1x1 with x_fire

"Three." Alayna said, looking up at Keith as she was momentairly distracted by little Zach. She smiled softly in thanks to Keith before looking back at Maddie. The girl was grinning at her brother with a small bit of fascination.
Kristen was boucning gently with her son in her arms, laughing as he said 'Mama' again. She looked up at Keith with a grin of thanks before sitting down on the counter, placing Zach on the counter in front of her. "Your not a dork are you Zach? No." Kristen murmured, grinning softly at Zach as she took his hand from his mouth gently.

Maria sighed, falling into a thoughtful silence as she drove, needing to focus otherwise they were going to get a speeding ticket, or worse a crash. Having to explain after a high speed accident, why there were no visible injuries was a pain and a half.
Finally though, they arrived at the house, and Maria turned off the car, getting out and opening Alexi's door. She looked up at the house before all around. If no one knew, this house looked nothing more then belonging to a small family with a large income.

"Alayna can you get the door." Kristen murmured softly.
"But no one's--" Alayna started before there was a soft knock on the door. She rolled her eyes at Kristen's smirk but when anyway. Seeing Maria and Alexi, Alayna smiled sadily.
"Guess you heard the news?" she asked softly, opening the door and letting them inside.

Keith nodded, "Three it is" He said, finishing Maddie's sandwich and putting it on a plate for Maddie, along with some ketchup.
"He's a dork" He argued teasingly, glancing up as Kristen requested that Alayna get the door.
"Who-" He cut off, seeing Alexi and Maria, "Ah" He said, shaking his head and returning to the task of cooking.

Zach whined sharply as his mom set him down, the proceeded to try and take his hand away. Flailing, he pulled his hand back, and began to attempt to fit it in his mouth again. He wanted to play, and she wasn't letting him.

Alexi sighed, quieting until they were at the house. He nodded at Alayna, "Saw actually, it's all over the news" He said, shrugging and shaking his head as he stepped inside. He could hear Demitri, Vlad and Sven upstairs, all speaking rapidly in Russian, about what had happened.

Maddie grinned as Keith set her plate down, though she looked up sharply when Zach started whining and fussing. She said nothing though, grabbing the ketchup and squirting some on her plate, dunking the corner of her sandwhich before bitting into it with a hum of satsifaction.

"Zachery." Kristen murmured warningly as the baby while and snapped his hand from Kristen's grip. Little tike was strong...she couldn't help but smile, picking him up again and resting Zach on her hip as she walked to the kitchen doorframe. She saw Maria and Alexi, and nodded softly. She had a better grip on her emotional expression, and although she appeared to be a content mother, she looked ragged and tired though it was early in the afternoon.

Alayna's eyes went wide. "It made it to the news already?" She asked, looking shocked.
"There were officers and ambulences by the time we were leaving..." Kristen murmured as Maria walked over to Kristen.
"You're alright though?" She asked, rubbing Kristen's arm gently. Kristen nodded softly.
"Maddie was pretty shooken up..." Kristen said softly, glancing over her shoulder at the silent girl who was diligently eating her lunch. "Demitri's upstairs with his brothers. They've been talking like that ever since we got back about half hour ago." Kristen murmured, nodding her head to the stairs. She could hear the vampires of course, but they were speaking much too fast for Kristen to understand.

Keith sighed, shaking his head and finishing off the other two sandwiches.
"Here you go" He said, looking pointedly at Kristen, she needed to eat, that much was obvious.
"Eat" He said sternly, walking over and taking the baby from her. "And you, stop biting yourself" He teased, playing with Zach's fingers to amuse him. He sighed, looking at Alexi as the middle Draq brother ran up the stairs, obviously intent on speaking to his brothers.

Zach whined again, though smiled as Keith came over and took him. The angel had a calming presence, and soon the baby was nodding off, yawning on Keith's shoulder, before falling asleep, his thumb shoved in his mouth, a small drop of blood sliding down his cheek, from his sharp fangs cutting his thumb.

