AN: Sorry it's taken me a while to update... here's
the next chapter, on the longer side, make sure to
review, or it'll take me even longer next time.
--emily
CHAPTER EIGHT: TONES
Angelus strode in the mansion not a minute before dawn broke, smiling from progress with the Slayer and a couple of kills.
"Daddy's home." A soft, british voice said from the bedroom. Angelus turned to see Drusilla, a raven haired psychovamp with visions and a love for talking crazy. He smiled at his childe.
"Hey there, Dru." Angelus said, taking a step towards the pale, gothic woman standing in the doorway of the bedroom in a silk nightgown.
"Ahh. Angelus got in a lil trouble, bad, bad daddy." She crooned, touching his chest lightly, her fingers moving over his wound.
"Just the Slayer. Not a threat." He replied, moving away. At any other time he'd be up for a little rough and tumble with Dru, especially seeing as Spike would be thouroughly irked, but he just was not feeling right.
"What's the matter? Did my lil Spike's words discourage you?"
"You know about the deal?" Angelus asked as Dru whispered in his ear,
"That, and more." She giggled, moving back into the bedroom. Angelus followed her.
"And what's this more that you know of, Dru?"
"I know about the lil pixie," Dru replied. Here was where Angelus was annoyed even on a good day. All the fairy metaphors.
"Yeah?" Angelus asked, a little irritated. He had come in with such a good mood, but seeing Dru, especially in such a flimsy piece of material that she called a nightgown, was just pissing him off.
"An' there's two lil elves. They're going to be very very angry with Daddy when he takes away their tools all for himself."
Angelus' bad mood suddenly picked up a little. He turned to face his childe, now sitting at a vanity, tarot cards laid before her. The older vampire walked behind her and looked over her shoulder, crouching.
"And what is this tool I'm going to be taking from someone?" Angelus asked. Dru suddenly turned on him.
"No! Bad boy. Aren't supposed to see the stars. Shouldn't get to see the stars..." Dru trailed off, her dark eyes looking to the ceiling.
Angelus growled and stood up.
"So you're saying I know something you don't know, is that it?" He asked angrily, his hand lashing out to grab Dru by the back of her throat. His grip tightened as Dru started to laugh. The frail vampire patted his offending hand.
"Poor, poor Angelus. Gonna be repeatin' this, you are."
"Stop it with the Yoda lingo and crackhead metaphors, Dru!"
"Nuh-uh!" Dru laughed.
"What in bloody hell is this?" Spike asked, striding in to the room.
"Daddy's angry." Dru pouted.
"Let her go, mate." Spike said.
"I have much better things to do than this crap." Angelus released his grip. Drusilla laughed again, and Spike looked confused. Angelus walked out of the room. He seriously needed some release.
~*~
"So, you ran into Angelus again, and once again, failed to make any progress whatsoever in your mission except introducing the *very* important battle tactic of running away?" Wesley asked angrily at his apartment Monday afternoon.
"Well, see, it wasn't like that-" Caden started.
"And not only did you do that, but you accepted help from a citizen, and then almost got run over by another citizen, the latter of which is the old slayer's mother, previous the old slayer's best buddy." Wes stated. Caden looked up at him from the couch with pleading eyes.
"Sorry?"
"Your training with Garron got you absolutely nowhere, then, did it?"
"It was all physical, which I can do. It got me somewhere. I have better balance. And I can afford to be blinded now."
"You got absolutely nothing out of it!" Wesley shouted.
"You aren't me, who are you to judge that?"
"Your progress as the slayer, Caden, is less than satisfactory, I must say!" Wesley replied.
"Garron, will ya help me out here?" Caden asked the lanky brunette, who was leaning against the wall, observing the exchange.
"I don't really think it's my place, Slayer." He replied.
"Damn right it's not!" Wesley continued.
"Oi, don't pin this on me! She did fine in the evaluation." Garron defended.
"Her attitude and drive is-" Wesley started.
"Well if it's so easy why don't you be the Slayer?" Caden asked sardonically. "I'm sure you'd have a ball."
"Bloody hell, you are my charge, and-"
"And you're blowing this whole thing way outta proportion. Get some therapy." Caden bit back.
"I am your watcher, and you will respect me as just that." Wesley said.
"When haven't I?"
"'When have you' would be the shorter list."
"Hate to break this lil tiff up, but we should get back to the issue at hand. You two gits can sort this bit out later, right? I'm on a timeframe 'ere." Garron stepped in.
"This *is* the issue at hand. My Slayer is rebellious and neglectful. There is nothing more dangerous."
"Hello! That Slayer of yours happens to be an individual, not to mention sitting right here!" Caden interjected.
