Disclaimer: CSI and it’s
characters are not mine. The names of the
all characters contained here-in are the property of Jerry Bruckheimer and CBS.
No infringements of these copyrights are intended, and no money is made of it.
Disclaimer 2: This story was written
as a tribute to the wonderful universe created by Beverly (Bjjones). Her Sylum
Stories and the entire world she’s created made me write this. Sylum and the
universe is hers, I just play with it.
Rating: FRM
Pairing: None, hints of Sharpe / Van Helsing
Summary: Answer to Bev’s Hunter challenge
Series: Will write a sequel to it, if anyone is interested
Don’t expect a fairytale
by Valerie
*
“Come on, Blade, tell me some more stories... I mean, man this is way
better than any TV or DVD.”
The dark skinned hunter couldn’t help the smile that crossed his face at
the enthusiasm that Danny showed whenever he started some of his more ‘weird’
tales. He leaned back and stretched the lean strong body into a comfortable
slouch while he thought of something else he could tell Danny. Before he came
up with yet another story, though, a knock at the door interrupted his
thoughts. His young protégé quickly got up and Blade grinned, before he heard
the surprised and almost shocked gasp. Quickly unsheathing his sword, he calmed
down at the quiet, yet authoritative voice of his own teacher.
“I am a friend Danny, I am part of Sylum too.”
Gabriel smiled when he walked over to the couch and pulled Blade into a
strong hug.
“It’s good to see you, I was on my way to see Tony, when I thought I
should stop over and get introduced to your new student.”
Blade saw the cautious way Danny was watching the other man and felt
pride rise when he realized that Danny was still alert, still in fighting mood,
ready to defend him when needed.
“Danny, please meet Gabriel Van Helsing, our chief hunter”
Danny’s face turned an interesting shade of red, but within minutes
after shaking Gabriel’s hand he recovered and started pestering Blade again.
“You were just about to tell me some more adventures.”
Blade smiled lazily and sent a glance to Gabriel.
“Why don’t you ask the chief over there for some stories? I am sure,
he’s got some good ones, maybe even some I haven’t heard.”
Danny’s eyes turned towards the dark haired man who just watched the
young vampire in turn. There was an incredible calm and depth around the older man
that made Danny almost uncomfortable and yet in some ways reminded him so much
of Mac, it was painful.
“Please, I would be honoured.”
A light smile crossed Gabriel’s face, but he sobered quickly and turned
away to look out of the window over the dark and yet sparkling city towards the
river, further on to the sea and back into a time so long ago it was a mere
myth for most people and yet for some of them it had been their present and now
it was their past.
Gabriel had lived long enough to see the present turn into past then
into history and finally into legend and myth. A sad smile crossed his face as
he remembered all those he had lost and as always a sharp pain ran through his
heart when he remembered the one whose loss had hurt most.
“Gabe?”
Blade’s tentative question brought him back to
“It is me who is honoured, but don’t expect a fairytale”
He grabbed his drink and swirling around he stared into the golden
liquid before he slowly began to speak.
---
*
"Tell me again, why you need my help for this?"
Gabriel looked at his fellow hunter and sighed at the short, cold smile
on the other man's face. Richard Sharpe wasn't someone who gave up information
easily, but then again he wasn't the kind of person who would call for help and
yet he had done it. And so Gabriel had come to
"I got a call from a chosen one claiming that there is a rogue
around working with the Falange pointing out rebels and others that deserve to
die in the eyes of this government."
The spite in Sharpe's voice took Gabriel by surprise, but when the
younger Vampire continued to talk the older hunter realized that there was a
darker reason behind it all.
"He's kindly pointed out several men and women that are working
with the democratic movement, pointed out several gays and even brought some
kids that made jokes about Franco to their attention."
It was the last that got Gabriel's attention like nothing else and he
looked up sharply.
"Kids?"
"Yeah, kids, ten, twelve year old boys that played out in the
street calling each other funny names, sitting together on benches and joking
about the military and Franco... He pointed them out to the guards and they
haven't been seen since."
Sharpe's eyes glowed green in the darkness as he stared down at the
medium sized village, hate boiling in him as he remembered what the soldier
he'd talked with had told him.
"I've talked to one of the guards, they said that he was a kind of
a freelancer, not really working for the government, but he's close to some of
the top dogs in there. Apparently he doesn't want payment, all he asked for
were the kids..."
The last words seemed to echo in the night and Gabriel felt his body
change involuntary as the man retreated and the vampire surface.
