Adventures of a She-Wolf: Triple Threads

A/N: This story is the sequel to The Return of the Queen. It picks up shortly after the Battle of Wolf Lake.

Disclaimers: I do not own the characters of: Wolf Lake, Highlander, Poltergeist the Legacy, Charmed, or Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I adopt their characters and concepts with love. Deirdre Pierson as well as her adoptive mother Gloria are my fictional creations.

Chapter 1

Wolf Lake, Washington 2002

Vivian Cates wrung her hands out. They were shaking so much, that she could barely grip her coffee cup. And she desperately needed the coffee; it was something to concentrate on. The bitter liquid had gone cold, but she sipped it anyway. As if by the very act, she could keep herself from falling apart. Her son Lucas rustled in his sleep on the stiff hospital sofa beside her. She stroked his blond hair absently.

Luke was still alive, and relatively unscathed. And also no longer possessed...So that was something.

Sophia Donner, Luke's girlfriend, was snuggled into a nearby armchair, her head tipped back and her book drooping open in her lap. The medical staff had given her a sedative. She had one arm in a sling, guarding a torn rotator cuff.

The door to the private hospital waiting room creaked open, drawing Vivian's attention. Her step-daughter Ruby walked in. Ruby frowned at her and held out a steaming cup..

Vivian, set her cold coffee cup down, along the one that Ruby handed her. "Any word?"

Ruby pulled up a nearby foot stool to sit on. She and Vivian had never been exactly friendly, but the ordeals of the past few weeks had created a kind of peace between the two. Ruby took a deep breath. "Matt is calling the shots from the Sheriff's Office. John says we lost 23 all told. 8 teenagers and 15 adults. 'Hill People' were in the minority. There were more injuries in the Brat Pack than we initially thought. But I've been down in the E.R. assisting. Whatever new powers I've developed, they seem to be working."

Ruby stared down at her hands.

"Stay," Dee had told her. "Heal them."

And somehow, Ruby had. Vivian stared from her own hands to Ruby's. No one knew how Ruby had developed the ability. But now, whenever she laid her hands on one of the wolven, their wounds began to heal. It was like Ruby could imbue them with her own life force, and give their natural healing ability a boost.

Even weirder, when Ruby removed her hands, the effect continued. Vivian had seen it work on Lucas and on Matt. It was draining for Ruby; not just physically, but emotionally. Ruby had been gone for hours, working to heal their people, in secluded specialized wings of the hospital reserved for wolven patients only.

Vivian felt a pain in her chest. If only it had worked on Deirdre.

Vee could still hear the screams of her family as Dee collapsed on the church floor after DuGare was vanquished. The Slayer had been barely alive, but Ruby had found a steady pulse. She had tried to send her energy into Dee, but nothing happened. That is when they had discovered that Ruby's newfound healing power extended to every wolf in her pack, save Sophia and Deirdre. A fact that could cost Deirdre her life.

Dee was rushed to Wolf Lake General Hospital when not even Sherman's magic could stop the bleeding. Tyler had refused to leave Deirdre's side, even when they had wheeled her into surgery. Inconsolable, Tyler had picked a fight with John, causing the Wolf Lake deputies to restrain Tyler, and remove him from hospital premises.

Richie Ryan had drifted in and out of the waiting room, but Vivian hadn't payed much attention. She'd been more concerned with her own people. For the last several hours, with Dee in surgery, her legend was already spreading. The pack was rallying around their "Spirit Wolf".

Ruby's hand on her own shook Vivian out of her thoughts. Ruby looked about a thousand years old. Vivian could relate. Seeing the deep worry and guilt in the slant of Ruby's shoulders, Vee rubbed her arm. "You tried. You tried to save my baby..." Vivian said. "And I'm so grateful for that."

Ruby nodded, grasping her step-mother's hand awkwardly. "We may not be blood. But she's my sister, in every way that matters."

Vivian nodded. She needed a change of subject. "How are the others taking the orders from Matt?"

The pack's solidarity for Deirdre did not, it seemed, extend to Vivian. It had been apparent very quickly after the events in the church that the Pack's support of Vivian was waning. She had started out the first democratically elected Alpha Female in pack history to hold the rank on her own. There were factions in the Pack that disagreed with that decision; people who had wanted Vee tossed out from the beginning. Then, DuGare had used Luke to manipulate Vivian into handing over control of the Pack Bonds that she commanded. The rebel factions were using that as ammunition to depose Vivian.

