InsaneJournal

If I was in World War II, they'd call me spitfire
Who: Garrick and Lex
Where: London, England
When: Evening on December 29th, 1940


To say that times were tough in England was an understatement, but what else was one to say during a world war? People were either sent off to fight on the front lines or to work in the factories to make more supplies for said people fighting. There was no in between. No one walked the streets with smiles on their faces like they did several decades ago. Luxuries were becoming far more scarce and daily needs were being indulged in as if they were never used before. Even with Christmas passing, people's spirits weren't lifted that much. The freezing cold on its own was enough to lower someone's spirits. Anyone who thought it was a brilliant idea to be out in the cold winter night was clearly insane... or, you know, a vampire. They were cold by default.

The chilly night clearly didn't bother Lex while he walked across the London Bridge by himself. Several cars drove on by on and off, though for the most part he was on his own. The sun had finished setting and the dusk sky began to fade away into the evening. Regardless if it was cold or not outside, no one was going to be out and about. Every night since who knew how long the sirens would go off in the city of London. People were probably finishing up with dinner and then heading towards the nearest shelter to hide.

Not Lex, or at least not for tonight. Leaning against the railing of the bridge to overlook the River Thames, he pulled out a letter from the inside of his jacket - one that was written from the elders. Of all the damned times they wanted someone dead, it had to be now. The target was a member of St. Paul's Cathedral, which was on the other side of the bridge. Apparently night time was the best time to strike, but even then it was still heavily guarded, even more so with the war going on. Seriously, what did they think was going to happen? Nazis breaking down with machine guns? As far as Lex was concerned, assassin vampires were a far bigger threat to worry about.

According to the letter, it said he was to be paired up with his sire, which wasn't a surprise. The two worked together quite well and Lex wouldn't have had it any other way. Though right then, Garrick was running late. Hell, Lex took his time to clean up and broke out his nicer suit, trench coat, and hat for the occasion... so what the hell was Garrick taking so long? Not like he had hair to brush or something. Sighing, Lex tucked the letter away and looked on out to the river some more while he waited.

Garrick Evans was not a man who ever wanted to be late for anything, regardless of who he was meeting. The fact that there was a war going on outside the walls of his offices, the sirens going off to signal the incoming bombs, was nothing more than a nuisance to him. Let the humans have their petty war. When it interfered with Garrick's business, then it would become a problem. He wasn't foolish enough to let himself get caught in one of the bombings, and wartime meant that some of his shadier dealings were making more of a profit than his legal business. Everything would come around, and he'd weather to storm until then. He'd seen it happen before.

That evening, however, his delay had nothing to do with the war. No, this was strictly business - and it had to do with one of his assistants. This one, a rather dim-witted man by the name of Carl, figured that Garrick had more than enough money and was stealing a little here and there to try and make up for his recent losses. Big, big mistake. Prior to this evening, Carl had no idea who exactly he was working for, and now, he'd never be able to tell a soul about it. Probably not a good thing for the man that he had the same bloodtype as Garrick to boot. He could still taste the blood on his tongue, knowing it would get him through the evening's business and then some.

Regardless, dealing with the "problem" meant that Garrick was a few minutes late meeting up with Lex, on Shades business. It did feel good to be working with his vampire child again; Lex was one of the very few people Garrick trusted with his life, or what was left of it anyway. If the elders gave them a mission, then they would ensure it would be done, no questions asked, no doubts remaining. The pair was nothing but thorough.

Approaching Lex, Garrick tilted his hat towards the younger vampire, sword well-hidden in the folds of his trenchcoat. Garrick also had several other blades hidden on his person, but that was par for the course. "Sorry to keep you waiting," he said, gesturing for Lex to start walking. "I had some... business to attend to."

Upon hearing his sire's voice, Lex instantly perked up and flashed a grin. There was no doubt in his mind that it was excellent to be working on an assignment with Garrick. For the most part, Lex preferred to work alone, but if he had the option to work alongside with someone else, then it was the fellow Englishman. They seemed to always be on the same wave length, at least when it came to these little assassination missions. Lex was also geared up with a variety of knives, daggers, and his prized katana stashed inside his jacket. His belt could double as a weapon, as could the chain around a pocket watch he had stowed in his jacket. Not like he needed it to check the time, but it was far more handy to choke people with.

