::comes out of hibernation:: Sequel time! Yes folks, DVG has finally lived up to her word and has started the long ago promised sequel to Blood Lust! ::sweatdrop:: For anyone who hasn't looked at my profile, I had already posted a teaser in my LiveJournal account, which would be a good place to check in every once and a while for more teasers and information to questions people may have in their reviews. I would have had this chapter up sooner, but Tuesday was my one year anniversary with my boyfriend...So yeah, for obvious reasons, I've been unavailable for the past two days and thus the posting of the fic was slightly delayed. Anyways, I'm being a babbling idiot, so I'm just going to continue on with the AN...

Disclaimers: I do not own the rights to Gundam Wing or anything related to it, nor do I own the concept of vampires and slayers and empaths, nor any of things I don't own that may be mentioned in this fic...so please don't sue, I'm as broke as any other otaku out there.

Warnings: This -is- a sequel, so I suggest for anyone who hasn't read Blood Lust go and do so now if you wish to before reading this fic or you will be hopelessly lost. Shounen-ai, shoujo-ai, Alternate Universe, angst, violence, rare moments of fluffy sappiness, extreme bishie-torture, some OOC-ness, supernatural elements, swearing, death, and I think you get the picture.

Pairings: Present 2x5, 3x4, Noin/Une, Past 6x13, 13-5, 1-5, 1-2, Noin/Sally...possible future 1x2x5 and there's also some surprise pairings that are going to crop up after the revelations of our mysterious new characters.

AN: Also, this fic is set to be roughly five to six months after Blood Lust. Thought you might like to know that.

I think that's it, so...I hope you enjoy! :)

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Midnight Masquerade

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"So are you going to come back and help us?"

"It depends. That was quite the tale you told me. Why did you not come to me sooner?"

"Well, I-"

"Never mind. So this slayer, this Duo, he is the one who is behind the misfortune and corruption?"

"...Yes."

"Tell me, what does he look like?"

"A deceptively petite frame, lithe, long brown hair in a braid, violet eyes."

"Hmm...I think I just might stop in and pay a visit. After our little chat, I think I also need to straighten out a few things regarding my son."

"Thank you, I don't know how we would have done this otherwise."

"Save the unctuous tone for someone who will give a damn. Just make sure he doesn't find out of my arrival despite precautions I have already taken."

"As you wish. We'll see you soon."

"Indeed."

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"Come on, sleepyhead, it's time to get up," Wufei smiled, kissing his lover's bare shoulder as he ran his fingers through his unbound chestnut hair.

Duo muttered something unintelligible and burrowed further into the heat of the blankets.

"Don't make me be mean now, you know how much I don't like being mean when I'm waking you up."

"Like hell you don't," he cracked one bleary amethyst eye open and stuck his tongue out.

Wufei pretended to look hurt and put a hand over his heart. "You wound me."

Duo chuckled, stretching languidly beside the Asian like a cat. "When did you become such a ham, 'Fei?" he smirked.

"Well, it's hard not to when you have the King Ham himself sleeping with you," he smirked back.

To anyone that knew them, it was hard to believe that just a few months before Wufei had been a miserable, tortured vampire and Duo the slayer that had hunted him down and would have killed him had he not agreed to help Wufei in his pursuit of mortality. In the end, what was supposed to be a small and simple plan turned into a huge catastrophic mess. Of course, it didn't help that they had killed two extremely influential vampires and a few of their underlings in order to achieve their goal.

Wufei still felt guilt-ridden about how everything had turned out, even though his sleep was plagued with nightmares of when Treize and Zechs had turned him and the pain he had gone through until he met Duo.

"What are you thinking so hard about, Wu?" Duo asked, stroking the side of his face.

"It's nothing, wo ai, so don't worry," he reassured, taking hold of his hand and kissing the inside of his palm.

He stared deep into Wufei's eyes. "All right, if you say so," he said finally, giving his Chinese beau a smile and a quick peck on the lips before rolling lazily out of bed.

Wufei watched amusedly as Duo rummaged around through piles of clothes in search of something clean to wear. He wasn't the only one who had nightmares though, for the past two days he had been roused by a trembling Duo holding onto him as if his life depended on it while whispering disjointed things. He shook his head to clear it as he got up and dressed. So far, their other partners Quatre and Trowa hadn't shown any concern, and knowing the blonde as well as he did, if it were something important he would step in and try to help out. Wufei decided to wait another day to see if the nightmares returned and then he would bring the subject up. He just couldn't get rid of the heavy feeling of foreboding that had begun to creep into his subconscious.

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"It's about time you two came out," Quatre admonished playfully as Duo and Wufei entered the living room and started loading up. "I swear, we're going to have to separate you two if you keep this up, or we'll never get our duties accomplished."

"Okay, okay, yeesh," Duo waved off impatiently, attaching his gun holster to his belt along with some spare clips. "Sorry Q, I've just been a bitch to wake up lately, but I'll be better about it I promise."

An odd expression clouded the empath's features but it was quickly replaced with his usual cheerful one as Trowa walked through the front door with a tall blonde woman at his side.

"Look who I found downstairs," the unibanged slayer said, shutting the door behind them as Quatre ran over and hugged the woman.

