Rob Thurman fic: A Broken Promise 2/3

[faye_dartmouth]

A/N: As there is much unknown about Promise's character, I took some liberties with her and about vampires in this fic, mostly making the assumption that they live quite awhile. I just wanted to warn for that in case I missed something in the books. This fic is still possible thanks to

sendintheklowns, who humors me greatly, and geminigrl11. Also thanks to Brenna for her hard work--everyone should really check out www.auphe-the-cuff.com. It's small but should be growing and it's all about Cal :) All other notes and disclaimers in part one.

 

-o-

PART TWO

When he awoke, he was being cradled, being held, which was not something he was used to. Looking up, he managed to focus on Promise's face, tear-streaked and worn.

He tried to move, to sit up, but all it did was alert her that he was awake.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't mean—I tried—"

He pushed again, this time breaking her meager hold. Sitting up was a chore, one that made him dizzy and wish he really hadn't, but he needed to do this. "Promise," he breathed. "Just stop, okay?"

"I tried," she said again, shaking her head. "I was just going to take what I needed, just a little."

She wasn't making sense, or he was more out of it than he thought. "I'm okay," he said.

"I almost—Cal, I could have—"

"But you didn't," he said simply, strongly. "You didn't. I'm okay and so are you."

She took a ragged breath, her tears stilling. "Your blood, Cal," she said, almost in shock. "Your blood is unlike anything I've ever tasted before."

He'd been ready to hear a lot of things, ready to play the comforter no matter what, but that one threw him. His throat tightened. "What...do you mean?" he asked, even though he wasn't sure he wanted to know.

"Your blood...it is so strong, so...addictive." Her eyes were wide, staring into nothingness. "I couldn’t stop."

He gulped, a bit nervously. Offering his blood to her had seemed a little easier when she seemed to be the same self-possessed woman he knew and Niko loved. This—this scared him a bit. Because he trusted her—he trusted her, which was not something he could say about very many people. She had proven herself to him, and that was no easy feat. Yet in here, in this prison, he was seeing something new in her. Something primal, something dangerous, something uncontrollable.

He was seeing her weakness.

She had seemed so strong, so impervious. Nothing ever ruffled her, and here she was, falling apart in front of him.

Any fear he had was replaced by compassion. "But you did stop," he said. "You stopped, Promise."

"I took—I took too much," she said, her voice wavering.

"It doesn't matter," Cal told her. "You didn't let it get the better of you."

She looked at him, scared, confused, hopeful. "How can you be so understanding?"

Cal's mouth twitched with an awkward smile. "I remember a time when I couldn't stop," he said. "When I hurt the people I loved and didn't do anything but enjoy it. The power to stop—that means more than you know."

A smile crossed her trembling features. "It's okay now," she said, almost childlike. "It's going to be okay."

Sinking back against the wall, he tried to return her smile. "Of course it is," he said, hoping it was true. "Of course it is."

-o-

Sleeping had always been his fallback when things got rough, so it was kind of a no-brainer on how to pass the time. Promise certainly didn't seem all that conversational, and with the throb in his head, the aching in his muscles, and the pain from the bites, sleep just seemed to make sense.

When he awoke, he found Promise awake, though somewhat vacant. Though she was rich, he had never known her to be truly snobby. She knew how to get down and dirty when the situation called for it. So he could only figure that her discomfort was not their accommodations, but the living conditions.

The lack of food and water wore anyone a little thin.

But Cal needed to do something, even though he barely had the energy to stand. He enjoyed being lazy and lounging around as much as the next guy, but without anything to veg out in front of, even his attention span was a little spent.

Besides, Promise looks like she could use some cheering. Though there was no one upbeat and cheery around, Cal would do what he could.

But what to talk about…

Cal mentally rushed through the list of things they had in common. There was Niko…not being human…being trapped together…Niko…

"So, how are you and Niko?" he finally asked, forgoing any more thought. It wasn’t going to do him any good anyway.

She looked toward him blandly. "What do you mean?"

Cal didn’t have any idea what he meant. "I just mean…you two together. What do you do?"

She laughed a little, a bit shocked. Apparently, Cal wasn’t exactly eloquent. "We often spend time in conversation. We enjoy discussing numerous topics."

"Does he ever take you to the movies or something?" Cal asked, trying to think what couples did together.

