Dorian Cael. There were few names that could conjure more hatred in the Supernatural world...Morpheo, Drake's maker, was the other....And how such a pathetic excuse for a creature of the night had come to be so revered on the dark side escaped Drake...It always had. Throughout the centuries. he had been letting Hell loose in any which way he could, and yet again....the bastard had crossed the lines.

With Melisande draped over his shoulder, Drake took to the planes, traveling easily to his castle nestled within Nebula in moments, landing on the stone balcony without a sound. The castle that the other knew of, where the Dreamwalkers dwelled, was just one place where he spent his time. This place, this castle that towered over the city, land stretching far and wide...This was his sanctuary, a reprieve from the land of dreams.

Walking through the open doors, Drake carried her down the hallway to a room that had been vacant for quite some time. Thankfully, the walls were made of stone and the room was barren...Unless, of course, she felt the need to burn the bed on which she would be sleeping. And then, well, he supposed there was nothing he could do about that.

Considering his options, Drake set her down, but only long enough to realize that this was not a well-laid plan. His mind raced as he wondered where to put her that would wipe Dorian Cael from her mind as well as save his home from becoming a fiery inferno. Glancing down the hallway, he gave a slight smirk and hefted the Elemental over his shoulder once more...

Fire and water- the two never did mix quite well, did they? Into the grand bathroom he carried her, setting her down in the middle of the porcelain tub. Binding her wrists with ancient magic, he raised a brow and pulled up a chair to wait. He had not used the full force of his power to render her unconscious, and in that, she should be waking soon. Depending on her level of compliance when that time came around would determine his next move.

Until then, Drake was quite content to let himself sit and fume over the audacity of Dorian Cael, the stupidity of Melisande Pryor...and the fate of the world should Cael gain more notoriety than he already had....Damnable vampires.

Melisande groaned softly as her eyes flickered open, the heat of blue flame long since leaked from the sapphire orbs. For a moment confusion set in before memory rushed back to her. . .she had been caught more or less red-handed by Drake Morpheus and the Dreamwalker had been less than pleased to learn of her liasons with Dorian Cael. She remembered the anger in his eyes, his resolve to take matters into his own hands ending up with her slung over his shoulder and after that. . .darkness. She knew that he must have used some kind of power on her to knock her from consciousness and in the back of her mind she cursed, more than just her pride wounded.

She shifted slightly, realized that her hands were bound tightly behind her back with the same ancient magic he had used before on her. Teeth gritting it took another moment to come to the realization that Drake had played it safe and smart. Her bare feet barely brushed against the cold porcelain of a bathtub and the thread of the faucets loomed clearly in her vision. Fire and water. . .they were not exactly the closest of bosom companions. Her eyes flared for a moment but that was all and she turned them to Drake, sitting patiently in a chair beside her as though this were a perfectly normal thing to do. She understood his intentions but for the life of her could not fathom how he hoped to accomplish his ends.

"Well this is nice, Drake," she said dryly. "Aside from the fact that I want nothing more than to deck you, however pointless such an action might be, are the bonds truly necessary?"

Having pulled up a chair and once again finding himself staring out into the nothingness that night had become, he heard her stirring long before she spoke. Slowly, he turned his head and watched her as she came to, looking around, her eyes falling on him.

He had to admit that his methods did seem a bit extreme, but considering the power of the being in his presence, Drake decided that it was more than fitting. He stood to his feet and cast a slight smile to the elemental. Bonds necessary? Without a shadow of a doubt.

"Now, Melisande, you know as well as I that if you were not bound to that chair, you would have burned your way out of this castle by now...And so, in short, yes, my dear, the bonds are necessary." Drake watched her for a moment longer before he walked toward her, easing down onto the edge of the porcelain tub. "Now, Do tell me...What is it about Dorian Cael? Details, if you please. I'll need to know if I plan to erase him from your mind..."

And eradicate him from this world... he thought, but just as quickly pushed the vengeful notion away...It would do him no good, lowering him to the standards of Cael, and even those that somehow managed to slip below that fiend.

Melisande already knew well enough that nothing short of Drake's own will would break the bonds that held her hands behind her back and that still did not stop her wrists from twisting idly. It was more for something to do simply because stillness was not in the nature of fire. Fire had to move, twist, turn, it had to be constantly in motion or else flicker out and die. The orbs of her sapphire eyes lit from within just slightly, although that, also, was simply for something to do. She turned and met his gaze and had to smirk slightly at his words, knowing he spoke the truth. Fire was a tricky thing to capture and even harder to contain. . .Drake had acted rashly and know had to improvise. One slip and she would have taken advantage of it. They both knew that.

