Where There Is Peace

[praiseofblood]

Rykan groaned. What was that insufferable ringing?

"Yes? What is it Siren?" he asked tiredly, running a hand over his face.

"Akeida says Xero needs you. That fanged bastard made him cry." Siren said, in a tone that said he'd be crossing his arms.

"What?!" Rykan asked, sitting up. He moved from his bed, grabbing his communicator and shoes before racing from the house. It was late, he could tell, and many of Zerca's inhabitants had settled down for the night. Rykan raced towards his brother's abode, a silver blur in the night.

~~~~~~~

Xero was about to drift off to sleep, the physical exhaustion from sex and the emotional stress was weighing on him.

"Xero?!" came the urgent call from his living room as the door slammed open. "Xero, come here!" called a voice.

"Rykan?" he asked sleepily. He sat up, grabbing a pair of pants before shooting a glare to Akeida. The tattling bastard. Akeida smirked smugly before blinking off. Xero walked into the living room, looking at his brother standing in his living room half dressed and frazzled.

"Rykan." he said slowly. Had he run here? For him?

Rykan turned towards his brother, bringing him into his arms and hugging him. "I will kill him." he said angrily.

[clementine]

"Carter? Carter!" Jonas crowed anxiously when his shipmate showed up on screen. The familiarity of the redhead was staggering. "Where the fuck have you been? I crashed on Zerca. Have you got word?"

"None sir. Those vamp bastards made off with the sequence!" Came the reply. Jonas swore loudly. With his research, anyone could build a device that could locate any creature anywhere in the universe using only a strand of dna. However, one part of the sequence was missing and Jonas was the only one who knew it. He was going to be very dead, very soon. "Our ship been blasted through. It'll be days before we can get her fixed. Can you hold tight for that long?"

"No. I can't dodge them forever" Jonas grated. "But I'll have to Carter. Hurry though. I'm in some deep shit here." He debated whether to tell his second in command about the recent incident with Xero, but held off. For now, it was not important. Keeping out of enemy hands was though. His project could destroy people. "Be safe Carter. Jonas out."

Stranded. He was stranded on a foreign planet with an angry Zercan mate probably out for his blood. Moaning at his predicament, he slouched against the nearest wall only to be brought to attention by an all to familiar voice. "Found you." Chronos hissed, baring his fangs. He, along with too other vampires advance on the virtually defenseless mechanic. Jonas wondered if he could break a spine with his bare hands. Well...he was about to find out.

[praiseofblood]

"What?" Xero asked. "What did Akeida and Siren tell you?"

Rykan growled low in his throat. "Only that the bastard had made you cry...why does it smell like--" Rykan stopped, his blind eyes turned to his brother. "You didn't," he said.

"I did. And I marked him Ry! I don't know why, but he just felt right, you know? Like he was made for me and for me alone. I couldn't help it. When I told him we were mated, he blew up and screamed at me. He told me he didn't love me and that he basically wanted nothing to do with me..." Xero was sobbing now. "It hurts, Ry. It hurts like nothing has ever hurt me before, you know? Like someone just ripped out my heart and left me bleeding."

Rykan gathered his brother into his arms, kissing the boy's head affectionately.

"Don't worry, brother. It will be fine. Your mate can not deny his bond either, he will return. I suppose that you are now with child?" he asked. Rykan knew all about the mating rituals, though he had not yet found his own mate.

"Yes. I was the reciever..." Xero said, a blush staining his cheeks.

Rykan sighed, simply holding his brother. He was happy, and yet saddened for the boy. Xero had had the good fortune to find his match--his one match in the universe--and the prick didn't want him. Rykan was going to kick. His. Ass. No one made his baby brother cry.

Xero stiffened in Rykan's grasp. "Rykan, let me go. Let me go now!" He cried, breaking away from his brother, running towards the door. "He's in trouble." he said before racing from his apartment.

"Xero, wait!" Rykan called, before turning and following his brother's footsteps. He caught the lift just in time.

"I'm coming with you," Rykan said stonily, leaving no room for argument. "I want to talk with him, face to face." Xero paid his brother no mind, his only concern was protecting his mate.

Once the brothers were out of the hotel on on the pavement they transformed and were off in a cloud of white fur, racing towards Jonas at top speed.

[clementine]

Three on one couldn't be considered a fair fight in any universe. Jonas held up enough though. Apparently his vampire brethren hadn't gotten enough of a taste from his fists earlier. He moved with a focused prowess, parrying off his attackers swords with a piece of rusted pipe he had snatched from the ground. Distantly he felt Xero's pain as his own, his attention wavering for only a second.

