Jason landed, and promptly entered the building. He'd flown through the night at a rapid pace, determined to get to his destination as quickly as possible. The entire flight had been on auto pilot. He barely remembered it, and that in itself was highly unusual, because his favorite thing about being a Vampyr was his ability to fly. He normally liked to take his time so that he could enjoy the sensation of sailing through the air, feeling the wind on his face, and watching the landscape change as he flew over it. However, this time his thoughts had been occupied with other things, namely the death of his friend, Kassie.

Lea was waitng for him at the guard desk. She walked up to him and enveloped him in a hug. She released him, and with tears in her eyes she said, "Jason, I know that this is hard on you. Are you sure that you're up to this? I can still call in another Guardian Enforcer."

Jason shook his head and replied in a tight voice, "No, that's all right. I owe it to Kassie to be the one to take care of this. What happened? Kassie wasn't assigned to guard duty."

"She was subbing for Jackson Abbott, who needed the night off to celebrate his wedding anniversay. From what we can determine, Heinrich somehow lured her into his cell and then ripped out her throat," Lea said in a grim tone.

He smiled and responded, "That's just like her. She was always willing to help anyone who asked." His smile faded just as quickly as it had appeared. In a calm, even voice he asked, "Where is she? I need to see her."

Lea frowned, and then replied, "Jason, I don't think that's a wise idea..."

"Lea, it may not be," Jason said, interrupting her. "But it's something I need to do. So please, allow me this, okay?" he pleaded, his eyes wet with unshed tears.

"All right," she acquiesced, and gave him another hug. She took his hand in hers and led him down the hall.

The scent of Kassie's blood assaulted his heightened Vampyric sense of smell before they even reached the area where the murder had taken place, and the closer they got, the stronger the odor became. By the time they reached the cell, the smell had become overwhelming. When they stepped through the doorway, the scene that greeted him was like something out of one of his worst nightmares. Kassie's body was lying on the floor, her lifeless eyes staring up at him. The right side of her throat was ripped open, and blood pooled on the floor beneath her.

A violent wave of nausea rolled through Jason and he thought he was going to vomit. It was only through sheer force of will that he was able to regain control of himself. His sweet, wonderful Kassie was really dead. Suddenly, grief welled up inside him so fierce, it felt as if he was about to faint. Pulling his hand from Lea's, he rushed out of the room.

Lea immediately followed Jason. She found him in the hallway squatting with his head between his knees and taking deep breaths of air. His long, black hair shielded his face from her view. Crouching down next to him, she reached out her hand and brushed his hair out of the way. His face was streaked with tears. Lea's heart went out to him. They had all loved Kassie, but she had been particularly close to Jason. She moved her hand from his hair to his back, and began to rub it gently in a soothing, circular motion as she said, "Jason, I really think you should let me call in another Guardian Enforcer. I don't think you are in any condition to handle this."

"No...no...," he stammered as he attempted to get his breathing under control. When it had leveled out, he continued, anger slowly building in his voice, "No, I want to be the one to deal with this. I'm going to find that son of bitch, Heinrich, and after I'm through with him he is going to beg for death."

Lea sighed. She could definitely understood the anger that Jason was feeling, but she also knew that being the professional Guardian Enforcer he was, he would never do anything not sanctioned by their laws. "Okay. If you're sure you can handle this, I'm not going to deny you the satisfaction of bringing him to justice. But you need to be aware that this is going to be extremely difficult for you. Don't be afraid to ask for help if you need it," she stated firmly, but compassionately. She paused a moment in thought before continuing. "Would you like me to recall Connor from his honeymoon to help you with this case? This is not going to be easy for you, and as your partner he'd be there to back you up. He's also your best friend, and you could really use his love and support right now."

Jason shook his head vigorously. "No, don't do that. Let Connor and Todd finish their honeymoon. After what they went through, they've earned this time together. Don't worry, I'll be all right. I can handle this," he assured her.

