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phantismaFandom: Leverage (Vamp!Nate verse)
Title: The Sky Rains Red, Part Seven(Index)
Pairings/Characters: Nate/Eliot, Sophie, Hardison, Sterling
Rating: R-ish
Word Count: 2808
Summary: Eliot's been bitten and Nate isn't sure he can save him, especially when he's got Sterling to deal with and all the signs point to Eliot turning rather quickly into something that isn't vampire and isn't cat, but has elements of both.
A/Ns & Summary: This is mostly the aftermath of violence, with a vague hint at blood kink.
"Eliot? Can you hear me?" Nate pulled his hand away from Eliot's shoulder, cursing as it came away bloody.
"Nate, what the hell is going on?"
"Not now Hardison." Nate growled into the comm. "Just listen and do. I need you to meet us at the vault. Bring more blood for Eliot, and bandages…Shit. Fuck. I need a whole goddamn ER." Nate whipped the truck around a corner and glanced aside at the very white-faced Sterling on the other side of Eliot. "Fast Hardison, we don't have a lot of time."
Eliot moaned beside him, his head lolling on the seat.
"What was that thing?" Sterling asked suddenly and Nate snarled.
"That thing was the whole reason Katja's been feeding you information and leading you around like a lost puppy." Nate pulled them up in front of the building and threw the truck into park. "And now that she's got what she wants, you can bet she's going to feed you to that thing. Get out."
"What she wants?"
Nate pulled Eliot to him. "Come on Eliot." Blue eyes blinked open, unfocused and hazy.
"Nate…"
"I've got you. Can you move?"
Eliot's feet touched the ground, but as Nate got him up, it was clear he wasn't going to be much help. Nate lifted him then over a shoulder and headed into the old building where Eliot had kept him while he was out of his head on the drug. He knew Sterling would follow, because Sterling wanted answers.
Nate got them inside and down to the vault where he laid Eliot out on the cot. "Hardison?"
"Almost there."
He could sense Sterling hovering just inside the vault door, but his attention was on Eliot. "Hey, Eliot…open your eyes for me again?"
Eliot's eyes blinked, then opened. They were a little clearer, filled with pain and anger. "Okay, good. I needed to know you were with me." Nate glanced at the shoulder, then back at Eliot. "I'm going to get this shirt off you, and get a better look, okay?"
Eliot nodded tightly, barely any movement at all. Nate took hold of the tear at the shoulder and ripped, shredding the shirt. Eliot hissed when his fingers brushed angry flesh. "Easy." Nate leaned in, sniffing at the wound. The smell of the cat was all over Eliot. "Shit. Hardison?"
"Here." Hardison rushed in, his arms filled with medical supplies. "Everything I could get my hands on."
"What are you doing? This man belongs in a hospital." Sterling said as Nate started pulling things out of bags.
"A hospital can't help him." Nate said grimly. "I'm not even sure I can."
He opened a bottle of water and gave it to Hardison. "Pour that over the wound, we need to get it cleaned out."
"Nate, I--"
"Do it." Nate growled, his hands still pulling things at out of the bags. He came to the two bags of blood and exhaled. He found the set up to get the blood into Eliot and shoved the needle into Eliot's uninjured arm. "Sterling, get over here and hold this." He held up the bag of blood.
Sterling came, still frowning, still muttering about hospitals and something about Nate playing God. Nate shoved the bag into his hand. "Just hold it, we need to get clean blood into him.
"Are you going to tell me what's going on?"
"Do what I tell you and I'll think about it."
"What about me?" Hardison asked. "Do I get to know what's going on?"
Nate spared him a quick glance as he opened a bottle of peroxide. "Yes, Hardison. Just…hold him. He's not going to like this." Hardison moved to hold Eliot's good shoulder as Nate poured the peroxide into the wound. He moved his fingers against torn skin, opening the wound more and making sure the liquid got deep inside. Eliot bucked against him as the peroxide foamed and bubbled. "It's a long shot."
Nate shifted so he could look Eliot in the face. "He got bit by a therianthrope."
"A what?"
Nate could still taste it in his mouth, foul and disgusting. "In this case a panther, a black panther. It bit him." He caressed over Eliot's cheek. "Eliot, eyes. I need to see your eyes."