"I’m sure if I wanted to go to the movies, he would take me."

Cal searched for something else to move the conversation along. She didn’t seem willing to volunteer information. She was perhaps more of a kiss-and-don't-tell type. "What do you talk about?"

"Many things," she said. "Our pasts, our philosophies."

That surprised Cal for some reason, though he was sure it was natural. But Niko’s past was Cal’s past, and it wasn’t easy for him to accept someone else being familiar with where he’d come from.

An affectionate smile crossed her face. "He said you were adorable," she said. "Always energetic. He always thought you’d run in front of a car and get yourself killed long before the Auphe found you."

Cal’s eyes narrowed petulantly. "I’m not sure Niko’s accounts are always accurate."

"And yours would be?" she asked with pointed humor.

He grinned lopsidedly. "You have me there."

She sighed. "The way Niko tells it, there were as many good times as bad."

That sounded like Nik. He would see the positive things, cling to the good moments and try to forget the rest. "Has Niko told you about our mother?"

She shrugged a little. "Pieces here and there. He says she was not exactly maternal."

Cal snorted. "Or kind or compassionate or moral."

"It is a relief that you two had each other," she commented softly, with a tinge of sadness in her voice.

At that, Cal had to smile slightly, remembering all the days and nights he'd spent with Niko. All the moments Niko had been there, to assure him, to comfort him, to make him smile. "He's always been like he is now, you know," Cal said. "For as long as I can remember."

"He says you gave him little choice," she responded. "You always were prone to getting yourself into trouble."

Cal attempted to laugh, but coughed instead, an action that turned into a long and painful incident. He tapered off, pulling into himself with a wince. "You know me," he quipped. "Trouble follows me."

"Well anything supernatural can smell you a mile away," she pointed out, which was always an ego booster.

"Not just that," Cal said. "Even regular things. Falling out of trees, stepping on glass, getting beaten up—"

"No wonder we got captured then," she interjected lightly. "You are a walking natural disaster."

"Nik learned early on that sticking with me was easier than following my trail of blood later," he said.

She smiled. "He was the ideal big brother then."

"Still is," Cal said without thinking. "He was the perfect everything, not that Sophia ever noticed it. I don't think she had any idea just how special he was. She was too worried telling me how special I was." Special as in an abomination. Cal didn't doubt that Sophia probably would have prostituted him or killed him if Niko hadn't kept him so often from her attention. He looked at his hands. "Niko deserved more."

"Most children in that situation would not have prevailed," Promise said simply. "Most don't even have the motivation to move beyond it. All he can talk about in his childhood is you. Without you, it's hard to say if Niko would have gotten any attention or motivation whatsoever. There's a reason he loves you so blindly."

These weren't revelations; Cal had thought these things before. But hearing them from someone else, hearing them from Promise—it touched him.

Which made him as uncomfortable as hell. He forced a laugh. "Yeah, well, once Niko latches onto something—watch out. He never lets go. You can kiss your freedom goodbye."

She smirked at that. "Niko and I have come to a satisfactory arrangement for both of us," she assured him. "Though I must say, he does latch on very hard."

Cal just groaned. "Are we ever going to get out of here?"

"Soon enough," she assured him lightly. "You can count on it."

Cal just shook his head. "Not soon enough."

-o-

The rocks sparkled.

That was Cal's latest revelation.

He had to look closely, squint just right, but sure enough, in that freakish light from nowhere that kept away the pitch-blackness, there was something sparkly in the walls.

Niko would probably tell him about the chemical makeup of the rock. He'd probably sniff it and do some utterly smart reasoning and tell Cal that it had been formed from years and years of intense pressure and then Nik would probably chisel a piece away and show him some amazingly intact fossil of a seahorse.

A freakin' seahorse.

Of course if Niko had a chisel, then he would probably be focusing on chiseling their way the hell out of here not looking at fossilized seahorses, no matter how amazing and rare they were.

Sighing, he closed his eyes. He wished Niko were here, fossilized seahorses or not. Because not even sparkly rock made this place seem worthwhile.

And he was getting so tired. It was as if his soul were being drained out of him, drop by painful drop. Just thinking about moving made him hurt. The dryness in his mouth seemed to make his tongue feel large and his skin tight. He could almost feel his internal organs shriveling up inside of him.