At that exact moment Lea's cell phone started ringing. Reaching into the purse that was hanging from her left shoulder, she retrieved the phone and answered it. After listening briefly, she disconnected the call. She furrowed her brow and pursed her lips in deep thought. Looking directly at Jason, she said, "That was Shandra Gliston."

"Oh, yeah? What did she want?" Jason inquired, wondering why the Governor of the Council of Benevolent Vampyres was calling Lea now.

"She wanted to inform me that they've just had an emergency meeting of the Council, and that they are taking Kassie's murder very seriously. Since Heinrich sadistically killed a law enforcement officer who was duly authorized by the Alliance, combined with his attack on Connor and Todd and all of his past misdeeds, the Council has declared a death hunt," she answered solemnly.

Jason's face was a canvas of confusion. "A death hunt? I've never heard of that before."

"Of course you haven't. You're only a little under four hundred years old, and there hasn't been an official death hunt for over a thousand years. By calling for one on Heinrich, they are demonstrating how despicable they consider his actions."

"Okay, that's wonderful, but what in Hell does it mean?" Jason asked obviously frustrated.

Ignoring Jason's impatience, she continued with her explanation. "For a death hunt to be called, an Immortal has to be considered an imminent threat to the safety of the citizens of the Alliance. A death hunt basically means that Heinrich is to be hunted down and killed like the animal he is."

"Why was it issued by the Council of Benevolent Vampyres and not by the Alliance?" Jason asked in confusion.

Lea smiled and said, "I was wondering if you picked up on that. The law states that a death hunt can only be declared on an Immortal by the Council of that particular Immortal's race."

Jason's expression was one of bewilderment. "But that doesn't make any sense. It seems to me that the Alliance's Governing Council should make that type of decision. After all, it is composed of the Governors of the Councils of Benevolent Vampyres, Mages, Jaguarians, and Dragonians. It just seems to be the fairest way to make that kind of decision. Not that Heinrich doesn't deserve it, but, come on, we're talking about ending someone's life here," he said with conviction.

Lea nodded in agreement. "At first glance, what you've suggested does seem like the most reasonable way to go about it. But as often happens, what is logical in theory doesn't always work in practice."

"What do you mean?" Jason asked.

"At the inception of the Alliance the founders thought, like you, that a death hunt should only be approved by the Governing Council of Benevolent Immortals. A majority vote in the Council was all that was required for a death hunt to be declared. This worked well for the first five hundred years, until a death hunt was proclaimed against the Jaguarian, Sylvan," Lea responded.

Jason's curiosity was piqued. He was glad that he had something else besides Kassie's murder to think about for a little while. He looked at Lea and asked, "Well, are you going to tell me the story, or let me die from suspense?"

She smiled brightly and said, "Far be it from me to be the cause of your death. Sylvan was one of the founders of the Alliance. He believed very strongly that human beings should not be used as slaves or as a food source, and that we should be able to co-exist peacefully - if anonymously - alongside them. He was very popular among the citizenry of the Alliance. He was so popular, in fact, that the Vampyr, Mage, and Dragonian members of the Governing Council grew jealous, fearing that he would use his popularity to seize power and become the ruler of the Alliance. Sylvan also held the conviction that the Alliance and the Synod shouldn't be at war with each other. He managed to arrange an unofficial meeting with the Chief Controller and the Governing Council of the Synod to begin peace talks."

She paused a moment while she moved from her crouching position so that she was now sitting beside him. Once she made herself comfortable, she continued. "His enemies saw the meeting with the Synod as an opportunity to be rid of him. They presented faked evidence to the Council of Benevolent Immortals that implicated him as a traitor, and then called a vote for a death hunt. The Vampyr, Mage, and Dragonian members of the Council voted in favor of the death hunt, with the Jaguarian member voting against. It wasn't until after the death hunt had been carried out and Sylvan was dead, that the hoax was exposed. The guilty members of the Council were removed and punished. The Jaguarian Council member demanded that the law be changed so that only the Council of a particular Immortal's race could declare a death hunt, to keep abuses like the one perpetrated against Sylvan from ever happening again."

