Chapter Six

"What about coffins?" Tony asked

"Not since the seventeenth century, to my knowledge." I replied, darting to the my left in order to avoid a SHIELD agent carry two cups of scalding, judging by the steam, coffee.

"Garlic?" Tony asked seriously

"Myth." I rolled my eyes, never having understood where the hell that on came from. "It will be more likely to scare away your date than an immortal creature lusting after your blood."

Steve and Tony stopped in the hallway, though it took me a moment to notice, and when I realized they were no longer on either side of me, I slowly turned around to face them quizzically. They were both staring at me, bemused expressions on their faces, and I was just about to open my mouth to ask if what I said was too crass or insensitive when Tony beat me to the punch.

"Sunlight?"

"Tony, you've literally seen pictures of me in the sunlight. They are in the file." I told him instead of answering the question directly.

"Stake to the heart?" Steve asked curiously, joining in on the riveting game of quiz the vampire.

"Should I be worried you two want to know how to kill vampires so badly?" I asked with a straight face, not even letting it slip when Steve let out this startled choking sound.

"God, no! Sorry, I didn't mean- Tony was just asking and I remember this movie.." Steve would have kept rambling, I am quite sure, which would have been cute but honestly I could smell the blood as it rushed to fill his cheeks; I was hungry and the amusement was not worth the trouble of not breathing or easing the burn in my throat.

"Steve." I interjected with a raised hand, smiling at him and patting him on the shoulder. "I am fucking with you."

"Oh." Steve said, blinking at me owlishly.

"Stakes will actually make it appear as though I am dead. When the stake is removed, then…" I explained, inflecting my voice with a raspy, over dramatic Transylvanian accent for the last two words. "I'm back!"

"That is awesome. Seriously." Tony jabbered, turning right to head in the direction of the Bridge. "What's the weirdest place you've woken up, if any, after being staked?"

"Tony!" Steve hissed uncomfortably, glancing at me. "That's insensitive and per-"

"No, it is fine." I reassured Steve, waving a hand dismissively. "Okay, so it was at the turn of the Twentieth Century. Have you both heard of Jack the Ripper?"

"The famous serial killer?" Tony asked before he got an excited look on his face that was totally inappropriate but endearing nonetheless. "Please tell me you are, were?, Jack the Ripper. Don't disappoint me, Auggie. Come on. Be the Ripper."

"No, I am not nor have I ever been Jack the Ripper." I told him apologetically, stopping for a moment to realize how twisted it was that I was sorry I was not the one who became one of the most feared serial killers in history. Tony's face fell and I looked back at Steve to find him watching me as well - his face was curiously blank, actually, which was intriguing because my experience so far depicted Steve as a very expressive person. I filed it away to be revisited at another time, turning my attention back to Tony.

"I did know Jack the Ripper though." I said slyly, lips twitching when I saw excitement fill his face once again.

"You have to tell me who it is!:" Tony exclaimed

"He was a vampire, a mentally disturbed vampire - something that is not as uncommon as you would think." I said as we walked down the hall, Tony hanging on every word eagerly awaiting for me to reveal who the serial killer was while Steve had now reverted back to looking as though he were one of the people staring at an awful car accident but they could not look away. I shook Steve from my thoughts as I focused on the story again. "His name was James Maybrook and at the time he was posing as a cotton merchant in Liverpool. Well at this point in my life I was… a lot different from who I am today, obviously, as a hundred years will change a lot."

:"I read about Jack the Ripper in passing while I was trying to find my sister, Mina. When I heard about Jack the Ripper I found myself changing my course to London instead. It seemed like the work of an amateur vampire, granted I was still quite young as well back then - maybe six years old at this point?" I mused, thinking on the old days always left a melancholy feeling deep in my stomach as well as a heavy feeling where my unbeating heart sat inside my chest. "Anyway, to make a long story short, I tracked the Ripper down and the bastard got the jump on me. The 'only a stake to their unbeating heart will kill a vampire' thing was quite prominent back in those days and, the sorry excuse for a vampire that he was, he tried to kill me like a mortal."

