Archive ~ Writing ~ Links ~ Extras ~  Site ~ Home

Dru drank in the smells of coffee, alcohol and smoke. From the peak of the hill she could see Coventry Road sprawled before her like a lazy whore. Dru had quickly learned this wasn’t just a street, it was a village onto itself.; coffee houses, pubs, restaurants all filled with delicious people having fun just waiting to be snapped up. But she had time fore that. There was no need to rush.

Dru had found herself a small home in Cleveland Heights. She liked houses over apartments as she wasn’t good at remembering things like rent. It wasn’t the sort of thing vampires paid much attention to. Her precious Spike did from time to time as had Daddy. They like living like food, hating the crypts and underground areas their people favored.

Dru sided with her boys on the subject of dwellings. It did Miss Edith no good to be in the dank earth. Dru had passed a few nights in Mayfield Cemetery when she first arrived in Cleveland. Lots of nice crypts there and a chapel that glowed from within. Oh how she loved that chapel, the way it whispered gold into her ears but it wasn’t private enough. After two nights of snacking on overweight security guards, she had to give up her chapel of captured sunlight. She moved on to the tower of the cemetery, brown, imposing, so phallic she had to be inside it. Some president and his wife lay inside, hiding behind bars. She thought they’d be fun to play with but they hadn’t been. Dust and bone were never very interesting so she had gone house hunting. Dru knew she would be in the city for a long while.

Spike and Angel had taught her what to look for. A ramshackle yard was the place to start. That might mean the home belonged to an elderly person bereft of friends and family to help keep the place up. They were the perfect prey. No one would come to their air, no one would miss them. A quick look through the windows was all that was needed to confirm who was home.

Dru knew her boys never believe she could do for herself, that she never listened to them, but she heard everything they said and most of what they didn’t. She could take care of herself and it was a good thing she and Miss Edith didn’t need the boys. They would be so lost otherwise. Still, she missed her boys, the smell of them, the feel of their bodies against her, the voices sweet in her ears. Spike could be like honey when he wanted to be and so could Daddy. Dru liked it best when her boys competed to prove themselves to her. Oh, the wonderful gifts they’d bring her, the parties they had. It was like Christmas every day if Spike and Angel felt they had something to prove.

Dru liked Cleveland though, even without her boys. She was glad the winds told her to come to the Hellmouth. She had so loved hearing the mouth singing to her in Sunnydale and missed it when Spike had taken her away. It served him right that she left him for a Chaos demon. Her bright star had gone dim, tarnished by the Slayer. Perhaps she could have chosen better than a Chaos demon, however, since his kisses tasted like snot and he stained everything he touched.

The stars had told her her favorite boy in all the world would leave her for the Slayer. Miss Edit always berated her for making her own vision come true by taking up with the Chaos demon. Miss Edith said if Dru hadn’t done that, then she would still have her Spike. That was why Miss Edith was back home with her mouth wrapped with the stinky stockings left behind by their new home’s former owner. Dru had stashed the woman’s shriveled old body in one of Mayfield’s crypts. It had been sadly easy to catch her in her garden. She had tasted like dust.

Whether or not she had done it to herself, Dru couldn’t’ say but she was alone in Cleveland. Her boys were missing out on the sweet threnodies purring from the Hellmouth. Even without the Hellmouth she would have liked the city. It was easy to indulge her mutable whims. Everything was a short walk or cab ride away. Spike had taught her how easy cabs were to use and Dru took advantage of them. Sometimes she even paid.

If she wanted young and exuberant, there was Case Western Reserve University to hunt in; if she wanted artistic, like tonight, she could eat in Coventry; if she wanted spicy, there was Mayfield Heights’s Little Italy section; if she wanted a little alcohol and drugs with her meal, she could hit the Flats down by the river and if she wanted rich food there was Shaker Heights.

Tonight she felt like artist so she was in Coventry trying to decide if she wanted an actor, a street performer or a poet from one of the coffee houses. She always did well with poets. Dru froze on the way to the coffee house seeing a familiar golden mane. Dru growled like a cat, wanting to show her true face but resisted. A pain fluttered in her unbeating heart; two pains one for each of the boys this mere wisp of a girl had stolen. Dru tasted the bitter wine of hatred and came back for more.

She watched the Slayer leave the Hunan restaurant with her pack of friends. It would be too quick to kill her. Dru’s fun would be over before it even began. Dru’s bright eyes followed them as they walked the streets. The dark haired kitten was with the Slayer. He had battle scars now, this boy she had once loved so fiercely she had taken on Daddy over him. An ugly patch hid one eye. Dru wondered if it had tasted succulent like oysters to the person who had claimed it. She licked her lips at the thought, watching them disappear into the Winking Lizard Tavern.

