Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer (nor do I own the dialog from "Lie to Me" which appears in this chapter). I do not own Hellsing.
Author's Note: This is the last chapter that relies on the series for dialog or plot. After this it is all me.
Chapter 3 is being written, but I'm currently reading Dracula, so update on it has been paused (there's another book following Dracula as soon as it comes from the library).
Thanks again to Chiichobi (aka Mara) for beta work.
Note: I edited the author's notes for the last chapter.
Summary: Xander now has the powers of a nearly six hundred year old nosferatu to deal with, including enhanced senses which are confusing him.
Family, Magic, and Midians
Chapter 2: Drusilla's Revenge
"C'mon, Mom," a young boy said. He was in a deserted playground at night waiting for his mother. "She's always late."
"Are you lost?" Drusilla asked the boy walking across the playground. To her he smelled good; a good meal to show the second prince that she wasn't going to go quietly greet the dawn.
"No," the boy said bravely. "My mom's just supposed to pick me up is all." At school they always warned kids about strangers, but usually it was men offering candy, not young women.
"Do you want me to walk you home?" Drusilla asked.
"No, thank you," the boy said. He seemed to be figuring out that there was something odd about this woman, she wasn't normal.
"My mummy used to sing me to sleep at night," Drusilla said, softly. She slowly circled the jungle gym toward the boy and sung, "Run and catch, the lamb is caught in the blackberry patch..." She smiled slightly, "She had the sweetest voice. What will your mummy sing when they find your body?"
"I'm not supposed to talk to people," he said nervously.
"Oh," Drusilla said. "Well, I'm not a person, see, so that's just..."
Whatever she was going to say was cut off by the appearance of Angel. "Run home," he said to the boy, who didn't need to be told twice.
"My Angel!" Drusilla said happily.
Angel sighed and said, "Hello, Drusilla."
"Do you remember the song mummy used to sing me? Pretty?"
"I remember," Angel said, regret coloring his voice.
"Yes, you do," Drusilla said, her demeanor changing.
"Drusilla, leave here," Angel said. "I'm offering you that chance."
"Or you'll hurt me?" Drusilla asked.
"No, not me, him," Angel said. The way he said "him" was with respect, but it was also in indication that he did not need to say the name for Drusilla to understand.
"The second prince," Drusilla said in understanding.
"If you don't leave it'll go badly," Angel said. "For all of us."
"My dear boy's gone all away, hasn't he?" Drusilla said absently. "To her."
Buffy approached the park on her patrol. She just saw a boy run by down on the street below and wondered what sort of creatures were making the playground their hunting ground.
"Who?" Angel asked Drusilla.
"The girl," Drusilla said. "The Slayer. Your heart stinks of her. Poor little thing. She has no idea what's in store."
Buffy looked down at the playground from the rooftop of a building to see Angel and a woman, and she wondered what was going on.
"This can't go on, Drusilla," Angel said. "It has to end. If you go through with what you're planning..."
"Oh, no, my pet," Drusilla said. "This is just the beginning."
She pushed away from Angel and headed back the other way. Angel watched her before turning away, himself and leaving. Buffy watched and felt her heart break.
"Hey," Buffy greeted Giles unenthusiastically.
"Hello," Giles greeted as they headed towards the library. "Um, did you hunt last night?"
"I did a couple quick sweeps downtown," Buffy affirmed.
"Any encounters?" Giles asked.
"Nothing vampirey," Buffy said.
"Uh, I've been researching a cure for Xander," Giles said. "So far I have nothing."
"You'll figure it out," Buffy said.
"Are you alright?" Giles asked. "You seem a little glum."
"I'm fine," Buffy said as they stopped in front of the library. "How's Xander?"
"He'll be by later, but he's sleeping right now," Giles said. After Xander changed he had realized he couldn't go back home. Officially he had been labeled as missing, presumed dead. Unofficially he was sleeping in Giles' basement. The Watcher didn't know what to do, they had begun researching in ways to turn him back into a human, but it seemed once you became a vampire you were a vampire for life, or rather un-life. "Why don't you take the night off?"
"Okay," Buffy said. "That'd be nice. Xander wants to patrol?"
"Yes, he's feeling rather useless," Giles said. "You take the night off and spend some time with Angel."
"I don't know," Buffy said. "He might have other plans." The bell rang. "I have to get to class."
Giles watched her leave and wondered what that was about.
"I don't know," Buffy said exiting the classroom with Willow. "I don't think so. They seemed pretty friendly."
"Who's friendly?" Xander asked, detaching himself from a shadow. It had been a couple of weeks since Halloween and while he had felt a bit guilty over what happened to those kids and Larry, he had gotten over it. In the end he had rationalized that it wasn't really him who had killed them, and that in that situation it was the life of his friends over the lives of people he didn't know, even if they were little kids. Now he was just about back to his normal self, except for the addition of his dark, super-vampire powers.
"No one," Buffy said.
"Angel and a girl," Willow told her best friend turned nosferatu.
