Chapter Seven

"I've been calling Faith all night," Angel said to Spike.

"Any signs of life at the kid's place?" Spike asked, following Angel towards his office.

"There were lights on all night. That can't be normal. The Senior Partners countermanded my orders and the guard they let me place on the apartment isn't allowed to enter. They're afraid of being sued or some shit. I can't get inside to check the place out," Angel snarled, hating that restriction. He had defeated it once to save Kate. Why hadn't he been able to do it to help his son?

"Means he's alive." Spike gave him an encouraging look.

"Means the owner is alive," Angel countered. "Connor's friend who's out of state owns the place. He and Faith could be dead inside."

"Hey, boss man," Harmony piped up as the two vampires entered the outer office. She spared an angry look for Spike. "A huge gift must have arrived for you early this morning. It's hogging up the office."

Angel glanced at Spike, seeing the same fear in his grandchilde's eyes. Huge could mean human-sized. "Thanks Harmony." He went inside with Spike and locked the door just in case it was a living surprise that he didn't need escaping; then again that would be preferable to finding his son or Faith dead inside the enormous green wrapped box in front of his desk. The box shook a little as something hit it from inside.

The vampires exchanged looks then set upon the gift, shredding the paper. Underneath was a steamer trunk and inside, gagged and bound hand and foot was Faith. Her skin was bluish but she was alive. Angel lifted her up and Spike tore her gag off. Faith gasped then choked.

Spike hit the button on Angel's intercom. "Harm, we're going to need bolt cutters. Send some up." He didn't wait for her reply. "You okay, luv?"

Faith coughed some more. "Only ione/i air hole."

"Dru?" Angel asked.

Faith licked her dry lips and caught her breath. "I'm sorry, Angel. She got in somehow, took me by surprise. She still had the cattle prod. I was down before I knew what hit me. I woke up inside there. God, it was like being in a coffin."

"We'll get you out of the cuffs in a minute," Spike promised, rubbing her back.

"My son, Faith, did she get him?" Angel asked, fighting to keep the panic out of his voice.

"He was there. She had to," Faith said, her eyes going moist. "I fucked up."

Angel hugged her awkwardly. "It's not your fault. I-I don't think she's killed him, not yet. If he's dead, she has no leverage with me."

"Unless she-" Spike said then hurriedly backed away at Angel's expression.

"Don't think it," Angel snarled. "She hasn't made him one of us."

The intercom chirped. Spike thumbed it on. "Yeah?"

"Angel, the bolt cutters are on their way. And the front desk guard just called. He said one of Mr. Gunn's clients is here, some kid, but he's not asking to see Gunn. He's insisting on seeing Faith," Harmony said.

"Have them send him up here and have him wait there with you. Get Gunn over here and tell them to hurry the hell up with those cutters," Angel said then sighed, squeezing Faith again. "If he came through the front door, he's not dead. It's daylight."

Faith said nothing. She simply wept.

X X X

Connor woke up with a splitting headache. He had had another of his Dru dreams again. "Faith?" he called, sitting up. The room spun and he felt sick. He couldn't stop himself nor did he have the strength to get up before vomiting over the edge of the bed. Connor finally managed to get his feet under him and saw the sheets were soaked with blood.

"Oh god, not again." He stumbled into the bathroom and saw the wound on his neck. The holes were vivid, barely scabbed over. His hair was matted with blood. He put a hand to the crusty mass on the back of his head and it felt like a bruised melon, soft and swollen under the dried blood.

Connor staggered out into the living room. There were no signs of Faith but he saw the bloody hole in the wall and the blood on the carpeting. Faith was nowhere in the apartment. Connor knew he should call the police, call Detective Ansen and tell her Dru had taken Faith but what if the detective thought he had done it and just staged the attack. He wanted to flee the apartment but the call of nature won out. He had to pee first and, to his horror, he had another deep bruise with holes in it on his thigh. Shaking, Connor got a shirt and went out to his Norton.