She tightened her jaw for a second as he sat on the edge of the tub, her own flame-tinged blue eyes locking with his. She scanned his face, having nothing better to look at for the moment. He was an incredibly attractive man and she was fairly certain that she had never been around him long enough before to take the care to notice. Feathered blonde hair fell against his forehead and nearly brushed his eyes and it incited the urge to reach up and push it back. . .although that was not going to happen. His words startled her and for a moment her thoughts were not at all where they should have been, turning to the slight force with which Dorian sometimes took what he wanted. Fire was a hard thing to control and harder to contain. . .yet Dorian managed such a thing. A being that had the power to control an element so untameable. . .Melisande flushed slightly and bit into her lower lip, turning her face away from the Dreamwalker. What was it about him? A need to fill the void of loneliness, of feeling the flames in her own soul dying out.

"Centuries get rather lonely and monotonous, Drake. I do not take lovers of mortals and Dorian, when I first met him, was charming. Different. A mystery, if you will. Something that I had never encountered before and in that time I had an affair with darkness that became rather like what mortals would call a. . .a drug. An addiction, I suppose. That's. . .really all you need to know."

A strange camraderie had been born and as he sat beside her, he began to wonder how they had managed to slide past each other, century after century. And yet, she had crossed paths with Cael, a most unimportant and vile creature that had ever dared to desecrate the world, simply by walking on it.

"I see...And so you find the most vile, repulsive creature you can to calm the aching loneliness? Yes, yes, I see...That makes perfect sense..." he told her, standing to his feet, fingers curled under his chin as he paced the short distance back and forth before the tub.

He glanced at her hands, saw her she struggled to move, and for a moment, a glimmer dance in his eyes as a slight smirk took his face.

"I do understand, Melisande...The loneliness, the waiting, the wanting, but I do not understand how you can lower the standards given to you by the gods. You are fire, you are the controller of flame and heat...Far more powerful, more respectable, more feared than any vampire will ever hope to be...When this is brought up and your actions marked against you, will you plead temporary insanity? It seems the only logical explanation..."

It was then that he leaned forward, his hands on the edge of the tub to hold himself steady. "You will forget him..."

Melisande's mind turned back over the centuries to the first time she had even seen Dorian. He had been nothing but a shadow against the wall and she had paid him no mind, no second glance, until he had slipped in front of her and refused to budge until proper attention was given. Even then she had not raised a hand to burn him from existence, of course by then her own human instincts had taken over somewhat and thoughtless murder seemed a bit extreme. He had blocked her path with the same firm obstinance that he displayed in everything else and after that. . .She had not known, truly, what it was that she was getting into. She had not much experience with vampires or their like and had never paid much attention to such creatures before.

Melisande's eyes flicked up to Drake as he leaned over the tub and for a second she held his gaze firmly, her own fire-rimmed eyes a faint glow of electric blue. She understood what he was trying to do and some part of her--the rational part not spun in Dorian's web--appreciated it. The other part of her thought that he was insane for even thinking he had that much control over what she did and who she saw; uncertainty as to what he thought he was going to do about it filled her and after a moment she looked away from him before looking back and arching an eyebrow slightly.

"That's very assuming of you, Drake. What makes you think you have any control over what I think about or do? You cannot keep me here forever. . ."

She was headstrong, there was no denying it. Like the flames from whence she came, she would not die down, would not flicker into burning embers...No, she would rage and burn and tear a path through the world...Once upon a time.

Now, as he leaned over her, his elbows bending and drawing him in closer, he let out a slight laugh, hardly audible, and shook his head. Hair dancing before his eyes, he raised icy blue orbs to meet hers again, more than amusement dancing within his eyes. "Assuming? Nonsense...It is truth, fact...Because I know it to be so." Bracing himself on one arm, Drake raised a hand, fingertips tracing her jawling as he smirked in challenge, one brow raising back at her. "You. Will. Forget. Him."

Letting his fingers slide down her neck, he pushed himself back, standing before her once more. Feet spread slightly apart, he crossed his arms over his chest and watched her, eyes moving slowly over her as she sat there before him, bound and tied for her own good, for the good of all her kind.

