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Hans stood still at the end of the bed, just watching them breathe in and out, blissfully unaware.
He'd told David he would go find Theo, but there was one last thing he had to take care of first.
Breaking into their home had been laughably easy for him, Hans had expected the cowboy to have gotten more paranoid after the day he'd just had, but maybe he hadn't. After all, Hans reminded himself, John thought he had died.
Hans didn't blame him, no mortal would have survived that fall. But the McClanes were about to find out he was so much more than human.
"Mrs. McClane." He called for her as he shook her shoulder, choosing to wake her first.
Her initial reaction once she sat up and looked towards him was one of confusion, but not of fear. No, that wouldn't come until a moment later, as she realized she wasn't still dreaming, and the man in front of her wasn't simply a vision in a nightmare.
As she turned towards her husband so did Hans, and he made a show of taking out his gun and cocking it, the sound making an already jumpy Mrs McClane turn around, startled by the sight of the weapon aimed at her still asleep husband.
Hans didn't need his P7M13, should he want to, he would be able to kill John bare handed, one bite to the jugular and it would all be over, but he liked the theatrics.
"I could end your husband's life right now." He started, stating the obvious for emphasis. "I don't have to mention your kids, right? You know it would be easy for me to hurt them too once I've dealt with the two of you."
"Please, they-" She started saying, and he could smell the fear in her. It was sweet and addicting, and it was tempting him to get a taste of her.
"Don't worry, I won't." He assured her. "Just as long as you promise you're not going to talk to the police about my associate you met in the vault when you get questioned."
Holly remembered him vaguely, the boy with that cunning look in his dark eyes. She had no idea why Gruber would go to such lengths as to break into their home for a simple crew member, but she didn't care. If what he was offering was true, it was a fair deal, simple to accept. 'If you don't hurt my partner I won't hurt yours.'
"You have my word." She promised him, but as she spoke the sound of her distressed voice got a reaction out of her husband, whose face furrowed, close to waking up.
"Please, just leave." She implored, but Hans just smiled cruelly. "Without saying hello? That would be so rude of me, wouldn't it?"
Without even turning towards it, wanting to enjoy John's reaction to the sudden noise, Hans aimed at the window and shot it, the sound of shattering glass waking the cop and hopefully bringing back some memories, some well deserved trauma.
"Hello, John." Hans just said, a smile on his face as he moved to aim his weapon towards him, and this time the gun he was pointing at him was loaded.
He took the time to enjoy the look of shock and terror on John's face, then before the cowboy could react, Hans walked towards the shattered window and simply jumped out.
He knew that just his presence had been enough. Enough for John to live in fear of what Hans might do next for the rest of his days, but more importantly, just showing himself had been enough to let John know he hadn't won.
~
"Are you sure you don't want to pay them a surprise anniversary visit?" Theo asked, the implication clear in his voice.
Hans thought about it for a moment, then shook his head. "No. They've been nice this year, haven't tried to tell the police about you. Their reward will be not receiving a visit from us."
He hadn't wanted to kill John, and in all truth he wasn't sure why. Save Theo, he'd killed his entire crew, men he'd cared about, men he'd considered friends.
He'd grieved every single one of them, and had done his best to make sure to financially support what families they'd left behind. It was the least he could have done.
Everything in him told him he should want revenge, and it should be painful and slow. Still, he couldn't do it.
Hans had found he respected McClane, maybe he even admired him, and in truth he hated himself for it. But never before had a mortal been able to not only keep up with him, but also outsmart him. How could Hans not be impressed by him?
"It's a shame you're such a sentimentalist." Theo commented. "I love watching you kill."
"You do, don't you?" Hans commented simply, wanting to steer the conversation away from his unusual act of compassion, but if Theo resented him for having spared McClane, he'd never shown signs of that.
"Besides, there's so many people to kill." He continued, willing himself to stop thinking about the past. "You'll still get to watch me."
Theo had never lost the fascination for watching Hans feed, not even when he himself had started drinking blood, after Hans had offered to turn him and Theo had accepted more than happily.
Ever since that first Christmas they'd spent together, Hans had always feared deep inside that he was going to end up having to turn Theo against his will after he'd have gotten fatally wounded during a robbery. He admired the boy's ambition, but he knew it was as dangerous as it was appealing; there was a reason thieves didn't usually die of old age.
Hans had spent a long time picturing the worst case scenarios, but they all shared one big fear, that he wouldn't be able to turn Theo in time.
Not turning Theo eventually had never even been something Hans had considered. There was no way he would ever let go of him, not when he'd felt like he'd found someone who was so similar to him, someone Hans felt such a strong connection to, and he'd promised himself something as trivial and evitable as death wouldn't come between them.
When it finally happened though, it was nowhere as dramatic as what Hans had pictured.
After Hans had revealed his nature to him, Theo had gotten over his anger pretty quickly, as always neither of them was good at staying mad at the other, and Theo had forgiven Hans' lies of omissions, preferring to focus on the fact that his partner was alive and well after Theo had thought him dead.
For a while nothing changed between them, and Hans got more and more comfortable being his true self around Theo, letting him see a part of him he was used to keeping hidden, and it felt good to have someone he could trust that much, someone that saw all parts of him and chose to stay by his side anyway. It reassured Hans in his conviction that he wanted to have Theo in his life for eternity.
When he finally decided to ask him, Hans was nervous. He'd never offered immortality to another before, but he knew Theo was the right pick, there was no one else he could picture spending his immortal life with.
