ACROSS TIME

"Yeah, I suppose so...." Irving said. "It's just damn confusing to me and surprising to see her give in so quickly. She's overcome so much in her life, that I figured she could be tough through this too. I guess she can only take so much."

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"Is that so?" Dominic said with a smirk. "But I'm afraid our options are limited in this mall and dressing rooms are cramped, to say the least. Still, if the mood strikes your fancy that much, I suppose I'd be willing to compromise."

Elle giggled softly, "I ment for later, dear..." She whispered, "You know I like to keep my sex live between you and myself," She told him, kissing his cheek and draping her arms over his shoulders, and rubbing her hands up and down his chest, feeling every muscle.

~~~

Fay watched how happy Elle and Dominic were with each other and sighed. She looked back slightly in Irving's direction, she sighed a little, images floating back into her mind. She shook them off and continued walking.

Dominic could only shiver and remind himself that, eventually, this trip to the mall would be over and they could return home for...other pursuits, to say the least. He squirmed a bit as Elle touched her, hoping and praying to whoever would listen that his obvious excitement wasn't visible for the whole mall to see.

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Failure.

That's the word that kept going through Irving's mind as he shuffled quietly in last place. He failed as a thief, he failed as husband, he had failed as a father. He could see the hurt, longing look in Fay's eyes from the brief glance, almost like an ice dagger that had been shoved deep into his heart. The pain went up his spine and all over his body, as all he could do was sigh bitterly.

Failure. Yes, that seemed to describe him perfectly.

Elle slid off of his back and put her arm around his waist, she felt his hand touch her hip. As soon as they contacted Elle smiled, "You know... Some day soon I'm going to have to take you to meet my family..." She told him smiling as she ran her hand up and down his back.

~~~

Fay smiled and Elle and Dominic though it couldn't be seen, they were so innocent and young, she blew some hair out of her eyes.

She was feeling old.

"Indeed..." he said, trying his best to think un-sexy thoughts to hide the rush of blood to his neither regions. "Maybe they shall take a bit more kindly to me now that I am one of their own?"

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'This is damn pathetic.' Irving grumbled. Elle was supposed to be his help through this thing, yet all she seemed interested in was getting into Domimic's pants. As if she had to even try. This was time to take matters into his own hands.

"Fay..." he said loud enough for her to hear, but quiet enough so the rest of the group wouldn't "We need to talk..."

Elle shrugged, "Who knows, they won't shove a stake through your heart the second you enter, well, they could try, but it wouldn't have the same effect..." She told him, holding onto his arm, pressing her chest into his arm..

~~~~~

Fay stopped in her tracks and turned her head away from him, "I agree..." She whispered, looking towards the ground and biting her lip.

"Actually, it probably would." Dominic said. "That is, unless for some reason demons are resistant to having their hearts pierced. I just hope that since I am no longer a vampire, that they would find me a bit more tolerable."

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"I... I want to apologize for what I said earlier." he said, avoiding eye contact. "I'm just as hurt as you are and I guess I wanted you to be strong, so I wouldn't have to."

He sighed heavily.

"I love you so damn much, Fay. I do, I really do. I'd be lost without you. I guess...I guess I'm not asking you to be strong, but to just stand by my side as I stand by yours. If we're going to get our kids back, we can't do it alone."

Elle giggled and kissed his cheek, "It would probably suck though..." She sighed, "I'm the youngest, they've always been a little, over protective over me, in ever aspect of life..." She told him, smiling, "I'll tell you stories sometime."

~~~

Fay looked up at the sky, "I feel choaked here, and tence... I feel like I can barely breathe and like a part of me is missing..." She told him. I've never been totally helpless before, it confuses me. I've always had some control over any situation I'm in. Now I don't. It's alien to me..." She told him, "I'm not used to being weak..."

"Are you the first to be married?" he asked, feeling the warmth from her soft lips. "I would imagine that if so, the idea that you initially married a vampire probably went over as smooth as sandpaper."

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Irving merely nodded, not sure what he could say to help comfort his troubled wife. Instead he put his arm around her and pulled her close to him. He could feel that she was shivering slightly.

