1. Chapter 1 (1/1)
spoilers for the big spoiler
just my little angsty thinky fic. i wanted to give him some time. i doubt he'll get it in the show, so...
disclaimer: this show is not mine. maybe one day.
bertrand thought that, since this would probably be the last chance he got, he might as well use his time in chains to reflect on recent events.
if it had been vlad who'd come for him, rather than ingrid, he had no doubt he'd already be dust. she'd told him she believed him and he, desperate fool, had just stood there as she went in for a hug. a hug that had ended in the soft clink of fangcuffs and a hiss of "traitor".
if erin had witnessed 'his' treachery with malik, no doubt ingrid had been there too; it was as if the elder dracula had her
other's first half-fang in some kind of thrall. he'd hoped to work out what hold she had over her, once ryan's killer - the shapeshifter, he was sure of it - had been dealt with. now it seemed he was out of time.
ingrid, then, had been with malik as he prepared for the duel. she had taken his side against her younger
other's. it seemed that everyone at garside was engaged in a constant game of alliances and factions - the count and ramanga, ramanga and ingrid, ingrid and malik, malik and the count, too many to list them all - always fluid, always changing, but always someone was there to back their fellow conspirators up.
bertrand, it seemed, had left himself uniquely vulnerable by remaining loyal to vlad, and only to vlad. the boy didn't believe him about the shapeshifter and malik, who after all had seen the sensor evidence, had shown no inclination towards corroborating his story. he'd known, when vlad had told him to get out, that he should have left the school, but he couldn't leave the chosen one in danger. he'd seen, even then, the way that he'd been set up, how easy it would be for vlad to put two and two together and have him executed, but he'd stayed. are you willing to die? his mind had been racing, calculating risks and rewards… yes. for the slightest chance of keeping him safe.
the door to his room clicked shut behind him and he turned, twisting his arms painfully where his wrists were shackled around a pipe."vlad.""i don't get it," the chosen one began in a casual tone that rang false, "what did you think you'd achieve?""i didn't-" vlad sighed."you're guilty of treason. any last words?" the condemned tutor twisted violently, knocking his journal from the nearby desk in the process, so that he could look his fate right in the eyes. there were worse options for the last sight he'd ever see, after all, options that didn't fill his stomach with the fluttering of a thousand bats. most importantly, he hoped that if he just kept his eyes locked onto vlad's, the boy might see the sincerity there.
"vlad... i wish i could stay at your side, protect you. slay me if that's what you want, but please don't let your guard down. there is a shapeshifter at garside, you're in danger. don't just dismiss that threat. and... i-" but vlad flicked his wrist out, bored, and the love never left bertrand's lips as he crumbled to dust, falling to pile up on top of the journal he'd knocked. the morbid necklace he'd made himself dropped on top of the rest, fangcuffs still dangling, empty, from the pipe.vlad left, locking the door behind him. the traitor's room would be left untouched for now; he had other things to attend to. chief among them, winning back erin.