Eliot was starting to shiver and he blinked his eyes open. The blue was circled in red. "Shit. Come on Eliot, you can fight through this."
"Are you telling me that he was bit by a freaking were-cat?" Hardison asked, his voice squeaking.
"Were-cat?" Sterling echoed, disbelief evident in his voice.
"You know, like a were-wolf, only cat." Hardison responded distractedly, looking at Eliot.
"There's no such thing--"
Nate lifted his arm and left himself shift, biting his wrist quickly and holding it to Eliot's mouth.
"What the fuck!" Sterling dropped the bag of blood, but Nate didn't have time for him.
"Swallow, Eliot." Nate growled around his fangs
"I thought you gave him too much." Hardison was backing away now too.
"I did." Eliot started convulsing, the red seeping further into the blue of his eyes before they closed. "Out. Both of you." Nate stood, shoving Hardison toward the door.
A low growl drew Nate's attention back to Eliot. Blood dripped down his chin as he sat up, his eyes all red now but for a ring of pure blue around the pupil. His head cocked to the side, his mouth opening as the transformation started.
Nate shoved Sterling out behind Hardison and pulled the door shut. "Eliot…"
He took a step closer, then thought better of it as Eliot dropped to all fours on the floor, his back arching and a scream bouncing off the walls. Jeans ripped as his body reformed, tawny fur covering his legs and back. His face elongated, nose and mouth larger as he roared.
It seemed to take forever, the pain of the transformation howled out and reverberating through the room until suddenly it was quiet. Eliot sat in the middle of the room, his unruly hair something of a mane around a face that still somehow resembled him, bare of fur. His eyes pinned Nate to his spot near the door.
Nate took one tentative step toward him and Eliot cocked his head. He wasn't completely transformed. Nate could see his hands still had fingers, though his nails were claws at the end of them. His nose twitched, his eyes narrowing as Nate stepped closer. "Eliot?"
His mouth opened, closed and opened again, as if he was trying to figure out how it worked. "Nate?" His voice was deeper, the tone changed into something richer.
"It's going to be okay." He took another step and Eliot's posture shifted. "Not going to hurt you."
His lips curled up in a snarl and deep, guttural sound echoed through the room. "Easy Eliot."
"Blood." Eliot sniffed the air and leaned toward Nate, toward the blood on his shirt.
Nate nodded. "It's yours." He pulled the shirt off and tossed it toward Eliot, watching as he lowered his head to smell it. Then his head turned toward the door.
"Fresh."
Nate moved so he was between Eliot and the way out. "No."
Eliot snarled at him. "Want." He rose up on his legs, front claws extended.
"No, you don't. Not really. It's the cat."
The growl was back, deep and threatening. Nate backed up to the door slowly, his eyes on Eliot's. "Want."
"No." Nate got the door open enough he could slip through it, though he wasn’t sure he could get it closed before Eliot reached him. "Eliot, I'm sorry."
He pushed back through the opening, and set his shoulder to the door, shoving it closed as fast as he could. Inside he could hear Eliot raging, throwing himself against the door.
"Ford—"
Nate put his hand in Sterling's face and shoved him back. "Now is not the time. Sophie?"
"Nice of you to remember me. What the hell is going on there?"
"Just listen. I need you to bring a large amount of raw meat, and dose it with tranquilizers, something to take down something the size of a small lion. We need to get him calmed down. And a very large bottle of whiskey."
"Calm who down?"
"Eliot. We need to get him to shift back."
"Shift back?"
Nate growled in frustration. "Sophie, just do what I ask. Just…get here." He pulled the comm. out of his ear and turned to Sterling and Hardison. "I take it you have eyes in there?"
Hardison nodded, his face still showing shock. "I need to see what he's doing."
"Give me a few minutes to get set back up." Hardison ducked around Sterling and disappeared into the room he had commandeered for an office.
"And you." Nate didn't want to have to deal with Sterling on top of everything else. "Give me one good reason I don't toss you in there with Eliot and let him tear you to shreds."
Sterling's eyes narrowed. "If you wanted me dead, you wouldn't have saved my ass back there."
