Its Been A While [Raye]

[xzavier Michael Evans]

What do you do when you find out that your youngest brother is alive, as a result of your other brother secretly ressurecting him behind his back? And what do you do, when you find out that this same youngest brother had actually grown up with them this whole time as a result of these new memories appearing in his mind? The answer? He really didn't know. But how was he going to deal with these two questions? Simple. By going to the cemetery and kicking vampire ass.

He walked slowly and carefully along the soft ground, eyeing each tombstone he passed intently. He had to focus, after all, he didn't have the senses and reflexes that his brother Axel had. When you think about it, it is quite frustrating how the perfect combination of powers was split between them, so each had their strengths, but also their weaknesses. Because he couldn't respond as quickly as Axel could to vampire's appearing out of the grave, he had to rely on focus and noticing the signals which could lead to a vampire appearing. Then again, he could just rely on his supernatural strength when it comes to beating the crap out of these vampires. That was usually handy, too.

He sighed, standing still as he looked around, wondering if there was going to be any excitement tonight in the cemetery. It wasn't that he craved coming out here and fighting them, or enjoying it. It was just his way of taking his mind off of everything that had happened. Sure, he was more than happy that his brother was alive, because he tore himself to pieces emotionally for letting Axel be killed and be possessed the way he was. He was the oldest brother and was basically the one who had to look out for his two brothers when their parents perished. And he failed at doing that, therefore what use was he, really? He didn't only fail himself, but he failed them. He failed Axel, and even all the people he was supposed to help. Sure, it made it easier with these memories resurfacing, knowing that he had a good relationship with Axel which wasn't clouded by the two not communicating with eachother much like had happened in Los Angeles over the past few months. Maybe it didn't matter, but it did to him. It mattered that his relationship with Axel over the past few months, although strained compared to their relationship growing up, was still a part of him. He reacted that way not knowing who Axel really was. And that was the problem; what if he hadn't recieved these memories growing up with Axel? They wouldn't have bonded the way they have now, proving that he was a failure for an older brother.

It wasn't just his supposed failures which was burdening him. It was his relationship with Lily, the revelation that he has a fourth brother, a half brother and from Lily of all people. The decision to come to New York and leave his brothers seperated, where anything could happen to them. He was supposed to keep the pieces together, but he couldn't. Axel made it pretty damn clear he wanted to go to San Francisco because he needs to figure everything out. Guess he was lucky there. He only had the memories of growing up with Axel and of meeting Axel. Axel on the other hand, had the memories of growing up with two brothers and growing up without two brothers. He could see why Axel was finding this more difficult to comprehend. And the whole, digging his way out of the grave, which had angered him that not only Everette had been so careless and nearly got his brother put back in the grave; but that he didn't tell him. He didn't trust him enough with this information to risk this.

He finally saw a light in the tunnell when a vampire emerged from a nearby grave. It begun gnarling, then turned to Xzavier and lunged towards him, seeing him as unfortunate prey. But he wasn't going to have any of that. He blocked the vampire's arm, punching him still in the face, before throwing him across the ground, nearby where the vampire previously emerged. The vampire growled, "what the hell, what are you!" Xzavier smirked softly. "Something thats about to break every bone in your body. But I don't want to be stuck in a cemetery all night, so I'll cut it short..." He pulled a stake out of his jacket, eyeing the vampire. The vampire lunged foward in anger, and he grabbed the vampire, pushing him aside, before shoving the stake through the vampire's heart, watching it turn to dust. He looked down, placing the stake back into his jacket. "Maybe next time you will learn to stay dead. Could've avoided this whole thing, oh well."

[raye]

Raye loved her job as a kindergarten teacher, even if she was still dreaming to get higher up and get to teaching the older kids. But, she didn't have all that much time to do that, she was still just a little bit too busy with her hunting side-job. And even if it wasn't exactly a side-job anymore, it was only a part of what really kept her busy, she still had Riley to think of as well, but she was with friends now, while Raye had finally managed to track the vampire down, that she was after, surprising even herself, for it taking so damn long. She knew for sure some of her hunter-friends would laugh at her face right where she stood, if they heard, but she would then again love to see them juggle a teaching job, with raising a six year-old, with hunting down evil and then see how they would be doing. She was almost one-hundred percent sure, they wouldn't last a day, well, most of them either way.

