1x1 with x_fire

Serena shrugged, "left over from when I had those really bad cravings a while back. Just drink it, its better the nothing" She muttered, though she was smiling.

----

"Hey" Sami cried indignantly from the kitchen, "Its not like you can cook" She hissed at her mate, glowering playfully.
"It smells good" Chris said, his tone placating as he walked into the small dining room. "Wine? Really Sami, don't you remember what happened last time we drank wine together?" He asked, waggling his eyebrows exaggeratedly to tease her.
"I still say that was Adam's fault" She grumbled, snagging a glass and taking a sip. Sitting down, she dished herself up, before offering the plates to her brother.
"You know, I'm surprised this is rather good"
"I'm not that bad of a cook" Sami whined, looking dejectedly at the table, though she was only teasing.
Sven laughed, standing by Carlos as the siblings bickered.
"How was work?" He asked the other vampire conversationally, sitting down next to Chris at the table and admiring the food curiously.

----

"Shit really?" Serena sighed, "Hopefully she won't be to mad" She muttered, chasing after Nick through the mall. She smiled sheepishly when she saw her mother standing by the doors of a store.
"Hey mom, sorry we're late. We were in a movie" She said, looking apologetic.
"Our phones were on silent" She added, though Maria didn't look to pissed off. She prayed she wasn't and that the idea of seeing the family was putting her in a good enough mood to just forgive them.

Carlos laughed. "I never said I could or couldn't cook." he pointed out, closing the door behind the men and wandering up into the dinning area with Sven and Chris.
"Being a vampire an all, cooking is something of a lost habit." Carlos said. "Besides, it was always a woman's thing." he said with a shrug. Carlos raised an eyebrow out of curiousity as Chris mentioned the last time they had drank together.
"Are we talking about that Christmas party at Alexi's club or something else entirely?" Carlos asked, since the sibbling had gotten a little rowdy at the Christmas party but no where close to uncontrollable. Though Carlos had felt the hangover Sami had in the morning.

"Work is work." Carlos said. "Keith shifted me to the new off closer to Moscow." he said with a sigh. "It's fine really, just frustrating having to talk to client and associates through a translator." Carlos murmured, since he had little change of mastering Russian any time soon.
"This'll be my third home so I guess I ought to learn eh?" Carlos said with a shrug. "How's it been for you?" Carlos asked, smirking as he looked between Sven and Chris. Out of them all, he and Sven were the newly bonded, but Sven more so then Carlos. Things seemed to be going on smoothly.

-----

Maria was ten seconds short of calling the twins, wondering why on earth they hadn't answered, just when the four of them showed up. Sighing at Serena explination, Maria nodded gently.
"I'll let you off the hook this time. But you have those phones for a reason." Maria pointed out.

"Hi Tia." Maddie said, once the tension was gone.
"'Ello darling." She said, smiling at Zach and Maddie. "Tagging along with us?" she asked.
"Uh-huh." Maddie said with a nod.
"Wonderful. Gives us a reason to start the party sooner." Maria said, winking and heading out towards the car, unlocking the doors for the children to get in.

-----

Kristen chuckled lightly, curled up next to Demitri with a content expression on her face.
"What time is it?" she asked curiously. Sitting up a bit, Kristen dropped a kiss on Demitri's lips gently, laughing at the goofy expression on his face before looking over at the clock.
"Ha, we're going to be late." Kristen said, laughing to herself. When Demitri had gotten back from dropping the kids off, Kristen had finished cooking but lost her appetite to eat. And somehow or another, the two had found themselves upstairs.
"Come on, otherwise your sister-in-law is going to have our head." Kristen said, sitting up completely, still holding the sheets around her closely for a moment before standing up to get dressed.

Sami sighed, "Not so much a women's thing now though" She grumbled, looking at Carlos through playfully slanted eyes.
"No, not the christmas party" She murmured, "Different time and long before I met you" She sipped the wine casually, sharing a glance with Chris, whom laughed.

Sven sighed, "Things are good, finally got my clinic up and running" He smiled lightly. Sven had finally succeeded in opening a clinic for supernatural patients, he was the leading doctor in the field (possibly the only doctor). He grinned when Carlos nodded between him and Chris.
"Things are really good" He murmured, "Sometimes a bit of an adjustment, but over all extremely pleasurable. It feels weird, I feel whole, like before I bonded I wasn't complete or something" He added, shrugging his shoulders.

---

"Thanks Mom, we're really sorry" Serena said, laughing at her mother's comment.
"You just want to watch the non-vampires get drunk and do stupid stuff" She teased her mother. Serena was relieved to see Maria had brought the SUV, that way they'd all fit. Sliding into the back, she let Nick or Maddie have the front, depending. Maddie liked to play the 'oldest' card sometimes and claim the front seat, much to everyone's annoyance.

