Fifteen minutes had passed yet Aidan remained unresponsive, eyes half-open in a heavy lidded trance while Byron propped him up on the chair. Around him, Lannetta, Emilia, Gavin and Hailey waited, their anxiety obvious. "We should lay him down," Gavin worriedly said, but Byron disagreed. "I was seated during my transition and it worked."

The others were gathered around the monitor, watching as their opponents attempted cutting through the metal on the roof, showers of sparks creating quite the lightshow. Brandon nervously deduced,"We probably have two hours tops, before they gain access to the building."

"We will not be needing any longer to know Aidan's outcome," Maxim replied. The pale-haired vampire avoided looking at the unresponsive Aidan because it reminded him of Mathias, seven hundred years ago, on the day Mathias gave up his life closing the portals. Instead, Maxim stared stoically at the screen. "No successful human to vampire transition has ever taken more than an hour."

All eyes involuntarily darted in synchrony to the limp man on the chair. Byron ever so gently readjusted Aidan's head so that it wasn't at an awkward angle. "Hey man, I know you can hear me, and I know you're not having the best day of your life right now, but you're doing great, and uh, you'll be fine," the vampire awkwardly tried his hand at cheering Aidan on.

If he wasn't immobile and in such indescribable pain, no doubts Aidan would have patted the vampire on the back for the effort.

The burning sensation originating from the bite on his neck had quickly spread throughout the rest of his body in under a minute, and although it wasn't as intense as the pain in his chest when he had closed the portals in his past life, it wasn't very far from it either.

"He's sweating," he vaguely heard Emilia say, her figure out of the line of sight of his unfocused vision. "Yeah, he's in a little discomfort," Byron downplayed his suffering which he was thankful for even if he knew Emilia wasn't so easy to fool. "He's just–"

Whatever lies Byron intended to say were cut short when Aidan's body involuntarily lurched forward violently, forcing the vampire to grab him before he fell. "What the flaming hell?!"

"What's happening?!" Gavin came up to help the vampire hold Aidan's convulsing body. "I don't know, this has never happened before," Lannetta said, her voice quivering as she reached out a hand to help, "it's either you wake up or you don't. Convulsions aren't part of the process." She turned to Emilia, "Can you heal him?"

Emilia immediately poured power into Aidan but stopped a few seconds after, "There's nothing to heal. He isn't injured, or sick. Just...changing." Slowly, the convulsions faded, their presence coming and going in unpredictable waves.

Charlie, now standing next to Byron, suddenly exclaimed, "Crap! Is it Aidan's latent wolfblood acting up?!" The other wolves exchanged worried looks, expressions growing grim. "I don't know if the toxin might be affecting the part that makes him a wolf," Andy said, lips pressed into a thin line. "Maybe the wolf part thinks he's dying and is trying to initiate werewolf transformation."

Gavin began raking his fingers through his honey blond hair just thinking of what Aidan was going through. "If that's the case and his body is simultaneously trying to turn into a werewolf and a vampire at the same time..." Gavin wasn't sure how to finish his sentence.

Emilia bit her lip and looked away, trying hard to remain calm. Now was not the time to despair or give up. She had to trust in Aidan. He knew what he was doing.

Helpless anxiety and a heavy gloom settled in the air as the vampires and werewolves took turns holding Aidan's intermittent shaking form. "I hate to add to your worries," John loudly called out from his seat by the monitor screen, "but it seems they've cut a hole to the air vents. I assume they'll begin pumping their horror gas blend soon."

Flint, who'd been fairly silent throughout, suddenly blurted, "I guess this is it." He looked around the group as his emotions began to derail and his eyes misted, "I just want to say that I'm glad to have you guys here with me. It's been a weird and wonderful journey."

This was the end of their uphill battle. They had tried to bring peace to the supernatural world but the odds were just stacked against them. But for the first time in a thousand years, werewolves, witches, vampires and even humans had united for a cause. Even if it had ended in failure, and no one would ever know of their heroic attempts, they could be proud of the fact that they alone had tried.

Flint's words triggered a awakened flurry of emotional reactions in everyone else. Gavin wrapped Hailey in his arms before their lips met in a passionate kiss. Andy and Brandon bro-hugged, Emilia sat on the ground next to Aidan and gently rested her head on his lap, Samaira thanked John for keeping the truth alive, Maxim pulled an unsuspecting Lannetta into a tight embrace, and Byron and Charlie faced each other, exchanging unspoken words while still holding Aidan in place on the chair.

Without warning, the lights went out, leaving the group in darkness but only ever so briefly since the backup generators immediately kicked in. Once more, the basement was bathed in white light from the ceiling lights. Immediately, all eyes flew to the monitor screen as they waited with bated breath for the inevitable to happen.

"I hate this. I hate waiting around to die," Hailey softly said before Gavin tightened his arms around her.

"We aren't going to die," a soft, exhausted voice suddenly broke through the heavy tension in the air. "Give me a little more credit, will you?" Byron and Charlie blinked down at an alert Aidan, although still slumped in the chair.

Emilia squealed in joy, the first to react, and scrambled to hug him tightly. He chuckled weakly in her arms as gasps and cheers rang out. The witch let him go long enough to plant kisses on his forehead, nose and mouth.

Gavin was next, hugging him and ruffling his already messed up hair. Beside him, Lannetta beamed from ear to ear, a hint of tears still in her eyes, "It worked."

"Of course it did." Aidan huffed, upset at how little faith everyone actually had of the transformation's success. His intention to grouse about it was cut short when he realised his body was trembling, still suffering from the aftereffects of the physical change. Aidan was glad the initial suffering of the transformative process was over but he knew more time was needed to fully recuperate from such an arduous experience. For now though, they needed to leave this place.

All at once, the building shook once more, and an odd vibrating hum echoed from above, almost like a final warning call. Aidan had no intention of ignoring their cue to leave.

"Time for the real test," Aidan muttered. He glanced towards an empty wall and then closed his eyes, focusing once more on the power that had remained beyond his reach for so long. With the mildest of tugs, it flowed into him, almost as if welcoming him back. Aidan smiled. "Hey Brandon, what time is it in Tokyo right now?"

Brandon glanced at his watch, "They're seventeen hours ahead of Vegas time so it's a little after eight in the evening."

Aidan's smile grew, "Sweet. I've always wanted to go there." A familiar ring of light appeared on the wall surface before the area within glowed a faint blue. Aidan never thought he'd have the chance to see another portal, the joy of having once again reviving his Talent showcased in the brilliance of his ocean blue eyes.

Slowly and still trembling, he stood up and, turning to Emilia, held out his hand to her. "Shall we?" The witch grinned and took his hand before they carefully headed to the portal, disappearing into its smooth blueness without hesitation. Lannetta and Maxim cooly followed suit, while the others weren't far behind, gasping in awe even as their forms passed through the portal.

"Oh my." John Miller stood beside Samaira, the last two to pass.

"Since we aren't going to die, I do owe you a pretty hefty explanation. Come on, I'll tell you on the other side." Without waiting for a reply, she grabbed him by the arm and ran, stilettos clicking loudly on the floor till they entered the portal. Their footsteps echoed before silence fell upon the now empty basement as the calm blue glow gave way to the white fluorescence from the lighting above.