Simon Lewis and The Avengers

Human Blood Always Bites Back

Nat sat on Bruce's lap as he worked, and Simon was too polite to interrupt the blissful silence. Even as he felt his skin sink and his throat sting with the copper taste of blood which was radiating off of Nat and Bruce as their synchronized heartbeats drummed themselves into Simon's brain.

When the pulses had burst through Simon's ear drums he must have groaned out loud because Bruce looked up worriedly.

"Simon, you good?"

"If you have any, I could do with some blood about now." Simon blinked heavily.

"I'll get the message to Steve or someone." Bruce nodded. The reply from Tony was almost immediate, and Bruce hissed at the response.

"You're not going to like this." Bruce bit his lip. "Tony says that Fury had enough sense to lock the lab before you encantoed him. Don't worry, though, if anyone can hack the electrical lock, its Stark."

~cut to Tony~

"Open this door, JARVIS!" Tony commanded.

"This door is locked on Director Fury's orders." JARVIS denied him access.

"But, this is my building!"

"Director Fury is your commander."

"And I am yours, so open up!"

"Request denied."

"Right. I'm going manual." Tony started tapping over ride sequences into the controls of the padlock.

~back to Simon~

"It doesn't sound like he's having any luck." Simon laughed, "But I hope your right, I don't want to hulk out."

"What happened the last time you were out of blood?" Natasha asked curiously.

"I- I shouldn't." Simon didn't want to bring old memories back from a happier past.

"I told you about my past, you owe me yours. Just one memory." Natasha pouted.

"Fine." Simon grimaced, "But only because talking helps against the droning ba-bum ba-bum...
"The first time, I was lying in the bottom of a ship with my throat and wrists slit, so I should have been completely dead. When my friend offered his blood I didn't feel anything as I attacked him for it. I managed to stop myself just before he died and I gained daylighter powers.
"Fast forward a few months, I was playing in my band downtown and I hadn't drunk in a while because I didn't want to. Sure, I'd been a vampire long enough but I was in denial of being such a monster and I hated drinking blood. Living blood tastes nice to a vampire but the guilt that comes with it is sour- so sour I hate what I am. Anyway, my senses were so overwhelmed in that human Café that I couldn't concentrate on my guitar and I left through the back door to regain myself. My friends didn't stop playing - they didn't know what to think I was going through, since I was dead and they were human. My werewolf bandmate looked concerned and left as soon as the song was over, but by then it was too late. My 'biggest fan', Maureen, met me outside for a photo. I told her to leave, I told her, but she stayed and she fell where she stood. As the camera shutter snapped, so did my fangs. I couldn't control myself and my werewolf friend, his name was Jordan, found me on the floor with Maureen's body in my arms. Human blood, living blood does things to a vampire. That was when I found out that everything's so much clearer, its like being alive again. In high definition, I watched Jordan swear and dispose of the body as well as he could, though she came back. Her body would have been empty enough for vampire juice to be pumped in, someone did just that. She came back insane though, and I mean she became vampire queen, kidnapped me, put me in a cage in a tutu. Eventually, she met her rest in a battle of werewolves versus vampires and my ex staked her.
"Not all feedings are so crazy though, in the hell dimension, more recently, my vials had broken but I only told my friends when I was desperate. One of them let me bite her neck, the other, his wrist. I can choose what I take if I'm conscious enough, I think."

"Wrists work?" Natasha asked.

"Oh yeah. But don't get any ideas." Simon warned. Bruce received a video call from Steve: "Sorry, Simon, the door's technology is too well secured. I guess Tony's too good at being a genius. The door can only be broken by the Hulk, or a missile, or Nick's voice, but he's still out of it. We'll get some somewhere else, hang in there." The message beeped off. Simon hit his head on the wall.

"That'll take too long. You guys get out, hungry me will be able to break the door but if there are more accessible stock, I'll get lazy."

"If we run, you die." Natasha regarded Simon's weak and chained state, standing up. "Those bonds can't be broken except by Fury so you'll struggle and then die."

"You have to be clever, don't you?" Simon tensed every muscle in his body against another rip through his veins.

"Take mine." Natasha pulled up her sleeve.

"No. Didn't you hear anything I just said?"

"I'm human, I'm here, and I consent."

"It will hurt."

"What doesn't?"

"No."

"Don't kill me, but dammit don't kill yourself!"

"No!" Simon lisped through his emerging fangs. Natasha put her wrist under Simon's mouth. Bruce seemed hesitant but he didn't say anything.

Simon's irises thinned almost completely and he gave in. He bit into Natasha's arm, ripping one arm out of its cuff to hold hers steady. The noises of heartbeats died dizzyingly quickly in Simon's mind and his eyes pressed shut.

His vampire strength flung him out of his contraption entirely and he saw himself push Natasha onto the floor and latch onto her neck. Necks were always easier. He didn't drink too much, just enough to last him whatever punishment he would inevitably endure when Fury found out.

Simon separated from Nat and helped her sit up. Bruce was there in an instant with some cloth to stop the bleeding.

"Thank you." Simon said from the bottom of his dead heart.

"No problem." Natasha whispered, she was pale and probably disorientated but not badly damaged.

"Sorry as well. I... didn't mean to attack you." Simon had surprised everyone. In fact, that would have been enough to snap even the weak-minded out of an encanto.

Crap.