The thought turned his partially shriveled stomach, and he felt himself gagging. Eyes burning, he controlled the gag, swallowing it back down with effort.

"How are you feeling?"

Promise's voice startled him, and when he looked up he was a little flabbergasted that she had been sitting there all along. He wasn't sure where she would have gone, but he was more than a little spacey at the moment.

He shifted, trying to sit himself up a little, but mostly failing. "Wonderful," he croaked, wishing he had some saliva in his mouth.

She didn't believe him, not that he'd actually expected her to. But saying that he felt like someone had drained all the liquid out of his body and left him to shrivel up like a raisin while using his head for a drum was probably a little too graphic and too much of a downer.

Besides, denial could be kind of fun. And he was good at it—he’d learned from the best. Niko and his damn faith in Cal was truly little more than well-intentional denial, a refusal to accept the plain and obvious.

His how are you back to her barely sounded like English, but she seemed to get the gist of it anyway.

She pursed her lips, taking a slow and steady breath. "Tired."

That much was true, but he knew that was just the only part she was willing to admit.

How long had it been? Cal had no idea, no concept of anything except a constant need to rest and a low rumble in his stomach. It seemed like only minutes ago she'd drank from him. Or maybe hours. Maybe days. "You hungry?"

Her face tensed, then went purposefully blank.

"Give me a bit," he said, wheezing a bit. "Then you can have some more."

He could see the protest in her eyes, perhaps something more, but she didn’t say anything. The room was filled only with the sound of Cal’s struggled breaths.

When he calmed, he was exhausted which was about par for the course. He was drifting somewhere near sleep when he heard her voice.

"I’m sorry it’s you," she said.

He lifted his head slightly, looking at hear wearily. "What?"

"That it’s you who had to see this in me," she said. "I never wanted anyone to see this part of me again."

Cal knew he should probably say something, anything, but his mind was fuzzy and before he could even being to formulate a reply, she was still talking.

"It was not easy to give up human blood," she said, her voice distant, faraway. "I never enjoyed the killing, but the blood—" She sighed, smiling a little sadly. "The blood is like the richest wine you could ever drink. It satisfies hunger so completely, so purely."

Cal swallowed, uncertain how to respond. He couldn't exactly empathize with that one, but he didn't want to say something for fear of silencing her.

She looked at him briefly, her smiling fading. "It just seemed so barbaric," she said. "And I was tired of being a monster, of being different. I wanted a place among them more than I wanted to drink of them. That is why I gave it up."

That much, he could respect. Knowing he was part Auphe had influenced every decision in his life. He didn't want to be confused with the monstrous part of his ancestry and so he'd often gone great lengths to not appear like that. He had a harder time of hiding it than Promise did. Or maybe she'd just had more time to practice it. "How did you do it?"

She looked surprised at his question and she smiled slightly. "It was not easy. I tried other things first. I tried other bloods from animals, but they always turned my stomach. And then I tried only drinking some, not draining the victims, much like I am with you."

Cal's stomach tightened. Somehow, he was pretty sure he didn't want to know how that turned out.

"But in the end, it was never enough. The taste of blood, of human blood, was simply too strong. It is more addictive than any opiate known to man. I simply could not be around it. So I turned to other sources for the nutrients I needed. As medicine advanced, I was able to better identify the minerals. It helps—but it's not the same."

The shock of her confessions was still rippling through his muddied mind. These were personal things, deep things, things he doubted even Niko had heard.

"I've been hungry for centuries."

There were no words of comfort for that. The admission lingered and Cal felt uncertainty settle uncomfortably over him. "It's that sacrifice alone that makes you a good person," Cal said finally. "It's that kind of thing, that strength, that makes Niko love you."

She looked at him wearily, her eyes old and tired. "I'm so hungry, Caliban," she said. "I'm so hungry."

Blanching, Cal steeled himself, trying to recount how much blood he'd given her. His mind was fuzzy, but he could feel the distant throbbing in both his wrists. "I can spare some more."

Her eyes clouded with pity. "You are barely coherent," she said. "You can't even move." She shook her head. "No, I have taken more than I should already."

Damn, was he that bad off? He was tired but he hadn't really thought about it. But now that she mentioned it, the fuzziness was more than a little pervasive.