Alayna walked over to the counter, getting drink for the three of them before actually sitting down to her lunch. Maddie watched Alexi run off, still munching on her lunch, taking a drink from her cup of jucie as well.
Kristen sighed as Keith took Zach from her and she sat down in front of her own plate. She bit into the sandwhich with a small smile. The taste of Keith's grilled cheese brought a memory to her; one where she, Demitri and Keith were sitting in the cafeteria, eating lunch, laughing about Demitri's last hockey game. Back when things were simple...Kristen glanced up when she didn't hear Zach whining or fussing. A smile came onto her face when she saw him asleep, but she shook her head at the sight of the blood.
"I was afriad he was going to do that." she mumbled after a drink from her cup. Things may have been simple then...but they were better now...Kristen realized. She had her daughter with her, and a son, and Demitri.

Maria took a deep breath, watching as Alexi went up the stairs. She couldn't help but feel like it was a gentlemans only type deal. Carlos and Keith had done that to her plenty of times back in London, and they all seemed to still carry that air with them, no matter the age and time. Looking back at Kristen, Maria couldn't help but smirk.
"Feel like crashing the party?" Maria asked as Kristen ate the last bite of her sandwhich.
"Absouletly." Kristen murmured, glancing back at Keith. "I can put him down if you want. I'm glad you got him to sleep, he needs his nap."

"No need to party crash" Demitri said, coming down the stairs, though he still looked dark, slightly meancing. Vlad and Sven both poked their heads in, stating that they had to get going.
"Call you later" Vlad called, shaking his head, and the two brothers disappeared out the front door. Neither of them looked to pleasent, considering everything Demitri had told them.

"Free" Alexi called out in a singsong voice, skipping down the stairs, cast free.
"Maria" He called, sweeping her up into his arms.
"I'm free" He said, hugging her and kissing her cheek, beyond eccstatic, though his eyes now hard the darkness that the other brother's had in theirs.

Keith smiled, "He's a little vampire, he'll be fine" He reassured Kristen, he had a small smile on his face as he absentmindedly rocked the little boy back and forth.
"Nice dude" He said to Alexi, chuckling at his enthusiasm.

"Ah..." Maddie sat up, watching as the brothers all came back downstairs. She saw the looks, the similar expressions on all their faces. Demitri was still seething. She looked at Sven, and then Vlad, watching with a slight pained expression as they both left. She sighed and went back to her sandwhich; well they hadn't agreed to stay long in the first place, Maddie told herself, also reminding herself that they were probably busy...especially Vlad.

"I know but..." Kristen trailed off, giving Keith a helpless shrug. It was a mother thing, she guessed, not wanting her baby to hurt himself, even if it would heal ten times as fast as normal. She stood up, about to follow Maria before all the brothers came back downstairs. She clenched her jaw, looking at Demitri for a long moment, unable to ignore the anger that was practically burning off him...or at least it was to her. She nodded a thanks to Vlad and Sven before the tension was slightly broken by Alexi's voice.

Maria looked up in shock and amazement, gasping in surprise as Alexi picked her up and spun her around. "That's wonderful!" she said, thought catching his eye, she realized that was a tiny glitter in a vast blackness. She looked at Kristen and Demitri before back at Alexi.
"What's happened that caused this unpleasant circumstance to arise after our much awaited homecoming?" Maria asked, wanting some answeres.

At Maria's question, a very low, warning growl slid from Demitri, his eyes blackened, turning and riviting on her. He was not up to this right now. He made sure to keep his growl quiet enough that Maddie wouldn't hear, not wanting to stress the girl out anymore. He watched Alexi turn, and stiffen, letting out his own growl. Threatening Maria was dangerous, but Demitri did not have the emotional capacity to handle this right now.

"Guys" Keith said warningly, though he walked over and scooped Maddie up in his free arm.
"Come with me and Alayna, alright kiddo? We can go read some stories, and watch some movies in our room" He said, looking pointedly at Alayna.

"Demitri" Alexi hissed, his eyes narrowed as he shoved Maria behind him, more defensive then ever with his mate being pregnant.
"Don't" He growled, eyes narrowed.
"Kristen, Maria, out" Alexi said, watching his brother anxiously. He could see Demitri was close to snapping, the threat to his family had driven the vampire very close to the edge, and he was sure Demitri was going to inadvertantly attack someone.

