorted, taking the thick parchment from the doctor's hand. It had two simple addresses on it, and it was written to "a future lance bearer". McCullum had to bite back a snarl at that, of course they wanted Reid. Over his dead body. "Ya know where these addresses are?" He asked, passing the letter back to the doctor who ran his fingers over it absentmindedly.

"I do. One is a few houses down from my own, and the other is near Temple Gardens. The...Mulaney's and the McPherson's are their names, I believe." Jonathan mused. "I have a night off on Saturday, we could go then."

"Hold on, if these really are 'pockets of infection', there's no way yer going. Yer human, an' liable to get infected." Geoffrey said, glowering at the doctor. Of course Reid would jump at the chance to endanger his life.

"I will take precautions as I would with any illness, of course. I believe ranged weaponry is going to be ideal for myself so I don't have to get in the blast zone, so to speak. Besides, I trust you to look out for me." Jonathan said, nonchalant, as though he hadn't just flipped McCullum's world.

Reid knew that Geoffrey was a vampire, and yet he...trusted him. He had been so prepared for the doctor to never want to see him again, but instead he was allowing McCullum to watch his back. "Aye, I will." Geoffrey promised, swearing to protect the human even if it meant his own demise.

-

McCullum spent the rest of the week reading. He still had quite a collection of books from the Guard and Brotherhood both, and he went over them hoping for information. Most of them contained information he already knew, but he found one curious little book allegedly written by William Marshal. The whole thing was in Middle English, so Geoffrey set it aside for the moment. He already knew that having both blood and shadow abilities was uncommon, but according to the books he had, it was almost unheard of. His Maker, whoever the bastard was, must have been apocalyptically ancient. He hated the idea of something like that running around London, but he knew that Priwen could handle it. With the presence of his new friend, Jonathan Reid, he noticed that the feelings of guilt and betrayal were starting to dissipate. Maybe being a vampire didn't automatically mean he had to be a monster.

He met Reid outside of his house early Saturday evening. The sun had set just twenty minutes ago, but the doctor was already waiting outside. Even though the weather was temperate, he had a scarf and gloves on, along with an impressive array of weaponry tucked haphazardly under his coat. If it wasn't for the circumstances, McCullum thought, Reid would have made an impressive Guard.

"Ye look prepared," Geoffrey said from the shadows, attempting to startle the doctor, but the man was practically unflappable. He turned around with a lazy smile.

"Ah, Mr. McCullum, good to see you again. Are you ready to head out?" Jonathan asked, heartbeat unprecedentedly calm. The vampire didn't know what he'd do if he ever saw the calm man frazzled.

"Aye, are ye?" He teased back, allowing Jonathan to take the lead. Geoffrey didn't know his way around the West End very well, and the cobbled streets were like a maze.

"Indeed. I know that face masks can be controversial, but I brought one along anyway. I'm hoping to reduce the risk of infection by keeping far away, not to mention covering my mouth and nose." Reid said, his voice becoming smooth and formal as he slipped into his doctor-speak. He outlined his theory of the epidemic being blood born, since blood was the transmission fluid for vampirism. A lot of what he said went over Geoffrey's head, but the Irishman nodded along anyway. He figured the doctor had to know what he was talking about.

-

Geoffrey knew this was a bad idea, bringing a human into a vampire's lair. Well, technically the human was bringing him, he mused. Jonathan had navigated the streets of the West End like he knew them by heart. Every so often McCullum would lag behind, and the doctor would grab his hand to catch him up. Geoffrey quietly admitted to himself that he might have fallen behind a few times solely to feel the soft leather gloves warmed by the calloused skin of Reid's hands.

But it was over far too soon; Jonathan stopped in front of a large house with a whispered, "this is it." The windows were dark, but McCullum could see a Skal inside with his blood sight. He swallowed hard as Reid went up to the door and knocked loudly. Maybe Geoffrey had judged him too soon, the man was a fool.

He stood on the stoop for a minute before relenting, then to McCullum's surprise, the posh doctor rounded the house to look for a back door.

"Gonna start breaking and entering, eh Reid?" Geoffrey joked. The situation would have been funny of the man wasn't walking into certain danger.

"If need be," the doctor answered cryptically, opening the kitchen door with one big shove.

Geoffrey stopped over the threshold, needing no invitation - this worried him. The vampire's worry only increased as they found the body of a young boy splayed across the stairs. Jonathan made a low noise of dismay in his throat, tenderly stepping over the corpse. The house would have been quite fine, if it wasn't for the bloodstains and the threatening quiet.

The two men stepped into a large master bedroom, where another corpse was draped across a chair facing the wall. However, with another peek into his leech vision, he could tell that the "body" was actually the Skal he'd seen earlier. It was likely lying in wait for them to get closer. He put his hand on Jonathan's arm, making the man abort his step closer. The Ekon shook his head, instead pulling out his crossbow and firing. The arrow hit the Skal square in the shoulder, and it lept out of the chair in outrage.

Jonathan, upon seeing that the body was, in fact, not a body at all, took out his revolver and loaded the chamber with practiced fingers. The Skal jumped forwards, but McCullum was ready. He slashed at it with his claws, while Reid got a shot right between it's eyes. It screeched in agony, digging its claws into Geoffrey's shoulders. He heard Jonathan rummaging in his coat, before the man yelled out "get down!" McCullum kicked the Skal out of the way, and ducked to the floor just as a shotgun shell whizzed by. It hit the Skal in the jaw, it's head and brain matter exploding all over the wall. Geoffrey turned around to see the meek doctor cradling a sawed off shotgun, barrel still smoking.

Jonathan grinned, taking off his mask, and the easy-going doctor was back. Geoffrey swore to himself; Jonathan Reid was lethal. Reid blew on the barrel comically, before coming over to help the Ekon stand.

"Ya don't mess around, do ya, Reid?" McCullum choked out, secretly elated at having such a formidable ally.

Jonathan shot him another smile, "not when the life of someone I care for is on the line."

Geoffrey was stunned into silence, watching the doctor rifle around as his thoughts paraded strangely through his head. He couldn't say exactly what he'd been thinking of, but he was interrupted by a quiet "hmm" from Jonathan.

"Look at this, Geoffrey. It's a letter from the Doris Fletcher Acting School. It appears she was accepted...however this letter is written rather strangely." The man said, lips pursed at the strangely romantic acceptance letter.

Geoffrey frowned, "anything else look out of place, or odd?" He asked, but the doctor shook his head. He sighed, afraid that this was all for nothing. Jonathan pocketed the letter regardless, laughing at McCullum's comment about thievery.

Geoffrey stared as the doctor headed back down the stairs, stowing away the gun once again. "Come on, Geoffrey, let's hit the next location before the sun rises!" He called out.

McCullum sighed, that man was gonna be the death of him.

-

The next house was just a few blocks away, and Geoffrey recognized from the stone lions that they were far too close for comfort to his doctor's house. His thoughts froze...*his* doctor?! Absolutely not, and yet...

He was saved from his spiraling thoughts by Reid's incessant knocking on the door. One of these days a Skal was going to answer, Geoffrey chuckled to himself, and Jonathan would be done for.

"Looks like nobodies alive in there." McCullum said, deadpan. Reid flashed him an unamused smile,

"Good thing we're not looking for things that are living. What do you see in there?" Jonathan asked, stepping off the porch. This house had no back entrances, but eyeing up a window, McCullum knew that a door wasn't necessary.

"Two leeches this time. Skals again, I think." Geoffrey said, already stepping closer to the doctor in preparation.

"What are you..." Reid trailed off suspiciously as the vampire wrapped his arms around him. He let himself, and his passenger, turn to ghost-like shadow, before reappearing through the open window.

Jonathan gasped loudly, clutching at McCullum like a lifeline. After he'd recovered enough to breathe properly, he glared. "A little warning would have been sufficient." He ground out scathingly.

"Eh, next time" McCullum said nonchalantly, opening the door a crack to slip through it. He heard Reid mouth in the darkness "next time?". The two men could already here verbal fighting coming from the room right beside them. Something about...cheating bastards? He shrugged, motioning for Jonathan to be silent. The doctor stuck his tongue out in an uncharacteristically childish display. Geoffrey smothered a laugh.

