SIW Adam & Bronwille: Ch 12 : Teaser.

John and Gabriella were pacing anxiously, waiting for Merlin to arrive again. He had dropped off Rupert not long ago, together with an unconscious Ed. They had made sure Rupert was shackled up and had no way of escaping. Merlin eased their mind that Ed wouldn't cause a problem since he was holding him in a deep sleep until they were able to deal with his rogue wolf.

It left them waiting now. They had comforted each other, knowing that tonight they would have to make a decision neither of them liked, yet knew it had to be made and carried out.

Finally, they got the signal they were waiting for. Impatiently, they waited outside for a few seconds until they saw Merlin come out of the cell.

"Chasey is locked up next door and Derrick is shackled up. He's furious that his mumbo jumbo ain't working on me," Merlin shared with an evil glint in his eyes. "I gave him a feeling of what I can do, so he isn't so cocky anymore." He waited a bit before going on, "When you're ready, I'll unblock his powers so you can do your thing Gabriella. I had a poke around myself, he's quite unique with his skills, but still no match for me."

Gabriella looked up at John, "Best get this going. You know I'll be trying to see what his powers exactly are. I'm not gonna pretend it's going to be easy, so promise me already that even when it looks bad, you won't interfere?"

"Define 'not interfere'? If he hurts you, I'll have him hanging upside down by his nuts!"

"I'm sure he will not enjoy that," Merlin jumped in, "I'll make sure it will not come that far during her search. As said, I already had a peek at him but I fully understand Gabriella wanting to understand what made it all possible for him always being a step ahead and always avoiding you at all costs."

John shot him an angry look, "It's my job to protect her, I'm her mate not you!"

"And I respect that, John, I truly do, but I'm afraid that if he has full control over his powers he'll destroy the both of you. I'm not sure how it was even possible but since you both sired him, you really gave him unique powers that combined can be, and have been, very dangerous. Because I know you need revenge and closure, I haven't ended this. I could do that, you know. It would take me less time to do it than to explain how but I don't want to take away what you need to move on," Merlin said pleadingly, before he went on.

"Please, let me make sure you both have the outcome you want. That just means that I control his powers while Gabriella reaches into his mind and does whatever she needs to and we both heed her words of warning and don't interrupt her. It's hard to feel helpless, I know the feeling, but she has to do her thing knowing we won't interfere and make things worse. Ok?"

"I will not risk her life!" John kept raging on. "I don't need you or anyone else protecting her."

"My friend, do calm down. I understand the feeling, you have no idea how much. Sometimes it is out of your control of what you're able to do or not do. I will keep her safe. The moment he even makes a wrong move, I'll bound his powers so tightly he'll wish he was dead instead. Things are a bit different with vampires I assume, but basically Gabriella sees herself as his mother," Merlin gave the woman in question a sympathetic look, "She just needs to know, to understand that she tried her best. She'll need you more than she ever needed you before. This will hurt, even with all the bad thing he did, for you two it will hurt and she needs you to keep a grip on things. That's not likely to happen if you go in there and try to keep her safe. No matter what you'll promise, you will step in to keep her safe. Please John, listen to me, let me handle this and you'll have her in your arms before you know it."

"Why, Merlin, why are you so adamant about this?" John queried.

"As fast as I may be, Derrick is capable of doing a lot of damage in a short amount of time if he sets his mind to it. If you're in there playing guardian you won't be as focused as you should be, you'll be watching Gabriella like a hawk making sure she's ok, giving Derrick ample of time to do whatever he might have up his sleeve. Me, on the other hand, I have easy control over him. I trust Gabriella if she says it will hurt to search his mind but that it is a necessary evil to get to the bottom of it. All I have to do is watch Derrick and his reactions. Should I step in and control Derrick, we still have you to then take care of her and get her out of the room. I already said he ain't no match for me, but if he tries anything at all, I have to be sure I can trust in you too do what is needed."

"That is your reasoning now and I think I get it, but you still haven't answered why. Why don't you want me to protect my mate in there? What makes you so sure this is the right way to go?" John pushed for an answer now.

Merlin took a few deep breaths. This wasn't easy for him, not now, not after all the centuries he spent alone.

"I do not wish for you to have a remote chance of losing your life mate as I have lost mine. The situation is different, the outcome may be the same. I feel the same level of connection between you two that I had with mine. I do not wish it upon anyone to feel the loss it brings should you lose her. Will you heed my words now?" Merlin kept a steady gaze on John now, making sure the tall vampire understood the true and raw meaning of his words and revelation.

John was silent and Gabriella had snuggled up tightly.

"Ok, I'll stand back. It'll be hard for me to stand there idle but I'll be back up. She must have meant the world to you." John sounded a lot more calmer now with Gabriella hugging him tight, her silent plea for him to listen to reason.

"She always will be my world." Merlin was silent after those words, letting the meaning sink in for all of them.

"Let me do a last check up on Ed and Rupert and then we'll go deal with Derrick. Don't want to interrupt anything should anything occur with either of them, not that I expect anything to happen. Rather be safe than sorry," Merlin suggested.

"That's OK, don't think we're going anywhere," John said, eying the door to Derrick's cell.

Gabriella had stayed rather silent, gathering her courage to be able to do one of the hardest things she ever had to do.

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Dave closed the door behind him and put away the key in one of his side pockets.

"So we meet again," he said calmly. "Who would have thought that?"

Chasey looked up and his eyes grew wide as he recognized Dave.

"What the hell is going?" he growled.

"Nothing much, just wrapping things up. I'm lucky, I get to play with you!"

