The Trouble With Slaying

The Trouble with Old Frenemies

We were packing up to head out the door. Shaw had done a little more digging to confirm my suppositions and found that there actually did appear to be a problem with something lurking around the coast of South Carolina. The Werewolf leader of that area had agreed to pay us for taking care of the issue, since the incident was creating havoc on her depleted ranks in the wake of the Were war.

I slung a packed bag over my shoulder as I headed for the door, calling at Liam so he wouldn't forget to grab the water gear Shaw had dredged up from somewhere. I yanked the door open with a small smirk when he growled back at me that he wasn't stupid. But the smirk fell away when I turned to leave and stopped dead at the sight of the person standing in front of our door.

"Max?!"

His lips slowly curled up into a smile as he looked me up and down. "Hi, Seth. Is this a bad time?"

"I, uh- I mean we were about to-" I cut off when Shaw shoved me out of the way so he could get through the door. Max quickly took a couple steps back to make room.

"You've got a little time." Shaw informed me.

I swallowed as he hauled some bags off, heading for the stairs with Sawamura on his heels. I turned back to Max and let the bag drop off my shoulder. "Apparently it's not." We stared at each other, a little awkward after the way we had parted last. I had been attempting to kill his family at the time, after all, and he had been afraid his lover would kill me. I still hadn't worked that one out. I thought he should have been just as eager to see me dead as the rest of them.

Max flicked his tongue over his lips and broke the silence. "You look good. You're really doing okay?"

I half smiled at him as I nodded. "Yeah. I'm fine. I mean, I might have-" I cut off and watched Liam haul gear out, waiting until he was off the stairs and headed around the building. "I might have broken up half the group but other than that everything is fine."

Max cocked his head. I could only shake my head. "Nevermind. It's complicated. What are you doing here anyways?"

"I was told I could check up on you. Make sure you were still alive and doing alright." He reached up to scrub the back of his neck, looking a little guilty. "I would have come by sooner but I was a little distracted."

I wrinkled my nose. "Yeah. I imagine it's difficult keeping up with two Vampire lovers." Max chuckled.

"Two Vampire lovers, the return of an old friend, the arrival of my daughter." He raised a brow when I stiffened, blinking in surprise.

"Daughter?!"

He nodded, beaming in pride. "Yeah! She's beautiful. Perfect. But I guess all new dad's think that huh? Anyways, what's been happening here with you?"

"Uh, well, let's see. I almost got killed on arrival. Since then I've managed to make friends with a Dhampire, a Werewolf, a Sylph, and a Fairy. I also faced a witch who turned me into a rabbit, a few Vampires, and now we're going to figure out what's living off the coast of South Carolina and running off the tourists."

Max blinked. "A rabbit?"

I nodded, grinning a little ruefully. "Yeah. The nickname Thumper has stuck and the Werewolf decided it would be amusing to hunt me before showing he wasn't going to eat me, not to mention the horrible change back. I guess it'll make a great story someday."

Max and I glanced towards the stairs when we heard Liam chuckling. "Makes a great story now. I'll never forget the way little Thumper screamed when the big bad wolf caught him." He dodged his shoulder down when I went to punch him and laughed at me as he slid into the apartment unscathed.