"What do you mean like a mortal?" Steve interrupted curiously

"Well, vampires are kind of strange in the fact that they remain parts of their humanity but we have instincts. Urges, almost, to challenge one another." I explained slowly, thinking of the least awful way to explain vampire Hierarchy to Steve Rogers, Captain America - I shook my head to get focused, finishing up the answer to Steve's question and then what really happened. "Anyway, we know how to kill one another. It was strange that he used a stake in the heart because it went against his very urges but, as I mentioned earlier, he was very mentally disturbed."

"That's common amongst vampires?" Tony questioned before I could continue. At my reprimanding glower he apologized even though he did not look 'sorry' at all.

"Yes, it is quite common. It happens when they cannot come to terms with who they have become - they cannot accept the fact that they are cursed." I explained softly, remembering some of the kind people who I had killed because they asked to do so in order to avoid the curse. "Oftentimes they will starve themselves, refusing to give in to the urge to feed, which will make them sick - then the hallucinations begin, quickly followed by a haze of anger, resentment, and bloodlust that they never remember… if they survive the rampage."

"Going back to the original question." I carried on quickly, unwilling to get sidetracked again by anyone at the table. "So, Mr. Maybrook staked me and I was out for what I learned eventually was three days. It was a medical examiner who had yanked the steak out of my heart, bringing me back to consciousness."

"I was very naked and very angry, so I stormed off with minimal snarling and headed straight for the door. I must have used more strength than necessary, I was still somewhat young and it is hard to figure out the scale for things."

At that point in the conversation Steve was nodding emphatically. It took me a moment to connect the dots but then I remembered he had quite the increase in abilities much in the same way a vampire would. Tony was looking between the mutual mixed feeling of amusement, embarrassment, and exasperation dealing with super strength is when you first receive it.

"You know how when you crack an egg you just hit it against the side of a bowl?" I asked Tony, waiting for him to nod and smirking as Steve's blue eyes connected with mine - I had caught the wince he made when I said the word egg. He totally did this as well when he got his strength. "Well, let's just say I was just flicking my fingernails against it and it still just kept shattering. It's very frustrating."

"So, I am naked, pissed off, and still healing from the autopsy that the medical examiner had already begun performing. On the other side of the door was this forty year old italian woman who shrieked when she saw me, flinging herself down on the ground and babbling in italian, which I didn't speak fluently but I knew a word or two. She kept saying god a lot and then called me an angel, or maybe lucifer?"

"Well, she would not stop staring at my…" I trailed off, thinking off the most appropriate word to use but giving up after a second because it was just Steve and Tony. "At my little Auggie and the family jewels, if you know what I mean, so I asked her to stop praying to god and if she knew where I could find a towel. All this in broken italian."

"Imagine my surprise when the woman, who moments ago was on the floor babbling about in an odd mix of fear and captivation, slapped the holy hell right out of me." I deadpanned, lips twitching at the sound of Steve's full out belly laugh and the chuckles from Tony. "What I found out later was I butchered my Italian to inappropriate levels and that apparently trumped beautiful, naked, and cut up immortal creature."

"What did you say?" Tony asked genuinely curious.

"I, unknowingly, asked if she would get off the floor and come here, pray to god and clean me off. She thought I meant stop praying, come and suck my dick, and then you can get back on the floor. A lot of it was the time period we were in." I commented

"You have lived such a crazy life." Steve said from beside me, both of us leaning against a grey wall casually.

"Some points, yes, but I had boring years as well." I said, smiling a little as memories from the peaceful years flashed in my mind. "I actually spent half a decade raising cattle."

"What happened, did you get thirsty and lose the herd?" Tony joked

"No." I replied dryly, keeping a straight face and my tone light. "Well, no to the insinuation that I drank the blood of all the cows. I actually got overzealous while fucking the man who ran the slaughterhouse that BROUGHT the cows - he ended up drained and I went out of business."

Steve and Tony both blanched at my casual remark about murder, using the same conversational tone of voice one might use while referencing the weather. I was truly jesting, I have not lost control over myself to murder unintentionally for over a hundred years. The joke did not go over well at all, something I should have expected considering who my audience was. Steve stopped and I observed his posture, tense with almost every muscle clenched, with regret.

"Let me go ahead and make something abundantly clear to you, Dr. Harker." Steve ground out through clenched teeth and a look of pure, unadulterated loathing on his face. "While you may have a disgustingly casual disregard for human life, you will not do so while you work with me."

