"Yes Master..." Darla replied through clenched teeth, reaching through the bars as she spoke. The vampire began to work on carefully ripping off the cuffs from his wrists, and for a second her skin brushed his own. A wave of electricity went through both of them, unlike anything the young man or the 400-year-old creature had ever felt before. But neither said a word until the handcuffs were lying torn apart on the floor.
"It is done." The female vampire said with hatred in her tone, "Now you can put me through the tortures that you described before, Master..."
The words were spoken with ridicule, especially the last, but still she had done what he commanded. Rubbing his wrists, happy to be free of the cuffs, Xander knew that he sort of owed her. True, she had killed his best friend and countless others, but she had helped him out, even though she had been forced to do it. Maybe for that he could get her out of there as well, and then...
He had it. He would do the one thing that would both satisfy his conscience and would still cause her pain. But it would be good pain, he knew. Or rather, Angel knew. For Xander, deep within his brain, planned on giving Darla a soul back. As soon as they got out of this damned hell-hole. Right, his mind told him, get out, THEN do all that.
"Well these bars have to go..." Xander said out loud with a sigh, "But do I have enough power to get us out?"
"Us?" Darla asked incredulously.
Xander gave her a smile. While it wasn't particularly pleasant, it was a smile. "Yes, us. I can't torture you if you're in here..."
"Oh."
There was a pause, since Xander couldn't really think up a good response to that one, and then he touched the bars. Quietly, he made a small, powerful ball of Hotfire and began melting certain parts of the bars, creating a small hole for himself to get out of. Still, it took a little grunt work to push the mangled bars out so he could exit the cage, but he was a strong young man, muscles toned from fighting (and running quickly away) from vampires.
When he was out, he stretched a little, then turned to Darla's cage. It had some magical protections on it to keep the vampiress from getting out, and he was rather weak from the two extremely draining spells he'd done just that night. Even the little ball of Hotfire he'd done a moment ago had been difficult.
"Well..." he muttered to himself as he rubbed his still-sore wrists, "I might just have to bust her out of this thing the old fashioned way...which sucks, since I don't have any dynamite..."
He heard a giggle from within the box, which set his blood boiling. The fire rose in his eyes. How the hell dare she!?
Out of anger and frustration, the young necromancer swung his fist into the box. His hand, which was covered in the familiar blue flame of fury, seemed to hit a strange green barrier, and that only made Xander more upset. He hit it again, and this time the green was lighter. He didn't even think. His fist came smashing into the green barrier one more time, and then a sound similar to that of breaking glass could be heard. That was when his mind returned.
"Good job, boss..." Darla said from within the box, the sarcasm in her voice thick and hateful. She had to obey him, but she didn't have to like it. Besides, she figured she'd better get her shots in then because she was sure, with the knowledge of someone who'd do the same thing, that he had plans. Plans that would most likely not make her happy at all.
"Shut up, Blondie..." Xander snarled. He really couldn't wait to get out of there...with her...with her as his servant. But how to do it without his powers?
"Damn, Harris..." he murmured to himself, "You've had magic for a month and now you can't function without it. You're getting soft, kid...use your brain!"
"And what, pray-tell, will that do?" Darla asked with an audible smirk.
"I distinctly recall telling you to SHUT UP!" he said angrily, the power flowing through his voice to enforce the command. He stayed upset until he looked into the box to see Darla scratching at her throat in an attempt to talk. Then he smiled. Apparently, his ability to control her was not affected by his energy level.
"Which is probably why I was able to control you even when I had the cuffs on..." Xander figured out, "And I bet you Wolfram & Hart were completely unaware of that fact when they placed the two of us into that room together..."
There was no response.
"Oh, you can talk now..." he said in a offhanded voice, enjoyment glittering in his eyes, "Just stop being a snippy little vampire, righty roo?"
"Fine." Darla responded in a rather low, growling voice.
Xander grinned again.
"Now, why don't you use that nice supernatural strength of yours to get yourself out of the box so that we can get the hell out of here?" He turned away from the box, and went to stand near the doorway to wait for her.
The only answer to this he got was the sound of breaking wood (not to mention a few grumbled curses). Oh, he really hated her...so he'd have the best time annoying the hell out of her.
"Are you coming?" he asked impatiently, taping his foot on the ground in an extremely infuriating way. Oh yeah...he was gonna have fun.
