In a Different Light 11
Tal and Thorn
Instant Infamy
�And where the fuck have the two of you been?� Claire demanded, standing up from where he�d been sitting on the top stair of the clinic�s tiny porch. He glared at Dice and Giovanni with the same annoyed, expectant expression. �I�ve been listening to that old bastard lecture me for the last hour while you two fucked around.�
�Sorry, Vampire,� Giovanni muttered. �Can we go now?�
�No,� the doctor, alerted to their return by Claire�s raised voice, appeared in the doorway. �These two say that you two are responsible for this little brat�s well-being.� He jerked his thumb at Claire, who leaned against the wall and looked like it was taking all his self control not to stick out his tongue.
�Well, if I am responsible. I don�t claim responsibility for anything before today. So go ahead and lecture him.� Dice used his thumb to point to Giovanni and moved closer to Claire. �Hey, you doing better than before? We could go get something to eat maybe?�
Claire half grinned at Dice. �Another date already? Most people would have run screaming into the night after that horrendous first date.�
Dice couldn�t help risking a whispered, �Yeah but when the sex is that good��
Claire�s grin widened. �It wasn�t that good. I was on my deathbed, you know.�
Dice hooked an arm around Claire�s. �Then I�d be crazy not to wait and see what you can do at top performance.�
�I�m not a fucking motorcycle,� Claire replied, pulling Dice close for a kiss.
Before he could get to the kiss, a rough hand seized Dice�s collar and drug him away from Claire. �Let�s go, Romeo. You need to hear this too.� The doctor drug him into the clinic while Claire laughed at the expression on Dice�s face.
�I�ll be shopping with Mitchal and Ian when he�s done with you,� Claire called out, motioning for the other two to follow him.
�But I wanted to have lunch with you.� Daisuke protested trying to get away from the insistent doctor.
�How about we reschedule for breakfast?� Claire replied, eyes sparkling wickedly.
Mitchal nudged Ian. �Isn�t he forgetting dinner?�
Ian looked at Mitchal, trying not to smile. �You�ve forgotten about dinner a few times too.�
�Oh,� Mitchal said really loudly. �Master Claire you are in no shape to skip dinner with Daisuke!�
�Let me decide that, Mitchal.� Claire patted Mitchal�s cheek, grinning mischievously. �Now come on. I�m famished and if I�m going to skip dinner, I need to fill up now.�
Mitchal put an arm around Ian. �He never listens. Glad I never have that problem with you.�
Ian ducked away from Mitchal, using an interest in a display of electronic parts to hide his embarrassment. �Look, red wires.� He muttered, hoping neither of the men he was walking with saw his blush.
Mitchal just chuckled a started playing with his lucky dice.
�Good god, save it for your off time, you two.� Claire called back to them. He�d somehow gotten some distance ahead of them. �I swear I�ll leave you behind if you can�t keep up.�
Mitchal gabbed Ian and they quickly covered most of the distance to Claire. �Hey boss you�re headed to the market. You gonna buy a present for�� Mitchal was cut off by a hail of gun fire on top of one of the surrounding buildings.
�Fuck!� Ian lunged to grab Claire, but the Vampire was already halfway to the cover provided by a huge lump of unidentifiable metal. Ian spun around, grabbing Mitchal�s wrist and pulling him to where Claire was heading.
Claire scrambled under the arch of the metal thing and shimmied to the back, making room for Ian and Mitchal who were just behind him.
Mitchal drew his gun and call out as he leaned against the metal sculpture. �Hey, the boss doesn�t need any more holes in his body. I don�t know what you think you�re doing but this is not part of the plan. Master Claire just wants a sandwich.�
�Give me that,� Claire snatched Ian�s semi-automatic from his hand. Popping out the clip and seeing that it was full, Claire crouched just inside the hole they�d crawled into. He looked ready to run out into the now empty street.
�Master Claire, I hope you don�t think you�re going to go back out there.� Ian reached for the gun, but drew his hand back at the look Claire gave him.
�It�s not me that he�s after right now.� Claire replied, settling his finger on the trigger. �It�s Daisuke who�s in danger.�
�Um, I don�t remember that part of the plan,� Ian mumbled.
A rain of gunfire came from three different directions. In effect cutting off their way out.
�Boss, how can one guy who is admittedly a good shot, shoot from three different places?�
�I don�t know, Mitchal. Maybe he has friends.� Claire leaned down, trying to pinpoint where the shooter actually was. �Ian, have you got my cell phone working?�
Ian nodded. �Mostly.�
�Call Giovanni. Have him get Daisuke out of there.�
The doctor pushed the battered coffee pot at the two men. �Here.� He sat down, opening the file folder on the table between himself and where Giovanni and Dice sat. �I take it neither one of you knows very much about that Claire kid.�
Daisuke just looked at his feet expecting Giovanni to give the doc an earful. �I don�t,� he said quietly.