----

Demitri glanced at the clock.
"My sister-in-law?" He arched an eyebrow amusedly as he pulled on his jeans.
"She's our sister-in-law and don't you forget it" He growled playfully, doing his shirt up and sliding his feet into his flipflops. It was still worm enough to wear summer clothes after all.

Carlos chuckled. "I was just teasing." he said, squeezing Sami's hand gently before turning his attention back to Sven.
"Oh wow." He said, nodding in approval, hearing that Sven had opened a clinic. "That'll bring in business." He said with a chuckle. Looking at Chris before back at Sven, Carlos nodded again to show his approval.

"Yea that's pretty much the jist of how it feels." Carlos said with a small laugh. "Almost makes me wonder sometimes how I even lived all these years." He said. It was a big shift, being bonded to someone, and having grown used to always having Sami around, it was extremely difficult for Carlos to remember how things used to be. Memories were there of course, but how he lived his life seemed almost improbable now that she was in the picture.

"Maria is going to have our hides." Carlos mused once the shifters were done eating, noticing what time it was.

---------

Maria laughed at her daughter. "Come now, you know, as well as I do, that it's quite amusing." Maria said as she started the car.

Maddie actually slunked into the middle sea with her brother rather than ridding shot gun. Nick managed to get in next to his sister, sitting back with a content sigh.
"This should be an interesting night ya?" he said, looking at his sister with a smirk before putting his headphones in as Maria drove them away from the mall.

---------

Kristen laughed, pulling a tank top on along with a pair of jeans. "Yes, I know." She said. "I was just teasing." she said, walking over to him and kissing him lovingly like she always did whenever they had a moment.
"Mm, I love you." she said, smiling at him before wandering out of the room as she twirled her curly and messy hair up into something of a bun.

Sven nodded, "I'm just happy to back working in my chosen field" The vampire said, taking a small sip of Chris wine. While vampires couldn't really eat human foods, they could drink, just not tons.
"Thats not bad" He commented, laughing as his glaring mate snatched the glass back.

"Yea, its hard to imagine going back to those times before you bonded" Sven agreed while Sami and Chris chatted animatedly about all sorts of different things.
Glancing at the time, the vampire sighed.
"You're sister is going to murder us" He grumbled, grabbing his phone off the table and gesturing for Chris to get up.
"Are we going together or separately?" Sami asked, putting the plates in the sink to be cleaned later.

---

"Aunt Kristen's pretty funny, and So is Sami, especially when Tio Carlos gets all worried about her and Uncle Chris" She said, chuckling at remembered moments.

"Yea" Serena agreed, grinning at Nick, "Hopefully its a good night" She murmured, Zach already looked anxious, probably about Maddie. She was worried about her cousins, both of them actually.

---

Demitri smirked, grabbing his keys.
"Think our kids behaved themselves?" He asked her curiously as he headed for the garage. Alayna had been invited, but she was working late or something. He was really impressed with how far the girl had come in such a short time, career wise.

"What year is it?" Carlos mused curiously, looking at the bottle. "It's a 1912. Did you pull this from my stash?" Carlos asked, smirking at his mate before taking a sip of her glass as well.
"Mm...could have used another decade but you're right, not bad at all." Carlos said with a nod of agreement.

"Let's go seperately, just incase one of us wants to leave before the other." Carlos said, grabbing his keys and his phone before stretching and heading for the door.
"Got everything?" he asked as an afterthought, looking back at Sami curiously.

------

"Yes it should be entertaining tonight." Maria agreed, hoping it would be a fun night for everyone. As she drove on, she hummed lightly to whatever was playing on the last CD they'd put in the truck.

Maddie was staring out the window for most of the trip back to the house, tapping her pocket lightly. Looking over at Zach, Maddie pinched his arm teasingly.
"You look so anxious. Relax will ya? You're making me nervous." Maddie teased, hopping to lighten her brother's mood a bit.

Once at the house, Nick kicked Maddie's seat playfully, asking her to hurry out of the car. He was getting cramped in the back seat, and was in dire need of a fresh bottle of blood to drink.
"Sheesh, calm down will you?" Maddie asked as she got out of the car and Nick zoomed out ahead of her. Maddie rolled her eyes at her cousin, chuckling to herself.

---------

"Who knows..." Kristen said, shaking her head with a chuckle. Their child were as unpredicatble as she and Demitri were. One could only hope the two of them behaved.
"Our daughter is as rebellious and stubborn as her mother and our son can get as restless and physical as you." Kristen said with a shrug, though there was a content smile on her face.
"They were probably fine." Kristen said, since the kids only seemed to ever misbehave whenever she and Demitri were around ironically.

Sami rolled her eyes, "A while ago" She teased, running some water over the plates and grinning at him.
"I'm ready" She said, grabbing her phone and shoving it in the pocket of her jeans, she wasn't a purse girl.
"Should we bring the wine?" She teased Chris, who groaned dramatically and hid behind Sven.

