An electronic ringing sound echoed through Dria's new apartment
yanking her up out of sleep. With a groan, she rolled over in bed
and reached across the still snoring Zakya to grab the phone.
" 'lo?"
{Dria? That you?}
Dria rolled her eyes and sighed.
"Who else would it be, Will? If I don't answer the phone, no one
else will. Well...maybe Zak, but he's still asleep...I swear, that
man will steep through *anything*."
A soft deep chuckle sounded over the phone line for a moment, but
then Will grew silent. Dria frowned and looked over at the clock. It
was only a little past midnight, but she had work in the morning.
She was expected on the construction site almost before the sun
and the gang knew that. She was almost always asleep and in bed
by ten thirty...eleven o'clock at the latest. Unless it was a Scooby
emergency. She sighed.
"Will? What...what happened? Is everything okay? With the guys,
I mean?"
{Uh...that's sort of why I'm calling. Barry ran into something on
patrol tonight. Some...guy or something. Apparently it was pretty
nasty. This guy kicked Barry's butt and even the toys Rachael
managed to steal from the Initiative before she left the military
wasn't helping.}
Dria gasped in shock...and felt a tiny tendril of fear. It was hard to
believe that *anything* could kick Barry's butt around. After all,
he was the Chosen One. The One Man in all the world chosen to
fight the forces of darkness and evil. Even the gang's pet vampire,
Ice Princess couldn't defeat Barry. Chip not withstanding.
"Oh...wow. Will, that's..."
{Yeah. I felt the same way. Anyway, Glass has called an
emergency meeting. Sorry...I know you were sleeping and all.}
Dria bit back a groan.
"No, no. It's...it's okay. I'll just shake Zak awake and we'll get
dressed and head over. No problem Will."
{Cool. I...ah, I guess I'll see you later then. Todd and I are heading
over to the Magic Box now.}
"Okay...see you later."
Dria hung up the phone and rolled over onto her back. Staring up
at her bedroom ceiling, she sighed. It looked like it was going to be
a long night of research followed by an even longer day at work
when she was totally exhausted. Casually, she reached up one slim
hand and gently scratched an itch under her left breast. She was
unamused.
%%%%%%%%%
Ice glanced up from where she was sitting in her beat up old
recliner to see who it was that was slamming open the door to her
crypt. The pale blue light from her telly leached the color out of
everything, masking it with a flickering blue glow, but it didn't
matter. Ice couldn't mistake the Slayer and his fuck-toy for anyone
else. Quickly stifling a groan, Ice offered up an irritated smirk
instead.
"Slayer."
Ice transferred her glare to the shorter woman who still insisted on
wearing military style clothing despite her having left the Marines.
"Tart."
Rachael glared back, but Barry wasn't in the mood to play
obviously, because suddenly Ice found herself yanked out of her
chair and flung across the room. In a blur of motion, the Slayer had
her pinned up against the dank marble wall, his large
supernaturally strong hand around her throat.
"I need you to get your undead skanky ho ass *over* to the Magic
Box *now* to help us to research a new Demon in town. I'm *not*
in the mood to play with you Ice. Help us now, or chip or no chip,
I'll stake you. If nothing else, it'll make me feel better."
Something in Barry's eyes made Ice bite back the retort that was on
the tip of her tongue. Instead of verbally flaying the Slayer and her
bit of fluff, she simply nodded, smiled and then demanded more
blood and a cartoon of smokes for her assistance.
Regina Glass sat at the head of the table, several dusty tomes in
front of her and a cup of tea by her side as she glanced around the
room at her "children". It never ceased to fill her with an odd sense
of maternal pride whenever she watched these young folks work so
diligently at a problem. Well...excluding Ice, of course. Regina
merely wished the bleached blonde vampire would just...go away.
