By Shadow
Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and all associated characters belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and Warner Bros., and are used without permission. No copyright infringement is intended.
Notes: This is dedicated to Molly H., who dared me to write it. :) This is also a fic that has loads of Oz abuse and oh yeah Angelus is still around and that's all I'm saying. :) This takes place about a year after the events in the silly fic Dark Musings - although you don't have to have read it to understand what is happening, mainly because I just decided that Honour is the sequel to Musings to begin with... still with me? Okay so I'm trying to get out of coming up with a new idea for the sequel. ::sheepish grin::
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Crawford
Street Mansion, Sunnydale
March
2000
Angelus stormed through the front door of the mansion in a near panic, a feeling the master vampire was unused to experiencing, taking the stairs two at a time as he raced toward the master bedroom. Only stopping when he was met in front of the closed bedroom door by a rather pissed off dark-haired Slayer, “Will’s sleeping so you have to be quiet!” She hissed at him, once she was certain she had gotten his attention, not at all frightened as the vampire flashed his game face at her in reply. “Remember, you have to be quiet.” She stressed one last time as she stepped aside to let him pass. ‘Why do I even bother?’ She questioned herself, realizing that the vampire wasn't paying any attention to her in the first place. She could have staked him and she seriously doubted that he would have been aware of it, his mind clearly on the master bedroom and its occupant.
Opening the bedroom door Angelus fought to keep control of his demon as he replayed the last hours in his mind trying to make some sense of the rather confusing events. He had gone to Los Angeles to deal with a minor demon that had been stirring up trouble in the town that most of the demon world knew was under his protection. Nothing major there, it was always some demon or fledgling looking to make a name for themselves by stirring up trouble somewhere in his territory that ran throughout most of Southern California.
And then came Cordelia’s vision, one that called short his plans for a relaxing weekend of maiming and torturing with some of his old buddies. Whatever the ex-cheerleader had seen had truly terrified her, the only coherent words she had been able to speak since was the name of Angelus’s favourite, Willow. And now Faith was hissing at him, telling him he had to be quiet. If something had happened to Willow in his absence, he would kill that blonde bitch of a Slayer he had left to look after his little one.
Shaking his head to clear it of the distracting thoughts, he focused on checking on Willow first then going out and killing the blonde bitch. Only to stop in his tracks at the sight that greeted him, on the bed amid rumpled sheets, the bedspread kicked to the floor, lay a sweat soaked Willow, who was curled against the near naked body of his favoured childe Spike, who calmly regarded his sire with rage.
“It’s the only thing we could think of to lower her body temp.” Faith said in a low whisper, coming to stand beside the master vampire, her own eyes locked on the bed and its occupants. “Nothing else worked, and she’s a lot quieter with Spike.” She continued as an explanation for the somewhat odd site. Angelus wasn't used to seeing Spike and Willow in his bed without him being there too, it just wasn’t done.
“What happened?” Angelus growled his game face slipping on as he picked out the injuries that marred his little one, injuries that were not there two days ago. No one touched his little one; she was his, as was the dark-haired Slayer standing at his side, and Cordelia. They belonged to him, were apart of his family, although they hadn't been turned. In truth, there was no need to turn them, they would be around for a long time; a thank you gift from a demon Angelus helped out not long ago.
Sharing a quick look with Spike, Faith sighed running a hand through her hair. “All right, I'll tell you...but not here, we just got Red sleeping.” She whispered with resolve, knowing that Sunnydale’s master wasn't going to be a very happy vampire when she was finished telling her tale.
By the time Angelus reached the living room, Faith had been joined by Cordelia, who was still a bit numb over whatever she had seen in her vision, her head cradled against the Slayer's shoulder as she cried softly.
“Well?!” He demanded pushing aside the arousal he always got when he saw any of his "children" together. There was a reason he had chosen the three human females to join his family when he had secured his mastery of the town. He had wanted Willow and Cordelia even before he lost his hated soul, and then Faith came to town. She had reminded him so much of his stubborn Spike that he knew he had to have her. ‘No, there wasn’t time to think of such things,’ he growled to his self, forcing his mind away from the pleasant images of taking the two girls before him fast and hard until they had lost consciousness. There would always be time later for such things, right now he had to find out what had happened to his little Willow, the one being that could ever replace Spike as his favourite.
“Oz is back in town.” Faith stated looking the vampire straight in the eye, her voice cold, edged with a hatred that seemed to cut the air with its intensity. “He found Red outside of her dorm.”
“Why didn’t that bitch Slayer protect her?” Angelus growled nearly shaking with rage. The werewolf had come back to town, in defiance of Angelus’ command not to ever return, there was nothing in Sunnydale for the mutt. He had made sure of that personally, killing the boy’s band mates and family in retaliation for the mutt’s interference in Angelus’ courtship of Willow. The only reason the boy had been allowed to leave was because Willow had begged for his life, pledging to remain at the vampire’s side in return for the musician's safe passage out of town. ‘This was the thanks I get for my kindness? The mutt dares to come back and injure what is mine?’ His demon raged demanding blood first from the bitch Slayer that failed to protect Willow and then from the mutt who dared to touch what wasn't his.
