Whispers of Blood

Chapter 2 - Waiting

Warning: Crosshair being Crosshair. And awful cliffhanger. Most importantly, pure cringe. :)

~ Rivana Rita

"How much longer?" Hunter asks instead, shifting a little. He's practically squirming, and he's not overly proud of it, but it's taking every bit of willpower he has not to jump Crosshair and try biting him, even if he'd probably end up getting shot or gutted by the time he made it that far – Crosshair does have his knife, after all.

"It'll be a few hours before we exit hyperspace."

A few hours? That wouldn't be too long a wait, if the hunger weren't burning him inside out. "I don't know if I can wait that long."

"You don't have a choice." Crosshair said he wasn't trying to hurt him, but Hunter can't really believe that. It's too – convenient. He's not himself. It feels intentional. He doesn't really know, though. He's not being outright malicious right now, but that doesn't mean much.

He presses himself harder against the wall, closing his eyes and trying to just breathe. Every inch of him throbs, and the burning is slowly expanding outwards as the turn, shift, whatever it is rewrites his being.

It's destroying him.

"Crosshair?" he asks a little shakily, not looking up, but he still needs – something. The desperation and panic clawing inside him is overwhelming, and he can't just sit here and – and –

"I'm here," he says, a little roughly.

He doesn't even know what he's trying to say. "Is there... a way to slow it down?"

"Not that I know of."

They lapse into silence, and Hutner curls in on himself again. He wants to cry, but he can't do that in front of Crosshair. He can't show weakness to him.

He doesn't fully know what this will mean, but he doesn't want to.

"My own turn wasn't this fast," Crosshair continues, reaching out to touch Hunter's shoulder again. He doesn't quite have the energy to react to that anymore. "The circumstances were different, though."

"I –" He cuts off, biting his lip. Crosshair's hand lifts to his face, lightly touching his jaw, and Hunter leans into it, whining softly.

"I know," Crosshair says quietly, and Hunter finds himself wondering what happened when Crosshair turned. Did it hurt him, too? Did he feel like he was being remade? Was he afraid of losing the only thing that made him him?

***

The bond between them is growing, and Crosshair can feel Hunter's turn progressing. It's a strange feeling, and definitely unnerving, but he wanted it. He wouldn't take losing it for anything in the galaxy, because this means he'll have his brothers back, and that's the only thing Crosshair really cares about.

He doesn't think Hunter wants it, though.

Crosshair doesn't remember too much of his own transformation, if he's being honest. He knows it hurt. He knows it had made him a little... out of it, and Hunter's...

They told him it'd be faster than his own. He didn't quite realize it meant this short, though. To be fair, he hadn't really been thinking – he'd been too focused on turning Hunter in the first place, on keeping him from leaving, no matter what it took. It didn't matter how much it hurt him.

Now, feeling Hunter's desperation echoing in the back of his mind – that, coupled with a sense of helplessness that Crosshair never knew he could feel – he wishes he hadn't. Or at least... had waited. Or something. He'd been a little smug about being Hunter's sire in the beginning, because it meant keeping him here and... well, it meant a lot of things, but he never really realized it also meant taking care of them when they can't do it themselves.