"Your job, your sacred duty is one that in order to be performed correctly, cannot be including accusations, games, or lazy carelessness. You practically invited civilians to grab their weapons and join in the fray. You are not getting the problem with Angelus done, not even making any progress in it, you're focusing on things of very little importance and you-"
"I don't need to take this right now." Caden stood up and stormed over to the door.
"Where do you think you're going?"
"Home. And before I go, I'd just like to say this little bit to you. Wesley, fuck off, get a girlfriend and lighten up you fucking prick. Garron, don't waste your time here, he's a hopeless cause. If the Council wants you to take over for my crap watcher just fucking do it already and let's get this uptight, overreacting son of a bitch outta here because he sure as hell doesn't know what the fuck he's doing. The no progress on Angelus is his fault, not mine. I can't work unless I've got something to work with. You two deal with this shit, I'm outta here." With that, the Slayer left the Watcher and Garron in an uncomfortable silence.
"How did she know about the Council's orders?" Garron asked after a few minutes.
"She's surprisingly intelligent. And she was sitting by the letter they sent and knows how to speedread."
"Well, you're not done here, are you? I mean, I barely know her, and you have all the information on Angelus that-"
"Has been coming of no use to us. Let's face it. The only way Caden can defeat Angelus is in her own way. She'll figure it out. She wouldn't do anything rash."
"You don't know her at all, do you?"
~*~
Caden entered her apartment and headed right for the phone. She dialed by memory the number of one of her old friends from Seattle. The familiar male voice answered the phone.
"Brian. Talk to me."
"Brian? It's Caden."
"Aw, you're shitting me! I heard you moved to some redneck shit in Cali."
"It's not redneck, it's pathetic. Sunnydale. Heard of it?"
"Uhh, yeah. I think so. Why?"
"Well, I didn't have time to bring my stash with me. I was wondering if you had any friends down here who could hook me up." Caden said, sitting in the chair by the desk and taking a book out of her backpack.
"Uh, Sunnydale... I used to have a friend down there, but he moved to LA. He was in a band or some shit... moved away. But there was this club that they used to play at. I'm trying to remember the name..."
"The Bronze?" Caden asked, opening her precalculus textbook.
"Naw, that's the dud he told me about. Why, you been down there?"
"Yeah. Just a lame joint where the high schoolers go that won't serve you alcohol if you're underage. Goddamn small towns, can't even bribe the bartenders. I did manage to pay this one guy extra to get me some coronas, though, so I'm surviving. Oh, and the music they play at this club is just fucked up. You're saying there's somewhere better? More my type of a joint, pardon the pun?"
"Uhh, yeah. On the outskirts. It's called... oh fuck, I can't remember. Sorry, babe."
"Don't worry about it. I'm sure I can find a dealer somewhere, or maybe Willow knows about this club."
"Willow? You actually made a friend? And you haven't killed her yet?" The eighteen year old dealer joked.
"Har har. She's just sort of this nice, geeky redhead who acknowledges my presence with more than just a scream or glare."
"Wow, that's an accomplishment. How're you doing?"
"Eh. Not so good."
"That sucks. Oh, you say you're in Sunnydale?"
"Yeah. What? All the pot getting to your head or something?"
"Shut up. I'm just on ticketmaster, Nothingface is gonna be on tour near yall three weeks from now."
Silence.
"Caden? Did you hear that?"
"Yes! YES I HEARD THAT! Why the fuck are they coming here?!"
"Well, actually, they're right on the outskirts of LA. But that's close, right?"
"Yeah, I guess. I don't know. I've never lived in California. I need to go to that concert."
"Want me to get you tickets?"
"Well, yeah!"
"How many?"
"Uh, two. I'll find someone to go with me."
"Right. They're twenty five each. I'll call you later about this, okay? I'm too lazy to do it now."
The two friends talked for another hour about all the great concerts Caden had missed so far, Caden's situation in Sunnyhell, Seattle, the whole gang up there.
"Oh, and you're smart, right?" Brian asked as Caden was midway through her precalc homework.
"Uh, more so than you. Why?"
"Well, I need some help. Do you take spanish?"
"Yeah."
"How do you say guitar?"
"Guitarra. It's not that hard."
"And drums?"
There was a knock on Caden's door.
"Hey, I'll call you later. Someone's here."
"Wait-"
Caden put the phone in the reciever and went to the door. She called out, "Who is it and what do you want?"
"It's Willow. And Xander's here with me. Can we come in?"
"Yeah, hold on."
Caden unlocked her door and opened it to see the two scoobies smiling weakly, books in Willow's arms, a pizza in Xander's.
"Hi. What are you guys doing here?"
"Study session for our history test, remember? We talked about it at lunch?"
"Oh, right. Come on in." The two teenagers entered, and Caden locked the door behind them.
"Sorry, I forgot. The place is a dump, we'll have to use the floor."
