Intense splitting pain radiated through Dominic’s skull as he struggled to regain consciousness. The pain confused him terribly. Was one supposed to feel pain if he was dead? By all logic, Dominic had determined that he should have died. Though the details were still fuzzy in his memory, he could still make out the tearing pressure of Lupe’s claws against his chest as she forced his legs to smash into the wooden railing, toppling them over the edge. Then, he recalled the eternity of falling through the empty air before an agonizing crack flared down his spine. There had been a moment of savage pain lancing through his whole body before everything had vanished into silent darkness.

Such a fall should have been more than enough to warrant his death. So why was he still hurting? What sort of sadistic joke was this? Everyone had always said that one was in endless peace after death unless they had committed some evil sin that had damned them forever. Maybe he was in Hell. He had to admit that he couldn’t exactly rate most of the things he had done with his life as being benevolent and worthy of a tranquil afterlife. Yes, this would be the perfect ending to his tumultuous life. At least he had fulfilled his promise and had died while protecting his charge. Aiden couldn’t be angry with him for that. But where was Aiden shouldn’t he be here?

"Nicky?" a scared voice whispered through the obscurity of his mind. Who could be speaking to him now? Was it Aiden? Had he finally reached him after all this time?

"Aiden," he murmured in a blissful purr as he reached out a hand in the swirling blackness.

Cold! His mind snapped the word at him, hurling him from his second of futile hope, as he barely registered the sensation of something cool graze the side of his head. He shivered ever so slightly as the sudden chill bit into his flesh, bringing him back to his miserable reality. Though the cold zapped an icy jolt through his senses, it did help to allay the sharp stabs ravaging his skull. It was also spurring him in his urge to reconnect with the physical world, reminding him that such sensations of pain and relief were indicators that one was alive. A freezing stream of water trickled down his jugular, forcing him to truly accept that he wasn’t as dead as he had thought.

As the cool feeling moved along his temple and touched the back of his head, Dominic attempted to open his heavy eyelids, which protested the action sternly. Due to the unstable condition of his mind and body, he was only able to manage to squint though one violet orb. The one eye worked to focus on his surroundings as another shape began to loom over him. Flashes of red and white dashed across his unsteady vision, creating a frightened reaction within the dark-haired youth. He didn’t know where he was or who was with him and for the first time in a long while, Dominic was actually scared. Reacting on instinct, he stuck out with all his returning strength, slamming his curled fist into the first object it came in contact with. The instant his fist collided with a soft yielding surface, the bent fingers became covered with a sticky yet liquid substance. Before he could determine what had tainted them, a furious shriek ripped through the room. It was a shriek that he immediately recognized, informing him of who was currently by his side.

"Son of a bitch! Ow! That really hurt!" Lucian’s voice swore as Dominic pried open his other eye to see the redhead rubbing his arm fiercely while gritting his teeth. The injured arm was streaked with dull rusty blood as hints of a new gray bruise began to peek out from underneath the dark coating. Lucian didn’t seem to even mind that he was saturating his palm in the flowing crimson as he pressed against the ugly bruise with his fingers, shutting his eyes and turning his head from Dominic. "I swear I’m never helping you again. I just get my ass kicked no matter what I do."

Dominic raised one hand to his forehead and tried to prop himself up on his elbows as Lucian continued to whimper next to him. As the haze faded from his sight, he could clearly see the bloody mess that was his partner’s lower arm. The strange thing was that there didn’t appear to be any injury anywhere on it, just a great deal of blood. For a second, he considered the possibility of it being his blood. Then, he realized that there was no way that it would be only one of Lucian’s arms but not the other.

He gave a curious yet critical glance toward the younger boy, still holding his head with a cupped position of his hand. "How did you get hurt?" he asked in a strained tone, a result of his being unconscious for some time.

"You hit me you moron!" the other youth yelped as he snatched the wet cloth that he had dropped by Dominic’s side when the older boy had punched him. "I was just cleaning that messy wound on your head when you haul out and slug me for no friggin’ reason."

Without responding, Dominic reached out and wrapped his weak fingers around Lucian’s arm, finding that it had become extremely slippery thanks to the bloody fluid glossing over it. Lucian didn’t try to pull away, as he normally would have done, but instead allowed the older youth to bring him closer. Dominic examined the stained flesh once more, still not finding any reason for the abundance of blood. Then he brought his eyes back up to Lucian and flipped the arm toward him, growling in a suspicious timbre, "Forget about that! How did you do this? Is it from the fight?"

He noticed Lucian swallow inside his throat and nod his head. "...Yeah. Of course, it’s from the fight. What else would have caused it?" he laughed skittishly.

"Why don’t I believe you?" questioned Dominic as the redhead shrugged his shoulders and glared at his partner.

"Probably because Shira is right. You would rather smack me than look at me. Why wouldn’t that include listening to me?"

"Where’s the cut that caused the blood?"

Lucian jumped at this demand and touched at the dark substance running over his flesh, wiping some of it on the tips on his fingers. Then he resumed his angry visage as he tore his arm away from Dominic, knowing that the older boy was not yet strong enough to resist him. "It doesn’t matter. What does matter is that your last punch hurt me a hell of a lot more than this! Do you think that I appreciate yet another mark on my skin?"

Dominic pulled himself back against the headstand of the bed he was on and gripped the bottom of the sheets. Why was Lucian acting as if he had known it was him when he had lashed out? How was he supposed to know who was touching him, especially when the last thing he remembered was being knocked out by a Chimera? Could the younger boy blame him for expecting the worse? Lucian was simply overreacting. He deserved to get those sassy words shoved back down his throat.

"Like I knew it was you," he hissed, angry that his retort didn’t come out as vicious as he had wanted it to.

The redhead huffed at his reply and rolled his eyes as he used the wet towel in his hand to clean the gore enveloping his arm. "What is your deal anyway? Were you molested as a child or something?"