True enough, Nate supposed. "I need a drink."
Sterling lifted a flask, taking a sip himself before passing it over to Nate.
Nate sniffed the flask and then tilted it back, dumping a rather fine whiskey into his mouth.
"Are you going to explain this now?" Sterling asked as Nate handed the flask back. "What I saw in there…what you said…what exactly is going on here."
Nate leaned back against the wall. "You've been hunting me a long time. Why?"
Sterling's face went dark, hard. "I believed you killed someone I loved."
"Believed? But you're not sure now?"
Sterling crossed his arms. "I'm not sure what I believe right now. I mean…you…with the face…and the teeth…." He gestured up at his face. "What the hell is that about?"
Nate nodded. "That is just me, Sterling. I'm a vampire."
Sterling snorted and shook his head, then squinted at Nate. "No, seriously."
Nate let a small smile play at his lips. "No, seriously. I was turned just before Sam died. I chose to be turned, hoping I could save him. The blood of a vampire has amazing properties."
Sterling stared at him with something like disbelief. "You expect me to believe that?"
"Believe what you want." Nate said, turning when he heard Hardison calling him. "I don't really care." He headed in to Hardison with Sterling behind him. The computer screen in front of Hardison showed the inside of the vault. Eliot had stopped attacking the door and was prowling the room on all fours. "Can you zoom?"
Hardison nodded and adjusted the picture until they could see Eliot's face. Some of the changes were fading already. "I'll be damned." He didn't know a lot about therianthropy, and the little he did was tinged by the general dislike vampires had for them. He knew they were generally vicious killers in their animal states, fast healers and those who could learn to harness and use the beast within could be powerful individuals. "I knew a wolf once, a few years back. Lawyer."
He paced away from the screen. "Told me the first one's the worst, that usually the animal took over for days the first time. Look, Eliot's already starting to lose some of the face."
"Because of the blood?" Hardison asked, turning to look at him.
Nate shrugged. "Honestly? I don't know. I mean…technically, a therianthrope can't change a vampire, which is why his bite did nothing to me, and I can see why vampires don't hunt and feed on them, that bastard tasted like…" He made a face and shook his head. "It doesn't matter. The two races don't mix. And yet…"
"You have an idea what's going on." Sterling said. "I can see it on your face."
Nate nodded, but his words were for Hardison. "Did you get that research I asked you for?"
His fingers moved over the keys of his laptop and the image on his screen retreated, replaced with a map. "I found three cities. San Francisco, Nashville and New York."
"She's been looking for vampires who keep human companions." Nate murmured, his fingers brushing the screen. "She uses the drug to draw them out, raise their bloodlust."
"Why?" Hardison asked, moving to look up at Nate.
Hunger roiled throw him, the smell of Hardison filling his nose and awakening an ache inside. Nate swallowed and stood back, closing his eyes. "It's crazy…but I think she was looking for a human with vampire blood in his system. I think she was looking to make a hybrid." And he had all but given her Eliot.
"I thought you said the breeds don't mix." Sterling said.
"I thought you didn't believe me." Nate responded.
"I'm not saying that I do, I'm just trying to make sense of what you're saying."
"They don't mix. Or, they never have. I've never even heard of such a thing…but, the advantages would be…impressive."
"Advantages?"
"The animal mind of a therianthrope is…animal. They don't always behave logically when in animal form. They act like the cat or wolf or what have you. Vampires, on the other hand, our senses are sharper, our minds lose nothing. We think like the person we are, even when hunting." He paced the room, thinking. "The only time we don't is in the first hours after turning, and when something interferes, like the drug. So, if you could combine the power and strength of both the vampire and the cat, in one person? Someone who could think and reason, even in animal form? That would be a person I wouldn't want to have angry at me."
Hardison switched back to the camera. Eliot was laying on the floor in the middle of the room, watching the door. "Eliot was already full of a lot of my blood when the cat bit him. He was as close to being a vampire as he could get without actually turning."
Nate heard the click of Sophie's shoes on the marble floor. "Okay, I'm going to stay here. Hardison, go get some sleep." He let his hand fall on Hardison's shoulder, making him look up. "Get a good eight hours and some protein before you come back, hear?"