"Yes..." Yup, that was a growl. She probably had her game face on by this point. There, another growl as she got a splinter. Definitely fanged by now.
Xander heard a small step.
"And by the way," he said in a powerful, if playful voice, turning around quickly to face the fully vamped out Darla who had been stalking towards him, "You are not allowed to harm me in any way. Physical, mental...any of it. Clear? That's an order?"
She didn't even erupt like he had expected. There was just nothing she could say to that, so she simply stared at him.
"Damn it..."
Xander, who had spun back around so that he was facing the door, smiled widely.
"So, let's be going then..."
"I hope you know that I hate you..." she said at last as they made their way out, her behind him by only two steps, "And that if you weren't a goddamned raiser, I'd rip out your eyeballs and use them for billiard balls..."
"I know..." he told her with a smirk, not even turning to face the vampire who had once been half of the Scourge of Europe...the vampiress known as Darla. "And I hope you know that as much as you hate me, I hate you at least ten times more..."
##
"Yes? No, I don't know. Yes, he is there. No, I don't- don't you get that tone with me, Uncle Gerry! I mean, no...yes...I don't think so. Yes, very drained..."
Angel, Cordelia, Doyle and Wesley watched Michael talk over the phone to his Uncle Gerard, and while they were worried and upset, it was still rather interesting to watch.
"No, Mom did not...but that isn't the point! Yes, I know you do give a damn. No, I...Xander- no, I don't think he got to meet Kat...yes, I will. No. Yes. She promised. No. Damn you!"
As he said the last word, Michael turned around and gave them the 'one minute' sign, then continued to talk. He sounded very tired as he spoke.
"All right. So? Yeah, I thought so. Look, I gotta go. See you at Christmas...Bye, Unc..."
And then Michael turned around to face the four friends, a strange expression on his face. It wasn't exactly sadness, but at the same time, there was no joy in his look.
"We can't do anything..." Michael told them succinctly.
"What?!?!" came the response. It wasn't exactly a chorus, but it was close enough to send Michael jumping back.
"I said 'we can't do anything'..." the young LaVelle repeated, his voice just as upset as the first time he had said it, "We are not allowed to enter the Wolfram & Hart building, we are not allowed to contact Wolfram & Hart, and we are most certainly NOT allowed to mount a rescue mission."
"Then what the hell can we do?" Cordelia asked angrily.
"Well," Michael said slowly, sitting down on his couch with a tired sigh, "We can sit outside and give him a ride on the SLIM chance that he gets to the door...that's about what we can do..."
"'Well'", Doyle repeated loudly, "That's a load of-"
"That's all we can do..." Michael said once more. Then, a glimmer of hope appeared in his eyes...followed by a glint of an idea.
"What?" Angel asked, curious as to what the LaVelle was thinking.
"But Kat can do something!" Xander's cousin shouted in triumph. Before any of the others could ask him about it, Michael's phone came flying into his hands. The LaVelle caught it and quickly began to punch in the numbers.
"Who, may I ask, is 'Kat'?" Wesley asked as he walked over to where Michael sat, a curious expression on his face.
"Kat," the brunette psychic answered quickly as he waited for someone to pick up, "Is my third cousin. She lives downtown. She's a Mindwalker...and perhaps the only way we can help young Xander get out of there alive and intact..."
##
"What the hell are you waiting for exactly? The magical escape fairy to paint you a cartoon door?"
Xander, a look of disgust on his face, turned around to face the undead creature behind him. The undead creature who was his co-escapee. The undead creature that had been brought back from the darkest depths of hell using his powers. The undead creature he was getting a strong urge to make completely dead.
"Darla..." he said slowly, purposefully not grounding his teeth since he didn't feel like hearing her comments on THAT, "I will be able to work a hell of a lot better when you stop making snide comments about EVERY thing I do."
The vampire raised her eyebrow, then gave him a sarcastic smile. "But you give me SO much to comment on."
"Well if you don't stop, I'll give the janitor something to comment on..." Xander grumbled angrily, "Namely the large pile of ashes on the floor."
"Oooh..." Darla answered mockingly, "I'm so scared."
This made Xander finally turn around to face Darla. Face those hazel eyes so full of anger and superiority. That blonde hair hanging limply from her head that still managed to shine. The large black robe that only hinted at the curvy figure beneath...