"I apologize, Steve, it was a distasteful attempt at humour." I said remorsefully

"Mr. Rogers or Captain will be fine, Dr. Harker." Steve informed me stiffly.

"As you wish, Captain Rogers." I acknowledged, lowering my eyes from his own vivid blue.

"If I ever hear you speaking like that again, I will do my best to ensure you are booted off not only this mission but every single one afterwards as well." Steve continued, back straight and his voice as cold as winters in Siberia. "I may not have the authority but it will be the only option they have that has me remaining. I will not work with a monster, that is the kind of thing we were assembled to stop."

"Understood, Captain." I agreed, my body stiff and voice level as I spoke. "If you have nothing else you wish to say, I will retire to my quarters presently. Please request my presence if there is a need or if there are any developments I should be aware of. Good evening, Gentleman."

I nodded jerkily to them both before turning on my heel and striding back down the hall we had just come from. Though this was supposed to be the first time all of us involved in the Avenger's Initiative were present in the same room, I needed time to gather myself after that conversation. Truly, it was the memories that came unbidden from Steve's insinuation that were attempting to come to the surface. One of the biggest problems I have with being a vampire is the memory. Unlike most humans, Vampires have amazing memories - they are required to because it is necessary in order to retain and organize the knowledge and experience that comes with so many years of 'life'. Without the ability to compartmentalize, organize, and recall our memories we would be incapable of functioning.

The way I imagine it would be if our minds were as normal as they were in our mortal lives reminds me of Alzheimer's disease. Constantly forgetting things, time seeming like something constantly speeding up or slowing down, inability to recall something quickly - it would be like trying to find a rock in quicksand while you slowly sink. It would be enough to drive anyone crazy.

I made my way to the room assigned by SHIELD, opening the door and reflexively checking that nothing had been moved since I left. My entire body was still and I did not even draw breath as I took in every detail of the room. It was scary how quickly I fell into old habits; checking for any sign of intruders was the first step, then anything around the room disturbed or misplaced, checking for traps in various places capable of hiding a bomb or a gas. It was only when I was satisfied that not even a hair was out of place that I relaxed slightly.

I went straight for my duffle bag, unzipping it hurriedly, and pulled out a blood bag, tearing a hole in the plastic bag with my sharp fangs. I let the familiar taste soothe my nerves slightly, easing the burning in the back of my throat. The blood was not half as pleasant cold but I did not desire to be out of my room with my emotions attempting to sort themselves out.

Shoving the emotions down only prolonged the time one had before being required to deal with them or face having to deal with an emotional breakdown, endangering the lives of anyone with blood flowing in their veins nearby. Not for the first time I wished I could call Camilla; I found myself missing her warm, non-judgemental voice that came along with good humor and motherly tendencies. I know she and Piper are fine, living safe back home, but I wanted to speak to her so I could reassure myself anyway.

I lashed out, my leg a blur as it smashed into the metal bunk bed and I grimaced slightly when the leg dented. I growled lowly, hating the stupid rule about not contacting my little adopted family while working with them unless for an emergency. I paced back and forth in the small room, feeling much like how I imagine a lion would in a cage, and controlled my breathing. I counted down from five hundred three times before I felt calm enough to lay down. Making up my mind, I kicked off my boots and got underneath the covers, choosing to remain in my clothes just in case. Sleep would aid me in sorting myself out and I would feel much better when I awoke - the reason I hesitated was because I was afraid of the memories I would have to experience before I woke up.

I reached up pale, smooth fingers to the red scarf wrapped firmly around my throat. My throat was itching though there was nothing new about that because it has been yet another constant reminder of the 'adventure' shared between the two people closest to me in this world. Unconsciously, my hand lifted the scarf slightly so that I could feel the rough scar tissue being hidden underneath it while I remembered black eyes that matched the color of its soul, what was once human but is no longer - if it even has a soul. If I even have a soul.

"Augustus." Jonathan's sharp and reprimanding tone cut through my absent minded actions and startled me back to reality, the memories still haunting the back of my mind as they always were.