"We're going, we're going" Sven said, laughing as Chris practically shove him out the door in a playful attempt to get away from his sister.
"I'm taking that as a yes" Sami called after the bonded pair in a singsong voice, before grinning at Carlos.
"We can go" She said, winking playfully at him before following Chris and Sven out of the appartment.

----

Zach shrugged, "I'm relaxed" He grumbled, clambering out of the car once it was his turn. He chuckled at Nick's antics, but figured his cousin was rather thirsty, it had been a long day after all.

Serena rolled her eyes, grabbing her shopping bags and heading up to her room to put things away and change.
"Mom you should see the dress I got" She called over her shoulder, knowing her mother loved clothes as much as she did.

----

Demitri sighed, "As long as I don't have a two thousand dollar credit card bill again, I'll be happy" The day Maddie had gone overboard had been when he had lent her his credit card so she could go out with her friends. They had agreed on a limit of three hundred dollars, but someone had gotten a wee bit carried away.

He pulled out of the driveway and turned onto the main road, gunning it in the direction of Alexi and Maria's house.

Carlos laughed at the couple and took up Sami's hand once she said she was ready to go.
"Taking the wine too huh?" he noticed, smirking and leading her out before locking the door behind him and wandering down to the car.
"My'Lady." Carlos said, bowing a bit as he opened the passanger-side door for Sami, smirking at her.

-----

"Uh-huh." Maddie said, chuckling lightly as she walked up to the house with her brother. She sighed as she walked into the house which was as famliar to her know as their own home.

"Oh?" Maria called, grabbing a few bags from Serena to help her carry them inside. "Fall line already?" she asked curiously. "Oh I have to show you the few things Alayna's designing. She came by the other day while you were at practice needing a model. She's ingenious really with her designs." Maria said as they wandered into the house.

"Anyone here yet?" Maria asked, knowing they were late because of the movie. It wasn't that much of a surprise though, since Maria was almost always late when it came to a party. Only recelently did she start getting better at it.

-----

"I still blame the girl's she went with." Kristen said, though it was hard to imagine Maddie being pressured into buying things. Rather it was probably the other way around; Maddie insisting she buy things for her friends, as she saw them. Still, Kristen sided with Demitri in that argument.
"So I hear Adam's in Peru...any word about Nicki or Shawn?" Kristen asked curiously, wondering how the mini coven was doing.

Sami laughed, "Of course, can't hang out with the others without having at least half a bottle" She teased, rolling her eyes at Carlos' antics as she slid in the car.
"Lets go before your sister hunts us down and decapitates us" She said, smirking slightly at him. She wouldn't put it past Maria to attack her own guests.

----

Serena nodded, "Yea, there's some really nice stuff so far" She said, showing her mom the cute red dress she had gotten.
"I found a shirt for Nick too, he seemed to like it" She said, carefully folding her clothes and putting them away, after showing her mother of course.

"Did she? I love her clothes" Serena said, playing with her short hair, "Did you model for her again?" She asked excitedly, Serena had always wanted to try modeling, and she was sure she could pull it off. Her parents wanted her to wait a little while though, before she did any serious work.

----

"Perhaps" Demitri shrugged, "Still, it wasn't a pleasent experience" He muttered, he wasn't all that fond of Maddie's friends. Many of them peer-pressured the girl into doing things, or Maddie felt the need to placate them in certain ways, such as buying them all presents, but he didn't want to argue with his daughter about her friends, so he let it be.
"Last I heard they were in France, Vlad would know more then I would" Demitri said with a shrug.
"Adam's supposed to be looping back soon, at least according to Chris and Sven"

"Yes yes." Carlos said, rolling his eyes and getting in the car, tailing after Sven and Christ towards the summer house.

-----

"Yes I did some modeling for her again." Maria said with a small laugh. Serena always seemed fascinated by the occupation, but Maria was a bit warry about letting Serena get into it. There was a lot of pressure on models in these times, and Maria wasn't so sure that Serena was ready for that just yet.

Maria wasn't at all surprised to see that Nick, Zach and Maddie were already set up on a video game. And judging by the shouting, hissing and growling, they must be racing. Setting the rest of Serena's bags in her room, Maria perked, hearing the sound of car at the end of the driveway.
"Carlos and Sami are here!" Maddie called before nudging her brother, hoping to through him off balance.

--------

"I know." Kristen said with a small sigh. Listening to Demitri with a small nod.
"It'll be nice when Adam comes around again. Sami will be happy." Kristen said, not wanting to breech the subject of Vlad with her husband, since last time it hadn't gone over so well.

Sami slipped out of the car, shaking her head at Carlos playfully. Sven and Chris has just gotten there as well, so the shifter joined her brother as the foursome headed inside.

---

"I know" Zach growled at his sister, doing his best not to be distracted.
"Stop" He muttered at her, narrowing his eyes as determination to beat her grew stronger.