"You always have business to attend to," Lex reminded his sire while he walked with him. "Even if you weren't a Shade, you'd still have something to keep yourself occupied. Suppose it's only a question of if said business was legal or not, right?" And from the faint scent of blood he picked up from Garrick, he was starting to lean more towards the illegal side of business. That's what Lex loved so much about the other man: he knew how to stay professional regardless of what was going on.

Garrick allowed himself something of a smirk at Lex's words. Yes, of course there was always business to attend to, legal or otherwise; it was the life Garrick had chosen for himself. And little missions like this were his payment to the Shades for turning him when they had, for saving his life so he could ensure his father's legacy would remain intact. So what if it meant a few mortals had to die along the way? It had never stopped Garrick before, and it sure as hell wasn't going to stop him now.

"This one was personal," he said, remembering the look of fear in the other man's eyes as Garrick pinned him down, revealing his fangs. Oh yes, he'd never tire of the sheer terror he saw there, or the pleas of, "This isn't real" or "Vampires don't exist." "I'll be looking for a new assistant in the morning, however, which is unfortunate. Necessary, but unfortunate." He cast a glance out onto the river, looking at the city he'd seen through its highs and lows. "Shall we head out?"

How Garrick was able to stay on top of his business was beyond Lex, though more power to him. He preferred to stick with his assassin gig and stay away from anything remotely normal for a human. Lurking in the shadows and dealing with whatever lied within them was where he belonged. He couldn't imagine doing anything like being an assistant of some sort. That work was for humans, no question about it. Hopefully Garrick didn't kill off his assistants on a daily basis, or else people would start to notice. Well, maybe not during the war, seeing that people were dying nightly from the bombings alone, but any other time and it would be an issue.

"But of course," Lex nodded to Garrick, heading in the direction of the cathedral. Definitely far for a walk and sadly no cab was going to be out in this hour, which left with only one way to speed up the process. He caught a glimpse of several deep shadow beneath the bridge, definitely dark enough to slide into and appear elsewhere. A smirk formed on his lips while looking over to Garrick. "Might as well take a shortcut," and without hesitation, Lex flung himself over the bridge, remaining calm as he fell. Before he could hit the water, he slipped into the shadow that hung belong and instantly reappeared on the other side of the bridge, even down the street a bit. That shit never got old.

For years, Garrick's business had been his life, and there was no way he could turn his back on it this late in the game. He'd managed to keep it alive through the centuries, through how many wars, how many changes in the global economy. The assassin gig was just a bonus to him, another, deadlier, kind of business. Of course, the time it took away from his business was the reason why he had to have an assistant in the first place, a necessary evil, and he didn't kill them often. Only when they failed him.

The good ones knew beforehand what fate would await them, and therefore took steps to ensure it didn't happen.

Following Lex's glance towards the shadows, the hint of a smirk crossed Garrick's face as well. Too far to walk to the cathedral and besides, a job was a job and the sooner it was done the better, no sense in waiting. Watching Lex jump over the side of the bridge, Garrick cast a glance around them to see if there was anyone watching. There wasn't - anyone in their right minds knew not to be outside of a shelter this time of night. It didn't phase the vampire one bit. After a second, Garrick too made the leap, his body moving faster than one might expect, given his apparent "age." Blending in with the shadows was a favorite trick of Garrick's, and it always came in handy in a situation like this, and he appeared behind Lex a moment later. "Perhaps I should let you take the lead on this one?" he said, a bit of amusement in his voice. Lex knew what he was doing by now, as far as the assassin business was concerned. Garrick had taught him well.

Lex didn't give a shit if someone saw him or not. If they had and made a massive deal about it, well, they could become a late night snack, if not killed off as well. Shades weren't advised to kill often, but people were dying every night for who knew how long. No one was keeping track of the death toll, so who would care if surprise-surprise, another person went missing. Looking over his shoulder, he spotted Garrick right behind him and just grinned. Shadow stepping was one of the best abilities in his mind and Lex took advantage of it as much as he could. True, it was a bit of a head trip when he was a young vampire and first tried it out, but he liked to think he had it down to an art form now.