For the occasion Hans had made a reservation for them at a very exclusive restaurant, and even though he didn't need to eat on account of his nature, he'd insisted on ordering something too, if only so that he could share his food with Theo, who refused on principle to order more than he knew he could eat. Hans understood. Despite all the money they had now, they were both set on not wasting it, a legacy of growing up with economic struggles.
Hans had also ordered some expensive wine, but had made sure Theo didn't have too much. He wanted him lucid when he'd ask his question.
Once they were back home Hans wasn't surprised that Theo wanted to show him just how grateful he was for that evening out, but Hans had other plans. So instead of following Theo to the bedroom, he gently took him by the wrist and led him to the living room.
Theo sat down on the couch, and Hans sat close to him, taking Theo's hands in his, and trying to calm his nerves. If Theo refused…
"Theo... I have something to ask you." Before Hans could continue he had already cut him off, a seriousness in his eyes. "Sure I'll marry you." He agreed, a big smile on his face.
"Schatz, that's not-" Hans replied, trying to clear up the misunderstanding, but Theo interrupted him again.
"I know it's not legal but it wouldn't be the greatest crime we committed, would it?" He pointed out.
"I-" Hans wasn't sure how to respond. He thought he was going to be the one to surprise Theo, but the opposite seemed to be happening now. "You really would marry me?" He asked in disbelief.
"Why do you look so surprised?" Theo asked, confused, and Hans looked down.
"I wasn't going to ask that," he confessed, "but tomorrow morning I'm bringing you to the best jeweler in the city to get us matching rings." He promised.
Overwhelmed by the unexpected turn of events, Hans just rested his hands on Theo's neck and pulled him closer into a sweet, deep kiss.
"What were you going to ask?" Theo said as they parted after a moment.
"Something similar." He realized. Theo had already assured him he wanted to spend the rest of his life with him, now Hans was just going to offer to make it last a lot longer. "I want eternity with you." He confessed. "I want you to be like me."
Hans knew it wasn't a decision to be taken lightly. Living like he did meant taking a lot of lives just in order to survive, then there were limitations, never walking in the sun again… He didn't have a choice when he got turned, and he still wondered if he'd have said yes in that case. So he wasn't going to get mad at Theo if he refused, it just meant he'd have to love him a lot more, live every day like it could be their last-
"Yes." Theo just said, interrupting Hans' racing thoughts.
"Yes?" Hans replied in disbelief. It seemed too simple.
Theo laughed at his expression. "What, did you think I was about to refuse? It means spending the rest of time at your side, how could I say no?"
Theo had been a vampire for four months now. The turning hadn't changed him all that much, and Hans was glad. He was still the boy he fell in love with, the only difference being his hunger now included blood.
They'd just drunk their fill for the night, a group of young men that was harassing a homeless beggar in a dark alleyway, and they'd better leave before anyone would notice the blood all over their clothes. Besides, it was only a matter of time before the bloodstains became impossible to wash away. Hans should know, he'd lost many nice clothes to that.
Besides, it was Christmas Eve, and he had a gift for Theo waiting at home.
Hans had an eye for fashion, and in the past two years he'd often bought Theo clothes for anniversaries and birthdays - he couldn't help himself, expensive fabrics looked good on his boy - but he knew his knitwear-loving partner wouldn't have been too thrilled by an expensive designer suit, not when he was used to Hans buying him a new one for any occasion.
No, this year Hans wanted to surprise him with something different.
The first time Hans had ever gifted Theo something it had been soon after that first Christmas, for Theo's birthday in May, and it had been a solid gold watch, and by the look in Theo's eyes at receiving it, he knew he'd done something right.
Hans had soon found out he loved seeing him wearing gold, especially if he wasn't wearing anything else, but he had to admit there was a clear favorite out of all the pieces of jewelry Theo owned, and it was the ring that matched Hans', the wedding band that they had bought almost a year before.
Ever since, Hans had bought him countless more jewelry of any kind, and by now Theo owned more golden rings, necklaces, and bracelets than he knew what to do with them.
Luckily there was still something he hadn't thought of gifting his husband, at least until now.
Hans handed him the carefully packaged present and watched Theo open it in silence, waiting for his reaction.
Theo's eyes lit up in a big smile as he unwrapped it. A gold lighter, not unlike the one Hans owned. It wasn't the most expensive gift Hans had ever presented him with, but it reminded them both of that Christmas Eve two years before, the night when it had all begun.
"This is beautiful," Theo said with a big smile, "thank you."
He moved in closer for a kiss, and when he retreated, he was talking something out of his pocket. "Sorry this isn't wrapped up." He said.
Hans looked down at the piece of paper with a phone number handwritten on it.
"What is this?" Hans asked.
"Well, I couldn't quite buy us plane tickets." Theo pointed out. Sure, Hans was legally dead, but he was sure they were still wanted internationally. "So this was the next best thing. This is a private jet owner I've bribed to get us wherever we want." He explained. "A holiday getaway."
Hans nodded, grateful. They could use a nice vacation. "Did you have any specific place in mind?"
"Not really. But I was hoping we could end up somewhere where we could watch it snow."
He smiled. It seemed that both of them had picked their gifts for each other based on that night two years before.
"I'd like that." Hans agreed. "Maybe I could bring you to Berlin, show you where I grew up, the city that made me."
Theo's eyes lit up at that. Hans had never liked to talk about his past, so Theo had never pressured him to do so, but as his husband looked at him, so full of excitement and interest, Hans was reminded of the conversation he'd had with David the year before, and he knew now that he'd been right; Theo was never going to get bored with him, he would always see him not as a safe to crack, but one he knew he didn't have to force open, because he already had the key to it.