Slowly and steadily, she moved past the tombstones, making sure her footing was light and hardly heard, unless you had the ears of a bat and probably the other senses too. It was a total waste of time, to even be doing that, but she was petite and she could easily be knocked down, no matter how much she practiced each and every day. It was really annoying, because it kept reminding her that she was human and just that, wasn't what she needed, she didn't need to feel weak, while hunting all of the evil sons of bitches that hunted the night. She needed to feel strong and tough and good enough to knock down an army, even if she would be killed halfway through. Her mother would probably kick her out on the field if she was here, anyway. She was that kind of woman, or maybe Raye was that kind of daughter, it was David that was so 'perfect' compared to her anyhow. As if getting Riley at the age she got her, was such a bad thing. She was almost an adult and she wasn't even sure if that almost wasn't already reached nonetheless.

When she saw a fight ensue, she froze, letting her hand slip to her gun on her thigh, before realizing what happened and pulling out the stake on her other thigh, still not moving very much, as she looked at what was happening and at how much trouble the vampire was obviously having. When she heard the voice, she felt her eyes widen and wondered if she still had time to retreat. That was Xzavier! She hadn't seen or heard from him for over more than six years! What the hell was he doing back in New York?! She was pulled back to six years ago, maybe even longer, when she had said goodbye to him and had still managed to beg him to stay, to which he hadn't listened. At this, she heard herself making a weird choking sound and was thrown back to the present. To the vampire turning to dust. "Damn it! You've got any idea how long i've been hunting the thing? It's not like I have all the time of the world, hunting vampires, while other hunters just come looking for trouble!" She said angrily, pretending not to recognize him.

[xzavier Michael Evans]

He was ready to turn, head home, and call it a night as there didn't appear to be much vampire activity here tonight in the cemetery. Ah, maybe the death rates are down this week, he thought to himself. But as he turned, he heard the voice of a woman who he never thought he would ever hear again; not because he didn't want to, but because he felt like the two would never be on speaking terms ever again because of the way he left it last time they saw eachother. He left her, without even saying goodbye, because he didn't know how he was going to say goodbye to her, deciding it would be best just to leave without her knowing. He was an idiot, but he couldn't bring Raye into all of his personal dramas. She didn't understand how hard he fought to protect his brothers and his family, and how he needed to get back to them. Maybe he could have handled it better, but he did what he thought was right at the time. Right for her, as well.

Turning, he put on a brave face as he stared Raye directly in the eye. He didn't know what to say. "Hey, how are you, I know I left without saying goodbye, but wanna grab a coffee?" He couldn't do that. And how did he even respond when she was already attacking him? He sighed softly. "It just came out of the grave a minute ago! Unless you were hunting this thing while he was still alive, working at the downtown videostore, I think you have the wrong guy and are just looking for an excuse to attack me..." He continued looking at her. Maybe he came over as a bit aggressive in the response to her, but he didn't like the way she just bluntly attacked him, where it seemed like she was just bitter at him for their past. Maybe she had every right to still be bitter at him about what happened, but it was a long time ago, wouldn't she have moved on? This was going to be a difficult conversation, he felt.

He tried to think over his words more carefully before saying them this time. "Look, does it really matter who hunts down what, or who kills what? Better one of us kill the bastard than letting it get away killing an innocent. Unless you are just too involved in this..." Shit! Once again, he was letting his annoyance get in the way and becoming defensive, about what, he wasn't even sure. "Uh. Lets start again. How are you? Its been a while?" If he could facepalm himself right now, he probably would. He was almost positive she would probably try bludgoning him with whatever weapon she could find. So he wasn't the best at continuing these type of conversations. At least he did try.

[raye]

Raye crossed her arms over her chest, as Xzavier turned and the corners of her mouth moved up in a slight smile, though a tired one at that. She hadn't seen him in a very long time and she had come to terms with the fact that she would never see him again, she even came to the point where she accepted she would forever be a single mother and even if there was a chance for Xzavier to come back, she didn't want to drag Riley into everything, Riley was too young to even understand why she didn't have a father, let alone drag her father into it all. "You can drop your petty defences, I'm not going to attack you, but I have a job, a life and hunting is just one of those things I don't have all that much time for." She said, sighing.

When he went on, with what he obviosly wanted to say, she raised her eyebrows and kept looking at him, while she kept silent. "It's not my fault you need hunting to get high or something." She snapped as she balled her hands to fists and took a step toward him. "No, I don't want to start again, you can't just show up here after a little over six years, acting like that! What the hell are you even thinking? That I'd just forgive you after you left without even a slight warning? I knew you were leaving, I begged you to stay and you still left. So, don't come floating in here, taking my work out of my hands! Go back to your own town, Xzavier, leave, that's obviously whatn you're best at." Okay, great, now she was near tears, absolutely perfect.