"Gladly," he nodded to Garrick, enjoying the concept of taking the lead. Then again, any true Englishman just knew where St. Paul's Cathedral was, but know how to get there in a timely matter? Oh yeah, Lex had that figured out. Live on the streets long enough and you learn of all sorts of short cuts around the city. Those dark alleyways were Lex's territory as far as he was concerned. "Just don't complain when you can't keep up." After a few more steps, he slipped into another shadow and proceed to keep jumping from shadow to shadow down a variety of alleys. Lex prided himself in his speed and trained for years to hone that ability to the max, though Garrick was his sire, so it would be a surprise if the old man could keep up. Lex had to get it from somewhere.

London had been considered Garrick's territory too, for as long as he could remember. Though he was from the upper crust of society, and still maintained his position as a wealthy merchant, he did know these alleyways well, only slightly less so than Lex. You didn't stalk your prey in the middle of the street on a bright sunny day, after all, you took to the shadows. He'd used the same strategy as a human and it had always worked out well for him. His face didn't show any emotion as Lex made his remark, simply following the other vampire into the shadows. Garrick did not fall behind, he didn't fail his missions, and his mark always ended up dead. Welcome to the life of a Shade. Lex did have an advantage in speed, but Garrick wasn't more than ten seconds or so behind, the benefit of having a few more years to perfect his shadow jumping.

It didn't take long until St. Paul's Cathedral loomed before them, guarded just as Garrick predicted. They could take out all of the guards without much trouble, but it would bring a lot of attention down on them, attention that would be best to avoid if possible.

There was a definite rush that came along with jumping from shadow to shadow, even more so when Lex enjoyed showing off his speed. At least he still wasn't a newbie and appearing in wrong areas. Lex knew what he was doing and that was all thanks to his sire. He was pretty sure Garrick was proud as hell to have a fledgling like himself under his wing, and even more so that they were working together on this. The operation was going to get done quite efficiently to say the least. Even the various guards spread out by St. Paul's Cathedral didn't make him flinch. Lex had no issues picking them off one by one, but in such grave times it wasn't the wisest of decisions.

"You'd think they hired enough men to try and take out the Germans from the skies," he spat out coldly while rolling his eyes. "Pathetic humans..." Lurking in the shadows, he studied the patrol path that some of guards were on along with looking over the building. God, why did it have to be in a church? If Lex was paranoid by default, then there wasn't a word to describe how he was going to feel once inside. The demonic vampire was going to be edgy and irritated as fuck, so the sooner they could get this over then the better. "Perhaps through one of the windows? I hate trying to move into a building through a shadow and not being able to see where I'm going." Because last time that happened, Lex found himself in a suit of armor, and there was nothing funny about that.

Oh, there was no doubt in Garrick's mind that he was proud of Lex. He'd chosen well in siring the young man when he did, and given their line of work, Lex was deadly and efficient, like any good Shade should be. Though the two vampires no longer worked every single mission together, when they did, any human in the area would be wise to take cover. Garrick was not in the habit of killing when it was necessary to do so... but it was a war, who noticed another body among the carnage?

He'd used the excuse before, and he'd sure as hell use it again.

"It's because they hired boys to do a man's job," Garrick said, voice not betraying any emotion - likely because it was rare for Garrick to feel anything besides hatred and anger, and sometimes annoyance. "Let them fight their war, at least it makes what we do easier." The fact they were entering a church wasn't lost on him, knowing Lex's demonic heritage for a long while now, since he'd turned him. The power trip Garrick had gotten thanks to having Lex's blood had been fun - perhaps not for everyone around him, but Garrick had enjoyed the hell out of it. He scanned over the entrances again, looking for weak points in the guards surrounding the church. "Windows it is, then. Easier to sneak around once we're inside."

Having everyone worrying about the war instead of two vampires making an assassination run was always a good thing in Lex's mind. The only downside was the excessive amounts of guards, but they could be dealt with. After watching the guards circulate once more, he darted off into the shadows and made his way briskly on over to the church, jumping from shadow to shadow until he reached the ledge of one of the windows. Lex paused in the darkness, glancing inside to scout out the perimeter. Why did this place have to be so huge? At least their target was someone higher up on the food chain, thus he could make the assumption that perhaps more guards would be around this one. Besides, who the hell hired guards to protect a worthless peon?