McCullum burst in, silencing the shouting match, and digging his sword through one of the Skal's arms. He heard a burst of gunfire, and the other Skal screamed. Geoffrey finished off the one that must have been the husband with ease, turning to the wife who was giving the doctor trouble.

It was fast, and far too clever for a normal Skal, creeping slowly until the human fired and then shadow jumping out of the way. McCullum snarled, tacking it off its feet. He ripped into it's throat, focusing more on incapacitating than feeding. He wasn't really paying attention to what he was doing, far more focused on hurting the thing that *dare* go after his companion. When his mind returned, he'd clawed and chewed through it's neck, blood gushing over him in a foul smelling torrent. He turned to Reid, expecting to see hatred or fear in his eyes, but instead he was met with a warm smile and a silk hankerchief brought gently to his face.

"M sorry, Jonathan, I..." Geoffrey trailed off, speaking to the doctor cautiously. His gut felt like lead, he must have just ruined their relationship. So why wasn't the doctor running?

"Shh, none of that," Reid soothed, running the white silk over the vampire's stubble to wipe up the worst of the ichor. McCullum stood perfectly still under the man's ministrations, and in that moment he felt more loved than he had in a long time.

After Geoffrey was relatively cleaned up, the two began exploring the room. He felt a sinking in his stomach at the familiar parchment. "Reid, come look at this. Another letter from Doris Fletcher. Ye may have been on to something." He gruffly admitted.

Chapter Text

The next night, the two men found themselves standing infront of the West End Theatre, the last place either of them wanted to be. Reid was in his ridiculous outfit once again, with almost every inch of his skin covered. Geoffrey would have laughed, if he wasn't aware how vital it was. If the Skal epidemic was blood born as Jonathan thought, then keeping safe from infected blood was his best bet.

They had argued for close to an hour about this, Geoffrey firmly for leaving the doctor at his lavish manor, but Reid stood firm, citing his medical knowledge and skill with ranged weaponry as why he should come with. In the end, Geoffrey had given in, but now he was glad the doctor was with him. The air was thick with leech screams, and the whole theatre seemed to loom forebodingly. It was easier to manage knowing he wasn't alone.

Around the back of the theatre, Reid spotted an open window surrounded by scaffolding. Geoffrey shadow jumped to the top with ease, and amused himself with watching the human climb up. The doctor didn't look it, but his time in the war must have made him physically strong. As soon as he reached the top, McCullum was already through the window in a whisp of smoke. Jonathan crawled through the old fashioned way, coming to a rest at McCullum's feet. The vampire chuckled.

"Wishin' ye stayed back at home yet?" Geoffrey teased.

Reid huffed, rolling his eyes, "hardly."

The whole place seemed to be infested with Skals, and for every one that got knocked down, two more took it's place. Geoffrey got up close and personal with the leeches, while Jonathan picked them off his back with his pistol. When the hoard slowed to a trickle, both men heard a woman's voice echoing through the building.

"Is she...monologuing?" Geoffrey asked incredulously.

Jonathan hummed, "it sounds like she is, but how to get down there?" He leaned towards the stage, peering through the wooden slats as though he could see beyond them.

"This whole building is full o' leeches. Stay close, Jon." McCullum said, sheathing his sword. The building seemed to have passages for the actors to use. One of them had to lead down to the stage.

"Jon?" Reid asked, a teasing smile on his face, and Geoffrey knew that if he'd been human, he would be bright red.

"S nothing." McCullum muttered, but Jonathan sent the vampire an easy smile.

"I like it." He said, embarrassed by his sincerity. He ducked his head, a faint blush on his face.

Geoffrey rolled his eyes, "cmon then, Jon. That thing is not gonna kill itself."

The doctor laughed, "indeed. After you." He said, gesturing to the nearest door. The two men descended into the bowels of the theatre.

-

After several more Skals met their fate by either bullet, blade, or teeth, the men found their way to the stage from a side entrance. The room had once been grand and ornately decorated, but now it was putrid with the scent of old blood and bile. Geoffrey wrinkled his nose, his enhanced senses not doing him any favors. On the stage the woman...or what had been a woman, had paused.

She watched them approach with a proud and confident stance. She was draped in a gilded costume with flowing skirts and a scarf covering up her face. She would most likely had been beautiful, if it wasn't for the mass of exposed muscle and tissue that made up her left arm. It extended almost to the floor, like a pulsating, red tentacle from some abomination pulled out of the Thames. Jonathan fell back, allowing McCullum to get closer, and with his vampiric hearing he heard Reid chambering a fresh round in his shotgun.

"Who are you?" Fletcher said, dramatically. Hearing her talk made Geoffrey realize why she'd been so successful in the theatre. "Are you here to worship me, or mock me?" She continued, her voice cruel and controlled.

"Neither, we're here to end this bloody epidemic!" Geoffrey said proudly, punctuating his statement with the sound of steel against his scabbard.

She laughed, a cold and calculated sound that made McCullum's hair stand on end. "Doris Fletcher is no more. She has been consumed by this purulent form." She said, in a tone similar to her earlier monologue.

"Fine then, whaddya want? What's the point 'o this?" Geoffrey growled. The dramatics were angering. It was clear she had no remorse for any of her actions, and needed to be put down. He heard Reid shift his stance from the shadows of the stage, ready to fire.

The actress shrugged, "Doris' last wish was for London to fall; all shall die, starting with you." She said nonchalantly. It took McCullum a moment for his brain to catch up with the words, but by then she had already swung her enlarged arm at the Ekon. He rolled out of the way, hearing a gun blast behind him, and the pained grunts of the beast infront of them. The bullet knocked her scarf off, revealing a twisted face; flesh stretched from her shoulder to her head, turning beautiful features into something monstrous. She snarled, sounding nothing like the collected woman she'd pretended to be just moments prior.

She had great reach with that arm, and Geoffrey was stuck using shadow spikes or blood spears, dodging out of the way in a swirl of shadows everytime she got close. Several Skals came to aid her, and he had to jump in a few times to help out his companion. True to his name, Reid was a doctor, not a fighter. The man, however, did have excellent aim. He hit her dead center each time, and dropped a Skal that had been creeping up on McCullum with a shot between the eyes. Once her Skal army dried up, Geoffrey managed to get closer, hitting her with the sharp edge of his broadsword, and delighting in each shrill cry she made. She was the cause of this, and she was going to pay for it.

Finally, after several more traded blows, she stumbled, leaving room for Geoffrey to straddle her disgusting form, blade poised above her heart, but a voice stopped him.

"Hold on, Geoffrey. We need answers." He said, stepping closer and putting his hand on the Ekon's shoulder. McCullum paused, before spitting at the leech beneath him.

"Go on then, speak!" He growled, Jonathan's presence grounding him.

She instead, however, turned to the doctor. "Are you here to save this cadaverous carcass of mine? Do you fancy me then?" She preened, drawing a unhappy look from both men.

Geoffrey was just about to tell Reid to give up, and put his sword through the leech, when Jonathan answered her. "No, my heart beats for another." He said, holding his voice neutral. McCullum was impressed with the human's fortitude. He had, after all, not known about vampires until quite recently.

"Is she pretty?" Doris ground out, rage contorting her already grotesque features, "is she sweet and tender?"

Jonathan pondered the question, and Geoffrey groaned internally. He was here to kill leeches, not talk to them!

"I believe so, yes." The doctor said, sounding surprisingly tender.

"I hate her already!" Doris spit out, fury in her eyes. Geoffrey tightened his hold on her, not wanting her anger to give her strength for a round two. Reid sighed, coming to the conclusion that they would get nothing important from this creature. He shot McCullum a grimace, knowing what needed to be done.

He released his hand from Geoffrey's shoulder, and the vampire plunged the blade through her disgusting heart. She let out a last choked breath, before falling limp.

"Farewell, Doris." Jonathan breathed from under his mask, the theatre falling still. That was, however, until the sound of several footsteps thundered out in the lobby.

McCullum turned on his blood sight, but he didn't like what he saw. "Priwen!" He whispered in alarm, grabbing Reid's arm and pulling him towards the door. Jonathan stumbled before righting himself and following the vampire through the maze of tunnels. More than once they'd been turned around by the presence of a guard, and if his heart still beat, Geoffrey knew it'd sound frantic. He hated feeling pursued by his own men, but his instincts screamed at him to keep moving.

