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Shaper sighed, and lay down on the couch. He was tired from all that walking, but glad he had to do it to follow Victor around, it kept him in decent shape. Amy and Rosethorn for all he knew, were still in with Victor. He was still worried, and still no closer to puzzling out who was behind this mess. And that really bothered him.

Rosethorn had finally laid her head down on the desk and taken a nap, and Amy lay with Victor's head in her lap, stroking his hair gently, sometimes combing it. She sighed and looked at his face, as cold and motionless as if it had been carved from marble. Then, without warning, he began to twitch, as if in the last death throes of his life. Giving a mute scream, Amy tried to hold him down, and was clocked by an open hand that nearly threw her across the room. She stared in shock, as he continued this odd dance on the bed. Amy had no idea Victor was that strong. She grabbed at the edge of Rosethorn's vest. The alchemist woke up and blinked at her sleepily, one contact out of whack, giving her the odd appearance of having two pupils.

"What is it? Oh yeah, mute..."

Amy waved her hands at the half asleep woman and pointed.

"Oh Jesus H. Christ!" She leapt to her feet, eye closed as she reset the contact. "How long has this been going on?" She looked at Amy, who gave her such a look. "Never mind, break out the bondage shit, if he keeps doing this, he might hurt himself, or one of us."

Amy gave her a look, which said quite clearly that she and Victor had never done bondage, thank you very much.

"No bondage stuff? What is this world coming to?" Rosethorn snatched a blanket from a nearby chest, and tore a thick strip off twisting it into a rope. "Fine, just catch his hand, and tie it to the head of the bed with this."

That was easier said than done, as he was still bucking about. But once they got him tied properly, with no leverage, he stopped breaking the bonds.

"I wonder..." Luna said, pushing a strand of hair out of her eyes. "What's happening to make him do this all of a sudden..." Without warning the jerking movements stopped, and he subsided into a death like sleep again. "Damn. I wish I understood what he was better."

Amy sighed, and brushed a sweat soaked strand of hair from Victor's face.

'So do I,' she thought. 'God, I wish I knew him.'

The next morning, Shaper woke up to the weirdest sight ever.

"Amy, I knew you and Victor had a creepy relationship... but this is way too strange for me."

Amy cracked him one on top of the head. Shaper laughed.

"Good news bad news time," Luna said, looking up from her vials. Victor started having another fit. They all stared at him for a while, then Rosethorn cleared her throat and continued. "I think I can come up with an antidote."

"That's GREAT!" cheered Shaper.

"Hold onto your horses, bucko." She shook her head. "I need a full sample of whatever they doped him with."

"That's not so great... most I can do is poke about and hope whomever doped Victor comes after me... I'm not sure of all my body and this mask can do yet, but at least so far drugs haven't done anything too terrible to me."

"Pretty good plan, but there's no assurance they'll come after you with the same drug."

"It's all I got. Victor makes the plans, okay? Besides, I woke up when they were trying to recreate him. They might think it has the same effect on me."

"Fine. Do it. Be careful." Rosethorn drew her lips into a thin line. "I don't like this."

Shaper hissed and donned his mask.

"Oh, and you think I like the idea of ending up like Victor if this goes sour?"

"I don't know, you're a pretty twisted little monkey."

'I think I'm in love,' Shaper thought to himself as he stuck his tongue out over his shoulder (he was wearing the mask, so there was over a foot of it, and it was forked) and walked out the door.

It was raining. Again.

Of all the things Mother Nature wrought on the planets, rain was Shaper's least favorite thing. Even with the mask on, he looked like a half-drowned puppy-dog. It plastered his hair to his head and neck, wormed its way chilly down the back of his neck, and somehow managed to get into his boots so they sloshed with each step. He was miserable, and looked as preoccupied as he seemed.

"Lookit the stray...." hissed a voice from just behind him.

"I know that puppy's face... and I think our bosses will be happy to see him returned to his collar and leash at home," added a second.

Shaper REALLY hated the rain.

But he hated the guys after Victor, and now, apparently him as well, even more.

Shaper hissed, turned, and was sent reeling as something bit into his throat like a tiny bee's sting. He wobbled as he turned, and looked, a woman wearing hunter green leather and a thick fur-lined cloak was carefully hiding a blowgun she was holding. The two from behind closed in, and took his arms. The lady moved closer. He noted her fair features and noble-looking face. And the ears that went with it.

Wood-elf blood, definitely. And likely the one who'd shot Victor as well.

And he was hoping he was right.

Shaper, for all his occasional stupid stunts, had an idea for once.

He 'fell' into the woman's arms... and half groped her. She yelped, slapped him, and moved away, and Shaper ran his fingers lightly over the place she'd struck his mask. And then, instead of falling limp, he started to, then broke the hold the men had on him, and ran for all he was worth.

