Bulletproof - Invite

Jet stepped out of the floo and into the lobby of St. Mungo's, Karma hanging limply in his arms. He didn't know the horrifying image he made, a boy walking out of the floo covered in blood and soot, his eyes wild and a limp body in his arms. He only had one thing on his mind.

"HELP!" He yelled. She was bleeding still, the red nectar of life dripping onto the floor from her wounds. Red was soaked into her clothing now, and he still couldn't tell where the wounds themselves were.

She still wasn't breathing.

Almost panicking now, he raised his voice louder. "Help her!" He yelled again, shocking the spectators into action. Mediwitches came out of the woodwork, shushing him and levitating Karma away from him. They tried to pull him in a different direction, but the second he lost sight of her, he started swinging and his fist connected with the side of a Mediwitch's face. They all took a step back and aimed their wands at him, but he snarled at them.

"You are not taking my baby sister away from me!"

There were glances around as they came to a decision and lowered their wands, one Mediwitch took his arm and led him to the doorway of a room with a blurred number and sat him down in a rickety wooden chair outside.

"Wait here." She smiled at him kindly, but Jet barely noticed her looks. "Are you injured, sir?"

"No." He snarled. She took a step back quickly, and he belatedly noticed that he was covered in blood.

Karma's blood.

With a groan, he hung his head, his heartbeat finally slowing. He took a deep breath...

and erupted into coughs, his entire body heaving.

"Sir...?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine." He waved her away and looked up at her. "Help her."

There was a steady stream of doctors in and out of the room, and his nurse finally left him alone. Jet hung his head, sending up a prayer.

Let her live...

To human eyes, it might have appeared that the man had simply appeared in the hospital lobby, just within the doors - if anyone was even paying attention. That had simply been where he'd stopped running, however, after arriving in front of the building.

Karma had summoned him. He'd had to abandon a rather important meeting to answer, going first to where the call had been initiated: Number Twelve Grimmauld Place. The Most Noble House of Black had been in smoldering ruins, flames reducing its framework to ash. Ethon had search the dwelling, of course, rummaging frantically through burning debris.

Turning up nothing, he had then tracked the ring. To St. Mungo's. To a bloody human hospital.

He started across the lobby, garnering the attention of more watchful hospital staff. "Sir, are you alright?" asked a man - a mediwizard.

"I'm fine," Ethon responded, tone brooking no argument.

The man didn't look fine. Burns covered his hands and forearms, another on his neck from falling debris, holes were singed into his clothing and soot was smeared across his flesh and attire, both.

"But, sir, isn't there anythi-"

Ethon halted his forward momentum to whirl towards the man, normally light-colored eyes dark. The mediwizard shrank back a step.

"I'm looking for a girl," he said. "She'd have been in a fire, and injured - bleeding. She wouldn't have been here long." Ethon stared at the man, clearly expecting a response.

Karma screamed.

Jet jolted to his feet as he heard it, his earbuds bursting. "Karma...?" He asked, turning toward the door. He was immediately pushed out of it and the door was slammed in his face, but not before he caught a glance of the chaos inside the room.

Karma was thrashing, the doctors strapping her down with magic as they forcefully pulled the bullets out, using both their wands and when that didn't work, muggle tweezers. Her blood had soaked the white hospital sheets already, and some of it was dripping to the floor. He didn't know there was so much blood in a person.

"Karma!" Jet yelled.

"Sir, you must sit back down. I assure you we won't let her go through any unnecessary pain.."

"SHE'S BLOODY SCREAMING!"

The hospital was suddenly drenched in silence, and Jet didn't know whether Karma had stopped screaming, or if the Mediwizards had just used a silencio on her, but it didn't make him feel any better.

"Let. Me. See. Her." He growled.

"I can not allow that, sir. The hospital regulations..."

"SCREW THE BLOODY REGULATIONS!" Jet pushed the woman to the side, his eyes furious.

"If you want her to live she has to stay."

Jet froze, blinking rapidly, his eyes shadowing over.

He wanted her to live. He wanted her to live more than he wanted himself to live.

A muscle along Ethon's jaw twitched in warning: the man was trying his patience with his lack of response.

Granted, not even a minute had passed.