:"Sorry." I murmured, looking around the tiny pub. We were in a booth in the back of the room, most likely so hidden by the shadows and thick smoke lingering in the room no one would be able to pierce the haze to see my actions if they even desired to do so. Still, Jonathan did hate it when I did anything someone could label 'strange' - even more so when it was in a public place, such as this establishment.

"Do not apologize." Jonathan snapped, his voice brittle and reprimanding. "Must I always remind you? We are in public."

"I know, Jonathan." I replied with a gloomy sigh under my breath.

"I do not like it anymore than you do, Gus." Jonathan smiled sadly, reaching out towards me. I felt a bloom of hope in my chest, one that was instantly replaced with the same emptiness that has been in place for two months now. I thought Jonathan was reaching to grab my hand under the table but he merely patted my shoulder before raising the collar of my jacket. Raising the jacket was the real intention all along, I knew, because he feared what anyone would do should they find out about my condition.

*... Or maybe he is just ashamed of you.* a soft female voice whispered acidically in mind.

*Shut up.* I hissed internally, closing my eyes and willing the voice to go away. *Jonathan would never be ashamed of me. He's protecting me.*

*Maybe you are right and he isn't ashamed.* She reasoned, making my eyes snap open suspiciously. I noticed Jonathan was gone again but I was too focused right now to care why. She never agreed, not on things like that. *Maybe he is so disgusted by the new you and those horrendous scars.*

*Please, Wilhelmina.* I whimpered, not caring how pathetic my begging sounded - anything to get her to stop saying out loud the fears that haunt me. The fears that I dare not say she would shout from rooftops and wave them in the air for me to see. *Mina, if there was ever a day that you felt love for me, please stop this.*

*Tsk,tsk. Come now, Augustus. Giving up so easily? That is not like you.* Mina all but purred inside my mind, making me cringe and shiver in equal parts with both delight and disgust as I felt a flash of pleasure and amusement come from her end of the connection between our minds. *You know how it feels to feed, do you not? You can feel the pleasure I do as he fucks me and the absolute euphoria I experience when his precious, sweet blood pools in my mouth?*

*Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven.* I prayed, trying to push Mina's voice away as I focused on the words.

*How long has it been since he has touched you, I wonder? Properly, I mean, not as an excuse to make sure you are covered up.* Mina wonders cruelly, her words razor sharp with the intention to torture me despite the mockingly sympathetic tone. She laughed, the sound echoing in my head. *When was the last time he said that he loved you? It has been, what, the night he found out you were still… not dead?*

*Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive our trespasses.* I thought louder, clinging onto each word in the same manner a starving man would breadcrumbs - knowing it is not enough to make the pangs of hunger go away but in your head it may ease your suffering to know you had them. *As we forgive those who have trespassed against us.*

*How long has it been since he has fucked you?* Mina bluntly asked caustically, her voice going from soft and musical to cold and flat - it no longer caught me off guard because whether it was with her honey sweet voice or the one made from iron, all the words hurt equally. My fingers trembled as I put them together in the normal position one does when praying - this made Mina cackle in delight. *I wonder who he HAS been fucking? Did Johnny not go after cunt before he met you? I bet he would go back, what about you?*

*And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.* I whispered into my mind, feeling the ache in my throat worsen even as I could feel Mina being sated in every way one could be.

*You know, I bet it does not really matter to him at all.* Mina stated lazily, as though the idea just stumbled into her head. *Cunt or an arse, I mean. Anything as long as it is not the infected, disgusting, and used creature you turned into, right? You know, I bet he is not even really checking on a 'lead' right now.*

*For thine is the kingdom.* I prayed desperately, forcing the tears gathering in my eyes to not fall. Reminding myself that I trust Jonathan, I always have and this changes nothing.

*Poor, delusional Augustus.* Mina crooned sarcastically *This changes everything. He does not tell you because he is AFRAID of you. Not too afraid to find someone new in each town but too afraid to leave.*

*And the Power..* One tear escaped but I quickly rubbed my eyes on the red scarf hanging off of my shoulder. God will see me through this.

*How on Earth could anyone be as clueless as you?* Mina asked incredulously, condescension hanging from every word she spit out at me. *It has been the same story for months. You go into town, he finds a 'lead' and he always leave at night to follow up on them, leaving you to drink the blood of swine and chickens.*

*And the Glory..* I cannot go with him because these people know about my kind of disease. They are not trusting, they would not be alive and working with my kind of people if they were.

