Disclaimer: I own nothing of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, nor Hellsing.
Chapter 25: A friendly warning…?
"Wait Alucard…don't shoot him yet." Integra ordered with her cold blue colored eyes fixed on the boy standing in the back of the room. She could sense the others as they tensed, ready to attack at a moments notice. It was pleasant change, to see that the other people in the room did not suffer from hysterics when faced with danger, as did those of the local police, not like her own men in the Hellsing Order…but then again, the Members of the Slayer Council did face peril on a daily bases. "Who might you be?" She asked the boy.
The teenager drew his feet tight together with a snap, and he bowed forward at the hips. "Junior Warrant Officer Schrödinger, Sir Hellsing." He replied, warm laughter in his young voice.
"What are you…?" Willow questioned softly as she stepped back from her chair. She had her gaze locked on the boy as she moved smoothly across the floor, making her way slowly around the table. The others let her pass. Her gaze narrowed as she looked his aura…she frowned at what she discovered. "You're really not real at all, are you little boy?" She commented, her eyes darkening. "You're not an astral projection…but…"
Schrödinger grinned widely at the red head, as if pleased by her observation. "Very good Miss Hellsing…" He felt her magic pulling at him, and his gaze widened slightly at the sensation. So much power…His smile grew into a smirk. "Perhaps you are wondering how I managed to infiltrate the Wards you have surrounding the Slayer Compound?"
The corner of her mouth twisted up. "No."
"No?" He questioned, his brows rising in disbelief, and his ears twitching.
A dark chuckle escaped her mouth. Willow could not help her reaction. The boy looked just like a kitten, and somewhat reminded her of her old cat. A curious little creature… "You are not here, right? Just a surface reflection…how could you set off the wards, hum?"
He gave a nod of his head, eyes sparkling with mirth as he realized the witch did understand. "You are correct Miss Hellsing. An image only…therefore I am not here." A shame he did not have more time to play…the Red Witch was interesting.
"What do you want?" Giles demanded to know, his face tight with impatience. He did not like visitors coming to his home, especially uninvited.
The boy shook his head at the older man, as if disappointed by his lack of manners. "There is no need to be rude Mr. Giles. I am just a messenger…" the reply to this was deep growls of warning, coming from the two demonic master vampires in the room. Schrödinger looked down at the floor, taking in a deep breath, as if calming himself. He glanced back up; his eyes locking on the red head, a smirk spreading across his face once more. "Alright then…if we can not be civil to one another…"
He bowed once more, this time holding the position longer; a show of respect for the witch. "Miss Hellsing. I come baring a gift, if you will…a warning. Do you know where the children are?" and with those words, which were followed by the sound of laughter, the boy's form completely disappeared from sight, his giggling slowly fading from the room.
"What the hell…" Xander exclaimed, eyes dazed. This was definitely a strange encounter for him…not counting the times the Scooby gang had faced the First. It looked like cat-boy had the ability to disappear as the First had. He looked over at Giles, and then Buffy, who wore baffled expressions that he imagined he wore on his own face. "Does any one know what cat-boy was talking about? The children…he couldn't mean…?"
"The junior slayers…" Spike sneered at Xander, then murmuring under his breath, "Moron!" as he turned away. He grabbed his coat from the back of his chair, and left the room, ignoring the call of his name by his grandsire, with only one thought in his mind. Why did the Slayer keep that boy around?
"The kids…" Buffy whispered, eyes growing in horror. The girls were out there patrolling by themselves, with only Andrew as backup. "Willow, can you feel them?"
The red head closed her eyes, searching inward for the connection she shared with the Slayer Line. There! Oh no…Oh goddess, this was not good! "I can feel them…They are not too far away, but they are trapped." Her eyes started to glow, and her mouth grew tight.
"Angel…" The dark haired demon looked over at the witch, waiting. They had a bond, one of the soul…and it had its uses. "I'm leaving now, but you need to lead the others to me, okay?" With his nod of agreement, Willow turned to her cousin. "Sir Integra?"
"What do you need Willow?" Asked the Hellsing Leader without hesitation, for she sensed the situation was explosive.
Willow stepped over towards Alucard, her arms reaching out to wrap around the waist of the vampire. "I need his assistance…but we have to leave now."
