Blood Lust
Wild At Heart
Brian knew Alex; he knew her better than she knew herself in some matters. She was his little sister, his friend, his confidante, and his Slayer. While he knew in the grand scheme of things, the Slayer part had to come first in his dealings with her, for the sake of pretty much the entire world, he also knew that he was only human. He would do anything to keep his Lex from coming to harm. Which was why he was watching her tease the man across the room with something akin to concern.
She'd come home that day elated with the news that she'd found work. She'd chattered at him endlessly throughout the afternoon, wheedling him into agreeing to forgo an entire patrol and settle for a quick circuit so they could come to Crash. Brian had eventually given in, telling himself that he was doing it because she needed a night of fun, not because she could melt his resistance with one look from her big blue eyes. Alex's dreams were continuing to haunt her, but they weren't getting any clearer. He knew from his own past experience and his father's, who had been Alex's Watcher before him, that the Slayer's dreams rarely came right out and told her what was wrong. That would be too simple. And nothing in her life was simple.
To anyone else she looked like a vivacious young woman, full of life, but Brian knew better, knew what to look for. He could see the constant tension in her body, the weariness in her movements, the weight on her shoulders. But most of all he could see the sadness in her eyes. Every Slayer carried that sadness; the knowledge that she no longer had the right to call her life her own, to lay down her burden and rest. She was the world's sacrifice and it wouldn't even miss her when she was gone. But Brian would.
Lex didn't have the luxury of normal relationships. Exposing ordinary people to her secret would place them in danger and neither he nor Lex would allow that. Her limited life expectancy also meant that any romantic entanglements were pretty much out of the question. She'd tried to have a few regular relationships at first, but it was too much to ask of someone else. She couldn't tell them about a huge part of her life and the lies she made to cover it up would eventually drive a wedge in between them. After a particularly nasty break up when she was eighteen, Lex had sobbingly sworn to Brian that she was done; from then on she had avoided growing attached to any man. But to Brian's experienced eyes, she appeared to be faltering as she leaned in close to the man across the room.
She'd barely mentioned the guy- Brian was pretty sure his name was Alec- but when she did, she immediately got this look on her face. He knew that look. It was her I'm-thinking-of-doing-something-I-shouldn't-even-be-thinking-of-doing look. Even if she didn't admit it to herself, she was very obviously attracted to this guy. Brian couldn't really blame her either. As far as he could tell, Alec was a pretty good-looking man. Judging from the stares he received from the other female patrons in the bar, Brian figured he had plenty of experience with the gentler sex. Which also concerned Brian. While he was reluctant to see Alex get into any kind of relationship, he most certainly did not want to see her develop feelings for a love-'em-and-leave-'em type of guy.
Sighing internally Brian acknowledged the fact that he really couldn't do anything if she decided to get involved. Instead of continuing to worry about her, he turned back to the women sharing the table with him. He genuinely liked Max and Original Cindy. They were both friendly enough, immediately treating him like an old friend, especially Cindy. From the fifteen minutes they'd been talking, Brian could tell she had a quick wit and a good heart to go along with it. As soon as Alex had left, Cindy had patted the stool next to her, telling him to 'sit his fine black ass down and have a drink'. After that she'd proceeded to command him to tell them 'the whole dealio' with him and Lex.
"So you all just move around the country? Don't you ever wanna lay down some roots, you know, make a home somewhere?" Original Cindy asked after discovering they'd lived in five different cities in the past three years.
Brian shrugged, taking a swig of his beer. "Nah, not really. Lex and I, we're the wandering type. You know, places to see, new things to do." {{More demons to kill}} he added silently to himself. Every city they'd been in had had a serious demon infestation before they'd set up camp there. He found comfort knowing that each city they left, they left it in better shape than when they'd found it.
"You don't ever get lonely?" Max asked, big doe eyes wide as she tried to understand how any one would keep moving when they didn't have to. To her, the ability to settle down and make a life was the biggest symbol of her freedom.
"We've got each other," he said simply.
"So . . . That means your girly-girl don't have some boy toy waitin' for her anywhere?" Original Cindy asked innocently.
Brian laughed. "Oh, Lex's had plenty of 'boy toys', but she's not really a one-man woman. No significant others if that's what you mean. She says a boyfriend weighs her down."