"Willow, do we have to be in total share mode?" Buffy asked. "And I thought you were sleeping?" she added, turning back to Xander.
"Hey, it's me," Xander said. "If Angel's doing somethin' wrong, I wanna know."
"Why?" Buffy asked.
"Because if he hurts you I'm going to dust him," Xander said. "You need cheering up, and I know just the thing! Crazed dance party at the Bronze!"
"I dunno," Buffy said, knowing better than to argue with the new Xander on dusting Angel. Xander was mostly her same goofy friend, but he was possessive and protective of her, Willow, and Giles, even Miss Calendar, and Cordelia. He was under the impression that the only vampire in their lives should be him.
"Very calm dance party at the Bronze?" Xander asked as they sat down in the student lounge. It was truly amazing that he could walk around the school without being looked at twice. He blamed it on the Sunnydale sheep-ism. "Moping at the Bronze?" he offered, seeing Buffy's expression.
"I'd suggest a box of Oreos dunked in apple juice, but maybe she's over that phase," another person chimed in behind Buffy.
"Ford?" Buffy wondered, spinning around.
"Hey, Summers!" Ford greeted with a smile as Buffy hugged him. "How ya been?"
"Oh, my God!" Buffy said happily. "What are you doing here?"
"Uh, matriculating," Ford answered.
"Huh?" Buffy asked with her clueless face on.
Ford chuckled and smiled, "I'm finishing out my senior year at Sunnydale High. Dad got transferred."
"This is great!" Buffy said with a smile.
"I'm glad you think so," Ford said with a smile. "I didn't think you'd remember me."
Xander smelt something in the air and looked at Ford closely over the top of his red-tinted sunglasses.
"Remember you?" Buffy said, scandalized. "Duh! We only went to school together for seven years. You were my giant fifth grade crush."
"So! You two know each other," Xander said. Something about this boy brought his hackles up.
"Oh!" Buffy turned to her two friends and said, "I'm sorry. Um, this is Ford! Uh, Billy Fordham, this is Xander and Willow!"
"Hi," Xander said, holding out his gloved hand. Ford shook it and Xander noted the pulse that Ford still had.
"Hey," Ford said.
"Nice to meet you!" Willow said.
"Uh, Ford and I went to Hemery together in L.A." Buffy said and then turned to Ford, "And now you're here. For real?"
"Dad got the transfer, and boom, he just dragged me outta Hemery and put me down here."
"This is great! Well, I mean, it's hard, sudden move, all your friends, delicate time, very emotional, but let's talk about me!" Buffy said. "This is great!"
"So, you two were sweeties in fifth grade?" Willow asked.
"Not even," Buffy said ruefully. "Ford wouldn't give me the time of day."
"Well, I was a manly sixth-grader," Ford said. "I couldn't bother with someone that young."
"It was terrible," Buffy said. "I moped over you for months. Sitting in my room listening to that Divinyls song, 'I Touch Myself'." Buffy was about to go on when she suddenly realized something and said quickly, "Of course, I had no idea what it was about."
Ford scratched his temple while Xander chuckled.
"Hey, are you busy tonight?" Buffy asked Ford. "We're going to the Bronze, it's the local club, and you have to come."
"I'd love to!" Ford said. "But if you guys already had plans... Would I be imposing?"
"No, only in the literal sense," Xander said.
"Okay, then! I-I gotta find the admission office," Ford said, standing. "Uh, get my papers in order."
"Well, you know what," Buffy said, standing, "I'll take you there, and I'll see you guys later."
"It was good to meet you," Ford said.
Once they were gone Xander turned to Willow, "He smelt funny."
"Smelt?" Willow said, cluelessly. "Oh, right, smelt...Funny how? Like funny haha or creepy wiggins?"
"More like the wiggins. He smelt like chemicals and death," Xander said.
"Death? Death isn't good," Willow said, nearly hyper ventilating.
"I think he's dying," Xander said.
"Oh, I thought you meant he killed someone," Willow said breathing in relief. "Wait, he's dying? And Buffy doesn't know?"
"Willow, try to keep up," Xander said.
"I'm still stuck on that song..." Willow said. "Oh! That's what it means."
Xander looked at her like she's lost whatever mind she had, but then he grinned slightly and said, "Don't ever change Wills."
"I'll try," Willow said.
"Anyways, it looks like it's time for you to go to class, and me to go muck about in the sewers," Xander said.
"That's what you do during the day?" Willow asked wrinkling her nose.
"Giles wants a map, and Jenny is helping us," Xander said.
"Jenny?"
"Well, I'm no longer a student, and it's unlikely that I'll ever be a student again, so there's no reason to call her Miss Calendar anymore," Xander said.
"Ouch, so how is she helping?"
"I have this nifty hand held device that I point in front of me as I walk through the sewers, caves, and tunnels and it beams the GPS coordinates to Jenny, who has a program running, to make a map that she'll print out and give to Giles," Xander said. "On the plus side, it's dark down there so my eyes won't hurt and I get to dust any vamps that I come across."
