The Keepers
By Elizabeth
Part 26

"Ace, NO! Just stop for a minute!"  
 
"I have to get to Anna." Ace moaned, rising to his 
feet shakily. God, he couldn't see 
straight...everything was so dim and fuzzy!  
 
Moe sighed heavily. "Jesus Christ. Are all gods this 
stubborn?"  
 
"Anna."  
 
"Fuck. Forgive me, Frehley, but this is the only way."  
 
Ace blinked, disoriented. "What is?"  
 
"This." Moe replied shortly before cocking back and 
nailing Ace with a solid right hook square to the jaw.  
 
Ace slumped to the floor, unconcious.  
 
Moe lifted his lifeless body easily and slung it over 
her shoulder.  
 
"Men." she huffed, making her way towards the elevator 
that would bring her up to Ben's floor.  
 
**********  
 
"You gotta get Grandad up here, right now." Ben said 
quietly, scooping Anna's limp form into his arms.  
 
Peter frowned in confusion. "She's alive?"  
 
Ben walked over and laid the unconcious woman on the 
couch, turning to Peter with an incredulous look. 
"Yeah, she's fucking alive! What, you think I'd be 
stupid enough to drain her to the point of death?"  
 
"This is Morpheus...she should have taken control of 
your mind with The Mark."  
 
"She tried...and failed." Ben assured him. "Fucked-up 
bastard."  
 
"What the hell does that mean?"  
 
"It means you better find Grandad now before he gets 
himself in REAL trouble."  
 
"He's right here."  
 
Ben looked over Peter's shoulder at Moe, who was 
carting a lifeless Ace in over one shoulder. "He was 
giving me trouble in the lobby. I didn't know what 
else to do with him. What can you do, Ben?"  
 
"Put him down." Ben instructed.  
 
Moe obeyed, laying him carefully on the floor beside 
the couch.  
 
"Di, c'mere baby." Ben crooned.  
 
The wolf cub, who had been sitting in the kitchen by a 
bowl on the floor, stood up and trotted over to her 
master.  
 
"Shit, a blood mongrel!" Moe gasped when she saw the 
animal, still brandishing blood red eyes and dangerous 
fangs.  
 
"Still hungry, doll?" Ben asked gently, obliviuos to 
the woman's shock.  
 
Black Diamond whined. YES...MORE PLEASE?  
 
"Here...you can have some more if you want." Ben 
gestured to the prone man.  
 
"Ben!" Peter warned.  
 
"Shut up, Peter." Ben snapped, keeping his eyes 
trained on the animal.  
 
Black Diamond sniffed Ace, then recoiled with a 
whimper. NOT GOOD FOOD, MISTER BEN. SMELLS BAD.  
 
"I know, baby."  
 
The cub looked up at him, then let out a yip. SMELLS 
SICK. I CAN HELP HIM...MAKE HIM LIKE ME.  
 
"Can you help him WITHOUT making him like you?"  
 
Black Diamond seemed to think before bobbing her head 
up and down in a nod. I CAN DO IT.  
 
Ben nodded. "Okay...go ahead."  
 
Ben squatted beside Ace's body as Black Diamond stood 
on the other side of him, nosing at Ace's throat 
before opening her jaw, fangs glittering viciously.  
 
The whole room was suprised when the animal merely 
yawned, shutting her mouth and bending down to lap at 
Ace's throat instead of clamping her jaws around it.  
 
"Christ...look!" Ben breathed.  
 
Moe and Peter came over and saw with a start that 
Black Diamond's tongue was scraping the skin, creating 
a pattern of shallow scratches seeping blood. The cub 
lapped up the viscous red fluid as it beaded into 
scarlet pearls along the cuts.  
 
Ben leaned forward, stroking the cub's head as she 
fed. As he touched her, he felt energy flow in careful 
little spurts from Ace's body to hers with every touch 
of tongue to skin. He felt a surge of triumph when he 
realized it was dark energy she was injesting. He 
pressed his fingers into her neck gently and began to 
siphon it away, discovering it was easy to discern the 
animal's personal energy from the stuff she was 
feeding on.  
 
After quite some time, Ben was unable to find any more 
of the toxic power. He released the animal from his 
psychic hold and gripped the scruff of her neck.  
 
"Enough, Di." he ordered.  
 
The cub whimpered. OKAY.  
 
She paused to lick at her chops for a moment, then 
favored Ace with a few more laps before drawing away.  
 
On the couch, Anna stirred. "What the hell happened?"  
 
Peter went over to the young woman. "Are you all 
right?"  
 
"I feel like I have the world's worst hangover." she 
moaned.  
 
On the ground, Ace suddenly sat up, wide awake. 
"Anna?"  
 
