Ray kept the car 2 miles below the speed limit as they crawled through the suburban area. She found it hard not to look suspicious given the stolen car she was driving. They'd ditched the Bureau car in a multi-storey and Xavier had broken into their current wheels, choosing it for its nondescript appearance.

'Park here,' Xavier said. His olive skin had turned ashen and his lips were white, but he continued to refuse Ray's suggestions to go to the hospital.

She parked up and switched off the engine. The street lights kept the darkness away, but the layby wasn't the most well lit area. It was just enough to watch the road behind them in case someone was following.

'We go on foot from here. Leave the keys in the ignition,' Xavier said. He gripped the doorframe as his legs shook beneath him.

Ray put his arm around her shoulders and took some of his weight as they made their way down a slope and through a broken fence to a housing estate. Xavier was breathing hard by the time he nodded to a house near the end of the row. A big hedge obscured the front garden, and a high black fence blocked out the neighbour.

'Driveway is empty. And yet the lights are on. Probably a timer. No one's emptied that post box in a while either,' he said as he pushed open the gate.

'So whoever owns this house hasn't been here in a while?'

'Exactly.' He looked around the garden and up towards the house but didn't note any cameras or alarms, not surprising given the neighbourhood. 'Did Mari teach you to pick a lock?'

'She did, but my stuff is back at the-' She cut off as he fished a small case out of his pocket. 'Sneaky,' she commended, taking it and kneeling by the door.

Within a few clicks, she stood and opened the door, looking pleased with herself.

Xavier stumbled over the threshold, and Ray caught him. She pressed her hand against his blazer, where she knew his wound was. Her stomach rolled at the squelched.

'I'll find a first aid kit,' she said as she lowered him to a dining room chair.

'And a bottle of something strong,' he whispered.

She looked through the kitchen cabinet and pulled out an unopened bottle of vodka and a glass. She took it back to Xavier and placed it on the table as he shrugged off his jacket.

Ignoring the glass, he cracked open the seal and took a deep swig as she went back to rifling through the drawers.

He popped the buttons on his shirt and poured a little of the vodka on his wound.

'Jesus,' Ray cursed as she saw the bloody hole in his abdomen. 'We should have gone to a hospital.'

'Too many questions,' he huffed.

'There'll be a lot more if you bleed to death,' she muttered as she slammed drawers shut on useless items.

Finally she spotted an ice cream tub filled with medical supplies and dashed back to the table.

'Is there a tweezers?'

She turned the tub upside down and looked between the packages. A long two prong object glinted under the overhead lights and she held it up triumphantly.

'You're going to have to pull the bullet out.'

Ray paled. 'I can't.'

'You have to. I'm about five minutes away from passing out. Use my lighter and sanitize it. Then you're going to use the butterfly stitches to close it.' He blinked as black spots danced in his eyes.

'Xavier,' she wavered.

'Ray, I need you to do this,' he mouthed.

She gritted her teeth and found his lighter.

'This is such a bad idea,' she continued to repeat as she stood over him. 'Gimme.' She took the bottle from him and swallowed a mouthful before handing it back to him.

'Salute,' Xavier said, before draining half the bottle.

She took a swab and wiped away as much blood as she could before inserting the tweezer.

Xavier flinched, but her hands held him down.

'Almost got it.'

'Hurry the fuck up,' he said through gritted teeth.

He took a big breath when the pressure on his wound ceased. Ray pulled back and dropped the bullet and the tweezers on the table. Her bloody hands found the butterfly stitches, and she set them ready.

'I think this will be worse,' she warned.

'I'm ready.' But it didn't stop him from almost vaulting out of the chair when her hand squeezed his wound together.

With shaky fingers, she placed each stitch over the wound and finally the biggest bandage she could find. It was too big, stretching the entire length of his torso, but it was better than being too small.

The black spots were taking over his vision and Xavier slumped in the chair as Ray stood looking at her bloody hands.

'Ray?'

But she didn't turn. Instead, he watched as she brought her bloody hands to her nose and sniffed.

'Ray,' he said, though it came out sounding like a deflated squeaky toy.

This time she turned just in time to watch him slump towards the table, unconscious.

The last thing he saw was Ray's eyes flashing purple before the blackness took over. 

***

The director of the Bureau stormed through the destroyed corridor until he reached an agent being secured to a gurney.

'What happened?' he demanded.

'Xavier took off with the girl,' Dylan said quickly.

'And you just let him get away?'

'I brought a vamp. She was supposed to stop them, but the girl fought her, and then Xavier killed her.'

'Of course he did. That's what he's good at. You should have brought more.'

'Most of them were too unstable,' she argued.

The Director pinched the bridge of his nose. 'Any idea where they're going?'

'I shot Xavier. The damage shouldn't have been bad enough to kill him, but he'll need to get the bullet removed and the damage treated.'

'I'll make sure the hospitals are monitored. Good work agent,' he grudgingly bit out.

He headed back to his office with purposeful steps. As soon as he shut the door, his fist connected with the wall.

'That temper will get you in trouble.'

He whirled at the deep monotone voice. It could have belonged to a jazz singer, but the man sat on the Director's settee looked anything but.

His red eyes monitored everything. His ebony hair was tied into a knot on his head and his crisp white collar was opened just enough to show a gold chain around his neck.

'You shouldn't be here, Brogue,' the Director said slowly.

Brogue shrugged. 'Such a mess, Jimmy,' he tsked. 'Had no choice but to come.'

'We'll find the girl,' the Director promised.

'And you let her get away.'

The Director sneered as he sat in his chair. 'If we had known what we had, then I can guarantee you, she wouldn't have been allowed out of her cell. You and your master were hardly forthcoming with that. We didn't even know the girl existed.'

'It was a need to know basis.'

'Worried about losing your power?'

'It should be you who is worried about losing power.'

The two men locked eyes.

'You had one job. Get in. Get the girl. And get out. Now I have a containment breach. Twenty-one agents dead, another thirty-six injured. And the girl is gone with one of the best agents the Bureau has ever seen,' argued the Director.

'When we realised the girl wasn't where you said she'd be, we had to improvise,' Brogue reasoned.

'Do you have any idea of the chaos you've caused?' the Director demanded.

Brogue's eyes narrowed, and he stood slowly. 'Do you have any idea how important it is to get that girl?'

'You've made me aware.'

'But clearly you haven't understood,' Brogue said harshly, slamming his hands on the desk. 'The girl threatens the deal between my master and the Bureau.'

'You mean she threatens your master's powers?'

Brogue pushed away from the desk. 'That's true. When she realises who she is, what she is, then she will become a threat to my master's reign. But make no mistakes, she will reveal everything and that will drag the Bureau's secrets out of the shadows. And the political storm downstairs is nothing compared to that.'

'What do you need me to do?' the Director snarled.

Brogue smiled, showing off his fangs. 'Use everything you have to find the agent and the girl. Blame the containment breach on them. Make them the most wanted people in Britain. And when you get close, call me. The girl we need alive, the agent is better off dead.'

'On that we can agree. But you may be underestimating Kowalski. It took you almost fifteen years to get close to Le Bou and Kowalski is the same breed of agent.'

'I'm sure you're resourceful enough to find them,' Brogue dismissed.

'You know I am, brother.'

'Then it shouldn't be too hard now, should it?' The vampire chuckled and withdrew a small pebble from his pocket and slid it across the desk.

The Director picked it up and watched as the polished surface gleamed. He turned and added it to the rest of his collection.

'We'll talk soon, Jimmy.'

'I won't fail,' the Director vowed.

Brogue turned back before he opened the door and stared at his brother. 'I know you won't.' And with that, he left swiftly.