“She’s in a coma. Oz shot her twice in the back, damn near point blank range.” The words broke through the haze clouding Angelus’s thoughts, forcing him to rethink his plans a bit. ‘The blonde Slayer had tried to protect Willow,’ his demon thought, confused by the turn of events. He wasn’t use to having nice thoughts about his soul’s beloved. It was easier to hate the blonde Slayer, to taunt her with memories about soulboy’s love for her, although, they had come to a truce of sorts with one another.
With a growl of frustration, he dropped into a nearby chair, determined to get all the answers before he made any more plans. “Where's the mutt?” he questions after a moment, his demon entertaining thoughts of retribution against the werewolf. Then something occurred to him, “He IS still alive isn’t he?”
******************************
Angelus climbed the staircase leading back to the second floor somewhat distractedly, his mind on Faith's report of the last few days. The mutt had returned to town about an hour after he and Cordelia had departed for Los Angeles, confirming his suspicion that it had been all a set up. The demon in LA wasn't all that powerful to have stirred up things enough that Angelus had to see to things personally. No, someone had wanted him out of Sunnydale, he had come to that conclusion a couple of hours after getting into LA, and now he knew whom that someone was. It seems that the mutt has made a few friends during his exile, friends that obviously felt they were beyond Angelus’s reach. They would soon learn otherwise, as he made his displeasure known to the world, his demon stirring restlessly as he envisioned torturing the mutt and those who had conspired with him to harm 'his' Willow.
No one touched Willow, not even Spike unless he had permission from Angelus before hand. Granted the girls did play around a bit with one another, but Angelus was the one who decided if another male would be touching any of them. They were his “children”, his possessions, it was his right and responsibility as their “master” to decide such matters after all. But they all know that Willow was the master’s favourite, the one who always had his attention no matter what the occasion. She was the one he was most likely to be obsessive about, rarely letting her out of his sight without an escort.
Pushing aside his thoughts for revenge, he turned his attention to the closed door of the master suite once more. There would be time enough to strike out at those who had earned his wrath once all of his children were gathered. ‘This was a family matter after all, it was only proper that they would all be present as I take care of the mutt and his little friends.’ His demon reasoned, already picturing the mind games his darling Drusilla would be playing as his enemies were broken, both in mind and body. It was truly a glorious site to behold, and then Spike and Faith would play for a bit, as they continued their unending quest for the “perfect” torture. Angelus felt his cock stir at the mental image of his favoured childe and the dark Slayer as they played together. They were truly a magnificent sight; either when fighting with one another in their repeated attempts to establish a dominance over the other, or when they came together while mating, each still struggling to dominant the other.
Grunting to himself in annoyance as his opened the door, he consciously forced the images of Spike and Faith out of his mind. He just wanted to spend some time with Willow, assuring himself that she was safe now in his arms, and he couldn’t do that with naked Spikes and Faiths dancing through his head. Well he could, but Willow would certainly not be getting any of the rest she so desperately needed.
Absently nodding to Spike as the bedroom door closed, Angelus began to peel off his clothes, his eyes locked on the small figure curled against the blonde vampire. No matter how many times he saw Willow, he never got tried of the sight that greeted him. She never failed to excite him, even when she was ignoring him, something about her called to him, called to his demon, whispering soft promises of fire and passion. And best of all that fire was his, even when she was mad at him, openly defying him in some small fashion or other, she was still his.
Sliding into the bed he automatically reached for Willow, a bit put off by Spike's presence even through he knew nothing had happened between the two in his absence. Only to be stopped by the low moan of pain torn from the sleeping girl as she pulled away from his hand and snuggled closer to Spike. Angelus barely controlled his demon as he watched his little one pull away from him and to his childe. ‘No!,’ his demon howled, his game face slipping on as he once more reached for the unaware Willow. ‘She was his!’ He raged, yellow eyes flashing, he would not be pushed aside in favour of his childe, not now, not ever!
‘Bloody ‘ell!’ Spike cursed mentally, as he carefully reassured the now trembling girl in his arms. ‘Didn’t the Slayer twit warn him Red was going to be like this?’ he asked himself trying to defuse things before his sire did something really stupid. “Easy pet,” he said in a low voice gently rubbing her back, blocking out Angelus’s growls of possession from the other side of the bed. “Its only Angelus...come now, go to him he's waiting.” He continued in a soothing voice, carefully removing the death grip she had on his body and maneuvering her toward the still growling Angelus.
