25. Livin La Vida Loca.

Adam said, "fine, Wulfe told us one time, one gig when he got shot by poison bullet, with black magic, Mimi sent him to safety, and then she got few bullets in herself, meaning enemy executed her. When Colin and medics went to get her, she was weakening during helicopter travel, went into a coma for five weeks. No one knew if she ever woke up. Wulfe had been in a medically induced coma for five days and Magnum did not leave Mimi. He was sitting by her side, hoping she would wake up. After waking up, it took five weeks for her to get in shape to be able to work. So she has had a rough time. No need to make it worse."

Damon grunted. He had no idea. He had not found those memories. Mariella was pale. This would take time for him to heal Mimi with his love. Mere thought someone killing her, made his vampire side angry. She was his wife. They would feel his wrath someday.

Charles came to Damon and said, " Take Mimi, just let her eat. Don't threaten, don't torment, and you'll see. She needs to be safe. And badly. If you feel you can't do that, then don't whine. But for now, just be in nurturing and safe mode. Love her, Don't even think of punishing her. Just pure love. Nothing else. She has once again that syndrome going on and I have just gotten her calmed by my pheromones, but she is a kind of tired, not so eager to feed as she should, but she has grown."

Damon was silent for a moment, and Charles lifted the sleepy Mimi onto Damon's neck. Damon released the soothing, alpha male pheromones, and Mimi sighed and remained asleep. This was pretty cool, and Damon put heat energy around this. The tick needed to be warm enough so all the blood would go into the growth. No need to spend energy on keeping warm. He could keep her warm, too. 

Mariella concentrated on eating and saw Damon eating, too, but he was careful not to disturb the tick. She knew Damon was now taking Mimi as his primary task, and she understood staying away. But she would like to see one of the flank weddings, but would she realize it was a flank wedding or would Damon do some trick in her mind that she wouldn't even notice?

She wasn't at all sure about the whole thing. She was thinking that all the way when she was eating. It was true Damon and Mimi or Mimi and Charles had been almost Romeo and Juliet, not a happy ending, but they could change it. Better times were ahead of them. She was upset by that story, too. And that subtle hint that it had not been one off.

They ate, and Damon said, " Do whatever you want. I need to focus on this creature and get this growing thing going properly. Now, this one is sleeping off its exhaustion when it should eat and eating well. I need to do something to keep it growing. This is still quite a weak creature. "

Mariella nodded and said, "There is quite a lot to do in Moldovan castle, but I will be around if you need me. "

Damon smiled and teleported with the tick. Damon went into one bedroom and considered the best solution. Mimi had sacrificed everything, well, everything, for him and got him a new body. Then Mimi had been turned into a tick, and he wasn't sure now if that was the wisest thing to do, but the tick would have to grow, and now Mimi was asleep.

Damon thought about everything that Mimi had gone through since she had come in to pack and it had one crazy merry-go-round but as soon as Mimi got in shape, it would be time for the wedding and some education too for this stubborn, reckless creature. Damon had been thinking about things and looking at the clock. That story, someone killing her, was still making him angry. For six hours, Mimi had been asleep and had eaten nothing. 

Fine. He took the tick in his arms and tried to wake it up, but no. It would be forced feeding again, but he had no choice. She needed blood, and fast, too. He suspected she had slipped into a kind of coma. He could not be sure because he could not read this creature's thoughts at all. She was too limp, too cool, too weak.It seemed that she had run out of strength once again, pushed herself too far.

But he acted. He now called for the cannulation equipment and applied the anesthetic energy so that Mimi felt nothing as he slipped the thinnest cannula into her stomach right through her abdominal wall. Then he put in as much arterial blood as he could fit. The tick just made a sleepy noise and slept. Damon kept Mimi on his neck in a pheromone bath the whole time. He would keep on feeding this as much as possible and see that she would start growing at a good pace, too.

Mariella came to see him a couple of days later. Mimi had grown considerably, almost doubled her weight again and Damon was lying in bed with Mimi on his neck, Mimi had a cannula in her stomach and Mariella could see that Damon had inserted one end into his artery so that Mimi had blood flowing into her all the time. No wonder it was growing and growing well. Mimi was now quite human-like, no more ears, no more brown. She had hair, but she was still thin and almost wrinkly.

Damon said, "I don't know how much Mimi will grow. I try to give as much as I can, but when I remember what she did for me...I can smell that infection clearly, more and more so."