"Fine…" Integra replied, taking a deep breath. "I'll follow with the others. Good luck." She gave a brisk nod, before moving towards the door, right behind Spike, who had rejoined them, having gone for the weapons. Angel led them out, with Walter, Giles, Faith, Xander, and Buffy on their heels.
"Thanks…" Willow murmured under her breath, her eyes closing as Alucard wrapped his body around her own. She could feel his black aura close around her own, and she felt reassured by his presence. Her wind funnel appeared, and engulfed their forms. In a blink of an eye, the two of them were gone.
The large group of werewolves fighting the tiny group of junior Slayers, in the middle of the empty underground garage, barely had time to jerk back to a safe distance, before a dark, stormy wind tunnel appeared before them. Small sparks of lightening crackled from the dark cloud, like seeking fingers they reached out, attempting to electrify the closest near-by. There were a few yelps of pain in response. A moment later, the wind funnel dissolved, leaving in its wake, a red clad master vampire, and a black and white haired, pissed off witch, the two standing back to back, as they assessed the situation.
With a graceful wave of her hand, Willow surrounded the young slayers and one whimpering Andrew, with a protective magical barrier. She smiled with grime satisfaction as the light blue colored wall fell into place. Nothing would get by that wall, not unless she allowed it to. She could sense that two of the girls were seriously injured, with little Megan near death. Willow would have to heal those two, before she could deal with the enemy. Their wounds …they had been hit in the back…Bastards! What was honorable about this battle? There were at least thirty werewolves out there…
Alucard could feel the rage rolling off his little tree's form, and it fed his own. He felt the same as her. It was one thing to battle children; even thought they were warriors, but to attack them from behind… His gaze locked on the wolves lurking in the shadows…but he could sense two others. His eyes shifted to the right. Two males...both wearing coats, and hats, but their powerful auras concealed their identities. There was something familiar about their scents. Spineless cowards, he thought with a sneer of contempt.
"Well, Red Witch? What should we do?" He asked the red head with a twisted smile growing on his face; the glee he felt at the up-coming blood bath shone in the depths of his ruby colored eyes.
Willow bent down, her hands reaching out towards the figures placed on the ground. The palms of her hands began to glow, and the resulting green colored light shot out of her flesh, and surrounded the girls lying at her feet. Her magic began to heal the cuts and scraps the slayers had, but their loss of blood would keep the girls unable to fight, at least for a day or two. She glanced up as Alucard spoke to her while continuing to loom over the slayers. Her gaze quickly took in the size of the enemy, the expression in her eyes turning cold. She could see a figure she recognized from the other night, standing in the mist of the werewolves. Stupid wolf…did he really think he would get away with this?
She frowned, her eyes roaming over the shadows…she caught sight of something…a light flash against metal. She could sense the two males hiding in the dark, just beyond the ceiling lights. Spectators…well, well…her and Alucard should give them a show then, right?
"No kills Mister Vamp…" Willow decided, with a dark smile on her face. She murmured the spell, the one she had used years ago when she faced the slayer, under her breath. Tonight she would need the enhanced abilities."…but I'm sure we can give them a beating they'll not soon forget…and Alucard?"
The Master Vampire cocked his head, waiting… "Michael over there is mine, understand?" Willow told him, her darkening eyes fixed on the werewolf. It was the London Pack's third in command…the one who had betrayed the Council a few nights ago. The Alpha of the pack apparently had not been able to deal with the traitorous wolf… No matter, Willow would take care of the problem right now, pack leader, or no. Marcus had a lot to answer for.
The No-Life King lips twisted savagely with annoyance, but without having a direct order from his master, his hands were tied behind his back… so to speak. With a lack of enthusiasm, he slipped his Jackal back under his coat. "Alright little tree…I accept your challenge." He told her, his aura swelling with the anger he felt at the situation. In a blur of motion, his feet took him forward. He engaged the first wave of the werewolves who were in turn rushing towards him, and the Red Witch.
