"Hey people!" The door of the Hyperion swung open, to reveal a deserted lobby. Gunn frowned, stepped across the threshhold, only for a slender arm to lock around his neck, a gleaming blade coming in from the other side. "Whoa! What the hell's goin' on?"
Angel emerged from one of the large rooms, rubbing his eyes. Stopping short, he blinked at Gunn sleepily, chuckled and waved his hand. "Drop him, girl."
"You know dis one?"
"He helps us out." The vampire nodded, a small smile threatening to break on his features.
The arm fell, leaving Gunn to stagger forward a pace, raising a hand to his bruised throat, as he pivoted to see his attacker. Brown eyes met equally brown, a helpless shrug raising the girl's slim shoulders.
"I t'ought you were one of di ones who brought me back." She mumbled, cheeks turning a rosy shade of brown. She hurriedly pushed pased him, following Angel behind the counter and settling on the stool to sharpen her blade.
Gunn arched a brow. "You have a likin' for rough girls, huh, Angel?"
"She was what Wolfram and Hart were so worked up about a few weeks back." The vampire didn't even look up from his mug of blood and the newspaper he was poring over. "Kendra, meet Charles Gunn. Gunn, Kendra."
"I am pleased ta meet ya." The girl murmured, head still bowed.
"Right back at ya." The street-demon hunter leaned on the counter, regarded the girl. She was small, quiet-lookin'. Dark-haired and dark-eyed. A cute kid, that was for sure. "So, man, what did our lawyer buddies want with your girl here?"
At that, Angel looked up. "They raised her from the dead." He replied, then turned his attention back to the article.
"Wait a minute...you're tellin' me shes been dead?"
"For almost t'ree years." The girl put in, finally lifting her head. "Dey screwed up di spell and now, I have ta stay wit' Angel forever." She pulled a face. "I was t'inkin' it might have been better ta just die again."
"Huh?"
Angel shot a glare at the girl that was belied by the glint in his eye. "They made such a mess with the spell that they raised an immortal, unkillable, invincible Slayer who happened to have her life bound to mine." He sighed. "And they said lawyers can spell..."
A silence fell, but for the steady rasp-rasp-rasp of the girl's dagger.
That was until two familiar voices sounded outside.
"Well, you could at least drive on the right side of the bloody road!"
Heels clicked on the ground outside the doors. "I was! You and your stupid English driving habits are all wrong! I know what I'm doing!" The footsteps paused. "*I* am an American! I know how to drive!"
"Not on my bike!"
"Then why did you offer to let me drive it in today, last time we went to Caritas?"
"For God's sake, I was drunk, Cordelia!" The door swung inwards, Wesley storming in after the brunette, helmet under his arm, hair severely ruffled. "Didn't you take that fact into consideration at all?"
A neat brow rose. "You were making as much sense then as you make normally. How was I meant to know you were drunk?"
"Are you insinuating that I sound inebriated?" He grabbed her arm, pulled her round to face him, his jaw tight.
"Listen to yourself talking, doofus!" Eyeball to eyeball, they glared angrily at one another, les than two inches between them. "Even Giles made more sense than you."
The former watcher narrowed blue eyes. "You are the most frustrating person I have ever met, Miss Chase." He grated out coldly. "There are times when I just wish you were a man so I could punch you."
"Oh, take your best shot." The gap narrowed between them, less than an inch. "A punch from you would make Xander Harris look like a professional boxer."
"Dont push your luck."
"What are you? Chic..."
The chill of steel skimming the tips of their noses, the thump of the dagger imbedding itself in the door beyond them, the thrum as it shivered in the wood halted the increasingly childish verbal battle between the pair.
Both Watcher and Seer seemed suddenly anaemic, wide-eyed. The dark Slayer casually skirted the desk, walking over and reaching up to carelessly tug the eight-inch blade from its position in the thick panel of the door.
The Englishman and former cheerleader each took a wary step back as the petite girl turned around with a small smile, glancing from Cordelia to Wesley. "And dat's how ye stop arguments where I come from."
Sotto voce, Gunn murmured. "Ya know, I think I'm gonna like havin' this kid about." Angel nodded, chuckled. The Slayer certainly did seem to have a very forthright way with people and how to deal with them.
And he could hear Angelus chortle in agreement.
*
"You've never done this before?"
The Immortal Slayer blushed profusely, shook her head. "Mistah Zabuto...he had a lot of rules dat I had ta follow." She paused, frowned. "Do ya t'ink I should tell him dat I am...er....not really dead no more?"
"I think it would be better if we just kept you out of the Council's way." The vampire gave her a sympathetic grin. "They'd probably try to kill you and look very stupid and we wouldn't want that, would we?"
She shook her head, tucked loose braids back from her face, glancing at the vampire's hand moving over the straps that stretched over her shoulders. "I t'ink," She murmured, reaching up to squeeze his hand. "It is time for me ta have some fun. Dey took my first life. I won't give dem dis one too."
"Sounds like a good idea." Dropping a kiss on the top of her head, he gently steered her forward, to the edge and gave her a warming smile. "You ready?"
"What...what if I smash me head on da bottom?"