"Forever...Ah, forever's such a long time. You see, Melisande, the plan is not to hold you prisoner, but to make you wish never to leave. I will make you forget Dorian Cael...I promise you..."

Melisande understood the nature of Dorian on some level that was not clouded by what he had a tendency to offer. She understood that vampires were generally dark creatures and that allowing him any kind of control over her was playing with fire of a different sort. His presence could be like a dark poison, an intoxicating drug that overwhelmed common sense and reasoning. Drake’s words echoed in her head and Melisande’s jaw clenched slightly before she met his gaze as he leaned closer, locks of blonde hair brushing against his eyes. She was again struck by the urge to push them back to better see the crystal orbs that so challenged her own electric blue gaze. Drake had no fear, that was easy to see in his eyes. Not fear of her nor any being. Here he was unchallenged, Lord and Master of dreams and beyond that. He had every right to be so damned cocky, although she would hardly ever admit those words to him aloud.

His course of action was possibly the most unexpected thing Melisande could have imagined coming from him and she did not miss the lust that passed across his clear eyes just as quickly as the amusement did. Her tightened jaw relaxed slightly as his fingertips found her jaw line and trailed down her neck in more than just a little hint and she found her breath huffing out sharply before he straightened and laid out his plans in the vaguest terms possible. Vague or not. . .it did not take a genius to catch his meaning and although he was quite an attractive male she still raised an eyebrow slightly, a smirk sliding into place. That was his master plan? To oust Dorian by proving that there was someone out there worthy of attention more than the vampire was? She almost laughed then thought better of it considering her circumstances.

”Large claims, Drake,” she finally replied, her gaze not on him for the moment. ”You think that much of yourself? Well, I suppose you do for committing this sort of insanity. I do hope you found a replacement for my students. . .one of them might very well accidentally burn down the Alcove without some kind of guidance. So that is your plan, then? I’m surprised at you. Yet more insanity. And here I thought I was being held for miscalculations and rather bad judgment when it seems that prize goes to you.”

While the concern for her students was very real, Melisande knew that questioning his prowess and sanity might not have been the best course of action. She was not blind or stupid. His touch had been heated just from natural body heat and not unwelcome in the slightest, although she was not sure that he was supreme enough to erase other men from the minds of women. She had known of him for centuries but had never been in his presence long enough to acknowledge that he was just about as hot as the lava pits from whence she might have come and yet her own anger over his audacity in the moment kept her from just nodding her head and agreeing with him. For now.

Drake watched her with the amusement that one would watch a rising flame...That's what she was, in essence, wasn't it? He could all but see the blue-tinged fire in her eyes, the heat emanating from her like the blaze itself that burned within her. Tilting his head curiously to the side, a sly smile slid over his lips as she spoke, and to her comments, he could only shake his head. Did she think him that foolish?

"I'm afraid you underestimate me, Melisande," he told her idly, walking toward the door, only to turn back and lean against it, propping one foot back up on the mahogany door behind him. Arms crossing over his chest once more, he shook his head slightly to clear the hair from his eyes, then smiled at her, a subtle gesture with all the nuances he hoped for in the failing light. "Large claims they may be, but rightly so...and adequate nonetheless. Your students are cared for; I've made sure of it. Your apprentice has been put in charge and Dean appointed as overseer. Alika has been notified of your abscence in the case that something uncontrollable should occur and that, my dear, leaves you lacking obligation and freely here with me..." As his eyes swept over her again, he straightened his frame and reached back for the door handle, smirking slightly. "Well...For the most part."

Well. . .he was an efficient kidnapper, to say the least. To find that he had made so many arrangements within such a short time startled her and she wondered just what exactly he had told the others. It did not really matter what he had said only because it appeared that they had taken it at face value and she was on her own with him, although she knew that escape would not be possible. He knew better than to be anything but vigilant and the hot edge of anger slowly melted away from her gaze as she turned it from the smile on his face. The fading light in the bathroom played imagery tricks against his tanned skin and she knew that she had seen all that smile promised and more, yet her hands were bound. What was she to do about such a thing even if she had wanted to?