Something inside of him felt like destiny, felt like it was meant to be. Maybe he should have died at birth. Maybe he should have died with Darkling. Maybe he should have fallen back into hell where all his nightmares still lived and breathed and haunted him. He'd fought to live, fought to be alive, but there was always something. Auphe, Abbagor, werewolves, Hob.

No matter how hard Niko tried, no matter how tightly he clung to life, no matter how much Promise tried to help, it couldn't always be enough. Not when everything evil, everything dark, every thing was out to get him.

Someday, they would win. Maybe it was best to die knowing he had at least saved someone doing it. It might make his life more meaningful than anything else he’d ever done.

But the thought drifted away before he could give it voice.

-o-

The first bout of delirium was pretty messed up, even for Cal. He was used to looking for things lurking in the dark, for watching for monsters in the shadows, so when he saw the shadows moving, it didn't really seem all that abnormal.

He couldn't make out the creature—it was large but somehow completely invisible in the small space. Which didn't make any sense. If it was invisible then he wouldn't have seen it at all.

Promise was staring at him, wide-eyed and concerned. "Did you see that?" Cal asked, trying to lift his finger to point to the wall behind her.

Cal guessed she hadn’t because she just looked at him, her eyes narrowing now. "Caliban, what are you saying?"

That was a ridiculous question because vamps had good hearing, really good hearing, better than his, he was pretty sure. "The monsters," he said. "Do you see the monsters?"

"There are no monsters," she said. "Cal, there are no monsters."

And that was even more ridiculous, so ridiculous, that Cal couldn't stop himself from laughing. Because here they were, a vampire and an Auphe in one tiny little underground cavern. It would be pretty hard to get more monsters in such little square footage.

That's when he got it, as she was looking at him like he'd grown horns, which would really be an interesting development in his genetic history, because he was seeing things.

The freakin' shadows were nothing more than a hallucination.

He laughed again.

"Caliban, talk to me," she said, commanded really, in that soft, gentle voice of hers that sounded like a suggestion but really wasn’t. He wondered how Niko dealt with that one.

He was delirious, which was just freakin' peachy, because how the hell would anyone take him seriously if he was seeing things on the walls?

Then again, no one took him seriously anyway.

And seriously, that monster could eat Promise. She'd probably taste better than he would. "Be careful," he warned as she leaned closer.

"Careful of what?"

"Of the monsters!" he said, a bit indignantly. Imaginary or not, monsters could be pretty deadly and Cal did not want to take chances with Niko's girl.

"Just rest," she said. "Sleep."

He had to admit, that did sound like a good idea. He kind of missed his bed, but the rocks would do, and if all there were were monsters hanging around out here, then maybe sleep would be safer.

Yeah, safer, so much safer, and when he woke up maybe he'd imagine Niko here for some kind of rescue.

The idea made him smile and he felt Promise's hand on his head as he drifted back to sleep.

-o-

Cal was dying.

In her time, she had seen death in many forms, some quick, some slow, most of them painful. She had killed and watched death, from a distance, from up close, in her own two hands.

It wasn't the same as watching Cal die. He slept along the wall, curled onto his side, looking small and helpless. Promise remained firmly along the opposite wall, her eyes never leaving Cal.

Cal's body was shutting down, malnutrition and dehydration weighing heavily upon him. If Niko didn't hurry...

She didn't let herself finish the thought.

Niko would never accept Cal's fate. It was perhaps his only weakness, his only flaw. When it came to his little brother, Niko was hopelessly illogical, inanely hopeful, strident in his denial. It was because of that attitude alone that Cal was even alive at all.

If anyone would find them, she knew Niko would. Niko would not rest, would not let Robin rest, would not let George rest.

They needed to hurry.

It had been a week. Her internal clock was accurate and strong, and she could feel the rise and fall of the moon even without being outdoors. She hadn't told Cal that, not even when the boy had asked, because she knew the passage of time would only make him more fatalistic.

The human body could survive up to four days without water. Cal had already survived that and more, though now he was fading quickly. She could only attribute his strength to his Auphe half. There was no telling how deeply integrated the Auphe physiology was embedded into his human anatomy. Undoubtedly, this time, the monster in him had saved his life—but even it could only hold out so long.

There was also the concussion to consider, not to mention the blood loss, which would be working heavily against the boy. No matter how she looked at it, he was running out of time.