Feeling his old strength flowing through him as the building fury inside forced its return, Dominic lunged at Lucian and latched his fingers onto his collar, yanking him forward as painfully as he could manage. "That is not funny, Ambrose!" His eyes were dead even with the startled garnets of his companion as he dragged the other youth onto the bed, so that only his legs dangled over the edge.

The red-haired boy appeared to be pretending to be calm as he faced the raging youth. "Look, I was just trying to say that that is the only reason that I have left for determining why you always use violence as your initial response to anything. You have exhausted all other options. You’re not taking drugs and you don’t seem overly stressed by our situation. So basically, the parental abuse scenario is the only reason left."

"I don’t need you to analyze me. You would do better to analyze yourself, Ambrose. Maybe you’ll figure out why you’re so determined to put yourself in dangerous situations like what you’re doing right now," Dominic warned him as Lucian’s eyes filled with bitter ignominy.

He snatched Dominic’s right wrist and held it aloft, shooting him a hostile sneer. "And maybe if you swing harder next time, you’ll luck out and break one of my bones. You’d like that, wouldn’t you?"

Dominic cuffed him in the back of the head, knocking it forward. "Not as much as you would," he scoffed as he began to pull his arm away from Lucian. The motion caused Lucian’s hand to slip downward, brushing across a section of the skin that was raised in a tiny but long welt that ran from middle of the wrist to part-way down Dominic’s upper arm. Crisscrossing that mark was another that cut straight across the length of the wrist. Lucian’s eyes grew large as he traced the scars again in an almost familiar pattern. Dominic could see what was hiding behind those nervous crimson spheres. Lucian knew what had caused the welts.

His guess was affirmed as the red-haired boy stopped caressing the raised flesh and looked back at him in obvious concern. All signs of his earlier cantankerous behavior had disappeared and all Dominic could see was the mixture of fear and confusion shimmering through the youth’s dazzling eyes. Lucian bit at his lip before opening his mouth to speak. Dominic knew what he would say and even as he waited to hear the condemning words, a dark rage overwhelmed him. His eyes turned cold and impassive as he tried to get his arm away from the boy.

He would not have Lucian criticizing him for the stupidity of actions done in the past. He would not have another person look down on him as if he were the common weak teenager unable to cope with life anymore. He was far superior to any of that. What he had done had been done for the most logical reason in the world. Anyone else would have done the same thing given the circumstances. He didn’t even regret what had happened. The only thing that he had felt some remorse over was the realization that Aiden would have hated him had he actually succeeded in his plan. That and the fact that Nadia had acted as if he had done something horrible to her. As if it had been her life that he had attempted to take. Now, the last thing he wanted was for some perfectly happy child to tell him how wrong he was to attempt something so ghastly as suicide.

"Don’t touch me!" he ordered Lucian as the boy blinked his eyes as if he had been literally struck by the phrase. But even the venom in the order didn’t deter him as he held a firm grip on Dominic’s hand and gazed into his menacing eyes.

"This...these marks...they look self-inflicted. Nicky, why would you want to...."

His words were cut off as Dominic threw a maddened punch at him, his fist landing a solid hit on his cheek and throwing him from the bed with such momentum that he flew against the wall. Lucian cried out as his head banged against the hard surface, then he slumped to the floor, collapsing on one leg. Dominic brought his arm back to his chest, noting the tiny scratches in the skin from where Lucian had been holding when his blow had forced him away. "Stupid ass," he chided as he tapped at the growing welts, where thin lines of blood built up underneath the skin. "I told you not to touch me."

A strangled sob rose from Lucian’s direction as Dominic turned to the side, his eyes falling on the bizarre sight of Lucian holding a shaking hand to his cheek as blood dripped from the edge of his mouth. Lucian seemed to taste the blood as his eyes dropped and his hand slipped from his face, falling to his ribs in a stiff motion. He didn’t even bother to wipe away the blood as he continued to stare at his partner, eyes trembling with betrayal. Though no tears graced his face, Dominic could easily see the anguish written across his features. Unable to comprehend what was going on, Dominic followed a bead of blood down Lucian’s chin and watched it race toward the floor.

"I was just concerned," whimpered the red-haired youth as he averted his eyes from Dominic as if simply looking at the other boy was now causing him some sort of pain. "I didn’t mean to hurt you."

Even though his head was turned from Dominic, the older boy could still see the diamond pearls of tears that began to creep down Lucian’s cheek. The tears puzzled Dominic since he had never seen Lucian cry before now. Crying was better suited to Tyrell, but Lucian was supposed to be incapable of such a miserable action. What reason did he have to cry when he had everything that he could ever want?

Why was he crying anyway? Dominic knew that he had hit him many times before. What was different about this time? And what did Lucian mean by saying that he didn’t mean to hurt him? How did he even know that his accusation had hurt Dominic? Yet something about this fight had shattered something in Lucian. That was evident by the silent crystalline streams that slunk down his pale skin. He was actually upset by the fact that Dominic had struck him. He wasn’t angry or vengeful. He was just hurt. Dominic couldn’t understand what was provoking this unusual reaction.

Disturbed by the desolate look in his partner’s eyes, he started to climb out of the bed, ignoring the furious protests of the rest of his body. Somehow he had hurt Lucian more than he had meant to. Whereas he had only meant to shut him up, he had managed to damage more than just his physical form. He felt suddenly guilty. Once again, he had acted on impulse, without thinking of the consequences. Sure, he hadn’t expected Lucian to react quite like this but he knew he should have counted on Lucian being somewhat upset. Back then, the only thing on his mind had been to stop Lucian before he could remind him of his mistake. He didn’t want to remember anything about that. It wasn’t just the attempt; it was also the events that had led him to that course of action. He never wanted to think of those few days ever again.

But, now that the anger that had been motivating him was subsiding due to the absence of danger, he was able to realize just how malicious he had just been. Lucian had been helping him moments ago, tending to his wounds and staying with him until he woken up. And how had he repaid him? By hitting him repeatedly and then driving him into his current state. Lucian didn’t deserve any of that. He had to do something to make up for his ignorant actions.