The Slayer had taken her boys. Dru would take the Slayers. Oh yes, this would be a very fun game indeed.

* * *

Xander shivered against the crisp night air. It was March. Shouldn’t Spring be right around the corner? He couldn’t tell it from the winds howling through the tunnel created by the tall buildings in Cleveland’s Flats district. It was nearly three in the morning and yet there was a considerable crowd still milling about. Even the thin layer of ice that coated everything did little to deter them.

It was doing everything to deter him. Why couldn’t the Hellmouth be in Orlando? He was a southern California boy, born and bread, and his blood was way too thin for the chill that shrouded the Mistake by the Lake. He had hated the United Kingdom for the same reason. He had wanted to come back to the States now that they had rounded up most of the new Slayers and had moved on the next stage; training them and rebuilding the Council. Xander hadn’t been able to tell Giles how honored he was that he had been selected to be one the new wave of Watchers. Sure ti meant lots of book work, but that kept his mind off missing Anya and the other losses since Sunnydale, like Andrew, Rona and Kennedy to a particularly nasty demon in Italy. Willow was still numb but no signs of black hair, thankfully.

Only he wondered what was worse, being a high school librarian as a Watcher or the gig he got stuck with, bartending in the Flats. He felt like a glorified Willie. The Flats were, however, a hotbed of demon activity but it was hard to tell demons from the human freak show. Still, he did point Buffy and the other Slayer that were with them in Cleveland, in the right direction a number of times in the last several weeks.

There were times he wished he could just be paid out of the Council’s vast pockets, all the more plentiful now with far less Watchers draining it, just so he wouldn’t go home with sore feet, smelling of booze and smoke. Giles, now Council Head in Travers’s place, had come up with the idea of supplement pay for Watchers and Slayers and for the time being they were all living together in a small apartment complex bought out by the Council. That gave everyone their own home with privacy yet kept them together. The youngest girls lived with their Watcher or their parents, if the parents actually knew and were supportive. The youngest Slayers lived no where near a Hellmouth. The method cut down on the risk of civilians. Xander could get behind that.

“Little kitten.” A thin voice like silk on skin sounded just behind him. Xander turned and found himself staring into big blue eyes set in a heart shaped face. “Do you remember making me love you? I’m here to return the favor.”

Xander tried to yell out ‘Drusilla’ as if Buffy or anyone was around to hear him then he no longer cared. He was caught in a beautiful sea of blue. It waved over him, lapping him, carrying away his fear. He felt love, perfect love, a love that made what he felt for Anya seem like nothing. He smiled at Drusilla. No wonder both Angel and Spike had wanted her, loved her for a hundred years. She was like a dark, delicate flower. Why had he been so afraid of her love back in Sunnydale? He remembered running from her, for once in his life grateful Angelus had been around to distract her. Xander had been utterly foolish but that was true often enough.

“Do you live somewhere nearby, Drusilla? Can I take you there?” Xander babbled, wondering why he sounded so lame. Did he always sound this unworthy? How had Anya put up with him? Why would Drusilla have any interest in a lump like him?

She smiled sweetly. “I’ll show you.”

Her hand, cool and soft, slipped into his. Her nails were perfectly manicured, brilliant red with stark white tips. Not since Cordy moved to L.A. had he seen such gorgeous hands.

He felt like a king leading his queen through the slushy dirty back streets of the Flats as he took Dru to his car. By the time she had him on the road to Cleveland Heights, Buffy and the Slayers were the furthest thing from his mind, even though when they finally got to her home, it was only a few blocks form the Slayer complex. Irony? An innocent mistake? Tempting fate?

Dru led him inside. The place didn’t match her. It looked like Granny. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he was thin king that Dru must have killed the owner of this tiny home but he couldn’t make himself care. Hadn’t Anya slain thousands? He had overlooked that, a detail Buffy had once used to beat him with. How could Spike have left this sweet rose? Just looking at her made him think of poetry, something years worth of English teachers had never been able to do.

Dru took both of his hands, walking backwards, leading him to her bedroom. The signs of the former occupant had been removed. Xander instinctively knew the dolls were Dru’s. He wondered briefly where she had gotten so many of them. Dozens of them crammed every available space excluding the bed. Only one doll rested on the pillows, a nylon tied over her head. He wondered about that but decided that wasn’t his worry.