It was what the vampires had been waiting for. The two lackeys crowded in on him while Chronos held back, grinning feraly in the dark. Jonas' only defense was knocked from his hands, clattering to the ground as his body followed a moment later. The vampires weren't trying to kill him. They needed the information he had locked away in his brain. However, that didn't stop them from beating the shit out of him.

"I tire of this game halfbreed." Chronos snarled into Jonas' face as the mechanic was now held against a brick wall by two strong bodies. "Give me the code and maybe I won't kill you."

"Go to hell!" Jonas rasped, spitting the blood pooling in his mouth into Chronos' face.

The vampire had a look of sheer hatred pass his features as he backhanded the halfbreed, splitting his alreafy bloody lips. "Tell me damn you!"

"Fuck. You." He'd die before giving up the code, having no idea that his mate was rushing to his aide.

[praiseofblood]

Two murderous roars filled the night air as suddenly one of the vampires holding Jonas disappeared. A swift flash of white and a swing of paw removed Chronos from Jonas' sight.

Another roar was heard and suddenly there was a scream. The third vampire didn't know what was going on, until a flash of white whizzed by and his head was removed from his body.

Jonas' eyes locked onto the mysterious figures. Two large white tigers stood before him, and man, were they pissed. The smaller one's eyes were a deadly, cold amethyst, and it stared at Jonas a moment before roaring in displeasure. It turned around to where Chronos was on the ground, and pounced on him, rending and tearing with murderous claws. His weight pinned the vampire down as it clawed at the vampires face, roaring in delight with each drop of blood.

The other tiger moved like lightening, pushing the smaller tiger off of the vamp. A silent communication seemed to pass between them before the smaller tiger stood down.

The large white tiger turned it's head towards the body on the ground. It was alive, it seemed, but not for long. Rykan looked back to where he smelt Jonas' blood. What were they to do with this sad excuse for a vampire?

[clementine]

Jonas was dropped to the ground before his brain could even fathom what was going on. The roars of the two tigers causing animalistic fear to shoot through him, making him shudder. He watched on in horrified fascination as the heads of his two attackers hit the ground in a sickening thump. The smell of blood was making him nauseous, making him want to retch. What vampire, even a half one, didn't like the sight of blood?

A small shout of satisfaction echoed through him at the sight of Chronos pinned, squirming like the worm he was. The vampire bit and scratched at the tiger above him, but to no avail. "Kill me then!" He screamed. Comrades dead, mission failed, he might as well die. "Mark me halfbreed, there will be others. Horde shall devour you!" His laughed echoed maniacally into the night, blood racing down his face in rivulets.

Jonas was pale with terror when it seemed that the large cat all but turned to glare at him, Chronos' threats not effecting him as much as that feline gaze. Something deep inside him was telling him to run, far and fast. He scrambled up, only to hit the pavement with a yelp when his leg gave out beneath him. He was dead. So very, very dead. Heart hammering madly in his chest, Jonas jammed his eyes shut, not wanting to see Rykan make the killing blow. Mate or no, he had a feeling that Xero's brother would be on him next.

[praiseofblood]

Rykan growled and snapped his paw. Chronos' head was severed from his shoulder.

Xero gave a small grumble as he saw Jonas' leg give out, and raced over. Rykan padded over as well, sitting back on his haunches and growling like rolling thunder at the halfling on the ground. Stupid idiot, leaving his mate unattended and almost getting himself killed. Didn't he know that there would be no Xero without Jonas?

Xero nudged his mate with his muzzle. Hesitantly licking the side of his face and letting out a low rumble. Was his mate alright? Xero wanted to kill the bastards all over again, for hurting his other half.

He shifted, and leaned over Jonas, naked as the day he was born. His hands softly went through his hair, searching for any signs that he might've hit his head. He continued to look Jonas over with feather-like touches, finding the more serious injuries.

Don't mistake him, Xero was still flaming angry--but concern for his mate outweighed the trouble they were having at home. "...Jonas? I know you're concious. Open your eyes." he said stiffly, trying not to let any emotion seep into his voice. He knew he was probably going to get yelled at, and that Jonas was going to take off again--but he couldn't help himself, he loved the jerk. So he would keep protecting him, even if he wasn't wanted.

[clementine]

