The price of honour

 

By Valerie

 

There were moments when Jack hated his job and the longer he lived as a vampire and as a part of Sylum, the more taxing the difference between the simple and honourable rules of the clan and the shady and grey world he lived in became. His world was tinged in constant grey and yet his bosses tried to make him see it in black and white and the longer he worked the more he saw, the more he understood that the real danger to a system often came from within.

 

His dreams often were of the things he’d seen and done, he saw the faces of those he’d tortured, heard the cries of those he’d killed and it was then when he woke up sweating and trembling filled with guilt.

 

Honour has a price... someone had said that once, when he’d started working for the government.

 

In those nights, when he stared at the ceiling unable to sleep because he was afraid of his dreams, Jack knew that he’d paid this price dearly and still paid every day.

 

It were those nights when he leaned over and watched Chase sleeping peacefully and in those moments he wanted out, not to protect himself, not to save his own soul, but to save the man sleeping next to him, a man who despite the things he’d done still had an air of innocence around him, a man who still thought that honour was it’s own valour and had not yet understood that it often came at a harsh price.

 

Sometimes in these nights, Jack lay awake and prayed to a God he’d stopped believing in. He prayed that Chase would never lose that love for life, prayed that his lover would never find out how high the price for honour sometimes was, and prayed that the other man would never realize that honour sometimes was just another word for deceit.

 

At least in the world they lived in…

 

---

 

“Jack, I know this is short notice, but I just got a call from Manny. Oscar, their clan advisor is on his way to LA for a week. Can you ensure that someone picks him up at the airport and that everything works out for him?”

 

Jack was used to getting phone calls from Speed about various members of other clans visiting, mostly though it were normal members or other hunters. So far he’d never dealt with a member of a ruling council and the thought of doing so intimidated him a bit. That was Bruce’s job normally.

 

“Sure... Speed just asking, is Bruce on holiday?”

 

Speed chuckled lightly and answered with laughter still tinged in his voice.

 

“He’s in LA, but flies out to NY tomorrow for some business, so he can’t make it. And apart from that, Oscar is an interesting person to meet, especially for someone like you.”

 

The cryptic comment made Jack pause, but he knew better than to expect any kind of explanation. Speed was Speed after all and if he didn’t say anything else, then no question would make him talk. Sighing lightly, he asked the Sylum advisor to give his regards to Horatio and as soon as the call was finished, he picked up his phone again and called Chase. After all, he needed to tell his lover about their visitor.

 

“Oscar Schindler? Man’s that’s great, I mean this guy is like a real historical legend.”

 

Even after having met all those legendary figures in the clan, Chase still found it hard to believe that not only comic book characters were actually real, but that some of the most recognisable historical people were vampires too and if there was one thing to be said about Sanguen Vitae, then it was that this clan had legends in no small numbers.

 

Looking out over LA from his terrace, Jack had to admit that he was excited to meet the German too.

 

“I’ll pick you up downtown around 7pm; I’ll meet with Don and Charlie first.”

 

Chase’s laughter rang through the line.

 

“Good luck”

 

Jack just growled. Training Don and Charlie had proven to be an interesting experiment and a learning one too and Jack was sure that he’d never known as much about maths as he did by now. It was worth it though, he thought as he walked to his car, worth seeing the joy in Charlie’s eyes when the younger vampire realized that he’d taught his teacher something, worth seeing the gratitude in Don’s eyes when his brother and mate smiled happily.

 

The brother’s had been through hell and back and having been there too, Jack was only too willing to listen to some obscure math if that made Charlie feel better.

 

---

 

Oscar waited politely until the custom officer cleared him and he was allowed to enter the US. He could have used his diplomatic passport, but if he travelled for business he preferred not to draw too much attention towards himself... Although, he thought with a wry chuckle at the glances of the people in the hallway, travelling with the kind of luggage he had and a private plane did tend to draw attention.

 

Stepping out into the chaos and masses of people that milled around in the LA airport, he felt a shiver running through him. He hated crowds, hated it to be in a place where many people gathered. He had seen the worst that could happen when crowds gathered and no matter how many times, Lola told him that scientifically spoken crowds were smarter than single individuals; Oscar just had to close his eyes to see the people gathering and hear them scream and hail the Fuhrer.

 

Crowds inevitable reminded him of that dark time, the time when his own country had descended into madness and it brought memories he didn’t want to relive.

 

“Excuse me, you looking for someone from Sylum Enterprises?”

 

Oscar jerked back to reality at the question and he looked at the man standing next to him. He had expected to be picked up by Bruce or one of his employees, but the man next to him was neither. Tall, tanned with pale blond hair and blue eyes, the stranger leaned casually against the pillar, but there was an alertness to him that Oscar associated with soldiers and fighters. Listening for a heart beat he found none and as he looked more closely, he saw at least three concealed weapons.

