He grabbed his leather jacket, heading for the door when Gabrielle peeked her head inside. She propped herself on the doorframe watching him collect his things. Gabrielle smiled as he bent over to tug on his boots. "Where are you going?" she asked softly.

Raven looked up for a brief moment, grunting something as he continued on with what he was doing. "I need a drink. I need blood. Hell, I need air…" he complained. "I’ll be back later."

Gabrielle stepped in front of him quickly before he could pass. She tried to stay calm feeling his glare on her. "Can I come?"

"Not tonight," he ordered walking past her. "I need you to stay here."

Gabrielle didn’t understand. Why couldn’t she go with him? Why did she have to stay in? Gabrielle opened her mouth to ask but was cut off.

"I just want to be alone tonight," Raven argued. "Get off my back!" And with that, he was gone.

**

The Blackout was wild that night. It seemed like everyone in town had crammed their way in. He could smell the violent, untamed stench in the air and knew he wasn’t the only fiend inside. He smirked to himself as he delved deeper into the bar. Maybe this would turn out to be an interesting night after all.

Kael and Spider laughed from their dark corner watching Raven find a place at the bar. Spider lay her back across Kaels chest, stirring his drink slowly, never taking her eyes off Raven.

"Can you smell that love?" Kael chimed in. "The smell of lies, deceit and betrayal…"

"I know," Spider agreed. "Isn’t it great?"

Kael laughed, outlining her shoulder with his fingers. "And to think, we didn’t even start any of it." He stopped suddenly when he saw Edge and Christian at the other end of the bar. "Well now," he laughed. "Seems like everyone’s here, now the show can begin."

Kael focused his attention to Christian. Watching his reaction, his composure, his attitude. He loved to just soak it all in. He knew that at any moment now, when he saw Raven, everything would change. And he wanted to witness every moment of it. Kael edged his way to the end of the table as he saw Christian looking over, catching Ravens eye.

Christians face grew troubled as he excused himself from his conversation with Edge. He stormed over to Raven, grabbing his shoulder, angrily spinning him around. "What in the hell are you doing here?"

Raven jerked back his shoulder, adjusting his jacket as he turned back to the bar. He grabbed his beer, taking a solid swig before slamming it back down. "I’m getting a drink, what’s it look like?"

Christian looked over to his brother, watching Edge talking to the waitress, and continued. "Well who’s watching Gabrielle?"

Raven ignored his rants and turned to order another beer. Christian grabbed at Ravens arm violently but Raven suddenly lunged for Christian, grabbing hold of his throat. "Like I said I’m getting a drink. Gabrielle’s fine, now back off!" Raven tightened on Christian’s esophagus intensely before letting go. He watched happily as Christian clutched at his throat, coughing for air. He knew he wasn’t going to hurt Christian, not yet anyway. But he wanted to make sure Christian knew that he wasn’t one to play with. Raven wasn’t one who liked to be told what to do, or how to do it. Many who have tried didn’t live till the next day. But Christian was more like a toy to him. He loved to play with Christians mind. Make him think he was in charge. And the best part was that when you play with Christian, you get the bonus of playing with both Edge and Gabrielle.

Raven laughed, taking his beer to a vacant table. He was getting bored of these games rather quickly. Bored of having to watch over Gabrielle, watch to make sure no one followed him home at night. He grumbled under his throat. Maybe it was time to put the toys away.

Kael laughed, watching Christian compose himself before heading back to his brother. He turned his attention back to Spider, delighted with what had just happened "Well, wasn’t that just a great preview of things to come? Makes me kind of feel sorry for the old bloke." Kael laughed joyfully. "Who am I kidding? I blood well love it…now that they’ve seen each other, on to faze 2."

Kael got up, sauntering smugly over to Christian and Edges table. He circled around the table, stopping in front of Christian. "A word?"

Christian ignored Kael angrily, still fuming at what had happened with Raven. "Not now Kael. I’m busy."

Kael laughed arrogantly. "Well I suggest you clear things up rather quickly. I’ve got a proposition that I’m sure you can’t pass up on." Kael tapped Christians face before beginning to walk away. "Don’t keep me waiting too long though," Kael called out. "The offer may not be there if you do. You know where I’ll be."