Serena sighed, looking at the video game the other three were playing. She still wasn't a big fan of video games, and sometimes felt left out because the other three were. Shaking her head, she followed her mother downstairs, wearing the new jeans she had gotten.
"Hey Dad" She murmured, sliding over to Alexi and greeting the rest of her family.
"Video games huh?" Alexi murmured, recognizing the disgruntled look on Serena's face. She nodded, before shrugging and muttering whatever under her breath.

---

"I think Chris worries about Adam too" Demitri said, knowing they were basically ignoring the topic of his older brother, it tended to be the easiest thing to do, rather then fight about it.

Carlos smirked as he turned off the car and walked up the driveway behind Sven and Chris. It was a nice evening tonight, and he could already hear the infmaos trio at it again.

So he wasn't all that surprised to see Serena at the door with Alexi. "Video games eh?" Carlos asked, smirking. "Get the deck of cards and we'll see if your Gin Rummy has gotten any better." He enticed her. When Serena had watched him and Maria playing one day, she had wanted to play and Carlos had been steadily teaching her.

Maddie chuckled, nudging Nick as well so her brother wouldn't feel like she was picking on him.
Nick merely growled at her, knocking into Maddie's car and sending her tumbling so that Zach took the lead.
"Aww no!" Maddie said, leaning back against the sofa. Nick laughed, looking at Zach with a smirk.

Maria came back down, dressing in a smooth summer dress, grinning as she saw her brother and mate.
"You guys are actually the first to show up." Maria said, smiling. "Besides the kids of course." Maria said, nodding to the trio sitting near the couch.

--------

"Well yes of course." Kristen said with a nod of a agreement. She leaned back against the seat with a small sigh. She looked over at Demitri and gave him a small smile, sensing almost how tense he was about the topic they didn't talk about.
"So is this one of Maria's random things you were telling me about?" Kristen asked curiously.

Serena grinned, walking over to one of the kitchen drawers and digging around inside. Rescuing a pack of cards, she wandered over to her Uncle with a small smile.
"Its always video games" She said, rolling her eyes dramatically.
Sami smiled, "I know the feeling" She murmured to Serena, "Chris and Adam always used to play video games when we were growing up, I hated them" She confined, "So I never played, but I didn't have anyone to teach me cards either. I just read a lot, or went exploring" She shrugged.
"Who's all coming?" She asked Maria, sitting down on the couch near her brother and Sven with a small grin.

Alexi wandered over to Serena and Carlos, "Can I play too?" He asked, giving his daughter the infamous puppy-dog face.
"Dad" Serena laughed, "Fine fine, no cheating though" She teased.
"Me? Cheat? You wound me child" Alexi said, pretendng to look affronted.
"Only cause she caught you cheating last time" Sven said dryly from his place on the couch.

Zach laughed, smiling gratefully at Nick.
"Take that!" He cried, gunning it and forcing his car across the finish line first.
"Yes! Haha I win" he grinned at his sister, "To bad we didn't bet on this one" He said with a cheeky smile

---

Demitri nodded, "You mean like a spontaneous family reunion? That's very much a random Maria thing" He said with a smile as he pulled into the driveway. He could already hear the sounds of video games and playful banter.
"They're at it again" He said with a chuckle, sliding out of the car and heading for the house.

Carlos chuckled, pulling chairs up to the small end table that Carlos had lifted to serve as their card table for tonight.
"Alright alright, get your chairs up." Carlos said, taking the deck from Serena and begining to shuffle the cards effortlessly.
"Damn this brings back memories." Carlos said as he continued to shuffle. "Where's Demitri with a pack of cigars?" he called, hearing the truck pulling into the driveway that had to be Demitri and his mate. He smirked, shaking his head and dishing out cards.

"Maria are you in or not?" Carlos asked.
"Not this round." She said, walking over to the door to open it for Kristen and Demitri.
"You're late." She teased, looking at her brother-in-law but hugging him anyway before stepping aside and letting him in.

Nick laughed, giving Zach a highfive as Maddie shook her head at her brother's antics.
"Whatever." she said, tossing the playstation control to the couch. "Mario Carts?" Maddie asked with a grin, since she knew she could own in that game.

Kristen chuckled as they walked up to the house. "Never fails." she said, shaking her head gently as Maria opened the door and declared that they were late.
"What was this I hear about cigars?" Kristen asked.
"Oh has your loving husband not told you about his last visit to Spain when Maria and I were living there with Keith just before he met Shaye?" Carlos called over his shoulder as he picked up a card, thought it over and placed it down on the table.

Demitri groaned, "I thought we agreed never to discuss that" He muttered, shooting Carlos a mock-irritated look. He made a show of rummaging in his pockets.
"Nope, no cigars, I have some lint though" He teased, going to sit by Sven, who wasn't playing.

"How's the clinic coming?" He aksed curiously, having not spoken to his brother for a few weeks due to busyness.
"Its all set up actually, opens tomorrow, though I wish I had some more staff. I'm trying to get Shaye to come out, and Chris is learning some things but..." He trailed off shrugging.
Demitri nodded, smiling lightly, "You'll figure it out" He reassured his older brother, settling back to watch the game.