She bit into her lower lip and considered the fact that she was being a stubborn ass when, in all essence, he was only trying to help. Granted his methods were a bit unorthodox and extreme but she was able to recognize them for what they were and she was not above admitting that her attachment to Dorian was unhealthy at best. She knew that her addiction to the dark quality of the vampire was perilous and rather idiotic but admitting that aloud to Drake was another matter entirely. She also knew that she did not have to admit such a thing. He already knew and it was her resistance that had spurned such measures, her pride that had gotten in the way. She noticed his hand on the door and looked up slowly, the heat leaking from her eyes until they were nothing but ice blue orbs.

"Wait. I. . .You are right. About Dorian. But you already knew that. . .It went farther than I thought it would. . .Exactly what is it that you propose to do to remedy this problem, then, Drake? You seem to think you know more than I and while this is probably true. . .the fact remains that I cannot remain here forever. I have students that will need me sooner or later and duties that must be attended to."

He had intended to walk out the door, to continue on down the hall and go into his own quarters for the night. She needed her time for reflection, but as he heard her voice, softer than most time he had spoken, Drake turned his head slowly to regard her, watching her eyes and finding himself caught within her gaze.

Slowly, subtle, he nodded to her, his hand falling from the door as he turned on one hell and walked back to her. This time, rather, he stopped by the tub before lowering himself to sit on the edge. A hand reached up, touching her cheek, and in his eyes, there lingered a promise that he would cure her from this addiction that would surely be the end of something far too great to ever pass by.

"I could never keep you here forever, Melisande, even if I wanted to. Your place is among the Avatars, but you cannot remain with them until you are freed from this hold that Dorian has lassoed onto you." His hand fell from her face and he sighed, glancing away for a moment before looking back to her. In a subtle rush, he leaned in and brushed his lips against hers, closing his eyes before pulling away. "And this...has nothing to do with how I intended for you to forget Dorian Cael."

She shifted slightly amid the chilled porcelain of the tub that he had put her in and then fell still for a moment. This was not her ideal situation to be in at all but she knew that Drake was trying to do the right thing the only way that he could conceive of. She could not lay fault on his shoulders for that. . .still, it seemed odd that after dancing past each other for centuries upon end that this would be the time when they would finally have to face and know each other. Dorian Cael was the cause and Melisande knew well enough that Drake was right. She could not continue her liasons with the vampire and maintain her duties, her standing. . .how could her own students look up to her when she had to cover her neck to hide the marrings that he laid upon her? It had been good, while it lasted, but it was time for it to end. Still. . .could she say no when Dorian came calling again? She did not know. Not yet.

Melisande turned her attention to the tall blonde haired Dreamwalker as he turned back from the door he had been about to walk out of and came nearer. Blue eyes caught her gaze and for the life of her she could not look away from him. He was startlingly handsome and she recognized that for probably the third time in that evening, although it would have never crossed her mind to want anything from him before now. Even then she did not know what she wanted. The emptiness in life was what plagued her. Centuries were lonely even for flame. . .She turned her face into his touch slightly and did not pull back as she might have done before. He leaned in and her own lips responded to his in that subtle gesture, heat rising into her cheeks that echoed from the warm brush of his own lips against hers before he pulled back and she studied him. Not how he intended. . .well, by the gods her mind was on anything but Dorian at the moment and she flushed for it.

"However it might not have been what you intended. . .at the moment all I see is you. Unbind me, Drake. I will not bring destruction to your home nor run from you."

Drake could feel, for once, the familiar shivers of mortality traipse down his spine as he stared into ice blue lies, so much like his own. Ah, but hers could be tinted with fire, with burning passion, with blazing rage...The bluest of flames would dance, but within his, it was only the starscapes that were seen.

As his eyes moved slowly over her face, Drake nodded only once to her words, the desire effect achieved, even if by unorthodox means. With a wave of his hands, the bindings of magic and time that he had placed her in disappeared. Standing to his feet, he offered her his hand and it was only then that a subtle smile came to his face. It was neither prideful nor condescending, but merely reassuring. He would save her from the phantom clutches that Dorian Cael had injected into her mind...

"I take that as a promise," he whispered, his fingertips closing around her hand as he sought to help her from the tub. Drake knew that he had passed a threshold, stepped over bounds that had long since been severed, but now...now...He sighed to think of it, his eyes lifting to study her once more. She was beautiful, a fact he had always known, but now, so close to him, within his reach, Drake could have sworn that there was not a more beautiful woman in the world...

And perhaps he would be right...