Angel grinned. "You'll always be bound to me, little one. And since you've taken to cleaning up my room so much," He reminded her soothingly. "I'll like having you around, even if you have to have your smashed head amputated."
"Dat wasn't di reassurance I was lookin' for." She shot a glare at him but her grave expression melted into a grin. She took another step towards the edge of the bridge, glanced at him. "You're tellin' me ye've done dis yerself?"
He gave her an innocent look, the moonlight playing on his features. "I might be immortal." He remarked. "But I'm not crazy enough to throw myself off a bridge in the middle of the night with just a rubber band to stop me hitting the ground."
She swung to glare at him, only to feel a large hand at the small of her back pushing her forward, off into open air and then she was falling, screaming that she was going to torture and maim and hurt the vampire as much as possible.
Leaning over the edge to watch, Angel chuckled, recalling a night in 1998 when he had been in the same position as she was now. But he wasn't about to tell her that, unless she battered it out of him.
Which could be an option, considering he'd given her the push.
*
Laughing, the dark-haired, dark-eyed couple entered the bar, arm-in-arm. Both were covered tufts of dry grass and dirt, but neither seemed to have noticed as they joined Wesley, Cordelia and Gunn at a small table near the stage.
"You look cosy." Cordelia put in dryly.
"We are." Angel gave her a predator's grin. "And were all afternoon and now that I'm back, I'm going to kill you all and wear your scalps as hats."
Wesley and Cordelia shot to their feet in an instant, Gunn looked bemused and both vampire and Slayer started laughing. "Get the feeling they're a bit paranoid, little one?" He murmured against Kendra's throat, casting a sidelong glance at them.
"Just a little." Grinning at them, she lazily reached up and ruffled the vampire's impeccably groomed, bullet-proof hair. "We spent di day trying to kill me. Dis monster t'rew me off a bridge wit' a rubber band 'round me." She pouted. "I just had ta kick di crap outta him for dat."
"So...Angelus has not returned?" Both shook their heads, chuckled. "I must say that's a great relief." Both Wesley and Cordelia reassumed their seats, snagging their drinks.
"Even if he did come back," Angel put in. "I don't think he'd be able to do much damage with this lady on your side." Kendra ducked her head, flushed. "Trust me when I say that he'd be as intrigued as I was."
"And who wouldn't be, sweetie?" The five at the table looked up. The Host nodded a greeting, sipped his seabreeze. "When someone makes Mister I'm-so-broody smile, there has to be something miraculous going on. You must be the one I've heard so much about."
Kendra eyed the green demon warily. "Who is dis?"
With a debonair little bow, the Host smiled. "I'm the Host of this little establishment, honey." He glanced at the deserted stage. "How about giving us a song? I have a feeling your aura will be re-e-eally interesting."
"A song?"
"I forgot to tell you that this is a Kareoke bar." Angel grinned at her. "You sing and the Host here can read your future, depending on his mood." He could see her apprehensive look, taking in the vast array of demons in the bar with them."You don't have to..."
A small, naughty smile crept onto her lips. She got to her feet, gave Angel a wink. "If I don't die of embarrassment," She murmured. "Den we know dat not'ing can kill me." She turned to the Host, rose on her toes and whispered something in his ear that made his eyes widen.
"Well, honey, we haven't had that for a while, but I'm sure we can find it for you."
"I'm not in a hurry." She smiled, looped her arm through his, allowing him to lead her up to the stage. "I have an eternity."
From the table, Angel watched his Slayer and the Host talking and laughing on the stage. He didn't know what the green demon was saying, but he was getting more than a little ticked off that Kendra wasn't with him.
"Testin'..." Her voice carried through the microphone, her body language screaming shyness and barely concealed nerves. In spite of that, though, she looked every inch a warrior, her tight leather trousers and cropped top revealing her smooth muscles. He caught her eyes, winked, drawing a small smile from the girl.
The Host joined the group at the table. "You got yourself a feisty one there, Broody." He murmured, settling back in the seat as the introduction of the song rang through the bar, the girl's body starting to sway.
And the moment she started to sing, four jaws rapidly dropped, the voice of Etta James seeming to resonate from within the slim, young Jamaican girl.
"I don't want you to be no slave," Husky voiced, a wicked smirk on her face, her hips dipped, body rolling in time with the beat. "I don' want you to work all day. But I want you to be true and I just wanna make love to you." She ran her tongue along ruby lips suggestively. "Love to you. Ooh, love to you..."
Feeling warm fingers push his slack jaw shut, Angel glanced sideways, found Cordelia gazing at him with apparent amusement. Looking back to Kendra, he couldn't believe the confidence that was pouring off her in waves. She winked at him, continuing her seductive swaying, moving in ways that no mere mortal would be able to.
/Damn I'm horny!/
[That makes two of us.]
/That makes everyone in the damn bar./ There was a momentary silence, as Angel took stock of his counterpart's observation. From the scents filling the room, the demon side of him appeared to be right. /Told you./ Came the smug words.
Wesley and Gunn were both sitting slack-jawed, Cordelia was tapping her feet in time with the rhythm, her body swaying slightly. As for the Host, he was slumped back in his seat, a blissed-out look on his features, red eyes glowing.