Barry, her Slayer, sat next to his lover as they both scanned
through thick books intently for some clue as to what it was they
had come across. Will and his lover Todd were also looking
through books, however, they were looking through books of
magic instead. Searching for defensive spells as well as offensive
spells. Anything that could help to strengthen the Slayer while
weakening this human appearing demon in search of...of all
things, a key.
And then there was Dria. Regina had often worried about the girl
when she had been younger. It was a well hidden fact that the poor
thing's home life was not the most pleasant, but the issue that had
worried Regina so was the girl's seemingly directionless drifting
through life. But it seemed that things were finally coming together
for the girl. She now had a respectable job, one she both enjoyed
and was good at and she had moved away from her less than caring
parents. Dria's taste in romantic partners was still horrible, but
Regina had hope. The other issues had worked themselves out with
the girl's growing maturity...perhaps this propensity for dating
demons...and even *ex* demons would also end.
Speaking of the ex Vengeance Demon...where was he? Regina
looked around, but she didn't see her shop assistant anywhere. That
was odd. Usually Zak didn't like to be away from Dria for any
length of time unless it involved the earning of money.
Looking around, Regina noticed that the bathroom door was wide
open and the light was out, so it was unlikely that Zak had slipped
off to the loo. Frowning, the Watcher looked out over her sleepy
and worried charges.
"Where's Zak? Did anyone see him leave?"
%%%%%%%%%%%
Dria sat there stunned. She held up the paper once more, Zak's neat
precise handwriting staring back at her. She drew in a shaky
breath, not even noticing the lone tear that dripped down her
cheek.
Taking a brief moment to steady herself, Dria read the words
again, her heart breaking.
~
Dria,
I know you will most likely hate me when you finish reading this,
and I am sorry for that. I do love you. And if you are smart, you
will leave as well.
Run. Run far far away.
I know what it is that Barry is searching for and he will not defeat
this one, for it's not a demon the Slayer faces, but a HellGod. Benj
Amin is one of the Unholy Triad that rules over the Demon
Dimension. He was cast out after a war and imprisoned in the flesh
of a mortal woman. He must have found a way to escape.
I am mortal now, and while my life is not perfect, it is the only one
I have. I love you Dria, but not enough to throw that life away.
I am sorry and I wish you the very best.
Goodbye,
Zakya
~
Silently, Dria stood up and walked to the back of the shop to find a
private place to cry, the letter falling from her hands to drift
unnoticed to the floor.
Ice stood locked in indecision for a long moment, torn between
following the bint who reminded her so strongly of her Sire and
listening in to what the Slayer, the Watcher and the two Warlocks
were talking about.
Moving silently as only the undead can, Ice crept over and picked
up the discarded letter left by Zak even as she concentrated on the
whispered conversation on the far side of the room.
Apparently, Zak had recognized Barry's description of the demon
and had fled in fear. And listening to the Watcher chit reading
what little information that they actually had on the bloke, Ice
couldn't really blame Zak for scrambling out of here. But that still
left Dria all messed up, and the chit's mates didn't even seem to
notice.
Carefully folding up the letter, Ice slipped out of the front room to
hunt the woman down. The blonde vampire found the mortal in
Barry's training area, huddled in a miserable heap on the floor, her
face turned to look out through one of the windows, her bronze
skin washed pale by the moonlight. Combined with her ebony
curls, the resemblance to Ice's Sire Angela was even stronger than
ever.
The sight of the dark haired and dark eyed woman sitting in the
dark and brooding in sadness and hurt tugged at something deep
inside of Ice. But she refused to admit it...at least out loud.
Reaching into one of the pockets of her leather duster, the vampire
pulled out an ice pick, her trademark weapon, and began twirling
it. She spun it around once, twice and then flipped it up into the air.
It whirled in place for a long second and then descended. With
practiced ease, Ice snatched it out of the air and twirled it again.
"That's not real reassuring, you know."
The mortal girl's voice was watery and thick, but filled with that
odd sort of determination that Ice had seen shine through before.
"What? This?"