“See what I brought home to play with, Miss Edith? Isn’t he sweet? Dru picked up the doll then her pretty features twisted in a scowl. “You don’t think so? Fine, then you don’t get to watch.” Dru set the doll in the dresser, facing her toward the wall.

Dru pushed Xander down on the bed then trailed her fingers over his brow. His skin quivered under the sensual touch. Her beautifully manicured finger traced his lip and his cock twitched. Dru pressed him back against the soft mattress, straddling him. She nipped his chin. “I can see the poetry in your face.”

He ached for her to bite him. He had to feel her teeth in his skin, the cool press of her lips. He needed to feel his blood passing into her. She removed his eye patch and he reached for it self-consciously. She caught his fingers. She kissed around the empty orb and he didn’t feel like some kind of a monstrosity missing what every good face needed. His pulse quickened as her lips trailed down his face to his neck. When she finally bit him, it was better than any orgasm he had ever had.

* * *

Dru knew the sun was up without looking. Vampires almost always knew, except maybe the stupidest of them. She tapped the rounded shoulders of the man lying next to her in bed. He snored softly, something she was decidedly unused to. Vampires simply did not snore and she decidedly preferred that but this was interesting

Her kitten had been uncomfortably warm to nestle with. Dru could fix that, make him hers. That was the game, after all. A Slayer’s boy for the ones the Slayer had captured from her. But the chess game would be over too quickly. Dru had captured the king in one move. The Slayer hadn’t even played a turn yet. It was too boring.

And Dru could hear Miss Edith behind her gag mumbling about ‘what if turning him stops all the poetry in his face?’ Tuning Spike hadn’t taken away the poetry. It had made it darker, more delicious, something she could savor. Even Daddy had liked Spike’s poetry but he pretended not to. Dru could tell, though. She could read his shriveled heart. But her kitten was more delicate than Spike. His poetry was shy, more ephemeral, hiding inside him without an outlet.

Besides, there was something subtly exciting about hearing his heart thundering as he moved on top of her. Her kitten turned into a lion between the sheets, delighting Dru endlessly. For now he would live. She hadn’t tired of the newness yet.

“You must go, my kitten. Drops of lemons color the sky and the naughty Slayer will be looking for you.”

Xander snuggled further down in the soiled sheets. “Don’t wanna move.”

Dru slid out of bed, tapping the tightly pinned-shut curtains. “You have to go for now. Tonight I’ll come for you where I found you last night.”

Xander shook his head. “I don’t work tonight. I can meet you here if you want.”

Dru mulled that for a moment, weighing it as butterflies surrounded them, planting little bloody kisses on their skin, each one whispering sweet nothings to her. She needed to take time to read them. “Be very careful so none of the little bad girls follow you.” Dru’s eyes followed the butterflies, marking their words.

Xander dragged out of the bed, taking her by the shoulders, kissing Dru’s cool, porcelain skin. “Giles said you can make people see stuff and make them think things aren’t what they really are, like a Jedi Knight. Can you really do that?”

Hearing the excitement in his voice, Dru turned to face him, wrapping her willowy arms around his neck. She knew Jedi Knights. Her Spike had loved Star Wars. She remembered seeing it at least a dozen times when it first danced on the silver screen. Spike had liked it - at least for a brief while - when she’d call him ‘Han’ in bed. “I can do that.”

“Good if they find out about us, you just make them forget it,” he said, cheerily.

Dru smiled and nodded. She didn’t know if she actually could make a group of people forget but she could try. Xander kissed her and dressed. He went out carefully to make sure no light accidently got in. With him gone, she stripped the bed, listening to the butterflies again. They whispered about something ugly coming in from the West. Dru couldn’t make them sit still so she could read them better. Something was going to try and ruin her fun. She wasn’t about to let it.

* * *

“Hey Xander, you look beat,” Dawn said, bopping into the kitchen just after he had dragged in.

He looked over his shoulder, summoning up a weary smile. “I am.”

Her nose wrinkled up. “Stinky, too.”

“Sorry.” Xander snagged a box of cereal out of the cabinet.

“So what brings you to Chez Summers?” Dawn waved her hands at the kitchen as he shook some cereal into a bowl.

“No food at my place.” Xander sloshed some milk in the bowl. “I’ll pay you guys back.” Xander regretted having to use his house key to Buffy and Dawn’s apartment. The sad truth was he had a half empty jar of mayo, a lonely beer and something green and furry in his fridge. He wanted to go back to his apartment, shower then crash. If he hadn’t been starving, he would have done just that.

“I was just up at your place,” Dawn said, flopping on a chair.