When Maria heard Demitri growling at her, and saw the blackness of his eyes, her own darkened and she clenched her jaw. Her own instincts were telling her to fight back and defende herself, but they were also telling her to listen to Alexi and get out of the room for the baby's sake. When Alexi pushed himself in front of her, Maria did her best not to hiss.

Alayna's eyes went wide. She didn't need super sensative hearing to know something was going on outside the kitchem. She nodded for Keith to go through the other door that hooked around towards the t.v./game room. Maddie frowned deeply, looking worried and scarred as Keith picked her up. Her eyes watched Demitri; she could hear the growling and what they were saying. This time, nothing was adding up in her mind; nothing made sense. Burring her face in Keith's shoulder, Maddie shuddered softy.

"Demitri.." Kristen gasped softly, hearing him growl as clearly as if he were loud about it. She watched him, a fearful frown forming on her face as she glanced back at Maria. Alexi and Demitri were between them, and she honestly had no idea what to do. Hearing Alexi's suggestion to get out, Kristen's frown only became more worried. Maria moved faster, grabbing Kristen's arm and pulling her up the stairs towards the bedrooms.

"It's okay Maddie, your dad's just a little stressed" He said, shaking his head and hugging her. He walked into the room, setting Maddie down and putting Zach down on the bed.
"Alayna, wanna find a movie?" He asked, nodding at the DVD case, as he managed to get the two kids more comfortable, Zach was sound asleep, which was fine, easier actually.

Alexi sighed, "Demitri, calm down" He began to untense as Maria and Kristen were out of the room.
He could see the raw, black rage in his brother's eyes, vampires were incredibly protective of their families, and the threat had really pissed Demitri off, and he was having a hell of a time calming down again.

Hissing, Demitri snarled at Alexi, needing to vent, relax, the rage was coursing through him at a dangerous level now.
Cursing, Alexi threw himself forward, suddenly tackling Demitri, slamming through the kitchen door, and landing in the snow outside. Less breakable things outside at the very least.

Maddie winced, hearing the kitchen door somehwhat explode, though she had no idea what had just happened. And suddenly, she didn't want to know. She sat down on the sofa, knees drawn to her chest. Alayna came over with the DVD case, asking for her help on a movie selection. Maddie glanced down listlessly, picking a movie at random- "The Lion King."
"Ooh, this is a good one." Alayna said, and Maddie nodded, trying to smile as Alayna started to hook things up to play the movie. Once it was set, Alayna joined Maddie on the couch. She kissed the girls forhead lightly.
"Everything'll be fine Maddie." she promised.

"They can't be serious..." Kristen said, turning around at the last minute when she heard the kicthen door crash.
"Oh yes they can." Maria called, grabbing Kristen from trying to leave. "Trust me. If you haven't noticed, your husband has a temper, and when he's angry, there's no stopping him." Maria said, pulling Kristen into the spare bedroom down the hallway.
Kristen instantly began to pace. She didn't like this, it wasn't right, Demitri fighting with this brother...
"Kristen what happened?" Maria asked.
"I don't know!" Kristen finally snapped. "One minute eveything fine, and the next thing I know I'm standing in my dream. Only this time I could hear the click of the gun and doge the bullet. Freaking hell broke loose after that. Demitri said he would handle it. You know everything I do now." Kristen finally said, still pacing anxiously.

Keith picked Zach up, letting his wings appear, and wrapping them around Alayna and Maddie.
"Oooh, I like the Lion King, do you think Zach will like it?" He asked Maddie, trying to distract her, though the vampires were far enough away to prevent the noise from reaching the house. He sighed, flexing his wings and sincerly hoping they helped to distract Maddie, poor kid.

About half an hour later, Alexi came in, Demitri tossed over his shoulder, fireman style.
"Ass" He said, though it was affectionate, his brother was bleeding from where he had smoked him on the head, his attempt to knock him out. Demitri had let of the much needed steam, and would probably wake up just fine. Wandering upstairs, he deposited him on the bed, flexing his sore arms, he had quiet a few nasty bites, they'd scar, but he wasn't to worried.