Giovanni looked a little embarrassed. �I only know what his father told me, unless you want personal details that I don�t think relate to his health.�
�And what did his father tell you, exactly?� the doctor asked, shifting through a pile of long narrow printouts.
�He found Claire sleeping in the flowerpot outside his mansion when he was just a baby. His wife wasn�t able to have kids, or wouldn�t have his anyway,� Giovanni added, his tone giving away the utter disgust he felt for the late Vampire. �He took the baby in and fixed it so that when his biggest rival turned up dead a few weeks later, he told everyone that he�d been hiding his son out of fear that he�d be killed. Seeing as Claire�s father was a big time mob boss, no one thought to question his story. And this goes no farther than here,� he turned to Dice, looking threatening.
Dice set down his coffee mug. �Oh my god, does Claire know? Or does he think he�s his really Vampire�s son?�
�If Claire knew any differently, he wouldn�t be Vampire. I only know because I confronted the old bastard about�� Giovanni stopped and looked away from Dice. �About some stuff that happened not too long after I came to live with them.�
�Are you saying Claire became Vampire to please his father? Would he rather be doing something else? It�s hard to picture him as anything else.� Daisuke realized just how little he understood about the man he thought he was in love with.
�Master Claire was made to be Vampire. He��
�Okay, that�s enough.� The doctor waved some of the papers between the two men. �Do you want to help him now or not?�
�Yeah, absolutely.� Dice held up a hand. �But, just one thing. That thing you were trying to tell me before, Giovanni. Is that it, is he trying to fake his own death so he can stop. Did he hire the sniper to put him out at least in the minds of all the criminals in Judoh? Is he trying to escape the mob?�
Giovanni laughed. �No way. The mob should try to escape him. He loves it. But you�re right about the sniper. Master Claire hired him to clean things up and then decided to use that to accomplish something else that had been making him crazy.� Giovanni looked away from Dice again. �He was using the sniper as a way to get your attention.�
The coffee cup slipped out of Dice�s hand and threatened to drown all of the files sitting on the table. Dice pulled his hand back. �He did what?!� He leaned back in the couch staring at the ceiling. �Crazy fuck could have got himself killed.�
�That�s not something that occurs to Claire often,� Giovanni leaned over and tried to help the doctor clear the papers away from Dice�s spilt coffee. �Actually, he wasn�t even shot until we�d contacted the Safety Department and knew that you�d take the job. The shooting at the casino was one of Claire�s crazy binges gone just a little too far. He decided to use it to his advantage.�
�No wonder you hate me. J, go make sure no one shoots Claire today, ok?� Dice moved to look closer at the papers. �I trust you�ve called them off already, Giovanni. I�m sending him merely for my own piece of mind.�
Giovanni sighed. �Master Claire is the only one who actually knows who he hired. He didn�t want any of us to be able to stop him.� Giovanni replied as J left the clinic. �Unfortunately for us, Claire�s a god damned genius.�
�And crazy to boot,� the doctor added in, frowning at the report he was holding. �And it�s no wonder. You should never let someone who�s at least a half-blooded Celestial get into that many different drugs. It could kill him.�
�Claire�s what?� Giovanni looked at the doctor, disbelief on his usually emotionless face.
Daisuke was surprised for a minute but then he felt more like he should have recognized it from the beginning. �Wait, Claire�s a half blood and doesn�t know to take Gebru root to fight off the effect of simple drugs AND he takes hardcore drugs. How is he still alive? How is he not crazy? Well, okay, not crazy enough that he has to be locked away. Well, not crazy enough to blow himself up and take us all with him. Never mind that last part. He needs to stop. I know that much.�
The doctor handed Daisuke a long slip of paper. �He needs to stop and pray that none of this has done permanent harm. This is a list of what I found traces of in his system. Looks like he�s done damn near everything.�
�And then some.� Dice had to stare hard at some of the things on the list. �He�s going to need rehab of the worst kind if he can�t give this up. Good luck on that. I�ll help any way I can. That or he needs a more healthy addiction.� Daisuke handed Giovanni the paper. �Where does he get some of this stuff? That one,� he pointed to a name, �They supposedly stopped production of twenty years ago.�
Giovanni didn�t even glance at the list. �He�s Vampire and before that he was the Vampire�s son. There isn�t anything he can�t get his hands on if he really wants it.�
A huge explosion outside rocked the clinic.