"Perhaps it would be best if we split up?" He looked over his shoulder to eye his sire once he had caught up. "The place is bloody big enough for it. We'll need to cover a lot of ground in such little time." Because no one hired an assassin and told them to take their time and waste up the whole night just dicking around. Not to mention said task was assigned by the elders, thus this had to be done efficiently or else they would be the laughing stock of their family line.

Of course the guards could be dealt with. They were, after all, just human, and while the sheep insisted on things like "combat training," no human was ever prepared to take on the full capabilities of a fully trained Shade, much less two of them. Garrick paused on the ledge one window away from Lex, and made his own quick inspection of the perimeter. The less bloodshed meant the less attention cast their way, this was true, but he'd do what was needed in order to complete their mission. The more guards they threw at them, the more would just have to fall by Garrick's sword, if that was what ended up happening.

Garrick, for his part, had no intention of being the laughing stock of anyone, not his Shades peers, not his fellow vampires, no one. "I'll take the left side," he said, gesturing which path he meant to take with his free hand, the one not on the hilt of his rapier. "You follow the same along this side, we'll converge on the target in the middle." And then it would all be over.

Upon hearing his sire's instructions, Lex simply smirked. Good to know they were on the same wave length. With a nod of his head, Lex then glanced through the window once more and then faded away into the shadows. When he reappeared, he was inside the church and instantly had to fight off that annoying twitch that was inside his body. Oh, how he hated being inside them. It threw his inner demon into a fit of rage, but now wasn't the time to be weak and ticked off. Clenching his jaw tightly, Lex tried his best to recompose himself and took it easy. If he pushed himself too far, then he was going to either slow himself down even more or just snap.

With that in mind, he began taking his time on his given side. The place was dimly lit enough that it made blinking far easier, though when the shadows were sparse, he bolted from one side to the other, remaining quiet the entire time. Lex even slipped past several guards while following their target. He wasn't sure how much importance this man was to the cathedral, but having a decent amount of cronies by his side was an indicator on its own. Once they slowly reached the middle, Lex just kept on smiling, knowing that their lives would end shortly enough. With flawless, swift motion, the vampire unsheathed a throwing knife from the folds of his attire and threw it in the direction of the group, lodging the blade into one of the pillars they stood by. It was meant to act as a distraction and the second their eyes went from the blade to the location it supposedly came from, Lex had already disappeared into the shadows. Where exactly he was now didn't matter, because they were all going to be fucked in roughly five seconds flat.

Garrick followed a similiar tactic, slipping into the church and following the shadows until he neared the altar. So many guards, to protect a worthless human. Well, perhaps not entirely useless, if the elders had reason to want him dead, but it was all the same to Garrick. Another life felled by his blade, another day for the record books. Every few seconds he would catch a glimpse of Lex moving as well, a sight too dark and too fast for human eyes, and it was then that he almost - almost - cracked a smile, looking forward to the coming fight.

The guards immediately surrounding their target could not be avoided, however, which meant they'd have to die instead. With Lex providing the distraction via the knife now lodged in the pillar across the way, the guard closest to Garrick had the misfortune of turning away to face it. With a low snarl under his breath, Garrick attacked, using his rapier to slice through the man's throat before jumping back into the shadows. Quick, effiicient, not a moment's wasted, as was the older Shade's way. By the time the man started gurgling, blood staining his uniform, Garrick had already taken out the man to his right, and was on his way towards killing a third.

Hell, perhaps Garrick would even consider this to be fun. Sort of like playing chess.

Lex was on the same wave length when it came to be quick and efficient. There was no other way to do it in his book. And who the hell even heard of a slow vampire? That simply could not exist. These pathetic mortals didn't have the slightest idea what was coming at them. They didn't even have enough time to turn their heads after examining the knife. Garrick was already on top of his marks and Lex simply picked off the ones he left. His cold blade sliced through their necks, leaving them to choke on their own blood as they slumped to the ground. With two down, he turned on his heels to eye the main target standing before him. The poor slump was still turning his head back to examine what was going on. Too slow. Far too slow. Lex grinned in the thick darkness and whipped around to cut his sword into the man.

He didn't die right away in comparison to the others. Instead, he dropped to his knees with a hand clenching his throat while he tried to gulp down air, only to choke on his blood. A horrible way to die, but when it was orders from the elders, Lex didn't question it. While the man kept struggling on the ground, Lex simply shot his blue eyes on over to Garrick and suppressed a chuckle. "Can't be much of a threat now if he's this helpless. Care to finish him off?"