Dear God, Xandman...what the hell is wrong with you? She's the Wicked Bitch of the West, dumbass...no naughty thoughts...wrong time, wrong place, wrong GIRL!
God, I miss Anya.
"Look..." the young necromancer said patiently, "We have to get out of here. Both of us, cause you can't get out without my say-so, and I can't get out without your strength. So stop being Snide-comment chick, and HELP ME OUT!"
This seemed to stop Darla short, and she looked to have taken the message to heart.
"Aw...you're so cute when you get mad..."
Xander just turned around again and looked around for guards and employees. It was going to be a long night...
"All right..." the necromancer said slowly, try as hard as possible not to lose control of his powers. True, he was weak, but he knew that should he lose his temper, there was a good chance that Darla would be dust within moments. She didn't seem to remember that too well.
However, this little peace offering did nothing but get him a derisive snort. So Xander, upset and tired, simply decided to ignore her and work on the escape.
He focused his mind on the task at hand, and started to look at the placement of the surveillance cameras. On the current hallway, there were four of them, each one not easily seen despite the size of the cameras. Xander had found out earlier that there were illusion spells on all of them in order to hide them. Luckily for them, he'd also found he remembered the counter spell from his heavy study session a few weeks ago.
Unfortunately, he didn't have enough power to make Fire, nor did he remember the spell to cloud sight.
"Well?" came Darla's aggravated voice from behind him, "Still waiting for that fairy?"
Xander turned to make a response, decided against it, then turned to look at the vampire for an entirely different reason.
"What?" the blonde bloodsucker asked as the young man stared at her.
"That could work..." he murmured to himself, "I could...and..."
"WHAT!?" Darla asked in an angry hiss that was, luckily, more emphasis then volume.
"Vampires," Xander explained with a wide grin, "can't be seen in mirrors, right? Or video cameras?"
"Yeah..." she answered, not following him. Sure, she couldn't be seen in cameras, but she didn't know how that would help HIM. And besides, "These cameras, unfortunately, have enchantments on them to pick up vampires..."
"They do?" Xander asked, "How do you know?"
"That jackass Lindsey told me..." she spat out, "Just as he was locking me into that damned cage...I swear, I'm going to rip off his-"
"Whoa!" the necromancer cried quietly, shushing her with a gesture, "First off, eww...and secondly, ewww...but thirdly, you're venturing into Anya territory. Please, no 'rippings'...got enough from the former little lady..."
Darla's blonde eyebrow inched itself up. "Former?"
"Yeah," Xander responded with a sigh, "Not that it's any of your business..."
"Oh." the vampire said simply, "Now, what about getting out of here..."
At this, Xander's eyes began to glow with the blue fire of anticipation. Finally, Darla understood the necessity for getting out. Hopefully, the understanding for the necessity of cooperating would come next.
"Well," the young man whispered, "You're a vampire, unable to be captured on film. But I'm not. However, at the moment, your demonic...aura for the lack of a better word, is expanded because of your recent trip back from Hell."
"Okay..."
"So what I'm going to do is work with the energies of your aura and sort of cover myself with part of them..." Xander explained, "And since a little bit of my power is still clinging to you, that should be enough to banish the 'see-vampires' spell on the cameras..."
Again, Darla's eyebrow shot up. She hadn't expected the plan to make sense, let alone be actually workable.
"But," Xander cautioned, "no more screwing around. You can verbally abuse me, and I can abuse you AFTER we get out, okay? But for now, we need to be quiet. I don't have any power to use on a lucky guard or anything, and killing people sort of starts alarms..."
Darla nodded, at least respecting the boy's plan. She wasn't quite ready to respect him yet. Maybe if he got them out...maybe then...
"All right, give me a sec." Xander told her. Then he began to focus his eyes on her body. Darla, who was highly sexually conscious, noticed that the boy wasn't just working on her aura, but was also looking at her. Plus, she could smell the beginnings of arousal on him easily.
Maybe the young raiser would be far more interesting then she could have imagined...
Her mind was distracted from these thoughts by the touch of warm flesh on her skin. Looking down, she saw Xander carefully manipulating parts of her aura, now completely business. All scent of anything else but determination was gone from him.
Indeed, much more interesting.
A few seconds later, the hands were removed from her and one was slipped into her own hand.