"That's okay." Xander said with a smile. He still was nervous about the new Slayer. He thought something was off about her. Who wore long sleeves in 80ยบ weather and never smiled?
"Uh, sorry, I really don't have anywhere to sit. Just scatter or whatever. You guys want anything to drink?"
"Uh, sure. What do you have?" Willow asked as Caden made her way over to the mini fridge.
"Uh, I have one sprite left, water, beer, and a couple of cherry cokes."
Willow and Xander looked at each other on the mention of beer. Willow's eyes were wider than usual. Xander looked curious, despite the problems his family had with alcohol.
"Uh, I'll just take the Sprite, if you don't mind." Willow spoke up.
"Xander? You?" Caden asked, pulling out the sprite.
"Uh, I guess I'll take a cherry coke." Xander stuttered.
"Sure thing." Caden pulled out a cherry coke and opened a beer for herself.
"Are you sure you should be having that?" Xander asked nervously as Caden took a sip of the beer. She looked down at the drink and shrugged.
"I've got a high tolerance, don't worry. Not to mention I need this after the brutal yelling session my watcher gave me for quote "not doing my sacred duty properly" end quote. The jackass." Caden muttered.
"Did something happen? Are you okay?" Willow asked apprehensively, taking out her history notes.
"Nah, just Wesley having a stick up his ass. And Garron didn't exactly help, either. I guess he's nervous, seeing as he hasn't had the proper watcher training and he's gonna be taking over for Wes once the council gets the balls to fire him."
"Trouble in paradise, eh?" Xander asked.
"Yeah. I mean, Garron's not so bad, he just kind of hates me. And Wesley's just a jackass, but I'm used to it. He's not too fond of me either. I mean, he's all uptight because I went out with Willow the other nigh, civilians know my secret identity, and the Angelus conquest is taking a little longer than he would have liked. I mean, he said it himself, this guy tortured the greater half of Europe for a century, it's not gonna be your ordinary slay. It's not even all my fault he won't give me a proper fight. Talk about a lame vampire. He runs away better than he punches."
Willow and Xander were uncomfortable.
"Yeah, I never liked that guy, even with the soul." Xander muttered.
"Yeah, what was up with that? Did it just make him even more pathetic than he is now?" Caden asked.
"Xander didn't like him because he was dating Buffy."
"No, I didn't like him because I didn't like him. And the fact that he kind of murdered my girlfriend, Giles and Buffy doesn't make me any more fond of him." Xander snapped.
"Don't worry, I'll get him. Make him pay." Caden replied after a minute.
Xander looked at her. She was completely serious, her dark eyes looking at him with, not sympathy, but understanding. It almost meant more to him than pity. With all her black clothes, alcohol, and badass attitude, Caden had a conscience and a heart. That was surprising.
"Well, if you want any help, just say the word." Xander finished.
"I think we should study." Willow broke in.
"Yeah, that would be good, I can patrol in a couple of hours when we're done."
"Want us to come along?" Xander asked, taking a slice of pizza from the box.
"Uh, I don't think so. I can do it alone. Unless you're dying to come along."
"Mom wanted me home tonight pretty early, I don't think I can." Willow said softly.
"Do you need me along?" Xander asked. Caden shook her head no and took another drink.
"Okay, Treaty of Nanjing." Willow smiled, once again, saved by the flashcards.
~*~
"Mmmph... Slayer..."
Spike smirked at his sleeping grandsire. So whipped. He couldn't resist but to wake him up. He left Angelus' bedroom, shut the door, then knocked hard.
"Angelus, you up?" He shouted innocently.
Angelus woke with a start and looked down at himself. 'Fuck! Spike can't see me like this!' He panicked.
"Yeah, wait a minute, Willy." He snapped.
Spike entered the bedroom and Angelus jumped, trying to casually cover up the major hard on he'd just gotten in another dream about Caden.
"Good evenin, gramps. Have a nice rest?" Spike smirked. This was too amusing.
"Get out of here, Spike." Angelus said darkly. The younger vampire merely grinned.
"Make me, bicentennial boy."
Angelus didn't move.
"Thas' what I thought. Anyway, Dru went out hunting. Thought you an' I might track down that Slayer. What's her name again? Aiden?"
"Caden."
"Thas' right. I haven't met her yet. Thought it might be interesting. See if this one has any more fire than the last one did." Spike smirked at the older vampire.
"Get out of here, Spike. And the Slayer's my game, remember?"
"Touchy touchy. And once again, hoggin the Slayer all to yourself. Tsk tsk."
"We made a deal, remember?" Angelus replied, shifting uncomfortably.
"Oh, that's right. How's that going, anyway? Well, it's obviously had some effect, or you wouldn't be so damn jumpy about it." Spike turned and headed for the door, then turned back as if he remembered something.