Hardison's eyes went wide, but he nodded. Sophie came into the room, dragging a cooler on wheels. "You weren't specific."
He could smell the meat, beef and pork, fresh and bloody. On the screen, Eliot was back up and pacing. Hardison slipped out of the room as Sophie and Sterling glared at one another. Sophie was the first to look away, handing Nate a bottle of Jack Daniel's. He took a deep drink before squatting next to the cooler. "Did you lace it?"
Sophie nodded. "Yeah, a good dose. My chemist friend said it should put down just about anything smaller than an elephant. Are you going to explain why?"
On the screen, Eliot was nosing through the bedding. He found the blood that Sterling had dropped and tossed it to the floor, pouncing after it. Nate nodded to the screen. "So we can get Eliot back to himself."
He left her staring at the screen and took the cooler and the bottle. The sooner they got Eliot back to his human form, the sooner they could figure out what their next step should be. He opened the door slowly.
Eliot looked up from where he lay on the floor, blood smeared over his face. "Okay, easy Eliot. I brought you some food." He pulled the cooler in and pulled the door shut. Eliot licked his lips and sat up.
Nate eased the cooler open and pulled out a hunk of meat. "Here you go." He tossed it toward Eliot, watching as red eyes tracked it and claws grabbed a hold of it. Eliot leaned in, sniffing it cautiously before laying down and holding the meat between his hands. Nate slid down to sit against the wall, the cooler beside him so he could keep tossing out meat. Eliot ate voraciously, going through half the cooler before Nate could start to see the effect of the tranquilizers.
It showed in Eliot's eyes first, hazy as the red started to bleed away. He wobbled as he moved toward Nate, his body stretching out as he fell into unconsciousness. His head landed on Nate's knee. Nate's hand stroked through his hair absently, closing his own eyes. He hadn't slept since waking up here in this vault…and he couldn't even guess how long ago that had been now.
Eliot's face was hot, even through the denim of his jeans. Nate's own hunger rumbled and he lifted the bottle of Jack in response. It wouldn't satisfy him, but maybe it would dull the need enough that when Hardison came back, Nate wouldn't kill him.
Title: The Sky Rains Red, Part Seven(Index)
Pairings/Characters: Nate/Eliot, Sophie, Hardison, Sterling
Rating: R-ish
Word Count: 2808
Summary: Eliot's been bitten and Nate isn't sure he can save him, especially when he's got Sterling to deal with and all the signs point to Eliot turning rather quickly into something that isn't vampire and isn't cat, but has elements of both.
A/Ns & Summary: This is mostly the aftermath of violence, with a vague hint at blood kink.
"Eliot? Can you hear me?" Nate pulled his hand away from Eliot's shoulder, cursing as it came away bloody.
"Nate, what the hell is going on?"
"Not now Hardison." Nate growled into the comm. "Just listen and do. I need you to meet us at the vault. Bring more blood for Eliot, and bandages…Shit. Fuck. I need a whole goddamn ER." Nate whipped the truck around a corner and glanced aside at the very white-faced Sterling on the other side of Eliot. "Fast Hardison, we don't have a lot of time."
Eliot moaned beside him, his head lolling on the seat.
"What was that thing?" Sterling asked suddenly and Nate snarled.
"That thing was the whole reason Katja's been feeding you information and leading you around like a lost puppy." Nate pulled them up in front of the building and threw the truck into park. "And now that she's got what she wants, you can bet she's going to feed you to that thing. Get out."
"What she wants?"
Nate pulled Eliot to him. "Come on Eliot." Blue eyes blinked open, unfocused and hazy.
"Nate…"
"I've got you. Can you move?"
Eliot's feet touched the ground, but as Nate got him up, it was clear he wasn't going to be much help. Nate lifted him then over a shoulder and headed into the old building where Eliot had kept him while he was out of his head on the drug. He knew Sterling would follow, because Sterling wanted answers.
Nate got them inside and down to the vault where he laid Eliot out on the cot. "Hardison?"
"Almost there."
He could sense Sterling hovering just inside the vault door, but his attention was on Eliot. "Hey, Eliot…open your eyes for me again?"