Maybe calling a cab would be better but he knew he wasn't thinking straight. He got on the bike and drove directly to Wolfram and Hart. It took a little convincing before the front desk guard would even call upstairs. Connor didn't blame him. He was being confronted by a kid who had obviously been attacked or had done some attacking. Finally he was escorted to an office.

"Have a seat," the blonde secretary told him.

Connor didn't argue. He all but fell into a chair. "Is Mr. Gunn here?"

"He'll be here soon," the blonde said. "Can I get you anything?"

Connor shook his head then regretted it. "I'm fine."

"Mr. McGillycuddy," Gunn said, coming into the room. His eyes narrowed. "What happened to you?"

Before Connor could answer, the door to the inner office opened, revealing a tall, dark-haired man. Behind him, Connor saw Faith. He jumped to his feet, nearly fell, then ran to her. "Faith, you're okay! What are you doing here? What happened?"

Faith hugged him, dragging him inside and plopping him on the couch.

"What's going on here, Angel?" Gunn asked, confused and obviously disliking it.

"I think the boy's about to tell us that," Angel said, folding his arms.

Connor looked up at them. "I didn't know what to do, Mr. Gunn. I thought I had another dream about Dru coming into my place. I've been having them. But I woke up, and I feel like shit. The sheets are covered with blood and I have this." Connor peeled down his collar to show the wound on his neck. The dark-haired stranger came over and examined him, concern in his dark eyes. Connor winced at the touch, pulling the collar back up seeing it was generating more attention than he was comfortable with.

"I have more on my legs. I thought, shit, it wasn't a dream. Somehow she got in and she did hurt me and Faith, and she must have drugged me again. I went out to the living room, and I could see where she put my head through the wall. Faith's blood was on the carpet. I was going to call the cops but I was afraid they'd say I did it to throw suspicion off myself. I don't even know how I drove here. I feel like I'm ready to pass out at any second." Connor wobbled a bit, putting his head in his hands.

Gunn picked up Angel's phone and hit a button. "Send someone to Angel's office with a gurney. We have someone the doctor's need to check out." He disconnected and hit another button. "Fred, meet me in the infirmary."

"Thanks, Gunn," the dark-haired man said.

"I don't understand. How did you get here, Faith? Why did you leave me?" Connor asked.

She touched his shoulder. "I didn't leave you, kid. She tasered me, stuffed me in that trunk over there and delivered me here." She gestured at the trunk. "They just found me when you showed up downstairs."

Connor pursed his lips. "But why?"

"Because Dru's nuts," the blond man said with a shrug.

"Who are you two?" Connor pointed to him and the dark haired one.

"That's Spike," Faith said. "And Angel. He's my boss. He sort of runs Wolfram and Hart."

Connor wrinkled his nose. "You look familiar, like I've seen you around campus."

"I started out as a detective. Sometimes I like to keep my hand in. You might have seen me working the area," Angel said. "Why don't you just rest until our doctors check you out?"

"You believe me?" Connor asked, shocked.

"We do," Angel said as two of the firm's private EMS workers came in with a gurney. "Here you go," he said to them, indicating Connor.

Connor got up, feeling weak-kneed. He let them help him onto the gurney.

"We have a few more questions, so we're going to come with, is that okay?" Angel asked.

Connor nodded. "Yeah."

He lay back and nearly passed out on the trip to the infirmary. He was only half-aware of the nurses moving him to a bed. He came back to himself as one of them tightened some rubber around his arm. His eyes widened seeing the infirmary. It bore a frightening resemblance to the one in his alien abduction 'memories.' If a certain man in a lab coat, the human collaborator in his fuzzy memories, appeared, Connor knew he'd bolt no matter how hard it might be for him at this point. Seeing Faith still standing there calmed him. He knew she wouldn't let anyone hurt him. He felt it deep down inside him to be true.

"They're going to take some blood," Gunn said. "To see how anemic you are, if you need a transfusion. Oh, Fred, there you are," he added as a slender woman came in. "Connor, did you shower this morning after you woke up?"