Spike's voice broke through the sleep-induced fog clouding Willow’s mind as she drifted toward consciousness. Everything hurt and she was so hot, she just wanted to go back to sleep to escape the pain and terrible heat. She whimpered as the comfortable coldness that she had been snuggled against was pulled away from her, and then she felt the hands. “N-no,” she whimpered her fevered mind began replaying Oz’s brutal attack. She had to get away, get back to Angelus, ‘he’ll protect her; he always protected her.’ Her mind screamed, as she struggled against the hands on her, Angelus’s continuing growls fueling the nightmare images running through her head. Then Spike’s voice cut through the images telling her everything was fine, she was safe now and Angelus was waiting for her. “A-angelus?” She questioned in a small voice, her eyes wide with fear and hope, as she stared uncertainly into Spike's face.
“Yes, luv.” Spike reassured her with a small smile, his hold on his own demon weakening by the moment. “He’s waiting.” He indicated with a nod of his head to the other side of the bed, where Angelus was watching the whole scene with a mix of jealousy and rage.
Looking fearfully over her shoulder, the raging fever playing tricks on her mind, she relaxed a bit once she sees the familiar yellow/gold eyes of her master staring back at her. “Master?” She questioned in a small voice, finally pulling away from Spike and toward the dark-haired vampire, who welcomed her with open arms. “I tried to fight him....honest. But he was so strong...” She babbled as she settled herself into his arms, the nightmare images still playing themselves out in her mind.
“Shhhh, its okay.” Angelus reassured her, forcing himself to keep his voice even as not to frighten her any further. Already he was kicking himself, at his lost of control, Faith had told him that Willow was very feverish and had been hallucinating. That she had been in and out of consciousness for several hours calling out for him. And yet when he finally has the chance to hold her again after so many hours of not knowing if she was all right; what’s the first thing he does? His demon takes over in an imagined jealousy induced rage and all rationality goes out the window. “I’m here now and you’re safe. Nothing is going to happen.” He promised kissing the top of her head as she snuggles closer to him. His cool body temperature luring her back to a fitful slumber, “Spike.” He said after a moment, his human face returning as he calmed down.
Looking up as he slipped on his pants, Spike regarded his sire for a moment before nodding absently, Angelus’s unspoken apology clear in the brown eyes staring back at him. “I’ll keep everyone out of here for a bit.” He said gathering up his clothing and moving toward the door. “I’ll let you know when the others have arrived.” He added from the door taking one last look at the couple on the bed. ‘Lucky bastard,’ he thought for the millionth time as he shut the door behind him.
*****************************
Rio
-
“Shadow!” The voice called out as a hand shook the shoulder of the sleeping mortal pulling her out of a deep sleep.
“Huh, wha..?” The young woman questioned opening her eyes sleepily only to have the hell scared out of her by the vampire that was barely an inch away from her face. “Ahhhhhhh! Damnit, Dru! Don’t do that!” The young woman cursed rolling away from the grinning vampire and onto the floor.
“Shadow, we don’t have time for this. I need the plane.” Drusilla explained, giving the half-awake mortal an amused smirk. Shadow never failed to make her laugh, but she really didn’t have the time for her antics, she had to get back to Sunnydale.
Climbing to her feet with a muttered curse, the mortal known as Shadow calmly regarded the dark-haired vampire trying to figure out what she had up her sleeve this time. “Why do you need the plane?” She asked after a moment running a hand through her close-cut hair, knowing that she wasn’t going to be getting anymore sleep tonight, not if Dru was going to be hanging around anyway. “Crazy vampires,” she muttered darkly reaching for her cloths, absently wondering just where she's flying Drusilla too now. “My little tree needs me, we have to go home.” Dru explained all humour leaving her face as she recalled what Miss Edith had told her a few hours ago. The mean doggie had hurt her little sister, did terrible things to her, things not even daddy knew about. She had to go home and take care of her little tree and Shadow had to come too. There was a bad doggie to find, only Shadow could do it, the stars had told her, and Miss Edith agreed. ‘Shadow would like Sunnydale,’ Drusilla decided, with a nod coming to a decision, she would make sure her mortal friend liked it.
Pre-dawn
the next day -
It was still quiet in the mansion when Drusilla arrived; making a grand entrance with the help of the luckless fledgling whom had the misfortune of being on guard duty at the time. And oh what an entrance it was, as the fledgling in question came crashing through the solid oak door with a little help from Dru, who wasn't all that amused about being challenged outside her own home. Her little tree needed her; the stars continued to sing about her little sister’s pain, the song was beginning to even get on her nerves. She had to do something about it, make the stars stop singing, or in the very least, get them to sing a new song, maybe one about a bad little dog and all his playmates in pain? ‘Yes, that would be the perfect song for the stars to be singing,’ she thought climbing over the remains of the door and entering the mansion.
“And to think all this time I’ve been turning the little knob to get them to open.” Shadow commented, stepping through the remains of the wrecked doorframe, absently wondering what would have happened if the door had been made of reinforced steel.
“Must be one of those modern advancements they are always talking about,” a slim dark-haired woman noted dryly, wondering just why she had to be apart of this little expedition to the wilds of Southern California, when she could still be in Rio dancing between Enrique and Ricky. It wasn’t like she actually knew any vampires, all right there was that one vampire about a hundred years ago, who did the most amazing things with his tongue.