She clenched her teeth.

That much was her fault. When Cal had offered the blood, she had accepted it under the pretense that they would be rescued long before Cal's lack of water would be in question. Cal had offered it to her to tide her over. The boy had probably been oblivious of how the loss affected him; she had been too desperate to care.

She could have written off his sleepiness as tried and true Cal. She found that boy sleeping more often than not even in the worst of circumstances.

The hallucinations were another thing entirely, as were the headaches that made him nearly incoherent. And they were more and more prevalent. It had been far too long since Cal had been coherent, and she feared that if they weren't rescued soon, Niko would find nothing but a corpse that used to be his brother.

It was her fault. The blame was not hers alone, but she bore a culpability she could not run from. There was no place to hide in their small prison. No place to outrun death, to outrun guilt, to outrun herself.

-o-

She awoke to the sound of Cal calling for his brother.

The boy was shaking, would have been thrashing if he'd had the energy.

She moved to him, looking him over worriedly. His eyes were closed and he was flushed.

"’m sorry," he slurred. "…wasn't Nik's fault. He didn't want to. It was me."

She shushed him, smoothing a hand over his forehead.

"Please, Mom," Cal begged. "It was me. It always is, no matter what Nik says."

She was not easily moved, but seeing Caliban's pleading touched her with an intensity she had not felt for centuries.

He was just so young. So young and vulnerable. Granted, he was well-trained and could be deadly. She'd seen him fight off more foes than many skilled fighters could. But his vulnerability ran deep, where training and Niko's reassurance could hardly reach, into the depths of his doubts over his soul.

And with that, she could feel his innocence. A child deprived of love, happiness, childhood. His loneliness was encompassing and nearly insurmountable and she suddenly understood why Niko devoted every ounce of himself to Cal.

Without it, quite simply, Cal would never survive.

Cal was so terrified of being the monster, that he never realized that he had in fact been the victim all along. If he hadn't been consumed by something far more sinister, he would have killed himself without Niko's steady presence.

"Sorry," Cal moaned again. "You should have killed me when you had the chance."

"Oh, Caliban," she soothed. "You don't deserve this. You don't deserve any of this."

He whimpered, turning away from her touch, as though trying to avoid the sympathy he didn't feel he could accept. In all her years, nothing had ever broken her heart like this.

-o-

He'd managed to lose track of the time. Sleep did that to him, and he certainly was prone to lapsing in and out of awareness these days. It didn't help that there was no real light source, though Promise probably preferred it that way.

And things were hazy, kind of soft around the edges. The floor, which used to be so uncomfortable was fine—he couldn't even really feel the rocks that poked into his back.

Because none of it mattered. His body was fading. He was fading.

Damn it all. He was halfway dead already.

Every breath was tight. Every movement ached. His lethargy permeated everything. And it was probably best he didn't know how long they'd been stuck there, or he'd become acutely aware of how dehydrated he was.

Even an Auphe couldn’t live without water forever, apparently.

He sighed, closing his eyes. Niko would be pissed about this. Niko would kick his ass from here to China for dying like this.

The thought made him smile. He really was delusional. But, damn, he missed his brother. He would give anything to see Nik, to hear his brother's cool and calm voice, to tell him it wasn't his fault.

Promise coughed, and Cal opened his eyes, turning his head slightly to see her huddled along the other wall. Her elegance was gone now and she looked unkempt and lowly. Clearly, the blood he'd managed to provide her wasn't enough. She was fading just as fast as he was. Well, maybe not that fast.

He didn't want to die. He really didn't want to die. He'd been there and done that and it wasn't the best thing in the world. And he really didn't want to die like this, smacked over the head and abandoned in some underground cavern.

But that didn't matter. His hours were numbered and while he trusted Niko's damn near perfect timing, he needed to start on plan B.

Namely, saving those who could be saved.

That meant Promise. She was the only other person Niko truly loved in this world. She was probably the best thing in Niko's life, was better for Niko than he would ever be. And, quite simply, if either of them deserved to live, it was her. Sure, she wasn't exactly free from darkness and other worldly things, but she wasn't a bastardized attempt to destroy the world either. If only one of them was making it out, it needed to be her.

He would save her. His last great, heroic act, for whatever that was worth. What better way to save her than giving her free access to a blood bank?