"So, has this system worked any better than the original?" Jason inquired.

Lea shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. This is the first death hunt that has been declared since the change."

"Okay. So how is this death hunt going to work?" Jason asked, back to Guardian Enforcer-mode.

"All the Alliance's resources will be employed to find and kill Heinrich," Lea responded emotionlessly.

"Lea, I want to be the one to take him out," Jason stated in a quiet, firm voice.

"That's understandable. I'll spread the word that you are to be called when he's found," she said with a nod of her head. "Are you all right? I need to go and inform Geoff about Kassie's death. You know he was close to her as well, and he should hear about it from a friend."

Jason smiled reassuringly at her and said, "I'm fine, Lea. Really, I am. You don't need to worry about me. If you don't mind, though, I'd like to be the one to inform Geoff."

She smiled warmly at him. "I don't mind at all. In fact, I think that's best."

"Do you know where he'll be?"

"Yes. He told me that he'd be working a double shift today."

Oh, shit! Geoff was a trauma surgeon at St. Michael's Medical Center, the same place where Andrew worked. That meant, if went to see Geoff there was a huge possibility that he'd see the human as well. He should've just kept his mouth shut, but it was too late now. "If you need me, I'll be at the hospital," he said resignedly as he got to his feet and walked away.

Chief Controller Neil Evanick's evil smile grew incrementally until it gave way to maniacal laughter. He was extremely pleased with himself. Due to the death of his best friend, Lucy, and the demise of a project he'd placed all his hopes on for the complete annihilation of the Alliance, he'd been bogged down in a despondent funk for two weeks. Deciding that he'd allowed himself to be depressed for far too long, he'd holed himself up in his office, hopeful that from the ashes of that disastrous project would rise a new plan, just like the Phoenix of legend. He'd entered his office at seven a.m. and it was now after midnight. He was just about to give up when inspiration struck, and a new idea began to form in his mind. As that idea grew, so did his joy. This new scheme wouldn't decimate the Alliance like he'd expected the failed project to do, but it would certaintly cripple them severely.

Neil's laughter suddenly died out and was replaced by a frown as he thought about his failed project. He'd invested a great deal of time and energy to bring that project to fruition, and it had been destroyed in an instant. He'd gathered together a group of genetic scientists and they'd managed to manipulate the genes of an average Vampyr, turning him into a super Vampyr. Neil had called this genetically engineered being the Nosferatu, and he'd had big plans for it. The Nosferatu Vampyr was to be the first in an army of super Immortals that would bring about the total destruction of the Alliance, and the restoration of Immortals to their rightful place as rulers of humanity. Yet, that damned Guardian Enforcer, Connor Stevens, and his lover, Dr. Todd Warren, had interfered and brought about the obliteration of all Neil's dreams. They had also been responsible for the death of Lucy, his best friend and Chief Assassin for the Synod, as well as the capture and imprisionment of another of his top assassins and a close friend, Heinrich.

His musings were interrupted by the sharp sound of someone knocking on his office door. Neil couldn't believe it. How dare they interrupt him? He'd left strict instructions that he was not to be disturbed. He was beginning to think he was surrounded by morons. One of his assistants had disregarded his orders earlier, and he'd killed her on the spot. Now someone else was daring to defy him. A menacing growl escaped from his lips and he yelled out, his voice full of threat, "Whoever you are, you'd better hope I want to hear what you have to say, or you'll never be able to say anything again!"

The door opened and the man who entered grinned and said, "My, my, my. It seems as if the Chief Controller isn't in a very good mood. Is it me, or did someone forget to sand down the broomstick before they shoved it up your ass?"