"No."

"Great. Fred, supervise your team doing swabs of Connor's injuries. Let's see if we can find some DNA for Detective Ansen. I'll call her and tell her you were attacked, Connor and send her out to the apartment with a team to see if she can find Dru's prints to match to your dorm room." Gunn turned to Faith, enthusiasm in his dark eyes. "Faith, she'll want to talk to you. You can back up Connor's story. Fred, we'll need someone in here to take photographs of his injuries."

"Of course."

"Um, does everyone have to be in here for that?" Connor asked. "I'm not a prude but I'm not thrilled with being naked in front of a bunch of strangers."

"No problem. This actually should clear you of all suspicion, Connor," Gunn said.

Connor let his head drop back against the starched pillow case. He flinched, having forgotten his injured head, that pain lost in the sea of pain that he was swimming in. "Thank God." He lifted his head just a bit. "You had more questions."

"They can wait until the doctor checks you out," Angel said. "We'd like you to stay here, for your own safety, if that's okay with you."

Connor nodded. "Someone has to take care of Beggar, my friend's cat."

"We'll send someone for it," Gunn said.

"Thanks. Faith, I'm glad you're okay."

"Same here, blue eyes. You want me to stay here with you?" she asked.

He held out his hand. "Please."

Faith took it. "Someone get me a chair, please. Angel, if you need me-"

"I know where to find you. Just relax, Connor. You should be safe here," Angel promised. Connor barely heard him, giving in to his exhaustion.

X X X

Drusilla was utterly pleased that her three new boys had joined her outside of Wolfram and Hart. They looked freshly blooded and ready for action. It had cost her some of her strength days ago to make all three at once but it was worth it. They were beautiful.

"Come along, boys," she said, swishing her way into the building. "And remember what I've told you."

"No playing with Connor," Damien said, looking disappointed.

"Touch him and I'll scatter your ashes," Drusilla said succinctly as she snapped the neck of the guard, unable to make him miss seeing a quartet. She had learned quickly the boys didn't understand the poetry she loved so to speak in. Lackeys rarely did but she had hopes these ones would learn soon. She was proud of the lust for the kill her children showed.

"Everyone else is fair game, right?" Brian asked and Dru nodded.

"But not until after we catch Irish," Javier reminded him.

Dru punched the button for the elevator. No one took notice of them in their human faces. She led them down a hall and stopped at a door. "Daddy has the toady watching Little Brother while everyone else is planning for us." She grinned broadly. "Mistake. He should have known from the way the clouds are playing with the moon."

"Uh-huh. I should have written poetry like that," Brian said, sarcastically.

Missing his tone, Dru ruffled his red hair. "Another poet. Spike will be so pleased." She pointed to the door. "He will know me. You know what to do."

Dru stood out of sight and let her boys knock on the door.

It opened to a green man in a brilliant purple shirt covered in blue and yellow paisley. "Hang on a sec, Con-man, and I'll finish telling you how I adopted this-makeup for my Vegas act." His red eyes fixed on the three teens. "What can I do for you?"

"We're friends of Connor's. He gave us a call," Damien said.

The creature's eyes slotted. "He hasn't made any calls."

"Sure he has," Javier said, catching the door as the creature tried to shut it. He slammed it open, smashing it into the creature's face.

Dru waved a hand for the others to get inside. She shut the door behind her, kicking the demon while he was down. "Hello, Little Brother. Time to play."

Little Brother took one look at the quartet and screamed wordlessly. He leapt off the couch and fell. Dru saw how pale he was. She had almost taken too much blood. Little Brother would have precious little to spare tonight. He crabbed backwards on the carpeting. "No, no, you're all dead. I saw your bodies."

"Who would have thought Stoker had it right?" Damien laughed.

"He doesn't really," Dru said, her face morphing. "But close enough. Come on, Little Brother, time to join the family."