After a brief conversation behind closed doors with Sherman, Vivian had named a successor. Thankfully he'd accepted. Sheriff Matt Donner would assume the role of Acting Alpha, until after the dust settled, and a re-election could be broached.

Ruby sighed. "I wish I could say there was at least some resistance to you stepping down, but everyone seems to like Matt."

"He was their logical choice." Vivian snorted, a wistful smile gracing her lips.

Ruby sighed. "And Deirdre? Any news?"

Vivian shook her head. "Still in surgery."

On cue, the aluminum door to the room swung open, admitting a medium height balding man in his late forties. He wore blue scrubs and had a pinched look about his eyes.

Vivian sprung to her feet. "Dr. Glaser."

"Vivian." Dr. Glaser acknowledged.

"How is she?"

Having received special permission from a previous Alpha to attend medical school, Andrew Glaser was Wolf Lake's one and only surgeon. The job had its perks. But an ample salary and nifty parking space were little compensation for moments like these. Glaser sighed heavily at his Alpha Female.

"We were able to repair most of the current damage. She's stable, but we do have to hold her in Station 12 for critical observation."

Vivian, gulped back a sob of relief. Then she processed what the doctor was actually telling her. Her eyes narrowed. "What do you mean, current damage?"

Glaser snatched off the scrubs cap that covered his thinning salt and pepper hair. "Vivian, I'm not going to lie to you. Your daughter has been through hell. There was internal damage that, quite frankly, I've never seen before. Not in fifteen years."

Vivian's vision clouded briefly, but she blinked the tears back. She took in the blood on Glaser's scrubs. Her daughter's blood. "Tell me."

Glaser regarded her for a moment, then nodded. "There's a private exam room next door. Really, this information should be for family only."

Vivian nodded and looked to Ruby. Ruby shook her head. "It's okay, I'll stay with Sophia."

"You're family too." Vivian insisted. "You deserve to hear."

Ruby nodded. "I know, but….I saw her after…"

"After I stabbed her." Luke chose that moment to wake up. The guilt looked like it would eat him alive.

"That wasn't you, Lucas." Ruby soothed. "You weren't yourself."

"But I can still feel that fence post going into my sister." Luke rumbled. "I did this. I have to face the consequences of my actions. Mom, I want to go with you."

Vivian felt the pang in her chest again for her children. She nodded. Ruby patted her shoulder and Vivian and Lucas followed Dr. Glaser to the examination room. It was white and sterile. Glaser turned on a light panel that was mounted to the wall. He put up a series of X-Rays and technical read outs on them. Vivian stared at them, trying to make them mean something.

Glaser started gently. "You may want to sit for this." He indicated two nearby chairs. "There is no easy way to give you the information that I'm about to."

"Andrew, have the thirty years that we've known each other given you the impression that I am in any way fragile?" Vivian shot at him; her tone had the consistency of frozen steel.

Glaser nodded. "Right. Straight to the point." He pointed first to the X-rays. "We found healed fractures and contusions over 60% of Deirdre's body. We also found a ruptured spleen, tissue damage to the large intestine, liver and lungs, from the impalement. Some of the injuries are as old as eight or nine years. Many were fresh injuries that obviously occurred in the recent battle, but the majority look to have occurred over the last 12 months."

"Meaning?" Vivian asked coolly. Luke shivered next to her. Vee gripped her son's hand to reassure him; or herself.

"Like I told you," Glaser replied. "Deirdre has been through hell over the past several years. Deirdre is a Slayer, so her healing ability is higher than most of us. Most of her injuries over the course of her life have healed quickly. She even looks to have been under the care of a doctor. Cleanly set bone breaks in the ribs. Old breaks to fingers that don't impair mobility. But as far as we can tell, something happened to her a year ago that changed everything."

"The scans show poor quality medical care, and decreased healing ability. Additionally, she has a semi-distended pelvis and evidence of mammary enlargement that date back to about four months ago. After that, her blood work shows elevated levels of hCG and a foreign substance derived from wolfsbane. We suspect postpartum drug use." Glaser let out a breath at the end.

"Can you say all of that in English, doc?" Luke growled.

Glaser gave him a pained look but turned to Vivian. "Did your daughter ever mention to you when she gave birth to her baby?"