A/N: This is weird, just so you know. Blame late nights and early mornings.
Tiger Eyes
Shido sat back in his chair, his feet up on the desk and his head tilted back so that he could count the cracks in the ceiling. Riho was clattering about in the kitchen doing God only knew what, and he had nothing to do. Which was perfectly all right by him, since the vampire detective was content to just relax and listen to the sounds of the city outside filtering through to him. Not that there was much happening on a Sunday afternoon, but it was better than listening to Riho's incessant singing. She wasn't necessarily a bad singer; it was just that since she did it constantly it began to grate on one's nerves after a while. Guni was asleep in his hat, only her green arms and legs visible over the brim as she made incoherent mumbling noises and twitched occasionally.
Days like this were rare, when everything slowed down from its usual hectic pace and he could just relax, letting his thoughts order themselves. It was even more rare for days like this to last through without some new crisis, so Shido was barely even surprised when Yayoi burst in the door without so much as a knock and threw herself down onto one of the couches in the office, panting.
"Is something the matter?" Shido asked, rising from his comfortable old chair and padding over to her, watching in slight amusement as she struggled to catch her breath.
"Yes," she scowled, glaring at him for stating the obvious. "The vampire who turned you-" She began, pausing to catch her breath a little more as Shido narrowed his eyes.
"Cain," he growled, his attention caught.
"Yes." Yayoi nodded. "The NOS captured him after a fight with another vampire last night. I only just found out, I thought you might want to know." She frowned.
Shido stared at her, speechless. Cain had been captured by humans? Surely it was some sort of joke, Cain would never allow that to happen to him in a million years.
"Is this true? How did they manage to catch him without getting themselves killed?" Shido asked, sitting down across from Yayoi as Riho and Guni, who had been awoken by Yayoi's entrance, came over to listen.
"Apparently they were following some other vampire and he ran into Cain. From what I've heard, the two of them must have been enemies or something, because they fought and Cain killed the other guy. He was in a pretty bad way by the end of the fight, though, so the NOS bought him in. He killed three officers before they could subdue him."
"What are they going to do with him?" Riho asked, sitting down next to Shido.
"Run tests, keep him for observation, hopefully try out all their new weapons on him." Yayoi smirked, folding her arms. Guni sat in the middle of the coffee table and scratched her head, looking at Shido.
"I dunno," she began, "I feel kinda sorry for him."
Shido looked up from his thoughts at that, his eyes narrowed.
"Can I see him?" He asked, his tone clearly stating that he was in no mood to be argued with about whether that was such a good idea.
"I suppose so, you're a detective so they should let you in. Plus you're with me, and those idiots can never resist a woman in a tight uniform." She shrugged, standing up to follow Shido as he stalked over to fetch his coat.
"Alright, Riho, Guni, wait here. This shouldn't take long. I want to see what he's up to. There's no way he'd let himself get captured for no reason, especially by humans." The violet-haired vampire growled, leaving before either of them could argue.
* * * * * * *
Shido said nothing as he stared through the two-way mirror at his former lover, his furious snarls ringing in Shido's ears. Cain was strapped to a table, thrashing like an animal as he struggled to free himself. His eyes were glowing golden and he was screaming various curses in Transylvanian, looking more furious and wild than Shido had ever seen him. Blood stained his torn clothes and there were still a few scratches and bite marks on his pale skin that had yet to heal, evidence of his fight with another vampire.
"You should see the other vampire," the young officer escorting Shido and Yayoi remarked. "I really wouldn't wanna mess with this guy alone."
"You saw the fight?" Yayoi asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Sure did, that guy in there," he gestured to Cain, "ripped the other guy's throat clean out with his bare hands."
Shido left the two of them to talk, taking a few steps forward and raising a pale hand to touch the glass. Cain instantly stopped his furious struggling and turned his head to the side, narrowing his feline eyes at the two-way mirror as though he could see right through it. He stared straight at Shido for a few moments then turned away, closing his eyes.
Shido took a step back, trembling slightly. Cain's eyes always did that to him, even more so now, with that wild look of a caged animal in them. He wasn't sure how to feel. He'd expected to feel pleased or relieved at knowing Cain was going to get what he deserved, but this was not what he had in mind. He felt sick thinking about them using Cain as some sort of test subject, nobody deserved that. Not even Cain.