"We have to keep some kind of bodily contact for this to work. The job I did on this is a bit shaky cause I'm weak...plus, I'm nervous as hell. Add to that the fact that I've never even done this before..." Xander admitted to her with a edgy grin, "Just keep holding my hand and we should be all right. The camera spell is gone now..."
"So..."
"Go..."
And the two began to walk down the hall of Wolfram and Hart toward the elevator that meant freedom for both of them.
##
"What exactly is she doing?" Cordelia asked, a bit of annoyance shining through her attempt at civility. The seer was getting better at tact, but some old habits die hard...especially when she was worried.
Michael sighed, then looked over at his cousin Kat, who was sitting in the lotus position on the couch. "She's diving into the minds of the guards, making them forget seeing Xander or making them turn at the right moment so that they don't see him. He's being careful, but...she's got a lot of work. Apparently, from what she told me last time she had a chance to speak, Xander and another woman have escaped from their holdings and are now making their way out of the compound."
"Together?" Cordelia asked with a sly smile. Damn Xander, she thought, even charming the prison chicks...
"Who is this other woman?" Angel asked, his voice filled with worry and anger. Worry for the boy who had helped them so much, and anger for his own incompetence in keeping that selfsame boy safe from harm.
Michael shrugged.
"Don't know," he admitted with a shrug, "Kat hasn't had time to tell me. She's busy with the guards..."
"Well, ask next time you get a chance..." the souled vampire practically growled as he sat down tiredly.
"I will..." Xander's cousin responded with just a bit of a huff, "But you just calm down. If you don't, your turbulent emotions could pull Kat away from her work..."
"Okay." Angel agreed with a sigh as he lay back in the chair.
There was a few moments pause, and then Kat's voice rang out in the room, hurried but understanding.
Suddenly, an image of Xander and a certain blonde woman entered everyone's minds, he both of them creeping toward the elevator that would get them safely out. At first, they couldn't see the blonde's face, but then she turned to look around for danger and everyone realized just who Xander's escapee friend was.
"Darla!" Angel cried in total shock, nearly falling off of the chair.
And then things began to fall apart...
Cordelia fainted.
Wesley blinked.
Doyle looked around at the others.
Michael realized what was about to happen and tried to calm Angel.
Kat was pulled out of her trance by Angel's emotions and actions, and in a building miles from the one they were in, one guard got a glimpse of black cloth as two figures got into the elevator.
"It is done." The female vampire said with hatred in her tone, "Now you can put me through the tortures that you described before, Master..."
The words were spoken with ridicule, especially the last, but still she had done what he commanded. Rubbing his wrists, happy to be free of the cuffs, Xander knew that he sort of owed her. True, she had killed his best friend and countless others, but she had helped him out, even though she had been forced to do it. Maybe for that he could get her out of there as well, and then...
He had it. He would do the one thing that would both satisfy his conscience and would still cause her pain. But it would be good pain, he knew. Or rather, Angel knew. For Xander, deep within his brain, planned on giving Darla a soul back. As soon as they got out of this damned hell-hole. Right, his mind told him, get out, THEN do all that.
"Well these bars have to go..." Xander said out loud with a sigh, "But do I have enough power to get us out?"
"Us?" Darla asked incredulously.
Xander gave her a smile. While it wasn't particularly pleasant, it was a smile. "Yes, us. I can't torture you if you're in here..."
"Oh."
There was a pause, since Xander couldn't really think up a good response to that one, and then he touched the bars. Quietly, he made a small, powerful ball of Hotfire and began melting certain parts of the bars, creating a small hole for himself to get out of. Still, it took a little grunt work to push the mangled bars out so he could exit the cage, but he was a strong young man, muscles toned from fighting (and running quickly away) from vampires.
When he was out, he stretched a little, then turned to Darla's cage. It had some magical protections on it to keep the vampiress from getting out, and he was rather weak from the two extremely draining spells he'd done just that night. Even the little ball of Hotfire he'd done a moment ago had been difficult.
"Well..." he muttered to himself as he rubbed his still-sore wrists, "I might just have to bust her out of this thing the old fashioned way...which sucks, since I don't have any dynamite..."
He heard a giggle from within the box, which set his blood boiling. The fire rose in his eyes. How the hell dare she!?
