1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18
Wordsmith
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The crackling blue light that had surrounded Glorificus when she ransacked the atrium had shorted out much of their monitoring equipment. It was bad enough that they now had to see the goddess to know what she was up to, but this inconvenience left them amazingly vulnerable to their own people. The last thing they needed was some enterprising snake, like McDonald had been, getting his hands on sensitive material. Speaking of snake, Murrow slipped into Lilah Morgan's office unannounced.
Linwood Murrow rarely came to the thirty-sixth floor. It was the highest of the junior partner floors and Lilah had been awarded a coveted spot there shortly after Lindsey had jumped ship. Security was now the only staff present besides Lilah, and a few industrious sycophants. That last little temper tantrum Glorificus had thrown had damaged the structural integrity of the forty-eighth floor and caused malfunctions in both the main and one of the backup electrical systems. Combined with the damage from her previous attempt to amuse herself, upper management had ordered the building evacuated. They had cited concerns for the safety of the staff as their reason, as if the well-being of the janitorial staff was of great importance. Murrow himself would be more concerned with the apparent breakdown in security. Now that all the monitors were dark, he had ordered foot patrols but must be concerned with who would police the security staff. The opportunities for internal espionage were endless, and must seem a little too convenient to management if Linwood was checking up on her at this hour.
"As I recall, your budget for this project didn't mention destroying the building," he said.
"Linwood." Lilah acknowledged his presence, but was rubbing the bridge of her nose and resting both elbows heavily on her desk. "Power's a tricky thing." She lifted her head from her hand and glared at him. "She wants to see the ritual. She said we screwed up. She's sure 'he' is back."
This 'project' was Murrow's folly. Lilah was just unfortunate enough to have won the prize of working for him. It had made sense when they considered reining in the energy that had been released when Glory lost her corporeal form in this realm. For the goddess, it was surely more appealing to have sentience and cognizance. It would enable her to once again start building power, and in time perhaps lower the right wall, to if not to get back to her own world, to at least get to another which had more powerful beings to feed on. All the firm's precogs had been adamant that they would need her ability to punch into other dimensions sometime within the next six months. But Lilah was beginning to doubt that the building would still be standing by then.
"We can't allow that. She'll know..." Murrow said, as he crossed to the sidebar to help himself to the liquor Lilah kept for clients.
"I know that! We followed the ritual to the letter, but somehow she'll be able to tell that the sacrifice didn't work. Instead of a vampire as her corporeal form we ended up with a pile of dust," Lilah said. "No matter what we show her on paper she will know... I'm surprised she hasn't figured it out already."
"Are you sure she hasn't? She's not acting rationally." Linwood stopped in front of the window; whether to contemplate his reflection or watch the lights of the city, Lilah didn't know. Now, he was worrying about what the Diva knew. He couldn't have worried about this before they had sucked her back into their world with a death sentence hanging over her head? Which, without a host to ground her consciousness, was just a matter of time.
"Did she ever act rationally? I'm even more uncomfortable with the six-month
window now that I've met her. Until her energy begins to dissipate due to
the lack of a host, she is damn near invincible." Lilah rose to pour herself
a drink.
"Not so - she was defeated somehow. Has she elaborated on what stopped
her
from opening the portal?" He turned away from his reflection and looked
at Lilah with dawning hope.
"She blames 'him', by which I gather her host screwed the pooch," Lilah said. Swirling the amber liquid in the short tumbler and wishing for ice, she added, "I wouldn't count on that kind of luck a second time."
~~~~~
Lindsey was having trouble dividing his attention between the soft-spoken witch he was conversing with and the rest of the activities going on at their table. There was a time he would not only have been able to do both with ease, but also monitor the rest of the club and mentally review his agenda for an early morning meeting. He was woefully out of practice. At least he hoped he was; the alternative was that the skills he had developed during his tenure at Wolfram and Hart only worked on evil lawyers. Mentally he groaned as he realized he was starting to use their bizarre turns of phrase in his internal monologues. He needed a drink.
Lindsey noticed Gunn struggling not to snort soda through his nose. Gunn and Xander shared an odd camaraderie. From first impressions, the young men appeared to have little in common - one from the an inner city neighborhood blighted by both crime and predators of the less mundane variety, the other from a sleepy little town and a clearly middle class background. One killed vampires, and the other slept with one. Yet they shared a blunt manner and love of the fight.