"Hope is all we have left now, and I don't plan on giving it up easy." he said quietly. "I promise I will always stand by your side. You won't have to fight this alone."

Elle laughed quietly, "Yeah, right..." She told him, "If nine is the new one then I am... The number would probably be higher if it wasn't for six of us being killed..." She told him, "And my dad telling two of my sisters fiances to get out of their lives if they wanted to live..." She told him, smiling, "Because of a law that spans back to before humans came into existance, an Archdemon from any area needs to name a non-blood heir before his death. Which I still, to this day don't understand because after the new leader is named any menbers of the clan can challenge him in a fight to the death..." She told him, "You have a lot to learn about being a demon before you even go near my family..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fay nodded slightly and held on tightly to Irving, "I'm cold..." She whispered looking up at the clouding sky. He was warm against her cold flesh, and his scent made her feel safe. She smiled, "Remember, before Jillian was born, you kept pushing that idea about cuddling naked to keep warm, and I finally gave in that day in the dead of winter..." She closed her eyes, a small smile gracing her lips, "On that rug infront of the fire place in the inn?" She laughed a little, "I miss times like that... We always have to hold back, to not wake up the kids or something else... I miss just being able to... You know, let myself go wild, and be as loud as I please," She told him.

She grinned, "Those kids," She said reffering to Elle and Dominic, "Kept us up last night, lets say we return the favor," She told him kissing his neck.

"I agree completely." Dominic said with a half smile. "But who better to teach me than you?" He stopped for a second and pulled her even closer, tracing his index finger around her collar bone. "Speaking of teaching, I was thinking we could sneak off somewhere, maybe a dressing room, for a little private tutoring? Hmmm?" he asked, obviously getting aroused just thinking about it.

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Irving groaned softly and held her close, it was nice to see her cutting loose like this. He had missed it...badly.

"Fay...I love you so damn much..." he whispered. "C'mon babe, let's go find a place and have some fun...like old time's sake."

Fay smiled, "Tonight... I like to keep things classy... I'm an ex-prostitute... I have standards..." She joked, "Well... Maybe quickly, but tonight, I don't want to rush a single thing..." She whispered in his ear.

~~~~~

Elle forgot what day of the week it was, and half expected everyone she knew from school to well, be at school, such was not the case.

"Elena Marie Warren is a filthy whore!" She heard a familiar voice shout, this made everyone turn and look in Elle's direction.

"Billie Anderson will suck your dick for anything from headies to beasters," She shouted back, walking away from Dominic.

"Now who taught my baby girl to speak like that?" Asked a male who quickly embraced Elle in a tight hug, he towered over her and looked as if he could crush her small body easily.

"The same person who gave Bill and I our first... well, everything illegal, Aiden... You," Elle told him.

He let Elle go, "Bull shit... I... Well, smoking isn't bad... we heal fast enough, and you don't get addicted to pot, and alcohol is always good, especially with the video camera."

Elle laughed, "Yeah, maybe for you, you're not the one who makes an ass of herself..." She told him, "Oh. This is Dominic, Fay and Irving. So where's everyone?" Elle asked, "Usually we've over run outside the mall..."

"Notice who's not here? All those damn Warren kids... Ever since Blake well... snapped your dad and the rest of the family has basically gone into hiding, and until he can be killed your entire family is masking their signatures going out in different forms, hell, your dad could be here right now watching us..."

"Yeah, he'd do that..." She said crossing her arms.

"Yeah, we're told that until Blake's killed he'll stop at nothing to get revenge on you for well, you're whole mess with him, and your dad for exiling him... Naturally your mom thinks he's going to pick off your brothers and sisters..."

Elle lifted her shirt up only slightly, "He has the taste of blood in his mouth... He needs to be gunned down like a dog..." She whispered, showing off the long scar across her abdomen.

Irving grinned big and quickly looked around for a place to run off too. His limited knowledge of the mall made things complicated, but he saw a dressing room in a nearby clothing store. He had deduced from the people coming in and out with various outfits that it's true nature was to try on clothing before buying. It was big enough for two people, and it would be just what they needed.

"Perfect." he said, standing up and taking her hand. "There's a 'dressing room' over there and I think maybe we might wanna try some clothes on..."

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Now this was a complicated situation for Dominic. On one hand, he was happy his wife had friends and encouraged her to have a social life outside of him, but this was just bad timing. He bit his bottom lip, trying to focus on the conversation and ignore his hormones which were lit on fire throughout his body.

His attention was sobered up by the scar on his beloved's abdomen, sending a weird mix of sexual arousal from the promise of some kinky hi-jinx, mixed with concerned for his lover.

Fay smiled and kissed Irving's neck lightly. She held onto his arm tightly, pressing her chest up against him, "Lead the way..." She whispered.