Kael slid back into the booth to join her, and turned to catch Christian’s reaction. Spider handed Kael a beer cuddling up next to his cold body. "I ordered you another."

Kael shot her a sideways glance, taking a sip of his beer. "If I didn’t know any better I’d say you were trying to get me drunk."

Spider smiled seductively watching Christian approaching from the corner of her eye. Kael didn’t have time to turn, smiling as Christian joined them.

Christian sat down angrily, catching Edge’s loathing glare. "Ok I’m here," Christian pointed out heatedly. "What do you want?"

"Well now, who’s the no-nonsense puffed up man? You know, you could be a little more cheerful. After all I am saving your hide."

Christian shook his head and opened his mouth to speak but Kael hastily cut him off. "Now then, let’s catch up. We never talk anymore…"

"We don’t talk!" Christian cut in loudly.

"I know" Kael laughed. "Ain’t it great?" He snickered Christians way, sipping a mouthful of his beer.

Christian fumed, getting up to go join his brother once again. "Man I don’t have time for this." He didn’t know why he even bothered coming over to see what Kael wanted. It was never anything of any importance. He just needed a break. A break from Edge’s constant worrying. A break from all the guilt, and hell, a break from his own feelings.

Kael licked his lips, never taking his eyes off of Spider. He snickered, knowing Christian was still in earshot. "I’ll make sure to tell Gabs you said hello."

Christian stopped dead in his tracks. Even with the music blaring and the people around him laughing and shouting, he could still hear that… loud and clear. Christian took a deep breath, cold beads of sweat trickling down his face. He cleared his throat before turning around, trying to compose himself. "You’ve seen her?" he muttered. It was all he was able to drag out.

Kael ran his finger around the neck of his bottle, and smiled. He could smell the fear emanating off of Christians body and closed his eyes for a brief second, letting it consume him. Kael composed himself, softly sitting up. "As a matter a fact I did, you know, when you went to see Raven last night."

Christian could feel his face grow pale with fear. His knees begin to shake beneath him. How could he know? Who told him? Would he tell Edge? Better yet, would he loose Gabrielle before he even had her? He’d come to far to let Kael ruin it now. To let him destroy the plan that he’d been plotting for months now… even before he’d gotten Raven involved.

"Look at that…" Spider giggled, looking over to face her boyfriend. "You think this is the point where his heart would stop? You know, if he were still alive."

"That, or he’d bloody well wet himself," Kael teased, dropping one arm around Spiders shoulder.

Christian put on a fake smile, trying his best to keep up his act. Even though he knew inside that he felt like exploding, felt like shutting up Kael for good. Snapping Kael’s neck and saving his blood so he could play with it later on. He let out a deep breath. He had to push those feelings aside, for now at least … so he could fix this situation.

He cleared his throat once again, taking a seat at the table across from Kael. "I don’t know what you’re talking about," Christian lied flatly, trying his best to stay calm.

The smile instantly left Kaels face, replaced by one of seriousness as he crept closer to Christian. He burned his gaze into Christians, the muscles in Kaels jaw tightening. "Oh I think you do." Kael fumed. "We wouldn’t want your brother to find out now would we?"

Christian ran his hands through his sweaty blond hair, trying to think of anything that would save him and knew there was nothing. He watched Kaels stare. He knew Kael would tell Edge in a heartbeat, and anyone else who would listen for that matter. He knew Kael wanted nothing more than to ruin any one of them… even if it was to help the other. He knew there was only one thing to do. He looked at Edge, making sure he was occupied and turned back to Kael and Spider. "Ok" he muttered. "What will it take you to keep quiet?"

The smile reappeared on Kaels face as he sunk back down into his booth. "Now that, my friend, is the million dollar question. I’ll have to think about it for a while and get back to ya."

Christian nodded and was about to get up when he saw Edge standing over him, looking around the table from one to the other. "What’s taking you so long?"

Kael chuckled, turning to face Edge as he finished up the last of his beer. "We were just commenting on your brothers fabulous shirt, weren’t we? I was thinking of getting one of my own."

Spider smirked, trying to keep a straight face. "Oh yea…" she agreed. "I’ve never seen a straight guy who could pull it off like Christian."

Christian rolled his eyes, getting up to join his brother. He shot Kael an uneasy look as he began to walk away with his brother. "Well then Christian," Kael called out. "Till next time."