Little Brother shrieked as his friends' faces went all bumpy, their eyes sheening gold and their fangs peeked out. He tried to get to his feet and run. Dru saw the green demon had gotten up behind her new children. "Lorne, run!" Little Brother cried.

Javier, Damien and Brian whirled, one of them narrowly missing getting whacked with a lamp. They fell on Lorne, tearing at his throat. He shrieked. Dru knew they'd figure out their mistake soon enough. She heard them spitting out the unpalatable blood as she hauled Little Brother up by his silky hair.

"Enough boys. You can't eat that thing," she said. "Time to dance for the moon."

Little Brother was thrashing in her grasp. He was strong, despite being low on his vital fluids. She tossed him to his friends. They struggled with him, finally getting him up off his feet. Dru put her hand over his mouth and nose and eventually he quit squirming.

"Bring him," Dru demanded, stalking down the hall toward the stairwell. Javier had Little Brother draped over his shoulder in a fireman's carry as Dru led the way to Daddy's rooms. Alarms went off half way there.

"Damn, we shoulda trashed that green thing," Damien said, glancing around.

Dru shook her head, her long curls swishing. "It'll speed up the game." She hustled up the stairs faster. Dru opened Angel's suite with a sharp twist of the wrist, snapping the lock. It was empty. She clapped her hands seeing all the decorations. "Daddy is all ready for his present. Put him on the couch and go hide up the hall. Come at them from behind, once they're inside."

Javier dumped Little Brother on the couch, and they retreated out of the room. Dru went around turning on all the lights and pretty decorations. Little Brother woke up to the sounds of Christmas carols. He trembled on the couch, too spent to move. Dru sat with him and he whimpered.

"It ends tonight, Little Brother," she told him.

Fat tears rolled down his cheeks as his quivering lips poured out words she didn't want to hear, "Hail Mary, full of grace, the lord be with you. Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our deaths, Amen. Hail Mary-"

Dru clamped a hand over his mouth and wagged a finger back and forth. "None of that, Little Brother. The holy mother wants nothing to do with the likes of you."

Little Brother cocked back his fist and hit her, taking her by surprise. He broke free and ran for the door. Dru tackled him, licking her own blood off her lips.

"Impish Little Brother," she scolded, slicing through the skin of his neck with a nail painted red with gold snowflakes, a gift from a manicurist just before Dru had gobbled her up.

Little Brother cried out as Dru yanked him up, licking the shallow wound. She listened to voices in the hall. Daddy was coming.

"Are you sure, Angel?" a British voice was saying.

"Trust me, Wes. It's Drusilla. She's got Connor. She wasn't waiting for us in Spike's room so she has to be in mine," Daddy said as he came into the room. He froze in the doorway as Dru jerked Little Brother's head to the side so Daddy could see the bleeding wound.

Dru saw her Spike behind Angel with the Slayer she made and a dark haired man with blue fire for eyes. Oh, he looked so good, she might have to keep him, too. "Play time," she sing-songed.

"Help me, please," Little Brother wailed as her tongue rasped his neck.

"Let him go, Dru," Angel said, edging into the room, making downward sweeps of his hands to keep his friends from attacking immediately.

"You have to play the game first," Dru insisted, stomping her foot.

"No one's playing, Dru," Angel said, slowly working his way to her. He stopped when she drew the pad of her finger across Little Brother's neck. Daddy understood the warning.

"It's time to be a family again, Daddy. I need you," Dru said, her blue eyes soft and moist. "I need my little Spike, too."

"It won't work anymore, Dru," Spike said, his voice full of honest regret and truth.

"It can. It's written in the snow. The holly whispers it," Dru insisted, pointing at Faith. "You can bring that Slayer. Little Brother needs his own dark rose."

"Not interested," Faith said. "Let us have him, and you can walk out of here."

"Oooo, listen to her lie, her words like honey," Dru cooed, petting Little Brother's hair.

"Dru, I don't want to have to kill you," Angel said. "You were my special girl."