"Oh, and the next time you have a wet dream about the Slayer, how about havin' it somewhere else? It's distracting to Dru when she's sleeping." Spike grinned and left the room, about to crack up from how annoyed he'd just made his grandsire.
~*~
After one very long, cold shower, Angelus left the mansion for a hunt. Maybe he'd take things a little differently this time. He really needed to get the Slayer out of his head. 'Maybe I'll sire some hot chick. Fuck her enough till I get sick of her and get over the goddamn Slayer. What am I saying? I'm not over her, I'm not even far enough into her to get over her. I've only known her a week. And I don't even know her, it's just lust. A lotta lust. But it's gonna end. Now.' Another voice, an annoying one reminded him that he wasn't going to get over it if he was going to abide by the rules the bet had set down. Goddamn Spike. He fucked up everything. 'This Slayer deal is getting on my last nerve. I should just finish it already.'
Angelus crossed through a cemetary to get to the Bronze when he picked up on her scent. His hearing then heard the sound of a vampire dusting, and he stopped behind a tree to watch Caden fighting three other vampires. She gave a high roundhouse kick to one, and plunged her stake into the chest of another one. The third leapt for her, but she ducked under her, and rolled under the vampire before they could make sense of anything. She slammed her stake into its back, and without even waiting for it to dust, threw a dagger like a frisbee to slice the head off clean the first vampire. She sighed, picked up the fallen stake, and went over to pick up the dagger by a tree.
She stopped and quickly turned in the direction of Angelus' tree. Cautiously, she approached it, and was grabbed roughly from behind. Angelus threw her hard right into a headstone. She hit it with her back and she moaned in pain, the sudden attack surprising her.
Angelus stalked over to the Slayer and yanked her up by the collar of her leather jacket so she was forced to look into his eyes. He paused a minute, and without realizing it, Caden's fist slammed into his nose. Angelus' grip loosened enough for Caden to escape it, and quickly she jumped up, pushed off of the headstone and flipped over Angelus' head to give him a roundhouse kick from behind. He stumbled forward, and turned, in full vampface. Caden pulled the stake from her jacket, her eyes piercing him with a stone cold glare. Angelus could smell her well right now, the sweet shampoo she used, the blood from the two cuts on her wrist from earlier today, the beer she'd had at her apartment, and the minty gum she'd chewed to get rid of the scent. He smiled a little. She really must be one messed up kid.
Caden gave a high double kick to his head, the first of which he blocked, the second, he grabbed her foot and whipped it backwards so Caden flipped over almost artistically. She landed on her feet, quickly sending one more kick, and got in closer to punch him hard in the face, spinning to elbow him in the nose, and tripping him with a hard kick back to his knee. Angelus was surprised at how quickly she could make all her moves. She no doubt had the speed and strength, but her emotions and impulsive actions obviously clouded her judgement. The amateur. Ow.
Caden kicked his stomach, barely pausing to bring her foot down to get him in the neck twice. Angelus gave her his best right hook, but she ducked it and grabbed his fist. She brought it roughly behind his back. She kicked his back so he knocked into a nearby crypt and picked up her fallen stake. She approached him, and as he tried to lunge at her, she grabbed his neck and slammed him back into it with a growl from Angelus. His face changed back to that of a human, and he smiled at her.
"Nice to see you too, Caden." He smirked, licking his lips. Caden shoved him back, wiping the smirk off his face. She pressed her stake up against his chest.
"Don't call me that."
"Why not, it's your name, isn't it?" He was rewarded with a punch from her right fist. "Wow, lighten up, Slayer. What, not get enough alcohol today?"
"Shut the fuck up, soul addict." Caden replied with another punch.
"Easy on the nose. And I ditched the soul, all right?"
"That's not the way Willow told it. Way I heard the story, you were so in love with the last slayer you fucked the hell outta her and 'lost it' by accident."
"You weren't exactly there, kiddo." Angelus replied, punching her back. Caden let go of his collar and punched him hard. He returned it. Caden spun around and kicked him in the gut, and took the opportunity to get him back up against the wall of the crypt. He looked at her for a moment before she lunged forward and attacked him hungrily with her mouth. Angelus groaned as she pressed her body up against his and moved his hands around her waist to pull her closer in to his body. Caden jumped up, wrapping her legs around his waist and Angelus turned around and slammed her back hard against the crypt, moving his mouth down her neck, hands roaming everywhere over her body.
"Angelus... we shouldn't..." Caden managed to whisper out just before he plastered his mouth back to hers. She practically melted when his tongue massaged her own, clearing her head of all thoughts of that.
"So what were you saying?" He asked, remembering to pull away to let her breathe. Caden breathed heavily, her mind elsewhere, and rubbed her hips up against him.