"Hmm," O.C. said, sharing a sly glance with Max. "It's nice to meet a sistah who can give those boys a taste o' their own medicine. It was certainly a treat to see her shoot down our boy over there."
"Who, Alec?" Brian asked surprised.
"Yeah," Max said, a wide grin splitting her face, "She basically told him that he was a really nice person, just not what she had in mind. The look on his face was priceless!" Max laughed into her drink.
O.C. smiled, then said to Brian, "Don't get us wrong, shugah, we don't have it in for the entire male gender or nothin'. Though I do prefer the company of women, but then again, who doesn't? It's just Alec's pretty popular with the ladies and the boy's got a big head. Did him some good for someone to pop his bubble a bit."
Max nodded her agreement, then looked up to see Alec, Sketchy and Alex walking away from the pool table. Alec and Sketchy both looked like they had suffered a minor shock, while Alex sported a smug little smile on her face. They pulled up some chairs and sat down.
Original Cindy made the introductions with Brian, then asked, "What's the matter wit' you two? You look like you've seen a ghost or somethin'."
"I won," Sketchy said in a far off voice.
" 'Scuse me?" Cindy said, regarding him with concern. "Sketchy, how much you had to drink, boy? You ain't never beat Alec."
"I beat him today," Sketchy came out of his stupor, "Or at least, he lost today. He missed the eight ball."
"That true?" Max asked in surprise, "You scratched?"
Alec grunted sourly as he poured himself another beer. Alex hid a grin behind her hand.
"How'd that happen?" O.C. asked.
The three of them shared a look before Alex shrugged, "Guess it was just an off day, huh, Alec?"
He glared at her for a second, then relented and smiled grudgingly. "Guess it was."
O.C. and Max stared at him curiously, knowing how rare it was for him to miss, but Alec avoided their gazes and took a drink instead. He didn't want to admit it, but his skin was still tingling from where Alex had blown on him. He couldn't believe he'd jumped like that. Him, a soldier that was used to bullets whizzing past his cheeks and explosions going off all over the place! If Max found out he'd never live it down.
Brian checked his watch, then looked at Alex. She sighed, but nodded and stood. They'd been at Crash for over an hour and she still needed to do a sweep of sector seven before turning in for the night. She'd found a couple of vamps there every night so far and Brian was convinced they had a nest nearby. Personally Alex thought they just congregated there because most of the clubs left open in Seattle were there and it was an easy place to pick up victims, the fact remained that they were there and it was her job to remove them.
"Goin' already, girly-girl?" Original Cindy asked as the pair stood. Alec straightened and watched her rise.
"Yeah," Alex grinned apologetically. "It's been a long day and we've still got stuff to do at home. I wanna get a good night's sleep. Wouldn't be very impressive if I showed up late for my first full day of work."
"Maybe you could teach my boo here a thing or two 'bout showin' up on time," O.C. said, nudging Max who grinned sheepishly.
"It was nice meeting you all," Brian said, pushing his chair in.
"You guys should come back. We hang out here pretty much every night." Sketchy said.
The two shared a glance and Alex smiled, pleased to have the branch of friendship extended. "We will," she said. "Night everyone."
She got a chorus of good night's back and turned to leave. As she moved through the crowd she felt the weight of two eyes burning a hole in her back. Original Cindy and Max shared another smile as Alec followed her out with his eyes.
* * * *
Across town in sector nine a young punk rocker drunkenly stumbled against the girl who'd picked him up at the club in sector seven. He threw an arm around her shoulder and nuzzled her neck, but she barely paid attention to him. She'd started to move with more purpose as soon as they'd past the sector gates, pulling him along forcefully at times.
She pulled away as the man tried to push her up against a nearby abandoned building. "Hey baby, where we goin'?" He asked blearily, slowly following her. "Why don' we just stop here? I'm sure we could make each other very comfortable," he leered drunkenly at her turned back.
The girl didn't even look over her shoulder, just continued stalking down the road. "Just a bit further honey. Then I'll show you something you've never seen before."
The drunken clubber blinked, looking around him. Where the hell they were going he had no idea. This part of sector nine had been abandoned for the past six years. There was nothing here but a bunch of empty, run down buildings. His inebriated mind was just beginning to wonder what exactly it was she was going to show him when she turned down a dark alley way.