[Wonder what reading he's getting.]
/That she's sexy as hell when she dances like that and she wants us to screw her senseless?/ Angel mentally rolled his eyes, as the final strains of the song rang out and she took a step back to replace the microphone.
The applause was deafening for a change, Kendra giving a jerky wave, blushing and leaping down from the stage to run back to the table. Finding the grinning Host sprawled in her seat, she shrugged, settled on Angel's lap, drawing his arms around her waist.
[Oh God! So don't need this!]
/Ditto!/
"So," Looking around expectantly at the five faces, the Immortal Slayer raised her brows hopefully. "What did ya t'ink? Was I any good?"
/Angel, buddy, friend, you have to let me have sex. I *need* sex after that! Please!/
"You did great, Kendra." Cordelia was the first to reply, nudging the two men on either side of her. "The guys thought so too, but still can't get passed the caveman response." She smiled sweetly as they both indignantly grunted.
"Yeah." Angel put in. "You didn't tell us you could sing like that...or dance..." [No, you're not going to have sex. I'm not going to have se-eek!] The Slayer pushed herself back in his arms, her leather-clad backside rubbing against the front of his trosers.
/Eek? And we wonder why they think you're gay. Re-eeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!/
[Just noticing, huh?]
/Mmm-hmm./
"What's da matter wit' him?" Oblivious to the effect she was having on the vampire, she wriggled slightly, raised her hand to run it down his cheek, as if she were petting a large, fangy, grr-y cat. Her other hand directed their attention to the Host, who had glazed over somewhat and was staring into space, a small smile on his face.
"Uh..." [She's moving...sex is sounding very, very good...]
/Doesn't it always?/
The Host seem to shake himself out of his trance, looked from Kendra to Angel and shook his head, then spoke. "Sweetie, I don't know what death does to you, but if it gave me a voice like that, I'd pay you to kill me."
"T'anks." She blushed prettily. "I t'ink."
"You got some hot stuff in store." He continued, swirling his drink in the glass, gazing into the distance, as if watching the future in his mind. "First, though, you got an old friend to see. And you're sittin' in her poppa's lap."
/He mentioned you, pal. Snap outta of the drool-fest./
[Mind your own business.] "What did you say?"
The Host gave him an amused look. "Nice to see you so focused on your surroundings, dreamboat." He drawled. "Ask your friend what you missed."
"Drusilla." Kendra murmured, eyes dark and cold. "She's here. In L.A., somewhere."
"Crazy vamp chick?"
"And di vampire who killed me." Her hand slipped to her thigh and abruptly rose, a long, narrow silver bladed-sword gripped in her hand. She laid it on the table, smiled slowly. "I t'ink I'm ready to fight her again." She crossed her legs daintily, the blade out of the way, hand curving around the handle of the sword.
"Nice piece of weaponry you got there." Gunn glanced at the blade appraisingly, then back at the girl. "You say this chick killed you? And you ain't a vamp?" Kendra nodded. "Shit, sister, she's gonna piss her pretty panties when she sees you."
"Dat's di idea."
"She's got company, sweetie. Daddy's momma in younger form." The Host grimaced. "God, that vampire's a bitch."
Kendra shrugged, glanced back at Angel briefly. "Den I'll kill her too." She shrugged. "I'm di Slayer. It is my destiny to kill vampires. Or somet'ing like dat. Me memory ain't been what it was since I died."
/Whoa, wait a minute. She's gonna kill Darla!/
[It's her job, precious. You don't mind she's killing Dru, so why care about Darla? She'd been dead for three years anyway. She shoulda stayed that way.]
/So...we have a choice of helping this undead, kickass Slayer whose wriggling in your lap and letting mum die, or we try – and fail – to kill the wriggly Slayer critter and have our asses truly kicked?/
[You say that's a choice? This Slayer is better company than Darla ever was. All blondie wanted was the sex and blood.] Angel grinned slightly at the memory of pushing Kendra off the bridge and the fight they had after. [This one knows how to have fun and fight too.]
/She can kick our ass any day of the week./
[And you're complaining about this? C'mon. We both like strong women. Darla isn't what she once was. Who knows, she might not manage to kill her anyway. She just wants to get rid of Dru. Revenge and all that.]
"Angel?" Waving her hand in front of the vampire's eyes, the Slayer tweaked his nose. "Hey, you, in der. You comin' wit' me to find Drusilla?"
He glanced at the Host, who shrugged, smirked slightly. "Not my decision, dreamboat." He said with a red-lipped smile. "You can help the kid that your future is linked with or you quit the home team and go back to your roots." He chuckled. "Remember she's a cutie to spend eternity with."
"I t'ink you are tryin' ta get me ta sing again wit' all dis flattering." Kendra leaned forward with a smile and patted the Host on the head. Three pairs of human eyes exchanged worried glances with a vampire. Surely patting the Host was against the rules?
To their surprise, he chuckled, raised his glass. "Looks like you've got me all figured out, honey." He gestured to the stage. "We hardly get anyone who can sing, so if you want a showbiz career, I'm sure we could set you on your way."