*A nice excuse for everything. At least you did not 'fall in love' with a bloody dunce." Mina snorted derisively on the word love but I ignored it. I ignored everything nowadays and it was quickly becoming my strongest skill. *No, what he is really doing is getting roaring drunk off your money and fucking whores until the sun comes up. Then he finds you and takes you both away before anyone can say he fucked a whore.*

*Forever and ever..* I gripped my head tightly in between my two hands. My head is pounding like english war drums right before battle, my throat itching and calling to get sated by the unquenchable thirst. My fangs were practically begging to be let out.

"Poor, delusional Gus.* Mina mocked heartlessly and a rush of victorious pride rushed down from her side of the link along with the knowledge that a naked man was just sucked dry, waiting to be found by his daughters while Mina left the house. *I want to ask a fortune teller this question: Will Gus stay with Jonathan Harker while he fucks his way through every cunt in the land, spends all of Gus's money, and finally find what he is looking for - a way to kill him and still be the one to receive the fortune?*

*Amen.* I finished, rocking back and forth in a curled up position in the booth. The link between Mina and myself was getting stronger, it seemed, despite the distance between us. I could feel everything tonight and it felt like she was watching me, right now. I sighed in relief when there were no more thoughts or feelings being sent to me, just dead silence.

*Oh, Gus.* Mina said slowly, her voice putting me on edge because it sounded genuinely sympathetic. It reminded me of when we were so close that we would be able to tell what the other was thinking without a spoken word between us. A picture came to my mind then and her voice was back to the now familiar cruel, twisted version. *You have smelt it on him, the cunt he has been tending too, and now he even has the gall to fuck a little boy who has not even seen sixteen summers? Will it take him cutting off your head to make you see he hates you?*

A picture, one that came in my mind's eye as clear as day, had the man who told me he loved me thrusting into the arse of a boy who did not even have a hint of whiskers on his face. I dismissed it, wanting to find a trough to vomit into at the sick mental image she conjured up… until I saw it.

Since we arrived back in England, we have been traveling around the country. It had been miserable and I can only remember one time when things were almost like normal - it was when I saw a patch, displaying the scales of justice, and I bought it for Jonathan. That very night, now two weeks ago, I sewed it onto his favorite jacket and he was chuffed to bits, strutting around jokingly and even kissing me on the cheek as a thank you.

The same patch that was on the coat and there was no way for Mina to know about it - unless she was stalking him right now. I had no doubt that it was a trick, a trap to lure me out, but she was threatening Jonathan.

I was out of my seat and through the door in less than thirty seconds. I could smell Jonathan and I followed his tracks carefully, my feet crunching in the snow as my eyes scanned the surrounding area for any sign of Mina, seeing in the dark just as well as I could in the day ever since I was turned.

I was a mess of anxiety, tension, and worry as I made my way through the streets - winding the same trail Jonathan had earlier. Finally I came to a much less populated street ad I saw footsteps, two sets, turning into an alley that could fit the one Mina pushed into my head.

"Ugh, bloody hell…"

My ears perked up instantly and I felt the hair on my neck standing up as well. That was not Jonathan's voice but it sounded like someone may have been in pain. There was something not quite right but I knew hesitation could be fatal right now so I approached the alleyway after shoving my insecurity to the side.

"Jesus, fuck. Nghe." Jonathan was panting as he groaned and I heard it, the sound of flesh slapping flesh. It caused me to stop for a half second, wondering if I should just head back to the pub and pretend that I had been asleep. I knew I could not do that, I would never be able to do that, so I steeled myself and turned the corner.

"Fuck!" I watched Jonathan groan as he thrust deep inside the lithe, writhing mess of limbs pushed down onto the ground. Jonathan's ass flexed as he drove into the boy over and over again, the image of the boys tanned back and arse pushing back to meet every thrust burned into my mind forever. I could smell a sudden spike of fear in the alley and it took me a moment to realize they noticed I was watching them.

"Please, do not stop on my account." I growled sarcastically, performing the universal gesture to continue what they were doing. My entire body was shaking and it confused me since I did not feel the cold anymore - it took only a moment to realize that my body was growling so loudly it was shaking.