Xander sighed, swallowing a glob of cereal. “What’s up?’

“Group meeting. We must have just passed each other in the hallways.” She gave him a suspicious look.

For a moment, he was afraid she knew exactly what he had done and then his love wouldn’t stand a chance. Only Buffy got to break the rules and sleep with demons. All the proof he needed of that he already had. No one was allowed to criticize her and Angel or Spike but when Anya stumbled, she was slated for death. Riley turned to vampire women and out he went on his ass.

At the time, Xander had been furious at Riley for hurting Buffy. After all, he loved her still. He had given his life to her service, no matter the price. But now being with Dru, Xander understood why Riley had done it. It was an amazing thrill to be with a woman with such power. The sheer eroticism of being suckled was incredible. Now he understood Buffy’s undead preference and regretted every harsh thing he had ever said to her in regards to her lovers.

Xander unconsciously tugged at his collar, hoping the bite marks were hidden so he wouldn’t have to explain them. “Tell them I’ll be there in a minute, okay, Dawn? Just as soon as I finish breakfast.”

“Sure.” Dawn gave him another lingering look then headed out.

Xander bolted his cereal before it got soggy then headed to the laundry room in the basement. It was their defacto Batcave. Everyone was already there when he squeezed in the back. He listened to all the Slayer reports, falling asleep against a dryer.

“Xander!”

The whip crack of Buffy’s voice jerked Xander awake. He blinked rapidly, trying to discreetly wipe drool off his chin while all amused eyes were on him. “Sorry,” he mumbled.

“Rough night?” Faith’s smile was so wide Xander thought he could fall into it.

“Kinda. What did I miss?”

“Nothing that directly concerns you,” Giles assured him.

“We’re waiting on your report,” Buffy added, swinging her legs, her heels thumping the dryer she sat on.

“Nothing to report. It was a slow night. Plenty of human weirdos, no demons,” Xander lied. Well, it was mostly the truth. Barring, Dru, he had seen no demons.

“Just as well. We have enough to worry about with the murders here in Cleveland Heights,” Buffy said and for a moment Xander panicked.

How had he forgotten that? Dru most likely was the cause of all those deaths. He knew he should tell Buffy but he couldn’t betray the woman he loved.

“Guess that’s it then.” Buffy jumped off the dryer. “We all know where we need to be.”

“Buffy, can I talk to you for a minute?” Xander asked as the group dispersed.

“Sure. You girls go on and I’ll join you in the work out room in a minute,” she said to the junior Slayers. When they were alone, she turned back to Xander. “What’s up?’

Xander looked around at the grey dingy laundry room, which doggedly remained unchanged from the 70's. The air was close with lint dust and the smells of soap and Downy. It was a poor choice for a meeting room but it was more private than the gym being underground and all. He should take Buffy out to a nice dinner to offset what he was about to say. This wasn’t the right place for a confessional but he was moved to make it one. “I just wanted to say I’m sorry.”

Buffy’s brow furrowed. “For what?”

He buried his hands in his pockets, hanging his head. “For all those terrible things I’ve said over the years, about Angel and Spike, about you being with them. I wanted to protect you...didn’t want to see you get hurt. But I did it all wrong. I’m not sure why...guess I learned yelling as a way of communication from my parents.” Xander swallowed hard. He so did not need remembrances of his parents at this point. “I meant well but I wasn’t being a very good friend and I’m sorry.”

Buffy stared at him for several long moments. “What brought this on?”

He shrugged. “Nothing...just that I’ve been meaning to say it for a long time now and I never did. It was time to stop putting it off.”

She leaned in and gave his cheek a peck. “Thank you. I’ve been waiting a long time to hear that.”

“I know and I’m sorry it took so long.”

“It’s okay.” Buffy glanced at the stairwell. “I should get to the training session.”

He flashed her a nervous smile. “Go on. I need to get some sleep.”

“You are looking a bit ragged.”

Xander watched her go, feeling infinitely better for having gotten that off his chest. He just hadn’t wanted his life to radically change again and that to continue to go unsaid. He couldn’t escape the feeling his life was about to evolve and this time for the better.

* *

Dru spun, hands overhead in her appropriated garden, pretending she was showering in moonlight. She was happy for the first time in a long time. She was slowly but surely beating the Slayer. Her kitten told her how the naughty sliver of golden light was so worried about him, how tired he was, how haggard but he didn’t care. The only thing that concerned him was making sure Dru was well cared for. He pampered her.

