Title: New York Devils
Author: Lore
Rating: PG
Summary: A meeting between a devil and a demon. (Daredevil/Buffy-
crossover)





Tom McCrady knew he was shit. He was a lowlife, always had been.
Owning a bar, dealing some drugs under the table. Looking away when
some mobsters did their business... All in all he was scum, but scum
that made good money, enough to pay his ex-wife and get his three
brats into college. He'd been hiding some money from the bitch and
her attorneys, enough of a nest-egg for his little retirement fund
for Bali. None of that nagging and nagging to get them into
Princeton, or any of those rich men's colleges with ivy green on the walls.

All in all, he didn't have many regrets. Nope except one. The one
that had returned from ten years in the past. The one that was
forcing his back into the wall, and that had made his pants
surprisingly wet. It had started as he'd stared into a face that he
hadn't seen since that last time when he'd found it's yellow glowing
eyes staring back at him over a young girl's cold body. A face with
inhuman ridges over the eyes, and gleaming fangs in its mouth.

"I don't know!" The monster was still in human face, as much of a
lie as its almost congenial manner as it first asked about the girl.
There was no way out of this. If he told about the girl, Miller was
gonna kill him, if he didn't, the freak would drain him dry, turn
him, and then slowly dust him. Why hadn't he just quit when his dear
old mum had asked him too? Oh yeah: three brats, college and a wife
that kept nagging for her fucking allimony.
"Holy Mary, mother of God..."

The thing's fist hit him in the face, breaking some of his teeth,
it's face still human; he could feel the sting of the cold metal
rings on his lips as his face hit the wall.

"Young girl, about 13, red head, green eyes, new in the area. Where
is she Tommy boy?"

Oh God Oh God Oh God.

"I know you've still got ties in the business Tommy boy. Want to
know how I know this?"
Tom knew they could hear his legs shaking three states away, his
bones were rattling and his heart seemed to try to escape through
his throat. The monster only smiled at his terror.

"Do you, Tommy boy? Because I just visited five stupid wastes of
space calling itself a pub, just like your place. Five bleeding
bars, with nothing but rotten American beers, and not a decent
chicken wing in the whole bloody lot of them. And all of those men,
what was left of them, pointed me to you."

"I don't know Spike I swear..."

The vampire grabbed him up, holding him by the throat as he could
barely feel the ground with his toes stretched out as low as he
could. "I know your kind of business, Tommy: the entertainment
industry. Getting girls to young to even know about stuff like that
to perform in your sick little movies, getting little kids doing
tricks for your buddies."

Of course he knew, the monsters always knew everything, didn't they?
Why now? Just when he was getting close to retiring? "Please..." But
begging didn't help, not with a monster.

"Where?"

And he cracked, telling the monster all about the girl, about all
the girls, about Millers plans with them, about Miller's place. He
was still talking, even as the vampire threw him to the ground and
left, his dark coat floating around him, his white hair glistening
in the darkness of the door.

And a new prayer filled his heart. Please have the monster find
Miller before Miller found him, pretty please... He'd never again,
never, please God...

And then the devil jumped down next to him.




**********





The blind man moved with timeless grace. His muscles flowing
seamlessly from one move through to the other as he pushed himself
from one flagpole to the other. His world one of perpetual darkness:
sounds, scents, and an eternity of touch. The blind man could pick
up any radio stations by feeling the airwaves. He could hear the
song of a police siren from five blocks away. A lone pigeon blocked
his path; he easily avoided it. His name was Matt Murdock. They
called him Daredevil. And right now several children's lives could
very well depend on him.

He could smell the blood even before he opened the door. A few weak
heartbeats were scattered around the room. Some were trembling in
the corners, and he could hear whispered prayers jagging on his ears
like nails scratching on a chalkboard.

McCrady had kept talking and talking, he'd been forced to hit the
man unconscious to get him to stop talking. But before he did, he'd
learned all about the monster. About the vampire. A psychopath that
would kill just for the fun of it, for food, snacks, for the hell of
it. And right now, as bad as Miller was, the monster would probably
be even worse.

And it had to be stopped.

The trail was easy enough to follow: the scent of frightened
children, of fear, of blood... They'd run into the subway, so
desperate to get away. He was just in time to see them board the
subway, he could still hear them running. Barely able to grab hold
of the cart before it left, breaking a window to get inside.

The devil couldn't see people staring at him, though he knew they
were, trying to get out of the way as he raced past them. His red
leather body suit, complete with red devil mask making him stand out
in the middle of the crowd.

He could hear them in the next cart, the last one of the subway, the
children, three of them, two girls and a boy, huddled in the back. A
grown man's frantic breathing and nothing else. Where had the
monster gone?

