The Most Important Rule

ONE WEEK LATER

The phone rang.

I jumped off my seat from the kitchen table and skipped over to the phone, a wide smile plastered on my face the entire time. I was in a very good mood; Foster had brought me home ice cream today. I love ice cream.

"Hello?" I answered cheerily.

"Ch-Chaysie?" Thez asked hesitantly.

"Yep. Who else would it be?"

"That's what I was wondering. You never sound this happy," he replied.

"Blame it on the cookies 'n' cream," I responded, licking the spoon. "Any reason why you’re calling?"

"Just checking up on how everything's going."

"Oh, everything's great. The boys are getting along fantastically!" I chirruped.

"Get the hell off of my couch!" I heard Rustan yell from the other room.

"Shut up before I shove my foot down your throat," came Foster's rough reply.

Thez heard this over the phone and let out an exasperated sigh. "I hope they're sleeping in separate rooms. For their own sake."

"Well, I tried making them room together at first," I said, "hoping that Foster would murder Rustan in his sleep. But then Rustan tried to eat Foster for dinner so it didn't go as well as planned. And then Foster offered to share rooms with me, but Rustan threw a little temper tantrum about it, so Foster's now living in the third bedroom we set up."

I could imagine Thez rolling his eyes. "As long as none of you have died yet, I'll just assume you're doing okay. I'll keep you updated if you three need to go on another hunting mission anytime soon."

"All right," I agreed, and hung up the phone.

I returned to the kitchen to finish my gallon of ice cream. From the other room, Rustan and Foster continued to fight.

-_-_-_-

Foster hated Rustan. And he was sure the feelings were mutual.

He hated how Rustan acted like he owned the place. Just because he was a vampire Rustan thought he was better, stronger, and smarter than Foster or Chase. In all honesty, Rustan was none of those. He may have been physically stronger than humans, but Foster was pretty sure Chase could easily kick Rustan's ass.

Speaking of Chase... She was cute, he had to admit.

That's why he had bought her ice cream this morning. Chase loved ice cream, and Foster knew she wasn't exactly the flower-type kind of girl, so he knew that a gallon of cookies and cream would be the next best thing.

Suddenly, Rustan growled from the corner. "Why don't you stop thinking about my partner before I kick your sorry human ass," he said darkly.

Foster was unfazed. "For someone you supposedly hate so much, you seem to be quite protective," he commented, keeping the casual tone in his voice.

Rustan scoffed but had nothing to say for a comeback.

Foster was a little disturbed by the fact that Rustan could hear his thoughts. Werewolves couldn't read minds, so Foster was never trained to put up mental barriers. With a little help from Chase, however, he had learned some of the basics; but whenever Foster's mind started wandering, the mental barrier faded.

Weary from having his mind under Rustan's surveillance, Foster stood up. "I'm going out," he announced, but Rustan, not caring whatsoever, didn't reply.

He stepped out onto the balcony, glad to finally be alone. He breathed deeply, enjoying the fruity scent of the early night air. But his alone time was short lived; he heard the door behind him open and someone else walked out onto the balcony.

-_-_-_-

I walked onto the balcony in need of a moment of relaxation, and I was surprised to see Foster was here.

"Listen, vampire scum," he said without turning around, "if I have to listen to one more word of your pathetic complaining, I swear I'll murd - "

"It's me," I cut in.

Foster spun around, a look of surprise clear on his face.
"Oh," he said shortly, his tone having completely changed. "Sorry about that. I thought you were - "

"Rustan?" I interrupted again, walking up next to him and leaning forward on the railing. "Yeah, I don't blame you for being everything but nice to him. I hate him, too."

Foster smiled, feeling that the awkwardness was gone, and leaned on the railing as well. Standing side by side, we looked out at the New York skyline as the dusk colors of violet and indigo crept across the sky.

I let out a sigh. "It's so quiet," I commented.

"Hm," Foster agreed. "It's nice, isn't it?"

"No," I replied and Foster glanced at me sideways. "It's too empty. I'd rather have it loud and bustling with people."