Yet, Dru did fear for him. How much more could she take before she accidently killed him and had no choice but to turn him? She was having too much fun with him as he was. She liked hearing his heartbeat, licking the sweat off his warm body, feeling his pulse beating against her lips as she pressed them to his neck.

She would have to make a decision soon, give him back to himself or turn him, or put him in the earth for good. That would make the Slayer cry as she should for what she had done to Dru. Dru shut her eyes, smoothing her hands down over her hips and the silk dress she wore. Her kitten was with the Slayer doing something that made Dru weep for her demonic cousins, but she knew he would come for her later. She had told him where to meet her. Content that her kitten couldn’t bear to be away from her Drusilla headed to the theater.

* * *

Xander thought Buffy would never let him go. He hated keeping Drusilla waiting. When he got to the Dobama Theater on Coventry Road, Xander knew something was wrong. A strong metallic scent hung in the air. Xander had been around the stuff Buffy was involved in long enough to know blood when he smelled it. He hated going inside. The mere thought of what Dru was doing made his skin crawl. He saw the advertisement for “Night Kitchen: Loud Americans: a Punk Saga” and wondered what made Dru want to come here. A bloom of jealousy opened when he remembered how Spike had liked punk.

Dru was dancing with the lead guitarist when he got inside. Everyone else was dead. Well, the guitarist was dead, too, but Dru didn’t seem to care. Xander’s legs shook as he went to the stage. “Dru, baby, what did you do?”

She dropped the corpse, whirling to see him. Her eyes gleamed gold and the ridges of her face looked alive with blood from the red gel lights overhead. “My kitten is here. Does he want to play?”

Xander jumped up on stage and took her sticky hands. “Dru...this is wrong.”

“Hush, bad kitten.” She stamped a foot at him then waved her fingers like a flamenco dancer in front of his eyes. She drew him closer with their motion until all he could see was the blueness of her eyes. She was so beautiful. How could he stay mad at her? “You love only me,” she whispered.

“I do.” He pulled her toward the back door. “You can’t stay here, Dru. The Slayers are all over Coventry. They’ll find this...find you. I should get you home.”

“Only if you stay with me.”

And he did so, willingly, lovingly, regretting when morning came and he had to go back to the apartment complex. Willow was waiting for him and suddenly he was very nervous. She took his hand and smiled.

“We’re having a meeting,” she said. “We’re going to be late.”

“Story of my life,” he said, trying to bring his usual flippancy into play and failing.

Willow just smiled even more softly and led him into Giles’ apartment instead of the basement ‘meeting hall’, which was his second hint something was wrong. Xander rued trusting his oldest friend. He saw all the eyes on him, questioning, almost accusing. Xander knew he was in trouble when all the junior Slayers had been excluded and he was left facing only family and Faith who might qualify at this point. He tried to summon up his usual goofy smile but it had deserted him.

“Have a seat please, Xander,” Giles said.

The young man sank onto the couch hesitantly. “What’s wrong?”

“That’s what we were about to ask you,” Dawn said. “You’re not yourself lately.”

“Just a little overworked is all,” Xander said hurriedly.

Buffy shook her head. “I know overworked, Xander. I wrote the book. This is something different.”

“You look sick,” Willow said, sitting next to him. She patted his thigh.

“I’m fine, just been working hard.” Xander’s mind churned. Did they know something or were they just concerned?

“Maybe you’re working too hard,” Faith said.

“Are you saying I can’t cut it?” Xander jumped to his feet.

“No one is saying that. You’ve done an admirable job with your new position,” Giles said.

“Good because I’m a better Watcher than she’ll ever be a Slayer.” Xander jerked a thumb at Faith whose face darkened. Buffy stepped in front of her just enough to warn her not to go after him.

Willow pulled Xander back down. “That’s uncalled for, Xander. We’re all worried about you.”

“Yeah, you look like death warmed over,” Dawn said, “All you do is sleep all day and we could really use your help with the research thing. I know you work until the wee hours of the night but we all do. So what’s with the major overreaction?”

“That’s all this is about, Xander. We’re worried,” Willow said, rubbing his hand.

“If something’s wrong, Xander, you know you can tell us. We’re family and we can help,” Buffy said.

“Why can’t things in this ‘family’,” he snarled that word, “ever be happy? We always assume the worse. I’m fine. I’m happy. So what if I’m a little tired.”

“You fall asleep in meetings and you are in danger of falling down on the job,” Giles said.

“So much for me doing an admirable job,” Xander snapped and Giles’ eyes hardened.