They managed to avoid the hunters and make it back out the window they'd come in. It had rained while they were inside, and while the rain was good for washing the infected blood from McCullum, it also made the scaffolding slick. With an apologetic glance at Reid, he shadow jumped them both down to the ground. Jonathan shook his head dizzily, and his increased heart rate pumped out the divine scent of his blood. He knew that the blood of those closest to him would be the most delicious, but he hadn't truly been prepared for the reality. He forced his fangs into submission.

"So, what's next?" Geoffrey asked, trying to distract himself from the bloodlust.

Jonathan hummed, "well, Ascalon said they'd like a report on the outcome of...all this. And although I am hesitant to face them, I would rather do so than face any sort of punishment for 'insubordination' that they may come up with." The man grimaced. "But that's a problem for another night. The sun will rise soon - do you have a place nearby to stay? Preferably with running water?" Jonathan asked. McCullum frowned, Ascalon was quite a good distraction. He debated lying to the doctor. But Reid saw right through him.

"Right then. Come along. My home is always open to you." He said, guiding the vampire towards his family's manor.

-

Just like last time, Geoffrey found himself submerged in warm water in a far too fancy bathroom. But unlike the last time a month ago, he...felt comfortable. Sure, he was stressed about the epidemic, and Reid's health, and everything else under the moon, but he was getting used to his new life. He could hear Ms. Reid and Mary sleeping down the hall, and Avery Cork drying the dishes before he retired to bed. Across the hall he could pick out the incredibly familiar heartbeat of Jonathan Reid, and he could hear the man softly humming to himself. He'd gotten a sample of Doris Fletcher's poisonous blood, and was probably setting up his microscope right now.

Priwen had always been his family, but they'd never truly filled the gaping hole in his chest from after Carl died. However, he was beginning to feel that same spark in his chest; one that promised safety and love. He snorted as he finished washing the blood out of his hair, staining the water red. He was a vampire and Jonathan was a human. That was it. Their roles were already written in blood, and couldn't be changed. The only way for it to work would be...well, he didn't even want to think about it.

He dried off with a soft towel, before wrapping it around his waist and knocking on Reid's door. Instead of the familiar greeting he was used to, Jonathan himself opened the door. He smiled, which turned into a deeply impressive blush at the sight of the vampire in a towel.

"Ah, hmm. I'll uh, get you something to wear. One moment please." He stammered, turning to his wardrobe. Geoffrey chuckled under his breath disbelievingly. There was no way Jonathan liked him like that, but then he thought back on the man's words at the theatre... "Here you are, Geoffrey. And, ah, apologies about that. I got...distracted by my research, I admit."

"S fine," Geoffrey said sleepily. He could feel the sun lingering on the horizon.

"Tomorrow night...or, tonight actually. I'm going to see Ascalon early before work. We can meet back here before sunrise. You're welcome to stay another night...if you want." Jonathan said, a furrow in his brow. The man was clearly thinking hard about something.

"I might take ye up on that, thanks. What did ye find?" Geoffrey said, distracted by the worried tone in the doctor's voice.

Jonathan paused before explaining, sounding distressed. "I've done some digging of my own, and did you know that Doris Fletcher's real name was Jones? As in, Harriet Jones' daughter? I'm positive there's something worse out there, something that infected Doris, but..." He trailed off, turning his body to face the wall to give McCullum privacy.

"What is it, Jon?" Geoffrey asked, pulling on a pair of woolen trousers and beginning to button his borrowed shirt.

"Well, it's looking as if this all started at the Pembroke Hospital." He said, sounding lost. "I...I don't know who or what could have done this. There's clearly some sort of...pathogen in the blood of the infected, but how it got there...worries me. Harriet Jones would be the original carrier, and if her daughter visited her at the hospital, she could have passed it on. But how a frail old woman would get infected with something like this, it baffles me."

McCullum's eyes widened. The infection originated at the Pembroke? And with Harriet Jones? He thought of the Skal-like creature in the sewers and shuddered. Well, he knew that Reid didn't have anything to do with it...but who else would experiment with blood...

"Swansea," Geoffrey bit out, causing Jonathan to turn around in confusion.

"Pardon?" Jonathan asked.

"I told ya about the Brotherhood of Saint Paul's Stole, but I didn't tell ye that Swansea is a member." McCullum explained, "We used ta be friends, but...well, he's a bit overzealous. He's been put on probation within the Brotherhood fer experimenting with vampire blood before. Even their current Primate, an insufferable bloke named Talltree, was against his 'research'. A vampire epidemic originating from the Pembroke, well, I'm certain ya see what I mean."

Jonathan paled, and worried his lip between his teeth. It was, Geoffrey had to privately admit, quite endearing. "But...why? Why would Edgar do such a thing?" The doctor asked, not truly expecting an answer, which was good because Geoffrey had none to give. He felt the now familiar weight of the sun in his chest even though the curtains were shut. Jonathan caught his gaze, and his eyes softened with understanding.

McCullum didn't know if they'd survive the coming days, or if they could stop the epidemic, and these thoughts made him bold.

"Jonathan, do ye mind if I...sleep with ye tonight? I...I don't want ta be alone." He said, sheepishly.

Reid widened his eyes, "ummm, if you don't mind, well, I... certainly won't complain." He said, normally eloquent voice stilted.

McCullum grinned, surprised that the man had said yes. Jonathan really had been flirting with him. Reid took off his shoes, blazer, and waist coat, changing into pajamas. Geoffrey flopped down face first on the large bed, the sheer relief of not only surviving the day, but being with Jonathan outweighed the anxiety.

Reid scoffed, "Geoffrey, if you want us to lay together you'll have to move over." He said jokingly. McCullum growled, rolling over to the far side. Jonathan chuckled, peeling back the covers and laying down. At first it was kind of awkward, with both men lying opposite of each other, but then Geoffrey rolled over and manipulated Reid's tired form until his chest was flush with the wonderfully warm human's back. His bloodlust was still present, of course, but he found he cared more for keeping the doctor alive than draining him. He urged his instincts to shut up, as he snuggled closer to the man, falling asleep to the sound of his heartbeat.

-

When McCullum awoke, Jonathan was already gone. He'd left a note on the nightstand however, which Geoffrey sighed upon reading. He shoved the ripped piece of paper in his pocket. That man...

Dear Geoffrey,

I have gone out to the Ascalon Club before the sun fully sets, hoping to have a quick conversation once the vampires rise. I will then head to the Pembroke for work. If what you've told me about Edgar is true, then I fear for the safety of the hospital and it's patients. Do not fret, I will not tell him of our suspicions. When I return later, I will inform you thusly.

Sincerely Yours,
Jonathan E. Reid

He wanted to wait around for the human, but while he paced around the room, an unfamiliar woman appeared in the door frame. She was far too gaunt, and had a haunted look in her eyes, but she carried the same mischievous look that Jonathan did. Geoffrey rummaged through his mind for a name.

"Good evenin', Ms. Reid," the Ekon said, trying to be polite. Her smirk just deepened.

"Good evening," she replied, "I know my brother had brought home a guest...but then, I thought that's what the spare room was for?" She said innocently. McCullum paled.

"Um, we're friends..." Geoffrey trailed off, not truly having someone he could call a friend for a long time.

Mary rolled her eyes, "oh I'm certain, Jonny has had a lot of 'friends' over the years." She chuckled at Geoffrey's embarassed expression. He thought of the doctor's previous partners, and then decided to stop thinking. "He's rather rude however, never did give me your name."

"It's, uh, McCullum. Geoffrey McCullum, miss." The Ekon said. And he thought that Jon was smug...

"Call me Mary, please." She replied, waving off his stutters. "It's lovely to meet you, Mr. McCullum. How did you and my brother meet?"

"Uh, ran into him in the West End. I'd been lost an' he offered me a place to sleep. Jus' kept running into each other after that." McCullum admitted truthfully.

"Ah, so it was you in our guest room last month then I see." Mary said, cunningly.

Geoffrey sputtered, "Ah, yes, you're correct. But it's, um, starting to get late. I should probably get goin'."