Melisande could not remember the last time that she had truly trusted another being with anything that was hers. Her heart, her soul, her thoughts, her emotions. . .They had all been held back and locked within her mind, only laid bare in the slightest of manners to one person, a Water Elemental that Melisande dared to hold close to her heart. She knew what the other woman would say if she knew the shroud of darkness that had been laid to rest around Melisande's mind in Dorian's presence. Truly Mel had not understood how detrimental it was to dance repeatedly with the devil. . .until the steps that you took within the dance never wanted to end and the only way out was to collapse from exhaustion and crawl into a cold embrace waiting. . .There was nothing cold about the hand that her fingers touched. Would she, could she even dare to consider trusting the promise within Drake's frosted eyes?

For a moment hesitation took her and while she knew that she would not bring harm to him or his home (not that she truly could but the thought was what mattered) she did not know whether or not she should risk all that she was. The passion of flame, the burning fury of flames that could never be surrendered. . .was it not in fire's very nature to never be still or stay in one place for long? Was it possible, she wondered, for flame to be captured and truly contained? Even in the smallest most emotional sense of the word. . .contained. . .a candle would burn forever behind glass walls. Until chance came along to tumble that glass to the ground and then, suddenly, everything was ablaze. . .the tiny dancing flame in captivity would burst forth and free, destroying everything within its rampant path. Was it truly possible, then, for wild flame to be tamed? She did not think it was. For one night, however, perhaps.

Her hand finally slipped into his own and she allowed him to help her from the chilled porcelain. Once on her feet in front of him she was forced to tilt her head back slightly to look into his eyes and her willowly pale hand finally lifted and brushed back the errant locks of flaxen hair from his eyes as she had wanted to do several times since she had been in his company. The movement was slow, sure, her eyes still locked against his own as though they might have been stilled by time itself. His promise. . .her promise. Two very different things but it was. . .sweet and entirely different that he wanted to save her. She did not think she could recall a time when she had ever needed rescuing of any sort. . .

"Although if what I'm about to do lights any sort of fire. . .I am not to be held entirely responsible," she told him and a slight smirk ghosted across her features, a sizzle of blue fire lighting in her eyes before she put one hand to the back of his neck, fingers of heat trailing into his skin far more than the average temperature but hardly enough to cause any sort of pain. She leaned up on tip-toe, her body forced to move against his own as she pressed her lips back to his with more passion than his own kiss to her had held, the uncertainty sliding from her with each passing second until her free hand came to rest against his chest.

From the moment he had laid eyes upon her all those centuries ago, when her mortal form had come to pass, she had surprised and vexed him. A slight smile curved his lips, even now, as her heated touch fell to his skin. Ah, she could never harm him for long, and killing him was beyond her power, and yet, there was a
dangerousness in her eyes that made this all the more purposeful... Cael would darken that spark, extinguish the flame with her eyes...but a Dreamwalker?

Supressing a chuckle, he knew that he had the power to ignite the embers, stir the flame..."Just try not to do too much damage, alright?" he said, knowing all the while that he wouldn't give a damned if they burned the whole place down...But then, that would require some fitting explanation. His eyes met hers, blue against blue as he stared down at her, turning toward her touch, finding that he ached for it almost as much as she desired it. Lips still curved into a knowing smile, he closed his eyes briefly at her touch, having denied another so near to him for far too long...

The last had been Raelin, and years had passed since then. Even now, as the feather of her touch fell to him, he could not help but see the investigator in all her glory, raven hair spilling down her shoulders, a smirk so like Melisande's dancing in her eyes. Closing his eyes tightly for a moment, Drake pushed the thoughts away, his hand coming to rest on her waist, drawing her body in closer to his before sliding up the center of her back.

Lips against his, a sigh escaped him as green eyes and raven hair was replaced by icy blue orbs and a fury of red tresses. Opening his eyes once more, Drake knew that this was no more about him than the big bang had been about creation...This was to save her, and while in the end, perhaps it was an arrogant way of doing so, he would make her forget....Dorian Cael would pass from her mind, and it would be the name of Morpheus that would tumble from her lips...That much he could ensure.

Strong arms embracing her, he pulled her ever tighter against him, feeling the heat as it emanated from her. Lips crashing against her own, his mouth slanting over hers, he closed his eyes this time in pure submission to seduction, his fingers digging into the fabric of her shirt as his hair fell over his eyes...