"Good luck," Willow said. "I'll see you later?"
"At the Bronze for certain," Xander said.
Xander had changed into clean clothes; after all, running about in storm drains, sewers, and caves, was not conducive for a clean outfit, and arrived at the Bronze at sundown. He waited at a table for the others to arrive and looked around.
Willow arrived first, "So how was the spelunking?"
"I took eight showers before I came," Xander said by way of an explanation.
"Eight showers, isn't that overkill?" Ford asked approaching the pair.
"There is no such thing as overkill, there is only 'Is it dead yet?' and 'Reload!'" Xander said.
"Wow, you're an incredibly violent person, aren't you?" Ford asked.
Before Xander could reply Willow said, "POOL!"
"Pool?" Xander asked.
"Yeah, let's play," Willow said.
"Oh, that sort of pool," Xander said. "I was wondering when they got the time to remodel."
So when Buffy walked in, she saw Xander lining up a break. "Hey guys!" Buffy said. "Ford! You made it."
Xander shot, sending all the balls across the table, landing all fifteen and the eight ball last. "Wow, great shot, Xander."
"What can I say, I have great aim," Xander said.
"So, Buffy, Ford was just telling us about the ninth grade beauty contest, and the, uh, swimsuit competition," Willow said.
"Oh, my God, Ford, stop that! The more people you tell, the more people I have to kill," Buffy said, horrified.
"You can't touch me, Summers," Ford said. "I know all your darkest secrets."
"Care to make a small wager on that?" Xander said, racking up the balls again.
"I'm gonna go get a drink," Buffy said. "Ford, try not to talk."
While Buffy met up with Angel at the bar, Willow was preparing to make the break.
"That's Angel," Xander said. "He's Buffy's beau. Her special friend."
"He's not in school, right? He looks older than her," Ford said.
"You're not wrong," Xander said, enigmatically.
"You know something?" Ford asked.
"I know lots of things, but answers will cost you and you have to ask the right questions," he said. "Your turn."
Ford took his shot and was about to respond to Xander when he saw Buffy come towards them, empty handed. "Didn't want that soda after all?"
"Not thirsty," Buffy lied.
"Hey, Angel," Willow greeted with a smile.
"Hi," Ford said.
"This is Ford," Buffy introduced to Angel. "We went to school together in L.A."
"Nice to meet you," Angel said, shaking Ford's hand.
"Whoa!" Ford gasped in surprise. "Cold hands!"
"You're not wrong," Xander said enigmatically, getting a look from Buffy.
"So, you're here visiting Buffy?" Angel asked.
"No, I'm actually here to stay," Ford said. "Just moved down."
"Hey, Angel? Do you wanna play?" Willow asked, trying to defuse a potentially violent situation.
"Y'know, it's getting really crowded in here tonight," Buffy said. "Um...I'm a little hot." She looked at Ford and said, "You wanna take a walk?"
"Um, sure!" Ford said. "That'd be nice."
"Okay, then, um..." She turned to the others. "I'll see ya tomorrow."
"Good night," Angel said.
"Take care," Ford said.
"Okay, once more with tension," Xander said.
"He just moved here?" Angel asked.
"Yeah," Xander said. "And, boy, does he move fast. By the way, Angel, what were you really up to last night?"
"Uh..." Angel said.
"Because Buffy seems to think you have another girlfriend," Xander said.
"No, it's not like that," Angel said.
"Think about telling her that? She saw you with a woman," Xander said.
"Speaking of, Drusilla is out to get you," Angel said. "That's who I was talking to. She's one of my greatest mistakes."
"Let her try to get me," Xander said.
"She'll go through Buffy," Angel said.
"How can you be certain, she could go through Willow or Giles or Jenny or Cordelia?"
"It's what she said when I talked to her," Angel said. "I know how to translate her crazed ravings."
Xander fell silent and looked away.
"Do you want to play, Angel?" Willow asked and looked up only to find him gone. "See, you made him do that thing where he's gone."
"Sorry, Wills," Xander said.
"Ford? Hi, Ford!" said Diego, a wannabe vampire dressed to look like a Hollywood Dracula.
"Hey!" Ford greeted the wannabe. They were in a gothic, vampire themed club called Sunset Club. It was small, and darkly lit, but the furniture was top notch. Old vampire movies played on television sets that were hung in many corners of the club.
"Well, how'd it go?" Diego inquired excited.
"It went good," Ford said with a smile and a nod.
"Good?" Diego asked. "That's… that's it? That's all we know? Well, when are we..."
"Soon," Ford said.
"Oh, soon, okay. Y'know, you could gimme a little more information here. I'm trusting you. I'm out on a limb here. Not to mention the lease is almost up on this place. Who's gonna cover that?" Diego said. During his diatribe, a woman walked up. She was blond with blue eyes and looked more like a vampire than any of the others in the club. Around her neck was a choker with a red gem on it, and if one looked closely they could see a swastika in it.