"Yes, well, I was just heading to bed. I just wanted to see what kind of man my brother brought home. Goodnight, Mr. McCullum, " she laughed, giving the Ekon a wave before disappearing down the hallway. Geoffrey just stood there in shock for a moment, feeling as though he'd gotten whiplash.

The Reids are gonna give me a heart attack, he thought as he wandered around the West End. Wasting no time he found and devoured three Skals before perching near the Ascalon Club. Tonight, however, he sensed no humans inside, which meant Jonathan was at the Pembroke. He knew that the doctor was in the first hours of his shift, but McCullum couldn't help but be worried. What if something tipped Swansea off? What if he tried to hurt Reid? Geoffrey squashed a growl starting in his throat, it was no use to think about what might or could happen. His instincts urged him towards the hospital, so that's where he went.

There was a strange aura hanging over the hospital, and it made the hair on the back of McCullum's neck stand up. Something was wrong, and his heart felt like lead in his stomach. There was no one outside of the hospital grounds, which made Geoffrey's heart sink lower. Upon entering the premise, he saw the staff members and patients all huddled close together, they all appeared visibly upset and unerved. A young doctor approached McCullum, his eyes red from unshed tears.

"If you need assistance, sir, we've no free beds. Not to mention that a tragedy has just occured." The young man said, his name tag identifying him as "Dr. T. Strickland".

"What happened? What do ya mean 'tragedy'?" The vampire asked, almost afraid to receive an answer.

"A gang, sir!" Strickland said loudly, anxiety filling his voice. "A-a group of armed men came in! They kidnapped Dr. Swansea and Dr. Reid, dragged them both away! I-I don't know why..." He trailed off, eyes getting shiny with tears.

Geoffrey paled and activated his blood sight. The second floor was coated with blood stains, and a trail of Swansea's blood led to the attic. He suppressed a growl, determined to find out what Priwen was doing and why they'd taken Reid.

-

Gerome Kane had been a part of Priwen his whole life. His parents had been killed by vampires when he was just a babe, leaving him under the wing of Carl Eldritch who later took in their future leader, too. McCullum had vanished a little over a month ago, and was spotted by the Southwark mass grave...as a newly born leech. They'd lost track of him, but recently he'd been sighted hanging with a strange doctor. Priwen had it figured out, the hospital was where the epidemic had started, and Geoffrey was the only leech in the area. He had to have worked with Reid, a hematologist, and Swansea, a bloody member of the Brotherhood, to propagate this vampire epidemic. Kane readied his rifle, hearing the lift activate to bring his fallen leader to the attic, where he lay in wait. He would end this epidemic by killing its champion, for after all, Priwen would prevail.

Chapter Text

McCullum had followed the blood trail to a rickety old lift. He pulled the slats up and stepped inside, noticing a blood smear on the button for the attic. He growled deep in his chest, knowing what awaited him. Before he'd taken over Priwen, he and Swansea had set up a vampire defense room on the top floor. That was...a little over ten years ago, Geoffrey thought absentmindedly, how the times change. He cringed at the thought of burning; of orichalcum soaking into his wounds, flesh burning and cracking, but it only solidified his resolve. He knew better than anyone what Priwen did to leech sympathizers, and he'd turned Reid into one, too, McCullum thought with a wince. The man wouldn't be in this situation if it wasn't for him. God, he hoped he was alright.

The lift opened into the once-familiar room, his footsteps echoing in the cavernous space, but not for long. A bright, white light shone down from the rafters, causing Geoffrey to cry out and fall to his knees. He felt his skin burning, and it took all of his willpower not to scream, he wouldn't give them the satisfaction.

"Ultraviolet lights and orichalcum powder, Swansea's always been a resourceful bastard." A man calls out tauntingly from the shadows. Geoffrey cursed, he knew that voice.

"Gerome Kane," McCullum hissed, "what did you do with Reid?"

"Worried about your little pets, are ya?" Kane laughed, hitting the remote to turn up the lights. McCullum gritted his teeth against the onslaught. It wouldn't kill him, he knew that, but it'd hurt like hell.

"He's innocent...Gerry you gotta believe me." Geoffrey bit out. He'd been raised beside this man, but he knew Priwen was trained to only see the leech left in his place.

The new leader of Priwen scoffed, reaching for the button to turn up the lights again, "you did this didn't you? You and the doctors. Where's Marshal hiding? It's still in London isn't it?"

McCullum had a moment to flash on the curious book currently in his flat, before the lights flickered and failed. He took his chance, staggering to his feet and activating his Autophagy. He gasped in relief as his skin knit back together.

He saw the human, his former friend, blink his eyes to adjust to the darkness. Kane grabbed the curved sword he was known for, and ripped it from it's scabbard. "So much for modern technology, time for the tried and true." He grinned, charging at McCullum.

Geoffrey ducked, but the hunter didn't give him any breathing room. He whipped back around and landed a punch to the Ekon's solar plexus. He gasped, shadow jumping to the other side of the room. He didn't want to hurt the man, but every second that was occupied with fighting he could feel Jonathan's life slipping through his fingers. He grit his teeth, running his shoulder into Kane's midsection, and while he tried to recover, McCullum pinned the man to the wall. The hunter bucked wildly, his erratic heartbeat exacerbating the scent of his blood until all Geoffrey saw was red.

"I don' wanna hurt ye," McCullum rasped, "tell me where ye took Reid." He didn't hear the man respond, but he was shoved away from the red pulse: delicious and hazy and...no! Color was restored to his vision and horror set in, but he had no time to think, because Kane was brandishing his sword again. McCullum dodged, hitting the man in the leg with a blood spear, trying to slow him down. The hunter stumbled, and righting himself with a glare, he pulled a flask from his jacket pocket, holding it up triumphantly. Geoffrey, not wanting to see what new weapon Priwen had cooked up in his absence, landed a hit with the pommel of his sword, knocking it out of his hands and into the shadows. This only seemed to enrage the hunter however, as he bellowed a war cry and jumped back into the frey.

-

Geoffrey was, for the first time, glad he wasn't human. The hunter was visibly tiring from the multitude of back handed strikes and shallow cuts McCullum had managed to land. He had to admit that picking Kane as his successor was a good idea, but now that he was a leech he wasn't as big of a fan. Nevertheless, as he dodged a clumsy strike and kicked the man to the ground, all he felt was worry.

He pulled Kane to a kneeling position, and shoved his face into the hunter's space, fangs bared. "Ye lost, and it'd be game over if this was any other leech. But I'm not like those other bastards." Geoffrey sneered, dropping the man back to the ground. "What did ye do with Reid and Swansea?"

Kane glared for a moment, swaying on his knees; his eyes softening ever so slightly at the sight of his old leader and friend, the man he'd grown up beside - and the leech that had let him live. "The theatre." He said, bowing his head in resignation.

McCullum snarled, turning with the swish of his coat tails he went to exit the way he came in. His clothes were bloodstained and slightly charred, but he had no time. On his way to the lift, he kicked something metallic. Bending over, he recognized the little flask. Shrugging, he pocketed it. He could investigate later, because right now he had to get to the theatre before it was too late.

-

The whole way to the West End was fraught with anxiety. Geoffrey didn't even try concealing himself in the shadows, walking boldly past civilians and shadow sprinting when he could manage. He was terrified of what he might find, but the fear of never knowing was worse. He didn't even try to get in the window this time, kicking the back door open. He knew Priwen's schedules like the back of his hand, and he knew at this hour the base would be essentially empty.

Geoffrey knocked out the two guardsman standing just inside the door, recognizing their faces with his rage filled eyes. Activating his blood sight he saw *pools* of blood in the basement. McCullum choked at the sight, afraid of what it meant. If he wasn't a leech, his heart would be pounding out of his chest.

It took him a few minutes to even find his way downstairs, and for a second he had debated breaking through the floor, but now as his footsteps sounded against guilded stairs, dread began to creep in. McCullum felt like an idiot. He should've told Jon how he felt, should've said anything, and now the prospect of that vibrant life being gone forever almost brought him to tears.

