"Come on McGee! It's just a graveyard!" Abby called out to McGee in frustration as he lagged behind her and Tony.

"Well I'm sorry but I still think it's a bit weird to have a party in a graveyard" Tim groused as he threw another look over his shoulder. He was sure someone was watching him in the darkness but every time he looked there was nothing.

"It's not weird. Besides I'm sure all the dead people wished they were having fun like us. If they could talk I'm sure they would be encouraging us to have fun…while we can!"

Tony laughed as he strode along besides Abby, her velvet cloak rippling out behind her.

"Not helping Abbs" Tim frowned as he felt that prickle down his neck again.

((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((

The vampire watched the three of them from the shadows and smiled. He was beautiful. Yes he would make a fine companion. Tall, intelligent, expressive eyes. He had a rich complexion, dark slightly curling thick locks and the beauty of the chiseled planes of his face matched his easy physical grace as he walked through the long grass around the gravestones.

Dante briefly touched his mind. Just a whisper. Just enough to feel his excitement and the joy of teasing his friend.

Anthony DiNozzo.

Yes he was the one he had been waiting for. But it was more than his looks. Underneath the swagger and bravado there was such vulnerability and hurt. A wealth of untapped emotions. Fear, desire, uncertainty, confidence all conflicted and ran through this man. This excited Dante far more than he could express. A dozen human life times had come and gone and each time he felt himself growing further away from his own emotions.

Dante hungered not for blood but to feel again. To be connected to something, someone.

When he was a young vampire and he had heard of others searching for a companion he had sneered at them. Fools! They were immortal. They were powerful. Why yearn to be shackled to a mortal and all their petty worries and concerns? And yet millennia after millennia had rolled past and he watched humans as they wept from joy and sorrow, laughed through fear and happiness and cried out to him in the night.

Anthony DiNozzo cried out to him whether he knew it or not. His soul was searching too. Searching for something to fill the hidden emptiness in his heart.

Dante had tracked his souls cry over weeks, scenting him, tasting him through the night sky. It was easier late at night when 'Tony' was alone in the dark. It was then that Dante could feel his pain, his regret as he contemplated his past and he dropped the foolish bravado that had become like an armour around his heart. It was then as Tony sat in the dark, alone in his apartment with the photos of his past glories in one had and a glass of hard liquor in the other that Dante could practically feel a wash of emotions running through him.

Tony.

And now he was here watching him and his two friends, the Goth girl and the boy.

Waiting.

Waiting for his chance to introduce himself to the man he hoped would become his companion.

(So trying for a bit of different style for me here. Let me know what you think. Precious)