Zach rolled his eyes, "Mario Carts it is" He said, knowing Maddie was the best at that game, but it wsa fun.
"Mom and Dad are here" He murmured, hearing his parents downstairs.
"Should we go say hi?" He asked his sister, though he figured his parents would wander up soon enough to check on them.

----

Castiel landed in the yard behind a familiar house. He flexed his wings, long, bloody gouges running down his chest, and a noticeable scar on his face, just under his left eye. The angel flexed his wings, feathers cascading down
as he rubbed at his head. God it hurt, what was wrong with him? He felt like he should know this place, but he couldn't remember. He didn't remember much of anything lately, just Gabriel speaking to him a year ago, a white light, and then fighting with the angelic army against the demonic one for about a year. He knew something was off, but he really had no idea what.
He approached the house, looking around curiously, the scent of vampire, shape-shifter and human all mixed together in a confusing jumble. One scent, human, was familiar, very familiar but he couldn't place it. Letting out a rumbling sigh, the angel looked through the window, noticing a girl with a sketch pad on her lap. Pain exploded behind his eyeballs and he let out a pained wail, backing away from the window and gripping his head as he fell to his knees, wings flared out around him as he tried to stop the pain.

OOC: Yay Keith Drama!

Carlos rolled his eyes. "How is it that everytime I bring something up we seem to have magically agreed to never speak about it?" he asked, looking at Demitri and shaking his head.
He watched the cards on the table and took a deep breath before taking up a few cards. Smirking he rearranged the order before spreading them out.
"Gin." he said, leaning back with a chuckle. He linked his hand behind his head, looking over at Demitri and Kristen.
"The children are upstairs." Carlos murmured, seeing an odd expression pass over Kristen's face.
"I know." Kristen said, chuckling. "Maria when are we mixing drinks?"
"Come help me and we'll start now."
"Awesome." Kristen said, standing up and going with Maria.


"Yea lets go say hi." Maddie said as Nick started setting up the game so it was ready for them when they got back.
"Last one down is thrid player." Nick called, pushing Maddie aside and zooming down the stairs.
"Ass!" Maddie grumbled under her breath before taking off after her cousin and brother.

Something stopped her on the stairs though. A weird feeling shot through her mind, screaming at her almost. She stopped on the stairs, looking pale for a moment, holding her head, trying to understand what she was feeling. It wasn't Vlad...it couldn't be...the feeling wasn't vibrant or direct. It was distant, like something she shouldn't be feeling but was anyway.
"Zach..." Maddie called, her breathing coming short. "Zach I think I'm gonna be sick." Maddie said.

-----------

Alayna jolted, hearing a screaming coming from outside. She jumped up and ran towards the back door, because her heart was screaming that the agony was coming from Keith.
"Alayna!" Nicko called behind her, scarred of where she was going and what was happening outside.
"Keith!" Alayna called, seeing him in the darkness of the backyard. It was him though, she knew it was. She ran over to him, wondering what had happened, fear gripping her heart at his condition. "Oh my God..." She breathed. "Nicko! Help me get him inside." Alayna said, her brother at her side soon, his firearm in his other hand.

((ooooo))

Demitri shrugged, "Because all the stories you tell are either supremely embaressing or not for the ears of polite company" He sniffed, watching his wife and Maria head to the kitchen. He sighed, shaking his head lightly and returning to his conversation with Sven.

Zach turned, seeing his sister's pale face and gasped.
"Oh shit, Nick, go get mom" He said, grabbing his sister and trying to get her to the nearest washroom.
"Maddie what the hell is wrong?" He asked, he'd never seen her react in such a weird way. It was a little bit scary.

Sami slid off the couch, going into the kitchen with Maria and Kristen.
"So I heard the word 'drinks'?" She asked, chuckling a bit as she leaned against the counter and watched the other two women curiously, brown eyes dancing with amusment.

---

Castlei's eyes flew open as two humans approached him. He surged to his feet immediately, hand already outstreatched as flaming sword appeared in it. His wings flared, he was taller then before, his face hardened.
"Who are you?" He hissed, "To approach an angel mortal?" His eyes went from Nicko to Alayna. He felt like he should know them, something familiar niggled in the back of his mind, but he couldn't remember. The pounding was still there, right behind his eyes, but how could he knew humans? According to Gabriel he had been fighting in the war and had suffered memory loss, had these humans somehow been involved in the war? And who was Keith?

Carlos rolled his eyes and went back to shuffling the cards for another round between him and Serena. He looked up as Nick came bounding down the stairs, looking a bit wind-swept.
"Nick me lad! Care for a game of Gin?" Carlos asked.
"Where's Tia?" Nick asked instead.
"Went to the kitchen..." Carlos trailed off though as Nick darted off towards the kitchen.