“What the bloody...” a demanding voice yelled bringing her out of silent musings as a very naked vampire came charging down the staircase. “Dru? Luv, you’re home.” Spike said sliding to a stop in front of the three women his yellow/gold eyes flashing as his face lit up with a smile.
“Now there’s something you don’t see everyday,” Shadow commented with a smirk, cocking her head to one side as she regarded the naked Spike, who had opened his arms to take Dru in a bone-crushing hug.
“How come we never get greeted like that?” Midnight asked jerking her thumb in Spike’s direction, one eyebrow arched in question.
“Don’t know any homeless naked vampires, I guess.” Shadow replied with a shrug. Only to perk up as another equally naked figure comes down the stairs a stake firmly in hand. ‘Well hello.’ She said to herself as she watched as the dark-haired woman stop at the bottom step to regard the little group. “Well, this is a twist... nudist vamps.”
“Must make it easier to have their wicked ways with unsuspecting virgins.” Midnight commented, suddenly feeling a bit over dressed in her little black dress.
“Now what did you bring these two here for?” Spike suddenly demanded pulling away from Dru to growl at the two women. ‘Great just what Sunnyhell needed Midnight and her little sidekick Shadow running loose.’
“Yeah, I love you to, Spike. Still got that excellent taste in clothing I see.” Midnight replied with a smirk daring the blonde vampire to start something. Maybe Sunnydale wouldn’t be so bad, if she got to pick on Spike, he always was fun to torment and tease.
“I take it these are friends Blondie?” Faith asked, twirling her stake in one hand. She didn’t recognize the two women but they were with Dru so they had to be friends of the female vampire, and Faith had learned years ago never to ask too many questions when it came to Drusilla.
“Oh yes, the bestest ever.” Dru replied with a smile. “Shadow's going to help daddy take care of the bad doggies, they’ll learn not to touch our family.” She continued merrily, images of torture and mayhem dancing in her mind.
“You are?” ask Midnight wondering just when her friend had agreed to that.
“Apparently,” Shadow replied absently, wondering if there was a part of her earlier conversation with Dru she had missed. As far as she knew she was just giving Dru a lift back to Sunnydale. She had no plans for staying in town; living over a hellmouth was not her idea of a safe environment.
“See? She’s here to help,” Dru replied with an even bigger smile, pleased that Shadow wasn’t putting up too much resistance, she would hate to have to force her friend. “And she’s not like those other doggies, Shadow’s a real wolf. She’ll run things just the way daddy wants.” The vampire said before pulling away from Spike and gliding past Faith on the staircase, there was a little tree she had to see. Then she would help Shadow take care of things, ‘Oh there was just so much to do!’ she thought happily climbing the stairs.
“Now I know I missed something,” Shadow said after a moment, feeling like she just stepped into an episode of the Twilight Zone.
“Ah huh,” Midnight replied staring after Dru’s retreating form. “Spike! You want to let us in on what’s going on around here?” She questioned the naked vampire, ‘I knew I should of stayed in Rio.’
*******************************
Meanwhile
-
Drusilla quietly opened the door and poked her head in the room to find her sire calmly regarding her from the bed. “I came as fastest as I could, daddy.” She said softly, as she slipped into the room, her dark eyes worried as she took in the small figure clinging to the master vampire.
“I’m glad you’re here.” Angelus replied with a small grin, now that all of his children were present at least the ones that had not been staked the hunt could begin. Then he noticed an unusual scent on Dru. “Shadow is with you.” He stated, absently rubbing Willow’s back as she whimpered in her sleep.
“I had to bring her, the stars said she would ever be so helpful and she’ll even take care of my Slayer, so you won’t have to worry about her anymore.” Drusilla replied eagerly with a wide smile. “Shadow is going to like my Slayer, take real good care of her.” She promised, knowing that daddy still cared about the other Slayer, although, he liked to pretend he didn’t. Another whimper brought her attention back to Willow, bringing a frown to the female vampire. “The little tree hurts inside.” She said more to herself, coming to set on the side of the bed and tentatively reaching out with one hand to brush sweat soak hair away form Willow's face. “Her body is fighting off the bad doggie’s bite.”
‘Bite!’ Angelus felt his demon surge forward. ‘The mutt bit Willow!’ closing his eyes in an attempt to control himself, he forced himself to calm down before saying anything. “Dru, did the mutt bite Willow?” He asked after a moment, keeping his voice as calm and even as possible. “What did the stars tell you?”
“Oh yes, the bad doggie bite her, tried to make her like him, all growly and bad. But he didn’t know about the spell.” She replied in a low whispered tone, like she was sharing a secret that no one else most know about. “It protects her, it’s a real good spell.” She added happily.
“Dru, how does the spell protect Willow?” Angelus asked, his mind trying to deal with the consequences of the mutt's actions. ‘If he’s passed on the curse to her, he’ll die a thousand deaths before I’m finished with him.’ He swore to himself, his demon all ready plotting the various tortures he would inflict upon the mutt.