The bleached demon gestured to the ice pick in her hand. Dria
nodded.
"Bloody hell pet. Can't hurt you with it. Chip. Remember?"
Dria flashed her a weak grin and shrugged.
"Um...that's not what I meant. I...uh...Well, you only play with it
when you're hunting something, and I knew it wasn't me 'cause I'm
not a demon, or..."
Dria trailed off and glanced away. Ice sauntered over to the girl
and leaned back against the wall, then she folded her knees and
slid down to sit beside her.
"Or?..."
After a moment, Dria turned to face Ice again. Her dark eyes were
haunted with sadness...and fear.
"Or when you're nervous about something. It's like your, I don't
know, undead security blanket or something."
Ice glanced down at the ice pick in her hands and smirked with
wry amusement. It was true after all, she just never thought that the
Scooby Gang paid enough attention to her to figure that out.
Shaking her head, she reached into a different pocket and pulled
out her cigarettes. Sliding one into her mouth, she then began to
hunt down her ever elusive lighter.
"Don't worry your head over it pet. Slayer's in a snit and I fancy
that he'd like to see my lovely self turning into a pile of ash at the
end of his stake."
Dria looked deeply into her own blue eyes for a long moment and
Ice knew that her easy lie was not fooling the other woman, but
Dria didn't call her on it. Finally, she found her lighter and then the
two women spent the remainder of the research session staring out
at the moon together in thoughtful silence.
%%%%%%%%%%%
Don Summerton walked into the Magic Box looking for his older
brother with barely repressed panic shining out of his hazel eyes. A
quick glance around showed him that the two Warlocks were there,
both of them hunched over the same book. It looked like they
didn't know if they wanted to study or make out. Don was betting
it was both, and that if they could figure out a way to do both at the
same time, they would. Barry's Watcher, Miss Regina Glass was
standing over at the cash register where Zak usually stood and it
took a moment for Don to remember that Barry had told him about
the ex-demon skipping out of town late last night.
Stalking forward, the young teenager pushed those momentary
distractions aside. There was something much more important
going on, and truthfully, it was a bit frightening.
"Glass! Is Barry here? I...I need to speak to him. It's...it's sort of
important."
The older woman looked up with a distracted expression on her
face, but after a quick appraisal of Don, her expression morphed
into instant concern. She quickly walked around the counter and
over to him.
"No...he's still at Uni, I'm afraid. Barry's last class won't let out for
another forty-five minutes."
Don winced and his shoulders slumped down.
"Don? What happened honey? Is...is there anything that I can do?"
Don glanced up at Glass for a moment considering. He knew that
she wouldn't make fun of him, but she might not take him
seriously. Still...
"It's just that...Two things happened today. Both of them were
*really* bizarre."
Glass nodded her head, her salt and pepper hair caught up in an
elegant sweeping bun, and for a brief moment, Don wondered how
she got it to stay up without coming undone when her head moved.
Don was pulled out of his thoughts when the Watcher shooed him
over to the table with the two Warlocks.
"Go. Sit down and I'll get you a cup of tea. That'll soothe your
nerves a bit and then you can tell us what has so upset you."
Don nodded and went to sit down. Todd grinned at him shyly and
Will just reached out and squeezed his shoulder in support. Don
offered a weak smile back at the guys. He'd known Will since he
was just a child, hell...the red haired guy had helped Dria to
*baby-sit* him. And Don really liked Todd. He was good for Will
and made him happy. They made a good couple and they always
went out of their way to *not* make him feel like a "kid" and Don
appreciated that. Honestly, he was glad they were here. Their
presence alone was helping to make him feel better.
Then Glass was back, a cup of tea in her hands. She gently settled
it on the table in front of him and sat down next to him. One of her
delicate and ink stained hands came up to rest on his arm.
"Okay. Just...just tell us what happened. Try to remember as many
details and you can. The more we know, the better we'll be able to
help you."
