Mad Jyhad

I awoke to the most beautiful sight I had ever seen.

Nightwing was sitting beside me looking down into my face, his hand stroking my hair. His mask was off and his gloves lay by his side.

I glanced around and realized that I was lying in Sabastian's bed. His ever-present pillows lay haphazardly around the room and scattered across the bed. Black silk sheets made a watery pattern underneath us in the half-light.

"Hey." he whispered.

"Hey back." I blinked up in surprise. "What happened?"

"Joker's dead, the last of his men are dead. The Malks have effectively wiped clean everyone's memories of the last couple of days. They even managed to get close enough to Superman and J'onn that they were able to suppress if not completely clear their minds. Everything has pretty much been quieted down. The official story stands that Joker busted out, busted out some of his buddies then killed them in a fit of pique. Harley and the Joker died in a fire under the ruins. Very clean, very tidy. Never would have believed it of the Prince of Gotham." Nightwing told me, all the while stroking my hair.

"Sounds like I missed a lot." I tried to sit up but he pushed me back down onto the bed.

"Rest. They said that the Joker's death took a lot out of you." He smoothed my hair again and looked pensively to the side.

"It's not what you think. Not really. I will admit that the bloodletting part was very arousing, the whole act is, but the blood bond we had was one of familiarity and domination, not of affection or love. The one I proposed to you...that IS of affection and love, I would not be able to command you or will you into obedience. If anything you would have the ability to resist me..."

"I'm...I'm not worried about that." Nightwing looked back at me. "I'm a little uncomfortable with the whole sixties free love thing vampires seem to have going on. I'm still human. Maybe I'll understand when I've been turned..."

"The bond would insure that I could and would only be with you. It is a commitment for eternity." I struggled to sit back up and again he placed his hand on my chest.

"I know...I know that. It is a HUGE commitment. And it is forever. If I were to die..." He gestured helplessly.

"I was already ready for final death. The only thing that really keeps me going is you."

"And that is not right! You should have MORE keeping you going than just ME!" Nightwing jumped up and started to pace, "From a psychological viewpoint alone..."

"DICK!"

He jumped and turned to glare.

"Dick," I said softer, "Are we forgetting something? Psychological viewpoint? Dick, I'm a Malkavian...you are in for a long wait if you are waiting for me to be psychologically sound!"

Dick sat slumped back down onto the bed. "And that's another thing..."

"I'm a Malk, and you will be a Gangrel." I grimaced.

"I could be a..." He hedged.

"No, I won't bring you into the clan even if Sabastian gave permission. This is...no kind of life for you."

"And therein lies the problem...could I handle being with someone with...special problems for all eternity?" Nightwing rubbed his arms.

I felt my heart drop, my un-beating dead heart that had no right to feel that bad. "I had no right to ask." My voice sounded far away to my own ears. Faint and hoarse. "If you ask, I'm sure that someone, perhaps even Sabastian, could clear your mind for you, forget all about me..."

"I don't WANT to forget all about you!" Nightwing yelled. "I don't want...I don't want you to be gone again!"

I sighed. "Then perhaps I can go to another city. I think Andrew said something about going west...maybe..."

"NO!" Nightwing grabbed my shoulders. "Besides, I doubt Sabastian would let you go!"

"True, sounds like the best bet is to wipe your and Batman's memory...Alfred and Oracle's, oh and we should get Spoiler and uh...Batgirl...did Black Canary find out?" I pondered as I went through the list. "Oh yeah, better do all of Young Justice. When I came out...as a vampire that is...I should have just taken out a full-page ad. It would have had the same results."

I knew I was babbling. I was talking to try and stem the hurt. I knew that it wouldn't work out but to actually face it? It was difficult to bear.

He was shaking his head but I continued to ignore it.

"Dick, you should go." I said quietly.

"I don't want to go!" Dick said. Exasperated, he ran a hand through his hair.

"Then, I should."

I stood up on shaky legs and made my way to the doorway. He spun me around before I could open the door and held me against the wall. "That isn't acceptable, either!"

"Well, what is?" I yelled.

The kiss was a shock, unexpected. It was also electrifying. He broke the kiss first and pulled away. He whispered, "I don't want...I want..."

Dick closed his eyes lowering his forehead to mine.

"What do you want?" I asked. "I would give you almost anything. Anything I have, anything I could get for you, anything you asked of me...what do you want?"

"Obsessed?" He laughed nervously.

"Completely, but I've not been allowed to indulge." My hands found their way to his shoulders and I rubbed them. "What do you want?"

"You." Dick whispered. "I want you..."

"But you don't...want me..." I finished for him.

"It is more complicated..."

"Don't! Just...just go. All right?" I pulled away from him in frustration.

He tried to grab me and I slid easily under his arm. "Haven't you ever heard 'don't tease the vampire'? This is falling under the teasing category!"