"Marvin..." Ford said as he accepted a drink from the woman. She was called Chantarelle, though her real name was a mystery. No one, but Ford, liked to be called by their real names. She was a plant by Das Millennium to recruit for their cause. She had found only a couple of promising recruits, a pair of half-brothers named Jan and Luke Valentine, but otherwise, these were just wannabes.
"Diego! C'mon, man, it's Diego now."
"Diego," Ford agreed, reluctantly. He took out a medicine bottle and shook a pill out into his hand. "Ritalin," he said taking it with the drink that Chantarelle handed him. "Everything's gonna be fine. Just make sure you're ready when I say. True believers only."
"I can't wait!" Chantarelle said with a smile. Diego thought she had filed her teeth and then used prosthetics to get her teeth into such realistic fangs; in truth, however, the fangs were caused by a few microchips implanted into her body, the FREAK chip. She pretended to be a "believer" to find out if the wannabes would succeed. If Ford had shown even an inkling of wanting to cause pain and chaos, she would have approached him, but he was determined to believe the bedtime stories of vampires they told.
"Right, whatever, I still think I should be in on the plan," Diego said.
"Diego, you gotta trust me," Ford said, he looked up at the television to see Jack Palance playing Dracula.
"Alright," the television said.
"A couple more days and we'll get to do the two things every American teen should have the chance to do: die young, and stay pretty."
He then proceeded to lip sync Jack Palance's next line, "So...You play your wits against mine. Me, who commanded armies hundreds of years before you were born. Fools!"
Willow was brushing her hair; after coming home from the Bronze she called Buffy who updated her on her "walk" with Ford and how he knew she was the Slayer. She had then gotten ready for bed and was now in her nightshirt, brushing her hair. A knock on her balcony door made her nearly drop the brush, but she went over and pulled the blinds apart, "Oh!" Opening the door she greeted, "Angel! What are you doing here?"
"I wanted to talk to you," Angel said.
"Oh, well..." Willow said, looking around. She stepped to the side and opened the door wider, but he just stood there. "Well?"
"I can't," Angel said. "Unless you invite me, I can't come in."
"Oh!" Willow said. "Well, okay, I invite you. To come in." She looked over at her bed and looked horrified upon seeing her bra lying there in the open, she grabbed it as Angel entered and shut the balcony door, and stashed it.
"I-if this is a bad time, I..." Angel said.
"No! I just..." Willow said quickly. "I'm not supposed to have boys in my room."
"I promise to behave myself."
"Okay, good."
"I guess I need help."
"Help? You mean like on homework? N-no, 'cause you're old and you already know stuff."
"I want you to track someone down. On the 'Net." Angel said, looking at the computer on Willow's desk.
"Oh!" Willow said with a smile. "Great! I'm so the 'Net girl."
"I just wanna find everything I can," Angel said standing behind her as she sits down and boots up the laptop. "Records, affiliates, I'm not even sure what I'm looking for yet."
"Good," Willow said opening some of her personal search tools. "What's the name?"
"Billy Fordham," Angel said.
She accessed the school site and began her search, it was something she had been planning to do anyway, but she still felt she needed to say something to Angel. "Uh, Angel? If I say something you really don't wanna hear, do you promise not to bite me?"
"Are you gonna tell me that I'm jealous?" Angel asked.
"Well, you do sometimes get that way," Willow said.
"You know, I never used to," Angel said as he took a seat at the end of her bed. "Things used to be pretty simple. A hundred years, just hanging out, feelin' guilty... I really honed my brooding skills. Then she comes along. Yeah, I get jealous. But I know people. And my gut tells me there's something wrong about this guy. Then, there's what Xander said, his hackles are raised around this guy. Nosferatu don't get that way for anyone."
"Okay," Willow said. "But if there isn't anything weird... Hey, that's weird."
"What?"
"I just checked the school records, and he's not in them," Willow said bewildered. "I mean, usually they transfer your grades and stuff, but he's not even registered."
"He said he was in school with you guys, right?"
"Let me just see if I can..." Willow began to look for the records from Hemery.
"Willow? Are you still up?" Willow's mother called from downstairs.
"Ack! Go!" she told Angel. "I'm just going to bed now, mom!" Willow called down the stairs. She opened the balcony door and whispered to Angel, "Come by tomorrow at sunset. I'll keep looking."
"Don't tell Buffy what we're doing, alright?" Angel said sternly.
"You want me to lie to her? It's Buffy!"
"Just don't bring it up until we know what's what."
"Okay. I-it's probably nothing."
"That'd be nice," Angel said as he headed towards the rail. Willow closed the door and leaned against it.
Willow headed towards the water fountain at school the next day, it was morning, and school hadn't started, yet. Buffy and Ford entered the school from a door at the end of the hall and saw her.
"Willow," Buffy called in greeting.