Don nodded, took a sip of the tea and then proceeded to tell them
about the drug addict on the way to visit his sick father and then
the crazy person at the hospital. And how both of them had insisted
that he, Don, wasn't a *real* person, but a sparkling glowing ball
of energy. They tried to comfort him with platitudes, but when he
asked why two different people in two different places had said
almost the exact same thing, no one could answer him.
Todd merely suggested they could find a spell that would show
them what the druggie and the lunatic had seen. Will agreed.
Dria heard the banging on her door and jerked awake. With a
startled look around, she realized that she was in her apartment and
sleeping, uncomfortably at that, on her couch. A flash of memory
informed her that after work, she had dragged herself home, made
a quick bowl of soup and then sacked out in front of the television.
Standing quickly, she stretched, adjusted her clothing and clicked
off the set with the remote. There was still someone banging at her
door, so with a resigned and sad sigh, she shuffled over to answer
it. Standing up on tip-toes, she peered through the peep-hole...and
sighed again.
A quick flick of her wrist unlocked her deadbolt and then she was
twisting the knob to open the door. With a glare that spoke
volumes, Dria faced the bleached blonde vampire standing in the
doorway.
"What are you doing here Ice? We're not roomies anymore,
remember? You stole my radio and moved into a damp and dreary
crypt. It's that way."
Dria pointed down the hallway towards the exit. Ice smirked and
rolled her blue eyes before gesturing to the interior of the
apartment.
"Gonna invite me in pet?"
"No."
Ice grinned at her.
"Fine. I won't give you the message from Will and Todd then.
Have a lovely night, ducks."
With that, Ice turned on her heels and began to saunter off, her hips
swinging from side to side as if she hadn't a care in the world. Dria
stood there uncertainly for a moment nibbling on her lip before she
broke.
"Fine! Please Ice, do come in."
The bleached blonde bimbo stopped in mid-step and grinned back
over her shoulder at the brunette. Then, she twirled around, black
duster flaring out around her. She sauntered back down the
hallway and past Dria to enter the apartment.
Dria sighed as she shut the door. Turning, she watched as the
vampire slowly looked around her new place.
"Nice flat you have here. Much better than the Basement of Doom,
have to give you that."
With another sigh, Dria stormed past the blonde and into the
kitchen. She opened the fridge and pulled out a diet coke and
glared at her unwanted guest.
"Yeah. Message. Now."
Ice turned and graced Dria with a look that was meant to be
startled innocence, but fell short of the mark. The vampire just
couldn't *do* innocent, no matter how hard she tried.
"Right. The pounce and the pouf wanted me to fetch you for some
sort of Pow-Wow about that HellGod bloke. They think they know
what...or who, the guy was hunting for."
Dria couldn't hide her instant interest and she quickly finished off
the rest of her drink. Nodding quickly, she threw it in the recycle
bin and walked back out into the living room.
"No problem. I'll just get changed real quick and then we can be
off."
As she went to walk past the vampire to her bedroom, Dria felt a
cool slim palm grab hold of her bottom and squeeze. She shrieked
and twirled. Ice was standing there with a self-satisfied grin on her
face.
"What in the name of the Hellmouth do you think you're doing
grabbing my butt like that?"
Ice just grinned harder.
"Coping a feel?"
Dria ground her teeth together for a moment until a thought hit her.
Then she was just confused.
"Uh...I didn't think you swung that way Ice. What's up with that?"
Ice rolled her eyes and snickered.
"Vampire here pet. We swing in *every* direction. Besides, my
Sire wasn't always a broody cow of a nun, you know. There was a
time when she was a dark and evil seductress."
Ice waggled her eyebrows. Dria grimaced.
"Too much information there Ice. I didn't *really* need that mental
visual. Thank you *so* much."
Ice snickered and Dria went to go change clothes.