Neil's anger and annoyance quickly dissipated and was replaced by pure and utter shock. "Hienrich? How...?" he stuttered in suprise. At that moment he realized how undignified he sounded. It wasn't becoming for the head of the Synod to allow himself the luxury of surprise, even if the cause of that surprise was a close friend who he'd thought lost to him forever. Sitting up straight in his desk chair, he spoke once again. "Hienrich, I was under the impression that you were incarcerated in the Maxium Security Unit at Alliance Headquarters," he said in a calm voice.

Heinrich, continuing to grin like a Cheshire cat, responded, "I was, and now I'm not. Those Alliance idiots are extremely gullible, and I easily lured my guard into my cell and killed her. By the way, the guard I killed was Kassie Tutson. I could've gotten by without killing her, but since the ungrateful little bitch chose to defect to the Alliance instead of remaining your servant, I did it as a favor to you. I would've been here sooner, but I had to stop for a drink at a little bar I know. You should really try it. They have the most delicious cocktail waitresses."

Neil shook his head in sarcastic disbelief and chuckled. "Heinrich, you are something else. You are definitely an asset to our cause."

"Thanks. I like to think so, too," Heinrich said smugly. Suddenly a look of sadness passed over his face and he said, "Neil, I heard about Lucy. I overhead some of the guards while I was locked up. I'm sorry. I know she was your best friend. She was my friend, too, and I'm going to miss her. It definitely won't be the same around here without her. Don't worry, though, we'll get the bastards who killed her. I promise."

Neil could feel his eyes starting to water. Lucy's death had devastated him, but he knew that she wouldn't want it to stop him from continuing their work. He swallowed hard in order to maintain control over his tears, and then forcing a smile, he said, "Heinrich, now that Lucy is no longer with us, the Synod doesn't have a Chief Assassin. I would like to offer you the position. Lucy always said that next to her, you were the best assassin she had ever seen. What do you say?"

"I'm honored that Lucy thought that highly of me, and I'm equally as honored that you think I'm the best Immortal for the job. I'd be happy to take the position," Heinrich responded gravely.

"Good. Now that we have that out of the way, we can get down to business. I just got an idea of how we can put a major hurt on the Alliance, and I'm going to need you to help me carry it out," Neil said with a nefarious smile.

"Anything you need, you got it," Heinrich responded with a smile of his own.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door. "Enter!" Neil barked.

The door opened and one of his assistants entered the room, handed a note to him, and then quickly retreated before the Chief Controller could unleash his wrath. As Neil read the note, comma he first frowned, and then began to laugh.

"What is it?" Heinrich questioned.

"Well, you've really pissed them off this time, Heinrich. The Council of Benevolent Vampyres has publicly declared a death hunt on you. That confirms it. If the Alliance hates you that much, then I've definitely made the right choice by making you my new Chief Assassin," Neil said with a smirk.

Andrew pulled his burgundy Ford F-150 extended cab into the underground parking garage reserved for the hospital staff. He smiled to himself as he switched off the ignition. He'd expected that he would be dreading going to work today, but that simply wasn't the case. He'd awoken this morning feeling rested and refreshed for the first time in two weeks. Despite the fact that images of Jason Medicine Wolf had permeated his dreams, he'd slept like a baby. Or perhaps it would be more honest to say that it was because of Jason's presence in his dreams that he'd slept so well. It wasn't until he stopped trying to push Jason out of his head and accepted the Immortal's intrusion into his dreams, both waking and sleeping, that he was finally able to get some sleep.

It was no big deal, he'd convinced himself. By indulging his thoughts of the Vampyr he was just enjoying a healthy fantasy life. That was all. It didn't mean that he actually wanted to have a real relationship with him. After all, there was a huge difference between fantasy and reality. In his fantasy, Jason was a kind, considerate, and loving individual, but in reality the Immortal was rude, selfish, and detestable.

In the end, all that really mattered was that he'd finally been able to get some sleep. Which was extremely important today, since he was scheduled to work a double shift. Having a sleep-deprived nurse practitioner treat patients in an E.R. is a funeral waiting to happen. A great many medical errors could be attributed to doctors and nurses who were overtired. If he'd failed to sleep last night, he'd been planning on calling in sick to prevent placing his patients at risk, but fortunately that was no longer necessary.