“You are but we know you, Xander. We know something’s changed.” Willow’s brow furrowed as her massaging fingers kicked the cuff of his sleeve up revealing a large bruise on his wrist. “Xander, what is this?”

He snatched his arm away. “Bruised it putting up a new keg on the tap.”

“Did the keg have something sharp on it? That looked like a puncture,” Willow persisted.

“It’s just a bruise, Will. We all have them,” he replied.

Buffy took his arm. “Then you won’t mind us taking care of it for you.”

Xander tried to pull away but Buffy’s grip was too strong. “You’re bruising me right now, Buff.”

She ignored that and peeled his shirt sleeve down. “Xander, this is a bite mark!”

He tried not to see the horror in her eyes, in the faces of his other friends. “No, it’s not.”

Buffy tried to pull his sleeve up to examine his elbow. He knew she’d know exactly where to look for vampire bites. He managed to get to his feet, startling her enough that he wrenched free of her grasp. It lasted about three seconds before she and Faith had him pinned to the wall.

“What is this? You guys turning on me?” He hoped to shame them into stopping. He had to protect his Dru.

Giles did the honors, tugging down Xander’s collar, revealing the bite marks on both sides of his neck. “Who is it, Xander?”

“I can’t tell you. She’ll never forgive me.”

“Is he under a thrall? Like Buffy was with Dracula?” Dawn asked.

“Or did you find a suck shop like Riley?” Buffy’s lips were pulled into a thin line.

“It’s not like that.” Fury colored Xander’s face. He knew they’d never understand.

“Until we know, I say we chain him up,” Faith suggested.

Giles nodded. “Regrettably, I must concur.”

Xander fought but BUffy held fast. “No!”

“Xander, this can not continue. She will kill you. Have a look in the mirror,” Giles demanded. “You are a pale shade of yourself. You mostly likely need a transfusion at this point. It would explain the paleness, your exhaustion. Willow, I know at least one of you ladies are taking iron pills. Please give some to Xander once we have him situated.”

“No one’s situating anything.” Xander struggled but he had no prayer of fighting off Buffy and Faith and even if he did, Willow’s magic would stop him cold. He cursed his normalness.

“Xander, we’ll break her hold over you,” Buffy promised him. “Speaking from first hand experience, you’ll feel a lot better once we do.”

“I feel great. Dru and I are in love,” he snapped then his eyes widened realizing he had just blown it.

Buffy’s lip curled on one side. “Dru? That would explain everything.”

“She can make you do and say things...make you see things,” Giles said, an involuntary shudder running through him. “She does seem able to read minds. She certainly pulled Jenny from my memories.”

“She’s probably the one who’s doing all the killing around here,” Faith said.

“Xander...did you know?” Willow’s eyes begged him to deny it.

He couldn’t disappoint his childhood friend. He couldn’t tell her the truth. “No.” He didn’t think anyone believed him.

“I’ll get the handcuffs,” Faith said, heading off.

“Will, Buff, come on, you don’t want to do this. This is Xander speaking.” He tried his best pleading look on her. “I know what I’m doing. I love Dru.”

“We’ll keep you handcuffed until we can get bars on the windows to your place and keep you in your apartment under house arrest until this is over. Don’t worry. We won’t chain you up like we used to chain Spike,” Buffy said, trying to comfort him.

“Yeah, sure, bring that bastard up.” Xander struggled harder. “Jealous, Buffy? I finally found someone again and this time she’s a vampire or are you the only one who gets to screw them?”

“Listen to yourself, Xander. You’re trying to tell me she hasn’t effected you,” Buffy said but there was doubt in her eyes. Of course there would be. He had spoken to her like this many times.

“I love her just like you loved Angel and Spike. It’s the same thing.”

“No, it’s not,” Willow said. “Angel and Spike both had souls. Dru doesn’t. She’s insane.”

“Take that back,” Xander shouted, spittle hitting his chin. “She’s a visionary. She’s wonderful.”

“Got ‘em.” Faith returned, holding the handcuffs overhead like a trophy.

Xander kicked and bucked as they tried to slip the silver metal over his wrists. In the end he lost, and they left him lying on the couch with Willow watching over him. Xander couldn’t look at her. There was too much pain in her eyes, too much confusion. His heart wept. He knew he had accidentally betrayed Dru and now she would die. He was powerless to stop it. Just once he wished he was anyone but himself. All these years and he hadn’t learned a useful spell or how to fight good enough to save his love. He’d be left weeping over another woman he couldn’t save and he died inside knowing it.

* * *

Dru missed her kitten. Three night had come and gone without her seeing him. She knew something was dreadfully wrong even though the stars refused to tell her what it was. Maybe it was the five planets sitting all in a row that made her vision fail.