"Yes but these drinks aren't the ones you would like." Maria said as she poured out Kristen's new favorite, blood and rum.
"Thanks Maria." Kristen said, sipping from the glass with a sigh of content before Nick came storming into the room.
"Tia. It's Maddie. She's sick." Nick said and Kristen stood up slowly, looking confused but leaving her drink and wandering down towards the bathroom.

Maddie let her brother lead her to the bathroom and she hovered near the toliet.
"I-I don't know." Maddie admitted, looking just as scared as Zach. "It's not Vlad." She said, taking a deep breath. "It felt like...pain...but...emotional pain mixed with physical...agony..fear..." Maddie said, her voice getting a bit rough. Her husky growled in her mind and Maddie shoved her instincts away.
"Maddie you alright?" Kristen asked.
"No...something's wrong." Maddie said.
"Zach go get a bottle of water for your sister." Kristen said, seeing the look of fear on her son's face.
Maddie took a deep breath as she straightened up. The nausea had passed but she still felt stressed. "It's...I think it's.." Maddie held her head, her eyes growing distant for a moment as she focused on what she was feeling and following it back to the source. She had done it once with Vlad when she was younger, and was surprised that she could do it now. What she saw brought tears to her eyes. "It's Keith...oh my God Keith is back but something's wrong..." Maddie said. "He's hurt...he doesn't know."
Kristen's eyes went wide and she quickly took Maddie's had, shaking her daughter from the trance she'd worked herself in.
"Madison." Kristen half growled and Maddie blinked, her eyes turning brown as she looked at her mother with tears in her eyes and Kristen quickly wrapped her arms around her daughter holding her tightly. "You need to cal down." she told her, and Maddie nodded, taking a deep breath.

-----

Alayna jumped back and Nicko pushed her behind him as Keith's sword appeared in his hand.
"Keith what are you saying...it's me. It's Alayna." She said, her voice cracking a bit at the expression on his face. What had happened to him? Did he not remember? Alayna's heart broke, and she tried to push Nicko away.
"No." Nicko muttered. "He doesn't remember us." Nicko said, looking the angel over. He could see all the signs on the angel's face, and Nicko knew they had to be careful.
"Castiel, it's me. I know you, and you know me." Alayna said, ignoring her brother, wondering if maybe Keith would only answer to his angel name now. "Please, we're not your enemy, we're your friends. This is your home." Alayna said, stepping away from her brother and taking a soft step towards Keith. She refused to believe that her Keith wasn't still there. He hadn't given up on her, and she wasn't about to do the same.

Zach swallowed and left the washroom, running downstairs where his father was waiting.
"What's wrong?" He asked his son, looking at the anxious child's face.
"Its Maddie, she's all wonky, she-she said Keith's back" Zach murmured, opening the fridge and grabbing a bottle of water. Demitri froze, staring at his son for a moment before following him up the stairs, and into the washroom.

"Here mom" Zach said, holding out the bottle of water and pressing back against his Dad anxiously. Demitri's arm wound its way around Zach while he stared at his wife and daughter.
"What's going on?" He murmured to Kristen, a small frown on his face as he tried to figure out what the hell was happening.

Sami sighed, "Damn" She muttered teasingly to Maria, before going over to the bag she and Carlos had brought and digging out the bottle of wine.
"Good thing I came prepared" She murmured, watching Kristen run upstairs, leaving Nick with them. She frowned, this wasn't good.

----

Cas' eyes dropped down again, looking at Alayna searchingly.
"You are mistaken human" He murmured, letting the sword disappear when they didn't appear to be a threat.
"I do not know who you are, perhaps you are friends, I can sense you mean me no harm, and for that I will spare your lives. But I do no reside here. I am an angel of the lord, I reside in heaven with him and his followers. I-" He frowned, if he was supposed to be in heaven, why the hell was he here? He shook his head, "I must not have had the strength to return" He muttered to himself, taking stock of his injuries. His chest was ripped apart, one could see rib bones and muscle, though he didn't seem overly worried.
"Yes, I was in hell, fighting the demons of the underworld, I only had enough strength to return to Earth. I must have been to this area at somepoint in my past, felt safe and returned here to heal" He glanced at the two humans, realizing he'd been rambling.
"Are you friends of angels? Your home bears angelic markings" He murmured, looking at the girl curiously before glancing at what appeared to be her older brother.
"Is it safe for one of my kind here? To recover?"

Nick chewed his lip, looking from Sami to Maria. "I have never seen Maddie so worked up." he murmured, resting against the counter.
"I'm sure she'll be just fine. Maddie's gift is interesting and she's never fully mastered it so at time it can over-power her." Maria explained, taking a sip of her own drink before grinning as Sami came back with a bottle of wine.
"Well fancy that." Maria said, smirking and raising her glass to the shifter.