"Daddy lies, too, doesn't he, Little Brother? Does he lie to you like he does me?" Dru kissed her captive's cheek.

"I don't know what you're talking about. That's not my father. My dad's in Canada," Little Brother said, writhing in her grasp.

"Why does your son not know you?" Dru asked Angel then heard the cocking of a cross bow. She pulled Little Brother in front of her. He was too thin to hide behind easily but it was enough to shield her heart. "Naughty, naughty. If you don't play nice, I'll put you in the corner," she tsked at Wes.

"You're outnumbered, Drusilla," Spike said. "You can't fight us all."

"I don't have to. I asked Daddy a question. What lies have you told, Angelus, that your boy doesn't know you?" Dru ran her fingers over Little Brother's head. "Ah, I see. It's like a web. Bad Daddy."

"Dru, please don't do it," Angel said, his eyes widened so Drusilla knew he feared her.

"What in the hell is she talking about? I don't know you," Little Brother said, shaking.

"Difficult, very intricate, bad magic" Dru said, ticking a finger against her kin's temple then against the base of his skull.

"Dru, no!" Angel lunged for her.

She lifted Little Brother up off the ground by his neck. He gurgled as her strong fingers dug into his flesh. "He's too precious to kill, but I will." She wiped her finger against his oozing wound as she set him down and reached out to rouge Angel's lips all the while keeping a death grip on Little Brother's throat. That kept Angel from hurting her. "Taste that. As good as a Slayer's, better, sweeter. Spike loved it."

"You're fucking nuts," Little Brother said as she relaxed her grip.

She slapped him, her nails raking his face. "That's no way to talk to a lady, Little Brother. You need manners. Maybe this will help." She flicked his other temple. She ringed a finger around his forehead. "Wonder what happens if I do this?"

Dru stabbed her finger dead center against his forehead as Angel screamed 'no.' Little Brother convulsed in her grip, and she dropped him. He balled up, howling. Faith and Wes rocked back, holding their heads, moaning in pain. Wes's crossbow clattered to the ground.

"What's happening, Peaches?" Spike asked.

"She's undone the spell," Angel said, defeated.

Connor unfolded, sitting up, his face wet with tears. "I'm not me. I'm not me!" he cried, rocking back and forth.

"Angel, what have you done?" Wesley asked, sagging against the wall.

"There's no time for that now, Wes," Angel said.

"Less time than you think," Dru said, seeing her new boys arriving. "You're late," she added as one snagged Wes.

"Sorry, we're new at this," Brian said as Faith tore Javier off Wes.

"Damn it, Spike, help me with Dru," Angel said, "Wes and Faith can handle the newbies."

Spike caught Dru, whirling her away from Little Brother. Angel went with them. Dru screeched, kicking Angel square in the balls as he came for her. He went to his knees with a moan.

"Good!" Little Brother snarled. "Kick him again. This is all your fault, Dad."

"Ooo, Little Brother's all wide awake and full of venom." Dru clapped as she side-stepped Spike.

"Sounds like whining to me, but what can you expect from a poor little rich boy?" Damien asked, burying his fingers in Little Brother's hair, yanking him up. "Did you ever have to work hard a day in your life, Irish?'

Dru loved Little Brother's wicked smile as he shoved Damien off him and snapped a branch off the tree, ornaments and all. She dug her finger into the hole in Spike's chest as he caught hold of her. Her thumb tore through the half-healed flesh the cross had burned into the night before, and he grunted.

"You liked the way we played, Spike," she said as Damien advanced on her brother.

Spike smirked through the pain. "For a while, baby, but you left me in a right state."

"Only because you were a bad boy," she said sweetly.

"Talking about being a bad boy, what were you doing, Irish, when we died?" Damien asked. "Not that I should complain. This is great. And you're going to join us. Dru insists."

Little Brother shook his head. "I'm so sorry, Damien. I never wanted this to happen."

Dru's eyes widened as Little Brother stabbed the tree branch into his friend's chest. For a moment it stood there, silver bells jingling. Damien looked at Little Brother in shock.

