Blood Lust (Vampire!Steve Rogers AU) 18+

19

"I think it's about time you met my friends". Steve announced at dinner the next evening. Evangeline was sat at the other end of the table, delicately cutting into some potatoes and stopped for a moment, looking up at him. 

That was surprising, he'd said about waiting to introduce them to her, but she'd thought it would be longer than it had been. Perhaps he trusted her a little more. 

"Your friends?" 

He nodded at this and she set her knife and fork down calmly. "Do we really have to have this distance between us?" She then asked out of the blue, referring to the dining table that could seat more than ten people around it. 

"No". He replied. 

"So then lets eat in my room? At least we can have a conversation there where I'll feel I won't need a telescope to look at you". She smirked. 

He chuckled at this and got up, taking his plate just as she now did. "Fine, you win this battle". 

"I was only just getting started as well". She mused as they went upstairs and set themselves down at the table in her room. "There, so much better - now I can actually talk to you - so...your friends..." 

"Yeah". He replied. "I think it's time you met them, and..." then there was a pause, "I think it's time that you saw what it's like at court". 

Ok, if the admittance of him wanting her to meet his friends had surprised her, then this one had shocked. He'd been hesitant about the subject when they'd gone to the city, but now he seemed to be having a change of heart. 

"You think that's wise? Throwing a human into a room full of vampires? They'd all be lining up for a drink". 

"Not if they knew you were with me". He said a little too quickly. "They'd know to steer clear". 

She shrugged. "Like a 'touch her and die' situation?" 

His eyes narrowed. "Exactly that. It's not joke Eva - if they saw you on my arm? They'd know not to cross me, even more than they already do". 

"And what about the enemies you spoke about? Would they get wind of a human in the city, in the court?" 

"With any luck, no - but even if they did then they'd have a job getting through and into the court itself. I have guards stationed everywhere". 

She sawed through another potato. "Certainly not compensating for anything then". 

He grunted at this. "You would know". 

Her hand stopped mid cut. "And you would know I'm just teasing. You can be very serious when you want to be". 

"I have to be". 

"Do you though?" Eva eyed him knowingly. "Is that the reason you've not yet found a mate?"

"That has nothing to do with finding a mate. A mate is a bond you feel when you meet as I explained. Just because I can occasionally be an asshole it has nothing to do with it". 

She scrunched up her nose. "Maybe...but also it could be and you might just not know it". 

He ran a hand back through his hair. "Evangeline". His voice remained calm and steady. "I've been around long enough to know the lore. To live it - or in my case technically be dead". 

"And for a man who has been around for centuries, you certainly haven't sensed what sarcasm can be". She smiled sweetly. "I was joking about the whole grumpy thing. But then again this just shows how serious you can be". 

"When you're trying to keep everyone alive - so to speak - then yeah. I have to be". 

"How did you die?" She asked before realising it had slipped out. 

Reaching for the glass of blood, Steve drank silently and then set it down. "Just as every soldier fighting a war does, and that's all you need to know". 

"And you became like you are after?" 

"Wouldn't be here if I hadn't. I got lucky I guess..." Taking the napkin beside him to his mouth, he dabbed away any signs of the blood he'd just consumed. "Kinda ironic. You're ready to accept dying and then get to live forever...kinda..." 

"So, you can die. I swear we've had this conversation before". She told him, continuing to eat. If anything she couldn't really remember half of the conversations they'd shared when she'd first arrived. Her mind had been in a swirl of emotions. 

He nodded. "I can die, but not as easily as others like me. The man who turned me chose to because years before he'd done the same to another, and it hadn't ended well. He'd then spent the next years researching to make a potion that would react well with the venom and ultimately help to keep me from going mad. To help perhaps build a future where others could be like me and ultimately protect our kind from those like the one who was his failed 'experiment'".  He shrugged. "I got my power, my strength, all through that. Then he died before he could create even more like me, and I knew that considering I was the only one of my kind, I had to step up and protect the others who couldn't. They became the people of my city, they looked to me, followed everything I said - and over the years have learnt to put their trust in me". 

"Who was the one he failed? Is he still out there?" 

"Somewhere. Kate told you about how being turned can go either way? Well this one isn't someone who you should cross. He's a fucked up version of me, all because he couldn't wait and wanted the power of a vampire lord. Instead he became a vampire and went mad because he couldn't control himself". 

"Who is he?" 

"Everyone knows him as Red Skull, and believe me I would not want him near you". 

Eva sipped at her water. "What would he do to me?" 

"That's just the thing...what wouldn't he?" 

Swallowing her water, she looked across at Steve. "Is one of the enemies you mentioned?" 

Steve nodded. "The main one. No one's seen him years but that doesn't mean to say he's not out there. I know he is". He paused and then went back to his food. "Enough about him, about this subject. Maybe I was wrong to say that I wanted to take you to court. It wouldn't be the best choice, at least, not yet anyway". 

"Can I at least meet your friends then?" 

"Yes". 

Finishing her meal, Eva got up. "I might go for a walk around the gardens, will you come? It's dark after all". She tried to convince him, gesturing outside to where evening had fallen and the moon shone through the trees. 

"You go, I need to finish up some work". 

"Then I will see you later on this evening then". 

His eyes never took themselves from her as she exited the room, skirts swishing behind her. "I'm sure that you will".