She didn't want to be nice to him, she didn't want to try being nice to him, she just couldn't do it. She had raised a child in the meantime, studied, gotten a job, hunted down evil, she didn't even have time for a social life and yes, he did hurt her way more than he probably ever knew, but he wouldn't know, she wouldn't tell him, she couldn't risk throwing Riley's whole life around just because Xzavier was back in town, what certainty did she have that he wasn't going to leave again? She sighed and rubbed her eyes. "Just whatever your business is in New York, deal with it, but stay out of my way."

[xzavier Michael Evans]

He begun scratching the back of his head lightly, realizing that what he was saying wasn't exactly making Raye less aggressive; it was probably just adding fuel to the fire. Women, why was he always the one to get them so fired up for? Was it something he said, or was that just women being women? He wanted to go for the second option, but he would probably be hated even more right now for that. "I'm glad you have a lot of things going on..." He replied, looking back at her. It was good, although this woman could drive him crazy, he did genuinely care for her and didn't want anything happening to her. If it meant she wasn't hunting, that was probably a good thing. It would keep her alive, healthy and more than likely, happy. He didn't want to see anything happen to her, after all.

Did she really just say that? He stood there, glancing back at her with a mixture of startled and confusion plastered on his expression. "You think I do this for some kind of 'high?' You think I wake up every morning, fearing that my family won't be safe gives me some kind of high? I didn't ask for this, none of it. But it is what it is, and I just do it to protect the ones around me. Maybe you have a different outlook on hunting, but for me, its about protecting those I care for. That included you too. I didn't get a high out of that." It was hitting home, he hated people assuming he just did this for some petty reason. He did it because he was chosen to do it and because there were people out there who needed his help. He wished people would begin to understand this.

He nodded softly as he recieved a lecture. "I didn't expect you to forgive me..." He responded coldly, slightly agitated at where this conversation was leading. "Look, maybe the way I handled everything with you was wrong, but I did what I felt was right at that time. I'm sorry I have other people I care for and have to protect. If something ever happened to them, I would never forgive myself..." He was thinking of Axel now. He couldn't forgive himself for what happened with him, especially since Xzavier was right there when it happened and couldn't do anything to save him. He put his head down and hands in his pockets as she became genuinely upset, telling him to leave. He hated it when women got emotional like this...

"In case you hadn't noticed, this is my business. You came into my way, I didn't ask for a lecture from you. I didn't ask for you to just appear on tonight of all nights. I'm doing my business, and if it means coming into 'your city' than thats just too bad, because I'm doing my business. And if you know whats good for you, you should be the one to stay out of my way!" He was angry, and decided to cool down, forcing himself to turn and walk off down the cemetery. He just couldn't handle this right now, not from her, not from anyone. No one understood how hard this all was, and they weren't making it any easier.

[raye]

Raye saw him scratch the back of his neck and knew what she had said, didn't help much, which was exactly her point, she wanted him riled up, get him out of his damned shell, show her he was at least human enough. Human enough, what a funny thought that was, she thought, as she kept looking at him, with a fierce look in her eyes, very unlike the look in her eyes over six years ago, when she had just started this hunting job. When she heard what he said next, she laughed, it was a bitter laugh at that. "I bet you are." She said sarcastically, as her hands almost itched to grab the gun and point it at him, as a warning, but she refrained from that as she still cared just a little bit too much for him, to want to hurt him.

Okay, she had stricken a nerve, exactly what she wanted, she thought, slightly starting to enjoy this at the very least. "Then why aren't you with them?" She asked bitterly, right as her cellphone beeped, signalling her of a text message, she took out her phone and took a quick glance at it, before putting it back in her pocket, it was her daughter's nanny, asking where she was, well, he could wait another fifteen minutes. "You think I asked for this? I need to protect those around me too, Xzav! I have a family to protect, 'cause believe it or not, my mother surely won't!" He knew her mother was a hunter too, that she had learned the job from her, so, she wondered what kind of reaction this would produce on his face.

When Xzavier said he didn't expect her to forgive him, she shook her head. "Save your apologies." She said, probably just as agitated as he was. She listened to what he said and had the urge to tell him about Riley, but didn't, she had chosen to do this on her own and she wasn't coming back from her word on that. "I have someone very important I need to take care of too, 'cause I doubt she even understands what's going on." She then said, deciding to keep it vague, unless he would guess it, which a part of her wanted him to, while another part desperately wanted to keep him in the dark of things.

"If you hadn't noticed, this is still my hometown! I've been living in this town ever since I was born and I'm sure as hell not planning to leave it, so, you can just think whatever you want, that I appeared out of the blue, but it was you that chose to come back to this town of all towns. I'm sure there are other towns to worry about." She said, before she watched him walk away and sighed.