"Gus..?" Jonathan asked, having the nerve to sound confused which did nothing to stop the rage come out of nowhere and swallow me.

"DON'T CALL ME THAT." I snarled, crouching down a little and finally letting my fangs swing free.

"Okay, okay." Jonathan listened, putting his hands out in a calming gesture. That was when the kid decided to run. "Gus, No!"

I was in front of the kid and had his throat ripped out before Jonathan could even move his foot for a second step. Maliciously, I threw the blood covered piece of bone to Jonathan's feet.

"Wha-?" Jonathan was dumbstruck and I stalked forward, watching steadily as he flinched as I silently drew close to him. Jonathan glanced from me, to the body of the boy, and to the part of bloodied spine laying at his feet. Jonathan finally lifted his eyes off the body part and he quickly jerked his arm to his jacket, reaching for something in the pocket, but his eyes widened and went to his throat instead.

"Oh god." I moaned in agony, my tongue felt heavy in my mouth as I said the words, disbelieving and pained. I was there in a blur of movement, cradling him against my chest as all of the blood came rushing out of his throat. "No, no."

"S'okay." Jonathan tried to say, touching my hand.

"I-I would never, I did not mean.. I do not know what happened.."

" I-I know. D-drink." Jonathan reassured me, moving his wrists to my mouth with his eyes looking into mine urgently. The eyes of a desperate man. I shook my head, not willing to add drinking him to the list after I hurt him… I couldn't. Jonathans eyes pleaded and he gurgled out the word please, drowned out by the blood welling up in the back of his throat.

"Forgive me." I whispered, closing my eyes and sinking my teeth into his veins. I closed my eyes as the pure bliss of drinking fresh blood came over me - better than any drug could ever hope to be. It was while I was drinking that the memories came.

Jonathan meeting up with some bald headed guy, laughing at something he said.

Jonathan watching me with a sad smile but obvious love written on his face that I had not seen for months, which made my heart hurt.

Jonathan finding a piece of paper in a book, shoving it into the jacket he was wearing tonight, in the same pocket. There were illegible notes on it for the brief seconds I saw it but it made Jonathan extremely happy.

Jonathan walking out of the man's house and turning down the street, whistling a song I have not heard him whistle since before I was bitten. A happy song.

Jonathan turning into an alleyway and on the other side, Mina - dressed in a tight corset top and tight trousers, a devilish smirk on her normally beautiful face - a cruel mockery of the sweet girl she used to be.

"Oh god…" my voice broke as I let out a shuddering breath when the memories stopped, showing Mina compelling Jonathan and the boy to shag one another.

"C're" Jonathan said weakly, eyes glancing heavily towards his jacket. "Promise?"

"No, I do not promise." I cried desperately, beginning to shake from the sobs coming out of my body. "I-I do not promise so.. so you can not leave me."

"Gus? It will be oka-" Jonathan's eyes were beginning to slip shut and I closed my eyes tight to avoid seeing the life leave him.

"Please no, please. Jonathan? Please?" I begged, crying and holding his body against mine. The snow around us was pink from blood spray along with my lips and hands stained a dark red from the direct contact. I smoothed out Jonathan's curls from out of his eyes, wiping blood on his eyelids accidentally. "I cannot do this without you. You are going to be okay, you said, but what about me? What about me, Jonny?"

"Wow. I bet that hurts like a bloody bitch." Mina comments, making my head snap up at the sound of her voice. "Turns out.. He loves you after all! Huh, who would have guessed it."

"Why?" I asked lowly, anger and numbness filling my stomach.

"He was in the way." Mina shrugged, a sharp smile spreading across her face right after. "Besides, I told you, no one is good enough for my baby brother."

A/N: Thank you for the lovely encouragement everyone! Hopefully next Chapter will be posted tomorrow!

Playlist: Song - Artist - Scene

Bad Moon Rising - Creedence Clearwater Revival - Tony questions Auggie

You Said You'd Grow Old With Me - Nightcore Version - Auggie finds Jonathan in the Alley.

Thank you so much for the lovely reviews! I hope to see more today! Let me know your thoughts on the chapter and another part of Auggie's past?