"He asked for the kids and they gave them over just like
this?"
Sharpe's smile was bitter as he answered.
"Well the guard told me, that he wouldn't have cared if it had been
the gays or the rebels that the other demanded, but he didn't have a good
feeling about the kids."
With a muttered curse, Gabriel threw a stone he held down at the ground.
He was a hunter, had been for a long time and still he sometimes felt sick when
he heard about what some of their community did. But he still didn't understand
what the other hunter needed him for.
"So you found everything, what do you need me for?"
Sharpe looked over and then grinned as he shook his head.
“I got as far as I could, but hey, let’s face it, I’m a blond, blue-eyed
English and I stick out in a crowd as if I were wearing pink.”
Gabriel shivered at the mental image that produced and waited for Sharpe
to continue.
“You on the other hand speak Spanish, you’ve got the right look and most
of all you got the connections that you need to get the bastard.”
He knew what the younger hunter meant and still hated the fact that the
rogue who was using and most likely killing kids hid under the cloth of the
church. Suddenly he felt weary and tired and more than ever... lonely.
“He’s a member of the church.”
Sharpe's smile was hard as steel as he shook his head and then met Gabriel
with his clear green eyes.
“He is hiding under the cloth of a holy man, but that isn’t the reason I
need you.”
Gabriel could see that Sharpe was steeling himself for what he had to
say next and something close to fear crept up his spine.
“He’s one of your children”
He didn’t ask which, he didn’t have to, some part of his brain told him
that he should have known the day he had turned the other man and yet it still
hurt, still pained him that he would have to hunt one of his own. But it was
what he was, what they were.
“Let’s hunt then”
----
*
There was a tense silence in the room until Blade got up and got some
drinks. Coming back he slouched on the couch next to the older hunter and
shaking his head he started to speak.
“Gabe, it’s one thing I still don’t understand, man, why are you still
working for this bloody church. I mean for heaven’s sake, all the crimes...”
Blade trailed off when Danny sent him a sharp look, but Gabriel wasn’t
angry, he understood Blade’s question, could see where he came from and yet.
“There have been many wars fought in the name of the church and a lot of
people have died because they didn’t fit the beliefs. But you know, I remember
the church as it was before it became a world power. I remember the catacombs
because that’s where we had to hide, when they came to hunt us... It’s that
church that I believe in, that faith that made us face death without weapon...”
Gabriel smiled suddenly when he saw Danny’s eyes on him, the younger
man’s jaw was slack and he stared at Gabriel as if he was some divine creature,
then he suddenly chuckled.
“You certainly look good for your age”
Blade choked on his beer, but he turned serious again and looked at his
older friend.
“I’ve never met Sharpe, what kind of a guy is he?”
Gabriel had a vision of blond hair, blue eyes and an irresistible smile
and without realizing it he smiled too as he thought of his friend.
“He’s a wonderful friend, a terrible enemy and I sometimes think that if
you were to look up the word ‘rascal’ in your dictionary, you’d probably find a
picture of Sharpe.”
There was a strong emotion in his voice and Danny immediately caught it,
eager he sat up and didn’t see the warning look or the fast movement Blade made
before the words were out of his mouth.
“He your mate?”
The innocent words were not supposed to hurt so much, Gabriel thought
quietly and yet they did, even now after all this time, it hurt, hurt to have
lost him, hurt to be alone. He had lost his mate long ago and never encountered
the lost lover in any centuries since.
“No, just a friend.”
---
*
Gabriel watched the pale skin of the man in his arms... vampire in his
arms, he corrected himself smiling lightly. Rich had been right, even now in
the faint light of the one candle lighting the room, he seemed to glow the pale
skin, the golden hair...
Richard Sharpe was a golden creature in the shadows of the candle and as
Gabriel’s hands caressed the smooth skin, he snuggled closer with a sigh making
the older hunter smile before he leaned in and kissed his friend awake.
“It’s time”
Soft spoken words, soft caresses, but Rich was immediately awake,
Gabriel knew that the other man had been a soldier all his life and it showed,
there was an inborn alertness to him that only those that were raised in war times
had. Soothing the sudden tension in the lean body, he kept the light touches up
and waited until Sharpe had adjusted to his surroundings.
The tension eased but didn’t completely leave the other vampire as they
both dressed silently, grabbed their swords and walked towards the small
church.
The old walls loomed against the dark sky, the black stones were
foreboding and unfriendly, the windows covered by wood, a heavy chain around
the entrance, Gabriel sighed silently as he stood in front of what was supposed
to be an open house to worship God.