Eliot's eyes blinked, then opened. They were a little clearer, filled with pain and anger. "Okay, good. I needed to know you were with me." Nate glanced at the shoulder, then back at Eliot. "I'm going to get this shirt off you, and get a better look, okay?"
Eliot nodded tightly, barely any movement at all. Nate took hold of the tear at the shoulder and ripped, shredding the shirt. Eliot hissed when his fingers brushed angry flesh. "Easy." Nate leaned in, sniffing at the wound. The smell of the cat was all over Eliot. "Shit. Hardison?"
"Here." Hardison rushed in, his arms filled with medical supplies. "Everything I could get my hands on."
"What are you doing? This man belongs in a hospital." Sterling said as Nate started pulling things out of bags.
"A hospital can't help him." Nate said grimly. "I'm not even sure I can."
He opened a bottle of water and gave it to Hardison. "Pour that over the wound, we need to get it cleaned out."
"Nate, I--"
"Do it." Nate growled, his hands still pulling things at out of the bags. He came to the two bags of blood and exhaled. He found the set up to get the blood into Eliot and shoved the needle into Eliot's uninjured arm. "Sterling, get over here and hold this." He held up the bag of blood.
Sterling came, still frowning, still muttering about hospitals and something about Nate playing God. Nate shoved the bag into his hand. "Just hold it, we need to get clean blood into him.
"Are you going to tell me what's going on?"
"Do what I tell you and I'll think about it."
"What about me?" Hardison asked. "Do I get to know what's going on?"
Nate spared him a quick glance as he opened a bottle of peroxide. "Yes, Hardison. Just…hold him. He's not going to like this." Hardison moved to hold Eliot's good shoulder as Nate poured the peroxide into the wound. He moved his fingers against torn skin, opening the wound more and making sure the liquid got deep inside. Eliot bucked against him as the peroxide foamed and bubbled. "It's a long shot."
Nate shifted so he could look Eliot in the face. "He got bit by a therianthrope."
"A what?"
Nate could still taste it in his mouth, foul and disgusting. "In this case a panther, a black panther. It bit him." He caressed over Eliot's cheek. "Eliot, eyes. I need to see your eyes."
Eliot was starting to shiver and he blinked his eyes open. The blue was circled in red. "Shit. Come on Eliot, you can fight through this."
"Are you telling me that he was bit by a freaking were-cat?" Hardison asked, his voice squeaking.
"Were-cat?" Sterling echoed, disbelief evident in his voice.
"You know, like a were-wolf, only cat." Hardison responded distractedly, looking at Eliot.
"There's no such thing--"
Nate lifted his arm and left himself shift, biting his wrist quickly and holding it to Eliot's mouth.
"What the fuck!" Sterling dropped the bag of blood, but Nate didn't have time for him.
"Swallow, Eliot." Nate growled around his fangs
"I thought you gave him too much." Hardison was backing away now too.
"I did." Eliot started convulsing, the red seeping further into the blue of his eyes before they closed. "Out. Both of you." Nate stood, shoving Hardison toward the door.
A low growl drew Nate's attention back to Eliot. Blood dripped down his chin as he sat up, his eyes all red now but for a ring of pure blue around the pupil. His head cocked to the side, his mouth opening as the transformation started.
Nate shoved Sterling out behind Hardison and pulled the door shut. "Eliot…"
He took a step closer, then thought better of it as Eliot dropped to all fours on the floor, his back arching and a scream bouncing off the walls. Jeans ripped as his body reformed, tawny fur covering his legs and back. His face elongated, nose and mouth larger as he roared.
It seemed to take forever, the pain of the transformation howled out and reverberating through the room until suddenly it was quiet. Eliot sat in the middle of the room, his unruly hair something of a mane around a face that still somehow resembled him, bare of fur. His eyes pinned Nate to his spot near the door.
Nate took one tentative step toward him and Eliot cocked his head. He wasn't completely transformed. Nate could see his hands still had fingers, though his nails were claws at the end of them. His nose twitched, his eyes narrowing as Nate stepped closer. "Eliot?"
His mouth opened, closed and opened again, as if he was trying to figure out how it worked. "Nate?" His voice was deeper, the tone changed into something richer.