Stumbling from the bed, he approached the sobbing form and put a hand on his arm, lifting him to his feet. Lucian seemed startled as the other boy raised him up and began to lead him toward the bathroom. Too stunned to stop the older youth, Lucian allowed Dominic to pull him inside and place him on the side of the bathtub. Lucian shot several apprehensive glances toward him, hoping for some sort of explanation. But Dominic chose to remain silent as he flung open the medicine cabinet, slicing himself on the edge during his hasty efforts. Blood welled up inside the cut and soon began to wind down his arm in a snaking course. Oblivious to his injury, Dominic withdrew a first-aid kit from the cabinet and flipped it open to withdraw a small-sized ice pack and a strip of gauze. He held the ice pack in his hand as he pressed it against Lucian’s enflamed cheek, while dabbing at the corner of Lucian’s lip with the gauze.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Lucian was more than shocked to see Dominic wiping the blood from his mouth. He had been shocked enough to realize the sickening feeling that had followed after Dominic had delivered his last punch. He couldn’t understand why he was so devastated by it. All he knew was that the idea of Dominic pushing him away so violently after what he had just been through to save him had crushed him. Why didn’t Dominic understand that he had only asked that question about his wrist because he was so scared? The basic thought that Dominic would ever feel that he needed to end his life had nearly caused him to retch. What could have possessed Dominic to ever think something like that? What could have driven him to such a fatalistic decision? He didn’t want to think of his partner as someone who would ever resort to suicide. Dominic wasn’t supposed to suffer from that like everyone else. He was supposed to be immune to all that teenage baggage. He had said so himself, hadn’t he?

He had only posed the question to the older boy in hopes that Dominic would provide some other explanation for the hideous scars. All he had received for his efforts was his tender cheek and the side of his lip that had been split upon contact with the bone. The rage that Dominic had shown to him had snapped something inside of him. It had served to detail one concrete fact. Dominic didn’t want to talk to him. Dominic didn’t trust him. After everything they had already been through, his partner still refused to trust him. Though the concept had been the last thing on his mind when he first sought the dark-haired youth, it now was beginning to gain importance to Lucian. He wanted Dominic to trust him. He wanted the boy to see him as more than just his partner.

It had been that realization that had caused his emotional reaction. He hadn’t been able to hold in the jumble of anger and defeat that had consumed when he realized that his partner still wanted nothing to do with him outside of their job of protecting Tyrell. He had tried to hold in those tears, knowing that Dominic would think he was pathetic if he, a seventeen-year-old boy, was seen crying. But that detached expression on Dominic’s face had been too much to take. Knowing that the older boy didn’t even care that he had hurt him had sent Lucian over the edge.

Now, sitting on the edge as Dominic looked after the injuries that he himself had caused, Lucian didn’t know what to think. What was Dominic doing? Did he really feel sorry for what he had done? He sure seemed repentant enough as he lifted the ice pack to get a look at the fresh bruises that swirled across the skin of Lucian’s cheek. The look that Lucian saw dance across his eyes couldn’t have been anything other than contrition. Dominic was upset with himself for striking his partner. At the cognition, Lucian perked up and turned to the older youth with a much calmer expression.

Dominic lowered his eyes as he replaced the ice back on Lucian’s face. "...I didn’t mean to hit you that hard. I just don’t want to be touched." His confession seemed to hide something that was painful to him, as his voice sounded broken and far too mellow. Lucian started to nod his head as his eyes ran across the curving river of blood that streamed from Dominic’s hand.

Damn! He had been so busy fussing over his own dilemma that he had failed to notice that Dominic was hurt. "Jeez Nicky! Look what you did to your hand!" he exclaimed as he made a grab for the older boy’s right hand. Dominic switched the ice pack to the other hand and hid the bleeding one behind his back.

He regarded the red-haired youth with concern and then shook his head angrily as Lucian tried to peer behind his back to see how badly injured his hand was. Dominic gave him a slight push forward with his other hand while training incredulous eyes on his form. "Quit changing the subject! I’m trying to talk to you," he protested, making Lucian gape at the frustration in his tone. "Can’t you listen to me for even a second? You always get to have your say. But you never let me have mine. Now, I don’t want to talk about my stupid injury, I want you to understand that I never meant to hurt you like that. I just couldn’t have you...."

Lucian halted Dominic’s sentence as the younger boy rose from the edge, taking the ice pack from Dominic’s clenched fingers and holding it to his cheek as he checked out the damage in the mirror. He made a face as he winced at the splotched combination of purple and blue that most of his cheek had become. "Well, I guess it’s not that bad," he forced himself to lie as he shrugged his shoulders. Then, he turned back to Dominic with a reassuring glance. "About what you were trying to say, I know. That mark on your wrist has something to do with your past and you don’t want to bring it up. I’m sorry for trying to force you. It’s not my business. I can’t make you talk if you don’t want to. But as for that hand, you should be careful with a wound like that. You don’t want it to get infected. Your body could still be vulnerable after what you’ve been through."

"It’ll heal. All wounds do in time," Dominic whispered as he absentmindedly traced the scars on his wrist.

"Not all wounds."

His correction left Dominic speechless as the older boy just stared at him with a troubled expression. Lucian had anticipated this reaction after his latest experience with Dominic. He could tell that Dominic knew exactly what he was getting at. One could fix physical wounds, but emotional ones were far harder to deal with. Perhaps, Dominic was still suffering with the latter. That would explain a lot of things about the aggressive youth. Whatever the case, Dominic still had to do something about that cut on his hand.

As he pondered ways to remedy the injury, a crazy idea took possession of his mind. If he wanted Dominic to trust him, maybe he should start with showing the other boy that he trusted him. That meant that it was time to stop keeping secrets from his partner. Dominic had the right to know what sort of person he was dealing with. He had the right to know what his partner was capable of. Maybe then, he would finally be able to consider thinking of the younger youth as his friend.

"Do you want me to take care of it?" he proposed in a gentle voice as Dominic looked at him as though he had just said something really dumb.

"How?" the older youth demanded, bringing his cut hand forward and delivering some pressure to the wound with the heel of his palm.