“It’s a long way from the underground praying halls in
He felt Sharpe’s eyes on him when he said it and for a moment a strong
hand gripped his shoulder in a gesture of silent support.
“You don’t have to be here. I have Arthur’s order and sign, it is my job
anyway.”
For a moment Gabriel felt tempted to accept, to take the easy way out,
but then he shook his head.
“You know that I have to be here, it is my responsibility...”
It was then when he heard it, low and almost inaudible, but it was there
and from the change in Rich’s grip the other hunter heard it too.
“Heartbeats”
Slow, weak, dying...
Neither of them paid anymore attention to their surroundings as they
walked towards the doors and within seconds Sharpe had the chain cut. The doors
opened and the stench of blood almost overwhelmed the two vampires. It was
completely dark inside and just as they entered the main hall, they both heard
it.
Silence
Complete and deadly silence
“Fuck”
The curse resounded through the hall like an evil echo, but Gabriel felt
compelled to agree. The heartbeats had stopped.
They had come too late for the kids.
Cold settled around him and Gabriel called it towards him, called the
cold, the calculated hate and let himself be enveloped in. The world around him
slowed down, from the corner of his eyes he saw Sharpe prepare for battle too,
then, knowing that the other man would be fine without him, he tuned him out
and let his senses guide him.
A small draft to his left alerted him and he brought his blade up in an
inverted position to catch the blow that was descending onto the left side of
his neck. He could feel the jarring impact all the way up to his shoulders, but
he didn’t stumble or move, he was rooted by the ice he had himself surrounded
with, by the hate that had grown when those hearts had stopped.
With a strong push, he made the other vampire stumble, and almost
simultaneously, he swung up with his left arm, catching his opponent in a
numbing back handed blow to the inside of his outstretched forearm, knowing the
arm and the weapon aside. The shuffling of feet alerted him and he launched his
riposte, bringing the blade to horizontal and slashing left to right across the
throat adding power to the cut by lunging forward on his right leg.
The clash of two steel swords rang through the church as little sparks
flew from the impact. Blow after blow the blades met, clashed and tested each
other, just as their owners tested themselves.
With each blow, Gabriel drove the other vampire further back into a
corner until he had the dark haired man pressed against the wall. Too close to
use his sword to cut, the rogue did the only thing left to him. He punched out
a thrust from his hips, the point directed to Gabriel’s tights.
Gabriel had already anticipated this attack and dealt with it summarily,
pivoting to the left, he smaled the plade aside, then pivoting back and pulling
his elbow into his right hip, he arced the sword down onto his opponent’s head.
Holding the blade against the other vampire’s neck, he stood still and finally
looked at the man he had hunted for two months now.
A long thin pointed nose, a wide mouth with thin bloodless lips
partially hidden by a thick black moustache, the vampire was unnaturally pale
and had green eyes which seemed to glow in the darkness as he snarled at
Gabriel.
“What do you want here? This is my territory!”
Gabriel just stared at the rogue, then finally stepped completely into
his ’son’s’ view. He saw how the cockiness disappeared, saw how fear took over
as the realization settled that this wasn’t about territory or power.
“You broke our laws”
He spoke softly now, his voice so calm it was almost gentle, but the
dark eyes glowed in the darkness with strength and power that belied the
gentleness.
“The council has tried and convicted you.”
Sharpe’s voice was just as calm and just as cold as he slowly reached
into his coat and removed a golden dagger, which Arthur had given to him.
“By the rule of Camelot and the high council, I was given the right to
bring justice for those that have suffered through a vampire who breaks the
sacred laws. You have broken not only one, but several of those laws and you
know the punishment for it.”
The rogue’s head moved sharply over to Gabriel, his eyes full with hate
now.
“You call yourself one of the good one’s, but do nothing while your own
child is killed? Go down to the morgue father; see the presents I’ve prepared
for you... I became what you made me, I became a monster because of you”
The words hit him hard, but the mask never slipped and Gabriel just
moved aside as Sharpe walked closer. He kept his sword at his child’s throat
and watched emotionless as the younger hunter pushed the dagger deep inside the
killer’s heart before he lifted his own sword and took the vampire’s head.
A small sound and a pile of dust remained as they walked away.
---
*
Gabriel stood at the window and looked over the city lights. It was late
at night, but
But he had asked for a story and Gabriel had told him one.