And that was one of the bonuses of working with Lex, the man always got the job done. Not because Garrick had trained him (though that was certainly a factor), but because he was born to do this. To take to the shadows to exact their vengeance, person by person, blade by blade. Lex had a gift, one Garrick was all too pleased to help the young vampire grow into and learn to fine tune. To see it in motion was almost enough to bring something of a smile to the vampire's face - had they not been on the job.

Right now, though, their target was in front of them, slumping to the floor, gurgling blood. Sidestepping the growing amounts of blood on the floor, years of training allowing him to ignore the scent of it filling the room, Garrick approached the dying man. Mercy would be killing him quick, but Garrick lingered for a few extra seconds, blue eyes long gone cold, feeling nothing in the moment. "It would be my pleasure," he said, and in two long strides his rapier was lodged in the man's chest, straight through the heart.

Stepping back to let Garrick have the final blow, Lex just stood there grinning like an idiot. Oh, he loved this job. Never got dull for even a second. "Well done, Garrick. Looks like the elders picked the perfect pair to do this job." With their target finally dead, they could call it night. Perhaps go home and relax. Or hell, the night was still young. Maybe they could go out and hunt down some helpless girl who got lost in the city.

Though all of that shattered when a piercing sound boomed into earshot. One that was all too familiar to anyone who lived in London. Lex's smirk instantly vanish as he turned his head to peer out the high windows of the church. With his night vision, he caught the fainest sight of bombers flying by in the skies, which explained why the air raid sirens were going off in the distance. Now was not the best time to have a bombing go on and just as Lex parted his lips, he felt the lower vibration of what had to be a bomb going off. Bloody brilliant... "Of all the nights this has to happen," he spoke through a clenched jaw before whipping his head back to Garrick. "Where the bloody hell is the nearest Underground from here?" They might have been immortal creatures, but staying up above while the city was being bombed was not ideal.

"Of course they did," Garrick said, voice betraying not a hint of emotion as he pulled his rapier free from the man's chest, watching the body fall to the floor. From one of the pockets in his jacket, he pulled out a cloth to wipe down his blade, not wanting the blood to tarnish the metal. In Garrick's mind, the sword was worth much more than the man dead before him ever could be, and finding a decent sword this day in age was, truly, a bitch.

The sound of the bombs going off caused Garrick to lift his head, following Lex's glance out the cathedral windows. Bloody mortals and their bloody war, always getting in the way of what needed to be done. Garrick wasn't necessarily scared of the bombings, but getting burned alive or trapped in some building somewhere wasn't high on his to-do list. At least the bombings started after their mark was dead, because the elders wouldn't accept "running to hide so we don't die for real" as an excuse for why their target would still be living. "Shouldn't be far," Garrick said, returning his sword to the scabbard at his waist. "Come on. We don't want the building to collapse before we're out of it."

Lex was right there with Garrick in the mindset that no, dying for real was not cool by any means. He had yet to have a true experience with roaring up in his face and had no intentions on changing that any time soon. The only thing that freaked him out was that the air raid sirens never left enough time for people to run and hide for cover. Most people were already tucked away in the nearest tube line to avoid the catastrophe, and Lex would have been right there with them... if it wasn't for the fact they had to do this mission. This was perhaps the only time Lex would ever swear against the elders for their oh-so impeccable timing on everything.

"The sooner we get out of here, the better," he growled through clenched teeth, already walking briskly down the church. The place was already pissing him off enough as it was, let alone the fact the city was being bombed. He could hear several people screaming and scrambling inside, though they were of no concern to him. Hell, he didn't care if they found the dead bodies or died from the explosion. Lex was all out for himself as he blinked in the shadows, eventually making his way to one of the windows and perched outside on the ledge. His eyes quickly scanned the area, trying his best to ignore the trilling sound of the sirens overwhelming his ears. He could already see fire erupting on the horizon along with a whole slew of bombers flying high in the skies. "Damn Germans are not fucking around tonight," he spoke lowly to himself as he tried to focus and find the nearest underground entrance.