"I t'ink I'll do what I'm best at." She smiled.
"And what's that, sweetie?"
"Takin' da piss out of Angel here." She arched her back against his chest and glanced up at him, the wicked glint in her eye suggesting that she more than knew what she was doing to him in the pelvic region. "An' killin' t'ings dat try an' kill me."
[We really have to move.]
/Where to? Bedroom or on the bar? Its wide enough.../
[Sounds like you've made your decision.]
/Decision?/
[You're thinking about sex with Kendra over sex with Darla.]
/Um...well, she dances good. And she is sitting in our lap right now./
"What's he grinning about?" Gunn peered around Kendra's mass of hair at the vampire she was sitting on.
The Host stifled a smirk. "Trust me, handsome, you don't want to know."
"Wha...?" Angel shook his head, blinked, found all of his friends grinning knowingly at him. "I was listening. Honest. What did I miss?"
Kendra stood, standing between his knees, facing him. "We," She said, ruffling his hair even more. "Are goin' ta find your kiddy and den..." She paused dramatically, hand over heart. In a blink, a stake had emerged from her cleavage and was pressed to his chest. "We kill her."
/I'm starting to love this girl./
Raising his hands to her hips, Angel drew her forward, until the tip of the stake was pressing through the shirt, into the flesh of his chest. [Is that so?] "Well, we better get going then, shouldn't we?"
/That's so. If I'm gonna be stuck with someone for eternity, I can imagine worse people. That Slutty for one./
"If you stop wit' di internal conversation, I t'ink we should spread di word dat you have di Slayer visitin' ye." Kendra's smile was devious. "No doubt, Darla will want to have revenge for bein' staked. And Drusilla will come wit' her. And den, we fight at di Hotel."
The Host applauded politely, receiving bewildered looks from the three humans present. "You finally picked the smart one, didn't you, dreamboat?" He winked at Angel and got to his feet. "I need you to come back here after you meet the girlfriends. I might have news from the upper reaches for you."
He offered Kendra a hand, bent and kissed the back of hers in feigned noblesse, red eyes glinting with humour. "Saw that in a Nickelodeon." He quoted, then strolled away, leaving the little group in confused silence.
"What are waitin' for?" The Slayer enquired, tugging Angel to his feet. "I t'ink we should go and get di welcome party ready for my old friends."
"You are the smart one, after all." Wesley remarked dryly, rising to his feet. "I wonder, why wasn't Buffy as intelligent as you..."
Kendra grinned. "She was blonde?" She suggested, looping an arm through Angel's. "Dat always seems to explain everyt'ing."
/Lovin' this bitch./
[Shuddup.]
"Angel, where's di car?"
Glancing down at her, he pulled a face. "Where you crashed it."
*
Sitting on the reception desk, her bare feet drumming against the side impatiently, the undead Slayer watched the clock. "I'm bored."
"We could always call Wesley and Cordelia through here so you could use them for target practise." Angel suggested, entering from one of the weapons rooms, a small chest gripped in his hands.
"Not funny!" Coredlia's voice floated through from one of the other rooms.
Kendra glanced towards the doorway, through which the seer had disappeared, then chuckled softly. "Don't tempt me." He hefted the small chest on the desk next to her, then placed his hand on either side of her thighs, gazing at her. "What? Do I have somet'ing in me teet' or a smudge on me nose or somet'ing?"
Standing eye-to-eye with her, he raised one hand, cupped her face gently, running his thumb over he cheek lightly, shook his head. "No. Nothing there." He ran his fingers through her braided hair softly, smiled. "Nothing at all." Drawing her face down to his, he brushed his lips carefully against hers, drew back, smiled again.
"Angel..." Her cheeks flushed, she tentatively lifted her hand, touched his brow, trailing her fingers down, along his jaw. Her fingertips swept over his lips in a feathery touch, two pairs of brown eyes meeting.
His hands moved to her waist, drew her closer to him, her chest pressing to his. "Kendra." His voice was a guttural purr, her fingers tangling into his hair and drawing him down to kiss her again, her shy lips soft and closed chastely against his.
Snaking one hand up between her shoulder blades, his hand cradling the back of her head tenderly. Gently teasing her closed lips open, he coerced her tongue into meeting his, felt her gasp and tighten her hold on him.
Supple fingers kneaded at his shoulders and neck, firm young breasts rubbing against his chest through the material of his shirt and once again, he thanked whoever was listening that neither of them needed to breath.
Drawing apart, souled vampire and undead Slayer stared at one another. Kendra shakily raised her fingers to her lips, a a smile twitching at the corners of her mouth. "Dat wasn't in di Slayer handbook." She murmured, turning to the chest, her cheeks pink.
"I wouldn't think so." He agreed with a small smile, watching her go through the weapons chest with an expert's eye. He vaguely registered Wesley re-entering under a mountain of books, focusing on the girl until he heard the front doors creak open. "It's party time, little one."
Both of them turned to the door to find the blonde and dark vampiress standing there, the blonde smiling, the other not so. Behind them, some younger, but no less dangerous, vampires stood impatiently.