Kristen was holding Maddie, rocking her gently as Demitri came back with Zach, who handed her a bottle of water.
"Some part of her must still be attached to Keith." Kristen whispered softly. "She said that Keith is back, at the house, and that he's badly hurt." Kristen explained, taking the bottle of water and tapping it against Maddie arm.

Maddie was shaking. Her gift had never over-powered her like that before, and it scared her. She picked her head up, brushing the tears away and taking the water bottle with shaking hands. She took a long drink, which calmed her down and she looked over at her brother with an apologetic smile.
"Sorry for freaking out." Maddie murmured softly.

-------------

Alayna swallowed hard, refusing to cry as she listened to Keith. He really didn't remember anything...he just remembered going to fight. Taking a deep breath, Alayna merely nodded.
"Of course." She managed to say. "You can stay as long as you need to in order to recover. I live here with my family. The owner of the house, his brother is a physician. When he returns, he can look over your injuries if you wish." She said, looking back at Nicko for him to call Demitri and Sven maybe.

Looking back at Keith, Alayna swallowed again. "Come inside please?" She asked, hoping that during his recovery time maybe she could jodge his memory. Nicko was already walking back towards the house, opening the door for the two to come inside.
Alayna chewed her lip, reminding herself constantly not to cry. She couldn't now, not when Keith needed her. "Can you make it inside?" she wondered, seeing, in the light when Nicko opened the door that Keith was seriously injured.

"Oh jesus" Demitri muttered, letting his head roll back and smack against the wall. Zach glanced up at his father in surprise, looking a bit shocked.
"I'm gonna get Sven and head back to the house, you guys stay here alright. I don't know what kind of condition Keith's in, but..." He trailed off apologetically, "Just stay here?" He murmured. He trusted Maddie's gift implicitly, and he knew that regardless of everything, his daughter was telling the truth.

"No problem, just don't do it again" Zach muttered, watching Demitri head off downstairs.
"Mom?" He murmured, looking at her curiously. It was rare Demitri asked his family to stay out of things.

Sami smirked, "What can I say, your brother has a killer wine cellar" She said with a chuckle as she poured herself a glass, before pouring another one for Chris who wandered into the kitchen.
"Sven and Demitri have to go back to Demitri's house" He murmured, accepting the glass.
"Something about Keith being back. Maddie had, err, a feeling about it or something" He didn't fully understand Maddie's ability yet.
"Shit, poor Alayna" Sami murmured, watching the two vampires high-tail it towards Demitri's car.

----

Castiel glanced at Alayna, smiling in what he hoped was a kind manner.
"Thank you" He murmured, folding his bloodied wings against his back.
"I can make it, thank you" He said, walking surprisingly steady for someone was injured as he was, towards the house. Cas had felt worse pain, and right now he was more bothered by the feelings in his mind, the sensation of deja vu about these people and this place.

He glanced around the house, admiring it for a moment before looking questioningly at where he should sit, or lie down.

Maddie shut her eyes tight as Demitri said he would take off. Looking back at her brother, Maddie gave a childish smile.
"I can't make any promises...but I'll try." she said, swallowing another swig of water. Kristen took a deep breath and nodded as Demitri took off with Sven.

"If it's bad enough that Maddie can sense it, it's better that we're here." Kristen explained as Zach looked at her.
"Will you be alright?" Kristen asked, looking at Maddie, who nodded after a moment.
"Good back out with you two." she said with a heavy sigh before going back to the kitchen.

Maria swirled her drink around before taking another sip. "Maddie actually has a very ancient gift." she said, having asked Sven and Keith about it numerous times. "I didn't understand it at first either but it's core lies at what we would now call human empathy. You can relate to someone who is suffering because you may have suffered something in the past. For Maddie though, this sense of empathy is magnified. Not only can she sense the emotions of other people but she can understand the reason behind the emotion." Maria explained to Chris as Kristen came back into the kitchen.

"She's alright, a bit shaky but alright. Nick they're waiting for you upstairs." Kristen said to which Nick nodded and dashed up to join his cousins.

---------

Nicko was talking to Demitri when Alayna wandered into the house after Keith, but she wasn't paying attention to what he was saying.
"They're on their way over now." Nicko said as he hung up the phone. "You can lie down here." Nicko said, pointing to the couch in the corner of the room. It was an older one that Kristen hadn't had Demitri toss out yet after finally getting knew furniture, so he was sure she wouldn't mind it getting a few stains.

Alayna rubbed her arms, looking a bit dead, almost as if she were asleep and awake at the same time.
"Can I get you anything?" she asked, looking over at the angel. "Water, tea or coffee maybe?"

Chris nodded in understanding, "Ahh, interesting" He murmured, wrinkling his nose a bit.
A handy gift perhaps, but one he could do without. He glanced at his sister, who nodded minutely, clearly agreeing with his thoughts. He grinned softly adn the pair headed back out into the livingroom, leaving Maria and Kristen to talk openly.
"You two have wine" Alexi commented, "I'm suddenly terrified" He winked at Sami, who growled teasingly at him.
"But drunk cougars are so funny" Serena said, giving her aunt a playful smile.
"Brat" Sami muttered, sitting down on the couch in Sven's abandoned spot.