And the second he spotted it in the distance, a bomb went off right in the near vicinity, causing the vampire's eyes to widen as his pressed desperately back into the church window. For someone with demonic blood, the church's holy presence didn't dent him in comparison to the fear that blazing fire struck into him. He could feel that heat from far away and as he simply stared for a moment, more bombs went off... and much closer. It looked like they bombers were directly aiming for the church, which only made their situation worse. "Oh you HAVE to be kidding me! The closest station has to be at least a mile away." Lex knew he had the speed to get there, but it was a matter of weaving through the flames and not letting them touch him.

Garrick moved towards the entrance as well, dodging those looking to get inside the church by simply blinking into the nearest shadow. Let them cower inside their place of worship; Garrick had never been the religious type even when he'd been human and becoming a vampire hadn't exactly changed his thoughts about that. Mighty powerful business empire surrounding the church, though, he could respect that. So long as it meant he could still earn a profit off it. Climbing up to one of the windows near where Lex was perched, he glanced up, picking out the number of bombers in the sky above them. Then he looked out over the city below them, looking at the roads and trying to plot a route in his head.

That route was promptly shattered when the bombs went off, far too close for Garrick's liking. The only sound that came out of his mouth was a snarl, fangs clearly visible in the light of the flames. Garrick might not show emotion that often, but when he did, it was terrifying for anyone around him. And right now? Garrick was pissed. Lucky for the Germans they were flying high above them in said bombers. "Then we run," he said, knowing Lex's fear of fire, and also knowing that he wasn't about to leave his vampire childe behind in a situation like this. "And we don't stop until we're underground." There was no other option in Garrick's mind.

It wasn't often that Lex saw that look on his sire's face. It was one that made most people cower and hide in a box of some sort. For Lex, it only made him flinch slightly. Though Garrick had a solid point. They had no choice but to run and pray they made it to the nearest station. It was either that or become bomb fodder, which Lex had no intentions for by any means. He took in an unneeded breath of air, simply to calm his nerves, and then nodded in response. "Then run we shall." That said, Lex leapt off the side of the window ledge and fell into the darkness, blinking only to break his fall as he hit the ground. He could feel the heat coming from the flames, even though they were far away. The bombers flying above seemed to show no mercy and only continued to drop bomb after bomb and from the looks of it, the cathedral was a main target. He and Garrick had to book it out at this rate. Lex only glimpse over his shoulder to make sure his sire was close behind before looking out in front of him. There were no more shadows to jump in. The fire had destroyed whatever remained and lit up the path before, thus leaving only one option - run. And in a blink on an eye, Lex shifted on his feet and bolted away from the cathedral and sprinted down the streets.

To be honest, Garrick was no longer paying attention to see what Lex's reaction was. His mind was too busy trying to plot out the quickest route to the station and internally cursing the lack of shadows to make the trip easier. Honestly, the damn Germans left no stone unturned when it came to making London look like a pile of rubble and flames. He could be angry all he wanted later; there wasn't any time. Garrick was right on Lex's heels as he jumped down from the cathedral, landing lightly on his feet. Let the Germans have the cathedral. If nothing else, it was doing them a favor by detroying the evidence of what they'd just done. With something of a growl, Garrick took off, blasting right past the humans also scrambling to reach shelter. Who cared if the sheep made it there or not? All Garrick cared about was not dying for real, and with a vampire's strength and speed on his side, that was all that mattered to him in the moment.

Lex didn't expect the bombings to be this bad. He was used to them by now and viewed them more as an inconvenience than anything, though bolting down the streets and feeling those very bombs explode under a mile away from him and cause the ground beneath him shake violently? It was unsettling to say the least. Lex did his best to stay composed and not let the trembling ground throw him off balance, same with the fiery explosions that kept erupting. There was no time to stop or slow down or think. They were Shade vampires and therefore could only think of their well-being. The lame humans remaining on the streets were none of their concern, especially when he could spot the underground station in the distance. Though just when he thought it was almost over, a bomb had to be dropped on a nearby building, causing the entire block to explode, debris flying through the air as Lex skidded on his feet and ducked for cover. Running through a heap of fire wasn't entirely his idea of being safe, though when he looked up from his cover, he realized a massive chunk of architecture was blocking him off and burning brightly. His blue eyes darted around with immense paranoia. No shadows were close enough for him to blink away and the only thing he could think of was wrapping his jacket around himself and jumping through the fire. "No," the words left his feeble lips while trying to think of another plan that didn't include jumping through fire.