Wesley moved alongside Angel, clearly afraid, but determined not to run away. Cordelia peered around the doorframe curiously at the suddenly silent triad, sighed and joined the two Immortals and the Watcher.
"I hear you have a visitor, Angelus." Darla crooned. The minions spread out around the room, blocking all exits. "A little Slayer, or so a little bird told me. Bring her out and your sidekicks get to walk away."
"Somehow I don't believe that." Angel straightened up, following Drusilla's wide-eyed gaze that was directed towards Kendra. The young Slayer was examining a small ax nonchalantly, ignoring the two vampiresses.
The dark vampiress slowly turned her gaze towards the other male, a leer creeping onto her fragile features. "Look at him, baby." She murmured softly, taking several paces closer to the Englishman, voice lilting. "A Watcher from the homelands."
"Dear God..." Wesley blanched.
"Tell me, sweet." Drusilla skirted her Sire with a small smile, reaching to touch Wesley's cheek with her perfect nails. Etching a narrow scratch down across his cheekbone, she eyed the drop of blood greedily. "Do you wish to live for ever?" She traced a finger down his brow. "Hmm?"
"I…I…"
Catching the drop of blood on a fingertip, Drusilla lapped at it thoughtfully. "Just like my sweet Will." She murmured, drawing her hand down his chest. "All words and thoughts that nobody hears, but me."
Cordelia snorted, reached passed Angel and tugged the profusely-sweating Wesley. "Look, Psycho, you want an English idiot, go back to England. Plenty of them there." She gave the dark vampiress a pure Cordelia glare. "And keep your paws off my co-workers." She glanced at Wesley, sniffed. "This doesn't mean I like you."
Darla sighed in clear frustration. "Dru, we didn't come here for the Watcher. We came for the Slayer." She narrowed her eyes, hands on her hips, and glared at Angel. "Bring her out, or we have a dinner party and you know you can't fight them all."
Drawing alongside her childe, the older vampiress returned her gaze to the silent Slayer, her attention focused on the dark, bowed head. Angel chuckled, stepped in front of Cordelia and Wesley, shook his head.
"She came out of the darkness." Lilting with insanity, Drusilla broke the silence, swayed, lips moving in silent words. "The Chosen One fell down, but she got up again. Fell out of Heaven into a fallen angel's arms."
"What are you talking about?"
"He wants her." Drusilla's haunted gaze flicked to Angel. "He only wants her. The eternal Slayer. He stinks of her." She shook her head, hands trembling fitfully. "His mind is all filled up with her, singing of her. Our Angelus wants the Slayer more than he wants us. Our Angelus wants her like he once wanted us."
Darla's eyes narrowed. "So where is the little slut, then? Bring her out, Angelus. See if she can fight me without having you kill me for her again."
"I sent her soul to the sky." Drusilla whispered, in denial. "It whispered through my head when I let her go. I made her fall. I know I made her fall. She isn't one of us...she isn't one of them either...she isn't...I killed her..."
Kendra looked up from the ax in her hands, smiled a chilling smile. "You didn't do a very good job of it." She murmured. Dropping to her feet, she felt Angel's arm slide around her waist and smiled again. "I was di only Slayer ya killed and you couldn't even make me stay dead."
"Wait a goddamn minute." Pinching the ridged bridge of her nose between forefinger and thumb, Darla inhaled a slow breath. "She's another Slayer? He's in lust with her? And you killed her? When the hell did all this go down?"
"Two and a half years ago, I t'ink. I don't remember dat much cos, well, I was dead." She swayed back against Angel, tipped her head as he nuzzled at her neck, his eyes glinting with mischief as he looked over at Darla. "T'ank yer friendly lawyers. Dey brought me back."
Shaking her head, Darla frowned. "Where did she spring from anyway? Who killed your slut?"
"The Master, when he rose."
"I knew he could do it!"
"He died half an hour later though." Angel couldn't help but grin. /He was an ugly bastard./ "I hate to tell you, this, but my little slut was the one who killed him. Pushed him through the roof of the school and staked him."
Seeing her confusion, ignoring Drusilla's mumbling, Kendra pulled Angel's head down and pressed a light kiss to his mouth. "I was di replacement." She remarked.
"She's the first of the line of Second Slayers." Angel explained, the minions surrounding them unimportant, his hands folded over her belly, he felt her hand scratch under his chin and butted his head against her. "She died, but now, she's back and bad."
"You know," Taking a controlled step towards the pair, Darla's eyes were icy. "I haven't killed a Slayer for a long time. I'll free you from the spell this one has you under, Angelus. She may have your soul, but she doesn't have you."
The dark vampire snorted with laughter, let his face shift. "You're still as self-assured as ever, mum." He drawled, drawing Kendra's hair back from her neck, nibbling at her throat. Sinking his fangs into the soft flesh, he could sense Kendra smiling lazily and purposefully ignored the shocked gasps from the two humans. Withdrawing, he lapped at the wounds, felt Kendra's hand stroke his cheek. "I have everything I need now. I don't need the replica of my Sire anymore. Or my childe."
"You mean she was right...?" Glancing at Drusilla, Darla's face grew stony. "Well, no matter, my boy. That won't stop us killing her."