His head hurt something nasty, and he threw up more than once, but he was fairly sure so long as he wore his mask, he'd be fine. Goddess, he'd better be... or he'd be like Victor, only out in the streets, and without anyone to worry for him if he were gone besides Amy and Rose.

It took the better part of the day to escape them, but as soon as he slipped into a nice dark alley, he reached up, and spat the dart out of his mouth.

He only hoped it would be enough of a dose to help Victor.

* * *

The light was worse than the darkness. It was painful, so painful he wanted to go back into the darkness, the floating abyss. But something in him told him it was wrong, and he fought through. It felt as if he was ripping through setting cement, with every step. Suddenly he was standing on a street, somewhere gray and dismal. And he heard a scream. Without thinking about it, he turned towards it, as a flower turned towards light. A woman was being dragged away by a large, hairy creature. It wasn't a werewolf, but other than that Victor would have to get closer to say. And he was, as a child tried to pull its mother away from the creature.

"No!" the child sobbed "No! Mommy!" The monster raised a broken-taloned hand to swat the child away, and the mother screamed shrilly, like a dying rabbit.

Victor caught the hand by the wrist, and looked up into the monster's surprised eyes. Then he broke it. The monster dropped the woman, whose child fled into her arms, and they both watched in horror, as Victor, always facing away from them, methodically broke each one of the monster's joints. It was a good thing he was facing away, because there was a quiet little smile on his face. He was enjoying himself. Getting out all of the pent up emotions from his time in the void. At last there was nothing more than a heap of quivering flesh, and Victor raised his boot, and crushed the creature's skull. Then finally, lighting a clove, he turned to the woman and her child. The woman had incredibly pale, fine hair, a blonde so light it was almost white, and her eyes were red from crying. The boy-child, still huddled in his mother's arms, had brown eyes, and thick dark hair. The child stared at him with bemused recognition, while his mother babbled.

"Thank you, thank you a thousand times, and that isn't nearly enough. Dear," she prompted her child, "thank the nice man."

"I'm not a nice man. I'm not a good man. I'm just not a bad one." Victor turned away and walked off. The mother looked after the darkly clad man with surprise written all over.

Out of sight, Victor stopped, and his clove fell from his lips, as he gritted his teeth, fingers buried in his spiky hair. There was something just out of reach, something he was trying to remember... why had he done that? Why had he said that? What was he doing here? Why couldn't he remember how he got here?!

:Now this is an interesting development. The Keshians were right. This is a fine idea.:

Victor looked up at the sky, eyes wide, and pupils mere pinpricks.

* * *

Shaper wearily slipped into the house well after one in the morning, and slithered into a chair, looking horrid.

In his hands he held what he hoped would save his friend.

Or much as he would hate it, he was going to go out and do this all again tomorrow.

"Are you all right?" asked Rosethorn.

"I'll be a lot better if you tell me I got what you needed."

"I'll see. I don't know."

"Then what good are you?" growled Shaper, eyes glimmering dangerously. The Alchemist took a step back, shocked, and no small bit scared. Shaper didn't look like himself, more like a demon from the deepest pit.

***

"Son of the father," whispered Victor to himself. "Lord above that loves his people. Give me guidance."

:He's not listening. Or real for that matter,: came the voice from nowhere again. :Honestly, has he ever answered you?:

Victor continued to pray, and to try and remember how he'd come to this gray place.

:Your god didn't even make you,: the voice said idly. :We did. We are your God.:

"NO!" screamed Victor. "You're nothing!"

:No. It is you who are nothing to us.:

* * *

Rosethorn worked like a madwoman, sometimes sparing a glance over her shoulder to where Shaper dozed, chair tipped back against a wall. She had been attracted to him. But now... he scared her. She knew what her aunt's 'son' was, more or less. But that... that was an unknown quantity. Shaper half-woke a bit later, and got mobile long enough to stand up, and head for the couch where he'd been sleeping. Soon afterwards, Amy wandered in from her resting place. She looked pale, and had a less than pleasant hungry look about her.

Rosethorn was betting the vampire girl hadn't fed since the pair had found Victor.

"Look," the Alchemist said quietly, but loudly enough that she knew they could hear her. "You're not doing him any good by doing yourselves harm." Amy turned baleful pink eyes upon Luna, and she drew back. Amy licked her fangs, and slowly mouthed words.

' ...do... ...your... ...job... ...meat...'

Rosethorn blinked, and scowled.

Amy sighed, turned, and walked out to Shaper, and went hunting.

* * *

:We have spent too much effort on you to let you go unretrieved.:

"I'm not your creature," Victor muttered, glancing around, as bit by bit the background faded away, going back towards black.

:Then what are you. We can give you purpose, which you have never had.:

"I'm alive," the dark haired hunter growled, pinching his arm and feeling nothing. "I don't need more."

:Then why do you look for it every day?:

"Great, I'm stuck in an elsewhere with a badly philosophical voice."