At this rate, safe was merely a state of mind. If Garrick let his thoughts linger on how dangerous their surroundings were, they'd die. End of story. And that was surely not happening tonight. He just kept flicking his eyes back and forth as he ran, putting on an extra burst of speed when he could - and then a bomb went off literally next to them. Garrick threw his body to the side and rolled, holding onto his sword when it came free and tucked it against himself to keep from losing it. Yes, Garrick considered his weapon to be more important than the lives of the people around him. When he glanced up, all he saw was fire, and broken chunks of building - but no Lex. "Lexington!" he called, knowing his childe was probably the only person he'd care about saving in the wreck of London at the moment. And Lex better not be crushed to death for real here, because then Garrick would be even more pissed.

He heard his name being called out, knowing that Garrick was looking for him. He was perhaps the only man who could call him by his full, given name and not twitch at the sound of it. Garrick was in essence like a father to him. A better one than his original one, that was for sure. There was a bond between the two that couldn't be denied and he wasn't going to let an air raid severe the tie between them. "Garrick!" He cried on back, eyes still frantically looking for an exit. The flames only grew closer and the more Lex stalled, the more it seemed like the only option was to jump through. Oh boy, was this going to scar him for the rest of his immortal life. Biting his lip hard, he removed his coat and held it in front of himself like a shield, tried to calm his nerves and then lunged through the wall of fire and out on the other side. A ballsy move for a vampire, but it was either that or death. The coat erupted into flames and the second Lex hit the ground, he let go of the fabric shield and rolled on the pavement. While most of the flames caught the jacket, there were still a few that latched onto his arm and legs, causing Lex to howl out in sheer agony. This was right up there with that damn witch placing the permanent curse on his body. Hissing in a sharp breath of air, he eventually stopped rolling once the flames were smothered, those serious burns were left, charring his flesh. Lex laid on his back, trying not to wince too much in pain, but holy hell, it hurt. He was going to need a living earth elemental to suck dry in less than ten minutes if he wanted to make sure his limbs remained functional. Rolling his head to the side, he glanced up to catch sight of his sire, "Just leave me. I'm nothing but bloody dead weight now." Garrick had to focus on himself. Someone had to live to tell the tale.

Hearing Lex answer him back was a good sign. Of course, it was also coming from the other side of the flames, and Garrick let out a snarl. He was on the side with the entrance to the Underground, which meant Lex had to come to him, not the other way around. And the flames... no vampire would ever look at that and get excited at the prospect of jumping through it, and that was exactly what Lex did. "Bloody hell-" First things first, Garrick grabbed the now-ruined jacket and tossed it back into the flames, and was about to take off his own to smother what flames were left when Lex seemed to have done the job himself. The scent of charred flesh hit his nostrils, and he flinched. What were their chances of finding an earth elemental in this hellhole? He didn't know, but he'd have to try. "You," he said, grabbing Lex in a fireman's carry and hefting him over his shoulder, "are not staying behind." Lex was his son, as far as Garrick was concerned. Like hell he was going to leave him here to die.

Had it been anyone else, Lex wouldn't have been surprise if they shrugged and ran off upon hearing his words. Though this was Garrick and apparently he wasn't going to leave his childe behind like that. Even if they were cold-hearted bastards, they had each other's back. Crying out again, hissing in a sharp breath as the pain jolted through his legs, he looked on over to his sire and grumbled. "Stubborn bastard. I owe when this is over." Standing up on his legs, even while being supported by Garrick, was almost as agonizing as the time he was cursed. He clung onto the vampire, eyes set straight ahead on the entrance. So close. It was all over soon, though sadly Lex couldn't sleep this one off tonight. Not with light emitting from the Underground. All he wanted to do was munch on an earth elemental and sleep the pain off. Hell, if he could even do one of those things, life would be amazing.

Anyone else would have left him, yes. But there was an undeniable bond between sire and childe and Garrick couldn't walk away. Not even if he were to try, there was a reason why he'd only sired one other vampire in all his years. Garrick was not a sentimental man, and he did not deal in emotions. At the moment, his anger was not with Lex, it was with the German bastards who had seen fit to bomb the city while they were on a mission. So the best Lex was going to get out of him at the moment was, "Yes, you do," and Garrick left it at that. Dodging a few more pieces of falling debris as best they could, together they limped into the entrance of the Underground. The lights were too bright for either of them to think about sleep, so Garrick found a quiet corner off to the side and set Lex down, careful of his legs. Even if he couldn't find an earth elemental, any sort of blood would be good for Lex right now - especially if he could come across one of Lex's own type. "I'll be back," he said, and with that Garrick blinked into the shadows again, off to see who else was with them in this little "sanctuary."