******************************
“She’s immortal now,” a voice answered his question from the door. “Tied to your life span by that luck demon you helped out a while back. His thank you for not feeding him to that soul-stealer.” Shadow continued in a calm voice, wondering yet again why she was even bothering. She didn’t want to be here, in the bedroom of a master vampire; about to step into the middle of a problem that wasn’t even hers to begin with. However, she did have certain responsibilities and every now and then those responsibilities put her in strange places. Although she had to admit this was the first time her sacred duty ever led her to a master vampire’s bedroom. Well there had been that one time, but she was there to kill the vamp in question, not about to offer her assistance.
“I know that!” Angelus growled lowly trying not to disturb Willow too much. “What does that have to do with this?” He demanded indicating Willow with one hand, his annoyance with the young woman clear in his voice. He didn’t like Shadow very much, mainly due to the fact that she was someone who he had never been able to intimidate all that much. Most times she just smiled that annoying little smile of hers and proceeded to ignore him. He really hated to be ignored.
Rolling her eyes, Shadow forces herself to remain calm, as much as she was irritated by vampires in general, it wouldn’t do to start a fight with one in the middle of a mansion full of them. Granted she had a good chance in taking most of them, not to mention having loads of fun, it would still be a senseless waste of time and energy. “Angelus, you can not turn an immortal into a werewolf nor can you vamp an immortal. It will offset the Great Balance, which will in turn, annoy the Powers That Be. Which is never advisable under any circumstances, they tend to fight dirty when some idiot starts messing around with their system.” Noting the master vampire’s blank look, “How many immortal werewolves have you ever heard of?” She asked with a tired sigh.
“None,” Dru replied happily.
“Exactly, it would give the werewolf an unfair advantage. Why do you think you have that deadly allergy to sunlight? If you didn’t you’d be god-like, and the Powers don’t like competition in that department. It all balances out in the end, for every advantage there is a disadvantage...it keeps things interesting.” Shadow replied with a small shrug.
“And since Willow is immortal the curse can’t effect her.” Angelus guessed pleased at the news. He had not been looking forward to dealing with the curse if it did affect his Willow. She rarely, if ever, didn’t share his bed when he was in residence, when she didn’t it was because he had decided her presence wasn’t needed. He didn’t like the threat of a curse telling him he couldn’t have Willow in his bed, even if it was for only three nights a month. Then something occurred to him, “You said that for every advantage there was a disadvantage, what are the disadvantages to Willow’s immortality?”
“You just had to ask that, didn’t you?” Shadow questioned with a small growl. “Technically, she isn’t immortal, neither is Cordelia or Faith, especially Faith. It’s all in the wording, Angelus. To be immortal, you have to be exempt from death or oblivion...it all goes back to the Powers and their Great Balance. The one constant in the universe is change...being immortal nullifies that change, and you just can’t have that, you’re back to annoying the Powers. So you go to the next best thing, you slow the aging process down until it ceases to be a variable. Your girls still age, they just do it very slowly, about every thousand - two thousand years, give or take a few hundred years. And they are still vulnerable to injury and illness like other humans, and they could still die. But hell you cut anyone’s head off; they're going to die...even demons.”
“Why is my Faith different?” Dru asked suddenly cocking her head to one side. She did have plans to turn her own Slayer into an immortal and wanted to know how this was going to affect her blonde lover. She had gone through too much with the other Slayer now to lose her to some strange clause of TPTB.
With a defeated sigh, Shadow ran a hand through her hair wishing that Midnight had decided to be the one to check in with Angelus. But no, Midnight was downstairs with a naked Spike playing strip poker of all things right now, getting caught up with the recent events. ‘I can’t get a break here, can I?’ she asked herself taking a deep breath before dropping this next little bomb on the two vampires.
******************************
Meanwhile...
The
Factory District
Oz had just finished beating the hell out of the young pup that dared to challenge his place in the pack, when Veruca walked in, her latest plaything not far behind her. Growling low in his throat as the two approached, he locked eyes with her and without warning broke his opponent’s neck with a quick twist.
“Was that really necessary?” Veruca asked with a wicked smile. She always loved to watch him while he worked; he never failed to excite her, especially when he was dominating one of the lesser pack members. He just had an air about him that oozed power, she knew that she had been lucky a year ago to be the one to find him and his companion and bring them into the pack. Oz was going to go far and she planned to do it at his side, as his primary mate, as they set the world on fire.
“He shouldn’t have challenged me.” Oz replied stepping over the body, his kill already forgotten as Veruca put her arms around his neck and pulled him into a kiss. Only to be interrupted by his best friend’s arrival, the one person within the pack that would dare to do so, a goofy grin on his face even as Oz growled at him.