Willow turned around and headed away from the water fountain, but realized she wouldn't be able to get away. She had been planning on avoiding Buffy as much as possible until she could talk to Angel and Xander. She fidgeted nervously as she faced the pair.
"What's up?" Buffy asked.
"Nothing," Willow said quickly.
"Do you wanna hang?" Buffy asked. "We're cafeteria-bound."
"I-I-I'm gonna do work in the computer lab on school work that I have, so I cannot hang just now," Willow said. "Hi, Ford."
"Morning," Ford greeted, bewildered.
"Okay, Will, fess up," Buffy said with a mock serious tone.
"What?" Willow said, nervous.
"Are you drinking coffee again? 'Cause we've talked about this," Buffy said.
Willow looked surprised and then latched onto the explanation, even though it was false, "It makes me jumpy. I have to go. Away."
Willow hurried off back to the lab. What she had found so far was making her even more nervous. Ford had pretty much wiped himself out of existence. There was only a medical record, but medical companies had always been notoriously difficult for her to hack into.
Giles provided a distraction for Buffy before she followed Willow, though and saw them in the hallway.
"Buffy! Um...Yes, uh..." Giles greeted coming towards them. When he was within arm's length he began looking through his pockets for something. "Ms. Calendar and I are going...somewhere tonight, and she's given," he found the slip of paper he was looking for, "oh, given me the number of her beeper thingy, uh, in case you need me for, um..." he looked at Ford, "study help, uh, suddenly."
"He knows, Giles," Buffy said.
"What?" Giles asked.
"Ford knows I'm the Slayer," Buffy said.
"I know," Ford said.
"Oh! Uh, very good, yes," Giles said. "Uh, um, Buffy..." he pulled her aside. "Excuse me," he said to Ford. Then turning to Buffy, he asked quietly, "You are not, by any chance, betraying your secret identity just to impress, up, cute boys, are you?"
"I didn't tell him," Buffy said with a smile. "He knew."
"Oh! Uh, right then," Giles said and then asked, "Does he know about Xander?"
"No, it's not my secret to tell, and he doesn't know about Angel, either. He figured out my Slayerness just before I got kicked out of Hemery," Buffy explained.
"Oh, that's good," Giles said. "Well, uh, just remember, if you..."
"Go! Experience this thing called fun," Buffy said. "I'll try not to have a crisis."
Giles nodded, bid a goodbye to Ford, and headed towards the library.
Xander approached Willow in the computer lab; it appeared that she was spending every moment of her free time there today. "Willow?"
Willow jumped a good foot in the air and turned around quickly, "XANDER! Don't do that."
"Sorry," Xander said in a tone that was completely non-apologetic. "What has you marking the computer lab as yours?"
"Angel came by last night, and asked me to look for information on Ford," Willow said. "He's not even registered as a student here."
"What do his records say?" Xander asked, crouching down next to her. Even crouched, his new height made him taller than her. The only appearance change since the spell lifted, was Xander's hair lightening a bit and his taste in clothing, much more modern.
"That's the thing; the only records I can find are an electronic diary and highly classified medical records. The diary indicates he enjoys a club that's a couple blocks away from the Bronze- the Sunset Club, but I can't get much else."
"That is highly suspicious," Xander agreed. "No records from Hemery?"
"If there are any, they're paper copies, the electronic records have been wiped," Willow said. "Now I'm starting to get the creepy wiggins from Ford."
"The question," Xander said, standing up, "is what is he up to and is it a threat?"
Xander, Willow, and Angel walked down one of the alleys between the various warehouses that littered the Sunnydale dock district. They were about a block from the Bronze, which was on the edge of the warehouse district, heading towards the Sunset Club. Xander had opted to wear his red cloak that night with black jeans and a red Hawaiian shirt.
"The only thing I could track down was this address," Willow explained to Angel. "The Sunset Club. Still didn't find anything incriminating."
"He leaves no paper trail, no records; that's incriminating enough," Angel said.
"Yeah, I'm gonna have to go with Soul Boy on this one," Xander agreed.
"Could you not call me that?" Angel asked. He turned to the door that was supposed to be the entrance of the club and knocked. It was a Speak-Easy style door with a little window that could be slid open so that a person on the other side could see you, "We're friends of Ford's."
The door is opened and the three enter. "Boy, we blend right in," Willow said, upon seeing the interior of the club and what everyone was wearing.
"In no way do we stick out like sore thumbs," Xander agreed.
"Let's look around. You guys check downstairs," Angel said. Xander and Angel had an unspoken understanding for the night; neither would leave Willow by herself.
"Sure thing, Bossy, the cow!" Xander said sarcastically, but he followed Willow down the stairs, anyway.
"Okay, but do they really stick out?" Willow asked.
"What?"
"Sore thumbs," Willow explained. "Do they stick out? I mean, have you ever seen a thumb and gone, 'Wow! That baby is sore!'"
Xander just looked at his best friend and said, "You have too many thoughts."
All three began to look around, Angel walked around the balconies while Xander and Willow looked around below.
