Gabrielle lay on the mattress on the floor of the back room, with Edge's trench coat wrapped around her, in his arms. The room wasn't decorated, and magazines littered the concrete floor. Walls that were once white were yellowed with smoke and age. But it felt so good to be in his arms again, no matter what the circumstances. Gabrielle didn't know why Edge had locked the door to the room, but she didn't even ask. Barely a word had been spoken between them upon arriving at Kale's apartment. He had straight away taken her to the back room, then disappeared for a moment, checking the apartment for something. Despite her protests, he told her she had to sleep, so she curled up beside him, head on his chest, and slept surprisingly sound. Edge stayed up briefly to watch over her. Now she was with him, and could live as a vampire was meant to live. One lover, hunting whether it was of necessity or not, and doing whatever they pleased, but always returning home to a save haven, no matter how many years they had been away. Edge was still astonished by the ease at which Gabrielle had killed Jeff, and amazed by Jeff's seeming willingness to be taken by Gabrielle. As long as she didn't remember Jeff, or Christian, or anything else, then she was his and nothing could stop them.

"So what do we do now?" Christian asked quietly as Kale parked the van in the alley. Signing, he replied.

"Go in, I suppose. Got a plan?" Christian shook his head.

"Not a single idea. I don’t know how to get her back…"

"You take care of your brother. I've had to deal with all this mental shit before, I think I can do it again." Christian thought for a moment about this, weighing the options, then nodded.

"Kale? If anything gets messed up, I just like to say stay sober. You're a hell of a lot nicer that way." Kale smirked.

"Well, enjoy it while it lasts Christian. I have a feeling I'll be going on the drinking binge of the century after this is over." He remarked, as he got out of the van and began ascending the stairs that seemed excruciatingly long and tiring on a night like this.

Edge was jerked awake at the sound of the cans engine cutting off with a harsh growl. Gabrielle stirred and pressed herself closer to him, opening her eyes. He looked down at her and kissed her hair.

"Go back to sleep, Gabrielle. It was just a car, or something." She nodded sleepily and leaned against him, not closing her eyes, but not seeing the worry and look of bitter determination on his face.

Kale paused outside the door, Christian behind him, both moving hesitatingly slowly.

"Well, here we are…" Kale whispered, opening the door a crack and peering in. There was nothing as far as he would see, so Kale walked in, motioning for Christian to follow.

"Where are they?" He whispered to Kale, who shrugged and glanced out onto the balcony then into the small kitchen. Once again, nothing. Kale mouthed the words 'back room' to Christian, who nodded in understanding. Kale stood to one side of the door and Christian took the other. Kale tried the doorknob without success. It was locked. Shaking his head, he backed up, and rammed a shoulder into the door, sending it immediately flying open. In the far left corner of the room, Gabrielle sat wrapped in Edge's arms, a look of fear across her face. Edge stared at the pair that stood in the doorway as Kale stared to slowly approach him and Gabrielle. She looked up at Edge with fear and confusion.

"Who are they?" Edge glared from Kale to Christian, who moved closer into the room, standing in the centre. Edge rose and stood in front of him, ignoring Gabrielle clinging to his arm. "Edge, who is he?" She demanded. Christian tried to conceal the pain he felt at hearing those words from Gabrielle, directed at him. How could she not know? Christian looked back to Edge, who had a smugly amused grin on his face. Christian gestured to Kale.

"Take her, now." He commanded. Edge just shrugged and flung Gabrielle towards Kale, too confident with his hold on her to think it could ever be broken. As he watched kale drag her, kicking and screaming from the room, Edge was momentarily caught off guard by Christian pinning him to the wall with his forearm.

"Give her back her life!" Christian hissed.

"No - She's mine - " He choked out under the pressure of Christians arm against his throat.

"She's not! You treat her like shit! You don't care! She deserves better - " Edge knocked Christian backwards and off balance, sending him stumbling to the floor.

"Like you, right?" Edge shook his head. "No, You don't deserve her. She needs someone who can show her real life, not romantic shit - " Christian regained his balance and regarded Edge with a sad expression.

"You didn't even fight for yourself, you know that?"

"What?" Edge asked, voice rising.

"The darkness!" Christian screamed. "Its in all of us, and you didn't even bother to try!"

"I couldn't! You know that! You know my past, the struggle for light, for goodness. You never helped, you never even offered to help! Maybe, if I had the support of my brother rather than him trying to steal my love, then this wouldn’t be happening! Its not something I can control! You know that more than anyone!" Christian lowered his eyes and fell to the floor as a hard fist caught him across the face, stinging, but not as much as the emotional pain and turmoil caused by Edge's brutally honest words.