Geoffrey burst through the door; the room beyond was split into segments. He passed Swansea's corpse strung up in the middle of the room, the scent of blood permeating the space. Passed the next door frame and laying on the floor was Reid. McCullum let out a hysterical laugh, the man was still alive.

His left arm was horribly broken, bone shards poking out of his skin, and half his face was a mass of bruises with one eye swollen shut; but he was alive, and that was all that mattered.

"Jonathan, can ye hear me!?" Geoffrey said, sounding frantic. He kneeling on the floor next to the doctor. The man groaned, opening his eye a crack. He shuddered.

"Mmmm, yes." Reid slurred, his eye trying to focus.

McCullum looked around and grimaced. With an apology on his tongue, he lifted the lanky man into the air, and cradled him to his chest. Reid bit out a curse, before letting his head fall into the crook of Geoffrey's neck. His warmth felt so good to the vampire, and McCullum unconsciously pressed his chin to the top of Jonathan's head to chase the feeling.

He hated the idea of taking Jon to the Pembroke, especially since that was where the whole epidemic started, but with blood leaking out of his arm and his split lip, Geoffrey knew it was the only way he'd have a chance. Even though he tried to be gentle, every stair he took or shadow jump he made caused Reid to hiss in discomfort. As they passed through Poplar Fauborg, Jonathan lost consciousness, his head lolling against his chest. McCullum picked up the pace - he refused to lose him.

McCullum was exiled to the waiting room for a few excruciating hours. Jonathan had been rushed into surgery to stabilize his arm once they crossed through the hospital gates. He had a few hours before the sun rose, and he was debating hunkering down in Reid's office, when a nurse walked out, looking tired.

"Mr. McCullum?" She called out, and the Ekon sprang to his feet.

"Aye," Geoffrey said, walking over to the small woman, "how's he doin'?" He asked, the nerves of the past night were eating at him.

"Well, the surgery was a success, however we're unsure how much mobility he'll get back in that arm. The fractures were...quite severe." She answered, a pinched look on her face. She was scared for the surgeon, too. "He's sleeping right now, but I can let you see him before my shift ends. Please be gentle, he's on powerful pain medication." She looked at McCullum softly, a look he wasn't used to receiving.

Geoffrey made his way down the hallway into the private room the nurse had just exited. Reid was laying in the hospital bed in the middle of the room, an IV in his right arm. He's been stripped of his bloodied clothes and was wearing the routine blue gown that showed he was a patient. He looked worryingly pale, half his face purple with bruising, and his arm was encased in a white plaster cast from his shoulder to his wrist. Now that they were safe, Geoffrey noticed more bruising along his wrists, and down his neck, disappearing under the hem of his tunic. McCullum felt sick, this had only happened because of him; it was all his fault. He sat in the chair beside Jon's bed, running his fingers over the man's cold hand. Saving London could wait, Reid was what was important now.

-

The staff of the Pembroke got very used to the presence of a certain Irishman over the next few days. Geoffrey didn't tell anyone, but he'd been breaking into Reid's office to sleep away the sunlight hours. At night, when he'd return to his vigil, he was greeted with the same response each time.

"He's still sleeping, Mr. McCullum. His body needs rest. Give it time, he will be fine." Dr. Tippets, the current acting administrator said for the third night in a row. On the fourth night however, when he snuck downstairs, he was greeted by the nurse from the first night, who he now knew as Nurse Hawkins.

"Mr. McCullum! Dr. Reid is awake. He's been up for about ten minutes." Hawkins said with a warm smile. Geoffrey widened his eyes.

"Can I see 'im?" He asked the nurse, struggling to keep the excitement and relief out of his voice.

"I don't see why not," she grinned, and with a nod McCullum's feet were taking him to the now-familiar room.

Jon was sitting up in bed, well, propped up really. His face was still a mess of bruises, but his eye was clear. His arm was held to his chest in a sling. He glanced over at the door, and his expression brightened.

"Geoffrey!" He exclaimed, excitement obvious in his voice, "I've heard you've been lurking around the hospital. How have you been?" He said, smiling.

"'How have I been?' How have you been, Jon?" McCullum said, exasperated. This man...

"Like I was beaten half to death by a group of armed assailants." Jonathan joked, but then his tone turned somber. "We need to talk about the epidemic."

Geoffrey closed the door, and pulled up a chair to Reid's bedside. He clutched the doctor's hand, careful of the numerous bruises dotting his skin. "Aye, we do."

"While Edgar and I were in that...basement, he confessed something to me. He said that Pembroke's main benefactor, the one who was being blackmailed, is an Ekon named Lady Elisabeth Ashbury." Jonathan said as Geoffrey made a noise of outrage. Reid gripped the vampire's hand a little tighter. "He said that he had been transfusing her with blood to sate her hunger, but that he'd also taken some of her blood...Geoffrey he administered that blood to a human patient; to Harriet Jones. We need to find her." Reid's voice sounded betrayed and outraged, and for good reason. McCullum felt stunned, he knew that they'd suspected Swansea, but to know what he'd done...

"I...I know where Jones is. She's at Hampton's shelter. They escaped together because...they'd both turned Skal. I...let her live." Geoffrey admitted, ducking his head in embarrassment.

"But you told me..." Jonathan began, "you said that Hampton was fine but feeling better, and that he didn't know what happened to Ms. Jones...you mesmerized me." The doctor's eyes widened at the realization. "Why?"

"I didn't want ye to get hurt, or to know about vampires at all. I'm sorry." Geoffrey said, guilt clawing at his insides.

Reid frowned, "I'd rather you didn't do that again." He said firmly, "but we can discuss this at a later date. Jones is still out there, and from her blood sample that I analyzed, whatever pathogen she has can infect other vampires, too. Confronting her won't be safe for either of us."

McCullum's brows furrowed. If vampires could be infected too...what hope was there? "Yer a doctor, can't you like...make a vaccine?" He asked, grasping at straws.

"Perhaps, but vaccines take years. If every deadly disease has a vampiric origin, I wonder if anyone else has come up with anything. It would certainly be faster." Reid lamented.

This gave Geoffrey a pause. He thought back to what Kane said in the attic, how he'd alluded to thinking that Marshal was McCullum's sire. Priwen was rife with stories of William Marshal and his propagation of an epidemic, but what if that wasn't true? What if he was turned to stop it? Was that why Geoffrey had been turned? His Maker had been infuriating cryptic, appearing to him only three times to speak riddles and codes. It made Geoffrey's head spin to think about it, but if Marshal was made to stop a disaster...

"I think I might have something that can help." Geoffrey said firmly, thinking back on the little book he'd found earlier.

"I'll wait for your return. It's not like I've anything else to do." Jonathan bit out playfully. McCullum smiled, and for the first time since he'd been turned, he felt hope.

-

Geoffrey was glad that he hadn't told any of Priwen where he lived, because he knew that after his turning they would have looted his flat or sprung a trap inside. As it was, it was only slightly messy from his last excursion into his small library. He spotted the small book from earlier titled "Marshal's Memoirs" and pocketed it. He also grabbed more crossbow ammunition and an extra pistol. McCullum didn't know when he'd next be back in his little flat, but that thought brought little sadness. He didn't know when he'd started thinking of Jonathan as "home", but it had been at least for a few weeks.

He arrived back at the hospital with little interruption, happy to see Jonathan still sitting up and alert. Geoffrey still felt guilty at every wince that Reid couldn't properly suppress, but from the smiles that the doctor kept sending him, he knew that Jon didn't blame him. That thought was like a balm to his nerves.

"So, from what it says here, you'll need to be injected with an antidote against the Blood of Hate - that's what Marshal calls this...vampire illness. However the ingredients are rather vague. The blood of a king, blood of the purest heart, and garlic. Isn't garlic poisonous to vampires?" Jonathan asked after forty-five minutes of quiet research. He had several books spread out over the bed, and McCullum was amused at how even now he looked like a scientist.

"Uh, aye. I'd rather not inject meself with garlic if I had another option." Geoffrey said, unhappy with the thought of any more pain.

Jonathan hummed, "well, we've got insulin in the old morgue. It was turned into a storage facility before the epidemic, but it doesn't get much use these days. If you can find any left, that would take care of that part. It should be able to work as a substitute for garlic. But what of the other two?"