He kicked the door open, letting his billy club hit the side of the
door, causing enough echoes for his radar sense to get an idea of
the place. The children, the man, and a corpse, something...

It was on him in seconds.

Its boot hit him in the face, kicking him back. Where was it? No
heartbeat, no breathing, no body warmth to tell him where it was.
Just... silence and scent. He could smell it, a whiff of blood, old
tastes of tobacco. He kicked back, hoping he hit it right. A sound,
surrounding it as it hit the floor. A form, not too long, heavy
boats, something flowing...

He barely grabbed hold of the fist coming his way, trying to hold it
back. The monster's strength was unlike any he'd ever felt before.
Even the Kingpin, with all of his Sumo training, hadn't been this
strong.

Tick tick... Where?

A child screaming. He jumped up at it, only he missed, the monster
had stopped cold.

"Let go!" A cold British tint to the voice, aimed at Miller. Miller
whose heartbeat was rising more and more, something in the mobster's
hand. He tapped the floor. Damn it, the bastard had a gun aimed at
one of the girls' head!

Rising, ever faster, faster, till it cracked. Matt could almost hear
it, feel it crack, stop, slowly stopping. As the man fell down, his
gun dropping on the floor, beside him, going off one last time, the
bullet hitting the monster once before falling still. The monster
went up to the man, holding him, then suddenly grabbing him up. "No!
you can't die, you bastard. I didn't even kill you. You're supposed
to go to jail. You're not getting away from me." He could feel a
thunk as the monster dropped down next to the man, pushing him down,
forcing his chest down, again, again...

The blind man's freeze lasted but a second before he jumped in
action, trying to help the monster into getting the mobster's heart
beating again. "We have to call an ambulence!!" The monster, no the
man, sounded almost in a panic now. "He can't die on me. I was just
scaring him, I didn't mean to kill him. I didn't."

Matt hit him in the face, calming him down near instantly. Getting
him ready to fight as well.
"We'll get help. His heart's beating again already."

The man/monster turned his face. Matt could hear a sigh of relief,
one of the first sounds of breating coming from whatever the other
was. "The children how are they?"

"They're alright."

He could hear the other's footsteps going towards the children, he
could hear their screams and the other stopping. "I'm a friend.
Don't worry, I'm a friend."

Something moved, bone, blood vessels moving. And even then the
children didn't calm down.
"Don't worry. I'm a friend of the Slayer. I'm here to help."
But it didn't help, they didn't calm 'till the man stepped away from
them, 'till he was behind Matt. 'till the doors opened and people
stared in at the scene. 'till they could run out, away from the
horror. Daredevil could see the cops coming, turned around to warn
the other to get out. He shouldn't have wasted his time. The man was
gone already.





***********





"Thanks Harris. I'll see you guys at the airport in a few hours."

He held his wounded arm, keeping it close as it healed. He didn't
bother to turn around at the man who'd just joined him on the
rooftop. His eyes were fixed on the ambulance as it took Miller
away. As they tried to save a man he'd nearly killed, without even
touching him. Gee, how neat, a new winner, killing someone without
even laying a finger on him. Why did this happen now, why did it
have to hurt him, seeing that man, hearing his heart stop,
listening ...

"He's alive."

Spike kept staring down, following the police car as the children
huddled in its back. As the cops tried to comfort them, calm them.
His eyes focussed on the girl he was supposed to be protecting. He'd
probably scared her more than that bastard had.
Damn it.

He stared at the pipe in his hand, something else he'd broken,
without even meaning too, without...

"So you were trying to save those kids."

"So what?!"
It annoyed him, feeling this guilty, the bastard had been evil,
hurting those children, planning too... Like he'd done in the past,
hurting children for fun, for... Oh god... He grabbed a fag, trying
to light it, stopping a few times, trying to stay calm. Trying not
to show his discomfort.

"McCrady said you were a monster."

"He ain't wrong."

"Would a monster care about a couple of kids, or even a monster like
Miller?"

"Don't make a sodding fool of yourself Devilman. Used to be a time,
I'd have been as bad as Miller, worse..."

"But not anymore."

"No... not anymore."
He let the smoke float away from his lips. Feeling his dead lungs
blow out the air he'd used before falling still again.

"You save lives now."

"I"m no hero, I'm just in love with one. She wants me to save that
kid, I do it. Simple as that."
And the fact that he'd felt good about being able to save those kids
hadn't had anything to do with it, feeling good about scaring that
bastard, about wanting to make him pay... It wasn't any of the
devil's business..

"Sure ... Spike. Sure."
He was almost certain he'd seen a smile on the devil's lips before
he jumped off the building. And he smiled with the devil's blessing,
ready to do his lady's will and enjoy it.



The end