"Forget it. I need you. Now!" Angelus jolted awake. He groaned. "Dammit."
CHAPTER EIGHT: TONES
Angelus strode in the mansion not a minute before dawn broke, smiling from progress with the Slayer and a couple of kills.
"Daddy's home." A soft, british voice said from the bedroom. Angelus turned to see Drusilla, a raven haired psychovamp with visions and a love for talking crazy. He smiled at his childe.
"Hey there, Dru." Angelus said, taking a step towards the pale, gothic woman standing in the doorway of the bedroom in a silk nightgown.
"Ahh. Angelus got in a lil trouble, bad, bad daddy." She crooned, touching his chest lightly, her fingers moving over his wound.
"Just the Slayer. Not a threat." He replied, moving away. At any other time he'd be up for a little rough and tumble with Dru, especially seeing as Spike would be thouroughly irked, but he just was not feeling right.
"What's the matter? Did my lil Spike's words discourage you?"
"You know about the deal?" Angelus asked as Dru whispered in his ear,
"That, and more." She giggled, moving back into the bedroom. Angelus followed her.
"And what's this more that you know of, Dru?"
"I know about the lil pixie," Dru replied. Here was where Angelus was annoyed even on a good day. All the fairy metaphors.
"Yeah?" Angelus asked, a little irritated. He had come in with such a good mood, but seeing Dru, especially in such a flimsy piece of material that she called a nightgown, was just pissing him off.
"An' there's two lil elves. They're going to be very very angry with Daddy when he takes away their tools all for himself."
Angelus' bad mood suddenly picked up a little. He turned to face his childe, now sitting at a vanity, tarot cards laid before her. The older vampire walked behind her and looked over her shoulder, crouching.
"And what is this tool I'm going to be taking from someone?" Angelus asked. Dru suddenly turned on him.
"No! Bad boy. Aren't supposed to see the stars. Shouldn't get to see the stars..." Dru trailed off, her dark eyes looking to the ceiling.
Angelus growled and stood up.
"So you're saying I know something you don't know, is that it?" He asked angrily, his hand lashing out to grab Dru by the back of her throat. His grip tightened as Dru started to laugh. The frail vampire patted his offending hand.
"Poor, poor Angelus. Gonna be repeatin' this, you are."
"Stop it with the Yoda lingo and crackhead metaphors, Dru!"
"Nuh-uh!" Dru laughed.
"What in bloody hell is this?" Spike asked, striding in to the room.
"Daddy's angry." Dru pouted.
"Let her go, mate." Spike said.
"I have much better things to do than this crap." Angelus released his grip. Drusilla laughed again, and Spike looked confused. Angelus walked out of the room. He seriously needed some release.
~*~
"So, you ran into Angelus again, and once again, failed to make any progress whatsoever in your mission except introducing the *very* important battle tactic of running away?" Wesley asked angrily at his apartment Monday afternoon.
"Well, see, it wasn't like that-" Caden started.
"And not only did you do that, but you accepted help from a citizen, and then almost got run over by another citizen, the latter of which is the old slayer's mother, previous the old slayer's best buddy." Wes stated. Caden looked up at him from the couch with pleading eyes.
"Sorry?"
"Your training with Garron got you absolutely nowhere, then, did it?"
"It was all physical, which I can do. It got me somewhere. I have better balance. And I can afford to be blinded now."
"You got absolutely nothing out of it!" Wesley shouted.
"You aren't me, who are you to judge that?"
"Your progress as the slayer, Caden, is less than satisfactory, I must say!" Wesley replied.
"Garron, will ya help me out here?" Caden asked the lanky brunette, who was leaning against the wall, observing the exchange.
"I don't really think it's my place, Slayer." He replied.
"Damn right it's not!" Wesley continued.
"Oi, don't pin this on me! She did fine in the evaluation." Garron defended.
"Her attitude and drive is-" Wesley started.
"Well if it's so easy why don't you be the Slayer?" Caden asked sardonically. "I'm sure you'd have a ball."
"Bloody hell, you are my charge, and-"
"And you're blowing this whole thing way outta proportion. Get some therapy." Caden bit back.
"I am your watcher, and you will respect me as just that." Wesley said.
"When haven't I?"
"'When have you' would be the shorter list."
"Hate to break this lil tiff up, but we should get back to the issue at hand. You two gits can sort this bit out later, right? I'm on a timeframe 'ere." Garron stepped in.
"This *is* the issue at hand. My Slayer is rebellious and neglectful. There is nothing more dangerous."
"Hello! That Slayer of yours happens to be an individual, not to mention sitting right here!" Caden interjected.
"Your job, your sacred duty is one that in order to be performed correctly, cannot be including accusations, games, or lazy carelessness. You practically invited civilians to grab their weapons and join in the fray. You are not getting the problem with Angelus done, not even making any progress in it, you're focusing on things of very little importance and you-"
"I don't need to take this right now." Caden stood up and stormed over to the door.