"I thought he was sleeping." Maddie murmured, though her eyes widened when she saw Keith's wings appear. Alayna smiled in apprication, never growing tired of watching the wings appear and expand from Keith's back. As he sat down next to her, Alayna couldn't help but run her fingers over the velting feather softly as the movie started.
"Maybe." was all Maddie said in an answer to Keith's question.

Kristen was out of the spare bedroom the moment she heard Alexi walking back into the house. She watched him walk into her's and Demitri's bedroom, and followed after him when Maria joined her in the hallway.
Opening the door, Kristen poked her head in first before fulling pushing the door open. She looked at Alexi, whose arms were scratched and bleeding, to Demitri, who was just as beaten up.
"Everything alright now?" Maria asked softly, taking Alexi's hands to look at his arms thoughtfully.

"He's awake on and off" Keith responded, closing his wings around them, smiling as everyone managed to fit, with just a small gap in order to see the TV.
"Just maybe?" He asked, chuckling and moving so Maddie could sit between him and Alayna, her back against one of his wings. He knew Maddie liked them, and he hoped she'd start grooming the feathers like Alayna did, it seemed to calm them both.

"Fine" Alexi said, holding his arms out for Maria, since she'd be worried.
"He just had to blow off some steam, talking with Sven and Vlad didn't help" He grimaced, "He'll wake up totally fine" He said reassuringly to Kristen, "He'll have a few more scars though" He apologized.

"Oh..." Maddie said, settling back between Alayna and Keith. As the movie started all her attention was instantly seized, dispite the gorgeous wings that framed the edges of the screen. Maddie needed something simply and mind-numbing. Staring at a screen while pictures flashed worked for now.
Alayna half focused on the movie, most of her attention being taken up by Keith's wings. She was still running her fingers through the feathers softly, smiling at the feel of them on her hand. Keith's feathers were always soft and gentle...and they straigthened out simply under Alayna touch.

Maria sighed, passing her fingers along Alexi's arm to clear away most of the blood. "I suppose it was a good thing Sven removed your casts." she murmured, though she could have easily taken on Demitri as well, pregant and with him in a rage. She knew Alexi wouldn't have been able to stand it then. Looking at Demitri, Maria frowned.
"Did he say what the shooting was about?" Kristen asked tightly, already with a damp towel in her hand, dapping at the blood on Demitri's head. Her eyes were hard as she looked him over before looking at up Alexi. She wasn't angry with him, or Demitri, just at the whole situation. She had felt Demitri's anger as well, and she was mildly surprised at how composed she was, except her hands were shaking slightly.

Keith smiled, watching Alayna with half closed eyes, though he was sure to stay awake, since they had both kids.
He stretched slightly, though with Zach asleep in his lap, he didn't really move all that much, just sat there, watching the movie boredly. He glanced at Maddie occasionally, glad to see she was sucked in, not wanting her to be aware of the other things going on in the house.

Alexi shrugged, "Just that some guys were after some list Kristen has" He winced, "Oww" He whined at Maria, though he was smiling.
"I guess they were trying to cut a deal, knew who Demitri was and everything' He frowned, "I think that's all, Vlad and Sven took off, with this piece of paper Demitri gave them, gonna go work all this out it looks like"

Kristen went ridged as she listened to Alexi. Slowly, her head stopped from dabbing away the blood, and she turned to face him as she stood up.
"Vlad still has the list?" Kristen asked, dilbretaly slowly, forcing herself to breathe deeply.

"A list?" Maria echoed. "A list of what? And what good would it do to shoot at Kristen? That doesn't make sense."
Kristen slowly started to pace in front of the bed. She rubbed her forehead while Maria watched her. "You know why this is happening?" Maria asked.
"No..but things are starting to click if that makes sense..." Kristen murmured.
"Please, share, at any time, cause I'm a bit concerned at the moment if you haven't noticed." Maria said, suddenly frustrated and angry. Kristen stopped for a moment, eyeing Maria in slight shock; the vampiress wasn't one to loose her temper easily.
"Sorry, ignore that." Maria murmured; now wasn't the time to explain that she was pregant.