"Oh," Foster said, nodding. "Like how it used to be."

I smiled. "Do you remember what it was like before...well, before all of this?"

Foster's eyes glazed over as he recalled some unknown memory. "Yeah," he said softly. "New York City used to be one of the biggest in the U.S. God, it's hard to believe I was only twelve years old back then. The city used to be huge."

"It still is," I said solemnly. "But now it's...dead."

There was a silence. The air was heavy with somberness.

"What do you..." Foster began, but he stopped. It was another minute before he spoke again. "Do you think we have a chance?" he asked. "I mean us humans. Do you think D.a.r.c.'s going to be able to exterminate all of the vampires and werewolves?"

I laughed bitterly. "Wouldn't that be nice? Having Earth back as it was ten years ago."

"What's so bad about that?" Foster asked. "You'll be able to see New York the way you like it. With people."

I shook my head. "Don't kid yourself."

"You don't think we can do it?" he said, frowning. "It is up to us, you know. We're the best hunters there are. We can - "

"Be realistic, Foster!" I said, the volume of my voice slightly rising. "There are so many of them, and they're hard enough to kill as it is. How can the three of possibly destroy them all?"

-_-_-_-

Foster looked down at her, at first angrily because she was being so pessimistic, but then in disappointment. She didn't have faith in Foster or his strength. Nor did she have any faith in Rustan. But, worst of all, she didn't believe in herself.

It may have sounded corny, but it was true. They could never win if she didn't put her spirit into it. And hell, she was one fiery spirit; if she used all of it, Foster was sure she could wipe out all of the immortals on the planet. Foster couldn't understand how she could put in any effort if she truly believed everyone was doomed.

Chase was a girl with ambition and brains. She knew exactly what she wanted and how to get it. Everything was straightforward for her, there were no distractions, and she liked it that way. She reasoned with logic; clear, cold, brutal logic. The truth hurts sometimes, but she was willing to accept it.

"The best we can do," Chase continued after a moment, "is to buy us time. Humankind is eventually going to go extinct; there's no preventing it, so the least we can do it prolong it. And once the humans are gone, the vampires will have nothing to feed on and the werewolves will have no one to turn. Then they'll die out, too. And then nothing will be left on earth. Basically, we're all just screwed."

-_-_-_-

"...Do you believe in heaven, Chase?" Foster said completely out of the blue.

"N-No," I replied honestly, caught off guard from his question.

"I do," he replied simply. "My parents raised me as a Christian. I hated going to church as a kid, no doubt about that, but now that I'm older I kind of get what all those priests were talking about."

I had no idea why Foster was telling me this or how it was relevant, but I knew better than to interrupt.

"I think," he continued, "that when good people die, they will go to heaven and become angels. That's why I became an Agent; I wanted to do something good for the world."

"Sorry to break it to you, but there is no such thing as an angel," I said quietly. "I know that for a fact."

He looked down at me. "How?"

"You don't see any of them running around New York, do you?" I replied. "There are plenty of werewolves and vampires, but I have yet to see an angel. And if there really was a God, He'd at least try to help us out a bit, don't you think? Isn't He supposed to be the all-loving, supremely powerful Father?"

Foster didn't mind that I was practically mocking his beliefs. He seemed to understand that my brain functioned by using reason and solid facts; and unfortunately, God did not fit into any of the equations. It was all too unrealistic.

"There is no such thing as an angel," I muttered again, quieter this time. The fire inside had died down a bit.

"Yes there is," Foster said, his normally husky voice now soft. "I'm looking at one right now."

I stopped breathing.

Usually lines as cheesy as that don't get to me. But Foster caught me completely off guard, and I didn't know what I should be thinking right now. And so my mind went completely blank and I couldn't think of anything to say or how to respond.

I didn't even see him lean in. I didn't notice him realize that he was putting himself out on a limb from what he was about to do. Nor did I see the look on his face as he knew would be incredibly stupid, and yet he couldn't help himself.

I did not see this coming at all. Before I knew it, Foster was kissing me.