 

It didn’t take a rocket scientist to recognize the man and with a friendly smile he nodded.

 

“As a matter of fact I am looking for someone from Sylum. I take it, you must be Mr. Bauer.”

 

Surprise registered in the handsome face and Oscar smiled again this time extending his hand in greetings.

 

“It is a great pleasure to finally meet you. I have heard many things of you.”

 

Jack Bauer had recovered fast and now he led Oscar towards the exit, talking casually and friendly about the arrangements he’d made. Oscar was surprise to hear that Jack expected him to stay at ‘their’ house. The question of the ‘their’ was answered as they reached the car. A young man sat inside and Oscar was surprised to hear a heart beat, still though he could see the connection between the vampire and the human.

 

Bonded yet not mated, he thought.

 

“Oscar, this is Chase my future mate.”

 

Pride and a clear warning, both made Oscar smile, yet as they drove towards LA, he observed their interaction and saw the almost tangible connection between them. The love made his heart heavy and the future those two clearly had made him hurt with longing.

 

There had been a time, he had wished for this.

 

But when forced to choose he had done what his honour and his being had demanded.

 

---

 

Jack had not expected that Oscar Schindler would be such a perfect gentleman. His English was perfectly accentuated British, the kind of English his mother had called ‘the Queen’s English’. The German was wearing an expensive Italian suit and even now lounging on their terrace with a water in his hand, he looked cool and composed. Smiling lightly, Jack realized that Oscar was the embodiment of the word ‘Distinguished’.

 

“What brings you here?”

 

Oscar looked at Chase and a warm smile crossed his face as his eyes flicked between the young man and Jack. For a second Jack contemplated warning Oscar, but then he thought that Chase’s curiosity was no reason for a warning and leaning back he watched them talk.

 

“Business matters mostly; I own some vineyards further south and will go and talk to the people that run it.”

 

The answer surprised Jack; he had performed some background research on the German and found no business interests in the area. He surprised must have shown on his face, cause Oscar smiled lightly and after taking another sip, he explained.

 

“It’s good to see that the mask of legal constructs around the real owner of the vineyards and other property still holds true even against a background search from CTU.”

 

There was no real humour in Oscar’s smile, just some faint amusement, but the light teasing had Chase growl nevertheless.

 

“Why conceal the ownership? You have something to hide?”

 

Jack could see how his lover blushed as soon as the words were out of his mouth. Oscar on the other hand laughed for real this time.

 

“Apart from being a hundred and eighty year old vampire? Nothing actually...”

 

Chase mumbled an apology, but Oscar just waved his hand in a gesture so innately elegant that Jack couldn’t help but stare. There was something about this man that screamed ‘wealth’ and yet just as he thought that Jack shook his head, no it wasn’t wealth, it was something different... Were he assessing horses, he would have called it ‘breed’ and maybe it was the same with humans...

 

And yet, beneath the air of education and aristocracy, there was an air of sadness around him that made Jack pause. It was something he had seen before, this longing and with a pang he realized where it had been.

 

Speed and Tony both had looked the same before they had bonded with their mates and Jack suddenly remembered from the file that Oscar was not bonded with anyone.

 

Had he lost his mate?

 

Alert now, he tried to catch Chase’s eyes so that he could warn him and ask him not to question Oscar about a potential mate, but before he could say anything his phone rang. Getting up, he warned Oscar with a smile but looked seriously at his lover.

 

“He can ask a lot, so if the questions get too much, just tell him ok?”

 

Oscar smiled lightly.

 

“It’s ok, you both are young and from what I understand, you especially were turned against consent. It’s normal to have questions.”

 

Again Jack was struck by the cultivated voice and the perfect manners, but this time he felt as if those manners were a Teflon mask ensuring that nothing got too close, nothing ended up sticking to Oscar. He found his phone and went inside wondering how it would be to interrogate Oscar... Shrugging he decided that he was glad he didn’t have too.

 

On the other hand, Oscar had managed to fool the entire Nazi Regime, so being able to wear a mask would be the least of his talents.

 

“Bauer”

 

It was Don on the other side and by the sound of his slightly panicky voice, Jack knew immediately that something was wrong with Charlie. He closed the door behind him and started to calm Don down, talked to him and Charlie until he knew that they both were alright.

 

When he came back out fifteen minutes later, he stopped dead in his tracks. Chase was still sitting in his chair, shoulders slumped and even from where he stood, he could hear the sobs that shook his lover’s body. Oscar was kneeling next to him and the older vampire looked up as he felt Jack near. Still concentrating on Chase, Jack wanted to rip the German apart, when soft words reached his ears.