McCullum frowned, sticking his hands in his pockets as he thought. His fingers brushed the flask from the fight in the attic. He'd genuinely forgotten about it. Taking it out and looking at it, it seemed to have worn lettering on it.

"Blood of Arthur Pendragon," McCullum read out loud, his eyes wide. "This is Priwen's most sacred relic. It's said that a drop would put ye on par with a powerful leech."

"Blood of a king...could it really be that simple?" Jonathan exclaimed. McCullum unscrewed the cap and gave it a whiff, having to reign in his bloodlust from the smell. It was blood alright; powerful blood, too.

As he fought to get himself back under control, Reid grinned at him stupidly. The force of his smile opening the wound at the corner of his mouth, and blood trickled down his chin and into his beard. Geoffrey snapped.

He pressed his mouth (cold, dead, leechy) against Jonathan's (warm, delicious) lips, almost moaning at the taste exploding over his tongue. Reid made a surprised noise at first, before opening his mouth to allow McCullum more access. When the vampire pulled away, lips dotted with the doctor's blood, Geoffrey felt as if a bucket of cold water had been dumped over his head. He was an idiot, he'd just ruined everything they'd been building. Reid would never trust him again. He ducked his head in shame, surprised then at the scorching hot hand tilting his chin upwards.

The look in Reid's eyes was fond and loving and something he hadn't even allowed himself to imagine. Jonathan drew him closer and kissed him again - slowly and softly, giving Geoffrey tenderness he never thought he'd deserved.

"Well," Jon said after ending the kiss, "I wasn't expecting that. Not that I'm complaining of course. You are very dear to me."

"But, I'm a leech. A vampire." Geoffrey said, trying to think of reasons why Jonathan should hate him, trying this time to frighten the man away.

"And I am a human. A mortal. A doctor, and a soldier. And I love you, Geoffrey McCullum. You can be both a vampire and a good man, I've seen it." Reid said softly, still cupping the vampire's face in his hands.

Geoffrey was silent, his mind rebelling against the man's words, while his heart drank them in like they were water during a drought. "Aye, perhaps. An'...I care for ye, too. I know not how, but I feel for you all the same."

Jonathan sent him one last lingering look, before the mask of the researcher covered his loving visage. "Right then, that's two ingredients, but what of the last one? Blood of the purest heart? There is no way to empirically categorize such a thing."

McCullum rolled his eyes, of course he'd think like that. If there was one thing he'd learned from this past almost-two months, it was that these things rarely followed the scientific method. "Well, it is rumored that Ascalon has a vial of the blood of William Marshal; the greatest knight to have ever lived. He served under five kings. If anyone had a pure heart, it'd be him. Although unlike the last two, this ingredient won't be easy to get."

Jonathan frowned, "when I visited the club, Redgrave propositioned me with immortality. He even had an Ekon chosen, a man named Aloysius Dawson. But I refused, and I was told to not return, not that I minded that at the time. Now, however, I am unsure how to retrieve Marshal's blood. Not to mention that I am confined here for the foreseeable future."

Geoffrey saw red, he knew those leech bastards would want Jon, but to give him such a devious ultimatum...he growled. "What if ye sent them a letter. Requested a meeting in the hospital fer the purpose of ending the epidemic. It's a public place, no way Redgrave would try an' do anything."

"You are a brilliant man," Jonathan said softly, already flagging down a nurse to ask for parchment and a pen. Even during his convalescence the man was a force of nature.

It took a few days for Ascalon to respond, and McCullum had been beginning to lose hope. However, on the fifth day, a letter showed up with the blood red seal of the club. Jonathan tore it open, uncaring for the fine envelope or elegant parchment. He grinned in elation, "They've accepted our proposal, and will be here later tonight."

Geoffrey, who'd been lounging on the rather uncomfortable hospital chair, sighed. Of course they took a freaking week to respond, only to give the doctor a very short notice. "About time. Hundreds of people are dyin' every night, an' they take days to respond. Figures." He grumbled. Jonathan reached over and offered him his hand, which McCullum took gratefully. He worried the man's fingers through his own.

"I don't think it would be wise for you to be here when they arrive. If they don't already know you are an Ekon, it could be dangerous for them to find out - for both you and the Guard." Reid said gently, as though his tone would make the idea more palatable.

Geoffrey sneered, "no way am I leaving ya alone with them." He protested, but he was silenced by Jonathan's glare.

"I'm not saying you have to leave the hospital, but you have to stay out of their sight." The doctor urged. "You feel bad enough that I was injured, what if now that you're an Ekon they go after Priwen?"

Geoffrey hissed in displeasure. He knew the doctor was right but at the same time he loathed the idea of leaving the man to his own devices. He knew how that'd turned out last time. "Fine, but the second I hear anything I don' like..." He trailed off menacingly.

Jonathan snickered, "you'll kill them all in a painfully gruesome way, I know." He soothed the aggravated vampire.

It was just thirty minutes later that Geoffrey heard the whisper steps of two leeches entering the hospital. He narrowed his eyes, and Reid gave his hand a quick squeeze before the Ekon departed. McCullum shadow jumped out the window, and lingered across the street on the window ledge of an abandoned house. He made sure to stay out of range of the other leeches, but also close enough that he could watch and make sure that Jon was safe.

He could only hear snippets of the conversation, but it sounded like they were pushing back, and refusing to give Jonathan the blood. Reid mentioned that it was the only thing that could stop the epidemic. When one of the Ekons started trying to antagonize Jon, telling him he was useless due to his injury, McCullum had to bite down on the urge to crash through the window and annihilate the bastards. However, after about fifteen minutes of smooth voiced threats, Geoffrey saw them hand a gilded vial to the doctor, who took it with a wary thanks.

After Ascalon's leeches had departed, Geoffrey shadow stepped back into the room. Jonathan looked at him excitedly, holding up the silvered vial.

"Got it?" Geoffrey asked, hope bubbling in his chest.

"Got it." Jonathan affirmed, reeling the vampire in by his scarf for another kiss.

Chapter Text

"Dr. Reid, Lady Ashbury is in today. You said you wanted us to let you know when she arrived." Nurse Branagan said. Jonathan was sitting up in a wheelchair in his room, a book splayed over his crossed legs. They'd allowed him his own clothes, although one of his sleeves lay empty, due to the fact that his cast couldn't fit through the narrow fabric. Geoffrey was laying across two chairs he'd dragged together to make an uncomfortable bed where he had rested for the day, not wanting to be parted from the doctor.

"Ah, thank you, nurse. Please send her in here at her latest convenience." Jonathan answered, glancing up from his medical journal.

After Branagan left, McCullum piped up, "do we really have ta do this?"

Reid snorted, "indeed. It was her blood that Edgar used to start this epidemic. She has a right to know, and besides, she might even know why or how to stop it. Even though we've never met, I thought it prudent to extend her some common courtesy."

"S not exactly common courtesy to tell someone their blood caused an epidemic." Geoffrey laughed.

Reid rolled his eyes, "yes well, she deserves to know anyway." He punctuated his statement by turning the page.

The room descended into silence once again. Geoffrey had went out to hunt right before the sun rose, and he felt the blood moving sluggishly through his veins.

After a few minutes the Ekon heard faint, deliberate footsteps coming down the hall. He sat up and nudged Jonathan.

Just a moment later, a knock sounded on the door, and a red headed woman entered the room. She was very slight of stature, with large green eyes. "I heard you wished to meet me." She said, her voice worldly and cautious.

"Indeed." Jonathan replied, unconsciously shifting into a more formal position. "I am Dr. Jonathan Reid, and this is my friend, Geoffrey McCullum. We'd like to ask you a few questions, if we may?"

The female Ekon laughed, "so formal. And of course I know you both, or at least know of you. The leading name of British medical sciences, and the former leader of the Guard of Priwen. Two formidable men, each in their own way. Am I correct in assuming this is related to the epidemic?"

"You are correct," Jon said, his voice grave, "please take a seat."

She sat in one of the chairs McCullum had vacated, her back ramrod straight.

Over the next fifteen minutes, Reid explained the timeline of the epidemic, all the way up to discovering the antidote. When they mentioned William Marshal, her already pale face grew bloodless.