%%%%%%%%%%
Barry looked over as the door to the Magic Box swung open and
he tensed up. His Slayer senses were screaming that a vampire was
near. Then, he saw Dria and Ice walk in. Slowly, his body began to
relax as he forced his mind to override his instincts. With the chip,
Ice wasn't a threat.
For a moment, Barry felt bad for Dria. He took in her tired eyes
and slouched posture and realized that the girl had been running
for two days on little sleep...and had been dumped in the process.
And yet here she was, willing and ready to help out.
A big part of him wanted to go over and offer comfort and support,
as well as offer to knock Zak's head through a wall if the jerk ever
showed up again, but he didn't. He still remembered the crush Dria
had once had for him and how awkward everything had been
because of it. He didn't want to accidentally encourage the girl.
Then Don walked out of the bathroom and sat down next to him.
Instantly all thoughts about Dria fled Barry's mind as he once more
boggled over the fact that his annoying twerp of a brother was, in
fact, this mysterious "key" that Benj Amin was searching for.
A twinge of real fear sizzled through him and he swore once again,
that he would do anything, *anything*, to protect his brother.
It had taken several hours of solid research, plus a phone call to her
dozy mare of a Sire turned nun up in L.A. Angela didn't know
anything, nor did that wanker of an ex-boyfriend of Dria's.
Chastity hadn't even been around to ask. Ice was certain the little
street tramp was out either making unlife bloody hell for some
poor unfortunate vamp or sleeping with some stud from her stable
of men. That other ex-Watcher bint had heard of Benj Amin,
though. And she'd flown into instant P.M.S. when his name was
mentioned.
So, because her frigid cow of a Sire was convinced that the sun
rose and set in Wanda-poo's eyes and Cord was getting all snotty
and stuck up about everything, the Angel Investigations team was
coming down to help out. Ice idly wondered if she would rather
stay for the upcoming fireworks...or just beg the Slayer to stake
her now.
That bitch Rachael didn't look too happy about the thought of
having to compete with Angela for Barry's attention and Ice was
all for that. Anything that made Rachael chew on her own liver
was at least a *little* bit fun. And Sire baiting was always
entertaining. However, Ice wasn't too sure that the idea of Cord
showing up to comfort the grief-stricken Dria was, to use a
Sunnyhellism, "of the good".
Dria and Cord had split up a while ago, but how long would the
bint last with all those rippling muscles being flashed around?
Okay, granted, there was Barry looking all edible all the time, but
that was different. There were no sweaty closet memories between
*those* two, now was there?
And Ice wanted the girl for herself.
%%%%%%%%%%%%
Tension was rising high and tempers were starting to fray. Will
watched with a sinking feeling in his gut as Angela became the
focal point of a lot of unease and mistrust. Barry was wavering
between his obvious desire to sweep the brunette vampire off of
her feet and wanting to stay as far away as possible. Rachael
looked green with envy and if looks could kill, Angela would be a
pile of dust. And Ice? Well, the blonde vampire just kept popping
up with snide comments and rude observations that either made her
Sire wince or growl threateningly.
Glass was trying desperately not to be snippy and short with
Wanda and Wanda was trying not to be an annoying bitch, but
their dislike of each other was plain to see to those who knew them
well. Still, they were doing better than Ice and Angela...or Rachael
and Angela for that matter. With a sad shake of his head, Will
realized once again that females were crazy.
Speaking of crazed females, Will was also worried about Dria. He
loved the woman like his own sister, but she was not acting like
herself. And Cord just kept watching her silently. Will didn't know
if he wanted the other man to go comfort his friend or not. Over
the past year, Will had grown closer to the other man as they had
stayed in touch. Usually, when either group had a problem and
needed help, it was them who were elected to contact the other. For
various reasons. And so...here they were, semi-friends.
Then there was Don. The poor kid looked like he wanted to throw
up from the tension and fear, but was forcing himself to keep it
together so he didn't look like a child. Don was at that age where
any sort of hint, no matter how insignificant, that he wasn't a man
was met with major hostility. And this whole situation was a harsh
blow to his fragile ego.