"It's going to be okay." He took another step and Eliot's posture shifted. "Not going to hurt you."
His lips curled up in a snarl and deep, guttural sound echoed through the room. "Easy Eliot."
"Blood." Eliot sniffed the air and leaned toward Nate, toward the blood on his shirt.
Nate nodded. "It's yours." He pulled the shirt off and tossed it toward Eliot, watching as he lowered his head to smell it. Then his head turned toward the door.
"Fresh."
Nate moved so he was between Eliot and the way out. "No."
Eliot snarled at him. "Want." He rose up on his legs, front claws extended.
"No, you don't. Not really. It's the cat."
The growl was back, deep and threatening. Nate backed up to the door slowly, his eyes on Eliot's. "Want."
"No." Nate got the door open enough he could slip through it, though he wasn’t sure he could get it closed before Eliot reached him. "Eliot, I'm sorry."
He pushed back through the opening, and set his shoulder to the door, shoving it closed as fast as he could. Inside he could hear Eliot raging, throwing himself against the door.
"Ford—"
Nate put his hand in Sterling's face and shoved him back. "Now is not the time. Sophie?"
"Nice of you to remember me. What the hell is going on there?"
"Just listen. I need you to bring a large amount of raw meat, and dose it with tranquilizers, something to take down something the size of a small lion. We need to get him calmed down. And a very large bottle of whiskey."
"Calm who down?"
"Eliot. We need to get him to shift back."
"Shift back?"
Nate growled in frustration. "Sophie, just do what I ask. Just…get here." He pulled the comm. out of his ear and turned to Sterling and Hardison. "I take it you have eyes in there?"
Hardison nodded, his face still showing shock. "I need to see what he's doing."
"Give me a few minutes to get set back up." Hardison ducked around Sterling and disappeared into the room he had commandeered for an office.
"And you." Nate didn't want to have to deal with Sterling on top of everything else. "Give me one good reason I don't toss you in there with Eliot and let him tear you to shreds."
Sterling's eyes narrowed. "If you wanted me dead, you wouldn't have saved my ass back there."
True enough, Nate supposed. "I need a drink."
Sterling lifted a flask, taking a sip himself before passing it over to Nate.
Nate sniffed the flask and then tilted it back, dumping a rather fine whiskey into his mouth.
"Are you going to explain this now?" Sterling asked as Nate handed the flask back. "What I saw in there…what you said…what exactly is going on here."
Nate leaned back against the wall. "You've been hunting me a long time. Why?"
Sterling's face went dark, hard. "I believed you killed someone I loved."
"Believed? But you're not sure now?"
Sterling crossed his arms. "I'm not sure what I believe right now. I mean…you…with the face…and the teeth…." He gestured up at his face. "What the hell is that about?"
Nate nodded. "That is just me, Sterling. I'm a vampire."
Sterling snorted and shook his head, then squinted at Nate. "No, seriously."
Nate let a small smile play at his lips. "No, seriously. I was turned just before Sam died. I chose to be turned, hoping I could save him. The blood of a vampire has amazing properties."
Sterling stared at him with something like disbelief. "You expect me to believe that?"
"Believe what you want." Nate said, turning when he heard Hardison calling him. "I don't really care." He headed in to Hardison with Sterling behind him. The computer screen in front of Hardison showed the inside of the vault. Eliot had stopped attacking the door and was prowling the room on all fours. "Can you zoom?"
Hardison nodded and adjusted the picture until they could see Eliot's face. Some of the changes were fading already. "I'll be damned." He didn't know a lot about therianthropy, and the little he did was tinged by the general dislike vampires had for them. He knew they were generally vicious killers in their animal states, fast healers and those who could learn to harness and use the beast within could be powerful individuals. "I knew a wolf once, a few years back. Lawyer."
He paced away from the screen. "Told me the first one's the worst, that usually the animal took over for days the first time. Look, Eliot's already starting to lose some of the face."
"Because of the blood?" Hardison asked, turning to look at him.
Nate shrugged. "Honestly? I don't know. I mean…technically, a therianthrope can't change a vampire, which is why his bite did nothing to me, and I can see why vampires don't hunt and feed on them, that bastard tasted like…" He made a face and shook his head. "It doesn't matter. The two races don't mix. And yet…"
"You have an idea what's going on." Sterling said. "I can see it on your face."