Movement was impossible by now, and he wasn't even sure he had enough saliva to make his vocal chords work. He struggled though, persevering enough to get Promise's attention.

She moved to him quickly, surely, grabbing his hand and squeezing it. "Caliban? Are you with me?"

He nodded, barely, licking his cracked lips futilely.

She smiled, soft and maternal, and he was struck with how beautiful she was. She'd always been graceful, always been impressive. But the way she looked at him, the earnestness of her eyes. And suddenly he knew exactly why Niko loved her.

Yet she was frayed, falling apart around the edges. Her face was gaunt with a hunger Cal couldn't even imagine. It burned in the depths of her eyes.

"Blood," he said, his voice a croaking whisper. "You need—"

A cough cut him off, shuddering painfully throughout his body until he collapsed limply from the exertion.

Promise's eyes still held his, apologetic now. "I never should have taken it."

He shook his head, with a rush of vehemence. "You need it."

"So do you."

But Cal would not be deterred. He thrust his wrist in front of her, hoping she understood. "Take it," he said, or gasped really. His voice was giving out, growing wet and weak.

Her eyes widened. "Cal, I cannot—"

He shook his head, trying to focus through the fading world. "I can't survive without water anyway. At least one of us can make it out of here."

That speech wore him out, left him spent, and he broke into an even more feeble fit of coughing that sent new stabs of pain up and down his failing body.

Her hands were on him, soft and comforting, holding him until the pain subsided. Blearily, he looked up at her, taking in her face, her hair, everything.

His brother loved her.

If he couldn't save himself, he'd save her.

"Please," he said, hoping his eyes conveyed what his voice couldn't. He was fading, fast, and there was too much to say, too much to do. "Do it...for Niko."

She held his gaze, her own eyes watering with a grief he'd never seen in her before.

"Please," he murmured, and the pain was strong now, encompassing and paralyzing. It was worse than when he was stabbed, worse without Niko, but the same fatalistic reality was there. He had no way out but into the darkness from which he was born and always destined to return to.

He didn't give in though, not yet, not until her eyes misted over and she nodded curtly. Then he closed his eyes and melted into oblivion.

-o-

Cal didn't wake up. His complexion grew waxy, his lips colorless. His breathing was labored and fast and his skin was hot and dry to the touch.

She rolled him on his side, keeping herself stationed in front of him, hoping to ease the passage of his dwindling breaths. But staying near him was difficult.

Because she could see the blood that stained his neck and t-shirt. And she could see the raw puncture marks on his outstretched wrists, bled and crusty.

She slinked away, back to the far wall of their prison.

She would not drink from him. She'd taken too much already. He was generous, he had offered, but she had not killed for blood in centuries. She would not dehumanize herself, especially not with Niko's brother.

Closing her eyes, she secluded herself, locked herself in her mind, the only last safe place she had. Her resolve was weak, crumbling with her body's frailty. Breathing deeply, she steadied herself, tried to make the hunger diminish.

A harsh, wet coughing jarred her, and she opened her eyes to find Cal's body spasming.

Though his eyes remained closed behind blue-tinted lids, his body was racked with shivers as he unconsciously retched. Vomit welled up in his mouth, seeping down his cheek.

But not enough. The boy was choking on it.

Without thinking, she rushed to his side, rolling him farther on his belly, holding his bangs back and keeping his head toward the floor.

The odor wafted to her nose but she ignored it, too intent on Cal's condition. When the heaves subsided, Cal fell still again. Using her finger, she opened Cal's jaw, cleaning out whatever remnants remained.

When finished, she wiped her hand absently on her skirt, which was long since ruined. Then she rolled Cal onto his back, moving him away from his own bile, and started to check him.

He appeared no worse, still unconscious and unwaveringly so. Her fingers graced the lump on the back of his head, feeling the crusty old blood that had long since coagulated.

Her stomach groaned and she clenched her teeth hard, keeping her fingers steadily moving through Cal's hair, trying not to think about it, not to remember it...

Cal's blood.

She wanted it. She wanted it more than she could even explain.

Shaking, she stopped her stroking, letting her hand linger on his cheek.

He didn't even flinch.

Gently, she turned his head to the side, exposing the long lines of his throat. He wasn't as finely built as Niko, but he was a beautiful man. More of a child, really, so young and vibrant. She doubted Cal had any idea of just how much light radiated from his dark form. He was unlike any other being she'd ever met.