"...when I was captive with Edgar in the theatre's basement, he admitted to me that he administered your blood to a patient named Harriet Jones, who has since become what Marshal called a Disaster. Why would your blood do such a thing?" Jonathan finished, brows furrowed at Ashbury's terrified face. Geoffrey tensed his muscles, ready to spring up if she attacked, but she did something else entirely.

She got up from her seat, preternatural speed a boon as she lept out the window that McCullum had opened. The two looked at each other in shock, before McCullum gave chase.

He followed her trail to Poplar Fauborg before he lost the scent. She was very old and clearly good at concealing her presence. He swore, returning to the doctor frustrated.

"Well," Jonathan sighed, "I was hoping to get answers from her, but we need to advance with the plan regardless." He sighed, "I am worried about this upcoming fight." The doctor admitted.

"It'll be me fightin', you gotta stay here." McCullum chuckled, but if anything, that pronouncement made Reid look more grim.

"Precisely my problem. I don't wish for you to be injured, or...worse." Jonathan admitted.

"Please, I'm a leech. I'll be fine." Geoffrey brushed the man off, ignoring the worry churning in his own gut. He knew the power of Ekons, and could feel those same powers inside of himself, but he'd also seen them die; sent enough of them to death himself to know it wasn't pleasant.

"Either way, I need to create the antidote before you're going to fight anyone." Jon gently chided.

McCullum rolled his eyes, moving to help the doctor to his feet, "well then, ya better get workin' on it." He said, squashing the anxiety in his tone, but he could tell that Reid heard it too.

-

If Geoffrey had thought watching science in action would be fun, he was soon returned to reality. For a good ten minutes or so he'd lingered over the doctor's shoulder - watching his pale fingers skim the pages of Marshal's Memoirs along with a textbook on blood compounds. The slight smell of gas from his bunsen burner was irritating the Ekon's nose, and the complete silence wasn't good for his nerves. However, just as he was about to fall asleep on the bed, he heard a small triumphant noise from Jonathan.

"I think it's completed," Jonathan said, glancing one more time at the microscope. "I've tested it on samples that contain the Blood of Hate, and it seems to be very effective. I believe this is it."

"Stick me then, doc." Geoffrey joked, holding out his arm. Jonathan playfully swatted it away.

"It's close to sunrise. I think I'll administer the antidote, which Marshal called the Tears of Angels in his memoir, tonight and then we can go from there. I want to check you for any possible side effects before you go off to fight Jones..." He trailed off with a frown.

Geoffrey pulled Reid to his feet, pressing his forehead against the human's. "Ya worry too much, Jon." Geoffrey stated, basking in the warm contact. "I'll be fine, ye can't get rid of me that easily."

"If it were up to me, I'd never be rid of you, my dear, foolish, Ekon." Jonathan said fondly, resting his hands at the base of Geoffrey's neck. The doctor was a few inches taller than him, and the vampire felt secure in the doctor's arms.

McCullum flopped on the cot, pulling the doctor down with him, being mindful of his healing wounds. He gently manhandled Jonathan until he was resting on his back, with Geoffrey curled around him.

Jonathan laughed, "if this is how you react to affection, I'll need to give it more effusively in the future."

"Shut up. Yer warm." McCullum said, burrowing his head deeper into the doctor's shoulder.

Reid hummed, nuzzling the vampire's hair. Geoffrey surprised them both by letting out a deep purr from his chest. Once again, he was grateful vampires couldn't blush.

"I know you'll hate to hear this, Geoffrey, but you're quite adorable like this." Jonathan said, which only prompted the Ekon to purr harder. Jonathan chuckled at McCullum's sullen silence. "Good morning, my dear vampire." Reid said, as the sun pulled them both under.

Geoffrey awoke the in the evening alone, but as he opened his eyes he saw Jonathan drawing a red solution into a syringe, and packing a small rucksack. He snorted.

"Packin' me a lunch fer school, Jon?" McCullum joked.

Reid rolled his eyes, "hardly. I've compiled several blood serums I've crafted that should help you with healing, along with some extra ammunition. I don't want you to be injured if I can help it."

Geoffrey was touched, "aye...thanks. Ye didn't have to do that." He murmured.

"Yes, but I wanted to. As I said before, you are dear to me." Jonathan stayed simply, as if it was that easy to fall in love. Although, maybe it was.

"Time fer my vaccine?" Geoffrey asked, feeling the weight of the night on his shoulders. He was going to go down into the sewers, and fight a Disaster. The same thing that Marshal had fought and fell to. What made him better than a freaking knight?

"Indeed. Give me your arm." Reid instructed, brandishing a syringe. Geoffrey rolled up his shirt sleeve, and allowed Jonathan to administer the elixir. He immediately felt stronger, bloodlust falling away and leaving raw energy in it's place. "How do you feel, Geoffrey?" Jonathan prompted, his voice shaking McCullum out of his own head.

"I...good. I feel good, an' powerful." The vampire responded truthfully.

Jonathan gave him an impromptu physical, or the closest thing to a physical he could manage with a shattered arm. After a few minutes he declared the vaccine a success, but he looked worried at what came next.

"You better come back to me, Geoffrey McCullum." Jonathan said, voice grave.

"I will. I promise, Jon." McCullum replied, running his hand through the doctor's unnaturally perfect hair, before he walked to the balcony and was swallowed by the night.

-

The night was unnaturally silent, almost as if even the rats and other vermin were hiding from the epidemic. Geoffrey found his way to the sewers in no time, making for the door without even giving Hampton a wave. As soon as he entered the Sewer Skals territory, all he smelled was blood. They had all been massacred, and the room that had held Harriet was destroyed and empty. McCullum grimaced, but at least the thick, black blood left a good trail for his nose. He took a deep breath, settling his nerves, and headed deeper into the sewers.

The deeper he went, the thicker the blood trail, and a few times he stopped to put an eviscerated Skal out of their misery. He never thought he'd feel sorry for the malformed creatures, but the past two months had changed everything.

The trail led to a large cistern, where he made out a large and malformed shape in the middle. It had to be Harriet Jones.

"M so sick." She muttered, vomiting forth a stream of green bile through the grate in the center. Geoffrey clutched his sword tighter.

"I can help ye with that. Take away yer pain." McCullum said, creeping closer. She had the same large, bulbous arm as Doris Fletcher had had. She looked up at him with rage filled eyes.

"This is the will of the Queen, hunter. How dare you oppose her will." She bit out, green foam running down her chin.

"Easily," Geoffrey quipped, waiting for her to make the first move.

Jones charged, swinging her massive arm just like her daughter had. He stepped back, releasing a pool of shadows beneath her feet. The tendrils burst forth and ripped through her chest like wet paper. She staggered, and McCullum used that opportunity to run in and lop off her head. Harriet Jones fell to the floor dead, her body making a wet sound that rang out against the metal floor.

Geoffrey just had time to flick the blood off his sword before the ground before him slowly started filling with blood. He stepped back, horrified, as a horned figure rose from the grate. It had a vaguely female silhouette, and her voice echoed around the cavity and in his ears.

"Am I dreaming? Am I awake?" She muttered, a timeless quality to her voice that immediately put McCullum on edge.

Her attacks were far harder to dodge, and he was eternally grateful for whatever was in those serums Jon had made for him. Every hit he dodged or parried only seemed to leave an opening for another, and the Ekon was quickly tiring. He dropped to the ground as she rushed overhead, slicing his blade through her thighs as she floated over him. She screamed, turning her attention back to him, and restarting the relentless assault.

It felt like hours that he fought her; time ceased to have any meaning other than simply surviving the next attack. However, as he shadow jumped to dodge her blood-blades, driving his own sword into her side, she stumbled for just a moment, before rising into the air again. However, this time her attention was elsewhere.

"Do you think your champion defeated me, my child?" She called over Geoffrey's shoulder. He hated turning his back in her, but she was clearly distracted. At his back, the semi-familiar form of his Maker appeared. The bloody leech made his blood boil, but he stayed silent.

"Of course not, mother of us all. For you are our every root and leaf." The specter said, trying to sooth his "mother".

"Have they felt my wrath? Have they suffered enough?" She asked, making McCullum feel sick.

"More than ever mother of us all. Now go back to sleep, and smile at us from your dreams. Until next time." The male form said, oddly gentle.