"Hi!" a cheerful man dressed like a Hollywood vampire said from inside a coffin. Xander raised an eyebrow.
"Are you, maybe, noticing a theme here?"
"As in 'Vampires! Yay!'?" Willow asked.
"That's the one," Xander agreed.
Chantarelle approached the two friends, she could sense something about the one in red, but the red headed girl seemed like a normal mortal, "You guys are newbies. I can tell."
"Oh, no," Willow said. "We come here all the time."
"Don't be ashamed! It's cool that you're open to it. We welcome anyone who's interested in the Lonely Ones," Chantarelle said.
Angel joined Xander and Willow at that moment, just as Willow asked, "The Lonely Ones?"
"Vampires," Angel and Xander said simultaneously.
"We usually call them the nasty, pointy, bitey ones," Xander further explained to Willow.
"So many people have that misconception. But they, who walk with the night, are not interested in harming anyone. They are creatures above us. Exalted!"
"You're a fool," Angel said.
"You don't have to be so confrontational about it," Chanterelle cried. "Other viewpoints than yours may be valid, you know."
Xander watched her leave, she felt like a Midian, but her eyes were blue, and no self-respecting Nosferatu would allow their fledging to be seen in a place like this.
"Nice meeting you," Willow said.
"You really are a people person," Xander said to Angel.
"Now nobody's gonna talk to us," Willow said.
"I've seen enough. I've seen this type before. I mean, they're children making up bedtime stories of friendly vampires to comfort themselves in the dark," Angel said.
"But you don't have the senses I do," Xander said.
"What do you mean?" Angel asked.
"She felt like a Midian, but had the eyes of a newborn Draculina," Xander replied, tapping into his great-great grandfather's memories. According to the memories, Nosferatu came in three stages- Draculina/Dracul were the first stage and were fledgling Midians. Midians were the second stage, and by far the most common. Nosferatu were the third stage, and considered the masters. The Halloween spell had given Xander all the abilities of a Nosferatu, but all the newborn confusion of a Dracul.
"Is that so bad? I mean, the dark can get pretty dark. Sometimes you need a story," Willow said.
"These people don't know anything about vampires. What they are, how they live, how they dress..." Angel said, but was interrupted by a young man coming down the stairs dressed exactly like Angel was.
"And they have a predator in their midst, if they're not virgins..." Xander said.
"But why is Ford, a good friend of the Slayer, hanging out with a bunch of wannabe vampires?" Willow asked.
"Because he plans on making them no longer wannabes," Xander said.
Diego, standing nearby, was confused about what he overheard from the group as they exited the club.
"How did you come to that conclusion," Angel asked Xander.
"Ford smells like he's dying," Xander said. "If you're dying, eternal life sounds like a very good option."
Buffy entered the library with Jenny and Giles following close behind. After a walk with Ford in which Ford dusted his first vampire while Buffy dusted another, she and Ford had said goodbye while Buffy paged Giles and Jenny.
"Sorry to beep you guys in the middle of... stuff, but it seemed really weird," Buffy apologized.
"No, you did the right thing," Giles said. "Absolutely."
"You hated it that much?" Jenny asked.
"No! But, but, uh, vampires on campus is, could have implications. Very, very grave..." Giles obviously didn't enjoy whatever surprise date Jenny had sprung on him, but he appeared not to want to hurt her feelings.
"You could've just said something," Jenny said.
"Uh, honestly, I- I've always, I've always been interested in- in, uh, monster trucks," Giles said.
"You took him to see monster trucks?" Buffy asked, momentarily forgetting all about the vampires, as the mental image of Giles at a monster truck rally forced her brain to shut down.
"I thought it would be a change!" Jenny said defensively.
"It was a change," Giles agreed.
"Look, we could've just left," Jenny said.
"Wha-what, and miss the nitro-burning funny cars? No, couldn't have that," Giles said.
"Okay, can we get back on the vampire tip here? These guys were here with a purpose," Buffy said, hoping to stop any impending fight between the two adults. Really, Angel and Xander could be better behaved in a room than they could.
"Yes, yes, and, uh, we must, uh, ascertain what that purpose is," Giles said.
"Where's your friend?"
"I sent him home," Buffy answered.
"Oh, uh, good," Giles said sitting down. "Yes, the less he's involved in all this, the safer he'll be."
"He did bag a vamp his first time out," Buffy said. Giles moved a book from atop another, exposing an old picture. "Gotta give him credit for..." Buffy paused what she was saying as she noticed the picture and finished softly, "that."
"Something wrong?" Jenny asked.
"Who's this?" Buffy asked, picking up the picture.
"Um, she's called Drusilla, a sometime paramour of Spike's. She was killed by an angry mob in Prague."
"Well, they don't make angry mobs like they used to, 'cause this girl's alive. I saw her with Angel."
"She's a vampire," Xander said, stepping out from the shadows. "Angel says she's his greatest mistake, and she's gunning for me."
"How do you know?" Jenny asked.