Nate nodded, but his words were for Hardison. "Did you get that research I asked you for?"
His fingers moved over the keys of his laptop and the image on his screen retreated, replaced with a map. "I found three cities. San Francisco, Nashville and New York."
"She's been looking for vampires who keep human companions." Nate murmured, his fingers brushing the screen. "She uses the drug to draw them out, raise their bloodlust."
"Why?" Hardison asked, moving to look up at Nate.
Hunger roiled throw him, the smell of Hardison filling his nose and awakening an ache inside. Nate swallowed and stood back, closing his eyes. "It's crazy…but I think she was looking for a human with vampire blood in his system. I think she was looking to make a hybrid." And he had all but given her Eliot.
"I thought you said the breeds don't mix." Sterling said.
"I thought you didn't believe me." Nate responded.
"I'm not saying that I do, I'm just trying to make sense of what you're saying."
"They don't mix. Or, they never have. I've never even heard of such a thing…but, the advantages would be…impressive."
"Advantages?"
"The animal mind of a therianthrope is…animal. They don't always behave logically when in animal form. They act like the cat or wolf or what have you. Vampires, on the other hand, our senses are sharper, our minds lose nothing. We think like the person we are, even when hunting." He paced the room, thinking. "The only time we don't is in the first hours after turning, and when something interferes, like the drug. So, if you could combine the power and strength of both the vampire and the cat, in one person? Someone who could think and reason, even in animal form? That would be a person I wouldn't want to have angry at me."
Hardison switched back to the camera. Eliot was laying on the floor in the middle of the room, watching the door. "Eliot was already full of a lot of my blood when the cat bit him. He was as close to being a vampire as he could get without actually turning."
Nate heard the click of Sophie's shoes on the marble floor. "Okay, I'm going to stay here. Hardison, go get some sleep." He let his hand fall on Hardison's shoulder, making him look up. "Get a good eight hours and some protein before you come back, hear?"
Hardison's eyes went wide, but he nodded. Sophie came into the room, dragging a cooler on wheels. "You weren't specific."
He could smell the meat, beef and pork, fresh and bloody. On the screen, Eliot was back up and pacing. Hardison slipped out of the room as Sophie and Sterling glared at one another. Sophie was the first to look away, handing Nate a bottle of Jack Daniel's. He took a deep drink before squatting next to the cooler. "Did you lace it?"
Sophie nodded. "Yeah, a good dose. My chemist friend said it should put down just about anything smaller than an elephant. Are you going to explain why?"
On the screen, Eliot was nosing through the bedding. He found the blood that Sterling had dropped and tossed it to the floor, pouncing after it. Nate nodded to the screen. "So we can get Eliot back to himself."
He left her staring at the screen and took the cooler and the bottle. The sooner they got Eliot back to his human form, the sooner they could figure out what their next step should be. He opened the door slowly.
Eliot looked up from where he lay on the floor, blood smeared over his face. "Okay, easy Eliot. I brought you some food." He pulled the cooler in and pulled the door shut. Eliot licked his lips and sat up.
Nate eased the cooler open and pulled out a hunk of meat. "Here you go." He tossed it toward Eliot, watching as red eyes tracked it and claws grabbed a hold of it. Eliot leaned in, sniffing it cautiously before laying down and holding the meat between his hands. Nate slid down to sit against the wall, the cooler beside him so he could keep tossing out meat. Eliot ate voraciously, going through half the cooler before Nate could start to see the effect of the tranquilizers.
It showed in Eliot's eyes first, hazy as the red started to bleed away. He wobbled as he moved toward Nate, his body stretching out as he fell into unconsciousness. His head landed on Nate's knee. Nate's hand stroked through his hair absently, closing his own eyes. He hadn't slept since waking up here in this vault…and he couldn't even guess how long ago that had been now.
Eliot's face was hot, even through the denim of his jeans. Nate's own hunger rumbled and he lifted the bottle of Jack in response. It wouldn't satisfy him, but maybe it would dull the need enough that when Hardison came back, Nate wouldn't kill him.