The mediwizard was shoved aside so quickly that he hardly realized he had been moved at all until he took a few stumbling steps. Ethon was already striding away, heading towards the scream he was certain belonged to Karma. He could smell her, in any case. He knew she was in that direction.

Teeth grinding together, he stood back as the mediwitch argued with the boy - a boy who happened to be nearly drenched in the girl's blood. Ethon folded his arms across his chest. The woman closed the door, again.

"Thought it was a good idea to bring her here, did you?" Ethon questioned, tone clearly stating precisely what he thought of the idea.

Jet looked up at the man before him, his jaw setting.

"Who the hell are you?" He demanded. "Where else was I supposed to take her?! I can't be running around trying to find her loser boyfriend, and I couldn't let her burn! Do you know what it's like to find the only family you have left almost dead?! Do you understand anything at all?! WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!" Jet was going nuts, his words tumbling out of his mouth faster than he could keep them in.

"And if you're so important, why the hell didn't you go save her yourself?!" He demanded. His stance turned defensive. "What are you doing here?"

The snarl that parted Ethon's lips could never have been mistaken as human. Neither could the speed with which he grabbed the boy and slammed him into the wall, easily pinning him nearly a foot off the floor. He glared at the boy, his eyes having turned solid black. His burns were slowly healing themselves; very slowly, but at such close proximity, it would've been noticed, were the boy observant enough to do so.

"Mind your tone, boy," Ethon growled, voice low so that only the boy could hear him. "I never said you ought to have let her burn, and if you must know, I missed you by less than a minute.

"What I wish to know is how the hell you thought it a good idea to bring an injured vampire to a hospital! Have you no sense?"

He abruptly dropped the boy, moving away again to pace agitatedly. This was why half-bloods were a bad idea. Those surrounding them were clueless. And in the rare instance that they became seriously injured...

"What the hell happened, anyway? The Black residence has been under Fidelius for the better part of a century."

Jet growled as he was held up off the ground, his trainers hanging. Another Vampire. Fantastic.

"I've known Karma her whole life." He gritted through his teeth. "And I know she should have healed, but wasn't, and I know her heartbeat should have been strong.

"Whatever she is right now, its not a Vampire."

He scoffed. "The Fidelus went away when Potter did the Skeeter interveiw, which turned into a book, which everyone has read. Grimmald's charm has been gone our whole lives. Don't you know anyth-"

He paused as a Mediwizard came out of Karma's room, sliding sideways out of the door so they could catch no glimpse of her. "Master Zambini I..."

"Is Karma alright?" He demanded.

"We have removed the bullets, we're worried about the amount of blood she's lost...."

<Moron should've been drowned at birth,> was Ethon's sole response, in a language no longer spoken by those mortal. In truth, Ethon had nothing against the late, famous Potter. The man and his friends had been brave youth, if over-reliant on dumb luck. He just happened to find the breaking of a century-old Fidelius charm the height of stupidity.

The boy should just feel lucky he wasn't speaking to his brother instead of Ethon. Aurmerle would've injured him for that slight to his intelligence.

"Then, give her more," Ethon gritted impatiently. His eyes had returned to normal and his burns were a bit more healed. "Muggles have been capable of doing so for decades. Surely, it is not beyond your ken.

"I'm family," he stated at the mediwizard's inquiring look. Though, he didn't seem to have put any special emphasis on the words, it was clear that the man believed him, without question.

"You're bur-"

"I'm fine. I need to see the girl. Now."

Jet tensed as the mediwizard went on a tyrade about how anyone seeing 'the Patient' would be hazardous. An odd sensation had stolen across his chest, causing his heartbeat to skyrocket.

He bent over and coughed, his shoulders and chest heaving. He waved away the Mediwizard and growled at him. "What the hell are you out here for, if you need to help her?" He demanded. "Go!"

He'd been too busy coughing to hear Ethon's statement. It was lucky he'd missed it, because he wouldn't put up with being lied to.

"The blood should be here within the hour." The mediwizard continued, ignoring Jet completely and focusing on Ethon. "We don't keep this much on hand..."