It was a mistake, coming to the place where her kitten worked. Dru knew it before she went, after she got there and right up until the time, someone slid out of the crowd and whispered so only she would hear, “You’ll never have him again.”

Dru turned when she knew she should run but she had to look the Gold Queen in the eyes as she said, ‘checkmate.’ Something burned into Dru’s belly, that bit of lightning one could hold in their hands, the thing she had once used on the Slayer. She fell, wondering why the Slayer wasn’t ready to turn her to dust.

When Dru’s came back to herself, the game was over and she had lost. She didn’t know what this defeat meant because she had been allowed to live. She hadn’t expected that. Something still made her groggy. The naughty Slayers must have put a poison in her to make her sleep because she could tell she had lost a good deal of time. She heard the dark-haired Slayer, the one of bottled fury, say, “I don’t get why we didn’t just dust her.”

“Because we don’t know what that’ll do to Xander’s brain. Giles wants to talk to Angel and Spike first,” Buffy replied.

Dru tried to rub her eyes but her arms were fastened behind her. Heavy chains ran under her breasts, lashing her to something square cool and metal. Even her ankles were linked together and her skirt was pushed high, all rumpled and embarrassingly showing her pale legs to the world. “The danger from the west.” Dru sing-songed. “The butterflies warned me.”

“She’s awake,” Faith said.

“Yeah, I hear. What butterflies?” Buffy asked.

“They tried to warn me and my kitten about the dangers coming in from the west but I couldn’t see...” Dru looked up at them. “Fix my dress. Mummy would be ever so cross with me...if Angel hadn’t bitten out her throat.”

Buffy made a face. “What?”

“Women didn’t show their legs when Dru was mortal,” Giles said, coming down the basement steps with Xander and the red headed witch that Dru rather feared.

“Dru!” Xander struggled against the older man but Dru saw her kitten was well leashed. Giles passed him off to Faith.

“What are you doing bringing him here, Giles?” Buffy’s eyes were hard and Dru didn’t like her tone.

“Xander wouldn’t believe me that you hadn’t staked Drusilla. Given his level of agitation, this was better than leaving him upstairs,” Giles said.

“Don’t let her just sit there all messy like that, Buffy,” Xander pleaded.

Dru didn’t even kick or make a sound when the bad Slayer rearranged her skirts for her. “My boys are here.”

“You can tell?” Buffy said.

“You feel them, just like I can,” Dru said and Buffy’s head slowly bobbed.

“Buffy, do not make eye contact with Drusilla,” Giles said, as heavy footfalls sounded on the cheap wooden stairs.

Dawn appeared, car keys still in hand but Dru looked past the child to her two boys. Both had faces so grim they darkened the room.

“Oh, Daddy is mad at me,” she whimpered.

“He won’t hurt you, Dru,” Xander said but Dru ignored her kitten.

“How’d you even get Dead Boy one and two here?” Xander snarled. “I thought vampires didn’t fly.”

“They do when they have access to corporate jets that have necro-tempered glass,” Spike said.

“We came as soon as Giles called,” Angel said.

Dru saw how her boys didn’t look at her. They couldn’t take their traitorous eyes off of the Slayer. “She doesn’t love either of you. She wants you both gone as soon as possible,” she said.

“Hush, Dru,” Angel said but it lacked sting. His eyes were on her now. “How long has she had Xander under her control?”

“Wait? What? My Dru and Harris?” Spike’s face went blotchy with rage. “You didn’t tell me that!”

Angel sighed. “Because I didn’t want to hear you complaining all the way from L.A. All you needed to know was Buffy wanted us to come to Cleveland.”

“Naughty, Spike,” Dru said. “Running to lick the Slayer’s boots like a puppy.” She barked at him.

Spike stood over her. “Dru? How could you? I mean, Harris? That’s worse than the Chaos demon!”

“Hey! I am not!” Xander squirmed but Faith held tight. “I love Dru.”

Dru’s heart sang at the look of horror in her boys eyes. “My kitten is so sweet, isn’t he?”

“Can you break her hold over him?” Buffy asked. “We were afraid what might happen to him if we dusted her.”

“Hard to say. Usually she kills whoever she’s got under her thrall.” Angel shrugged. “I’ve never seen her let one live before. Well, outside of Giles and only because Spike said we might still need him.”

“So now what?” Willow asked.

“Dru usually needs to be there, to keep herself in their minds,” Spike said. “If we take her with us, he might get better in time. Of course, it’s hard to ever forget Dru.”