"Where do you think you're going?"
"Home. And before I go, I'd just like to say this little bit to you. Wesley, fuck off, get a girlfriend and lighten up you fucking prick. Garron, don't waste your time here, he's a hopeless cause. If the Council wants you to take over for my crap watcher just fucking do it already and let's get this uptight, overreacting son of a bitch outta here because he sure as hell doesn't know what the fuck he's doing. The no progress on Angelus is his fault, not mine. I can't work unless I've got something to work with. You two deal with this shit, I'm outta here." With that, the Slayer left the Watcher and Garron in an uncomfortable silence.
"How did she know about the Council's orders?" Garron asked after a few minutes.
"She's surprisingly intelligent. And she was sitting by the letter they sent and knows how to speedread."
"Well, you're not done here, are you? I mean, I barely know her, and you have all the information on Angelus that-"
"Has been coming of no use to us. Let's face it. The only way Caden can defeat Angelus is in her own way. She'll figure it out. She wouldn't do anything rash."
"You don't know her at all, do you?"
~*~
Caden entered her apartment and headed right for the phone. She dialed by memory the number of one of her old friends from Seattle. The familiar male voice answered the phone.
"Brian. Talk to me."
"Brian? It's Caden."
"Aw, you're shitting me! I heard you moved to some redneck shit in Cali."
"It's not redneck, it's pathetic. Sunnydale. Heard of it?"
"Uhh, yeah. I think so. Why?"
"Well, I didn't have time to bring my stash with me. I was wondering if you had any friends down here who could hook me up." Caden said, sitting in the chair by the desk and taking a book out of her backpack.
"Uh, Sunnydale... I used to have a friend down there, but he moved to LA. He was in a band or some shit... moved away. But there was this club that they used to play at. I'm trying to remember the name..."
"The Bronze?" Caden asked, opening her precalculus textbook.
"Naw, that's the dud he told me about. Why, you been down there?"
"Yeah. Just a lame joint where the high schoolers go that won't serve you alcohol if you're underage. Goddamn small towns, can't even bribe the bartenders. I did manage to pay this one guy extra to get me some coronas, though, so I'm surviving. Oh, and the music they play at this club is just fucked up. You're saying there's somewhere better? More my type of a joint, pardon the pun?"
"Uhh, yeah. On the outskirts. It's called... oh fuck, I can't remember. Sorry, babe."
"Don't worry about it. I'm sure I can find a dealer somewhere, or maybe Willow knows about this club."
"Willow? You actually made a friend? And you haven't killed her yet?" The eighteen year old dealer joked.
"Har har. She's just sort of this nice, geeky redhead who acknowledges my presence with more than just a scream or glare."
"Wow, that's an accomplishment. How're you doing?"
"Eh. Not so good."
"That sucks. Oh, you say you're in Sunnydale?"
"Yeah. What? All the pot getting to your head or something?"
"Shut up. I'm just on ticketmaster, Nothingface is gonna be on tour near yall three weeks from now."
Silence.
"Caden? Did you hear that?"
"Yes! YES I HEARD THAT! Why the fuck are they coming here?!"
"Well, actually, they're right on the outskirts of LA. But that's close, right?"
"Yeah, I guess. I don't know. I've never lived in California. I need to go to that concert."
"Want me to get you tickets?"
"Well, yeah!"
"How many?"
"Uh, two. I'll find someone to go with me."
"Right. They're twenty five each. I'll call you later about this, okay? I'm too lazy to do it now."
The two friends talked for another hour about all the great concerts Caden had missed so far, Caden's situation in Sunnyhell, Seattle, the whole gang up there.
"Oh, and you're smart, right?" Brian asked as Caden was midway through her precalc homework.
"Uh, more so than you. Why?"
"Well, I need some help. Do you take spanish?"
"Yeah."
"How do you say guitar?"
"Guitarra. It's not that hard."
"And drums?"
There was a knock on Caden's door.
"Hey, I'll call you later. Someone's here."
"Wait-"
Caden put the phone in the reciever and went to the door. She called out, "Who is it and what do you want?"
"It's Willow. And Xander's here with me. Can we come in?"
"Yeah, hold on."
Caden unlocked her door and opened it to see the two scoobies smiling weakly, books in Willow's arms, a pizza in Xander's.
"Hi. What are you guys doing here?"
"Study session for our history test, remember? We talked about it at lunch?"
"Oh, right. Come on in." The two teenagers entered, and Caden locked the door behind them.
"Sorry, I forgot. The place is a dump, we'll have to use the floor."