"What or who are the Three World Powers?" Kristen asked after she stopped pacing, looking at Alexi and Maria curiously.
"Where did you hear that from?" Maria asked, frowning.
"Nicki. Apparently you all know her..." Kristen murmured, trailing off as Maria's eyes went wide.
"Our Three World Powers? Did Nicki say that specifically?"
"She said there was tension between the Three World Powers." Kristen said with a confused shrug.

Alexi groaned inwardly, "The three world powers, our three world powers are the three most powerful vampire families on earth, they are always at war with eachother. Every other family, clan, coven is subservient or loyal to one such family" He bit his lip, glancing at Kristen, "And it just so happens, that Vlad, this family, has recently risen to become one of those powers" He didn't like telling Kristen this without Vlad's premission, or Demitri being awake.

"You've noticed Vlad being absent more and more? Well this is why" He explained, wrapping his arms around Maria, feeling her anger, and wanting to calm her down. She didn't need to stress.
"The families are continually engaged in power struggles, big ones, and will do anything to stop those families from gaining more supporters, land and therefore power" He explained, shaking his head and rubbing his eyes absentmindedly.

"Keith's family, for example, is loyal to our family, as our a bunch of other vampires that you have met that come around here" He sighed, "By allying themselves with our family, they recieve certain benifits. It's like a monarchy in a sense, the three powers are rivaling kings of rivaling kingdoms" He said thoughtfully.

Kristen watched Alexi intently as she listened, nodding to show she was paying attention. "Oh.." she said shortly after his explination. "That's wonderful." she said, shaking her head softly and starting to pace again.
Maria sighed, glad that Alexi could wrap his arms around her again. It was reassuring, but the fact that the tension was getting worse amoung the Three World Powers, wasn't good.

"Wait...Vlad's name was fifth on the list..." Kristen said suddenly.
"What is this list?" Maria asked in her exasperation. Kristen sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose.
"The list...if I've got this right...is spell induced to show the names of the top ten most powerful vampiers...if that extends to covens or not, I'm not sure. The names were changing a lot this morning..." Kristen murmured thoughtfully, rubbing her eyes as the image from her dream came back.
"So those who attacked you today want the list?" Maria asked.
"If they do, they could target whoever they wanted if they were stupid enough." Kristen murmured, massaging her temples gently.

Alexi nodded, "Makes sense, even though the Draq's are among the three powers, we are the weakest of the three, which means, some of the followers of the other two families, would rank higher then us" He explained, shaking his head and sighing. He rocked Maria back and forth, his hand finding her stomach, resting their protectively.

He shook his head, rubbing his eyes, "The list changing could show the power changing, it has been rather active lately, I mean, amongst the powerful vampire families" He said with a small sigh.
"Wish I could see this list, though, if Vlad has it, he'll get to the bottom of this" He muttered, glancing at Demitri.
"No wonder he was so pissed off" He muttered, glancing back at Maria.

Kristen nodded in understandment as she listened to Alexi. These things, ranking of power, were common sense to her. "Right." she murmured, nodding to herself. "So there are three main heads of the family, and the rest fall into one of the three." Kristen murmured softly.
Maria nodded gently. "Essintially, yes. Believe it or not, there are vampires much older then Vlad, Sven and Alexi. I, myself, am considered young amoung our community..." Maria said, grinning softly as Alexi's hands rested against her stomach pleasantly.
"I'll believe it." Kristen said, chuckling dryly to herself. She was still pacing though, because there was one name she had seen on the list this morning. The lower five of the list had ben changing. From Vlad's name up, the names only moved by once. The fourth name had changed...and the last name had been one Kristen recognized. Demitri had been rushing her out of the house though, so Kristen hadn't had much time to think about it. Now she remembered, because it was the same name in her dream.

"Morriano..." Kristen murmured.
Maria tensed. "What?" she asked softly, narrowing her eyes at Kristen.
"Morriano...I know that name." Kristen said, looking up at the ceiling for a moment. She heard Maddie and Alayna's laughter downstairs then. Krsiten smiled softly before her eyes went wide with realization. Nodding to Alexi and Maria, Kristen walked past them, out of the room and downstairs towards the t.v. room.

Alexi stiffened as well, though he didnt speak until Kristen disappeared.
"Whats wrong? Recognize the name?" He spat, he did, he was sure Vlad had recognized every name on that damn list, but had kept it to himself, at least until he figured out what was going on.
"Maria?" He pressed, pulling her into his lap, keeping an eye on Demitri, lest his brother wake up.