"What are you doing here? Is everyone else here too?" he beamed, leading her over to Duo and Wufei. "Wufei, this is my sister Irea."

"You didn't bring the rest of the circus with you, did you?" Duo asked as she shook Wufei's hand.

"No, not yet at any rate," Irea replied, smiling somewhat somberly. "I came into town to assess the situation first before bringing in the troops."

"At least we don't have twenty-eight other women to worry about," Wufei made a face. "Or those crazy Maganacs. I've heard enough about them from you three that I don't think I want a first hand experience."

Quatre chose to ignore the remark about his siblings as he got serious. "So what's the big situation that's brought you here?"

"Well, that's the thing, we're not sure," she shrugged indifferently. "That's why I'm here to check it out. There's been rumors going around of a major power shift in the underground and that one of the sovereign vampires is traveling this way."

"We've heard about the disputes going on, but we hadn't heard anything about any actual takeovers or of an envoy coming here," Quatre mused.

"I think Wufei and I should pay a visit to Heero," Duo cut in. "It's been a while since we last saw him, and he'd be the one to ask about this mess."

Irea looked from him to Quatre curiously. "Who is Heero? You didn't tell me you had a new informant."

Trowa gave a derisive snort. "He helped us out a while back."

"I used to live with him," Wufei added. "Heero had taken me in when I was turned, I can't say he was the greatest roommate...in fact, he's probably one of the worst I could've had, he did some pretty shitty things, but he straightened out in the end and got us out of a sticky situation."

"How do you always find the troublemakers, little brother?" she asked jokingly.

"I'm just lucky I guess," the empath smiled brightly. "Alright Duo, you and Wufei go and see Heero while Irea, Trowa and I hit the streets. We'll meet back up here at our usual time."

Duo mock saluted. "Aye, aye captain."

"King Ham indeed," Wufei muttered, rolling his onyx eyes. "Let's go, your Highness, before you embarrass yourself further."

Irea laughed as he dragged the protesting braided slayer out of the apartment.

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Heero sat on his usual stool at the end of the bar, his Prussian gaze wandering critically over the completed renovation job that had been done to the club formerly known as The Marquis. Having Noin constantly on his ass and having the mood swings from Hades after he had taken over got old very quick, so he had decided to occupy her with redesigning the nightspot.

Of course, the rationale behind her complaining was... completely validated. But he surely wasn't going to admit that to her any time soon if he wanted to live.

For all that Noin and her partner Une knew when Heero claimed The Marquis as his, the original owners, Zechs and Treize, had been killed in a fight he had orchestrated between them and a group of slayers. Which in itself -was- true, he had been trying to get revenge on Wufei for betraying him and Duo for choosing the Chinese man over him. What he had failed to mention was that the slayers didn't kill them, he had killed them himself with Duo's gun, an act that was even worse of a betrayal than what Wufei had committed.

Thinking of Duo and Wufei...they hadn't come by to see him in a long time. Another thing Heero didn't want to admit was that he enjoyed when they were with him, he didn't know what it was, but something about them being around just made his nocturnal existence a little more comfortable.

'They've turned you into a soft fool, Yuy,' Heero thought disdainfully, turning his attention back to the club.

Noin had renamed the place Midnight Masquerade and replaced the smooth jazzy atmosphere with a more sinister, decadent edginess. The colors of all the décor and walls were black with splashes of crimson. The tables were low to the floor with glass tops and black lacquer legs with half circle plush couches that hugged around them for people to lounge in. In the back end of the club, the partially walled off secluded area where Heero had had his initial discussion with Zechs had been knocked out and a stage had been installed with a dance floor. The lighting was even a dim red and in the center of the tables there were candleholders in the shapes of potion bottles. Even the bar counter got a makeover, going from finished wood to obsidian marble.

She had clearly let out her anger out on the remodeling, but Heero didn't care. Let her vent, it was Zechs and Treize's money she was blowing and she had done a remarkable job, it had a nice adrenaline rush feeling to it. It would attract the more modern style vampires and drive out the old aristocratic bats who had been hanging around and watching Heero, making him even more paranoid than normal.

The employees came in through the doors and started going about their routine as Heero got up. He went through the entrance behind the bar and up the narrow staircase that led to the flat.

"Noin, Une, we're opening up in a few minutes, so if you want one last look at the place before it's overrun, you better go now," he called through the door.

There were some dull thuds and staggering movements. "W-we'll be out in a second!" Une shouted back, sounding flustered.

Heero felt his lips curl as he shook his head, 'Figures.'

The door opened and the brunette came out, followed by a purple haired woman in the same state of disarray, smoothing down their hair and clothes while trying to look dignified. Noin shot a glare at him as they walked past and descended down into the club. The place had already begun to fill up when the three emerged from the stairwell. Noin and Une went off to the tables as Heero resumed his position at the bar counter, fully expecting another long, dull night ahead.

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Heh, Heero seems to be the expert at interrupting at just the wrong moments...X3

Chapter 2 should be along soon, I've already got it started and I'm on a roll with writing, between starting this fic and working on my Harry Potter story. I love all the free time summer gives you...

Like it? Hate it? Think it's a complete and utter waste of computer space? Feedback is much appreciated! :)