"Angel talked to her the other day, that's when you saw them, Buffy. Apparently she plans to use you as bait or something to get to me," Xander said.
"Isn't Angel supposed to be a good guy?" Jenny asked.
"He is," Xander said. "As much as I hate to admit it, Soul Boy isn't chatting her up for a good time behind the Bronze."
"I think maybe we need to read up on this nice lady," Jenny suggested.
"Well, some of my new volumes may be more helpful," Giles said. "Uh, my own research is..."
They turned toward the office just as a blond vampire ran out. Xander moved to intercept her, but she shoved Giles into him and then vaulted over the table and railing escaping through the stacks. Xander stood back up and helped Giles up.
"Are you guys okay?" Jenny asked.
"Giles, lose some weight," Xander muttered, as he dusted himself off. Buffy came over and helped Giles to a chair.
"A book!" Giles said. "It took one of my books!"
"Well, at least someone in this school is reading," Jenny said.
"He said he killed it," Buffy muttered. "That's the vampire Ford said he killed."
"Oh, well, I have news about your buddy," Xander said. "He's dying and plans to become a vampire. I have a feeling he made some sort of deal with that vampire to that effort."
"What?" Buffy said, not wanting to believe that her long time friend wanted to become the very thing she killed.
"I smelled death on him and after telling Willow and Angel my suspicions, Angel must have had Willow do some looking for a paper trail, but none was found. She found only references to a club, The Sunset Club, down in the warehouse district. Willow, Angel, and I investigated; it's full of wannabe vampires."
"You guys investigated my friend?" Buffy asked, feeling a bit hurt that they went behind her back. But also feeling a bit heart-warmed that they were willing to do so to make sure she wasn't hurt.
"Nosferatu don't get false alarms on their senses," Xander said. "I'm going to see if the trail hasn't gone cold on that vampire."
Drusilla stood before a bird cage speaking to the bird inside, despite the fact that the bird was dead. "You sing the sweetest little song. Won't you sing for me, hmm? Don't you love me anymore?"
Lucius, a brunet male vampire, walked in to see her, but stood back and waited. "Come on," she whistled. "I'll pout, if you don't sing."
Lucius cleared his throat, but was ignored by the sadistic, insane vampire. "I'll give you a seed if you sing."
"Uh, Lady Drusilla?" Lucius tried again.
"What?" she asked, finally deciding the bird was boring.
"This is so cool!" Ford said, excited. Lucius who had been about to speak turned to the human. "I would totally live here."
"Who's on watch?" Lucius called. "Or did someone call for delivery?"
"I came looking for Drusilla," Ford said.
"Oh, the bait for the trap," Drusilla said.
"You already know what I'm going to propose?" Ford said. "That doesn't sound very fun."
The blond female vampire from earlier came in and handed Lucius the book. "This has the necessary spells," he told Drusilla.
"That's good, Daddy will help me be strong," Drusilla said.
"So what do you have to offer?" Lucius asked the human.
"I want to be a vampire," Ford said.
"Can I eat him, Drusilla?" Lucius asked.
"No, hear the rest of what he has to say," Drusilla said.
"I'm offering you a trade," Ford said. "You make me a vampire, and I give you the Slayer."
A clapping sound was heard from the ceiling. "Bravo, very nice," Xander said, "except you will get nowhere near the Slayer."
They all looked up to see Xander leaning against one of the support rafters on the ceiling. He stepped off, as if stepping off a curb and dropped down, landing with about as much force as a feather. "If you had just stuck to your little night club, you might have become a vampire, but you chose this route and now I just have to kill you."
"How did you find us?" Drusilla asked, frightened.
"Your book thief wasn't smart enough to stay hidden," Xander said, removing the Casull from his cloak.
Most vampires, when confronted with guns, merely laughed. Unless it was a large caliber automatic, guns generally didn't have enough fire power to do more than put a hole in a vamp. They would, heal, unless the person used silver bullets. The thing was; the Casull contained large caliber, hollow point rounds made from blessed silver that had been melted down from crosses. The Casull was a vampire killing gun.
Lucius and his fellow vampires looked at the Casull, then looked at Xander, "You're going to hurt us with that little pea shooter?"
"No," Xander said. "I'm going to kill you." Lucius' head became little more than pulp even as his body dusted. This was followed by ten more vampires, who had hoped that numbers would overwhelm the gun, which was true. He ran out of bullets at number nine, but simply thrust his hand through number ten's chest. "That was a nice little fight," Xander said. "So, other than Angel, you're the last member of the Scourge of Europe," Xander addressed Drusilla.
Ford stood to the side, watching the speed and power of Buffy's friend.
"Are you going to dust me, like you did my Spike?"
"No," Xander said. He then leapt forward allowing his jaw to unhinge and clamped his shark-like teeth on Drusilla's neck. This was the memory of his great-great grandfather prodding him. Drusilla had some sort of precognitive gift, and he could get it by drinking her blood. Her blood tasted of magic.