“Hate to interrupt,” Xander said with a smirk, not at all concerned about Oz’s apparent annoyance. “But just got word, Dru’s back...brought two strangers with her, one of them smells like a wolf.” He reported eager to spill a little blood. He had really thought of nothing else since he and Oz’s “exile” from Sunnydale. His friend wasn’t the only one who lost his parents to Angelus and his damn children. He could still hear the screams, see the carnage of what the master vampire did to his parents. Granted they weren’t the greatest in the world, but even they didn’t deserve what Angelus and Drusilla did to them that night. And the worst part of it was the damn tape, the one they had sent to the magic shop, the tape that recorded the last six hours of his parents lives. Xander had watched the entire tape three times, before Giles had caught him and had it destroyed. But that didn't matter, he had already memorized every scene, every scream, his hatred for the vampire had consumed him that night. He swore on his parents’ graves that he would kill Angelus, but only after making the master vampire suffer, like his parents were made to suffer. If it was the last thing he did, Angelus would die by his hand.
“One of us in the company of a vampire?” Veruca questioned with disgust practically draping herself over Oz. Her hands running up and down his body, she had made plans for her and Oz to play with her latest fucktoy. Every since her mate had come back to this town he had been distracted, she knew it had to be that human that he had come back to claim. Why he would still want her after being a vampire’s whore was beyond her, but Oz was making a name for himself and the pack he now lead. It would be worth putting up with the girl once he cemented his control of the territory, besides she would still be his primary mate, the power that went along with that would still be hers. ‘Let him have the little whore, the pack could always use another breeder,’ she thought smugly.
“Won’t matter none, Angelus will still go down,” Oz replied in a cold tone, his eyes glowing with an animal light. Soon he would have Willow back at his side, where she belonged, then they could rebuild their lives together like it was suppose to be. And she would never leave him; she wouldn’t dare, not after he had put his mark on her anyway. He would have preferred to take her as his primary, but that was impossible after whoring herself to that damn vampire. Oh sure, he knew the real reason she had made the deal, it was to keep him and Xander alive, so that they could rescue her at a later date. ‘It was a good plan, would of worked too if Angelus hadn’t had that nut bitch Drusilla do something to Willow’s mind,’ he told himself, still not believing that his Willow would run from him like she did if she had been in her right mind. ‘No Dru did something to her that’s why he had to hurt her, to try to knock some sense into her. But all that would change after they got rid of Angelus and his family. Willow would be back with him and she’d learn to love him again, even if he had to beat it into her.’ He vowed savagely.
******************************
Sunnydale
General Hospital
ICU ward
Joyce Summers carefully brushed a lock of hair out of her daughter’s face and tried to push down the growing fear inside of her. Three days had passed since she received that terrifying visit from Rupert Giles at the Gallery. She remembered looking up from her desk and seeing him standing there, a look of disbelief and sadness on his face, as he hesitantly explained that there had been a shooting at University and that Buffy had been rushed to the ER in critical condition. Every since learning about her daughter’s Slayer status and destiny to fight the forces of evil until death, Joyce had tried to prepare herself for the day that she would be getting such a visit from Giles, her daughter's mentor and Watcher. But nothing had prepared her for the cold fist that had gripped her heart as she heard the words; “Buffy has been shot and rushed to hospital.” No matter how many times she had rehearsed the possible scenarios; everything from being woken up at three in the morning by Willow to tell her that Buffy had been killed by some vampire or other; to having her daughter not coming home at all.
She was brought out of her silent amusing by the sound of a throat clearing behind her. Turning to the new comer Joyce tries to force a new kind of fear from overwhelming her as she comes face to face with the manic who had shot her daughter. “Oz,” she said in a choked voice, trying to find the courage to face the young man who was once a close friend of her daughter’s before everything had changed the fall that Angelus had taken over as master of Sunnydale.
“Mrs. Summers,” Oz replied, his eyes unreadable as he smelled the older woman’s fear. He had hoped to have the Slayer on his side as he reclaimed Willow. He really didn’t have anything against Buffy; she had tried her damnedest to fight Angelus as he was butchering his and later Xander’s families during the vampire’s courtship of Willow. Unlike Xander he remembered how the blonde Slayer would go for days without sleep as she tried to stay one step ahead of the vampire and his minions. But it had been a losing battle back then, Angelus had been too powerful for any of them to fight on their own, no matter how many times they told themselves otherwise.
They had been fooling themselves back then, Oz knew that now, the years he had spent in exile had taught him that, before Xander joined him also being ran out of town for daring to try to defy the vampire. It had also taught him that the Great Angelus could be beaten, just not by the old methods they had been using in High School. No to beat the master vampire, it would have to be demon against beast, and only the strong would survive.
“Is there a problem here?” another voice asked, from behind Oz. Shadow stood in the threshold of the door, head cocked to one side as she calmly regarded the people in the room; her hands folded over her chest in boredom. The two closest to her where werewolves, she could easily tell from their corrupted scents. ‘Rogues,’ she thought in disgust. ‘Just what I need, humans who got themselves cursed, great, just great. Can this town get anymore screwed up?’ The woman by the bed smelled human, as for the figure hooked up to all sorts of equipment actually in the bed. ‘Slayer,’ she absently noted. ‘At least both of them are accounted for now.’ She added wryly. Behind her she could sense the other Slayer, Faith who had finally decided that clothing was a good thing and should not be avoided, hovered just over her shoulder shooting daggers into the short male now staring back at them.