Mariella added, "Nothing is too much, isn't it? Here's an enormous meal for you. You need to eat too and eat well. I'll bring you some more soon. She is growing well and yeah, I can smell that infection and those drugs, too. She had put herself somehow in pause when she grew your body."

Damon smiled at his wife and said, " Thank you, darling. I'll eat. This little lady needs some intensive care while I have grown her enough. Not sure how long it takes that she is on her feet. She has not awakened at all. She is in a kind of coma and I am trying my best to support her. Once again, she pushed herself way too far."

He got up a little better and went to eat while Mariella carried his food. And there was a lot of it. Then Damon got tired, and Mariella was satisfied.

She said, "I'll feed you again in the coma when I have time. Now sleep with your tick. She will be fine."

Damon grunted and said, " Thank you, darling. Really, I'll sleep, but you come to sleep next to me too."

Mariella climbed into bed and lay down next to Damon. He was purring softly, and Mariella was getting exhausted. She just fell asleep listening to the sweet purring.

They slept for 24 hours, and then Mariella went out again to get more food. Mimi was now growing at a good rate, but they both knew that she would be very slim even if she grew to full size. But you could feel the enzymes in her, which were excellent. She was sick, but they could get her better too.

Damon's blood was now the best thing for Mimi; she was still sleeping. She fed Damon back into the stunners and left him to sleep with Mimi. After a week, Mimi looked so good that Damon carried her to the medbay and let Adam and Charles continue her care. She weighed only 21 kilos; the infection was fully on, still had sepsis, but there were carers ready as he gently put her in the incubator to rest.

He went to Mariella's to unburden himself even more of his conscience, of all he had been through, and he realized he hadn't found nearly all the bad stuff she had been through in her head yet. He knew about the jobs that had ended tragically when he'd gotten her to tell him about them, but he hadn't found the rotten bits of those memories then and he hadn't found the whole thing now.

They unraveled with Mariella as much as they could. Mariella blamed herself for Mimi's condition and showed Damon her explosion, accusing her of turning the entire pack against Mimi. They swapped a little over a month later for a castle in Ontario. It was one of Mimi's castles, and Damon carried his now 38-kilo wife into one bedroom to recover from anesthesia. They had gotten her well. It had taken quite a lot of dental substances from a few Salvatores, but she was healthy now.

When Mimi woke up, she would be fed and fed well. Then they would get a good start on pack life, and maybe, at some point, they could breed. Marielle was already longing for children and kittens. They had gotten on and found a few good rooms and salvatores had gone to rest and relax.

In the dark night, a lonely creature moved again. It sensed its victim, and it focused, and it used its ability to get to the mind of the victim. Maybe it could chase the victim moving, so his employer would be happy for his work. The creature focused again, sending powerful psychic impulses to the brain of its victim. After it felt victim to awaken, it moved away, so no one could see it.

I woke up, and it was night. I jumped up, sat down, and breathed hard for a while. It took me a while to get myself right, and I realized I was in a castle in Ontario, in my bedroom, and I think I'd had another episode. The last thing was the sense of security, in Damon's arms, Charles's pheromones. Not again. I can't, I can't just take this. That dream, the pack, babies...

So the fear demons or some of their relatives got into my head and created wonderful dreams where I was safe, back in the pack. Those dreams were so wonderful that waking up and realizing it was just a dream was always just as devastating and often left me unable to do gigs for a day or two. Sometimes even for a week, depending on what my dream had been.

I tried not to sleep for this very reason. And again, it had happened. That the pack would come back, and I would even fuck. I turned over on the edge of the bed to sit down and sighed. My hands were trembling, and I felt just awful. It had been too real. Too wonderful and even though there had been drama, there had been so much genuine love. I could not go mission again few days and I needed to put a message at some point. It was night so not so hurry. I took my time as my hands shook. I was in shock almost. it had been so damn real.

I thought I'd go to the kitchen, get some drinks, and start getting my head together again. Everything was as it had been. Nothing had changed, and it was so freaking hard to let go of that dream. I went into the kitchen, grabbed a Palma bottle from the fridge, a plate of cream puffs, strawberry and raspberry filling, whipped cream, cream cheese, and a big plate, and walked into the dim living room to eat and drink. It was dark; I tried to forget. I really did. I ate at a good pace, just eating, tasting, and trying to get some other sensation than this emptiness than this utter pain in my soul. I had one big bowl of my fish soup ready as well.