He got out of his pickup truck and walked to the elevator with a spring in his step. He just knew that today was going to be a good day. On the elevator ride up he whistled along with the Muzak™, much to the annoyance of the other passengers who gave him dirty looks. Most people are not up to excessive joviality at six-thirty in the morning, but Andrew didn't care, he wasn't going to let anyone ruin his day.

He exited the elevator on the first floor and walked down the hallway towards the E.R. He waved a cheery hello to the clerks at the admissions desk and breezed on to the staff lounge. He entered the lounge and came to an abrupt stop. His buoyant mood drained away like water going down the kitchen sink. Standing in front of him was Jason Medicine Wolf in the flesh. He was so shocked that he didn't say anything for a couple seconds because he wasn't able to get the muscles in his throat to work. He just stood there and stared.

When he spoke, he wanted to sound calm, cool, collected, and totally unaffected by Jason's presence, but that wasn't what happened. No, when he was finally able to produce sound it projected anything but the unflappable air he wanted it to. "Uh...uh...," he stammered.

Self-disgust began to well up within him for allowing himself to be affected by the Vampyr in this manner. Damn! He needed to get control of himself. This is not the Jason of my fantasy. This is the real, annoying Jason. He began to chant those two sentences over and over in his mind like a mantra. Though deep down he knew that he was lying to himself.

The Immortal affected him in ways he didn't want to admit, and it was for the best that he never did. A relationship between a human and an Immortal would never work. He would grow old and die while Jason would remain young and beautiful. Of course, it was always possible for him to become Immortal himself. Yet, that idea held no appeal for him whatsoever, especially if other Immortals were like Jason, a bigot pumped up with his own self-importance. He was very happy being human, thank you very much.

No, there could never be anything between them. Why should he be angry with himself when it was all Jason's fault for being such an asshole? Redirecting his ire towards the Vampyr, he verbally lashed out at him, "What in Hell are you doing here?"

Jason's lips curled into a condescending smirk. "Well, aren't you the perfect example of a gracious host," he said sarcastically.

"Please, excuse my rudeness," Andrew responded in kind. "The last thing I want to be is a bad host." He walked over to the counter where a coffee maker filled with coffee and a box of Krispy Kreme™ doughnuts sat. "Would you like a cup of coffee and a doughnut?" he offered sarcastically.

"No, thank you," Jason stated.

Andrew smiled sweetly and said, "Now that my duties of hospitality are taken care of, I can get back to my original question."

Jason returned his smile and asked, "And that would be?"

"What in Hell are you doing here?" Andrew demanded.

"I'm here to see a friend," Jason stated simply.

Andrew was aghast. "Just where in the fuck did you get the idea that we're friends? Do you think the world revolves around you? Well, let me tell you something Mr. High-and-Mighty-Vampyr, I could never be friends with such an egotistical son of a bitch as you. So, why don't you just take your Immortal ass out of here?" he asked angrily.

Jason had had enough of this impertinent human. He looked Andrew directly in the eye and said smugly, "It sounds to me like you're the one who thinks that he's the center of the universe. I never said you're the one I came here to visit. That over-inflated ego of yours just assumed I was talking about you. There are others in this world who are worthy of friendship. Such as the person I came here to see, your collegue, Dr. Geoff Spencer."

Andrew had never been more embarrassed. He could feel his face flush with heat, and he just knew that his cheeks were bright red. He opened his mouth to ask Jason for forgiveness, but his pride stepped in and prevented the apology from ever leaving his lips. Instead, he looked away and stuttered, "I...uh...uh... I'll go see if I can find him for you." He started to leave the room, but the Immortal's voice stopped him in his tracks.

"That won't be necessary. I've already spoken to a nurse who said she would tell him that I'm waiting to see him."