Several minions barreled in, grabbing Angel, Cordelia and Wesley in vicious holds, dragging them away from the young Slayer. The vampire growled, struggled angrily, glaring at the blonde vampiress. The Slayer arched an eyebrow.
"Dru," Turning to her Sire, Darla gestured to the Slayer. "Maybe you should try again?"
"She's not right." The dark vampiress whimpered, but took several steps closer none-the-less, her crazed eyes fixed on Kendra's dark, calm face. "She's full of death and life and anger and peace and many magicks."
"Can we shut up and get on wit' my cold-blooded murder a'ready?"
Drusilla warily neared, held the girl's chin in her hand, stared at her. "Look at me, Slayer." She murmured, drawing Kendra's gaze. "Be in me." She gestured to her eyes, smiling confidently. "Be in me."
"No t'anks."
"Slayer." Tightening her grip, she grit her teeth. "Be in me."
Kendra blinked slowly, met the vampiress' eyes. Angel stiffened. "Kendra! Snap out of it! You can beat this!" She briefly glanced towards him, but Drusilla snatched her attention back, swayed from side to side.
Imitating Drusilla's sway, the Slayer's eyes grew glassy. The vampiress flexed her razor-sharp nails, smirked slightly.
"Kendra." Angel pleaded. "Kendra, please...come on, little one..." The girl blinked, looked towards him. Smiled.
Drusilla's hand snapped up as soon as the girl looked away, replicating the narrow scar that the Slayer still bore from her first death on the opposite side of her throat. Kendra's hand snapped up, eyes widening in shocked awareness, her blood trickling between her fingers.
Slumping, she collapsed in a heap on the floor.
Staring at her in abject horror, Angel raised his face to his childe and sire-cum-grandchilde, eyes blazing furiously. The two humans gasped, clearly shocked that she had been killed. The two vampiress moved towards him, smiling. "You shouldn't have done that." He growled.
"Why?" Darla smirked. "What are you going to do about it?"
Angel's furious facade melted away, replaced with a grin. "Nothing." He replied. "She just gets very pissed off when people kill her."
Before they had a chance to register his words, both staggered forward a step, a blow from behind followed by a burning in their torsos. Looking down in tandem, they whimpered. Drusilla looked to her childe a moment before she disintegrated into dust, leaving Darla, staring at the silver blade that had emerged through her stomach.
"What the hell...?" Darla glanced back over her shoulder, found herself eye-to-eye with the dark-haired girl, the smile on her face a deadly one. Blood was still pouring from the cut at her throat, but she didn't seem aware of it.
"I really don't like bein' killed." She murmured, twisting the blade. "Call your boys off, or I release di Holy water inside di knife. You'll fry from di inside out. You want dat, heh?"
Grimacing in pain, the blonde vampire nodded, the minions dropping back. She swallowd hard, trying to step forward off the blade, only for the Slayer to tilt the curved blade up, pulling her back harder. She glared at Angel, who gave her a helpless shrug.
"They brought her back and just happened to bind her life to mine." He reached forward and tapped the end of the daggers with his fingertips. "You never know, you might have liked her if you spent some time with her. She's the smartest Slayer I've met."
"See me jump for joy." Darla hissed, flashing a glare at the grinning Kendra. "And you, just get this fucking knife out of my chest."
Kendra frowned, shook her head. "I don't like dis one, Angel. She is rude." She said. Darla was barely able to notice the blade jerked out of her body, as the stake slipped home, her eyes widening in disbelief as she felt herself crumbling to dust once again.
"Fuck." Was the last thing she said, before her lips turned into powder.
Angel gazed down at the twin piles of dust, distantly registered Kendra's voice enquiring. "Can I kill dem too?"
He nodded, left her to it. Cordelia and Wesley wisely made themselves scarce, as he stared down at the dust that had once been the two most important women in his life.
/So its over./
[Looks like it.]
/You don't care?/
[I'll miss them. They were mine for so long. It hurts knowing they're gone. You?]
There was a pause. /Funnily enough, I feel the same./ There was a resigned laugh. /To think I prefer the company of a Slayer to my Sire and Childe, though. Never thought it would happen in a million years./
"Angel?" He looked down, found the bloody Slayer smiling tiredly up at him, one crimson hand rising to caress his cheek. Tilting her head to bare her still-oozing throat, she softly asked. "You still hungry?"
If she had been mortal, he would have lost her. She would have been gone from his life, for the last time. Uncalled for tears rising in his eyes, he wrapped his arms around her in a crushing embrace, pressing his lips in a worshipful kiss to her bloody neck. The neck she had offered him freely.
Sinking to the floor with her arms around him, she knelt and held him as he started to sob. He couldn't say why he was crying. Maybe it was the deaths of Sire and Childe, maybe it was the thought of losing her. He didn't know.
Half-cradled in her arms between her knees, his face buried in the bloodied crook of her neck, arms around her waist tightly, he felt her fingers running through his hair gently, her lips whispering soothing words to him.
*
Watching the latest so-called 'act', the Host sipped his drink. A tingle passed down his spine and he smiled. The Slayer was all pleasant, present and correct, along with a certain broody presence that seemed more subdued than usual.
