Okays, fic. Was titled good girls like bad boys before yea.. this is the fic. that ended up leading me to write Tears of Sorry Crystal of Hope, and I was originally planning on using this in the story later. Yet, you'll all be happy to know that I've decided it won't fit anymore! So, instead I bring you back the One-shot that prompted me to write a multi-chapter fic. @_@

Enjoy

~Galene

P.S. THIS IS AU i.e. no scout business…

Fraternizing with the Enemy

I'd heard the statement that "good girls, like bad boys" quite a few times in my lifetime, and I never paid much attention to it. You see, in my line of work, bad guys were an every day occurrence, and it was kill or be killed, so I wasn't really worried about meeting someone that I would term a "bad boy". At least not one that'd be around long enough for either of us to develop any type of feelings for each other, but then again I wouldn't exactly call myself a good girl, well I suppose I could in the sense that I was still a virgin, and wasn't really into the whole sex-drugs party scene.

Yet, I was still far from anyone's definition of innocent; my parents were killed right before my eyes their bodies sucked dry by vamps when I was three, old enough to realize that the Vampires were bad, and to do what my parents said and remain hidden in the special wall nook which had been created specifically for that purpose. Yea, ever since the death of the old vamp king more and more of them have been roaming the streets, and its not like before when they would shrivel and die right when the sun hit them, or stay away from areas sprinkled in holy-water, crosses, or garlic. No, the latest night-crawlers seemed to have built up a type of tolerance to these types of things, and as far as we knew it was only a matter of time before the world was over-run with them.

Like my parents before me I too am a slayer, trained to kill vamps, demons… and made resistant to their powers of persuasion, but unlike my parents, I'm alive, stuck living with out them.  The day they died was one of the worst days of my entire life, and even now, fifteen years later, memories of that night still haunt my dreams.  I remember being cooped up in the little dark cavity, peering through cracks at the unearthly glowing eyes of the vamps, and demons as my father desperately tried to fight them off with his silver sword, until help came, or he was killed.  I remember watching in horror as the night-creatures over powered him, seeing yet not believing as a vampire moved up beside him grasping him by the throat before bending to suck at his neck. I stayed there, shaking in terror long after my parents had been lying stiff upon the floor, with their blood deep crimson against the white of the carpet, as my mother's last words ran over and over in my mind as if they had been burned into me with a brand.

"I love you sweetie," she'd whispered in my ear as she'd squeezed me tight in one last hug, "now stay quiet, and don't leave until the good men or mommy and daddy come to get you" and so I'd done as she'd said. I'd remained still watching as the cloaked Vampires and daemons wandered around my house, taking what they wanted. Seeing their unearthly faces of false beauty as they gloated over, and congratulated each other, saying some type of ritual chant, reciting the names of all the vampires my parents had ever killed and telling them, this was for them.

 I was too young at the time to understand it was an act of revenge, knowing only that my father fought the bad guys to stop them from eating people, and that the bad people in turn didn't like him. To me, he'd always been my daddy, and my hero.

I don't know how long it was before they finally left, and the good guys came to get me. I only knew that after what had felt like an eternity I was finally free from the suffocating darkness of my hide out.

After that day, began the part of my life which I will never ever forget. It was composed of countless hours of training, the imprinting of my parents' memory upon my mind so that I would be able to resist even the strongest of the "evils" powers; from seduction, to straight mind control I'd been fortified against it all.

My more official training finally beginning when I turned five, and what I call the happy times began, sure they were full of hardship, but they were also full of triumphs as I learned to blend into the shadows, step quieter than the wind, and to dance the beautiful yet deadly dance of swordplay. Everyday I went to lessons, where the skills of my trade were drilled into me, until now, when I was finally deemed ready to go on my first assignment.

 "Sere" The sound of the chief's voice wrenched me from my thoughts and back into the reality of the little office, with its smooth terracotta walls, and typical wood desk.

"Yea?" I stated, looking at the man that we called "the Chief", and straightened as he fixed his steady dark-eyed gaze upon me for a moment, before his face relaxed into a smile.

"So kid, you're finally ready for your first assignment, and I've got the perfect one…"

I raised a questioning eyebrow as he shuffled through the masses of paper upon his desk, muttering softly to himself, until he finally paused, lifting out a single sheet…

            "…here it is… surveillance says that Redge's son has been out and about again, and we thought you'd like to do the honors. He's young enough to be swayed by a pretty face, and we've been told he's been out looking for a victim in some of the local night clubs"

            "Redge's son." I murmured… "My grandfather killed Redge right?"

"No, that's just a rumor."

I stared at him in shock, "what?"

"Redge actually killed himself right before you grandfather arrived. People say he did it so he wouldn't have to face him."

I was stunned, "but Redge, he was the leader around here…"

"Yes, he's the one that developed that elixir that allowed them all to move about in the sun for a while, apparently it was all so he could go see some silly  woman"

I nodded, this was for sure to be a test of my skills, and a big blow to the underworld community, as intelligence had learned that he was set to take over, having proved himself to be a good leader. 

            "All right, sounds good to me"

            "Great, so what are you going to dub him?

I smiled at the tradition of letting the slayer code-name the vamp.

 "Thanks chief, but I think I'll just wait until he gives me his own name."  I remarked, as I stood up to leave, the chief's laughter following me out.