Suddenly the door to the lounge opened and Terri Douglas, one of the night shift trauma nurses, walked in. When she saw him she said, "Hey, Andrew. How's it going?"

"Not bad, Terri. How about you?" he responded, grateful for the distraction.

"Okay, I guess, I'm bit tired. It was a busy shift, and I'm glad it's almost over so I can go home. Have you heard from Todd? How's his honeymoon going? He's one lucky son of a gun. That husband of his is a fine specimen of manhood," she said with a leer.

"Yeah, I received an e-mail from him last night. They're enjoying their trip. They should be back in two weeks. I'm sure he'll bring pictures, so if you're lucky you might get to see Connor in a swimsuit without a shirt," he said with a smile.

"A girl can only dream, honey," she said with a girlish giggle. She then turned to Jason, and said, "Jason, I found Dr. Spencer, but a gunshot victim came in and needed immediate surgery. Even though he wasn't scheduled to begin his shift for another thirty minutes, he went ahead and took the patient up to the O.R. so that the doctor he'd be replacing wouldn't have to work over. He said to tell you that he'd call you when he finished. Well, if you'll both excuse me, I have to go give a report to the nurses coming on shift."

After the nurse left the room, Jason sighed deeply. "Damn! I really need to talk to him before he hears the news from someone else," he said sadly.

"What news? Is everything okay?" Andrew asked, concerned.

"Not that it's any of your business, but a close friend of ours was killed early this morning by a Synod assassin. I wanted to be the one to break it to Geoff. It's not going to be pleasant for him to hear," Jason responded, tears shimmering in his eyes.

"Oh, Jason, I'm so sorry to hear that. I've never lost a close friend so I don't know exactly how you feel, but I do know how scared I was when I thought that nefarious bastard Neil Evanick was going to kill Todd. If he'd actually died I don't know how I would have handled it. I would have been totally devastated," Andrew said consolingly.

Jason brought his hands to his face and roughly wiped away the tears. He looked away in shame and said, "Sorry, I don't usually give in to emotion like this."

Andrew smiled at him in reassurance. "No need to apologize. It's perfectly acceptable to grieve for a lost friend. Would you like to tell me about it?" he asked as he reached out, took the Vampyr's hand in his, and squeezed it comfortingly.

Jason didn't understand why he was doing this, but felt himself opening up to Andrew. Grasping the human's hand tight for support, he began to pour out his heart. "It's just that she was like a daughter to me. She was a Guardian, and she was damn good at her job. That bastard Heinrich murdered her."

"Heinrich? Isn't that the name of one of the assassins who tried to kill Todd and Connor?" Andrew asked.

"Yeah, it is. We had him incarcerated. My friend, Kassie Tutson, was on guard duty early this morning, and he viciously killed her during his escape," Jason replied morosely.

"Oh, my God. Todd said he was extremely dangerous. It sounds like your friend Kassie was no match for him, but from what Connor told me about Guardian Enforcers, I have no doubt that you are, Jason. Find that monster so that he won't be able to kill anyone else," Andrew stated firmly.

Jason looked into the human's eyes and smiled. "I didn't think you liked me, and now you're telling me that you have confidence that I can track down Heinrich and stop him," he said incredulously.

Andrew smiled sheepishly and said, "Just because you're an asshole doesn't mean you're not good at what you do. Don't ask me how I know, but I have a feeling that you're a top notch Guardian Enforcer. Finding and taking care of this assassin shouldn't be any trouble for you."

Jason's smile suddenly flashed brilliant. "Thanks for the vote of confidence. Speaking of which, I need to get to work finding Heinrich. You and Geoff are close, would you mind telling him about Kassie's death?"

"Not at all."

"Good. I'll be going then. Oh, I almost forgot. You also need to tell him that a death hunt has been declared on Heinrich," Jason said as he started to leave the room.

"A death hunt? What's that?" Andrew asked, clearly confused.

"Geoff can explain that to you. I need to go now," he replied, and hurried out of the room.