"I'm not trying to tease you..." he groaned. "Look, I don't KNOW what I want all right? This is a bit confusing for me!"

"And it isn't for me? I'm never sure if what I'm thinking is...right...or just plain fucked up!"

"No, I mean, yes! I mean, I see YOUR point, but I mean...when you were human...at first...or rather not at first, when you started getting older..."

I stared in amazement. He had been reduced to babbling. A historic moment if there ever was one. He snarled as he thumped his head against the wall. "What I MEAN is, before I knew for sure that I would allow myself to be turned, I thought about you...in an abstract not really wanting to think about thinking about you way!"

"Well, that is...vague...sorta. Surprisingly, I can follow the line of thought." I nodded.

"Which speaks volumes about MY mental state!" he groaned. "Anyway...in that vague not thinking, thinking way, I had decided that I was going to...well...wait for you to get old enough."

"But?" I asked.

"Then I decided that I would take Niculaie up on his offer. Gehenna and all...well, you know..."

"Yeah, I get that. The whole family thing too, tradition, I doubt I would have said no either." I nodded.

"So, I didn't want to...get involved with anyone really, I mean beyond companionship, which I found in Babs, but it got too serious...and I didn't feel the same way, not like she deserved! So I thought, okay, just avoid all relationships!" He had begun to pace back and forth and I sat down on the bed to avoid being trod upon.

"I'm following you so far..." I said.

"But now...YOU are a vampire, and I had given up on the idea of YOU! But you were turned so YOUNG! And that is hard to wrap my head around, and you're a..."

"Malkavian." I finished for him. "You can't even bring yourself to say the word! Even when you've hinted at me turning you, which, I presume, is because it would take the 'choice' away from you, which would make things easier. But Dick, things are NEVER easy. Even when you are crazy, things don't get easier, just more confusing! And if there was ANY hope of us being together...you NEED your choices!"

I sighed deeply. "Not that we could ever be together, I guess. Dick, just go...stop making this harder than it already is."

I turned away from him and lay on the bed, on my side facing the wall. I felt the dip of the bed just seconds before his arm wrapped around me. "I don't want to go...I can't..."

"Don't..."

"Let me finish...I can't let you go. I can't imagine letting you go...I don't want to imagine letting you go. It hurts too much..."

I gasped as I felt the warm lips upon my neck touching the mark left by my Sire. The tingle going straight to my groin and I muffled a groan. "Dick..."

"I love how you say that...I think I would like to hear you say that for all eternity." He sighed in my ear. "One thing about being with a Malk, they have no room to talk when you start to flake out. Are you sure you could put up with someone like me?"

"I know I can..." I turned and wrapped my arms around him.

Lips found lips and we kissed hungrily. He crawled on top of me and seemed to try to climb inside my skin where I would have welcomed him gladly. I felt my uniform loosen and realized that one of his hands had slipped down, busy at work on all the fastenings. Almost frantically he seemed to be trying to remove my clothing. His breathing ragged, warm against my skin as he kissed my mouth, my face, my neck.

Hot skin against me as he barely controlled himself. No words were spoken, no words existed, only something primal, expressed in gasps and groans. And under it all the heat, blinding wonderful heat, that warmed me.

Beautiful sounds, moans, groans filled the air as my fingers danced over his body, mimicking that which I liked best. I pushed him up and over, rolling him onto the bed with me on top and moving down his body as clothing parted under my hands. I ignored the sound of ripping cloth as I tossed the shredded uniform to the side.

Muscles writhed under my tongue as I made my way down his body, exploring, tasting, and loving him.

"Are you sure? Once I do this..." I whispered pushing back up to straddle his chest. He nodded and pulled me back down wrapping his arms around my shoulders.

I kissed him again deeply. I waited until I pulled back before I let the fangs drop and leaned down into his face. "Open your eyes."

I wanted him to see what was coming. To know without a doubt what was about to happen. "I love you, Dick." I purred. My chest vibrated as the rumbling sounded like a giant cat.

"Love you." he panted as I began to kiss his jaw, nipping lightly at the soft flesh under his ear.

My hands slowly stroked his chest as I began to suck hard at the skin bringing blood close to the surface, a dark mark already becoming apparent as I licked and nipped my way further down on his neck.

Dick's hands rubbed my back keeping me close, urging me on when I wanted to hesitate.

Carefully, I sliced the skin over his collarbone, lapping at the blood, barely controlling myself. Hot human blood, I had never tasted it before, to think his would be the only taste I would ever have made the experience even headier.

I pulled away with a growl and tried to regain control of myself. He looked up at me and I saw the lust. Finally, he understood. His hands kneaded the flesh of my arms bring light bruises as he breathed heavily. "Please...more...please..."

Without thought I dived forward taking more, licking and sucking as he panted, mewling noises I had never heard him make before. I felt his heart begin to skip and I pulled myself away in a small panic.