"I need to speak with him." Shido said icily, turning to the officer.
"I-I'm not sure if that's allowed, I think I should ask-" He began, but Yayoi cut him off by taking his hand in hers and pulling him towards the door.
"Oh, come on, what could possibly happen? Don't worry, we won't tell." She said in her most flirtatious voice, "Besides, with Shido here out of the way, it'll give us a better chance to talk."
The young officer blushed a little and looked into the room where Cain lay, figuring that since he was being quiet now it couldn't do any harm.
"Ok, but only for a few minutes." He sighed, moving to unlock the door for Shido.
'You owe me,' Yayoi mouthed silently to Shido when the guard couldn't see, and Shido gave her a grateful smile.
* * * * * * *
Shido walked into the white room, closing the door behind him and stalking over to the two-way mirror, turning off the speaker next to it so that nobody could hear them.
"Cain." Shido said, walking slowly over to his former lover. Cain opened his eyes and looked up at Shido, then snarled and looked away again angrily, his eyes glittering with fury.
"You're getting what you deserve," Shido growled, watching coldly as Cain coughed painfully, blood on his lips, and hissed at him.
"See what your precious humans do to me! You are blind to defend such creatures!" Cain spat.
Shido turned away, not wanting to meet Cain's eyes, and stared at the floor.
"You are just as bad." He said, but Cain disagreed.
"You lie, vampires have more honour than to torture humans like this, and not allow them the release of death. But humans do this to the vampires, the nightbreed, even themselves! This world would be better off without them here to poison it!"
Shido snarled and whirled around, his eyes glowing golden as he cut his finger on a fang and drew out his sword.
"If you want it so much I will give you a quick death!" He hissed, poising his sword over Cain's heart and glaring down at him. Cain just glared right back defiantly, daring him to plunge his sword down and live up to his words.
Staring down into Cain's angry eyes, Shido sighed and stepped back, letting his sword melt. It was just those eyes...
"Enjoy yourself, Cain." He growled, then turned and walked out of the room.
* * * * * * *
That night Shido sat with Riho next to him, staring distractedly at the television that wasn't even turned on.
"Is something the matter?" Riho asked, then frowned. "It's *him*, isn't it? Well he's getting exactly what he deserves, so don't worry any more." She said, placing her hand comfortingly on Shido's knee. He sighed, looking down at her. He wasn't worried about himself. He was worried about Cain, much as he hated to admit it.
"Don't be upset," Riho smiled, "there's no way he'll ever escape from that lab. They'll kill him and you'll never have to worry about him turning up again, isn't that right?"
'That's what I'm afraid of.' Shido thought, the vision of Cain's burning golden eyes still imprinted upon his mind every time he closed his eyes.
"I-I have to go out for a while, I'll see you in the morning." Shido said quickly, standing up and smiling at Riho to show her it wasn't her fault, even though it was, in part. She sighed and gave him a soft smile back, nodding.
"Alright, I'll lock up."
Shido gave her a grateful look and grabbed his coat, leaving before she could say anything else, or ask him where he was going. The truth was, he really didn't know. He just wanted to get away from everything that would remind him of Cain.
* * * * * * *
Walking the dark streets with no particular direction, Shido tried his hardest not to think of Cain but always ended up coming back to the vision of his former lover's yellow cat's eyes. He found himself at the harbour and walked along for a while, looking out over the water, before he found a bench and sat down wearily. Hard as he tried to forget, Cain was always on his mind. The thought of him being killed for good by the NOS was strangely disturbing, something Shido had never expected to happen. He'd always thought that *he* would be the one to die first, having made an enemy of every demon and vampire out there. The amount of times he'd come close to dying were more than he cared to remember, and he was lucky that Yayoi had always been there to revive him with her blood. He never thought he'd have to go through losing Cain. Would he be upset, he wondered? Yes. They had been lovers, after all, and Cain may have taken his memories but the golden haired vampire had never forced Shido to fall in love with him. He'd done that all on his own.
But did he care enough to stop it? Undoubtedly the world would be a better place for humans without Cain there, but would it be a better place for Shido? Probably. That didn't necessarily mean he liked the idea, though.