"I'm here, baby."  
 
Ace turned towards her, rising to his feet and 
kneeling beside the couch. "Jesus Christ...are you 
okay?"  
 
"I am now." She shivered. "Morpheus, Ace...he was 
inside me. It was like being a puppet on strings..."  
 
"That's The Mark." Ace told her. "Pure dark 
energy...Morpheus's energy. He was controlling you and 
used The Mark to infect me with his corruption." He 
flashed Ben a grateful look. "We would've died if the 
power had not been taken out of us."  
 
She turned to Ben with shame in her eyes. "He wanted 
me to mark you like he did me...he wanted you dead."  
 
"I know." Ben said gently, still kneeling with Black 
Diamond at his side. "I felt the energy going into 
me...bad stuff."  
 
"How did you survive it?" Moe asked.  
 
Ben shrugged, idly scratching Black Diamond behind one 
ear. "I did the only thing I could think of: swallowed 
it. I fed on Anna, and took The Mark with all the 
energy I absorbed. I knew it just by the...I dunno, 
the 'taste' of the power."  
 
"You took The Mark." Peter whispered. "You drained the 
dark energy out of the mongrel when she drank from 
Ace."  
 
Ben nodded, tapping his chest. "Got it all locked up 
in here...where it won't hurt anyone anymore."  
 
"Do you have any idea what you've done?"  
 
"Yes. The way I see it, though, I had no choice." He 
shrugged helplessly, a wry grin on his face. "It was 
me or mankind."  
 
"What's he talking about, Peter?" Anna asked as Ace 
moved up onto the couch, arms around her.  
 
"He's poisoned himself with dark mystic energy." Peter 
explained, his voice immeasurably sad. "His body will 
metabolize the power Morpheus poured into Anna and 
Ace...and it will brand him permanently. That evil 
will alter him, change his nature."  
 
"It also means that Morpheus will have the same 
control over Ben that he does over Mike." Ace 
finished.  
 
"Oh, Ben!" Anna croaked, rising to kneel beside her 
roomate, putting her arms around him.  
 
Ben hugged her back with one arm as he held Black 
Diamond with the other. "Shh, it's all right, Anna."  
 
Black Diamond squirmed away from Ben to clamber up 
into Anna's lap as she squatted beside Ben, 
successfully knocking her on her backside.  
 
"Hey, little girl." Anna giggled, falling back in a 
sprawl as Black Diamond scrambled up onto her chest to 
lick her face. "Ben, is this what I think it is?"  
 
"SHE'S a blood mongrel." Ben corrected. "Anna, meet 
Black Diamond."  
 
Anna stared at the cub in fascination as she stroked 
its glossy head. "This is incredible...blood mongrels 
aren't this tame."  
 
"They are if you know how to talk to them." Ben 
chuckled, reaching to rub the cub's head as she shut 
her eyes in delight.  
 
"They're so dangerous that they're nearly impossible 
to study." Anna told him. "No one really knows much 
about mongrels of ANY kind...and this one is a 
beautiful specimen."  
 
Ben whistled, calling Black Diamond back to him. "Lay 
off, Anners...my girl ain't one of your experiments."  
 
The wolf whined. MISTER BEN? BAD LADY?  
 
"Nah, just annoying lady." Ben chuckled, kissing Black 
Diamond's head. The cub seemed content to flatten Ben 
much as she had Anna, forcing him to lie back as she 
settled contentedly on his chest. "Anna wants to poke 
at ya with a stick."  
 
NO POKING. Black Diamond insisted with a growl, 
lifting her head and perking her ears cautiously.  
 
"No poking, Black Diamond." Peter assured the animal 
with a gentle laugh.  
 
Ben frowned up at Peter. "You can understand her?"  
 
"Of course. I understand all animals...even Jim's 
infernal snake." Peter reached out with one hand, 
extending his power towards the wolf in silent 
beckoning. "C'mere, girl."  
 
Ben felt the energy reach for Black Diamond, then felt 
her recoil as she slid off of Ben's chest, cowering 
against his side.  
 
"Peter, lay off." Ben growled, sitting up. The cub 
crawled in his lap, nosing Ben's throat as she tucked 
herself against his lean frame. He held her close, 
soothing her with gentle petting and calming thoughts. 
"You're scaring the shit out of her."  
 
Peter blinked. "I was calling her to me...nothing 
more. She should respond."  
 
"No, she shouldn't." Ben told him.  
 
"I don't see why not." Peter mused. "My abilities give 
me power over all animals."  
 
"Not her." Ben insisted. "Di's different...Di is 
mine."  
 