The sounds of snapping bones, and the howls of pain filled the night air. The Hellsing Vampire took great delight in breaking arms, and dislocation limbs. In a short time, he had disabled half of the opposing group. Alucard might not be able to kill the fucking rodents, but they will wish he had ended their lives by the time he was done with them. Normally, Alucard enjoyed spending time taunting his enemy, giving them false hope to the possibility of them winning the battle… and then of course, Alucard took pleasure in pulling the rug from underneath his enemy's unsuspecting feet… but tonight was different. He had not time to waste. He had his witch to protect…soon, there were only a few left to deal with.
From the corner of his eye, he saw how Willow dealt with two of the wolves, some of whom had managed to double back through the parked vehicles. When one took a swipe at her with his clawed hand, she gracefully sidestepped, her own arm rising beneath his, locking him into position. With her free hand, she grabbed a hold of the back of the wolf's head. Holding his shoulder and arm back, she jerked his head forward, the quick motion breaking the wolf in the middle of his back. When the other werewolf ran at her, Willow kicked up high in the air, the movement faster than the pup could counteract. The hit delivered at his head sent the wolf flying back, to land against the concrete wall. When he fell to the ground, he did not get back up. He was out cold.
Alucard's face broke with an insolent smile. He loved watching the red head fight. She had such control…in the next second, the sound of gunfire erupted within the underground garage, the noise echoing between the walls. His undead heart stopped as he watched the bullets fly from near the entrance, the lights flashing on the metal as they flew towards his witch. He did not even think of what he was going to do…he just did it. His shadow rushed out of his mortal form, like black poles, heading towards his witch, fury giving his strength and speed…but he need not have bothered he soon realized.
Willow's body glowed bright for a second, her physical, magical wards responding to the threat approaching her. Alucard came to a sudden halt, watching as the bullets paused in mid-air, less than a foot away from her chest. Her head tilted to the side as she reached out to grasp one of the bullets. She rolled the piece of steel between her finger and thumb, a grin so reckless on her face that it caused even the Hellsing Vampire to blink in surprise. Alucard watched as she twirled the forefinger of her free hand in the air, seeing how the bullets trapped in space began to turn around in response.
This was more than magic…Alucard thought with interest…telekinesis perhaps.
The glow surrounding Willow's body brightened once more, and her eyes bleed black and silver. Her lips twisted, and she gave a sharp snap of her fingers. As if time itself had been holding them back, the bullets exploded from their prison, shooting forward to whence they came. Something thrown by the enemy intercepted the bullets. A tiny object sailed through the air, again stopping a foot away from the Red Witch.
Alucard walked up, his gloved fingers easily taking the flat item from the air. He scoffed at the object in his hand…a playing card. He made to crush the piece of stiff paper in his fist, but Willow waved her hand, and the card went flying out of his grasp. A split second later, the piece of paper blow up as if it was a small explosive.
"Nice trick…" Alucard remarked, watching through narrowed eyes as the two unknown males left the underground entrance…guess they had what they wanted, hum… Leaving their men behind, he thought with disgust…honorless, ill-conceived dogs. He glanced sideways at the red head. "How did you know?"
She shrugged her shoulders, her hair, and eyes returning to normal. "It felt like it was charging…like a battery ready to burst." The two of them turned, hearing the sounds of her friends, and their family making their way down the emergency stairways. A genuine smile of warmth filled her face. "They came all this way…and they won't get a chance to fight."
A deep chuckle of laughter escaped Alucard, the pleased sound filling the air. "They will have to deal with the clean up then, will they not?" He said, his gaze moving to the blond werewolf they had met a few nights ago. "…and him, Red Witch?"
"Michael?" Willow questioned, her smile growing as a plan grew within her mind. "Oh, I'm leaving the traitor for Giles to deal with…Ripper will just love talking to him!"
Alucard's brow rose at that; making a note for her to explain that reference later. She rolled her eyes back in response. "It will give them something to do; don't you think Mister Vamp…while we go deal with Marcus, the pack leader?"
The Hellsing Vampire hid his grin of wicket delight under the shadow of his hat as those from the Council,as well asSir Integra and Walter, joined them. He waited silently as Willow told the others what had happened, pointing out she would need to go see London Pack leader as soon as possible…it did not take long for his little tree to get the others to agree to her plans. Alucard was anxious to be on their way…Marcus was sure in for a surprise…
Hope you like,
Magik.