Lucian deliberated over his answer for a moment before raising his eyes in a confident expression and quipping, "The same way I dealt with your shoulder."

Dominic prepared to argue the point as he felt along the top of his shoulder, which was usually adorned in bruises, fang marks, and torn skin. Yet, this time he didn’t find a single marring mark on the join or on the collarbone beside it. The entire mound of injured flesh was gone, as was the customary stiff feeling in his shoulder. The baffled scrunch of his features told Lucian that Dominic had failed to realize this recovery before now. His face made Lucian laugh silently as he wondered how Dominic could not have determined that there was no way that he would have been able to hit him as hard as had had upon waking up had his shoulder still been a mess. Dominic was obviously lacking in perception.

Jerking his head away from the nonexistent wound on his shoulder, Dominic spun around to Lucian, gasping in shock. "What? Where’s the wound?"

"Uh, I kind of healed it while you were unconscious," the redhead admitted with a small chuckle as Dominic continued to gape at him. Lucian was highly amused. Dominic could be so funny when he wasn’t trying to beat the crap out of him. Of course, he normally tried to make Dominic try to beat the crap out of him just so he could laugh at him when he failed to do it. Either way, the dark-haired youth did make for some enjoyable entertainment.

Not that he could blame his partner for finding his story hard to swallow. How often did one get told that their companion had the ability to heal most injuries? The one thing that he was waiting for now was for Dominic to want to know why he had refused to heal his shoulder before now and why he had bothered to keep such an important piece of information from him. Dominic would probably see it as preventing them from making the best of their advantage. Oh well. Lucian knew that he had earned whatever animosity Dominic was about to throw at him, he would just have to sit back and take it with a smile.

"What are you talking about? How could you just make it vanish like that?" Dominic inquired, still struggling to grasp what his partner had just told him.

"All Guardians have healing powers. At least, both Shira and me do. So I figured all Guardians can do it. What sucks is that we can only heal others, we can’t do anything to help ourselves."

The older boy snorted in contempt and turned away from the red-haired youth, closing his eyes in haughtiness. "What a load of crap! You can’t heal anything."

Lucian leapt at the chance to answer the other boy’s challenge. He walked back over to Dominic and placed his hands on his knees, leaning toward him with a pleased smirk. It was so great when Dominic was so unbelievably predictable sometimes. This gave him a great opportunity to point out to the older youth just how much he had neglected to notice during his vigilance of his new companions. Maybe now, Dominic wouldn’t get so uppity with him for holding back the information that he and Tashira could perform this sort of magic.

"Didn’t you wonder how I recovered from my sprained ankle so quickly? I mean, I barely limped on it after that first day. Or how about why I wasn’t hospitalized after my magic backfired? Or maybe why the bruises you give me heal so fast?"

"I thought I just didn’t hit you that hard," grumbled the dark-haired teenager, seeming perturbed that Lucian had decided to bring his violent behavior back into the topic for their conversation.

His partner snickered at his response, pushing away from him and leaning against the counter while holding his side since he was laughing so hard that it had started to hurt him. He saw the annoyance glimmer in Dominic’s amethystine eyes and fought to regain his composure, still allowing a few guffaws to escape from time to time. "Oh you hit me hard all right. Every time in fact. I just got Shira to take care of them for me so nobody would notice and ask questions. Wouldn’t want the school to think that I’m being troubled by abusive parents, now would we?"

"Yeah right! At least, tell me a plausible lie."

Lucian looked slightly affronted as Dominic mocked his reply. "Don’t believe me?" he moped as he opened the medicine cabinet and pulled out a tiny pair of shiny scissors. Brandishing them before his companion, he flicked them open so that the blade was accessible to any sort of touch. "Fine, I’ll show you."

"What the hell are you doing!" roared Dominic as Lucian stabbed the scissors into his lower palm. He leapt up from the edge of the tub and dashed to the younger boy’s side, seeing the blood gush from the self-inflicted wound. Grabbing Lucian’s wrist, he reached for the towel hanging over the tub. "What is your problem? You’re bleeding!" he shouted as he tried to wrap the redhead’s hand in the towel.

Keeping the towel at bay with one hand, Lucian chuckled under his breath. "Ever the drama king, Nicky. Now calm down and give me your right hand so I can prove to you that I’m not lying."

"You’re out of your damn mind. Cut this out Ambrose!"

"Hey, the longer you stall, the better chance I have of suffering from some form of blood loss. And after that vicious attack you already put me though, I don’t know if my poor body can take much more of this," Lucian instigated, getting a kick out of the genuine fear in Dominic’s eyes.

Dominic shook his head and shot a pleading glance toward his partner, absolute terror evident throughout his face. "Please Ambrose. Please stop playing," he begged softly, dropping the towel to the ground and bringing his injured hand to cup Lucian’s injury.

The sincerity in his plea forced Lucian to lose his nerve as the thirst for scaring Dominic began to wan. He hadn’t expected Dominic to be this upset over his action. It had killed the amusement in his game for some reason. He didn’t want Dominic to freak out because of him. Why was it that Dominic was winning this little contest without even trying? Of course that didn’t matter now, what mattered was showing the older boy that he wasn’t lying about the power to heal.

"Ssh," Lucian soothed as he closed his hand over the other youth’s injury. He closed his eyes as with before as the sweet rush of power merged with his flowing blood, releasing its healing energy though Dominic’s flesh. The feeling was both relaxing and painful to Lucian. Rapture tingled though him as the magic sped through both his veins as well as Dominic’s. But at the same time, the drain of his energy wasn’t being easy on his mind as it was torn from him as brutally as possible. It stripped him of almost all his strength, causing him to wobble on his legs. Not wanting to have Dominic fearing that the action that was curing the older boy was actually hurting his partner, Lucian pretended to be unaffected by the power surge. He backed away and leaned against the counter, trying to make it seem as casual as possible as his vision blinked in and out in rapid succession. Feeling dizzy from the aftereffects of his loss of power, he massaged his temple with one of his hands.