His placed his lips tenderly against mine, like he was just testing it out. As if he was seeing how I would react. He pulled back only a moment after, probably expecting me to yell at him or slap him.

But I was still on autopilot. Foster realized that I wasn't going to do anything, and so he leaned in again. This time he was more passionate, more demanding with the kiss, and he placed his hand behind my head.

Foster was kissing me.

Foster was kissing me.

And then I finally realized what was going on.

"No," I mumbled, but his lips were still against mine and my word was incoherent. He must have mistook my sound as a moan, because he deepened the kiss even further.

"No," I said more sternly, putting a hand on his chest and pulling away. He gave me a look of confusion. He didn't say anything, but he didn't need to; his eyes said enough.

"Sorry, Foster. I just...I can't," I said softly. "We're partners. Just partners.”
I could feel my cheeks burning up, which was weird, because it seemed like Foster should be the one blushing right now.

He was quick to take the hint. He turned away from me, careful to hide any emotion he may have been feeling. "All right," he said curtly. "I understand. It's better not to get things complicated, anyway. Especially not with Rustan around."

I blinked. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"...Nothing," he muttered. "I guess it's better if we just work together."

I sighed in relief, because he understood how I felt; but also in disappointment, because...well, I don't know. This was a problem. I didn't know what to think; I definitely did not like that.

"I'm going to go for a walk," he announced shortly, and turned to go.

He shouldn't go, my mind screamed at me. It was the beginning of the night, and there would be plenty of vampires and werewolves out and about. He might get hurt, especially if he's alone. I should say something. Warn him. Stop him.

But I didn't.

I couldn't bring myself to say anything. I just let him go.

Foster reentered the apartment, disappearing from sight. I stood outside for a few extra minutes and then, deciding that he would be long gone by now so I wouldn't have to face him again, I went inside.

Just as I had expected, Foster had left. I was relieved.

No longer than two minutes later, the phone rang.

"Hello?" I said, picking up.

"Chase?" Thez asked.

"The one and only."

"Hm, I'm guessing your ice cream ran out. You don't sound as cheery as before," Thez replied. In all honesty, he probably liked it better like that; he was used to the angry, violent Chase, not the happy-go-lucky one. It was rare for me to be so joyful. "Anyway, I'm calling about your new mission," Thez continued. "There's a gang of werewolves terrorizing New York, and there are at least ten other vampires running about. You need to take care of that."

"I'll get right on it," I replied. I was in business-mode now: down-to-earth and serious. All thoughts of the kiss left my mind, and nothing was going to get in my way.

"But that's a large number of immortals running around," I said thoughtfully. "So much activity is kind of rare."

"Have you checked the calendar recently?" Thez asked. "It's a full moon, Chase."

Rule #15: Werewolves always change into their wolf forms during a full moon. Even if they do not wish to, they cannot help it.

Werewolves can only turn humans if they were in their wolf forms - and ALL werewolves were changed right now. Right now it is very easy for them to make some new pack members.

My blood froze.

Foster was out there. Alone. And, judging by how fast he left, he didn't have too many weapons on him.

I abruptly hung up the phone, not even saying goodbye.

"RUSTAN!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. Immediately he appeared into the room.

I turned to him, a grave look on my face. "We have a problem."

For the first time ever, I put down my mental barrier, allowing Rustan to read my mind and figure out what was going on. As soon as he read my thoughts about the full moon and the fact that Foster was gone, his face paled.

"I believe we have a bit of a pest infestation," he said, trying to keep his voice cool, but I could tell that he was panicked. As much as he hated Foster, it would be very bad if he got turned. "And I think we have to do a rescue mission while we're at it."

"This is not good," I whispered. "This is absolutely not good.”

"Come on, we don't have much time," Rustan said hurriedly, and he made his way over to the weaponry closet. He began rummaging through the weapons, picking out silver especially since that was one of the werewolves' weaknesses.

"Rustan?" I said, my voice cracking.

"What, Chase," he replied, still occupied with getting ready.

"Do you think he's going to make it?"

Rustan turned around to look at me. He had a very serious look on his face.

"No," he said. "I don't think he will."