~~~~~~~

Aiden nodded, "You should join the hunting parties then, because, after everything he's done to you, you disserve the first shot."

Billie jumped onto his back, using her inhuman agility to easily secure herself, "Or you could always do the slow painful way... Where you..." She looked around, "You know..." She dug her feet into Aiden's hips and leaned forward so the other people around could not here, "What they did to that vampire... The rich one," She leaned back.

Elle nodded, "Thanks Bill, I was... Trying to never remember that moment again... Ever... Now I know why we drank so much... Before school, after school..."

"During school..."

"Before getting caught... While in the principals office..."

"We were little shit heads... No wonder they were trying so hard to get rid of us..." Billie said after getting off Aiden's back. She crossed her arms and pouted.

"Billie got suspended and fined for blowing smoke in a teacher's face that she got pissed at... It was a-mazing."

"Great, well..." She noticed how anxious Dominic looked, "We have to go, I'll talk to you later," She told them, "We'll get the whole gang back together, raise some hell, the usual..."

"See ya princess," Aiden told her.

"Get out of here skank," She pulled Elle close into her, "Buy something sexy for you boy over there, he's almost as horny as Aiden when he wondered into the girls locker room,"

"Good to know, and on that note... We'll be going."

Irving clutched her hand in his and, with a severe case of tunnel vision, led his wife through the crowd, zig zagging past people who's style of dress and language just seemed to baffle him. He grabbed what he assumed was a woman's outfit and muttered something about "she wants to try it on", before heading straight into a nearby dressing room and closing the door behind them.

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"Small world." Dominic said. "It seems you've had quite the adventurous life before me. I feel like I'm discovering more and more about you with each passing day. Regardless, I do believe we have an appointment to make."

Fay leaned in and kissed Irving lightly on the lips, before holding onto his shirt tightly, she was trembling a little with excitement.

~~~~~~

Elle laughed a little, "There's a lot about me you don't know... Just like there's a lot about you I don't know," She told him, "There's somethings that are just better unsaid," She told him, holding tightly onto his hand. Elle then froze and stood still, she stared blankly a second before shaking her head and continued walking.

No matter how many times he was romantic with his wife, it always felt like the first time to his. With the door locked shut behind them, all that could be heard was the soft pop-rock music playing over the speakers (which he found very annoying) and her soft, gentle breathing. His arms wrapped around her waist as he pulled in for a deep kiss, his hands sliding down her back to her ass, giving it a firm, yet loving squeeze.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The pause that Elle did was very unlike her, as he usually seemed to be a full steam ahead person. For a split second, Dominic was concerned about this, but seeing his lover trudge forward put his mind at ease...for now.

"Have I mentioned how much I love you? At least, for today." he said with a grin. "I try to mention it at least once a day and I'm not sure if I got today's quota in."

Fay's body moved by instinct, her vision was bluring, it was as if she was not in contro of her body, her fingers roamed along with her tongue.

~~~~~~~

Elle remained silent, it was as if she didn't hear him, her breaths were shaky and her eyes were glazed over. She stared blankly at the floor and let he hand slip from Dominic's and just stood there, letting people pass her, bump into her, she just moved as they moved her. A tear ran down her cheek.

Irving's hands reached to Fay's pants, clumsily attempting to unfasten them, as he had trouble with these new buttons the future had. It was much simpler to unfasten leather pants, but this would have to do. Finally, reaching some success, he yanked her pants down, his tongue battling with hers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Elle?" Dominic asked, his voice heavy with concern. "What's wrong? Please, speak to me? Tell me."

He crouched down to see her eye to eye, using her fingers to gently brush back some of her hair behind her ears.