Tears filled his eyes and he smiled as he reached up and touched my face, touched the ridges and the sharp fangs. His voice was shaky as he sighed, "I love you..."

He's so beautiful when he cries.

"Are you okay?" I asked worried. I feared I had gone too far.

He nodded, "I'm fine. Please..."

I smiled and kissed him allowing him to taste his own blood in my mouth before I pulled him up in my arms. Carefully, I licked the wound willing it to close. "Your turn..."

Dick swallowed hard and lay bonelessly in my arms.

"It is okay. I didn't take you over into death. And since I took from you before giving, you won't become a ghoul. This is a shared experience, a special bond built upon ceremony and ritual. This is that engagement ring..." I laughed quietly.

I pulled him up higher till he was level with my own collarbone. "Mark it first, like with a hickey. Just under my ear...then, well, do what I did."

"I...my teeth..." He shook his head.

"You can do it."

Dick began to shake his head but I pushed his head toward my throat. The pressure was gradual, sweet and I felt myself jump as it increased to an exquisite pain. My fingers tangled in his hair, rubbing his scalp as I began to murmur words of encouragement deep in my throat.

His eyes were glazed as he pulled back.

"Next step..." I whispered urging him on.

I felt the teeth worry the skin fearfully. I hummed and laughed. "Don't be afraid!"

Seconds later he bit down, hard! Finally breaking the skin as I moaned against him. "Yes..."

He choked on the taste but I soothed him with soft assurances. "Just a little more..."

Drinking deeply he forced the mouthfuls down before I finally pulled back and kissed him. The connection flared into life, bright and beautiful. Lighting every nerve, making our skin sing. Every touch mirrored and magnified, magnificent, wonderful, fulfilling.

I began to kiss him working my way down, heedless of the blood that still seeped slowly from the wound he had made.

He gasped and jerked as I came in contact with his hardness, swirling my tongue over the slit, teasing the flesh, and gathering the first bitter drops. He fisted the sheets as my hands came to play under him, smoothing down his thighs before coming up to cup him in my hands, gently rolling the hanging flesh as I mouthed and sucked him, fin fin finding a rhythm, until he threw his head back and he came in a gush. All the sensations mirrored back... I joined him as he come making a mess of the bed underneath us.

Slowly, I licked him clean before crawling back up and laying across his chest looking down into his flushed and sweaty face.

"You know, there ARE benefits to the practice I've had recently...right?" I teased with a smile.

He nodded, still breathing hard. "I...think...yeah..."

It was my turn to smooth his hair down as he fought to control his breathing. "Well?"

"I think... I could really enjoy an eternity of that!" Dick sighed, wrapping an arm around me and dragging me forward till we were nose to nose.

"Oh, there's more to it than that! We have LOTS of things to try yet!" I grinned. "That was just a preview really!"

"Oh, I can imagine, actually, um...I've imagined a lot." he admitted with a crooked smile.

"Well, we can try it all." I kissed him gent
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It took a few days for all of you to realize that you were missing time. The time that the Malkavians had wiped from your memories, most of you wouldn't have even noticed if it hadn't been for the fact that you and Superman kept comparing notes.

I attribute it to the fact that both of you are strong of mind and the fact that you are such a strong telepath.

Batman, of course, still remembers...most of it. Sabastian did manage to wipe some of the more disturbing aspects, the stuff that Batman wouldn't talk about with us, only with the Prince.

I think that Sabastian is fond of Batman. Jones, too. They don't exactly coddle him but they go out of their way to 'help' him when he wants it. And all the vamps in town know that he is 'hands off'. I think he's been earmarked, to be honest. Whether by Sabastian or Jones I have no idea.

Niculaie visits Gotham often now, Bludhaven is still his home and he comes by the apartment often, but half the time he can be found at Lestat's Asylum. Dick tries not to think about it too hard. I live with Dick now and he will probably be turned soon. We will deal with it when it happens. Niculaie, of course, threatens to cut my head off every visit.

I know that when you all started to first notice, Batman tried to deflect you. I know that caused some tension and I'm sorry. He was just trying to protect me. He just wanted to assure my continued existence. He wasn't trying to...I don't know...what was he accused of again? Hiding things? I know that he has never gotten everyone's trust back, I'm glad that he has yours and that you agreed to be the one to investigate what had happened.

I hope that you will be discreet. He trusts you and that is enough for me.

I am sorry if we offended, if I offended. I hope that you understand why we did what we did. Even the stuff that didn't make complete sense. It is a bit hard for me to make sense of everything myself.

I await your judgment.

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The beauty of your eyes rivals the stars in the sky. We are free and can fly with no interference. He passed no judgment; he sought only information. He bids us to live in peace.

I'm home. Day is done, gone the sun, all is well, safely rest...

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the end