~*~

Leaving his office was like entering the food court of a mall, people were everywhere, typing on keyboards, walking around, cracking jokes, laughing, and waving to me as I wandered through, but I didn't stop to chat to anyone until I reached the armory.

"Yo! Sere! Finally going out on a hunt of our own are we?" Andrew the weapons master commented.

"Yea, so I'm going to need you to hook me up, with some mean shit 'kay?" I remarked giving him a hug, before showing him the paper I'd been given with my mission specifics.

"Hmm going clubbing are you… lets see…" he muttered to himself as he scanned the walls, looking for something that would be easy to conceal.

"How about that dagger over there" I commented, pointing at the small black-sheathed weapon which hung just off to his right.

He looked over at it, and then back at me rather thoughtfully,

"Hmm yea. Why not…" he murmured softly, my ears just barely catching his words as he lifted the dagger from its place and passed it to me  "If you actually succeed it'll be kind of funny"

"Why's that?" I questioned "you don't think I'll be able to do it?"

Andrew let out a hoot of laughter, "not that at all missy, just this is the very dagger that killed that vamps father!"

I laughed then too, looking at the small blade as it lay in the palm of my hand, its silver handle inlaid with a black ankh(1), the royal vampire family's mark. I smiled slightly, and strode out of there, to the call of, "good luck" fully confident in my abilities, and the knowledge that what I was doing was right, or so I thought.

~*~*~*~

I'd received my mission on a Tuesday, and didn't even bother heading down to the "Crypt" until Friday, making my debut, around 10. The bouncer too one look at my black knee-high boots, black denim skirt, and dark crimson v-necked top, which exposed the full line of my slender throat, and simply waved me on in.

Once inside I flicked my long blonde locks back over my shoulder, and gazed at the masses of people through light cornflower eyes.  I had to admit, I was a little surprised by the sheer number of people everywhere, and how I was supposed to pick out a vamp amongst the masses I had no idea.

Slowly I pushed my way through the crush towards the bar, my training having reasoned it was a good vantage point, and besides which in all the movies I'd seen, it seemed that guys often approached women that were sitting at them. 

On my way over, I felt a light touch on my arm, and then a sinking in the pit of my stomach, as my body tried to warn me against what was to come.

I took a deep breath to calm my nerves, knowing that it had to be him, and then turned. The first part of him I saw was the pale skin of his throat, and then I allowed my eyes to travel upwards, and stepped back in shock. He was gorgeous, his fathomless sapphire eyes fixed intently upon my face, with only a small frown of concentration marring his brow.

I just stood there gaping at him, as he smiled, a seductively dangerous light glowing in the depths of his eyes as he leaned forward to whisper in my ear, 

"Well, if it isn't the slayers daughter" I felt a shudder coarse through my body, and it wasn't entirely due to fear. How he could know who I was? It was crazy!

"What, what are you talking about???"  I gasped, my heart racing in my chest, as he let out a soft laugh.

"Come my sweet, don't you remember me?" he murmured, pulling me after him, out into the crush of beautiful people as they rocked and swayed upon the dance floor. My mind was spinning, who was he? How could he possibly know who I was? I wracked my brains trying to remember, trying to think where I could have possibly seen him, even as he pulled me closer into his body, my arms having moved as if of their own free will to wrap themselves around his strong slender chest. I breathed him in, the bitter-sweet scent of death, mixed with danger and mystery even through his light cinnamon rose cologne. I was breathing hard, body running high on adrenaline, and something else as I suddenly realized what it was like to be under a vampires spell.

 I swallowed past the lump in my throat as panic threatened to set in. I thought I had been trained to resist this, yet I found myself unable to pull away, and as if he could read my thoughts his smooth voice caressed me as he spoke,

"Little slayer, don't be frightened, I've been waiting for you far too long to hurt you." He paused a moment then. His silence allowing me to return to my senses for a moment, and I found my body had betrayed me, moving even closer to him as we swayed together in time to the music, then he spoke again, and what my body was doing no longer seemed to matter,

"Well, well little one, it seems you have been waiting for this too" he looked at me, deep sapphire darkened to midnight by his lust, I gazed back, unable to tear my gaze away. Slowly the memories came to me, and I felt myself falling towards him. My knees buckled, and for the first time in my life I felt truly weak, I was afraid.

"… You're the little boy" I began, "you knew I was hiding in the wall"

I watched him smile, "do you remember what I told you?"

I was shocked, I had nearly forgotten about that part of that day, when all the other vampires had left the room, and a little boy had walked in, looked around once, and then met my eyes through the crack in the wall that I was peeping out of. I remember the tremor of fear that had run through me as he'd smiled at me before mouthing the words which I muttered out loud,

"Now both our daddies are dead" I pulled away from him as the memory of my father flooded through me. People like him were responsible for my fathers' death, here I was, going and plastering myself over him. What kind of slayer was I?

And then he reached out again, his hand cold as it slid down my arm to take my hand in his larger one.

"Come" was all he said, moving towards the doorway dragging me after him.

I was powerless to resist, it was as if all my years of training had never taken place, and it was all his fault. I glared murderously at his back, trying to figure out how I was going to get myself out of this situation, and yet part of me didn't want to escape, and that was what scared me most. I had to kill this man that had spared me before, and I had to kill him tonight, but first I was going to get some answers.

Authors Note:

(1) An Ankh for those that do not know is (quoting dictionary.com): A cross shaped like a T with a loop at the top, especially as used in ancient Egypt as a symbol of life.