And then they were safe in the Underground. Had Lex been capable of breathing, he would have heaved out a massive sigh of relief at that point. All his nerves were beyond shot and the pain wasn't helping. Groaning as he was placed into the corner, Lex looked up to say something to his sire, only to find Garrick not there. "Tricky bastard," he murmured to himself with a grin. Lex gazed upon his battle wounds, not pleased with the charred skin at all. There was a young woman with her kids in the sweep distance that caught sight of him, immediately repulsed and looked away. Better to scare them away than draw them in. So many different scents tickled his nose and he couldn't even begin pinpointing an earth elemental. Perhaps Garrick could. That old man never ceased to impress Lex. For the time being, he stayed put, twitching in agony on and off while watching the lights flicker randomly. The structure hummed with each bomb that went off and the rumbling noise from above still echoed in his ears. It would be all over come sunrise or at least Lex liked to think he'd live to see that.

Though time was of the essence, and he didn't have much of it to spare, Garrick let his eyes drift closed and paused, letting his senses do the work. He could hear movement off to the tunnel on his right and he followed it, catching the scent as he got closer. There was an air elemental in the corner, panicking at the thought of being buried underground forever; Garrick bypassed him and continued on. It was another few minutes of searching - along with another small rumble from above them, when were these Germans going to stop, honestly? - until Garrick came across a group of people, among them a woman who was making her way through the crowd, checking injuries, helping who she could. Her actions broadcast her as an earth elemental, and as he took a few steps closer, her scent confirmed it. "Excuse me," he said, tapping her lightly on the shoulder with his cold fingers, "there's a man up in the passageway, this way, he's been badly injured. I couldn't carry him all the way here," a lie, all of it, "but perhaps you might be able to help him?"

Her face was too trusting, too innocent. She believed his words, believed that such an old body couldn't bear the weight of another person. It was a rouse Garrick used often, because so often it didn't suit him to be a vampire in times like these. Fragile old man worked just as well, and his sword was thankfully still hidden. The woman nodded, and said, "Take me to him, I'll see what I can do."

Famous last words. Garrick nodded his head to her - of course he wouldn't smile, or offer his gratitude, because he didn't feel any - and guided her up in the direction of the passageway where he'd left Lex. He waited until they were out of earshot before coming up behind her, sword in hand, and swung the hilt of it into the back of her head. Crude, but it worked, and without spilling any of the blood Lex would need. Stopping only to check the girl's pulse and make sure she was still alive, Garrick hauled her over one shoulder in a fireman's carry and made his way back to where he'd left his childe.

Lex had only caught sight of the woman coming around the corner for mere seconds before Garrick snuck in from behind and gave the final blow. He smirked a bit, loving the scent of that elemental coming his way. "You..." Lex raised his eyebrows, groaning a bit. "You never cease to amaze me." And a woman, nonetheless. His favorite. If only he could buy Garrick a drink after this. Maybe he could via a blood hunter of some type. Those thoughts didn't linger in his mind for long, only focusing on the elemental that was presented to him. Once she was close enough, Lex grabbed her arm and jerked her forward into his lap, ignoring the jolting pain that throbbed in his body. It wasn't long until his fangs sunk into the warm skin of her neck, instantly drinking from her. He was greedy in his feeding, moaning slightly at the taste of her blood hitting his tongue. This was perfect. Too perfect. He could already feel his limbs starting to heal from the burns. And when she was completely drained, he pulled away to tilt his head back, sighing out loud in approval.

"Bloody wonderful," he murmured while glancing down to see his body fully healed. The pain still lingered and he didn't even dare to do something brash, like run a marathon. He was still going to need some rest, but at least the worst was over. The Germans could do this all night for all he cared. Lex was alive, as was Garrick, and their mission was complete. And as much of a bitch as it was, at least the air raid made for the perfect cover-up. "Thank you," he nodded to his sire, gratitude laced in his words as he kept smirking. "All in a night's work, mm?"