Mariella was happy. They had unloaded, and now she was thirsty. When everyone had had to unload properly, no one had yet linked anything in this castle. No one had much done here yet anything. She thought about what drinks were in the kitchen, but she could drink pretty much anything. Unless Damon told her not to drink something.

Mariella said, " Darling, I'm going for a drink, and I'll be right back."

She put nightgown and dressing gown as she walked to the kitchen. They had learned to walk during those seven years as their powers had been limited, so they had learned to save them and it did not occur to her to teleport. She had borrowed or taken some of Mimi's clothes. There were plenty of them. She wanted to wear them now, not because she wanted to upset Mimi, but because she saw her part in the pack. Besides, Mimi had nice clothes, her size, as well as she, wanted their scents to mingle.

Damon just grunted and stretched out on the bed. Soon, the pack life would start, and he'd have his wedding—a proper wedding. He was looking forward to it. Mariella had not gotten a proper one and she would be part of it, too. Mariella walked into the kitchen and went to the fridge to get a drink. She grabbed a bottle of Jaffa, and as she closed the fridge, she saw movement in the living room. The living room was almost pitch black. She tried to see who was there. Mariella was curious, and she smelled that this was Mimi.

She took her bottle and thought she would apologize. She walked into the living room and noticed valuables there, too. Mimi seemed to eat something and be almost distressed. She was eating some soup from the bowl. Mariella walked on soft silk rugs that were on the floor. Oh, how Damon would love to have rugs here for his collection. The magic house had been searched, but the witches hadn't yet unpacked any artifacts for their museum.

Mariella said to Mimi, "Mimi, what are you doing up at this hour, and what on earth are you eating?"

I almost dropped the plate from my hand and stayed to look at Mariella. I was over halfway through my soup. She was really there. It had not been a dream. So great relief flowed through me, it made my hands tremble. I put the plate and the bottle on the table, stood up, and touched Mariella. She was really in front of me. It was true. She had one of my nightgowns and robe on her, which suited her. I was trying to calm my mind, my hands.

Mariella looked at me for a moment and said, " Start telling me. Something is going on here. Why did you behave like that? Is it a miracle that I'm here? You've been back in the pack for a while now."

I went and sat down and said, " It's nothing. I just thought I'd had another episode, but I'm glad I was wrong. I am so damn glad that I was wrong."

I took a big swig of Palma and one cream puff and ate it whole. It was much tastier now. My hands shook yet. The pain was getting less, and desperation too. I took my bowl and eat few wonderful spoonfuls of my soup now too.

Mariella said to Damon," Darling, I think you are needed. Mimi had some kind of episode. I try to get her to talk about it, but we are in the living room, listen to my mind." 

Damon grunted. He got up, cleansed himself with energy, took his jeans, and pulled them on. He teleported to medbay once he found it, linked it, and took for a potent cocktail ready. It would be needed. Medbay had been again top-notch, and number two came when number one told him what was going on. They might need all of them.

Mariella came to sit opposite me and said, " Start explaining, what a fucking episode. And you better explain properly unless you want me to call Damon to dig it out of your head."

She looked at the frown on her face. I guess I disturbed their session. 

I said, " It was not my intention to disturb your session, but fine. I can tell you about it. All seven years, every time I fell asleep, it was rare for this very reason. I had wonderful dreams where I was safe, back in the pack, and everything was fine. There were no gigs, no new losses. I didn't have to fend for myself. And these dreams could last for years even. They were so real, so wonderful you wouldn't believe it. And then when I woke up."

My voice was quiet. I could feel that pain still inside me. I took a breath and continued. I slurped my soup again. 

"It broke me completely. I couldn't go to gigs for a couple of days until I got my armor on and my rage out that nothing felt right. That's why I didn't sleep. I didn't sleep at all. Because it was always too much. And just now, I woke up in my bedroom, wearing my favorite nightgown, everything the way I always put it on, and I thought it was all a dream. The kitchen was some. The last thing that I remembered was the wonderful feeling of full safety, Damon's scent. That's why I'm gobbling up cream puffs, and this soup that Damon has never tolerated for me to eat and drinking Palma, trying to get myself right."

Mariella looked at me very compassionately.