Waiting until the act finished, he offered a quick explanation, then turned towards the door to see the Slayer, a bandage wrapped around her slim neck, the vampire with his arm draped posessively around her, glowering at anyone who dared to look at the girl.
"Hola, sweetie!" Weaving his way to her side, he planted ferverent air-kisses near both her cheeks and looked her up and down. "Hmm...that bandage look is really not doing anything for your complexion."
She shrugged, smiled tiredly. "I've been dead again." She replied. "I'm still a little bit out of date wit' fashion."
"Would your growly pet here mind if we went shopping?" Angel flashed a glare at him, arm tightening that little bit more around the girl. "Hmm. I'll take that as a definite yes. Alas, busy schedule anyway." He gestured towards a table. "Care for a drink?" He clapped his hands, made an order, then turned back to them. "I got some news for you two sweethearts, all the way from the upper reaches." He confided.
Angel's gaze that had been flitting suspiciously around the club suddenly came to full focus on the Host. "Let me guess. We have to sing for our supper?"
"Not you, dreamboat." Red lips rose in a smile. "Only your pretty Princess here."
"Me?" Kendra's voice emerged as a shrill squeak.
"No." Angel pulled her onto his lap, pinned her close to his chest, his face rippling into demon form. "She's not singing again."
Pushing against his chest, Kendra shifted to stare at him. "What's wrong wit' ya, Angel? Why can't I sing?"
He shook his head, grit his teeth, burying his face in her neck again. "I don't want you being told you have another mission and another one and sooner or later being told that everything leads to death and that I'll lose you." He whispered, a tremor running through his body. "We finally agree about something and we don't want to lose you."
Her gentle hand tilted his chin up, her dark eyes finding his golden ones. "It won't come to dat, Angel." She brushed a light kiss over his ridged forehead. "I promise ye, I'm not goin' anywhere. Not'ings goin' ta get me killed, but we have ta know what's happenin'." Brushing her lips over his in a light kiss, she smiled.
"But what if..."
"Sh." Pressing a fingertip to his lips, she shook her head. "No buts, Angel. She whispered. "Its just one song, okay?"
The Host watched, but tried to look like he wasn't doing so, a tiny smile edging onto his features as the Slayer kissed the vampire, despite the fangs and yellow eyes and weird bumps that sprung up everywhere. If he didn't look so bumpy and fangy, it would have been cute.
Relinquishing his grip on the girl, the vampire kissed her fingertips and reluctantly watched as she made her way to the stage, a microphone pushed into her hand.
After selecting the song, she moved to the front of the stage, squinting in the spotlight, her eyes finding Angel's as the intro started to play. She smiled, the words rising on the screen at the front of the stage, but she ignored them and sang from memory, her voice swelling into the chorus.
"Baby, I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grave. Ooh, the more I get of you, the stranger it feel, yeah." She half-smiled. The song was so appropriate. Every word referred to her feelings about Angel. "Now that your rose is in bloom, a light hits the gloom on the grave."
The entire bar was deadly silent as she sang, her voice carrying effortlessly, her body lifted by the motion of the music.
"Yes, I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grave. Ooh, the more I get of you, the stranger it feels, yeah. Now that your rose is in bloom, a light hits the gloom, on a grave." She felt the end nearing, saw the spotlight come into closer focus on her face, as she softly sang the final line. "Now that your rose is in bloom, a light hits the gloom on a grave."
The spotlight winked out and the applause started, quiet at first, then increasingly loud. Her face scarlet, the Slayer scrambled down from the stage, hurrying back to her vampire and the Host, settling on the vampire's lap, catching his small smile.
The Host shook his head, as if to clear it. "Honey, that was beautiful. Plenty horny, but who would notice that?" The girl flushed even more, buried her face in her hands. "If read your vibes right, which I never don't do, you two are going to just love me."
"Uh-huh?"
Nodding, eyes dancing with pleasure, the Host leaned forward. "Word came in that your soul has been made permanent, dreamboat." Gold eyes met brown, then both turned to red hopefully. "You think I'd be such a tease to make that up? Do I look like the kind of idiot who would incurr the wrath of a vampire and the most deadly Slayer in the World?"
"If you did, I'd probably have to kill you, you know."
Angel smiled at the Host. "Don't you love a fiery little thing like this one?" He nuzzled at her neck fondly. "Before we go off and check your theory, do you have any reason why they would do that?"
"Probably thought it was unfair to deny you both smoochies for all eternity." The pair exchanged glances. "Babies, the vibes are just screaming. You only wanted each other, demon, soul, undead Slayer. Twisted, but cute."
"In that case." Angel got to his feet, Slayer still cradled in his arms, a wide grin creeping onto his face. "We have some testing to do."
As the pair disappeared out the door, Kendra's voice laughingly carried back to the Host where he sat, drawing a small smile from him. "You try an' go bad on me an' I swear I'll kick your sorry ass, Angelus."
*
Curled on her side, head pillowed on her arm, the silky red sheet demurely covering to her breasts, Kendra looked like she was still asleep. Her lashes rested like smudges of ash on her tawny cheek.