And as he said the words, he felt the certainty 
somewhere deep inside him, like instinct. This 
creature was his, body and spirit. His to protect or 
destroy, his to command and control. He had staked a 
claim that belonged to the gods alone, and now held 
power over this little life in his arms.  
 
His Black Diamond. His familiar. His little girl, his 
treasure.  
 
Ben knew right then that he would kill to keep her 
safe.  
 
Peter just shook his head in amazement. "I've never 
seen a bond between wizard and familiar run quite so 
deep before." He stared at Ben with something akin to 
awe. "I'm not sure whether or not to fear you...the 
force of this link is stronger than the animal ties I 
share with your pet."  
 
"Di ain't no pet." Ben cooed, looking down at the cub 
as he dropped a kiss on her neck, loving the silky 
feel of her coat. "She's my girl."  
 
Black Diamond turned to Peter and barked. I'M MISTER 
BEN'S GIRL...*NOT* YOURS.  
 
Peter laughed. "Okay, fine...Ben, she's all yours."  
 
Ben grinned as Black Diamond tucked her head under 
Ben's chin. "Wouldn't have it any other way."  
 
"Will she let me look at her?" Anna asked. "I'd like 
to find out how she fed on Ace without killing him OR 
infecting him."  
 
Ben looked down at the cub. "You wanna go see Anners?"  
 
She whined. I GO...BUT NO POKING!  
 
"I was only teasing." Ben chuckled, releasing the wolf 
as it walked over to Anna and stood patiently, 
waiting.  
 
Anna sat with her legs crossed, staring at the animal 
in awe. "Hi there, sweetie. My, you're a pretty girl."  
 
She reached out hesitantly, delighted when the wolf 
allowed her neck to be stroked. Carefully, Anna 
reached out with her other hand and urged its jaws 
open. Black Diamond obliged, letting her mouth hang 
open, tongue lolling out loosely.  
 
"Incredible." she breathed, observing the animal's 
tongue. It was like that of any dog, no longer forked 
now that she'd fed, but the tip was covered by a wide, 
even patch of delicate little barbs.  
 
"I've never seen this up close before." Anna marveled. 
"It's like a cat's tongue, only sharper. A secondary 
method of feeding that doesn't pass on the virus." She 
ran her finger over the center of the canine tongue, 
lightly caressing four little buds of tissue in the 
center. "These must be some kind of glands...they're 
secreting fluid."  
 
Ace reached up to touch his neck. "She licked me after 
she fed...now the cuts are gone."  
 
"It must be a healing agent, then..." Anna looked over 
at Ben, eyes shining excitedly as she petted the 
animal. "Ben, if you don't mind I would really like to 
study Black Diamond...nothing invasive, but the 
opportunity to learn more about these animals could be 
good in the long run."  
 
"I don't know." Ben drawled. "I don't want her to be 
caged up."  
 
"I can make it part of my schoolwork and do everything 
here at home." she insisted. "My research could 
actually be beneficial for her kind. Ben, everyone 
believes blood mongrels are violent, dangerous, and 
useless. Your ability to communicate with this one 
shows that they're not what they seem...with a little 
work, they could actually prove to be safe, highly 
effective family pets."  
 
"Not everyone can talk to a blood mongrel like Ben, 
baby." Ace pointed out. "Ben's tie to this one is a 
primal force...they're linked by their predatory 
natures, more so now that Ben's taken The Mark into 
himself."  
 
Ben looked at Black Diamond, her red eyes glinting as 
she walked back over to him and settled across his 
legs, content to rest her chin between her paws and go 
to sleep. He ran a hand over her back, finding odd 
comfort in her whine of delight.  
 
"We're kindred spirits." he whispered. "We're both 
monsters."  
 
**********  
 
Paul Stanley walked out of the television station with 
a smile. All in all, the interview had gone 
suprisingly well...the announcement about the band's 
upcoming press conference had been made, and public 
interest had been sparked about an imminent emergence 
from retirement.  
 
NOT BAD FOR A DAY'S WORK. Paul mused to himself. 
Briefly, he reflected on the days of a life gone 
by...a life ended. An existence that was far less 
happier than this one, where every day was a struggle 
to survive in hopes that he might see the next.  
 
Stanley, his avatar. His friend. His beloved 
companion.  
 
Paul sighed, slipping on a pair of sunglasses as he 
walked down the street, lost in memories that were not 
his own, and yet only belonged to him. The weight of 
eternity pressed down upon his shoulders, making him 
introspective and only a little depressed.  
 
God, he felt old.  
 
Old as Time.  
 
He missed Julia. He hoped that the homicide which 
called her away wouldn't take long to handle.  
 
He then felt gratitude for the fact that his last 
thoughts had been of the woman he loved when the 
faceless man jumped out at him, driving a gleaming silver blade 
deep into his heart.