Chasey still didn't understand what was going on and tried to get up but the shackles held him down.

"You see, I was happy to help out my Beta get his revenge but things got a bit more serious when I met a young woman. One who captivated me from the second I saw her. You do know what mates are, right?" Not waiting for an answer, he went on. "They told me to be careful, that she's been through a lot. When Adam showed me a little of what she was forced to do, I knew I wanted payback. Guess it's you're lucky day. Never again will you touch Sue, not once will you use her little one as a bargaining chip to keep her in line and no longer is she addicted to your poisonous blood!"

"You-set-us-up!" Chasey growled, his eyes turning a bright crimson red.

"I didn't plan a single thing but I am glad I had to come over. I've found my mate and now I get some playtime with you."

Dave squatted in front of him, tilted his head and laughed shortly.

"How long this will take is up to you." Dave sniffed him out. "You're a youngling, I have those for breakfast. I'll make you a deal. If you're able to get this key you can walk out of here, if not, well…" Dave shrugged.

With a swift movement, Dave unlocked the shackles and freed Chasey. Dave braced for the initial impact he knew was coming.

Chasey went straight for his neck but Dave was prepared and rolled with him, planting his feet in Chasey's groin. As he rolled on his back, he pushed Chasey off him, throwing him to the other side of the room and then finished the roll. Dave didn't get up but stayed on all fours as he quickly shifted into a wolf.

Barely shifted, Dave was almost knocked over as Chasey came running at him. With a catlike jump, he avoided their collision. He growled as he turned towards the vampire. <i>He hurt our mate, he'll pay for it!</i>

They locked eyes and Dave waited patiently for Chasey's next move. Not a second later, he was running towards him again. This time, Dave didn't jump up but stepped sideways as one paw lashed out and caught Chasey on the shoulder. He tore through the layers of clothes with ease, digging deeper into the vampire's flesh.

The metallic smell of fresh blood reached his flaring nostrils, spurring him on for more. He huffed at the vampire as if saying "is that all you got". Dave wasn't done taunting the other one and simply sat down on his haunches.

Chasey turned, checking the damage the wolf had done to his shoulder.

"You are dead!"

He fully unleashed his vampiric beast, the crimson in his eyes going obsidian black, his talons sprouting from his fingers. Chasey even grew in height and width.

Dave watched the change take place and snorted again. <i>Playtime, finally.</i> he got back on all fours, pacing the room slowly, never leaving Chasey out of his line of sight. He waited.

With an unworldly growl, Chasey attacked Dave again, no intention to knock him over but only to get closer. Dave anticipated his move and snapped at the outstretched hands as they came closer. Chasey ducked under him, twisted on his back and tore at Dave's belly.

Dave winced as he felt the talons going through his flesh, a quick inner check told him nothing was harmed, it was just a nasty flesh wound. He turned around and raced towards Chasey, who quickly got onto his feet and stood in a battle stance. Dave recognized it from his training sessions with Adam and decided not to go for the torso as he initially wanted to but went for the knees instead. He knew he'd given Chasey an opening to hurt him badly. Yet he felt confident enough that he could surprise Chasey enough to be sloppy in his counter attack.

As he hoped, Chasey wasn't expecting him to dig his canines into his knee joint. He shook his head from left to right a few times, making sure he did enough damage to render the knee useless. At that point, Chasey wasn't really attacking anymore but was rather trying to get Dave off him. Dave felt him tugging at the hairs in his neck but that didn't do anything for him.

Dave shook one last time and an audible crunch was enough of a sign for him that one knee was out of the running. He let go of Chasey and stepped back.

The vampire fell on his ass, pressing down on his knee, or what was left of it.

Again, Dave sat on his haunches and simply stared at the vampire. Dave watched how Chasey tried to get up several times but each time would buckle with one leg totally useless. Dave shifted back to human form, not a care in the world that he stood naked in front of the other one.

"For being the number two, you sure don't know how to put up a fight. Don't know how to heal yourself? Your vampire daddy didn't teach you that? I do know he taught you how to use and abuse others, especially young females. Well, let me fill you in on a news flash: you won't ever do that again. I know what you made Sue do and knowing she's been put through that deliberately and her daughter used as ransom. Well, that makes me one very angry wolf and an even bigger pissed off mate. Now stand and fight like a man instead of sitting on your sorry excuse of an ass." Dave was getting annoyed with the vampire and was done toying with him. If he didn't get up any second now he would simply rip out his throat and end his life.

"You'll regret those words!" Chasey was struggling to stand but managed to limp towards one of the cave walls.

"Oh really? And what are you gonna do about it? I'm the one still standing on my own two feet. Sure you almost gutted me but see," Dave pointed towards his stomach, "I'm as good as healed. What about you?"

There wasn't much of a reply but a lame attempt of Chasey tackling Dave but failing miserably. It only resulted in Dave grabbing Chasey by the throat and lifting him up.

"You're pitiful, maybe I shouldn't waste any more time with you." With a growl Dave twisted Chasey's neck. He let him drop to the ground and with a grunt buried his partly shifted hand in Chasey's chest, ripping out his heart.

A calm feeling washed over him, his mate was revenged. Now all he had to do was woo her so she'd accept him fully. Looking around, he searched for his ripped up clothes. When he found what was left of his pants, he dug up the key to the cell and let himself out. Next to the door lay a sports bag with a change of clothes. He cleaned his hands as best he could with the towel that was on top and put on the clean clothes. He wanted to race back to the mansion but he had to wait on Adam. He'd promised.

He let himself drop to the floor, dug around in the bag once more and found the bottle of water. He made himself a bit more comfortable and started the waiting game.