A panther? Why was he always summoned by the frigging panther. He sighed and followed none the less. Easily keeping up with her pace as she led him to St Mungos. As soon as he entered the place his face screwed up in disgust. The last time he'd been here he'd been dead, thanks to his step father so he really wasn't in the mood to be stopped.

"Im looking for a girl. Shes erm, short, dark hair..." He said before he heard Jets voice. He literally threw the man who was about to help him into the wall and made a beeline for the boy. "Where is she?" He said his red eyes burning into Jets, waiting for his answer.

"Excuse me sir, we need you to..." Said one of the security men.

"Need to what?" He asked rounding on him. "Don't tell me to calm down cause this whole place will go up in flames before you can even finish your sentence." He said opening his fist to show a bright white fire ball.

Karma took a deep breath through her nose, breathing for the first time in what seemed like forever. Her throat was extremely dry, and she felt as if she was drained of energy.

There were frantic words being passed around her, but she couldn't understand them. She inhaled again, and smelled it.

Blood.

Her eyes snapped open, an inhuman whine released from her throat as she tried and failed to be able to sit up, the magical bounds holding.

They wouldn't last long.

Strangers pressed close to her, and somewhere something snapped.

She was surrounded. She pulled again at the bounds, struggling, panicking.

They were saying something in soothing low tones. She turned her eyes on them and they leaned closer, curious. They'd never seen someone with completely black eyes before.

Mistake.

Karma leapt forward, tackling the closest one and sinking her teeth into the jugular. With an easy tug the man's neck was ripped out, and more blood thankfully gushed into her mouth. It was delicious, and she almost swooned with the taste of it.

Someone behind her screamed.

Head snapping up, Karma realized that there were more of them, more of the blood-bags, and pounced on the screaming one, her sounds feral. She ripped first this time, noting that the nectar came much quicker then. They were all screaming now. She was done with this one in half the time, but she needed more. More.

More.

They were stampeding toward the exit now, struggling with it when they realized it was locked. She pounced on one of the ones lagging behind, tearing at the back of his throat and engulfing as much blood as she could before moving to the next one. This continued at a rapid pace until she was almost out of them.

The last few were still struggling with unlocking the escape route, and she moved toward them, her gait predatory and easy.

The door opened.

Her prey vanished out of the room, pushing and shoving each other, still yelling. It was hurting her ears.

She moved to the doorway, her pitch black eyes taking in the three men outside. They focused on one in particular. The one with her favorite eyes.

Karma smiled, the blood covering her entire face from nose to chin, transforming the smile into a terrifying red mask.

Then the world went dark, and she was falling once more.

Ethon noted the arrival of Djinnson - he recognized the boy, of course, as part of the exchange of information he received as the demon's vessel. His gaze snapped, almost knowingly to the door, but he remained unmoved until it was opened and terrified medical personnel fled the room. He was unsurprised by the overwhelming scent of blood that hit him. Had he not been so very old, it would have driven him into a frenzy of his own.

Instead, he darted into the room, catching the girl and lowering her gently to the floor. "Ah, milady," he murmured quietly. He moved away again, having no desire to rile the half-demon. The man cast a look at the other boy, and he didn't need to say anything at all. His gaze said everything: 'Told you so.'

He let out an involuntary growl as the man beat him to Karma. He knew him, he recognised his scent. It was on her the time he found her in another mans shirt. "Don't you touch her!" He spat moving over to take Karma into his arms.

His annoyance at her for stupidly killing people in broad daylight practically gone the moment Ethon got in his way. "I may not know exactly who you are but i know what you've been doing behind my back and it stops now! You hear me? Come near Karma again and ill kill you both!" He said his fangs now on show and his eyes a bright glowing red. If someone called him the son of satan now he wouldn't blame them.

"And you!" He said turning to Jet. "Allow her to get hurt whilst in your care again and ill tear you to shred before you can even think about appologising." He said turning away from them both to leave the hospital. He needed to get Karma someplace safe.

Jet had to suppress a groan at the sudden, yet inevitable arrival of Karma's psychopath boyfriend. Didn't his sister know any friggen humans?!

He froze and looked at the door, his eyes wide as Karma emerged.

Well that was...

He tried to suppress the look of guilt on his face when the man looked at him that way, but... but...