Dru basked in that smile he gave her even if it wasn’t as warm as her kitten’s. Then the meaning of his words burst into brilliance in her mind. “No, you can’t take my kitten away from me.”

“Dru, this is wrong and you know it is,” Angel said, patiently as if she were a child. Sometimes she liked it when he did that but not today.

“You can’t separate us,” Xander raged.

Dru’s heart broke at the pain in her kitten’s voice. “Daddy, it would be cruel.”

“No, Dru, this is cruel. Xander needs control of his mind back,” Angel said.

“Such as it is,” Spike added and her kitten spat at him.

“But, Daddy.” Dru’s lip trembled. She knew once her boys sided against her there would be little she could do.

“So that’s it? You just take her away? We don’t dust her.” Faith sounded disappointed.

“What if she gets away and comes back?” Dawn asked.

“Dawn has a point,” Buffy said.

“Wolfram and Hart have copies of the Initiative’s work in their files. I have no idea how they got it but I can imagine why,” Angel said.

“I hate doing it to her, but we can have Dru chipped.” Spike leaned down and caressed her check. “Sorry, princess.”

Dru bit him and he jerked away, cursing. “No nasty science, no webs of pain, please, Daddy.”

“Sorry, Dru, it has to be this way,” Angel said.

“Buffy, you can’t let them hurt her. You saw what that chip did to Spike,” Xander said.

“Yes, I did. It let him hang around us when maybe we shouldn’t have let it go on,” Buffy said. “That means Dru could just come back here once you’re done with the procedure.”

Dru saw a light flicker in her kitten’s eyes as he said, “Hey, yeah, then no one could complain. She’d be just like Spike was and we could be together.”

“I’m not sure that is a sound idea,” Giles said.

“Spike and I are responsible for Dru. We always have been.” Angel gave Dru a sad look. “We’ve shirked that duty and it’s time we stopped that. We’ll keep her with us, help her adjust. We just don’t have the heart to kill her. She is my childe, after all.”

“And my sire.” Spike nursed his bleeding hand. “It’s asking too much.”

“If you think this is the best,” Buffy said reluctantly.

“I do,” Xander said. “It’ll be okay, Dru. If Spike could adjust, you could do it even better.”

Dru smiled at her kitten’s enthusiasm but she knew it was misplaced. She would no longer be herself once they opened up her head and shoved metal in. “It will hurt.”

“Only if you try to hurt a human, baby. It’s not so bad once you get used to it,” Spike said.

“That’s not what you said when I saw you last, you bad boy.” Dru pouted at him.

“With Cordelia’s death, I no longer have a seer. Dru could be very helpful. It’s why I picked her in the first place,” Angel said. “It’ll be all right Dru. We could be a family again.”

“Can I bring my kitten?” She turned hopeful eyes on them.

“No, Xander’s being shipped to the Watcher’s Council back in Europe with Robin,” Buffy said.

“I’m what? No, you can’t do that.”

“It’s for your own good, Xander,” Willow said.

“No, it’s not.” He twisted and jerked, as his eyes filled with tears but he still couldn’t get away from Faith.

“We can not win this fight, my kitten,” Dru said and saw them hear her pain.

“Dru?” Xander sagged in Faith’s arms.

“Times change. Listen to the winds,” Dru told him. “They’ll tell you when it’ll change back again.” She looked up at her boys. “Miss Edith has to come with us. I need her.”

“I don’t know where she is, Dru.”

“I do,” Xander said and told them where to find her.

“Thank you, my sweet kitten. I’ll miss your poetry,” Dru said.

“I can’t believe you’re just giving up.”

Dru couldn’t let him see how afraid she was. It would only hurt him more. “Times change,” she said again. “The wheel turns but it will come back around again.”

Dru didn’t fuss as her boys unchained her and said their goodbyes to the bad Slayer. Her kitten slipped free just long enough to kiss her once before her boys led her away. Dru had never flown before. She could spend her life riding the clouds if she could. She almost wasn’t afraid any more. She could feel her kitten, even from here. He was in the clouds now too, going to the other ends of the earth. It wouldn’t matter what her boys did to her. One day her kitten with eyes of poetry would find her again. The trials she faced now might even make the time to come that much sweeter.

Dru settled back, content with that, Miss Edith tucked against her breast. She looked out the plane’s window and danced in her heart with the moon.

Author’s Note - The Dobama Theatre is real as is the play mentioned in the story. Check it out. http://www.dobama.org/

Fics by author ~ Fics by rating ~ Fic by pairing