Dominic seemed to catch his shaky actions as he stood up and ran his eyes up and down Lucian’s form. "Ambrose?"

The redhead smiled and held out his palm, showing Dominic that the cut had closed though the palm was still stained from where the blood had coursed over the skin. It was the same as his arm. Lucian had just admitted to Dominic that it had been him who had rescued him after his fall. "Do you believe me now?" he said quietly as Dominic looked like he was having a hard time accepting what he had just seen.

"Incredible," the dark-haired youth breathed, "And your injury vanishes once you’re finished healing?"

"Yep. Neat, huh? Shira and me call it our little baptism of blood. Twisted name but its a twisted power, so who cares?"

"And it only works with blood?"

His partner shrugged. "As far as I know. Haven’t ever been able to pull it off otherwise. And as if it isn’t fun enough, the severity of the injury can cause the type of blood loss required to heal it to vary. Meaning that if it is an especially critical wound, then it would need an equally critical cut on our part to cure it."

"Which is why your whole entire arm is painted in blood. You needed to practically slit it open to cure my head wound," summated Dominic as he glanced down at the dried substance on Lucian’s arm. Then his eyes grew cautious as his head shot up to the younger boy. "But couldn’t that be deadly? In more drastic cases, it could involve you to nearly kill yourself just to save the other person. Isn’t that a bit dangerous?"

"You said the magic word," chortled the redhead as he turned on the faucet and ran his arm and hand under the spouting water, washing away the film of blood. "Of course, it’s dangerous. But we’re Guardians, and the most important thing to us is the safety of our charges. If it came down to either the Keys or me, I would gladly give my life to preserve their lives. I know you would do the same."

"But I am not a Key," the other boy stated in an indifferent tone. "So why would you risk your life for me?"

"What a stupid question! Because you’re my partner, silly Nicky," Lucian chided with a playful smirk as he ruffled Dominic’s hair. "How could I let my favorite playmate abandon me?"

Dominic glared at him and slapped his hand away, making an attempt to smooth down his hair with his fingers. As usual, his mane ignored him and he retained his appearance of a shaggy wolf. "I am not your playmate," he spat as Lucian laughed at him again, his eyes sparkling with exhilaration.

The older youth did his best to ignore the happy sounds coming from his partner and returned his gaze to the now pristine condition of his hand. Not one physical mark remained to show that it had been previously split open. In fact, the only hint that it had even been injured was the tainted color of blood that had been covering the wound. As he observed his healed flesh, a recollection seemed to form within his mind as he raised angry eyes to Lucian. "You could do that this entire time? Why didn’t you just do it when you first met me?"

It was the question that Lucian had been afraid of hearing. Yet it did require a definite answer. Lucian sighed and decided for once that he would take the hard way and go for the honest response. He didn’t know what Dominic would think of his answer, but at least he knew that it wouldn’t be a lie. "You would have left," he replied nonchalantly.

As he had guessed, his answer sent daggers hurling at him from Dominic’s eyes. "You selfish brat," the other youth reproved in a harsh snarl.

Lucian hung his head at the condemnation and braced one foot against the wooden side of the lower counter. "Yeah, I know it was selfish. I feel pretty bad about it too since you just got hurt there again later. But I wanted Shira to be happy and she so wanted me to find another Guardian. You know you would never have come unless you were hurt."

"Is that the only reason?" probed Dominic, seeming as though he wanted to squeeze every possible fact that he could from the younger boy.

As with most difficult queries, Lucian weighed the options of his different responses and then chose the one that made the most sense. "You interested me."

"What?" The sharp note in Dominic’s force informed him that the most sensible answer might not have been the most appropriate. He made an attempt to clarify his response when an unexpected feeling of vertigo caused him to lose his balance on the counter and fall forward. "Ambrose!" Dominic yelped as he caught the swooning teenager in his arms. Lucian crawled back though the muddy swirl of his mind to peer at Dominic who was steadying him on the floor. "Ambrose, what happened?"

Knowing that it would be useless to try and hide the side effects of his power any further, Lucian allowed himself to kneel on the tiled ground and hold his head in his palm. "Ugh, I guess that took more out of me than I thought. That’s the one side effect of healing, it makes you kind of woozy afterwards. Must be the loss of blood. Shira’s got a better handle of it thankfully. She’s usually only out of it for a few hours," he joked, eager to get his mind off the weak feeling of his body. For a brief moment, he considered falling asleep right on the floor. It would sure help to ease this lethargic condition. He hated feeling so sluggish and feeble, especially in front of Dominic, who damn near radiated power with his mere presence.

Stepping away from his torpid partner, Dominic turned to the side and surprised Lucian with his next question. "Why did you heal me now? You know that was the only condition of our bargain for my stay."

A quick tremor made its way down his back as Lucian took in the implications of the inquiry. Did this mean that Dominic was planning on leaving now that he was cured? He couldn’t! They still had a job to do, right? Dominic couldn’t break up the partnership until they had determined a foolproof method of keeping the Keys safe. Not to mention, they still had to investigate this problem with Angelique and find out why Tyrell had refused to fight last time. Dominic couldn’t possibly be thinking of running away now. That would be cowardly.

Besides these logical reasons for wanting his partner to stay, Lucian was starting to realize that he was also developing a connection with the older boy. It was more than just the urge to provoke him now. Dominic intrigued him. He wanted to know more about him. Something about Dominic seemed terribly familiar to Lucian and he wanted to keep him around until he could figure out what that was. Yes, there was still the desire to finish his game as a winner, but something else was compelling him now. He wanted Dominic for more than just the danger he provided; he wanted the person himself. Because of this, he didn’t want Dominic to leave him until he had proven to the other teenager that he was willing to be his friend and that he was worthy of his trust. Dominic was something unique to him and he didn’t want to lose that without knowing that the dark-haired youth would remember him when he left.

"I know, but you’re my partner, I don’t want to hide anything from you anymore. It’s childish of me to let you continue to suffer when I know I can do something," the younger boy confessed as Dominic gave him a hesitant look.

