FIC: Hellmouth Heroes (36/?)

"What a wondrous place. It reeks with power and knowledge, my blood sings with it." Aurelius began to stroll around the basement, the watching monks, mages, and lawyers instinctively shirking back as he walked past. "Called back from the death," the Roman vampire's mouth twisted in a caricature of a smile, "my entire blood, even those I don't recognise, I can sense the bond. A powerful spell, it appears Wolfram & Hart live up to their vaunted reputation." The undead's smile broadened. "And those protection spells, powerful indeed. Just the sort of thing to hold a vampire." Holland's blood chilled at the vampire's booming laugh. "Unfortunately for you, your scribes seemed to lack an eye for detail. We're re-animated vampires. And that's a coat of an entirely different colour." Holland tried to flee, but his limbs seemed frozen. "Kill them all." The demon pointed casually at Lillah. "Except her, we need to talk."

The next minute or so was a lifetime of violence, the entire world seeming to slow as the vampires rampaged through her companions, the demons' delighted bellows and the humans' agonised screams echoing in her ears. Always one to look after number one, she tried to escape but the female vampire she recognised as Drusilla grabbed her around the throat and flung her into the furthest corner, her head crashing against the wall.

Lillah groaned as stars danced before her eyes. Before she had chance to move the vampire was straddling her, the forearm across her throat choking her until she gurgled. "Hush now my sweet," cooed the vicious vampire. "Great-great grand-daddy says you're not to be hurt." The insane vampiress cackled. "Not to be hurt yet."

Aurelius strode around the devastated room, a smirk growing on his lips as he surveyed the carnage. His bloodline did him proud. Then he stopped by the crouching woman, her eyes red and puffy from crying. "Child," he purred, "I would have you tell me the reason your firm so foolishly Called us back to life?"

The girl's mouth opened. "Hey I don't know about you, but I can smell all those humans upstairs and I haven't a good feed in ages."

Aurelius spun around and glared at the speaker, wiry bleached-blonde with sharp cheekbones and a smug air. "Know your place boy, you're the runt of the litter." Aurelius paused in consideration. "On the other hand I'd like some private time with the lass. You," he pointed to the Master and the tall black haired man, "can stay and help me question her. The rest of you…" He paused. "Kill them, but make sure you get them all. I don't care to be disturbed."

Those dismissed rushed out. "Now," Aurelius turned back to the shaking woman, "where were we my dear?" He flashed her his fangs. "Of course, you were going to tell me about just why your firm called us here?" He listened quietly as the woman babbled out a fantastical tale of super-powered humans defending the Hellmouth and blocking the law firm's ambitions to it.

"The Hellmouth," he murmured, his undead heart catching. He'd heard rumours of it many, many years ago, but had never been able to pinpoint its location no matter how many books he studied, sages he tortured, or Watchers he interrogated. "And who leads this group?"

"A….a W…W-."

CRACK! His palm exploded against the side of the woman's face, knocking her from a seated position back onto her side. "I have little patience," he warned, feeling for all the world like a cat toying with its mouse, "do not seek to test it with your inane stutterings!"

"Sorry," the lady lawyer trembled as tears streaked down her face. Pathetic really how easily her icy composure was shattered, he only hoped this world had greater challenges left than the likes of her. "He's a Watcher by the name of Rupert Giles-."

"He's still about is he?" the tall man commented before looking at him. "I know him."

"So you would Angelus, you consorted with his Slayer!" The Master accused.

The vampire identified as Angelus looked towards the Master. "That was Angel, but not me, the soul makes a canny difference."

"You had a soul?" Aurelius glanced at the tall man. "Interesting, I'd heard of such spells. I'd wished to cast one on one of my childes to see the effect they'd have. Unfortunately only a being with a soul can cast such a spell. We'll have to talk." Aurelius turned towards the trembling woman. "You have records on this Watcher and his group?"

The lawyer nodded. "In our computer-."

"Computer?" he interrupted at this unfamiliar word.

"It's a modern way of keeping records," Angelus replied. "It means you can keep a lot of information in a small space." The vampire paused. "Play a wicked game of Pac-Man on them too."

"What's Pac-Man?" Aurelius shook his head. "No, that doesn't matter." The woman squealed as he reached down, grabbed her by her hair and yanked her to her feet. "Lead me to your computers." He didn't bother adding a warning to the lawyer not to try anything. He knew when his food was broken.