Keith glanced up as Kristen came in.
"Hey" He said, shifting his wings so she had access to her kids. He figured, in the right mood, Kristen wouldn't hesitate to tear his wings off in order to get to her children, and with all the tension in the house, he didn't want to encourage her.

Maria took a deep breath, unable to follow after Kristen as Alexi pulled her into his lap. She sighed and rubbed her face.
"Yes, I recognize the name..." Maria murmured softly, holding up her hands for Alexi to calm down. "I don't know what Kristen meant by it so I'm not going to jump to conclusions. I had a...not so friendly run in with a Morriano back in London. She was fresh and reckless, but apparently had some really high connections because it was a pretty big ordeal." Maria muttered, doing her best to keep the venom out of her voice. She was listening to where Kristen was. She had gone downstairs to Keith and Alayna and the children, but there had to be a reason for it.

Kristen smiled to show Keith that nothing was really wrong. Maddie had been slowly nodding off, and when Keith shifted his wings, Maddie stirred.
"Shh.." Alayna murmured, hoping to keep the little girl asleep. She looked up over Keith's wings to see Kristen at the doorway. When Kristen caught her eye, she waved Alayna over. Frowning, Alayna stood up and walked out into the hallway with Kristen.
"What's your name?" Kristen asked, looking thoughtful and curious. Alayna blinked.
"Alayna...is that a trick question?" she asked, laughing softly.
"Your full name Alayna."
"Kristen you know-"
"Just remind me?"
Alayna sighed heavily but did as she was asked. "Alayna Catherina Morriano Loranza. There happy? Now what's going on?"
"I think I need to sit down..." Kristen muttered as events started pilling up in her mind, and a dozen things all seemed to make sense. She felt dizzy and her head pounded because of it. Alayna gasped and caught Kristen by the arm as she swayed and helped her into the t.v. room to sit on the couch.

"Seems a lot of people have been having some problems with them" He muttered, "Sven had a not so pleasent incident awhile back" He murmured, shaking his head and taking a deep breath.
"Wanna fill me in?" He asked her curiously, blue eyes shining as his hand absentmindedly rubbed her stomach.
"You know, you're starting to develop a bump" He said with a small smile.

Keith frowned, watching Alayna and Kristen mutter to one another, before Alayna led Kristen off
"What the hell?" He muttered, though he couldn't very well get up and go find out, since he had Zach asleep in his lap, and Maddie asleep against his side. Sighing, he rubbed the little girl's side, trying to calm her down, since she had stirred when her mother had showed up.

"Oh I nearly killed her that's all." Maria said with a shrug. "I didn't know her. She was in my terriorty and she took my dinner. I wasn't in a good mood that night. " Maria muttered, Alexi's voice distracting her from the conversation downstairs she had been trying to easedrop on. She smiled at Alexi as his hand passed over her stomach.
"I hope the baby won't come too soon...I can tell things are going to get rough. I didn't realize things were so bad..." Maria murmured softly. "Maybe I should call Carlos." she mused to herself, looking a bit worried at her lack of communicaton with her brother.

"I'm alright." Kristen said as Alayna set her down in the kitchen.
"Here." Alayna said, getting her a glass of water. "Your face went seriously pale." Alayna said, looking worried as Kristen downed the whole glass in one swing.
"Sorry. Honestly though, I'm fine." Kristen said, rubbing her forehead. "Are Zach and Maddie sleeping?"
"Mmhm. Actually, they're stuck to Keith at the moment." Alayna said, still looking at Kristen, expecting some answers since Kristen had nearly fainted and Alayna had never, under any circumstance, known Kristen to do that.
"I should go put them down..." Kristen said softly before standing up and going back to the t.v. room. She smiled her apology to Keith, chuckling softly at Maddie who was curled up next to Keith's side and Zach who was sound asleep in his arms.
"I'll take Maddie up to bed. Would you mind putting Zach down for me?" she asked softly and she leaned down to pick Maddie up. Thankfully she was deep enough in sleep not to notice the sudden movement.