Of course, he was too insecure, too difficult, too abrasive for her romantic interest. But he was a fascinating being, and she could see why Niko was so bound to him.

Not that having Cal as little brother made Niko's life easier. It was true, Cal's influence on Niko had made Niko much the man he was today. But Cal's future—it was dark, grim, clouded. Cal's future was one they would fight for every moment of every day. Even then, Promise doubted that Cal's future would end in any way but tragic. Niko was fighting a lost cause, which was what made it noble. But it made Niko distracted. It hurt him.

And she hated to see Niko hurt.

It would kill Niko to find Cal dead.

But maybe not if she was there. Maybe she could comfort him, find a way to help him through it. She could help Niko not be alone.

All she had to do was survive.

For that, all she needed was blood.

Her sharp eyes could see the blood pumping sluggishly beneath Cal's translucent skin. The boy would only last a few more hours, at best, Auphe or human. She could ease his passing, diminish his suffering.

And satisfy her needs

Her soul yearned for it.

Moving to her knees, she laid a gentle hand on Cal's chest. She could bleed him from the neck, take what she needed and renew her strength, give her time and energy and put Cal to rest.

Solemnly, she checked Cal's pulse, finding it quick and uneven. She closed her eyes, feeling the desire throb in tandem with Cal's heartbeat.

No, she was not a monster. She would not take for her alone. She would do it for Cal.

Eyes open, she took in Cal's body stretched before her. Reverently, she straightened his legs. Then, gently, she lifted his hands, crossing them over his chest. As they rested there, she squeezed them, hoping to communicate to the boy even in his darkness that she cared for him.

Moving back to his head, she rolled his face towards her once again, taking a moment to clear the remnants of the vomit from his face. She wet her fingers, cleaning his pale cheeks, feeling his hot skin stretch beneath her fingers.

Then she smoothed his hair, cowing the wayward locks from his face until he looked as she best remembered him. She let her eyes linger, taking him in, studying him in his last moments of life.

She closed her eyes finally, and whispered an ancient incantation, one from centuries ago, believed to bring the soul to peace. Whatever awaited young Caliban, she could only hope it was more peaceful than the tumultuous life he'd been forced to live.

Finished, she turned his head to the side again, pulling his shirt collar away from his neck. With a silent apology to Niko, she leaned over Cal, her face so close to his, feeling his warmth, his life, how beyond the stench of Auphe, she could smell Niko on him.

Tears blinded her until she squeezed her eyes shut, lowered her teeth, and sunk in.

Part Three

Comments

[sendintheklowns.livejournal.com]

I love the glimpse of Cal as a child through Niko's eyes as told to Promise. He was such a sweet, active hand full for his brother to watch over.

Love the way you captured the voices of Cal and Promise. So in character.

And she lovingly smoothed his hair back and then bit him...ouch!

[faye-dartmouth.livejournal.com]

Young!Cal fic is waiting to happen.

He would be adorable. Darn it! I want to write more!!!!

[freakonaleash0x.livejournal.com]

I'm back. And apparently I have had way too much caffeine, but who cares. I freaking love this. It's like limpness overdose (the best kind). I think the conversation between Promise and Cal about Niko and their childhood is my favorite part of this chapter. This is how I pictured it, 'cause we all know Cal had to be quite a handful, considering how much he still is one. I also can't help but worship you for your portrayal of Promise. Seeing her struggle like this is just perfect in so many ways, and it is really magnified by her relationship with Niko, and Nik's with Cal. I also really liked the detail of Cal surviving longer than a complete human would in this situation. I love the little things that show Cal's other side, even if only because it's an extra way to torment the boy :-)
Also, what an ending. I'm glad I don't have to wait for the next part! ;-)

[faye-dartmouth.livejournal.com]

Heh! Limpness overdose! That is like my favorite thing EVER.

And Cal as a kid would be a thing to behold. I can see him being more than a little difficult to deal with yet so very adorable. And easily crushed--I imagine Niko had to hold him sometimes after their mother said some things to him. Because no matter how tough he acts, he's a softie.

And Cal surviving longer than a human was because I screwed up initially and had him surviving too long and needed to fix it. Him being half Auphe solved my problem.

Thanks!