Lucien woke up to the smells of coconut, vanilla, honey and sweet herbs. The sun had only just risen. He could hear birds singing from the branches of the trees outside.
He opened his eyes. He was still on the couch. Holly and Dawn joined him both using one of his pecs as a pillow.
They also both had a hand on his piece. Which he thought was bizzare but everyone reacted differently to good sex.
For example, he needed space.
He got up. They were too tired for his stealthy movements to wake them and headed into the bathroom.
What met his gaze in the mirror was still foreign. Sure he was himself but he was also more. More animalistic. More powerful. More impressive. More.
"I wonder if I'll wake up from this…" He mumbled.
Then, voices in the distance pulled him elsewhere.
—gone the form of man, arise the demon EEETRIGAN!"
Lucien burst out of the bathroom and jumped out the window facing the mainstreet. He landed on the sidewalk in front of the apartment building with his claws and fangs bared.
His ear twitched to his left. He turned and found the end of Etrigan's cape disappear into the alley made between the two apartments down the block.
He would've followed after his hellish guardian, but something else kept him in place.
The smell of a dead body.
Right at his feet.
He looked down and snarled in shock.
At his feet, the Flash lay dead. The silver trim of his suit told Lucien it was Wally West. The fastest and most gifted with the Speed-Force. Lips dark and skin pale as if he'd been left in the cold vacuum of space for days. To go with the sad sight, his throat was torn out. Though it didn't look like it was torn— the way flesh should. It looked broken off.
"This happened to you after you were frozen. Captain Cold? Maybe…..that doesn't make the most sense considering his MO is simple. Less violent... but there's been one constant since I've been here. I shouldn't have questions. I know who this is. What, this is. Vampires. Vampires that know me…."
Lucien looked up as a camera flashed. He found reporters and paparazzi in the distance as unmarked police cars pulled in, trailed by special ops teams. In seconds the whole street was flooded with guns and accusatory stares.
"Vampires that are trying to frame me." Lucien realized fairly quickly.
"How'd they know where I stay and to distract Jason? Oh fuck. Dawn and Holl—"
Before he could even finish speaking, a blast of blinding light hit the ground in front of him and took away everyone's vision momentarily.
Behind him, figures hit the ground and grabbed hold of him.
"Don't move. We're getting you out of here."
Within seconds, he was cutting through the clouds, flying with Hawk and Dove.
"What the hell happened?!" Hawk questioned.
"I'm being framed for murdering the Flash I thin—"
A bullet whistled through the air and hit his leg.
Hawk and Dove flew higher and spun in arcing zigzags. From Dove's wings, flares fell like snow in an attempt to throw off the vision specs of whoever was sniping from below.
Lucien knew who.
"Deadshot." He snarled.
"How can you be sure?" Hawk asked as she carried him in flight.
Lucien brought his leg up and ripped the bullet out with his claws, showing her how it beeped silently.
"Tracker…. He doesn't miss headshots for no reason."
"Well, civilian. We'll get you somewhere safe and get the full st—"
"Cut the act, Holly. I know who you both are." Lucien said.
"How the—"
"You don't feel it?" Dove asked Holly as she flew beside them in white and blue spandex, "He's got magic in him like us."
"Oh….. well I guess that makes things easier. We know you couldn't have killed... oh god. First Hal… now Wally. Dammit!" Hawk raged.
"We're your alibi, Mr. Lamb. We can go—"
"No." Lucien interrupted, "No cops, no Amanda Waller. Nobody else gets involved. No letter agencies or teams. We can't trust them."
Hawk and Dove led him to a rooftop miles away from the murder sight.
He continued as he landed on his own feet, "I can smell a Vampire from a mile away, but I can't sense how one is manipulating the power structure here. Whoever's behind all this is crafty. They didn't just kill Wally— they set him up after death. They knew his weakness was the cold. With it, they deep froze him and timed the thawing so it would look like I mauled him…. Given my appearance and previous actions."
"So it's the vampires. I thought that would've been handled already…" Hawk said.
"Previous…. actions?" Dove questioned.
"Hal was a Vampire. I put him to rest." Lucien said.
Dove approached him and gave him a hug— which was a drastic difference from Green-Arrows reaction. "Thank you. That must've been hard."
"I think things only get harder from here. I made enemies with a human-genocidal cult and now they're making me the enemy of what remains of the Justice League and Titans."
"We can vouch for you, Mr. Lamb—"
"Call me Lucien." Lucien explained, "And that only works if they don't break our jaws first. There's probably a Vampire on each team. That's the only way this all works. A voice of unreason on the inside."
"But what would they say? It's not like Batman is against due process or anything? He's the worlds greatest detective for fucks sake." Hawk said.
"He's also pragmatic. He'll make a quick decision on us."
"But based on what?" Dove questioned. "What could the mole tell a Leaguer like Batman that would make him take us out before talking?"
"He could be told that I'm a Werewolf, and just like the Vampires, im trying to take over the world."
"Well." Hawk punched her palm. Her skintight white latex suit was lined by red steel feathers and a domino mask. It did nothing to make her look less imposing— even if she should've looked goofy, "It sounds like we might have to knock some sense into some old friends. I'm ready. Dove? Now isn't the time for pacifism."
"But it is time for reason." She replied, "I'm ready as well. Lucien, what's your plan?"
"Find Jason Blood."