Both Xander and Gunn were making an effort to draw Miller and Finn into their conversation. Neither of Angel's newest employees possessed Xander's natural ability as a storyteller, but both listened with interest as he was recounting some tale of a beautiful Incan princess - who he had apparently dated in high school. Lindsey thought about mentioning that the last of the Incan princesses had perished hundreds of years ago, but figured if some exchange student had told him she was a princess it wasn't his place to disillusion the young man. His mind boggled, however, as he wondered how the young man had moved from a princess and Miss Cordelia Chase to the infamous William the Bloody.
Realizing he had lost track of the conversation, Tara said to Lindsey, just as Xander paused for breath, "You're making this all much more complicated than it is." Her girlfriend gaped at her and Xander grinned, mid-story.
"Pardon?" Lindsey was uncomfortably aware that he was now the focus of everyone's attention.
"You're trying to figure all this out, right? Who knows who and what it all means? We're friends. I know that the people you used to work for... they wouldn't understand, but I think you can. We're not as sinister as you think. We're just friends." Tara ended by lowering her lashes, and then looking up and shrugging. Willow smiled at her and squeezed her hand.
Xander, whose smile had grown while she spoke and seemed in danger of splitting his face said, "Cordy? You wanna give it a shot?"
Lindsey was, if anything, more confused. The stunning brunette flashed everyone one her bright smiles, including him. She continued to grin, albeit shark-like as she turned her attention fully on him. Her eyes were dancing with amusement and she folded her hands in front of her on the table. "Well, let's see." She winked at Xander. "You'll stop me if I mess up, right? Of course you will."
Xander leaned back, still smiling, and Miller and Finn leaned forward in anticipation of Cordelia's explanation.
"First, Willow fell for Xander, then Xander fell for Buffy, who fell for Angel, who fell right back at her. Then Xander fell for me, naturally, and Tara fell for Willow, who fell back, and Buffy fell for Riley, who fell back too. Then Spike fell for Xander, who apparently lost his mind and any sense of self-preservation and jumped him. And Riley fell for Graham, ditto, because apparently there's something in the water. And being that this is Hellmouth 90210, Lorne will eventually fall for Gunn, and Wesley, poor soul, will most likely end up with you." She smirked and looked over to Xander and said, "I intentionally left out the werewolf and the vengeance demon and the psycho-bitch-Slayer. Oh, and Xander's near-death adventures with Bug-Woman and Incan Mummy Girl."
That remark had Lindsey rethinking just how many of Xander's tall tales were true.
"And Dru," Willow said, smiling at Spike, who came up behind Xander and rested his hands on his mate's broad shoulders.
"I'm pretending that there is no Dru," Cordelia said. Turning her attention to Xander, she frowned with real concern and added, "You know, when she finds out you stole her honey... she's not going to be offering to turn you and telling you your face is a poem. She'll drain you."
"What?" Spike growl. Lindsey winced as he saw how tightly the vamp gripped his mate's shoulders.
"Er..." Xander said, "I told you about that, right?"
~~~~~
Dawn sank into one of the lobby chairs. Fred laughed at her exaggerated exhaustion. She liked Fred. The girl - well, Dawn knew she was a young woman, but she seemed closer to her age than Willow and Xander - was almost a cross between Willow and Tara. She would babble on like Willow about stuff Dawn could barely follow and then abruptly blush and stutter like Tara. She was glad Cordy was bringing her with them tomorrow; it would mean they wouldn't have to act like grown-ups all the time.
Stephanie's mom had been relieved to find an adult, or adult-like, person to leave Dawn with, as she was in a hurry to return to Sunnydale. Fred did most of the listening as they went upstairs and started to get ready for bed. Dawn gave her a fast-forward version of the day.
Dawn went into her room and changed into her favorite pajama bottoms. They were pink and had little yellow fortune cookies on them. Truthfully, they had been Buffy's, but Dawn remembered buying them on that last trip to Old Navy the girls had gone on with Joyce. She and Fred laughed when they met in the bathroom that their rooms shared, since they both wore the same pink Victoria Secret's tee shirt that said 'Angel' in silver script.
They were laughing too hard to brush their teeth as Dawn made up an impromptu cheer that ended with "Go, Brood-boy!" Suddenly, Fred wasn't laughing. She crouched down in the small space between the sink and the toilet, her wide eyes frantically scanning the room. "What's wrong?" Dawn whispered, hunching down herself. Year of experience, or at least invented memories of experience, taught her to always assume everything was dangerous.