Out of anger and frustration, the young necromancer swung his fist into the box. His hand, which was covered in the familiar blue flame of fury, seemed to hit a strange green barrier, and that only made Xander more upset. He hit it again, and this time the green was lighter. He didn't even think. His fist came smashing into the green barrier one more time, and then a sound similar to that of breaking glass could be heard. That was when his mind returned.
"Good job, boss..." Darla said from within the box, the sarcasm in her voice thick and hateful. She had to obey him, but she didn't have to like it. Besides, she figured she'd better get her shots in then because she was sure, with the knowledge of someone who'd do the same thing, that he had plans. Plans that would most likely not make her happy at all.
"Shut up, Blondie..." Xander snarled. He really couldn't wait to get out of there...with her...with her as his servant. But how to do it without his powers?
"Damn, Harris..." he murmured to himself, "You've had magic for a month and now you can't function without it. You're getting soft, kid...use your brain!"
"And what, pray-tell, will that do?" Darla asked with an audible smirk.
"I distinctly recall telling you to SHUT UP!" he said angrily, the power flowing through his voice to enforce the command. He stayed upset until he looked into the box to see Darla scratching at her throat in an attempt to talk. Then he smiled. Apparently, his ability to control her was not affected by his energy level.
"Which is probably why I was able to control you even when I had the cuffs on..." Xander figured out, "And I bet you Wolfram & Hart were completely unaware of that fact when they placed the two of us into that room together..."
There was no response.
"Oh, you can talk now..." he said in a offhanded voice, enjoyment glittering in his eyes, "Just stop being a snippy little vampire, righty roo?"
"Fine." Darla responded in a rather low, growling voice.
Xander grinned again.
"Now, why don't you use that nice supernatural strength of yours to get yourself out of the box so that we can get the hell out of here?" He turned away from the box, and went to stand near the doorway to wait for her.
The only answer to this he got was the sound of breaking wood (not to mention a few grumbled curses). Oh, he really hated her...so he'd have the best time annoying the hell out of her.
"Are you coming?" he asked impatiently, taping his foot on the ground in an extremely infuriating way. Oh yeah...he was gonna have fun.
"Yes..." Yup, that was a growl. She probably had her game face on by this point. There, another growl as she got a splinter. Definitely fanged by now.
Xander heard a small step.
"And by the way," he said in a powerful, if playful voice, turning around quickly to face the fully vamped out Darla who had been stalking towards him, "You are not allowed to harm me in any way. Physical, mental...any of it. Clear? That's an order?"
She didn't even erupt like he had expected. There was just nothing she could say to that, so she simply stared at him.
"Damn it..."
Xander, who had spun back around so that he was facing the door, smiled widely.
"So, let's be going then..."
"I hope you know that I hate you..." she said at last as they made their way out, her behind him by only two steps, "And that if you weren't a goddamned raiser, I'd rip out your eyeballs and use them for billiard balls..."
"I know..." he told her with a smirk, not even turning to face the vampire who had once been half of the Scourge of Europe...the vampiress known as Darla. "And I hope you know that as much as you hate me, I hate you at least ten times more..."
##
"Yes? No, I don't know. Yes, he is there. No, I don't- don't you get that tone with me, Uncle Gerry! I mean, no...yes...I don't think so. Yes, very drained..."
Angel, Cordelia, Doyle and Wesley watched Michael talk over the phone to his Uncle Gerard, and while they were worried and upset, it was still rather interesting to watch.
"No, Mom did not...but that isn't the point! Yes, I know you do give a damn. No, I...Xander- no, I don't think he got to meet Kat...yes, I will. No. Yes. She promised. No. Damn you!"
As he said the last word, Michael turned around and gave them the 'one minute' sign, then continued to talk. He sounded very tired as he spoke.
"All right. So? Yeah, I thought so. Look, I gotta go. See you at Christmas...Bye, Unc..."
And then Michael turned around to face the four friends, a strange expression on his face. It wasn't exactly sadness, but at the same time, there was no joy in his look.
"We can't do anything..." Michael told them succinctly.
"What?!?!" came the response. It wasn't exactly a chorus, but it was close enough to send Michael jumping back.
"I said 'we can't do anything'..." the young LaVelle repeated, his voice just as upset as the first time he had said it, "We are not allowed to enter the Wolfram & Hart building, we are not allowed to contact Wolfram & Hart, and we are most certainly NOT allowed to mount a rescue mission."
"Then what the hell can we do?" Cordelia asked angrily.