The girl walked up to a big steel door in the side of a large building, banging hard a couple of times. The door swung open just as her companion caught up. A pair of large, forbidding looking men stood in the shadows inside of the door, staring blankly at them.
"Kris'tual," she snapped, reaching out to grab the drunken man's arm with talon-like fingers. "He's with me."
The two men nodded, then stepped aside as the girl pulled the guy along with her. She led him stumbling down a long flight of stairs. He blinked a few times, trying to see ahead, but the stairwell was almost completely dark. He had no idea how she could see her way down the stairs.
"Hey," he said, trying to slow down, "Where are we-" He cut off as they turned a corner and were suddenly bathed in pulsing lights. For a second he thought the flashing colors were playing tricks with his eyes, but the scene before him didn't change. He heard the girl behind him laughing as if from a far distance. "Oh, God," he whispered, taking a step back and bumping into her. Terror struck, he couldn't move any further; not even when he felt a sharp pain in his neck. He couldn't move even when darkness began to over take the flashing lights and the coldness began to creep up his body.
Wild At Heart
Brian knew Alex; he knew her better than she knew herself in some matters. She was his little sister, his friend, his confidante, and his Slayer. While he knew in the grand scheme of things, the Slayer part had to come first in his dealings with her, for the sake of pretty much the entire world, he also knew that he was only human. He would do anything to keep his Lex from coming to harm. Which was why he was watching her tease the man across the room with something akin to concern.
She'd come home that day elated with the news that she'd found work. She'd chattered at him endlessly throughout the afternoon, wheedling him into agreeing to forgo an entire patrol and settle for a quick circuit so they could come to Crash. Brian had eventually given in, telling himself that he was doing it because she needed a night of fun, not because she could melt his resistance with one look from her big blue eyes. Alex's dreams were continuing to haunt her, but they weren't getting any clearer. He knew from his own past experience and his father's, who had been Alex's Watcher before him, that the Slayer's dreams rarely came right out and told her what was wrong. That would be too simple. And nothing in her life was simple.
To anyone else she looked like a vivacious young woman, full of life, but Brian knew better, knew what to look for. He could see the constant tension in her body, the weariness in her movements, the weight on her shoulders. But most of all he could see the sadness in her eyes. Every Slayer carried that sadness; the knowledge that she no longer had the right to call her life her own, to lay down her burden and rest. She was the world's sacrifice and it wouldn't even miss her when she was gone. But Brian would.
Lex didn't have the luxury of normal relationships. Exposing ordinary people to her secret would place them in danger and neither he nor Lex would allow that. Her limited life expectancy also meant that any romantic entanglements were pretty much out of the question. She'd tried to have a few regular relationships at first, but it was too much to ask of someone else. She couldn't tell them about a huge part of her life and the lies she made to cover it up would eventually drive a wedge in between them. After a particularly nasty break up when she was eighteen, Lex had sobbingly sworn to Brian that she was done; from then on she had avoided growing attached to any man. But to Brian's experienced eyes, she appeared to be faltering as she leaned in close to the man across the room.
She'd barely mentioned the guy- Brian was pretty sure his name was Alec- but when she did, she immediately got this look on her face. He knew that look. It was her I'm-thinking-of-doing-something-I-shouldn't-even-be-thinking-of-doing look. Even if she didn't admit it to herself, she was very obviously attracted to this guy. Brian couldn't really blame her either. As far as he could tell, Alec was a pretty good-looking man. Judging from the stares he received from the other female patrons in the bar, Brian figured he had plenty of experience with the gentler sex. Which also concerned Brian. While he was reluctant to see Alex get into any kind of relationship, he most certainly did not want to see her develop feelings for a love-'em-and-leave-'em type of guy.
Sighing internally Brian acknowledged the fact that he really couldn't do anything if she decided to get involved. Instead of continuing to worry about her, he turned back to the women sharing the table with him. He genuinely liked Max and Original Cindy. They were both friendly enough, immediately treating him like an old friend, especially Cindy. From the fifteen minutes they'd been talking, Brian could tell she had a quick wit and a good heart to go along with it. As soon as Alex had left, Cindy had patted the stool next to her, telling him to 'sit his fine black ass down and have a drink'. After that she'd proceeded to command him to tell them 'the whole dealio' with him and Lex.