"That's okay." Xander said with a smile. He still was nervous about the new Slayer. He thought something was off about her. Who wore long sleeves in 80ยบ weather and never smiled?
"Uh, sorry, I really don't have anywhere to sit. Just scatter or whatever. You guys want anything to drink?"
"Uh, sure. What do you have?" Willow asked as Caden made her way over to the mini fridge.
"Uh, I have one sprite left, water, beer, and a couple of cherry cokes."
Willow and Xander looked at each other on the mention of beer. Willow's eyes were wider than usual. Xander looked curious, despite the problems his family had with alcohol.
"Uh, I'll just take the Sprite, if you don't mind." Willow spoke up.
"Xander? You?" Caden asked, pulling out the sprite.
"Uh, I guess I'll take a cherry coke." Xander stuttered.
"Sure thing." Caden pulled out a cherry coke and opened a beer for herself.
"Are you sure you should be having that?" Xander asked nervously as Caden took a sip of the beer. She looked down at the drink and shrugged.
"I've got a high tolerance, don't worry. Not to mention I need this after the brutal yelling session my watcher gave me for quote "not doing my sacred duty properly" end quote. The jackass." Caden muttered.
"Did something happen? Are you okay?" Willow asked apprehensively, taking out her history notes.
"Nah, just Wesley having a stick up his ass. And Garron didn't exactly help, either. I guess he's nervous, seeing as he hasn't had the proper watcher training and he's gonna be taking over for Wes once the council gets the balls to fire him."
"Trouble in paradise, eh?" Xander asked.
"Yeah. I mean, Garron's not so bad, he just kind of hates me. And Wesley's just a jackass, but I'm used to it. He's not too fond of me either. I mean, he's all uptight because I went out with Willow the other nigh, civilians know my secret identity, and the Angelus conquest is taking a little longer than he would have liked. I mean, he said it himself, this guy tortured the greater half of Europe for a century, it's not gonna be your ordinary slay. It's not even all my fault he won't give me a proper fight. Talk about a lame vampire. He runs away better than he punches."
Willow and Xander were uncomfortable.
"Yeah, I never liked that guy, even with the soul." Xander muttered.
"Yeah, what was up with that? Did it just make him even more pathetic than he is now?" Caden asked.
"Xander didn't like him because he was dating Buffy."
"No, I didn't like him because I didn't like him. And the fact that he kind of murdered my girlfriend, Giles and Buffy doesn't make me any more fond of him." Xander snapped.
"Don't worry, I'll get him. Make him pay." Caden replied after a minute.
Xander looked at her. She was completely serious, her dark eyes looking at him with, not sympathy, but understanding. It almost meant more to him than pity. With all her black clothes, alcohol, and badass attitude, Caden had a conscience and a heart. That was surprising.
"Well, if you want any help, just say the word." Xander finished.
"I think we should study." Willow broke in.
"Yeah, that would be good, I can patrol in a couple of hours when we're done."
"Want us to come along?" Xander asked, taking a slice of pizza from the box.
"Uh, I don't think so. I can do it alone. Unless you're dying to come along."
"Mom wanted me home tonight pretty early, I don't think I can." Willow said softly.
"Do you need me along?" Xander asked. Caden shook her head no and took another drink.
"Okay, Treaty of Nanjing." Willow smiled, once again, saved by the flashcards.
~*~
"Mmmph... Slayer..."
Spike smirked at his sleeping grandsire. So whipped. He couldn't resist but to wake him up. He left Angelus' bedroom, shut the door, then knocked hard.
"Angelus, you up?" He shouted innocently.
Angelus woke with a start and looked down at himself. 'Fuck! Spike can't see me like this!' He panicked.
"Yeah, wait a minute, Willy." He snapped.
Spike entered the bedroom and Angelus jumped, trying to casually cover up the major hard on he'd just gotten in another dream about Caden.
"Good evenin, gramps. Have a nice rest?" Spike smirked. This was too amusing.
"Get out of here, Spike." Angelus said darkly. The younger vampire merely grinned.
"Make me, bicentennial boy."
Angelus didn't move.
"Thas' what I thought. Anyway, Dru went out hunting. Thought you an' I might track down that Slayer. What's her name again? Aiden?"
"Caden."
"Thas' right. I haven't met her yet. Thought it might be interesting. See if this one has any more fire than the last one did." Spike smirked at the older vampire.
"Get out of here, Spike. And the Slayer's my game, remember?"
"Touchy touchy. And once again, hoggin the Slayer all to yourself. Tsk tsk."
"We made a deal, remember?" Angelus replied, shifting uncomfortably.
"Oh, that's right. How's that going, anyway? Well, it's obviously had some effect, or you wouldn't be so damn jumpy about it." Spike turned and headed for the door, then turned back as if he remembered something.