Ford whimpered in the corner, even as Drusilla fell from Xander's mouth as a dried out husk, which turned to dust as soon as it touched the floor of the warehouse. Xander then turned to Ford, as the blood dripped from his mouth, "You wanted to become a vampire?"
"More than anything," Ford said.
"No, you don't," Xander said. "You wanted a parody of life as a demon's puppet."
"Turn me," Ford begged.
"Even if I wanted to," Xander said finally with-in arm's length of Ford, "I could not." He reached up and placed a hand on Ford's head and said, "My sort only changes virgins of the opposite sex." With a twist of his wrist he snapped Ford's neck, killing him instantly.
Buffy and Giles stood facing the gravestone which read, "William Fordham", along with a date of birth nearly eighteen years prior. "He was only seventeen," she whispered.
"And Jesse was only sixteen," Giles said.
"It'd be simpler if I could hate him," Buffy said. "I think he would have wanted me to. I think it made it easier for him to be the villain of the piece. Really, he was just scared."
"Yes, I suppose he was."
"Nothing's ever simple anymore," Buffy said. "I'm constantly trying to work it out. Who to love or hate. Who to trust. It's just, like, the more I know, the more confused I get."
"I believe that's called growing up."
"I'd like to stop then, okay?"
"I know the feeling," Giles said.
"Does it ever get easy?"
"You mean life?"
"Yeah. Does it get easy?"
"What do you want me to say?" Giles asked.
"Lie to me," Buffy said, as they turned away from the grave and began to leave the cemetery.
"Yes, it's terribly simple," Giles began. "The good guys are always stalwart and true, the bad guys are easily distinguished by their pointy horns or black hats, and, uh, we always defeat them and save the day. No one ever dies, and everybody lives happily ever after."
"Liar," Buffy said sadly.
Mass Suicide at Cult Hang Out
The bodies of twenty teenagers were found in the bomb shelter of a warehouse this morning. The teens' blood tested positive for cyanide poisoning as did the drinks served at the bomb shelter turned cult hang out.
Experts claim the cult worshiped vampires...
"Cyanide poisoning?" Sir Integra Wingates Fairbrook Hellsing asked her butler.
"Unlikely," Walter said. "The town is known for its PCP gangs and homicidal barbeque forks."
"Vampires?" she asked.
"Of the demonic sort," Walter said.
"The question, then, is, was it the vampires that killed the teens, or something else supernatural?"
"On the Boca del Infierno, it could have been anything," Alucard said, slipping from the wall. "However, it is interesting the article makes no mention of funeral arrangements."
Sir Integra looked back at the article to verify this, "They're ghouls?"
"More than likely this entire article is a cover-up," Walter agreed. Alucard nodded his head towards the Angel of Death.
"Then the question becomes," he began, "why the teenagers?"
Xander shook his head and tossed the paper aside. "Something wicked this way comes," he muttered, as he slipped into the coffin that Giles had set up for him in the basement.
End Notes:
Regarding the Casull: More about this next chapter. I know, I'm teasing you, but I actually have a sound theory for it.
Regarding Seras: I got a lot of questions (mostly on tth) about her. This chapter takes place early winter of 1997, next chapter will be end of November 1997. Seras does not become a vampire until 1999 in Hellsing canon. That is not changing. She would tip the balances way too much at this point anyways.
Regarding The Hellsing Organization: Integra, Alucard, and Walter will only have cameos until at least chapter 5 (see above note about Seras).
Regarding Buffy canon: I reiterate what I wrote above. This is the last chapter that I rely on the show's writers for any dialog or action. "The Dark Age" and everything that happens after this point does not exist. This does not mean that I won't borrow things from the episodes, but for my plans to work certain things will not happen.
Regarding Bindings and Xander's Power: Xander doesn't yet know a lot about his powers, he's learning. Like the classic "Halloween" episode, he retains the memories of his costumed persona, but the fall secondary to his own memories. This means, that while he now has the knowledge of his ancestor and all his powers, he has to work at integrating them into his own memories. This means, Xander doesn't feel the need to bind his powers. I might, sometime after chapter 5, bind Xander to either Joyce or Giles, but a new plot twist has eliminated Buffy, Willow, or Cordelia.
Regarding Xander-Hate: After this chapter there will be some issues between Xander and Buffy, but otherwise, he's still mostly their friend. He drinks medical blood (or pig's blood) and not directly from humans. Buffy (and the others) can't hate him for being different when they accept Angel just fine.
Regarding the Coffin: In case someone wants to know where Giles got it, the answer is, I don't know. Where does Walter get them in Hellsing? I haven't bothered trying to buy a coffin...though I did tell some people I know that I wish to get one just so I can shut out all the light and get my vampiric sleep during the day.
Regarding Questions: Please review, especially if you have a question. I cannot answer your confusion if I don't know what confuses you (or rewrite something to make things clearer). This is also an opportunity to correct my grammar and punctuation and tenses and everything else. I also respond to every review, no matter how short or long.