"You want to be honest with me? Truly honest with me?" A fast nod from Lucian served as his answer as the uncertainty on his face dropped away and was replaced with smug disdain. "Then fine, answer me this. Why do you make me hit you?"

Though he was alarmed by the bluntness of the Dominic’s choice of words, Lucian responded with his usual zest. "Hey, at least it gives you a chance to channel some of that pent up stress."

*~*~*~*~*~*

"What?" Dominic asked in an offended manner. What was Lucian implying with that statement? He had asked the question to get an insight into Lucian’s warped mentality, he had not intended for this to turn into a review of his own psyche. As always, Lucian just had to make everything far more difficult than it was supposed to be. First, he had been lying to him all this time about his abilities, which could have helped them avoid this whole partner situation. Then, he had practically admitted that he wanted Dominic to hang around for more than just Guardian matters. He wanted him for his own reasons. That had come as a bit of a shock to Dominic. All this time, he had figured that Lucian was only keeping him here so he could continue their stupid battle of wits just to see who would come out victorious. This new development seemed to indicate that it was more than just the thrill of the competition that Lucian was after. Why did Lucian seem so interested in him anyway? "What do you mean by that?" he urged the redhead, feeling slightly disgusted by the casual tone in which Lucian had replied.

"Come on, admit it Nicky, hitting me makes you feel good," Lucian purred from his knees as a look of revulsion played across Dominic’s face.

"That’s not true! Hitting never makes me feel good. I hate when I hit anything. Even you Ambrose," he refuted vehemently. How could Lucian think such an evil thing? Who would enjoy hurting others? Well, he could think of one person, but he was too messed up in the head to count as a normal example. Why would Lucian even mention that he could possibly like it? He didn’t lash out at people because it was fun. He did it because it was what he had been forced to accept was the norm for most situations. He could attribute that marvelous logic to his wretched father. Did Lucian actually think that he wanted to hurt him most of the times that he had swiped at him?

"Well, you must enjoy it. You sure engage in it a lot," explained the other boy as he cocked his head to the side, apparently confused by Dominic’s furious denial.

Dominic stormed out of the bathroom and threw himself on his bed, back first. "What kind of a sadistic bastard do you take me for? No! I don’t enjoy it!"

"I didn’t mean it like that. I was just saying that I thought that since you use hitting so much to handle your problems, you might see it as some sort of outlet for your emotions. You know, some people find fighting therapeutic," clarified Lucian as he scrambled from the other room and raced into the main part of the bedroom, tired eyes searching for his partner.

"Yeah, sick twisted people," snapped Dominic, alerting the other teenager to his presence on the bed.

"Not always."

The older boy lifted himself up and glared down at Lucian watching him as he braced himself against a desk bureau. He was finally going to get his chance to discover what made such a privileged youth such as Lucian act the bizarre way he did. Was it just a mental issue? Or was it something deeper?

"Oh? How about you Ambrose? Do you think it’s therapeutic? Do you like it when I hit you?" he drawled in a callous voice.

Lucian’s expression fell as he shook his head with shame. "Actually, no. I don’t like it. It usually hurts and I have to suffer until Tashira forgives me for instigating you and decides to heal it," he whined as Dominic examined his face for signs of prevarication.

"Then why do you continue to rile me on purpose?"

"Because it’s fun. Why else?" Receiving a nasty leer from his companion, Lucian added under his breath, "Plus, you look really hot whenever you’re pissed."

Dominic caught the mumbled words and fumed. He wasn’t getting any sort of answers, he was just finding out things about Lucian’s opinion of him that he could have really done without knowing. The futility of his efforts was getting to him as he fell back on the mattress with a long sigh. "You’re sick, you know that. You’re a friggin’ masochist."

His companion pushed away from the bureau and made his way over to Dominic’s side, moving slowly so as not to put too much strain on his weakened form. He pressed his hands against the pliant surface of the mattress, turning his head to focus on the dark-haired youth. "No, I’m not a masochist. I don’t enjoy pain. I enjoy tempting fate and then escaping pain. But you got me on the sick part. I’m impressed though. Nobody else ‘sides Shira seems to notice. They all fall for my happy-happy disguise. I’m just a magnificent actor," he praised himself with a dark chuckle.

"And the fact that you’re proud about that makes you crazy as well."

"Really? So what does that make you Nicky? Hmm?" gibed Lucian as his eyes glistened with excitement.

"Fine. So we’re both nuts," consented Dominic as he rolled to his side, no longer wanting to see the unstable boy who flaunted the fact that he was out of his mind.

A rumbling laughter filled his ears as he shifted his eyes to see Lucian sliding down the bed to the floor, holding his side. His head was bent against the side as his eyes closed from the force of his snigger. He batted at the ponytail hanging over his shoulder and laid an upturned palm on his forehead, easing the giggles that flowed from his lips. "Heh heh. You know Nicky, you’re unlike anyone I’ve ever met."

"Why?" the older boy posed as he balanced himself on the edge of elbow.

Lucian pushed his hair back behind his neck and began to draw circles in the carpet with his forefinger. "All my life, people have always been straight-forward with each other on their exterior. They may be lying through their teeth and you would never know it. You, you’re the complete opposite. You’ve been playing everyone for fools."

"I don’t understand."

"They all believe that you really don’t and can’t care. Not me though. I can see right through you. You see, you may not be honest on the exterior, but you are deep down," he asserted as he curved his head backward and glanced up at his partner. "You are a better person than me, you know."

The older youth threw back his head in a defiant manner as he growled at the other boy, "I don’t pretend that I don’t care."

"You sure act like it," pointed out Lucian. This time, Dominic could tell that Lucian wasn’t trying to start anything. He was just stating a fact as it appeared to him. To everyone else, Dominic did project the image of being unaffected by anything around him. It was easier to deal with people when one didn’t have to worry about what they thought of him. And it was a whole lot easier when one didn’t have to concern himself with what he thought of other people as well. Also it was a known fact that a person who could not care could not be hurt. He wanted to see if the theory held some fact. He needed to know that there was still a way for him to avoid further pain, even if it meant blocking everyone and everything out.