"Oh, and the next time you have a wet dream about the Slayer, how about havin' it somewhere else? It's distracting to Dru when she's sleeping." Spike grinned and left the room, about to crack up from how annoyed he'd just made his grandsire.
~*~
After one very long, cold shower, Angelus left the mansion for a hunt. Maybe he'd take things a little differently this time. He really needed to get the Slayer out of his head. 'Maybe I'll sire some hot chick. Fuck her enough till I get sick of her and get over the goddamn Slayer. What am I saying? I'm not over her, I'm not even far enough into her to get over her. I've only known her a week. And I don't even know her, it's just lust. A lotta lust. But it's gonna end. Now.' Another voice, an annoying one reminded him that he wasn't going to get over it if he was going to abide by the rules the bet had set down. Goddamn Spike. He fucked up everything. 'This Slayer deal is getting on my last nerve. I should just finish it already.'
Angelus crossed through a cemetary to get to the Bronze when he picked up on her scent. His hearing then heard the sound of a vampire dusting, and he stopped behind a tree to watch Caden fighting three other vampires. She gave a high roundhouse kick to one, and plunged her stake into the chest of another one. The third leapt for her, but she ducked under her, and rolled under the vampire before they could make sense of anything. She slammed her stake into its back, and without even waiting for it to dust, threw a dagger like a frisbee to slice the head off clean the first vampire. She sighed, picked up the fallen stake, and went over to pick up the dagger by a tree.
She stopped and quickly turned in the direction of Angelus' tree. Cautiously, she approached it, and was grabbed roughly from behind. Angelus threw her hard right into a headstone. She hit it with her back and she moaned in pain, the sudden attack surprising her.
Angelus stalked over to the Slayer and yanked her up by the collar of her leather jacket so she was forced to look into his eyes. He paused a minute, and without realizing it, Caden's fist slammed into his nose. Angelus' grip loosened enough for Caden to escape it, and quickly she jumped up, pushed off of the headstone and flipped over Angelus' head to give him a roundhouse kick from behind. He stumbled forward, and turned, in full vampface. Caden pulled the stake from her jacket, her eyes piercing him with a stone cold glare. Angelus could smell her well right now, the sweet shampoo she used, the blood from the two cuts on her wrist from earlier today, the beer she'd had at her apartment, and the minty gum she'd chewed to get rid of the scent. He smiled a little. She really must be one messed up kid.
Caden gave a high double kick to his head, the first of which he blocked, the second, he grabbed her foot and whipped it backwards so Caden flipped over almost artistically. She landed on her feet, quickly sending one more kick, and got in closer to punch him hard in the face, spinning to elbow him in the nose, and tripping him with a hard kick back to his knee. Angelus was surprised at how quickly she could make all her moves. She no doubt had the speed and strength, but her emotions and impulsive actions obviously clouded her judgement. The amateur. Ow.
Caden kicked his stomach, barely pausing to bring her foot down to get him in the neck twice. Angelus gave her his best right hook, but she ducked it and grabbed his fist. She brought it roughly behind his back. She kicked his back so he knocked into a nearby crypt and picked up her fallen stake. She approached him, and as he tried to lunge at her, she grabbed his neck and slammed him back into it with a growl from Angelus. His face changed back to that of a human, and he smiled at her.
"Nice to see you too, Caden." He smirked, licking his lips. Caden shoved him back, wiping the smirk off his face. She pressed her stake up against his chest.
"Don't call me that."
"Why not, it's your name, isn't it?" He was rewarded with a punch from her right fist. "Wow, lighten up, Slayer. What, not get enough alcohol today?"
"Shut the fuck up, soul addict." Caden replied with another punch.
"Easy on the nose. And I ditched the soul, all right?"
"That's not the way Willow told it. Way I heard the story, you were so in love with the last slayer you fucked the hell outta her and 'lost it' by accident."
"You weren't exactly there, kiddo." Angelus replied, punching her back. Caden let go of his collar and punched him hard. He returned it. Caden spun around and kicked him in the gut, and took the opportunity to get him back up against the wall of the crypt. He looked at her for a moment before she lunged forward and attacked him hungrily with her mouth. Angelus groaned as she pressed her body up against his and moved his hands around her waist to pull her closer in to his body. Caden jumped up, wrapping her legs around his waist and Angelus turned around and slammed her back hard against the crypt, moving his mouth down her neck, hands roaming everywhere over her body.
"Angelus... we shouldn't..." Caden managed to whisper out just before he plastered his mouth back to hers. She practically melted when his tongue massaged her own, clearing her head of all thoughts of that.
"So what were you saying?" He asked, remembering to pull away to let her breathe. Caden breathed heavily, her mind elsewhere, and rubbed her hips up against him.
"Forget it. I need you. Now!" Angelus jolted awake. He groaned. "Dammit."