He was momentarily distracted by Karma nuzzling closer to Arsen. As if she recognized him, even though she was obviously unconscious. The movement brought something back to his demeanor. It was an obvious sign of life.

Then, Arsen himself took his focus, reminding Jet just how much he hated the boy before him.

"Allow?" Jet demanded. "Allow her to get hurt?! WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU THEN?!" Jet snarled. "I got her OUT of her BURNING HOUSE! ME! A HUMAN! I'm the reason she's still bloody BREATHING! I got there before BOTH OF YOU, and I've been taking care of her for longer than BOTH of you, so you can shove your threats right up your ARSE!" He scoffed. "And I bet taking away another person she's close to will win you a place in her heart! Did you see her when she thought that you'd leave her?! and she still has nightmares about bloody Col-" He cut himself off, knowing that spilling Karma's secrets in current company may not be the best idea. Especially if Karma decided to make a surprise reawakening. "The reality of it is I. Saved. My. Baby. Sister. On my OWN! And if anything, you BOTH would have been too LATE!" He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself as he glanced down the hallway in the direction the doctors had fled in.

He looked from Ethon to Arsen, and sighed, "I know I'm just the dumb human here, but I really think we should get her out of here before, I dunno, they call Aurors or whatever in? Sis seems in no condition to be able to talk herself out of Azkaban again...." He shrugged, looking back down the hallway. There was commotion coming from that direction. "Just a suggestion from a mere mortal. Don't mind me at all."

He began following Arsen, damned if he'd leave her alone. "Where do you think you're taking her?! Somewhere that's safe?!" He mocked, even though he'd just suggested the half-demon do so. "have anywhere in particular in mind?"

Ethon gazed calmly back at Djinnson. The boy did not intimidate him. Possessing true immortality tended to give a person that sort of confidence.

"What your father had been using me to do behind your back, you mean?" he responded. "I would ask again, Djinnson. The thing about using the Power of Names on a person is that it is very specific. You'll find that it isn't me Karma cannot speak to you about."

The man put his hand on Jet's shoulder, his grip like a vice. "I have yet to threaten you, boy," he intoned darkly. "Furthermore, I did not dismiss your heroism, but rather questioned your sense in bringing her here whilst she was injured. Which proved valid, as now several people have been killed and your 'sister', as you call her, has been outed as vampire-kin. In the end, however, I don't really blame you. You couldn't have known any better.

"I know when I am unwelcome," Ethon said, remaining still as the boys started away with Karma. "I would ask questions, Djinnson. Ask well enough, and you may even receive answers from Djinn himself." He turned, vanishing in a form of apparation that pre-dated the wards preventing that type of travel.

"YES ALLOW! She got hurt in your care so that makes it your fault!" He said lightly shifting Karma in his arms to make her more comfortable. "I was working! I don't have the cushy human life you do! I was born with a purpose that i cannot escape from. So i can't babysit her all day, every day."

"As long as shes safe then i couldn't care less what happens to you. Infact if i didn't have to carry her right now you'd already be dead!" He narrowed his eyes at what he said. She still had nightmares about Cobalt? He'd done everyone a favour by killing him. He was nothing but a traitorous waste of space. He was glad he was dead.

"It's your fault she was in trouble in the first place! If you'd been keeping an eye on her she wouldn't have been in this mess in the first place and you've only gone and made matters worse!" He said nodding towards the countless dead bodies lying in the other room.

"Duh what do you think im doing? Going for a stroll around the hospital until the aurors turn up?" He said rolling his eyes. "Of course i have somewhere in mind human! Im going somewhere neither of you can follow."

He stopped mid step. "My father?" He asked without turning around. He didn't need to he wanted answers then he was out of there. He frowned. What was he talking about? Djinnson? Why did he keep calling him that. He turned his head slightly to look for the man but found he'd already disappeared. Seconds later he himself had gone, running at speeds humans could only dream of as he headed straight for the abandoned, train station he called home.

Jet growled, taking another step in Arsen's direction before he ran off.

He looked back at the man, who had also disappeared.

This is how Jet Zambini came to be alone in a hospital covered in blood that was not his, doubled over coughing, and feeling as if he'd never see his sister again.

And he never did.