“What are you doing here?” Oz demanded his eyes hardening. ‘So this is the werewolf that was with Dru earlier,’ he said to himself, briefly wondering why one of them would want to associate with that bastard Angelus and his family. Then dismissing the thought, it didn’t really matter if one of their own was willing to side with those butchers then she would just have to pay the price for such actions. ‘It will be fun breaking her,’ he thought smugly, ‘maybe I’ll give her to Xander as a gift.’
“Me?” Shadow asked with raised eyebrows and pointing a finger herself. “Oh I’m apart of the ‘Sunnydale Unwelcoming Committee and Gardening Entourage’ we’re having a blood drive at hospital and are out looking for volunteers.” She replied forming an instant dislike for the young man and the blonde that seemed to have attached herself to his upper body. “You look reasonably healthy, want to give until it hurts? Or just hurt until you give?” She asked with that little grin that Angelus found so annoying.
Behind her Faith couldn’t help the amused smirk that formed on her face. She still wasn't too sure about this Shadow person, but one thing was for sure she was a real smart-ass, Faith liked that in people, especially when they had something to back up the attitude with. And something told Faith that Shadow had more then enough to back up the attitude with, the dark Slayer made a mental note to keep an eye on the mysterious blonde. ‘Right after I tear Oz’s head off and give it to Angelus on a silver platter.’ She told herself firmly, taking a determined step forward to get down to business. She and B may have had their problems in the past, but times change and so do people. Neither of them were the same two Slayers that had once fought back to back to keep a horde of demons from overrunning the town. Over the past year since Angelus cemented his control over the town, and most importantly over Willow, Cordelia and herself, she had changed, grown-up a bit. The petty feud she once had with B didn’t really matter anymore, not when they both had something in common to fight for now. Granted the common ground they had found didn’t have anything to do with their sacred duty, it had more to do with a certain redhead who had given everything to protect her friends and family. The very least they could do was return the favour after she made a deal with the devil himself known as Angelus to protect them all. Besides Mrs. S was in there too with mutt-boy, Faith liked B’s mum always did and it didn’t sit well with her that B's shooter was in the same room with her.
“Is that suppose to be funny?” Veruca said with a hiss, licking Oz's ear seductively.
“Actually...no, we take our blood drives very seriously at S.U.C.A.G.E.” Shadow replied putting one arm out to stop Faith from rushing into the room. ‘No need to start something just yet with the rogues,’ she thought preferring to take the peaceful way out of this otherwise explosive situation. She could smell the fear coming off Joyce Summers in waves as well as the anger rolling off of Faith. The dark Slayer particularly hummed with her hatred for the male in front of her. Shadow couldn’t put words to that she felt about the male and his blonde bitch, well not in mixed company anyway. By nature she really didn’t get along with ‘rogues’; humans cursed with the so-called werewolf curse. Especially with the ones that had embraced the “beast within”, those people really annoyed her, mainly because they didn’t have the first clue about the wolf within. Running wild and killing people was not the mark of a true wolf, granted it was the mark of a beast, but not of the wolf. It was beings like the two rogues that fancied themselves great hunters that have led to thousands of years of persecutions for both Shadow's people and her wild cousins. “Why don’t you do as all a favour and leave now, if you’re not going to give blood?” She asked her patience with the two running out.
“Why don’t I just rip out your heart and your bitch Slayer friend’s too?” Oz questioned back with a growl. ‘Time to show this upstart who was in charge here.’ He thought feeling the beast within him coming to the surface.
Stepping away from the threshold, Shadow got right into Oz’s face, “Don’t play with me little boy, I am a hell of a lot meaner then you'll ever be,” she said in a low growl, her gray eyes briefly glowing as she stared into his. “So why don’t you and your whore get out of my face, before I ripe your head off and feed you to my bitch Slayer friend over there. Your presence is no longer welcome in this room.” She finished in a near full growl, giving Oz a good look at just how much of a wolf she was.
******************************
Midnight had just lost her dress to Spike as the two began to move their little game of strip poker upstairs so they could be alone. ‘Maybe Sunnydale won’t be so bad after all,’ she thought as she grabbed the back of Spike’s neck and pulled his head down toward hers. After all it had been a century or so since, she and Spike had ever played around together for any great length of time.
******************************
While upstairs Drusilla gave a happy little smile as Willow’s fever began to break, the redhead’s body temperature lowering for the first time in days. In a couple of hours her little tree will be awake and then daddy could be naughty with her for a little bit, at least until Faith and Shadow got back to tell about the bad little doggie at hospital. Ms. Edith had told her that Faith and Shadow were going to keep him from doing bad things to her Slayer whom was sleeping there.