All in all, Will would have liked nothing better than to just grab
Todd and head on home. A nice hot shower and then a long hard
fuck would do wonders for his attitude. And Todd may be quiet
and reserved around Will's friends, but in the sack the man was a
powerhouse.
With a sigh, Will glanced over at his lover. Todd looked up and
their eyes met. Silently they communicated their mutual desire and
then grinned. Later. Definitely get some hard fast loving later.
But right now, it was time to work.
%%%%%%%%%%%
Angela sighed in resignation. The battle plan itself was simple
enough. Very little to actually screw up. And that was good. There
was no exact timing to worry about, no need to hunt down some
lost and obscure weapon. Things were easily divided into jobs by
talent and ability.
The two Warlocks and the two ex-Watchers, both of which were
fairly decent witches would perform the spell that would, in theory,
weaken Benj Amin. With the HellGod distracted and vulnerable,
she and Barry were to attack and fight him. During this time, the
remaining members of the two groups were to hold of any of
Benj's warriors and minions. They were hoping that if Benj Amin
were injured enough, that he would be forced to return to the form
of the mortal woman he'd been imprisoned in. At that point, the
Warlocks would use a spell to bind Benj to that form, effectively
neutralizing him.
Simple. Easy. Until Angela looked out over the "troops". Then she
cringed. Ice, despite her puffed up attitude and arrogance was very
vulnerable when it came to humans and it had been discovered that
Benj used mentally deranged humans as minions. And Dria, in
spite of her bravery and fighting skills, was no match for the
demons. Angela had been worried about them both.
Ironically, it was Ice herself that came up with the best solution to
both of their problems. Twirling her ever-present ice pick in one
hand, the blonde vampire had sauntered over to the brunette
woman and smirked.
"You keep those nutters off of me and I'll keep the demon spawn
off of you. What'cha say pet? Deal?"
And amazingly, to Angela at least, Dria had agreed without
hesitation. She almost wanted to warn the mortal girl not to trust
her childe, that Ice was not likely to keep up her end of the bargain,
but stopped herself when she realized that not one of the
Sunnydale bunch even raised an eyebrow at this arrangement. Cord
and Wanda both exchanged looks complete with raised eyebrows,
but they held their tongues as well. Chastity just shook her head.
What's more, Angela felt...odd about going into battle with
Rachael. She wasn't convinced that the other woman wouldn't try
to sneak up behind her and shove a stake in her back.
And Barry? Angela wasn't sure which was worse. The ache in her
heart or the ache in her groin. Every time she looked over at the
handsome blonde Slayer, she had visions of either sappy romantic
candlelight dinners...or riding his thick cock into a shattering
orgasm. Unfortunately, the curse wouldn't let her enjoy either
option.
Then, finally, the plans were finished being drawn up and the
translation of the spell was completed. With a tired sigh, Glass
offered her and her team the hospitality of her home and advised
everyone else to get to theirs. Tomorrow night would be a tense
one, and she wanted everyone to get plenty of sleep.
Dria had dressed carefully for the festivities planned for the
evening. Loose fitting and comfortable jeans combined with her
work boots ensured she had lots of leg movement and the ability to
run if needed. A loose, but not baggy T-shirt over her favorite
sports bra would ensure arm and shoulder movement, but was
unlikely to catch on anything. And just like she did for work, her
dark hair was caught behind her neck in a long braid.
She looked like a homegrown tom-boy and she knew it, but that
didn't matter. Comfort, speed and mobility was the name of this
game. And the fact that Angela, Ice and Chastity looked like a trio
of biker chicks that could your kick ass to hell and back or fuck
you into unconsciousness depending on their current mood did
*not* make her feel frumpy and plain. Honest. She *wasn't*
jealous of the three other women.
However, it was difficult to convince herself of that when she
walked into the Magic Box only to have all three women turn and
stare at her. Of course, it was Ice who opened her trap and made a
snide comment.