"Well," Michael said slowly, sitting down on his couch with a tired sigh, "We can sit outside and give him a ride on the SLIM chance that he gets to the door...that's about what we can do..."
"'Well'", Doyle repeated loudly, "That's a load of-"
"That's all we can do..." Michael said once more. Then, a glimmer of hope appeared in his eyes...followed by a glint of an idea.
"What?" Angel asked, curious as to what the LaVelle was thinking.
"But Kat can do something!" Xander's cousin shouted in triumph. Before any of the others could ask him about it, Michael's phone came flying into his hands. The LaVelle caught it and quickly began to punch in the numbers.
"Who, may I ask, is 'Kat'?" Wesley asked as he walked over to where Michael sat, a curious expression on his face.
"Kat," the brunette psychic answered quickly as he waited for someone to pick up, "Is my third cousin. She lives downtown. She's a Mindwalker...and perhaps the only way we can help young Xander get out of there alive and intact..."
##
"What the hell are you waiting for exactly? The magical escape fairy to paint you a cartoon door?"
Xander, a look of disgust on his face, turned around to face the undead creature behind him. The undead creature who was his co-escapee. The undead creature that had been brought back from the darkest depths of hell using his powers. The undead creature he was getting a strong urge to make completely dead.
"Darla..." he said slowly, purposefully not grounding his teeth since he didn't feel like hearing her comments on THAT, "I will be able to work a hell of a lot better when you stop making snide comments about EVERY thing I do."
The vampire raised her eyebrow, then gave him a sarcastic smile. "But you give me SO much to comment on."
"Well if you don't stop, I'll give the janitor something to comment on..." Xander grumbled angrily, "Namely the large pile of ashes on the floor."
"Oooh..." Darla answered mockingly, "I'm so scared."
This made Xander finally turn around to face Darla. Face those hazel eyes so full of anger and superiority. That blonde hair hanging limply from her head that still managed to shine. The large black robe that only hinted at the curvy figure beneath...
Dear God, Xandman...what the hell is wrong with you? She's the Wicked Bitch of the West, dumbass...no naughty thoughts...wrong time, wrong place, wrong GIRL!
God, I miss Anya.
"Look..." the young necromancer said patiently, "We have to get out of here. Both of us, cause you can't get out without my say-so, and I can't get out without your strength. So stop being Snide-comment chick, and HELP ME OUT!"
This seemed to stop Darla short, and she looked to have taken the message to heart.
"Aw...you're so cute when you get mad..."
Xander just turned around again and looked around for guards and employees. It was going to be a long night...
"All right..." the necromancer said slowly, try as hard as possible not to lose control of his powers. True, he was weak, but he knew that should he lose his temper, there was a good chance that Darla would be dust within moments. She didn't seem to remember that too well.
However, this little peace offering did nothing but get him a derisive snort. So Xander, upset and tired, simply decided to ignore her and work on the escape.
He focused his mind on the task at hand, and started to look at the placement of the surveillance cameras. On the current hallway, there were four of them, each one not easily seen despite the size of the cameras. Xander had found out earlier that there were illusion spells on all of them in order to hide them. Luckily for them, he'd also found he remembered the counter spell from his heavy study session a few weeks ago.
Unfortunately, he didn't have enough power to make Fire, nor did he remember the spell to cloud sight.
"Well?" came Darla's aggravated voice from behind him, "Still waiting for that fairy?"
Xander turned to make a response, decided against it, then turned to look at the vampire for an entirely different reason.
"What?" the blonde bloodsucker asked as the young man stared at her.
"That could work..." he murmured to himself, "I could...and..."
"WHAT!?" Darla asked in an angry hiss that was, luckily, more emphasis then volume.
"Vampires," Xander explained with a wide grin, "can't be seen in mirrors, right? Or video cameras?"
"Yeah..." she answered, not following him. Sure, she couldn't be seen in cameras, but she didn't know how that would help HIM. And besides, "These cameras, unfortunately, have enchantments on them to pick up vampires..."
"They do?" Xander asked, "How do you know?"
"That jackass Lindsey told me..." she spat out, "Just as he was locking me into that damned cage...I swear, I'm going to rip off his-"
"Whoa!" the necromancer cried quietly, shushing her with a gesture, "First off, eww...and secondly, ewww...but thirdly, you're venturing into Anya territory. Please, no 'rippings'...got enough from the former little lady..."