Aurelius joined his childes in smirking as they strode out of the room to find the outer darkened corridor filled with corpses, blood and bullet-holes added to the beige paint adorning the walls, the stench of fear and blood filling the air. It appeared his bloodline continued to do good work.

"Silence!" Aurelius raked his nails down the lawyer's back, shredding through her jacket and shirt while drawing blood, when she began whimpering. "Just be grateful that you haven't yet joined them. Now lead me to your computers!"

"There's a computer in here," the lawyer pointed towards the door.

Angelus opened the door and peeked inside. "It's empty."

"Excellent," Aurelius shoved the lawyer through the door. "I want records on this Watcher and his allies."

"Yes sir," Lillah's hands shook as they pressed at the computer's keyboard, sweat dripping into her eyes, the computer whirring as it searched through the hard drive. She couldn't believe how badly things had gone. The way things were going she'd be lucky if she just ended up dead. There was a multiple key stroke that sent an alert to outer offices, but she didn't have the nerve to press it. Finally the search was over. "Here are the records."

"Huh." Aurelius grunted. "Where is the parchment so I may it hold it in my hands and read it?"

Lillah nodded. "Of course." She hurriedly sent the records to the printer.

"By Mars himself!" Aurelius cursed as he read the print-outs. "These are mighty enemies indeed. These 'comics' you speak of, how is it possible to transfer powers from them to real people?"

Lillah would have shrugged but for the pain blazing through her injured back. "We were able to track down the mage who cast the spell, an Ethan Rayne. Unfortunately he'd committed suicide by the time our team had gotten to him."

"Aaaaaah!"

Lillah screamed when she hesitated and Aurelius grabbed her shoulder, the vampire's powerful claws digging deep into her shoulder. "You hesitate, what do you seek to hide?"

"Nothing! Nothing! Nothing!" Blood roared in her ears as pain blistered through her back. "It's just that the enchantment was one of the most powerful ever done, an enchantment the like of which we haven't seen in centuries, and the caster Rayne was a knowledgeable but not that powerful of a magician."

"Ha!" Aurelius barked a laugh. "A greater or lower power must have interfered with the casting, although for what reason I cannot say. Still," the hulking demon mused, "what reason is hardly important. They're an obstacle and as such must be removed." The vampire paused. "Woman, print out the records of my childes, I would know who my allies are."

"Yes sir," Lillah quickly did a search on The Order Of Aurelius and printed out the results.

The Master Vampire read for some time. "Um, I have impressive allies, but perhaps I need a little more." The demon paused before chuckling. "Of course. Does your computer have details of any vampire hunters in the area?"

"Yes," Lillah nodded. "But I don't need to search. There are three main irritants to the firm, an off-worlder called Groo, Rondell who runs the group that the Gunns used to run, and Justine Cooper."

"Thank you," Lillah shrieked when the demon snatched her hair and yanked her neck painfully back, "but I told you to search your files. Search them."

"Yes, yes, yes!" Tears streaked her face as she shrieked. "I will!"

"If recruits are what ye're lookin' for, maybe we should approach other vampires," Angelus suggested.

"No. Blood calls out to blood, only our own bloodline can be entrusted, we will just make new recruits out of those who fight us," Aurelius smiled. "A fitting irony I think."

"I've got the printouts." Her hand shook and heart thundered as she passed the papers over to the Master Vampire. "Thank you," the vampire looked at the records. "That'll be all." Lillah gasped when the vampire grabbed the back of her head and drove her face first into the wooden desk. Stars exploded before her eyes as blood bubbled up in her nose and mouth, the vampire pulled her head back up and drove it back down, her left eye erupting in pain as her orbital bone shattered. Lillah uttered an inarticulate moan as the demon pulled her back up, blood oozing out of her mouth and her shattered eye as she hung limply in his hand. Her head bounced off the table again and again, a life without pain nothing but a distant memory, nothing audible but the pounding in her ears as the demon twisted her neck to the left.

Angelus raised an eyebrow and smirked as the head of his bloodline released his grip on the limp lawyer and allowed her corpse to fall to the ground. "Ye're a man after me own heart, sire," Angelus commented. "I can't wait to show you blow-torches, bolt-cutters, and chain-saws."

Aurelius smirked back at him. "Doubtless this world has many things to recommend it, but perhaps we'll wait until we've proven our mastery over the Hellmouth."