"Until next time," she affirmed, dissipating down the sewer grate. McCullum's Maker followed her, disappearing for good, or at least he hoped so.

"Is it over then, young Ekon?" A familiar voice called out from atop a ledge.

"Old Bridget?" Geoffrey called out, shadow jumping to her. The Sewer Skal's matriarch appeared unscathed from that which massacred her people, but the sadness was evident on her face. "M sorry about yer Skals."

She shrugged, shoulders heavy with grief. "More will come, endangered by deceitful Ekons. I don't mean you, of course." She corrected, drawing a laugh out of McCullum. His clothes were ripped, and he was soaked head to toe in blood, but he was alive. He'd never felt so happy to be alive.

"Aye, it's over...I think. I've someone ye might wanna meet. He can tell ye more about all this." Geoffrey smiled, offering her his arm.

"I would be delighted," Old Bridget replied, taking it in her withered grasp, and allowing the Ekon to lead her to the surface.

-

It had been exactly two months since McCullum had defeated the Red Queen, and since then Old Bridget and Jonathan had become rather good friends. She was interested in the scientific aspect of her condition, and Jon was more than happy to explain. The flu was receding, people who had been on their death beds were recovering, and the whole of London breathed a sigh of relief.

Jonathan had been discharged just two days ago, citing the fact that he was a doctor and could take care of himself. His bruises were almost all gone now, but Geoffrey could still see where blood pooled unnaturally beneath his skin. His arm was wrapped firmly, and there was doubt that he'd ever get his full mobility back, but he took it in stride, getting his pharmaceutical license incase he could never preform surgery again.

Elisabeth Ashbury was still nowhere to be seen; they'd both asked every citizen they came across, except for the one who might know the answer. Charlotte Ashbury, Elisabeth's adopted daughter, had been flighty and elusive since her mother disappeared. If she knew anything, she was hesitant to share it.

McCullum had been staying at Reid Manor for the last week, as more and more of his hideouts were reverted back into actual homes. Geoffrey awoke in Jonathan's bed once again to find the man was already awake. Tonight, however, instead of being hunched over his desk, he was looking out the window.

"Whaddya see, Jon?" Geoffrey asked, stretching as he walked over to the window. There, he saw the young woman they'd been searching for. "Is that..."

"I believe so, I was just going to go and see if I could talk to her." Jonathan said quietly. The man had most likely just seen his mother off to bed down the hall, and McCullum had seen first hand how lightly she sleeps.

"I'm comin' too." Geoffrey said, throwing on a shirt in the dark. The two men crept downstairs and opened the front door. Charlotte was still there, standing across the street. Her shoulders slumped at the sight of them.

"Dr. Reid, Mr. McCullum, I may need your help. As much as I'm loathe to admit it." She said, despair evident in her voice.

"What can we do to help," Jon answered before McCullum could ask her why she'd been avoiding them.

"Well, I know my mother ran off a few months ago, and I've been writing her letters, but she hasn't been responding or showing any signs of returning to London. I...thought I could solve this on my own, it is after all a family problem, but now I feel I don't have any choice." Charlotte said, seemingly chaffing at her own words.

"Where is she?" Geoffrey asked, getting straight to the point.

Charlotte sighed, "Scotland. She has an estate out in the countryside. I can draw you a map, but...please, bring my mother home." She said, looking more broken than they'd ever seen her. It was like her fire was extinguished at the idea of losing her mother. Although, Geoffrey thought back to his own mother's death, perhaps that was just how everyone felt at the prospect of losing a loved one. It was certainly how he'd felt upon finding Jonathan in the theatre basement.

Geoffrey sighed, "alright. Jonathan, go start the motor car." He scoffed at the toff having one, but it was certainly coming in handy now.

Charlotte bowed her head in relief, "thank you."

-

The Ashbury estate was nothing that either of them had expected. It was a gorgeous ruin, with dark stone casting shadows on the grasses that waved in the wind. The air smelled sweet so far from the city, and Geoffrey felt the tension of London melting off his shoulders.

McCullum had to break down a door, but once the two men were inside, it wasn't hard to find the Lady Ekon. She was lounging on a thread bare couch infront of the unlit hearth. Without even turning her head, she addressed them.

"Mr. McCullum, Dr. Reid, good to see you both." Her voice, while still worldly, now bore an intense weight of sadness.

"Why're ye here? Yer daughter misses ya." Geoffrey said, sitting down next to Ashbury. Jonathan took the cue and sat on her right.

"Charlotte..." she said wistfully, "Charlotte is a grown woman. She has no need for me."

"Just cuz she doesn't need ya doesn't mean she doesn't want ya." Geoffrey pointed out.

Elisabeth sighed, "my Maker, William Marshal, infected me with the Blood of Hate many years ago..." Jon and McCullum looked at each other in shock, but neither of them said a word. "He managed to make one dose of the Tears of Angels, and we...thought it cured me. But it's only made me this healthy carrier. How can I know this won't happen again?"

"You speak of Marshal as if he's still alive," Jonathan said gently, as though he didn't want to frighten the woman.

"He was, until recently. I retreated here, terrified of what my blood had done. I almost threw myself into the flames, but William, my father, stopped me. He told me to end his life instead, for he's been locked here for a very long time. And so I did." She ended, burying her face in her hands.

"M sorry," Geoffrey said, not sure how to continue. He was still reeling from the fact that Marshal had been alive just a few short months ago.

"I find it hard to go on, knowing that my blood caused this. What if it happens again? I cannot live with that possibility." She lamented.

Jonathan broke the tense silence, his voice soft as if he were talking to a grieving patient. "I understand how you're feeling, but your death is not the answer. I...am a hematologist, and Geoffrey stopped the epidemic, if you come back to London with us, I believe we can cure you."

She looked up at the doctor, her eyes filled with red tears. "My father believed me to be cured, but...it didn't work. How will this time be any different?"

"It is 1919 - the modern age. Surely we can come up with something. You do have all the time in the world." Jonathan said, offering her a hankerchief.

"Yes, but you don't." She said.

Jonathan shrugged, "yes, well, I doubt it will take up my remaining decades. And even if it does, more scientists will come along; some most certainly better than me." He joked. "Come back to London with us, my lady."

She paused for a few minutes, lost in her own world. "Alright, I will. And more so, I am grateful for you; both of you." She stood to her full height, still much shorter than both men, and made her way outside. "I will wait for you outside."

For a moment, they sat in silence, the last four months catching up with them both. They'd stopped a Disaster, fought a god and their own fragile conditions. Geoffrey leaned in, resting his head on Jonathan's shoulder.

"What she said is right, ya know." Geoffrey said, seemingly nonchalant.

"Pardon?" Reid said, wrapping his arm around the vampire.

"Ye don't have forever. So...why do ye wanna spend yer time with me? Ye can go get married an' have kids or somethin'. M not gonna age, or change..."

Jonathan scoffed, "what is it that you said, before you left to fight the disaster; 'you're not gonna get rid of me that easily.' Well, the same applies to me." He said, his gently mocking attempt at McCullum's speech truly awful. "I know that, as a human, I won't live forever, but I'm content to spend the rest of my time with you. If you'll have me, anyway."

"Aye...I will. I'm...I love ye, Jon." Geoffrey replied, voice stilted. And he did love the doctor, loved him so much it frightened him. He knew they had a couple of decades at most, and losing Jonathan seemed like the most painful thing he'd ever experience. So then why do it?

"Things are often more painful when they have a set end," Jonathan said, almost convincing Geoffrey he could read minds. "But it makes them sweeter in the end, I think. I hope in a hundred years you look back on me with fondness." He said, carding his hand through the vampire's hair until his soft purr filled the room.

"I'll never forget ye, Jon." McCullum said, his tone rife with melancholia.

Jonathan snorted, "well, I hope not. Or it will make the car ride back to London awfully awkward."

That drew a laugh out of Geoffrey, throwing his arm around the human and giving him a gentle squeeze.

They'd saved London, stopped the Disaster, and saved Lady Ashbury from herself - figuring out their relationship can't be any harder than that, Geoffrey thought, looping his arms around Reid. Maybe love could be easy, if he let it be.