"Hey" Zach murmured to Nick, having flopped down on the couch and let out a loud groan. Amazing how things could go from relaxed to insane within a matter of a few bloody seconds in their family. He still remembered the pandamonioum from when he first shifted. He had been about ten and had sneezed. One minute boy, next wolf pup. Kristen had been rather eccstatic.

----

Keith frowned, "Err..." He sat down heavily on the couch.
"I have no idea what any of those things are" He murmured, his cheeks flushing slightly. He felt like he should know this, be more aware, but it was like his memories were trapped or something. He sighed, muttering a string of colourful curses in his own tounge before looking apologetically at Alayna and Nicko.
"I am sorry if I scared you earlier. I feel very confused, at least I think that is the emotion" he murmured, "Like I've been here before, but I just can't remember" He slouched forward, letting out another sigh.

Kristen nodded in agreement. "Oh yea." she murmured before sighing as the sibiling wandered out of the kitchen.
"You know I am shocked that you haven't attacked either one of those yet." Maria said to which Kristen half laughed half growled and finished her drink like a shot.
"It may sound a bit odd to you, but since they've never both been to my house and we always meet somewhere else...I don't feel the need to." Kristen said.
"Yes it does sound odd." Maria admitted, mixing Kristen another drink. "You sure you're just not turning in a vampire?" Maria asked to which Kristen rolled her eyes.
"I thought so, but Sven disagrees and the idea would make Demitri kill himself. Oh well though. We'll just see where we end up." Kristen said as Maria handed her another drink and the two wandered back towards the livingroom.

"Gin." Carlos called again with a sigh. "You've got to think strategy darling. Tossing down the two of spades right after the three gave me the game." He explained, smiling at her as he watched the drinks being passed around.
"Well I'm being forgotten." Carlos said, looking a bit hurt.
"Not at all." Maria said, setting a glass down for him.
"You're the best."
"I know." Maria said, laughing as she moved over towards Alexi.

"Hey. You guys alright?" Nick asked, looking between his cousins.
"We'll survive. Just like always." Maddie said with a small shrug.
"How bad was it?" Nick asked and Maddie took a sip from her water bottle.
"Remember that time that you and Zach were riding down the ski hill and ran into each other? You broke your wrist and Zach nearly fractured his arm?" Maddie asked.
Nick rubbed his wrist and nodded.
"It's was a little worse than that." Maddie murmured with a sigh. "How about a movie instead?" she asked, looking up at the scream as she bit on her water bottle cap.

------------

Alayna couldn't help but smile lightly. That time he sounded more like Keith. "Water will probably help more than the other two right now." she mused, going to get him a glass and bringing it to him.
"It's a drink, it's refreshing." Alayna tried to explain with a soft shrug.

"Yes, confusion." Alayna said, sitting down on the other couch while Nicko paced a bit. "Probably followed by frustration and anger or annoyance." Alayna predicted, remembering how she had felt when she'd lost her memory. How annoying it was that everything looked so familiar and she couldn't remember why. Keith hadn't pushed her though, so Alayna was trying not to do the same.

Sami leaned back against Chris, rolling her eyes at Carlos' lecturing of the other players.
"Doesn't help that you have cards shoved up your sleeve love" She said, laughing softly as Alexi suddenly began desperately examining Carlos' sleeves while Serena began giggling at the look on her Uncle's face.
"Teaching my daughter to cheat now Carlos?" Alexi growled playfully, "Maybe you should have kids of your own so you can corrupt them"

"Hey now, there will be no children over here thank you" Sami said, shaking her head empathetically. Chris nodded vehnemently.
"I don't even want to hear this conversation, that's m eighteen year old sister you're talking about violating Draq" He teased Alexi. Sami had frozen at eighteen, her immortality set.

"Movie sounds fine" Zach murmured, "Also, we agreed not to discuss the ski trip, we crashed in front of the entire frigging school" He groaned. That had been royally embaressing, both him and Nick trying to show off, managing to smash right into one another. Serena and Maddie had nearly fallen over laughing at the pair.

----

Cas sighed, shrugging his shoulders, "Sounds good" He murmured accepting the glass as it was pressed into his hands. Sighing, he took a small sip, enjoying the cool wetness as it slid down his throat. Now that the excitment was winding down, the angel was getting more and more exhausted. Blackness tugged at him and the glass fell to the ground from nerveless fingers, as Cas keeled over, passing into unconciousness.

Demitri had filled Sven in on everything Nicko had told him on the drive.
The pair walked into the house, finding Nicko and Alayna bent over a much taller Keith.
"Hell he grew" Demitri muttered, looking at Sven, whos eyes had gone wide at the sight of the massive injury on Keith's chest.
"What did that?" He murmured, carefully moving closer to the angel.