"There's too few babes in the world for you to be killing them all."

Harmony stiffened as none other than Warren Meers barged into the booth she shared with Aura and Aphrodesia. Meers thinking he could walk into one of LA's exclusive clubs and sit with them! Who did he think he was?

Then it hit her what he'd said. "What are you talking about Meers?" she demanded. "Who have you been talking to?"

Warren gave her that oily smirk that he'd always given in school, like he thought brains were important in the real world. "I've got my sources. Three beauty pagents, a strip club, and a fitness show, all massacred in the last two years. Such a waste," the geek shook his head, "not only of those babes but your talents. Just killing people when you could be earning a fortune."

Harmony started out of her seat to attack the geek. "What fortune?" Aura interrupted.

"A lot of money, plus," Warren paused for a second. "Plus a chance to strike at Faith and Cordelia."

Harmony smirked suddenly. The money was unimportant, daddy's credit cards paid for her lifestyle, but a chance to get even with that treacherous bitch, Cordelia, and her pet tramp, Faith, that was interesting. "We don't know what you're trying to do," Aphrodesia said, "but Faith's bad news, I don't see how we could help you."

"You think you can trick me?" Warren's smirk hardened. "I know you went as Selene, Emma Frost, and Lady Deathstrike at Halloween. I know you've still got the powers."

"Where does this money come into things?" Aura said after a strained silence.

Warren's smirk not softened exactly but seemed aimed less at them as he talked. Finally he finished speaking and lounged back in his seat as if waiting for them to answer. It was Aura who finally spoke. "If you can get us the money we're in."

"Consider it got." Warren rose. "I'll be in touch."

Wesley looked left and right as he checked out the gun convention, the Vigilant Holdings money burning a hole in his wallet pocket. All the major manufacturers were here, selling not only guns but all sorts of military equipment. But first, he looked towards a refreshment stand, he might as well and see if he could find the mystical American, one who could make a cup of tea.

Walking over, he waited patiently in line until it was his turn before getting an unlikely smelling Styrofoam cup of 'something'. Turning away, he cursed as the burly man behind him rushed into the space he had yet to vacate, tripping him and sending him stumbling into a woman in the queue to his left.

"Oh bloody hell!"

Kate yawned as she waited more or less patiently in line for a coffee, the convention's hustle and bustle ringing in her ears. She was here to spend some of Ginny's money on equipment for their group, not weapons exactly but maybe some Kevlar vests for starters.

Out of the corner of her eyes she saw a man trip and stumble towards her, her extra-ordinary reflexes for once failing her as she recognised the man. "Owwwww!" she grunted as the man's shoulder crashed into her chest, spinning her around and sending her falling onto her behind, the man staggering past her to grab hold of and steady herself on a stand.

Crimson flaming her cheeks, Kate kipped up to her feet before anyone could make a move towards her. "Good gracious," the Englishman who'd bumped into her pushed his way through the crowd encircling her. "Excuse me, excuse me, excuse me." The Watcher stopped before her, an uncomfortable expression on his face. "I can only apologise."

"Um, that's alright," Kate stared discomforted at the man before her. She'd secretly come to Sunnydale to arrest the Slayer before this man's. And now she found herself face to face with him.

"I can assure you it isn't," the Watcher protested. "At least allow me to buy you a drink as an apology."

Kate wrinkled her nose, curiosity warring with wisdom. "Alright," she nodded.

"Excellent," the Englishman beamed before looking towards the refreshment tent and grimaced. "If I might suggest the swill they serve here isn't truly fit for consumption, there is however a bar in the convention centre itself that I'd be honoured if you'd join me for a drink."

"Sure," Kate smiled, charmed by the Watcher's politeness.

"What would you like to drink?"

"I'll have an Expresso please," Kate replied as she looked around the polished, gleaming bar with its mirrored walls.

"Coming right up," the Watcher replied with a smile before turning to the bar's solitary bartender and ordering two drinks. Wesley looked towards her. "If you'll grab us a table, I'll bring the drinks over."

"We could drink them here?" Kate suggested.

Wesley looked at the bar's stools and smiled. "Of course." Once the Englishman had ordered the drinks he looked towards her. "May I ask you what you're doing here? You're different from the usual hairy-chested Florida-bound survivalist you find at these things?" The Englishman chuckled. "Not that I'm complaining of course."