 

“You are not a coward Chase. Honour is something only you can define, it’s something that your heart tells you what it is, and it is something you have to do no matter the price. Honour has nothing to do with what other people tell you... And sometimes honour is not doing something, but not doing something.”

 

Jack stood frozen at those calming and tender words. He knew what Chase was upset about, remembered the incident when Chase had frozen up and not been able to follow an order to shoot a person. He had been reprimanded sharply and their boss had made it clear that for her...

 

‘Chase has no honour, not one bit.’

 

He had seen how Chase had shrunk back at the hard words and had felt his mate’s pain. It had been one of those moments when he had wanted to throw caution to the wind and cradle his lover in his arms, take the pain away and make everything alright. But he had been forced to stand on the other side of the room, today though he could take Chase in his arms and with a couple of steps he was at his beloved’s side and held him close.

 

Oscar smiled at the pair, but his eyes were shadowed with grief and pain.

 

“What did you mean with those words?”

 

The German looked a bit confused and Chase elaborated.

 

“That honour is something your heart tells you to do, that it is something one has to do no matter the price.”

 

Oscar’s face was once again the polite mask as he sat down again, but as he reached out for his water and looked up, Jack almost recoiled from the pain and heartbreak in those blue eyes.

 

“Have you seen the movie?”

 

The soft question was almost carried away by the gentle breeze, but Jack heard it and nodded. Dread filled him, but he still had to ask the question that now burned in him.

 

“It was accurate, wasn’t it?”

 

Oscar nodded, but his eyes were haunted.

 

“More or less... I was a vampire already then, which is something Steven didn’t show and...”

 

His voice trailed off and Jack saw the slight tremor that made the elegant long fingers tremble as the older vampire put his glass down. For a second there was complete silence, then Oscar folded his hands before his face, and quickly moved them over his eyes. Settling them still folded in his lap; he studied his nails as he started to speak again.

 

“The other thing they didn’t show was that Amon Goeth was a vampire too... and my mate.”

 

The last thing was less spoken and more whispered, but Jack understood it and he gasped. The meaning and the pain behind them made his heart break for the other man and instinctively he reached around Chase and pressed him closer to his body. He tried to imagine what he would have done, had he found Chase on the other side, had he been forced to decide between his mate and what he believed in. Oscar’s words came back to him and he shivered as he understood.

 

Honour is something your heart tells you to do; it is something one has to do no matter the price.

 

“The price of honour”

 

Chase was staring at the older vampire and Jack could see that his lover had come to the same conclusion as he had.

 

“You killed him.”

 

Oscar looked at them, his eyes resting on their entwined hands and a sad smile crossed his face.

 

“Yes”

 

---

 

*Poland 1945*

 

“The Russian’s are here”

 

Oscar smiled at Itzak and his obvious relief. There was no relief in his heart though, yes he was glad that this war was coming to an end, but he knew that for him the end would be bitter and harsh. Nothing showed in his face, though as he reached in his drawer and handed Itzak a passport, money and some other documents. He knew he would never see his secretary again, and for a moment he looked at the man who had helped him save the Jews, Itzak had suffered in this war like all of his nation had, the man he had hired right before the changes had taken place, the strong and powerful man had been reduced to a small and fragile and yes old man. Sighing lightly he handed the package over to his friend.

 

“Take these and leave.”

 

He saw Itzak look insecure at the passport and the money and with another sigh; he got up and clasped the other man’s shoulder.

 

“You cannot stay here. I do not trust the Russians not to finish what the Germans started, but in the US you and your family will be save. Ehre and Sanguen cannot protect you here, we are scattered and hurt ourselves, but Sylum is strong and I talked to Nick, he will take care of those that seek refuge from those shores.”

 

He turned towards his desk and took a business card.

 

“If you have any problem at customs, have them call this number.”

 

He leaned over and kissed Itzak on his cheeks.

 

“You are a Chosen one for Sylum now and you will be safe there.”

 

Suppressing his tears, he watched as Itzak left his office. He could hear the gunfire outside and some dark side in him wished for a bomb to hit his house, and yet he knew that his will to live was still too strong. Even more though, he knew that his country and his clan would need him to rebuild what had been destroyed by the madness of the Nazi Regime.

 

Alone again he sat at his desk waiting for the visit he knew that would come. He had been waiting for him to show up ever since he’d been turned, and yet somehow he had known that unless the destruction of the Third Reich would be close, the other vampire would never show up.

 

He almost hoped that he would not show up tonight, but he knew that he would not be this lucky and as he sat in his study watching the candle burn down, he suddenly recalled a conversation he’d had with Amon when he’d met the other man the first time. He had still had hope then, hope that the younger man was not completely corrupted by the lessons instilled on him by the SS and so he had brought the topic up randomly during an innocent discussion.