"Guess Dru forgot to tell you the price of immortality was the ability to be killed by a sliver of wood to the heart," Little Brother said as his friend went to dust. "Rest easy, Damien."

Dru speared her high heel straight through Spike's foot and into the floor. She slipped free of the shoes and bolted for the door. Her Slayer was walking through the dust of her newest childe and Wes had sunk a bolt through her poet's back even as he was trying to get a feed. She batted Faith away and made for the door. She paused, seeing Little Brother react to Spike's demon visage. He went for him with the branch. Spike blocked it and Little Brother went under the block with his other hand. The punch tore Spike free of where his foot had been pinioned and into a wall, howling the whole way.

Dru ran for the steps. She heard Angel saying, "No, Faith, stay with Connor. Spike and I will handle Dru." She heard them running after her, their gaits unsteady, limping from the injuries. She got to the stairwell and jumped over the edge. She landed graceful like a panther then was out the door, racing down the street. It was raining again; cold, whipping at her, mocking her.

She felt hands on her, yanking her back. She slammed into Daddy's chest and her darling Spike was in front of her, just out of range of her foot. Angel wrapped his arms around her. She sagged against him.

"It wasn't supposed to end like this," she moaned, her tears mixing with the rain. "I need my boys. We were supposed to be a family again."

"We can't go backwards, Dru," Angel said, stroking her hair. "You really didn't want to hurt Connor, did you?"

"He is so sweet."

"Yeah, and his punch feels like stepping in front of a train," Spike said, rubbing his swollen chin. "Did you even think of that, Peaches, when you wiped the kid's memory? If he got into a frat house fight, he'd be behind bars right now."

"I didn't think of anything," Angel admitted. "But you saw what he was like just now, Dru."

"He was glorious," she said, eyes wide with wonderment.

"And nearly impossible to control. He would have hated you for controlling him," Angel said. "It wouldn't have worked."

"It should have," she insisted with a pout.

"It couldn't," Angel said. "And now it ends."

Spike stared at her. Dru prepared for a fight. She looked up into Daddy's rain slicked face. No one moved.

"Damn it, I can't do it, Angel," Spike said. "I promised to kill her once for Buffy, and I did everything I could to avoid following through with it."

"I set her and Darla on fire once, and I was just as glad they got away," Angel admitted. "Do it."

"I can't. You kill her," Spike insisted.

"I made her, this is my fault." Angel touched her cheek. "I can't do it." He let her go. "Go Dru, get out of here. I don't just mean this spot, I mean get out of Los Angeles. Go far away where we won't find you and have to kill you."

"Go and be real quiet-like, luv," Spike added. "The moon's probably already told you there're hundreds of Slayers now. A girl has to be careful not to end up in an ashtray these days."

"You won't come with me?" Dru pleaded, sobbing.

"We can't," Angel said.

"Hang about, I've got something for you," Spike said and tore off for the building.

His older kin watched him go.

"Never come near Connor again, Dru," Angel said evenly but the threat apparent.

She cupped his face. "He'll bring you nothing but hardship, Daddy."

He smiled softly in the rain. "I don't need to see the future to know that, Dru."

"Little Brother loves you very much, and it hurts him to think on it," she added.

Angel nodded. "That's good to know, well, the first part. I'll work on the latter."

"He would have had fun with me," Dru said. "He had such energy."

"Uh, energy?" Angel asked, dread in his eyes.

Dru smiled coyly, tucking her hands behind her like a little girl. "Daddy knows what I mean."

A horrified expression flitted across Angel's face. "I'm afraid I do."

"Here you go, luv," Spike said, jogging back. He handed her a plastic bag that was twisted tight. "Miss Edith. Keep the bag tight so she doesn't get wet." He handed it to her, kissing her cheek.

Dru looked at the men for a moment then realized they weren't going to change their minds. She saw the words in the rain drops; time to go. The game was over and she had lost. Sadly she walked away.