Jonas may not have seen Chronos beheaded, but he heard it. The snap of spine was deafening in the silence of the night. The only time he wanted to hear that noise was in a nice, sterile lab. Even with his attackers all dead, he still kept his eyes shut, feeling little peace about the deaths. There'd be more. There always was.

As he was wallowing in the horrors his own project had caused, his skin registered touch...a large, wet tongue. He didn't whimper, but he sure as hell wanted to. Fully expecting some kind of blow at any second, he tensed, only to be startled to suddenly feel gentle hands probing across his body.

Cracking open an eye, he stared up into Xero. Something inside him throbbed, making his body ache, and it was no exterior wound. Without a word he reached his arms around Xero's body, hugging him close and hiding his face in the boy's neck with a soft sigh. "Do I get more sympathy being unconscious?" His voice cracked. The pain in his heart had finally ebbed, though he still fully hadn't accepted thee bond.

[praiseofblood]

"Not exactly," came Rykan's voice behind them. He had heard the emotion in the man's voice, and knew, even if Jonas didn't, that he (Jonas) needed Xero.

Xero turned to glare at Rykan. "Shut up." he shot back to his older brother.

Rykan snorted. "Then what? Doesn't he know that if he gets hurt it'll hurt you as well? Don't you know that?" Rykan glared.

Xero blinked, confused. "What?" he asked.

"When a person's mate, his literal other half is harmed, or killed--It takes a detrimental toll on the other. The remaining mate will waste away until death claims them as well. There can not be a you, without him." Rykan explained. He was entirely pissed off now.

Xero was floored. As he mulled that over, something came to mind. "Then what will that do to the baby?" he wondered, before clamping a hand over his mouth. Shit. He wasn't supposed to say that.

Rykan smacked his forehead, turning his blind gaze heavenward. "Good gods, nothing good can come of this." he said quietly.

[clementine]

"What?" Confusion filled Jonas' expressive brown eyes. "What! That is the most fucked up thing I have ever heard in my entire life! Why does Xero have to get the shit end of my beatings?" He struggled to sit up more, wincing as he pressed a hand to his side as if adding pressure would somehow dull the bloody ache. He knew nothing of Zercan culture or mating. Vampire mates blooded each other. They shared emotions, yes, but not each others physical pain. Was every matebond slightly different then?

His heading was spinning with all the new information and too many knocks to the head. "Of course you're pregnant. How typical." He muttered, voice rising to an anguished height as he grew furious with himself for letting this happen and with Xero who had started it. "As if things couldn't get any worse. In the span of twenty-four hours I've been beaten, maimed, slammed into a foreign planet, and had my life's work stolen by a group of blood thirsty freaks bent on universal domination. I don't have time for this! God!"

He didn't usually have the "why me" complex going on, tending to be an optimist, but things were just starting catch up to him. Physically and emotionally drained, his body was nothing but a pent up ball of tension filled knots of worry. Jonas fell forward against Xero's shoulder again like a child, knowing he was being selfish but not caring as he cuddled unconsciously against the boy that was apparently his mate. He didn't need pity, only wanting every bad thing to leave him the hell alone.

[praiseofblood]

"Bit of a drama queen, isn't he?" Rykan sighed. "Good luck with him. Do you want to take him to a hospital? I think it'll be best for you both to go. You need stress medication and he needs rest and a Medi box." Rykan said, crinkling his nose. "His blood is starting to make me dizzy."

Rykan transformed, only mildly growling when Xero (surprisingly) hefted his mate onto his brother's back. Xero got on as well, holding onto the stressed out older man, willing himself to be calm as he stroaked Jonas' head and hummed softly. Xero admitted to himself that this was probably the worst possible time to have sprung this on Jonas. but he couldn't help it. Destiny was destiny, and if anything tried to hurt his mate, he'd be ready for them.

The young warrior looked down at his precious mate, sighing as he continued to hum. The man was acting more like a kid than he was, the prick. But Xero understood, and stayed silent as Rykan began a quick trot to the nearest hospital.

[clementine]

"Fuck. You." Jonas snapped at Rykan. He grunted in surprised when Xero picked him up, not expecting the kid to be so strong. Damn Zercan's and their mighty man abilities. He was only strong cause he worked hard, having hit the weights every day when things hadn't become to hectic.

Needless to say, Jonas clung to Xero like a life line, the humming mildly soothing his frazzled nerves. Admittedly, the Zercan hadn't caught him at his best. Jonas was a pretty fun guy to be around when he wasn't surrounded on all sides, backed into a corner.