 

“Power is when we have every justification to kill, and we don't.”

 

“You think that's power?”

 

“That's what the Emperor said. A man steals something, he's brought in before the Emperor, he throws himself down on the ground. He begs for his life, he knows he's going to die. And the Emperor... pardons him. This worthless man, he lets him go.”

 

“I think you are drunk.”

 

“That's power, Amon. That is power.”

 

It had not helped and the longer he had watched the other man, the more he had realized that there was nothing left of who Amon Goeth could have been. Nothing of the man he would have wanted to call his mate...

 

A bitter laugh escaped him as the irony of the memory sank in.

 

“Power is when we have every justification to kill and yet we don’t.”

 

He had spoken those words long ago, but tonight he would be forced to take them back, because tonight he would have every justification to kill and he would not step back.

 

The memory had steeled him and as the knock on the door came, he walked slowly and calmly his sword in one hand. Yet he still hesitated for a second before he opened it, he didn’t want to see the man on the other side, didn’t want to have to face him.

 

Amon Goeth, the sadistic camp supervisor and SS man, the proud Nazi and... his mate.

 

The man he would have to kill tonight...

 

“What do you want?”

 

Amon laughed at the sword in Oscar’s hand and it sent a shiver through Oscar. He felt drawn towards the Nazi, even though his mind and heart recoiled in disgust and the insanity of those dual emotions made him tremble.

 

“August told me about mates, never thought you’d be mine though.”

 

Cold calculating eyes looked at him and for the thousandth time, he cursed the SS leader who had turned Amon.

 

“We will not bond.”

 

His voice was hard now, cold and devoid of any of that deceptive weakness he had used when he had played his part to save his people. The change in his body language and voice seemed to throw Amon for a moment, then he laughed though.

 

“Who would stop us?”

 

Arrogance had in the end caused the fall of the Third Reich and it was fitting that Amon would suffer from the same illness.

 

“Me”

 

He said it quietly, calmly but he stood clear and poised ready for an attack.

 

“You? You’re too weak to stand against me! We will bond Oscar, and then we will ensure that the Germany will not fall. The Russians and American’s might know how to fight soldiers, but they won’t know how to fight vampires.”

 

A shiver ran through Oscar at the thought of how many SS men had been turned, but he didn’t show any of his concerns, just calmly spoke with the authority he used when dealing with the clan and the council.

 

“You have as human and as a vampire committed crimes that are punished with death under the laws of my clan. You’re live as a vampire has been forfeit, but there are still two opportunities open for you: Fight me here and now, or join me and stand trial in front of the ruling council of Ehre.”

 

The sneer in Amon’s face was one of surprise and contempt, but underneath there was fear and the emotion tugged at Oscar’s heart, made him want to reach out and hold his mate close. Instead though he stepped back and lifted his sword.

 

“Fight or trial. It is your decision.”

 

The other vampire charged, but Oscar was ready and his experience and strength made the fight one-sided to say the least. The fight lasted no five minutes and he had Amon at his feet, staring at the man who was the other half of his soul, Oscar allowed the tears to fall.

 

“If I had any hope that us bonding would help you turning from the path you’re on, I would not hesitate to bond with you. But there is no hope left for you... “

 

Amon’s face was a mask of fear as he looked up, his voice hoarse as he spoke.

 

“So you and your clan have condemned me to death.”

 

Oscar closed his eyes for a moment and then looked straight into his mate’s eyes as he nodded and brought the sword down in one swift stroke.

 

Dust swirled around and through the air and the sword fell out of his hands as his legs gave in and the feeling of someone ripping out his heart made him cry out.

 

He had killed his mate and condemned himself to an eternity of longing.

 

---

 

Los Angeles 2005

 

Jack felt the pain radiating from the older vampire and shared a look with Chase. He felt helpless, didn’t know what to say or if there was anything he could say to make this pain lesser, because in his heart, he knew that there was nothing he could say.

 

“Have you ever seen him again?”

 

Chase’s question was tentative, almost as if he didn’t know whether to ask or not. Oscar looked at him and shook his head.

 

“Vampire’s don’t come back.”

 

Jack wanted to point out that Byron had returned to Riddick, but one look at the older vampire told him that Oscar didn’t want to continue the discussion and true to the thought, he got up and nodded at Jack and Chase.

 

“I will retire for the night.”

 

Gone was the fragile, hurting man and back was the gentleman with the elegance and the graciousness of a nobleman. Watching him walk into the house, Jack felt Chase lean against him.

 

“He did the honourable thing.”

 

Holding his love close, Jack thought about the story and remembered something Van Helsing had told him once.

 

‘Sometimes doing the right thing feels like the wrong thing.’

 

He was sure that Oscar would agree with him.