"Someone's here," Fred whispered back.
Dawn started to listen then could almost hear Xander's voice saying, 'run if you can, but if you can't, hide - then figure out what's after you.' She looked at Fred and said, "Come on."
~~~~~
Xander inhaled deeply. The air felt cooler after the stuffy club. He was glad that they had decided to take a walk to talk in private. They weren't fighting, not really. Spike had stalked ahead of him but Xander figured he was just enjoying the drama. They hardly ever fought. Snarked? All the time. Bickered? Sure, just another form of foreplay. With Anya, he had always expected her to someday start acting human, to get with the program. But, Spike? Yeah, right. Xander smiled to himself. His thumbs were hitched in the back pockets of his jeans, a distinct disadvantage over baggy cargos, into which he could have shoved his hands in the pockets.
He noticed Spike unobtrusively looking into the windows of the shops they passed. Since the blonde was deprived of the privilege of seeing himself, Xander figured it was his way to make sure Xander kept his attention on his allegedly pissed-off lover. Not exactly a hardship, seeing that the one downfall of having Spike up close and personal as much as he was, was that Xander didn't get nearly enough chances to check out that ass. Well, if you didn't count all the quality naked time they spent.
Xander ambled along, not looking the least bit contrite for supposedly making time with another vamp. He hoped Spike was doing the fake-angry stalk in the direction of the hotel; it had been a long day. Several of the shops were open, which freaked him out since it was after midnight. Not just the mini-mart but a massage parlor, a movie house, and a tattoo and piercing emporium.
Xander paused to examine the colorful anime designs in the window. He had only meant to glance but some of the drawings were amazingly detailed.
"Not getting any of that kiddie stuff, are you?" Spike purred in his ear and slid his arms around Xander's waist. Obviously, short-attention-span boy had decided to forget how offended he had been that Xander hadn't shared the story of his encounter with Drusilla. "Should get a spike, luv, one dripping with blood."
"I have a Spike and if I wanted you dripping with blood I'd open a vein," Xander murmured and leaned back into Spike's arms.
After Spike was able to pull his attention away from Xander's neck, he seemed as fascinated by the photos and drawings as Xander. "Let's go in, Pet."
"No, no," Xander said, shaking his head and digging in his heels. "I know you. You'll kiss me until my brains leak out my ears and I'll end up doing something stupid."
"Xander." Spike nibbled on Xander's ear lobe, sucking the tiny bit of flesh between his blunt teeth.
"Umph," Xander gasped and clarified, "Spike, I am morally opposed to paying people to hurt me."
"Er?" Spike pulled his face away and gave Xander a questioning look.
"Needles, ergo oww," Xander said.
"How about me?" Spike asked, cocking his head.
"No crisis of conscience at all in paying someone to hurt you. Let's go." Xander grabbed Spike's hand and pulled him into the shop.
~~~~~
Six months. Lilah stared out the window. Linwood, of course, had called it a night after dumping the Diva back into her lap. Home to his wife, fifteen years younger than he was supposed to be, and a perfectly groomed trophy picked from the cream of the debs ten years ago. Susan resembled his physical age now and would most likely be traded in within the next five years. He'd do the same with the next one, provided he stayed in the good graces of the firm. Disposability like that was one of the reasons Lilah willingly squandered her Friday nights pursuing her career. Sure, she was just as likely to get thrown to the wolves here, but at least then it would be the result of her own actions and not on the whim of some creature like Linwood.
Glory was unstable. Quite the understatement, but it needed to be addressed. Lilah had spent the better part of the evening - when not playing nanny, guard, press secretary and gofer for the Diva - reviewing the projected time frame of the degeneration of the goddess' cognitive processes. Their best guess when the planned host disintegrated from the influx of power had been a full year before she would have to be put in receivership. If the recent incidents were any indication, they would be lucky to keep her lucid for the full six months.
It was time to hedge her bets. Lilah moved purposefully to her desk and pulled her rolodex up on her computer. She began to sort through her contacts, looking for another way to open a portal.