Closing his eyes, Shido sighed as he leant back. His mind, which controlled him and everything he did, told him he had to let them kill Cain. But his heart, that tiny place inside that took over occasionally and made him do foolish things, like turn Riho into a vampire, said it would miss those eyes. And the animal in him, the last shred of vampire he would never be able to get rid of until the day he died, said that Cain was still his mate, and loved him enough to never let *him* die like that.
It all came down to his eyes in the end. That was what had first attracted him to Cain, the first day they met. He'd seen Cain feeding from some unfortunate woman and been horrified. But then Cain had looked up and met his eyes, and Shido had seen something so animal and fierce in those amber depths that he'd been frozen to the spot.
And now every time he saw Cain's eyes he would remember the past, not just the darkness and blood, but the warmth of Cain's hands on his skin and the soft touch of long fingers running through his hair as though he were some precious possession.
'Damn it.' He thought as the memories of Cain's touch sent a shiver through him. He stood up, scowling, and knew in that instant that leaving Cain in the hands of the NOS was not an option.
* * * * * * *
He found the lab easily and knocked out the security guard outside, slipping in with the guard's key and stalking through the dark hallways, keeping an eye out for security cameras. Cain's cell was near the back of the facility and it took him awhile to find it, but when he did he wasted no time in tearing the lock off with his bare hands and bursting in. What he found, though, seemed to be an empty cell.
The door closed behind him and Shido whirled around, eyes glowing, to find Cain stood there, smirking. On his wrists were the chains he'd ripped from the wall and he casually tore them off, showing beyond a doubt that he could have escaped easily any time he wanted. He circled around the younger vampire like a wolf around its prey, dropping the chains to the floor with a clink of metal.
"I was wondering if my mate would come to save me. How romantic, you risk everything to rescue me, even though you claim to hate me." He said, leaning closer and whispering against the back of Shido's neck, sending a shiver down his spine. "Did you really think I would let them do this to me? You know me better than that, my Shido. Did you think that I would lay down and let the humans kill me like some animal?"
Shido stayed very still and watched Cain move around to stand before him, looking no different than he usually did, although he'd been in the cell for a night and a day.
"Why, if you could escape so easily? Why stay here for so long?" Shido asked, confused and annoyed.
"Simple, I wanted to see if you would come for me, or let me die." Cain smirked.
"Well don't get any ideas, it won't be happening twice." Shido snarled angrily.
"Do you seriously think I will allow myself to be captured twice?" Cain laughed, making Shido even angrier.
"I'm leaving." He growled, whirling around but stopping when he heard Cain's soft laugh behind him.
"Fine, do as you please. I got what I needed to know." The older vampire said.
"What?" Shido demanded, gasping when Cain grabbed his arm and pulled him back, into his arms.
"I know who really holds your heart." The golden-haired vampire told his mate, leaning down to kiss him. Shido melted involuntarily at Cain's lips, having no choice but to let Cain take what he wanted. When the kiss finally ended, Shido looked up into Cain's laughing eyes and growled, trying to stop the flush across his cheeks at being held by Cain again after so long. To his surprise, though, Cain let him go and stepped back as though waiting for Shido to argue with him.
'I know who really holds your heart.' The words echoed again in his mind and he snarled, whirling around again and this time slamming the door closed after him as he left.
Cain watched Shido go and smirked to himself, a knowing look in his eyes. He was right, and they both knew it.
* * * * * * *
Shido sat on one of the arms of the cross on a church steeple, staring out into the night. He sighed as Cain's words once again rang through his mind and he tried to gather the hate together to deny what Cain had told him. A noise behind him startled him from his thoughts and he turned, not surprised to see Cain standing there, his cloak fluttering in the light breeze and his eyes holding the same hunger they always did when they looked at Shido.
"Would you care to dance?" Cain asked with a smirk, holding out his hand to Shido, who stood up with a scowl and made to leave, ignoring his heart's longing. But then he looked out over the city lights stretching away below, and sighed in defeat.
"What is one dance?" He murmured, then took Cain's hand.
The End.
That had a really clear plan of what I wanted to write, really! But it just came out like this... weird. Oh well, it seemed like a good idea at the time.