A soft voice from the doorway said, "Did you know, baby, that's not a good thing, that episode thing? Well, that soup, you know my opinion on that one, those cream puffs aren't good for you, but those episodes or whatever causes them need to be found and removed. "

Damon walked into the living room, he had just jeans on, he looked at me worriedly and Mariella said, "I had to bring Damon into this, I know you don't want to be vulnerable, and that was a hard thing for you to expose, but this problem is exactly the problem that needs a strong and competent fucking telepath. That is not normal. Probably demons of some sort have made a nest in your mind, so to speak. "

Damon said, " Well, let's put those away. Now we're going to the bedroom, and I'm going to dig into your head and dig hard. I'll also pull the power out of you at the same time so I can get a little more oomph. "

He came next to me, teleported my soup and my creampuffs back to the fridge, and drank the rest of the Palma in one huge gulp, burping loudly. Then he took my hand and led us into the bedroom.

Damon sighed and said, " Now I am going to get some meds to get you relaxed. You have quite a medbay here. I need to get one particular cocktail that will work and then we will see if we can find that problem."

Mariella helped me get naked, and well, it was a pack thing to be naked everywhere. It was not really my thing yet. I got into bed and pulled up my sheets. I wrapped myself in sheets, more or less. I was in the middle of the bed, and Mariella came in next to me.

She said, "I'm sorry for raging. It was totally uncalled for, and I reacted all wrong, and then you sacrificed yourself. Damon has now made protocol, you see, any of us can be grown from one cell, and I just could not see that. You saw that and paid quite a price, so let me help you. But now, let's see if we can get that kind of horror out of your head. That'll keep you from getting a full night's sleep. "

Mariella touched me. I moved away, but she was not scared and continued to touch me.

I said, " Guess how nice it was to wake up if I went to sleep against Charles in the dream, and I could feel him, be safe, and when I woke up, it was just a dream."

My voice was quiet. I remembered those times.

Mariella said, " It must have been pretty awful. But don't you worry, Damon will help. He's pretty damn good, and he's got a lot of motivation for the job."

She continued to touch me. I shied away as if I could. I was not used to it.

We waited a while, and Damon teleported into the room. He sealed the room and said, " Are you still having trouble with your meds? "

I nodded. The problem had gone nowhere. Even the idea of getting some sort of sedative in my veins made my pulse racing and I could see from Damon's gaze that he noticed it.

Damon grunted and said, "I kind of suspected that. But it's going to be okay. First, we're going to relax, so I'm going to come next to you and massage, stroke, and help you relax. Everything will be fine. That's where we'll start."

He moved closer to the bed and took off his jeans, too. Naked into bed, like always. 

Damon came over to me, took off my sheet, helped me to my stomach, speaking softly and calmly, and said, "Turn over on your stomach, that's it. You're gonna be fine."

He massaged me, stroking me. Touching was kind of alien to me, but his warm hands felt so good to my tired muscles. I was pretty lean; I did not have many muscles, but those were what I had, had been tense. It was still partly strange, yet I slowly began to melt into his skilled hands. I relaxed, and I closed my eyes and just enjoyed it.

He suddenly said, "OK, now I'm going to take you in my arms. You're already limp, but that's okay. That cocktail is quite strong. Come on, then."

I felt his strong arms gathering me into his embrace, lifting me so that my face leaned against his chest. I was tired and limp.

I didn't even understand at what point he had given me the medicine, and when he lifted me against him so that I could hear those long-needed heartbeats.

I felt his warm hand as he stroked me and said," Go to sleep. Take it easy, you can fall asleep, it's all right."

I fell asleep, and I was safe. I just hoped the feeling would last.

Damon sighed as Mimi finally fell asleep.

" Darling, are you ready? Is the energy ready?" Damon asked Mariella.

Mariella spoke. She was disgusted by what Mimi had gone through. That had been awful, just horrible, and she wanted that if they ever found whoever was behind, would suffer at the hands of Damon.

 " Yep, we're ready. Now we just wait to see where the shit is; damn, it's awful to have to go through that."

Damon grunted. He had massaged Mimi and then used the numbing energy to push the cannula into her heart from the back and slowly gave her a cocktail. He knew Mimi would have to be properly tolerated at some point, but this thing again told it part of the whole time, and Damon realized that this was going to be like removing onion skins. There would always be another layer, another problem, and they would just have to be patient. To get these traumas and bad things to fade away would take time. He would at some point get bored with it, but then he again at some point would continue. It would be a long-term project.