~~~~~
Xander held Spike at arm's length as he examined his new piercing. The harsh fluorescent lights accentuated his lover's extreme pallor. The two bars which now bracketed Spike's scarred brow seemed jarring and new. Spike had opted for niobium barbells because he could get the cool matte black, so that they wouldn't reflect any light while on patrols. They did look good, and Spike hadn't even flinched when they had been inserted. Xander had shut his eyes and flinched in anticipation - twice. Spike had assured him it didn't hurt and had done his best to talk Xander into piercing a nipple. Xander tried to imagine wearing something as obvious as Spike's piercing to the site and couldn't. He just didn't have Spike's brazenness, which he figured must be necessary to carry off this look without appearing to be a total zeppo. Of course, he could always get a less-visible piercing, like Spike wanted, if he got extremely drunk.
"S'not permanent," Spike whispered into his silent contemplation. "I can take it out anytime and it'll heal right up."
"No, I like it." Xander blushed at the thought of the hemostats that had pinched Spike's brow at a more intimate and easily concealable spot. "I think it's sexy. Can't wait until Dawn sees it. Er... Back me up here, Dawn is not piercing anything until she is sixteen - come on, say it with me."
Spike chuckled and leaned into a kiss, pulling Xander into his arms. The staff was apparently immune to PDAs among their clients and didn't so much as glance over from their own private conversation at the two men kissing.
They stepped out onto the night sidewalk as Xander was once again vetoing the idea of getting 'the property of Spike' tattooed on his ass. Spike pretended to pout and Xander pretended to believe it was real.
A short distance from the brightly lit strip of stores they passed a small park. Xander jumped up onto the retaining wall and walked its narrow waist-high ledge and Spike followed beside him on the sidewalk. Their conversation veered from their impressions of the fang gang and plans on what to do while in L.A., to the politics of the Hellmouth and whether or not Giles would think they were checking up on him if they called home.
Not unsurprisingly, the subject of Angel and Angelus came up. "So... How does that work?" Xander asked, and abruptly sat down on the end of the wall.
"Huh?" was Spike's coherent reply, which Xander thought was understandable, since the vampire had probably assumed that he tripped and been preparing to catch him.
"Well..." Xander looked up at Spike. "If I understand it, Darla gets dusted, the lawyers from hell suck her back into her human form... not any human form, but Darla-the-hooker from way back, currently dying of VD, but she's alive. Why? I mean, why not take any random girl and have the demon formerly know as Darla inhabit that corpse?"
"Wouldn't have been the same. Definitely wouldn't have had the same pull on Peaches." Spike scuffed his Docs and didn't meet Xander's eyes. The vampire had been shocked that Xander knew about Darla, but Cordy had spilled that when she came to Sunnydale. Xander was more concerned with Spike and his reaction to the conversation. Spike often proclaimed that he was evil and that he was a demon, but he rarely talked about what that meant to him. Most of the time Xander was okay with that - it wasn't like he went on and on about what being human meant. But then, Spike had an idea of what being human was - Xander didn't want to remain completely in the dark about the most important being in his life.
"Do... do you remember?" Xander felt himself blush and pulled Spike closer by his belt loops. Spike now stood between his knees, but was still doing the bashful examination of his boots. "I know you remember being William, or rather, remember what William knew and felt before he died... but... do you remember a time before you were a vampire? The part of you that makes you a vampire... your demon, does that part remember a time before... I'm not saying this right..."
"No, Pet, I understand," Spike whispered and buried his face in Xander's hair, still not meeting his eyes. "It's... part of me. I mean, the memories don't fade, they're just... this would be easier if you had ever done hallucinogens."
"What?" Xander pulled away with a startled laugh. Even in the dim light he could see how intense Spike's eyes were. He reached up and fisted the loose blond locks, pulling his lover down for a kiss. "Translate, please," he murmured.
"See.. when I look at you like this... well, you look eminently fuckable, but pretty much how you would have looked to me when I was human. When I shift to my true face, what you lot call my game face, I see other stuff; heat, movement, even a bit of mage sight - just enough to tell if someone is sporting a glamour or whatnot. But I know how to interpret between the two types of sight, so I would recognize a photo of someone with my human eyes, even if in person I had only seen them with my demon eyes. But... in the before... I had... different senses, different ways of processing the input and I was in another realm with other physical laws."
"Hell?" Xander whispered.
"One of them... there's a lot of hell dimensions, luv. Some are horrific, others are like... the world of perpetual Tuesday," Spike said and smirked.
"Eek," Xander said. He lifted his face to kiss his lover and groaned, not because of the pleasant grope Spike was initiating, but because his phone vibrated.
"If that's one of your fucking Children..." Spike growled.
Xander glanced at the number and keyed the phone on. "Dawn?"
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18