Slowly he moved the glass door and stepped outside savouring the fresh
air. If he looked close enough, he could see the silhouette of Lady Liberty,
could see the lights of the large boats in the river. If he looked close
enough, he could see his face in the darkness of the sky and in the
constellation of the stars.
A quiet presence next to him brought Gabriel back to the terrace and he
looked at Danny, who in turn looked at him.
“I didn’t want to wake bad memories.”
He was so young, Gabriel suddenly thought, so young and so unjaded.
Sometimes, Gabriel wondered if he had ever been like this. But Danny was more
than that, there was a strength in him that belied his age and the hand he
placed on Gabriel’s shoulder gave more comfort than such a simple gesture
should. Gabriel looked into the eyes of the young man and smiled as he saw a
deep understanding there.
“You still feel responsible for what happened back then, don’t you?”
Not really looking at Danny he nodded, wondering silently where this would
be heading.
“You had turned him without your consent”
Danny’s voice was matter of fact, calm, but the words he spoke shook
Gabriel to the core.
How could he know? How could this kid see, what not even Sharpe had seen
back then fifty years ago?
---
*
Going through the ‘prison’ the rogue had built in the church was
something Gabriel could have done without and the paleness in Sharpe’s face
told him that the younger hunter felt the same.
They didn’t find anyone alive and tears burned in his eyes as he closed
the eyes of yet another boy. Silently he prayed for forgiveness, prayed to the
souls of those children that they would find it in him to forgive him.
He was responsible for this, he had created the monster that had killed
them.
Sharpe’s hand was strong on his back as his friend as he guided him
outside. The green eyes held deep compassion and understanding in them.
“It wasn’t your fault Gabe, we all chose our destiny”
But Rich had been wrong, some didn’t chose and that made Gabriel responsible.
----
*
“You had lost your mate, hadn’t you?”
Once again shocked at the insight, he couldn’t say anything and just
nodded. Danny’s hand moved from his shoulder to his back, a soft, soothing
caress, something a parent would do to calm a child and somehow this tender
gesture broke something inside Gabriel.
“I never bonded with him, he was killed before I got the chance. I went
over the brink, nothing held me back, no one dared to come close. He was the
son of the man responsible for my lover’s death.”
Danny didn’t speak, didn’t say anything, just remained where he was
silently, comfortingly.
“When I realized what I had done, I went to Nick and asked for a trial,
I gave him my sword and asked him to kill me, but he refused. He told me that
instead of taking the easy way out, I’d better stay alive and become again what
I had once been before I lost everything.”
For a moment there was silence between the two men, then Danny
hesitantly spoke.
“Being turned without consent it terrible, but even then there are
choices. I chose this way, your child chose the wrong way, it wasn’t your
responsibility.”
Seeing Gabriel’s look, Danny tried a different tactic.
“So what you are saying is, that every good deed I will be doing in the
next 2000 years, will be thanks to Sonny Sassone?”
Gabriel shook his head in shock.
“No, of course not. It will be thanks to you, because of who you are...”
He trailed off as he realized how Danny had tricked him and with smile
he patted the younger vampire on his back.
“Thanks Danny, thanks for listening and for understanding.”
No man slept much that night, but they spent it in a quiet silence that
soothed their souls and strengthened their friendship. They didn’t speak of
When Gabriel left next morning, he hugged both of them and smiled as he
teased Danny about Mac. The young man’s last words made his smile disappear
though.
“You will find him again.”
Looking at the young vampire, Gabriel smiled sadly and ruffled his hair
a bit.
“I have waited too long, souls aren’t immortal, they can die.”
Shaking his head, he got into the waiting cab and drove away.
Watching after his friend, Danny turned around and looked at Blade.
“Do you think he’s right?”
Blade shrugged, his eyes following the yellow cab.
“I hope not, he above all deserves to be happy.”
And Danny thought back to the previous night, the sadness in the dark
eyes when Gabriel had promised him the story.
‘just don’t expect a fairytale’
Following his teacher back in the house, Danny shivered at the almost
tangible pain he had seen in the other man.
“Yes, he does. He surely does.”
The End
Historical notes:
The catholic church was deeply
involved with the France regime and helped the dictator getting legitimation
from the western world by approving his 'strong hand against communism'. 1955
was the year when
Franco died 1975, King Juan
Carlos followed as his successor according to Franco's will. Despite having
been raised and educated by Franco, Juan Carlos brought democracy to
In the 2004 elections Jose
Luis Rodriguez Zapatero was elected prime minister of
Ok, I shut up :-).