Kate smiled. "I'm just grateful you noticed."

"It would be impossible not to," Wesley replied.

"Well thank you kind sir," Kate retorted. "I'm in the Sunnydale Police, I'm here looking for non-lethal solutions."

"Sunnydale?" Wesley said. "I'm from Sunnydale."

"Really?" Kate feigned surprise. "That accent doesn't sound very Sunnydale."

"No, I suppose not," Wesley half-smiled. "My work ended up bringing me over to the US., that and my adopted-daughter."

"You have children?" Kate queried, showing the expected interest.

"Well Faith would argue she has me," Wesley chuckled, "but yes. Being a policewoman must be rewarding?"

"It's not quite the job I thought it was when I was in LA," Kate evaded. "But I have friends that make it rewarding."

"Yes," Wesley smiled softly. "Friends make hard times much easier."

"And what is your job?" Kate queried.

"I and a friend run a custom medieval weaponry manufacturing business, making weapons for collectors etc," Wesley replied. "Very unexciting."

Somehow unexciting was the last word she'd use to describe the Watcher's life. "And why are you here?" Kate queried.

"Here?" Wesley smiled. "You could call it nostalgia." Kate stared questioningly at the Englishman. "Back home I was a member of my local gun club. A dwindling breed in England I'm afraid, but that's by the by. I came here to see if I could pick up a quality shotgun or target pistol."

"Ah," Kate nodded, pretending she believed the lie.

"However it's an unexpected boon to meet such a beautiful young woman at such an event," the Watcher paused, a tentative expression crossing his face. "I wonder if we could meet up some time when we return home?"

Kate hesitated momentarily. On the one hand Wesley was so charming and handsome in a studious way. On the other, it would be risky to get close to someone so closely involved with the Slayer. But he was so handsome… Finally she nodded. "I'd love to."

Freddy paced back and forth in the corridor outside the lecture theatre, his heart thundering, stomach twisting, and sweat beading on his forehead. He hadn't been this nervous since his first patrol with the 'Scoobies'. He started when the class bell rang and turned expectantly towards the opening door.

A deluge of students flowed out of the lecture theatre, Freddy's eyes searching through the throng for his prey. Then he saw her and stepped towards her. "Hey Alonna!"

"Freddy?" Alonna's eyes narrowed. "What are you doing here?"

Freddy reached out an unfortunately clammy palm, took the Los Angeles native's forearm, and pulled her out of the throng. "I came to see you."

Freddy licked his dry lips when the woman stared at her. "Why?"

"I wanted to ask you something." He shuffled from foot to foot before continuing, the words seeming lodged in his throat. "I was wondering if you'd go on a date with me?"

"A date?" Alonna looked pole-axed. Which was slightly better than sick or horrified. "Why would you want to go on a date with me?"

"Because I like your smile and you haven't smiled much since you know, I'd really like to make you smile again."

Alonna stared at him even as his cheeks crimsoned in realisation of just how cheesy his words sounded. "Okay," Alonna nodded slowly. "We'll skip patrol tomorrow night."

"Really?" he grinned. "That's great!"

Aurelius walked into the law firm lobby, the members of his Order awaiting him. "I've seen your work, most impressive," he praised. "However it'll be dawn soon, too bright for us to go outside so we'll take the sewers. However I have missions for you all to do tomorrow night."

"Oh aye?" the bleached blond swaggered up to him, what he guessed was a habitual sneer etched across his lean face. "And what makes you think we're going to do what you tell us- uggggh."

Aurelius casually back-handed the impudent vampire, knocking him into the nearest stone pillar, chipping it with the force of his impact before falling to the ground. "Because whelp if you anger me I'll make your death the thing of whispered nightmares!"

"Bloody hell," the vampire, he remembered the Englishman's name was Spike, rubbed at his head, "belt a guy for asking a question."

"I 'belted' you as you put it for your tone," Aurelius corrected. "Learn some respect or die horribly." He turned his attention to the others, most he was only recently familiar with via Wolfram & Hart's files. "Tomorrow, the Master shall turn the Groosaluug, Luke and Penn, you shall turn the huntress Justine Cooper, and the Scourge of Europe, it will be your responsibility to turn Rondell. The rest of you will stay with me. I have records on each of your targets but first," he bared his fangs at the sunlight gradually encroaching on the lobby, "we head for the sewers."