Dru just knew that her friend, Shadow would help take care of things, after all Ms. Edith and the stars had told her so and they never lied to her before. Soon the bad little doggie and all his friends would pay for hurting her little tree, and then Shadow and Midnight would settle in and they would all be one big happy family.
******************************
Drusilla arrived at hospital shortly after sunset intent on seeing her Slayer and talking to Shadow and Faith about hurting the bad little doggie that scared mummy Joyce. Entering the room, Dru nodded absently at Faith and Shadow, who were playing cards over in a corner, before hugging her human mum tightly. “Don’t worry mummy... we’ll make the bad little doggie howl in pain,” she promised Joyce very seriously as she tried to reassure the human.
Joyce tentatively nodded her head still a bit unsure of how to deal with the vampire that practically worshiped her daughter, which in itself was odd as hell considering that Buffy’s job was staking vampires. “Gin!” Shadow said from the corner lying down her cards with a smirk, casting a quick look over at Joyce and Dru. Sometimes she really didn’t understand Dru either, which to her was a good thing, she didn’t want to understand a person who carried on conversations with dolls, she preferred to just torture the aforementioned inanimate objects and not bother with what they ever had to say.
“You’re cheating!” Faith growled giving the smirking werewolf a dirty look.
“Of course I am!” Shadow defended with a laugh, “the cards are marked and you’re dealing from the bottom... if you want a straight game go play with…” she added but stopped thinking things over a bit, “no you can’t even play with Spike, he cheats worse then I do.” She corrected herself.
“Exactly how DO you know Spike anyway?” Faith asked gathering up the cards for the next game.
“I don’t,” Shadow replied sharing another look at Dru, ‘oh sure make me explain things to the Slayer,’ she thought ruefully. “But Midnight does, so I do.”
“Oh yeah that makes loads of sense,” the dark haired Slayer smirked.
With a humorless laugh, “I know everything Midnight wants me to know,” she tried to explain tapping the side of her head with two fingers, “telepathically ... it helps me do my job.” Seeing the confusion in Faith’s eyes, “I’m a glorified familiar,” Shadow said with a sigh. “The Powers That Be use me to protect their champions that need someone watching their backs, at the moment that happens to be Midnight.”
“The dark-haired woman in the little black dress,” Faith commented making sure she understood what she was being told. ‘Why the hell would she need a protector,’ she absently wondered.
“Yeah that’s her... she just lost her dress to Spike by the way.” Shadow confirmed with an absent nod of her head, wondering just how one loses at strip poker when their opponent started out naked to begin with, “she lost an argument with a Chaos demon a number of years ago, I’m hers until she gets her strength back.”
“Seems like she loses a lot of things,” Faith couldn't help but to add with a wicked grin.
“Yup... she lost the entire continent of Africa once,” Shadow replied quite seriously, “she sort of misplaced it on Jupiter.” Noting the expression on Faith’s face, “well she put it back!” She got out through a remarkable straight face before breaking out into a big grin, getting a poker chip thrown at her in response.
Cocking her head to one side as if listening to something only she could hear, Shadow grew serious frowning a bit after a few moments before hanging her head even as Dru let out a merry cry dancing around the room with Joyce.
“Shadow is our familiar now!” she all but purred, even as the werewolf was looking skyward as if pleading to a higher authority, ‘why me?’
“Huh?” Faith said sharing a look of total confusion with Joyce feeling like she just missed a very important clue.
“I’m,” Shadow began trying to find the right words, it wasn’t often she ever said these words to a real human before, “Buffy’s new familiar.” She got out as Dru suddenly grabbed her and kissed her cheek sloppily. “Ewww, cut it out Dru,” she cried wiping at her face with the back of her arm.
“Familiar?” Joyce questioned suddenly finding her voice, staring at the short-haired blonde in confusion.
With another sigh, “I’m suppose to protect Buffy,” she indicated with a nod of her head to the unconscious Slayer on the bed, “Until she fully recovers from her injuries. News of a crippled Slayer is going to spread like wild fire in the demon community, the Powers are just stacking the deck in her favor with me,” she explained with a feral grin, “they want to make a name for themselves by killing Buffy they have to get past me.”
“And that hasn’t been done yet,” Dru added gleefully feeling very pleased with the resent turn of events, she now had Shadow protecting her Buffy.
Banging her head slowly on the table Shadow wondered just how much worse things could get, ‘great Dru thinks I’m her personal Slayer watchdog now,’ she thought, only to stop in her head banging as her eyes widened in shock realizing that she was now picking up Drusilla's thoughts too. ‘If I start hearing that damn doll I’m quitting!’ she vowed to herself. ‘Sacred duty or not... I’m not listening to Ms. Edith for the next hundred years.’
********************************
Oz walked through his lair in a blinding rage, ‘how dare that upstart bitch threaten me,’ he raged his body shape shifting as his wolf surfaced, Shadow’s words ringing in his ears. “I want that bitch,” he ordered with a growl, “bring her to me!”
End Part Six.
TBC…