Not only Lucas and his team, but even Coulson and Barton, who were waiting outside on standby, were completely dumbfounded.
What the hell was going on? Since when were the cops this efficient? They'd barely fired a few shots, and the police had already arrived. This was Hell's Kitchen, for crying out loud!
Coulson quickly strode toward the squad cars, flashing his S.H.I.E.L.D. credentials.
> "I'm Agent Coulson, S.H.I.E.L.D. Who's in charge here?"
After a brief exchange, the officers backed off and left. Their trip had basically been for nothing. After all, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s authority far exceeded that of any local police departnt—they had jurisdiction over the entire United States, and their orders trumped the cops' every ti.
From the squad leader, Coulson managed to extract a few details. The reason they'd shown up so quickly was that soone had called it in—and that soone wasn't just any civilian. Whoever it was clearly had so pull, otherwise the NYPD wouldn't have mobilized this fast, especially in a place known as a criminal paradise.
Coulson imdiately suspected a leak, but he didn't know where it ca from. So he picked up his phone and called Nick Fury.
> "Director, the intel's been compromised. I don't know how the police got word, but I've already sent them away."
"Motherf—!" Fury's trademark curse burst out before he continued,
> "I got it. Pull the team out. Let the idiots in blue deal with it."
Coulson sighed as he ended the call. Great—another all-nighter wasted, and the mission was now scrubbed.
> "You heard the Director," he told his team. "Pack it up. We're heading back."
The others nodded reluctantly and withdrew.
---
anwhile, Lucas and his group followed Blade out of the nightclub and arrived at a warehouse—one of Blade's safehouses.
> "This place is secure," Blade said, dropping onto a worn-out couch. "We need to exchange information."
It looked like the warehouse had once been a small talworking factory—rusted machinery and tools lay scattered everywhere.
After brief introductions, they recounted the events leading up to their encounter.
> "So you got this intel from that vampire? Where is he now?" Blade asked.
> "Didn't make it," Frank replied grimly. The vampire had died under his interrogation.
Blade nodded, then explained what he knew.
He'd been tracking down a vampire leader nad Deacon Frost. His current lead had been a vampire nad Quinn, Frost's right-hand man. Blade had followed Quinn to that nightclub, certain that he'd eventually lead him straight to Frost.
But now that Quinn was gone, the trail had gone cold again.
Blade clenched his jaw. After chasing Frost for so long, he finally had a lead—and it slipped right through his fingers.
> "Not necessarily," Lucas interjected.
Everyone turned to him.
Lucas knew the story wasn't over yet. Quinn didn't die. In the original tiline, the burnt vampire had revived in the hospital morgue, killing a coroner and attacking a female doctor.
> "Quinn isn't dead," Lucas said calmly. "He's at a hospital right now. We should move before it's too late."
Blade imdiately stood, ready to go, then paused. He didn't know which hospital.
He exhaled sharply in frustration.
Lucas noticed the look on his face and smirked. "Relax. We've got Skye. This is child's play for her."
> "I'll need a computer," Lucas said.
Blade's eyes lit up with hope. He dragged out a rugged military-grade laptop from the corner—one of those bulky green-cased field computers.
> "Skye, it's all yours. Find out where they took Quinn."
> "On it."
Skye's fingers flew across the keyboard. She first breached the NYPD's internal network, then cross-referenced ergency dispatch logs and automatic backups. Within minutes, she pinpointed the hospital.
> "Got it. Hell's Kitchen General Hospital," she said. "It's the only facility in the area equipped with a forensic pathology unit."
It had taken her less than ten minutes. Even Blade looked genuinely impressed—her hacking skills left his old ntor in the dust.
The group moved fast, reaching the hospital soon after. Using his heightened vampiric senses, Blade easily located the morgue where Quinn had been stored.
Just as they reached the door, a shadow burst out. The figure was charred black, skin cracked and burned—Quinn.
Without hesitation, Blade whipped out a silver throwing knife. It flashed through the air and severed Quinn's hand before the vampire smashed through the window and hurled himself into the night.
They were on the eleventh floor. Even Blade couldn't make a fall like that unscathed—not yet. His bloodline hadn't fully awakened; he was still far from being able to face Dracula himself.
> "Damn it!"
Blade slamd his fist into the window fra, shattering it.
> "Over here! Soone's hurt!"
A shout ca from inside. Blade turned and hurried back into the morgue.
The coroner was already dead—half his neck torn clean off, pale as paper. A female doctor was slumped nearby, clutching her bleeding throat, gasping for breath.
Blade knelt to check her pulse. She was alive—but bitten. That ant infection. It was only a matter of ti before she turned.
Frank drew his gun. "Better end it now before she changes."
Blade stopped him with a sharp look.
> "Don't. She's still human. I can help her."
The cold, ruthless hunter suddenly sounded… gentle.
In the doctor's face, Blade saw his mother—the mother he'd never known.
His mother had been bitten while pregnant. She'd died giving birth to him, leaving him cursed and blessed as the only half-human, half-vampire hybrid.
After that, the group split up. Blade took the woman back to his safehouse, while Lucas and the others went their separate ways—but not before exchanging contact information. Their goals were aligned: destroying vampires.
Back at the agency, Lucas and Skye crashed for the night. It was nearly dawn.
The following day passed without incident—until evening, when Lucas's phone rang.
It was Matt.
> "Blade called," Matt said. "He found sothing—there's a blood-processing plant here in Hell's Kitchen. He's planning to hit it tonight and wants our help."
Within the hour, they were all gathered once again at Blade's warehouse, ready for the next hunt.
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