Still, he couldn’t allow Lucian to get away with that remark without some kind of retaliation otherwise Lucian would realize that he was right. He couldn’t make it that easy for his young partner. "You’re pushing it," he threatened, though he could sense the impotency of his warning. It lacked all the usual savageness that all of his other threats to Lucian had always possessed. It didn’t sound angry; it just sounded tired and forced.

He had hoped that even without its normal virulence, Lucian would still be able to tell that he didn’t like where the conversation was headed. But Lucian had trouble enough backing off from full-fledged warnings, why would he heed a half-hearted one? Lucian lived up to his expectations as the younger boy turned around, resting his arms on the top of the bed and lying his head on top of them. His garnet eyes filled with nostalgia as he moved them toward Dominic.

"You know who you remind me of? A young me," the redhead mused as he stared hard at the other teenager.

"I find that hard to believe."

"Of course, you would. So would everyone else. It’s because I’ve put all that behind me. I would rather live in the today and now than mope about the past. What good does it do to worry about things that can’t be changed?"

Dominic sat up and shot a skeptical look at his partner. "What do you know about hiding from the past? You’re just a crazy kid."

"Am I?" Lucian replied, lowering his voice as his eyes bore into Dominic as if they were spears of scalding light. "I’ll have you know, Nicky, that I wasn’t always the cheerful teen you see before you. I too have had my darker moments."

"Yeah right."

The red-haired youth seemed to smolder at this disregard for his feelings. He lifted himself from the bed and stood before Dominic with his arms folded over one another. "You want details? Try this. Imagine having your mother die during your birth because she was a teenage runaway living off the street. Thus, forcing you to grow up in a foster home where you’re condemned as a freak because of your red eyes and your strange nightmares that no one can understand. Then, because your sister is the only one you can turn to, you end up being further ostracized since others assume that you have an unhealthy relationship. Toss in the fact that no one will adopt you because of your reputation for being a violent sociopath and no one will adopt your sister because she refuses to leave without you. Do you know how many times I forced her to run away with me? Do you know how many self-righteous brats I had to take on just so I could have one moment’s peace? Do you have any idea what it felt like to think that I was literally insane?"

Moved by the boy’s confession, Dominic became somber and quiet. Something told him that Lucian hadn’t lied about a thing just now. That really was his past. So, the reckless youth’s life wasn’t as perfect as he pretended it was. He did have every reason in the world for being just as bitter as Dominic was. Yet he wasn’t. He had been through all that turmoil and he was still acting like none of it had gotten to him. It was as if he hadn't been susceptible to the sort of self-loathing that Dominic had always felt due to his past. This didn’t make any sense at all. Now he finally had his answers but they failed to answer his ultimate question. How could Lucian escape from the real world into his world of pranks and perils? How could he simply ignore the past? Dominic had spent his last three years, searching for a way to rid himself of his past, but it had always found him in the end. What did Lucian know that he didn’t?

"If that really was your past, then why do you act the way you do now? Why are you so energetic and gregarious?" he said sullenly.

Lucian perked a cunning grin as he responded, "I already told you. You can’t live your whole life in the past, Nicky. It’ll just take you down until there’s nothing left. I found my chance at something better and took it. I’m sick of being self-conscious. I want to focus on the positive aspects from now on. You never know how long the good will last so it’s important to get as much out of it as you can."

"Fine, if you love life so much, why do you delve into the dangerous depths of it?"

"I want to embrace life and if I have to tempt death to do it, I’m willing to do it time and time again. Don’t you understand? Testing one’s limits grants you the ultimate control. You know that you are in charge of whether you live or die. Do you know how great it is to know that there is one thing that you can have complete power over? It’s heaven. There’s nothing better in this world," Lucian avowed in a dreamy voice as his face brightened at the thought of his distorted solution.

"You sound like you’re describing a drug," reprimanded Dominic with a disgusted grimace. It did not ease his nerves to hear Lucian talking like this, like some depraved junkie. Lucian wasn’t supposed to be like this. These words couldn’t possibly be coming from the blithe youth that dragged him on his pointless ventures day after day. These were the words of very sick individual.

"Perhaps that’s what it is," agreed the younger boy as he backed away from his partner and ambled over to the bureau again, drumming his fingers against the wood agitatedly. "Who knows?"

"That’s an abusive lifestyle. It doesn’t suit you."

Dominic found that he was amazed to learn that he had spoken his sentiments out loud. But even that initial shock couldn’t prepare him for Lucian’s retort. "Nor does the recluse life suit you. But you turn to it to find your control."

The dark-haired youth hissed despite himself. Where was Lucian coming up with this stuff? He didn’t use the antisocial persona to find any control. It was more for the protection of those around him. He knew the penalty for getting too close to someone and he was not planning on imposing it on any unfortunate well wishers, including his sister or his partner. It almost made him sick to hear Lucian claiming that he used the danger high as a means of control.

As he contemplated the truth behind Lucian’s words, he found himself returning to the youth’s earlier words. ‘I found my chance at something better and took it.’ What was that supposed to mean? Had Lucian been given something that had helped him to forget all of the tribulations of his past? Maybe that was why he was able to maintain such a pleasant aura despite what his childhood had been like. If he had an advantage, then he had no right to berate Dominic for acting the way he did, not being given any extra help. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. He had Aiden for a while. But that had just led to more problems later on.

"Who gave you your new chance?" he asked the redhead, wanting to know what had happened to make Lucian undergo such a drastic chance from the depressed child to the recalcitrant ball of energy that stood a few yards away.

"I’ve reached my limit of what I’m willing to tell you without you letting give something in return," announced Lucian as he averted his eyes from the older youth. "You know the rules of this game, Nicky. I tell you something, then you tell me something. If you want anything else, you’d better play fair."