"Oh goodie. It's the glorified brick layer. We're all saved now."
Dria glared.
"Stuff it blondie or there won't be enough of you left for Benj
Amin's lunatics to torment."
Ice flashed her a wide grin and hissed playfully as she "clawed" at
the air with one hand.
"Love it when your bitchy pet. Makes me all tingly inside, it does."
Dria rolled her eyes and tried not to giggle. Laughing at her would
only encourage her. A slight snicker escaped. Oops.
"Honestly, one of these days I'm just going to set your entire
wardrobe on fire. Burn it to the ground and force you to start all
over. Maybe next time you'll get it bloody right."
Dria grinned back at the blonde vampire.
"You know...its comments like those that will get all of your
lighters and matches taken away. And then we will all sit back and
laugh at you when you have a nicotine fit over the cigarettes you
can no longer light."
Ice mock frowned at her, shaking her close cropped white blonde
head.
"Now, now, ducks. That's not a nice thing to threaten a girl with.
Not nice at all. And I haven't even groped you once yet tonight.
You're *supposed* to save the good threats for *after* I've coped a
feel. Remember?"
Suddenly, all conversation stopped and all eyes swung to stare at
Dria. Instantly, she felt her cheeks go bright red and she wondered
if a person could die from embarrassment. In either case, she was
giving it a good try at the moment.
"Ice!"
Dria hissed at the vampire, trying desperately to convey the idea to
just *shut up*, but the bleach the vampire used must have sunk
into her brain at some point, because she just smirked harder and
stage whispered to Cord.
"Dria's got one lovely arse and it feels good in your hand. Oh. But
you already knew that, didn't you mate?"
With a resigned sigh, Dria closed her eyes and wondered if it was
too much to hope that the Hellmouth would open up under her feet
and suck her into Hell. It couldn't be *that* bad, right?
%%%%%%%%%%%
The fight was going wonderfully. Ice could hear the Warlocks and
the Witches chanting their little hearts out and the stink of mojo
hung thick in the air. The sounds of weapons clanking off of
weapons filled her ears, with the occasional scream or whimper
acting as some sort of staccato accent to the music of violence.
Barry and the undead nun were fighting with Benj Amin and they
weren't doing bad. The HellGod was taking a pounding...even if
he was giving a great go of getting his own back on the gruesome
twosome.
Angela's two pet humans were on one side of the large factory
battling it out with a bunch of Benj's hired help while she and the
butch bitch were fighting it out over here. Actually, Dria wasn't
doing all that bad. Her skills in taking out the 'bad guys' had
improved greatly over the past year or two and Ice was more than
willing to take the credit for it. Even though she knew it had more
to do with helping the Slayer spar and long talks and workouts
with the General's Daughter.
Speaking of Rachael, Ice looked around trying to locate the dozy
mare...and managed to leap out of the way just in time to miss
being hit with a crossbow bolt. She glared up and saw the bint
reloading her weapon up on the crosswalk overhead. She growled
low in her throat, indignant anger overwhelming her for a moment.
She was forcibly yanked back to the battle around her when with a
shouted, "Ice! Look out!" she was shoved aside by Dria as the
young woman swung her sword, the flat of it smacking a crazed
human in the side of the head, knocking him to the floor
unconscious.
"Ta pet."
And with that, Ice spun around the brunette human and leapt onto
the startled demon that had attempted to sneak up on them.
Part Seven
Angela watched with a shudder of horrified fascination as the
handsome features of Benj Amin blurred and then melted into that
of a stunningly beautiful woman. A woman with sad and haunted
eyes.
"I'm...I'm so sorry. I...I can't stop him from...from taking control.
I..."
Barry just stared at the woman, compassion and anger warring in
his honest eyes. Angela felt the conflicting urge to comfort the
woman...and kill her. Barry was obviously fighting that same
internal battle. But than Will came up and his soft and soothing
voice took that decision away. Both she and Barry sighed softly in
relief.