Daisuke stood up quickly. �J?� He moved to see what was out there.
From out of the cloud of settling dust and debris about a dozen tiny balls flew into the door of the clinic. They hit the walls and floor and exploded, releasing a powerful sleeping gas. Giovanni drew his gun and started firing at the vague shapes he could see moving around just outside the clinic doors. He started to get dizzy. His eyes burned and were barely able to stay open. He dropped to one knee and kept trying to shoot at who ever was out there. His gun fell from his hand and he toppled over. In the fog that swallowed him, he thought he heard the ringing of his cell phone.
�You got it working?� Mitchal asked a very concerned looking Ian.
�Hello,� an unfamiliar voice answered Giovanni�s phone.
�Who is this?� Ian demanded, watching Claire, who seemed determined to find a way out.
�Who else? So�s how about you find out from your boss the dosage we need to give Blondie. I was thinking we might need something a little more hardcore than what he suggested as Blondie is kicking the shit out of my guys as we speak. He is apparently immune to sleeping gas.�
�Fuck, they�ve got Giovanni and Daisuke,� Ian said to Claire.
Claire grabbed the phone out of Ian�s hand. �Tony, is that you, you worthless fucker?�
�Hey there, Mr. Leonelli. Just trying to earn a good day�s pay.� Tony yelled out direction to the guys trying to get a grip on Dice. �You guys are hopeless. I gotta do everything myself.� He grabbed Giovanni by the hair. �Throw me a knife.�
�Tony, I swear to God, when I get there, they had both better be intact and unmolested. If not, not only will I repo your fee I�ll shove a grenade into every orifice on your pudgy little body!!�
�So�s here the deal, Mr. Aurora, you stop fighting and I won�t slit his throat.� Tony was holding the cell by leaning it between his ear and shoulder while he exposed Giovanni�s neck and pressed the blade against it. �How do you think Vampire will react if you let me kill his number one?�
�Giovanni!� Claire screamed into the phone. �Tony, are you listening to me?� Claire threw the phone to Ian and bolted out from under the metal lump, gun firing haphazardly at the roof tops as he ran towards the clinic.
�Damn, he�s moving fast today,� Ian muttered, drawing his back up gun and taking off after Claire.
�And why did the shooting stop?� Mitchal asked in running. He tried to see if there was someone ready for a sneak attack.
Bright light and sound exploded around Claire.
�Fuck,� Claire jumped back, but there was no going backwards even. He shielded his eyes with one hand and raised the other to start shooting. He remembered that Ian and Mitchal had followed and didn�t want to hit them accidentally. Lowering the gun, he called out for his bodyguards.
�Master Claire, watch out!� Mitchal jumped and toppled Claire as more gun fire circled them. As Ian approached, the phone rang again. �It�s better to know what we need to do than wonder,� he said to them both. �We can�t get there without them taking you out and I think that�s the idea.�
�Fucker, what now?� Claire demanded of the phone as he answered it.
�Claire is that you? I didn�t let them kill Giovanni. He�s ok.�
�Daisuke, what about you?� he demanded.
�Me, oh I�m okay. These guys aren�t so bad. I feel pretty good right now.�
�What the fuck did they give you?� he was on his feet and moving again, much to the dismay of Ian and Mitchal.
�You probably should roll up the other sleeve.� Dice�s voice seemed to be trying to help the guys he was surrounded by.
�What�s going on, Dice?�
�Yeah that�s a fresh one. Wow this new Black Tab is a lot stronger, you�re right.�
�Fuck,� Claire was running now, his concern for Dice pushing him to a faster pace than either of the men struggling to follow him had ever seen.
�Guess what, they have Bruise. Have you heard of it? It�s new, it�s a hy... a hy�hy-something of Celestial Blue and Black Tab. You�d like it. Ok, well I have to go with my new friends now so I�ll see you later.�
�Dice, no!� Claire yelled into the dead phone. He tried to move faster to get there before they left with Daisuke. His breathing was starting to become painful. He couldn�t keep up this pace much longer. Suddenly, a blast of steam blocked his path. From out of it, J stepped.
�I found you, Mr. Leonelli,� J declared.
�Good for you. Now get out of my way. Daisuke�s in trouble.�
�Daisuke? Where?� J pivoted and fell into pace just behind Claire.
�Back at the clinic,� Claire rounded the corner of the street the clinic was on. He could see the destruction at the end of the street. �Fuck.�
Part Twelve |
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