"Since you were so kind as to tell me about some of your childhood, I’ll humor you for now. So what are you interested in knowing?" feigned Dominic, knowing that he had no real intention of telling his partner anything of genuine importance. He was just curious to see what Lucian would ask him. Moreover, he was in a compromised position, having forced Lucian to reveal so much to him, and now he had to make Lucian believe that he was willing to abide by the rules. He parted his bangs from his eyes and glanced over at his companion with a hungry inquisitiveness.

Lucian appeared mystified by his eagerness to impart information, and then he raised his eyes back to Dominic as a tinge of red spread over his face. "About the dance, when I asked you if you had some messed up attraction to me, you didn't deny it at all. All you said was ‘What would I do if you did?’ What did you mean by that, Nicky?"

Hearing the unexpected query, Dominic felt a quick wash of heat blanket over him. He fought with the urge to turn from Lucian, knowing that the move would just make him look suspicious. What had he meant by saying that? He wasn’t even sure he could remember. Everything about the dance was just one big blur. He could remember feeling incredibly angry and dropping that glass on the floor. He could also remember the exhibitionist way in which Kathryn had carted his partner over the dance floor all night. There were also a few images of him catching Maren gloating about mixing alcohol in with the drinks. The only thing he could recall about talking with Lucian was running into him while he was talking with Nadia. There was a nagging voice in his head that told him that something had happened after that, but for the life of him, he couldn’t seem to grasp the memory of it. The fall had wiped out most of the night from his mind.

He tried to scan his thoughts for any recollection to what Lucian was referring to. Pouring through death wishes, anger, loss, the Keys, his unwanted partnership, and the mysterious Erik, he finally came across one thing that had a definite significance. Jealousy. He was sure that last night’s talk with Lucian had dealt with this matter. Something about him being jealous of Kathryn. Assembling the disjointed pieces of his memory, Dominic was able to recall the last two lines of their conversation before they had been interrupted. Plucked from their nook inside his mind, they stood out with striking clarity.

Now that he thought about it, at the time some part of him had actually wanted to know what Lucian would do if his guess were correct. Of course, Lucian had been speechless after that and unable to provide him with his answer. Dominic had to admit that it was probably the first time, he had ever seen his younger companion without anything to say. Lucian always had to get in his last word. But this time, he had been incapable of responding at all. It had given Dominic a brief moment of amusement to see the other youth so nonplused.

The memory made the older boy smile inwardly as he turned back to Lucian and swiped a hand through his unruly hair in a slow and deliberate motion. "I just wanted to make you shut up. Looks like that answer did the trick."

"So it was just to throw me off-guard?" Lucian pursued, sounding as though he was unsatisfied with the explanation.

"That’s right."

*~*~*~*~*~*

Lucian couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed. He had been hoping for a revelation not just a cop-out. For a moment back there, he had considered the possibility of Dominic liking him. But that was crazy. Dominic didn’t like anyone besides Nadia and the only reason he cared about her was because she was his own flesh and blood. Why would he see anything in a boy who just sought to drive him out of his mind most of the time? What had he been thinking in even bringing the question back up?

It wasn’t like Dominic’s denial should have bothered him that much. After all, he had Kat. She was nice as long as he didn’t feel the constant subconscious desire to touch her. As long as he could keep his own feelings in check, there was nothing wrong with spending more time with the girl. She had even managed to work on that ultra-aggressive attitude toward winning him. He couldn’t blame her for liking him after he had told her that he was in love with her. Yet, for all of her bubbling enthusiasm and firebrand charm, Kat just didn’t strike a powerful chord with him. She might have been fun to hang around, but she lacked his edge and he didn’t really plan on coercing her into his mentality. He was well aware that his behavior wasn’t safe and wasn’t about to recruit any other healthy individuals to join his ranks. It would make him much happier to discover a person who shared his wild view of life or at least could make some sense out of it.

Trying to hide his chagrin, he tugged at his necklace, holding the length of string outward with his ring finger. He shot a ribbing look toward Dominic and sighed, "And here I thought that I meant something to you."

"You do. A pain in my neck," snapped Dominic, irritated by the jest.

"Do you know how cute you look when you’re all angry?" Lucian patronized, milking the tension for all it was worth. "Your eyes get all glowy and your hair almost rises like on a real wolf. Very alluring."

"Bite me!"

"Now that’s ironic considering who it’s coming from. Feeling like a little trip to the wild side, Nicky?"

"Here you go again, deliberately egging me on. You need to seek help," grumbled Dominic as he climbed off the bed and headed for the door. "I refuse to feed your addiction for a moment more."

Scurrying away from the bureau, Lucian caught Dominic’s shirt and held him back for a second. "Look, I’m sorry for being an ass. I just think that maybe you aren’t being entirely honest about your answer. I want to know why you really said that last night."

"Get used to disappointment," the older youth advised as he knocked Lucian’s hands from his shirt and left the room.

"That’s not fair!" the other boy complained, standing in the doorway and hollering at him as he rushed down the stairs.

"Deal with it!"

"You can’t just walk out on me! I saved your life!"

"We already sang this tune, Ambrose. Besides, my leaving is for your own good. If I stay in there much longer, I might slug you again. And even if you’re screwed up in the head, I know you don’t really want that," Dominic called back as the echoes of his footsteps near the main door told Lucian that he was planning on stepping out of the house for a while. "Why don’t you get some rest? You look like you could use it."

"I’m not tired!" the redhead argued as he slapped the doorframe. He knew it was a lie. Even that minor action of striking the edge had caused spots to spin before his eyes. He had been forcing himself to do too much too fast after using up most of his power. If he didn’t lie down soon, he would be taking the risk of blacking out again. When Tashira returned from the store, she would not be happy to see her twin unconscious in his partner’s bedroom.

Lucian hobbled through the door and made his way back to his room, pausing to deliver a final message to Dominic. "You can’t run forever, Nicky! Even the lone wolf still has its pack to turn to in times of trouble. Nobody can ever truly be happy on their own." He heard a contemptuous growl followed by the slamming of a door. Dominic had no interest in listening to his advice. He was so damn stubborn. Lucian hopped onto his own bed and curled up within the sheets, still thinking about his taciturn partner.

*~*~*~*~*~*