"Shhh...it's okay. We're here to help actually. We, me and my
lover, we're going to cast a spell on you. It will keep Benj Amin
from breaking free again."
The look of utter relief that flashed over the woman's face was
heartbreaking. Helping out as best as she could with the
preparations, Angela watched silently as the Warlocks began the
spell.
It was a fairly simple spell, but it required a massive amount of
power to fuel it. And only the two men were that strong. The ex-
Watchers were both talented and well educated on the subject...but
they lacked that raw gift. As did she herself.
When it was done, Will and Todd both crumpled to the ground in
exhaustion. Without a word, Angela followed Barry's whispered
request that she grab Todd while he himself grabbed Will. It was a
bit awkward since Todd was larger than she was, but she had
preternatural strength to draw on, so it was possible.
Finally, with the exception of Regina Glass, who had dashed back
into the factory to grab something she had left behind, they were
all outside, ready to leave. They were a battered group, tired and
sore. But they were victorious, and that was the most important
thing.
Trying to busy herself in order to calm her raging demon, Angela
began to help Wanda tend to the wounds that the other's had
suffered. And it was because she was concentrating cleaning a
shallow cut on Chastity's shoulder that she completely missed the
sound of a human heartbeat stop and go silent.
Then Glass returned.
%%%%%%%%%%%%
Ice watched her Sire try and burn off the violent energy that all
demons generated in the heat of battle by turning into a fuss-
budget mother hen. The older vampire bustled about offering quiet
words and gentle touches. Which, actually didn't sound that bad to
Ice...just in a different venue.
The blonde shifted around slightly until she could stare at Dria.
The mortal woman looked both tired and exhilarated at the same
time. She knew from her time with the Slayer and his chums that
the girl was riding on a high of endorphins and adrenaline. Soon
enough, she would crash and burn.
But Ice was of a mind to take advantage of the waves of energy
pouring off of the brunette before is dissipated. Causally, she
sauntered over to her while visions of hot steamy sex flittered
through her mind. Dria was tall with lots of leg. And her figure
was lush, filled with interesting curves and hollows. Ice wanted to
explore them all with her hands and her mouth. Preferably soon.
And getting her out of those clothes was just an added bonus.
As she drew near her prey, dark eyes turned to look right into her
own blue ones. Ice smiled and pulled out a cigarette. Then,
overacting a bit to get her point across, she dug in her pockets to
find a lighter. Dria grinned back at her and chuckled. Mission
accomplished, Ice "found" her lighter and flicked it on. Drawing a
deep drag off of her cigarette, she smirked up at the mortal.
"Nice fighting back there pet. You did good...despite your horrid
taste in clothing."
Dria rolled her eyes and shook her head in mock exasperation.
"Ice, Ice, Ice...what am I going to do with you?"
The blonde vampire leered as a mental image of herself tied down
to Dria's bed while the other woman licked her from head to toe
popped into her head, but she didn't voice that idea. They would
work up to it eventually, but it was too soon. Instead, she got
serious and offered up a slight shrug and nodded her head in the
direction of the other side of town.
"You're gonna let me walk you home, ducks."
At Dria's confused look, she explained.
"It's the least I could do for you. It's not nice to let someone get
eaten by demons right after they bash some bloke in the head for
you."
Dria's confusion visibly melted away and she nodded her head. She
hopped down off of the car hood she had been sitting on and tuned
to go, gesturing for Ice to follow. They said a few quick goodbyes
and Dria promised to call everyone tomorrow evening.
Then, they were heading towards the edge of the parking lot,
walking shoulder to shoulder. One vampire and one human. With a
wicked grin on her pretty face, Ice reached out with one hand and
grabbed Dria's arse...and squeezed. The night air was suddenly
shattered by a high-pitched squeal of astonishment only to be
quickly followed by a shouted admonishment.
"Ice!"
END