"Sorry." He whispered to Xero, meaning everything as he pressed his face into sweet smelling hair. Jonas pretty much passed out after that, only staying on Rykan's back because of Xero's strong arms. Thankfully, the trip to the hospital was quick, offering everyone a place for a well needed time out.

[praiseofblood]

Xero sighed as they entered the hospital. Rykan transformed and helped Xero haul Jonas inside. They recieved odd glances for their nakedness, yet the doctors and nurses here knew the Hakurion brothers well. They had sent many a young Zercan here during their childhood training days.

The nurse greeted them. He was a lithe young Jaguar, who eyed Rykan's form hungrily. His eyes fell onto the wounded man at his side and he gasped.

"Here, let's get him in a wheelchair and into the next available Medibox!" He said, turning away from the desk and pulling out a mechanized wheechair. The A.I controlling the chair rolled up behind Jonas, and Xero and Rykan lowered him downwards with care.

"We'll take good care of him. What's his name?" asked the boy; his name tag read 'Sid'ka.'

"His name is Jonas. He's my mate and he's just been ambushed. His majorly injured in the side, leg and he has a concussion." Xero said quickly.

"Your mate?" asked Sid'ka. "Aren't you a little young, sweet lips?" he asked, leaning over the counter and eying the boy like candy.

"No, can you just page Dr. Kirle, he's a friend of ours. He knows us, he'll know what to do about all this." Xero said, ignoring the boy's come ons.

"Sure, but I'd like to get to know you as well. What's your A.I'?" Sid'ka smirked sultrily, typing in some keys on his computer. The P-A went off, calling for doctor Kirle.

Xero's eyes narrowed. He was loosing his patience. Very calmly, he fixed his amethyst eyes on the boy. "Listen--either get my mate into a fucking Medi box or you are going to be in dire need of one. I am too pissed off and way too fucking tired to be hit on by some slutty nurse, alright?" he said calmly. "Now don't say another word to me unless it's about my mate, or I will seriously go the fuck off." he said sharply, before folding his arms and ignoring the quivering boy.

[clementine]

Needless to say, Jonas was shunted towards the next available Medibox without any further lewd comments from the terrified nurse. The halfbreed was wheeled away, a nameless doctor at his heels to make sure that Jonas was settled comfortably into a Medibox and properly monitored.

"We'll be in room three oh six." The doctor tossed over his shoulder at Xero as he passed by. "Please allow a moment for me to settle him." Head injuries were not something to be taken lightly and the doctor began to take extra brain scans just to be sure of things before Dr. Kirle could arrive.

Meanwhile, Dr. Kirle was practically sprinting from the other side of the hospital at the P. A. call. When it was the Hakurion, there was never trouble far behind.

Out of breath and glasses askew, the blue eyed leopard appeared in front of the brothers. "Goodness you two. It's been a while." He smiled brightly if a bit worriedly, shooing the offending Sid'ka away. He looked both the naked Xero and Rykan up and down. "Well, neither of you seem to be injured, which is a blessing in and of itself...but what's the problem? Are you both okay?"

The man sensed a dark atmosphere hovering over the two and, being the family doctor he was quick to note this. "Oh dear, what has happened?" Never had he seen Xero looking so upset.

[praiseofblood]

"I'm mated, yay..." Xero said, deadpanned.

Dr. Kirle frowned. "You're pregnant?" he asked.

"Yep." Xero nodded.

"Today?" Kirle asked.

"Yep."

"And something happened to your mate already?" Kirle asked again.

"Yep," Xero said again.

"Well, fuck." Kirle frowned. "Yep," Rykan nodded.

"Come. Let's get you to a room." Said the doctor, turning and leading the boy down the hallways.

~~~~~~~

Xero sighed, sitting on a sterile table while a nurse (a different one) checked his pressure and heart rate. He was anxious, worrysome over his mate. It had been two hours already, and there was no word from anyone on his mate's condition. Dr. Kirle had prescribed some pills, after making sure the baby was okay, and that his strange mixture of blood could handle the medication.

"Stop that." The nurse warned. "You haven't been pregnant a day and already you're stressing out the baby. Calm yourself, and take two of these, they will help you sleep." the nurse said, handing Xero two jell-like pills and a cup of water.

Xero eyed the pills warily. "They are fine. You'll be fine, your mate is fine. Just take the damn pills, kid." said the nurse, rolling his eyes.

Xero nodded, taking the boy's advice and swallowing the pills, downing the water. Yawning, he laid down, he soul crying out for Jonas to be by his side. Xero was so very tired. Today had been a long one, and he could only pray that tomorrow would be better.