Darla's blonde eyebrow inched itself up. "Former?"
"Yeah," Xander responded with a sigh, "Not that it's any of your business..."
"Oh." the vampire said simply, "Now, what about getting out of here..."
At this, Xander's eyes began to glow with the blue fire of anticipation. Finally, Darla understood the necessity for getting out. Hopefully, the understanding for the necessity of cooperating would come next.
"Well," the young man whispered, "You're a vampire, unable to be captured on film. But I'm not. However, at the moment, your demonic...aura for the lack of a better word, is expanded because of your recent trip back from Hell."
"Okay..."
"So what I'm going to do is work with the energies of your aura and sort of cover myself with part of them..." Xander explained, "And since a little bit of my power is still clinging to you, that should be enough to banish the 'see-vampires' spell on the cameras..."
Again, Darla's eyebrow shot up. She hadn't expected the plan to make sense, let alone be actually workable.
"But," Xander cautioned, "no more screwing around. You can verbally abuse me, and I can abuse you AFTER we get out, okay? But for now, we need to be quiet. I don't have any power to use on a lucky guard or anything, and killing people sort of starts alarms..."
Darla nodded, at least respecting the boy's plan. She wasn't quite ready to respect him yet. Maybe if he got them out...maybe then...
"All right, give me a sec." Xander told her. Then he began to focus his eyes on her body. Darla, who was highly sexually conscious, noticed that the boy wasn't just working on her aura, but was also looking at her. Plus, she could smell the beginnings of arousal on him easily.
Maybe the young raiser would be far more interesting then she could have imagined...
Her mind was distracted from these thoughts by the touch of warm flesh on her skin. Looking down, she saw Xander carefully manipulating parts of her aura, now completely business. All scent of anything else but determination was gone from him.
Indeed, much more interesting.
A few seconds later, the hands were removed from her and one was slipped into her own hand.
"We have to keep some kind of bodily contact for this to work. The job I did on this is a bit shaky cause I'm weak...plus, I'm nervous as hell. Add to that the fact that I've never even done this before..." Xander admitted to her with a edgy grin, "Just keep holding my hand and we should be all right. The camera spell is gone now..."
"So..."
"Go..."
And the two began to walk down the hall of Wolfram and Hart toward the elevator that meant freedom for both of them.
##
"What exactly is she doing?" Cordelia asked, a bit of annoyance shining through her attempt at civility. The seer was getting better at tact, but some old habits die hard...especially when she was worried.
Michael sighed, then looked over at his cousin Kat, who was sitting in the lotus position on the couch. "She's diving into the minds of the guards, making them forget seeing Xander or making them turn at the right moment so that they don't see him. He's being careful, but...she's got a lot of work. Apparently, from what she told me last time she had a chance to speak, Xander and another woman have escaped from their holdings and are now making their way out of the compound."
"Together?" Cordelia asked with a sly smile. Damn Xander, she thought, even charming the prison chicks...
"Who is this other woman?" Angel asked, his voice filled with worry and anger. Worry for the boy who had helped them so much, and anger for his own incompetence in keeping that selfsame boy safe from harm.
Michael shrugged.
"Don't know," he admitted with a shrug, "Kat hasn't had time to tell me. She's busy with the guards..."
"Well, ask next time you get a chance..." the souled vampire practically growled as he sat down tiredly.
"I will..." Xander's cousin responded with just a bit of a huff, "But you just calm down. If you don't, your turbulent emotions could pull Kat away from her work..."
"Okay." Angel agreed with a sigh as he lay back in the chair.
There was a few moments pause, and then Kat's voice rang out in the room, hurried but understanding.
Suddenly, an image of Xander and a certain blonde woman entered everyone's minds, he both of them creeping toward the elevator that would get them safely out. At first, they couldn't see the blonde's face, but then she turned to look around for danger and everyone realized just who Xander's escapee friend was.
"Darla!" Angel cried in total shock, nearly falling off of the chair.
And then things began to fall apart...
Cordelia fainted.
Wesley blinked.
Doyle looked around at the others.
Michael realized what was about to happen and tried to calm Angel.
Kat was pulled out of her trance by Angel's emotions and actions, and in a building miles from the one they were in, one guard got a glimpse of black cloth as two figures got into the elevator.