His hand propped on his fist, Angel lay facing her, fascinated. He wished he could leave her long enough to go and find his sketch pad, but he didnt want her to wake without him being there to see her.
/You sappy idiot./
[Yup.]
/You quite happy now?/
[Yup.]
/Me too./
[Oh?]
/In spite of being stuck with you for eternity, I'm liking the idea of this eternal threesome./
[Perv.]
/Yup!/
Turning his attention from the demon, he snagged the sheet and drew it slowly down her slender body, smiling slightly when she whimpered, her hand groping out for the sheet and tugging it back up to her chin.
Sliding a hand under the sheet, he found her thigh and ticklishly traced his fingers up the bare flesh, felt her shiver at his touch, watched her peaceful face for any signs that she was about to wake up.
His mouth near her ear, he murmured. "I know you're awake."
"No. I'm not. Sleepin' still." She wriggled a little closer to him, a half-smile on her lips. "I'm still all asleep." She faked a snore. "See. All sleepin'."
"Then," He nipped her earlobe gently. "You won't..." His mouth travelled to her throat, nibbled a little more. "Feel any..." His teeth caught the sheet, pulled it aside, his lips moving to her collarbone. "Of this." He rolled her onto her back, pinning her down and kneeling over her. "Or when I tickle you into submission."
Abruptly, he was flipped onto his back and – wrapped in the sheet – she straddled his body, grinning down at him, her dark hair wild around her face, her hands holding his shoulders down against the mattress. "Never going to happen."
Leaning down, holding herself upright with her hands spread on his chest, she pressed a kiss to his waiting lips and smiled. One of his hands rose, caressed her cheek gently. "This is one of those times that I actually appreciate the Host." He murmured.
"I like him." Laying herself down on the vampire's chest, propping her chin on her crossed wrists, she traced patterns on his chest with her fingers. "Except di part when he wanted me ta sing in front of everyone."
"You were lucky." He toyed with one of her braids, his other hand running up and down her back lazily. "At least you can sing."
She nestled sleepily on his broad chest, pressed a kiss just below his shoulder. "I never t'ought I would end up wit' a vampire cos I could sing." She said quietly. "Especially not wit' Angelus." She lifted her head to look at him. "I t'ink I love you, Angel."
/Whoohoo! Sappy git gets the girl again!/
[Shut up!]
*Yeah, listen ta yer soul, Angelus.*
/What the fuck...?/
[Did I just hear...?]
Kendra smiled. *You t'ink being bonded just means ye have ta put up wit' me? I t'ink not.* She lay her head down again. *And, Angelus, you t'ink I don't know exactly what you've been sayin' about me for days?*
/Damn it!/
Angel couldn't withhold a smile, tracing his fingers over the girl's shoulders. [I think we've met our match, huh?]
/Looks like it./ They both chuckled as the demon gave a long-suffering sigh. /I'm loving my unlife. Really I am./
*Does he always whine dis much?*
[He gets antsy when he hasn't had sex for nearly a hundred years...apart from those few months in 1998.] Shifting her weight, he rolled her onto her side, tracing the contours of her face with a fingertip. "You're beautiful, you know."
She flushed, then stifled a chuckle as an amused voice added /And me agreeing with the broodboy is becoming a regular occurence, but he's actually telling the truth. For once. How scary is that?/
*No more scary dan knowin' I'm involved wit' ya, Angelus.* She grinned.
"I have something I have to tell you, Kendra." Pausing to kiss her lingeringly, Angel interupted the conversation, brushed his forehead lightly against hers. Her eyebrow arched slightly, a small smile twitching her lips as his demon rippled to the surface, his goofy grin looking ridiculous around the fangs. "I think I love you too."
/Hey! What about me!?!/
*What about you?*
There was a sheepish silence, her fingers smoothing Angel's brow as she waited. /I'm part of the lovey-dovey squad too...but in a nasty, mean and downright bloody way./ He mentally cleared his throat. /But you tell anyone and I will find some way to kill you./
[I think we get it.] Hand running down Kendra's side, Angel had to smile at the demon. Since he and Kendra had gotten involved, the demon had happily joined in, occasionally being let out to play, unable to withstand Kendra's superslayer strength.
/So...we gonna screw again?/
*Not if you don't behave.*
Silence.
Twin brown eyes met, small smiles exchanged as Angel lowered his mouth to claim hers again, her arms sinuously twining around his neck. Drawing him down onto her, their bodies joining, brown eyes merged to gold.
Arching against his chest, the Slayer sighed contentedly, fingers weaving through his wildly sticking-up hair to pull his mouth down in a kiss.
/Ahem...can we speed this up a bit? Please?/
Bursting out laughing as Angel lifted his head, seeming to frown inwardly. His eyes focused on a spot high on the wall, he wrinkled his brow, pursed his lips and frowned. The Slayer clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle her giggles, eyes glinting with amusement at his undeniably pissed expression.
Life as an Undead Slayer was strange.
Life as an Undead Slayer in a long term relationship with Angel and Angelus was definitely going to be a whole lot more than that. She was willing to bet on it.