"So you all just move around the country? Don't you ever wanna lay down some roots, you know, make a home somewhere?" Original Cindy asked after discovering they'd lived in five different cities in the past three years.
Brian shrugged, taking a swig of his beer. "Nah, not really. Lex and I, we're the wandering type. You know, places to see, new things to do." {{More demons to kill}} he added silently to himself. Every city they'd been in had had a serious demon infestation before they'd set up camp there. He found comfort knowing that each city they left, they left it in better shape than when they'd found it.
"You don't ever get lonely?" Max asked, big doe eyes wide as she tried to understand how any one would keep moving when they didn't have to. To her, the ability to settle down and make a life was the biggest symbol of her freedom.
"We've got each other," he said simply.
"So . . . That means your girly-girl don't have some boy toy waitin' for her anywhere?" Original Cindy asked innocently.
Brian laughed. "Oh, Lex's had plenty of 'boy toys', but she's not really a one-man woman. No significant others if that's what you mean. She says a boyfriend weighs her down."
"Hmm," O.C. said, sharing a sly glance with Max. "It's nice to meet a sistah who can give those boys a taste o' their own medicine. It was certainly a treat to see her shoot down our boy over there."
"Who, Alec?" Brian asked surprised.
"Yeah," Max said, a wide grin splitting her face, "She basically told him that he was a really nice person, just not what she had in mind. The look on his face was priceless!" Max laughed into her drink.
O.C. smiled, then said to Brian, "Don't get us wrong, shugah, we don't have it in for the entire male gender or nothin'. Though I do prefer the company of women, but then again, who doesn't? It's just Alec's pretty popular with the ladies and the boy's got a big head. Did him some good for someone to pop his bubble a bit."
Max nodded her agreement, then looked up to see Alec, Sketchy and Alex walking away from the pool table. Alec and Sketchy both looked like they had suffered a minor shock, while Alex sported a smug little smile on her face. They pulled up some chairs and sat down.
Original Cindy made the introductions with Brian, then asked, "What's the matter wit' you two? You look like you've seen a ghost or somethin'."
"I won," Sketchy said in a far off voice.
" 'Scuse me?" Cindy said, regarding him with concern. "Sketchy, how much you had to drink, boy? You ain't never beat Alec."
"I beat him today," Sketchy came out of his stupor, "Or at least, he lost today. He missed the eight ball."
"That true?" Max asked in surprise, "You scratched?"
Alec grunted sourly as he poured himself another beer. Alex hid a grin behind her hand.
"How'd that happen?" O.C. asked.
The three of them shared a look before Alex shrugged, "Guess it was just an off day, huh, Alec?"
He glared at her for a second, then relented and smiled grudgingly. "Guess it was."
O.C. and Max stared at him curiously, knowing how rare it was for him to miss, but Alec avoided their gazes and took a drink instead. He didn't want to admit it, but his skin was still tingling from where Alex had blown on him. He couldn't believe he'd jumped like that. Him, a soldier that was used to bullets whizzing past his cheeks and explosions going off all over the place! If Max found out he'd never live it down.
Brian checked his watch, then looked at Alex. She sighed, but nodded and stood. They'd been at Crash for over an hour and she still needed to do a sweep of sector seven before turning in for the night. She'd found a couple of vamps there every night so far and Brian was convinced they had a nest nearby. Personally Alex thought they just congregated there because most of the clubs left open in Seattle were there and it was an easy place to pick up victims, the fact remained that they were there and it was her job to remove them.
"Goin' already, girly-girl?" Original Cindy asked as the pair stood. Alec straightened and watched her rise.
"Yeah," Alex grinned apologetically. "It's been a long day and we've still got stuff to do at home. I wanna get a good night's sleep. Wouldn't be very impressive if I showed up late for my first full day of work."
"Maybe you could teach my boo here a thing or two 'bout showin' up on time," O.C. said, nudging Max who grinned sheepishly.
"It was nice meeting you all," Brian said, pushing his chair in.
"You guys should come back. We hang out here pretty much every night." Sketchy said.
The two shared a glance and Alex smiled, pleased to have the branch of friendship extended. "We will," she said. "Night everyone."
She got a chorus of good night's back and turned to leave. As she moved through the crowd she felt the weight of two eyes burning a hole in her back. Original Cindy and Max shared another smile as Alec followed her out with his eyes.
* * * *
Across town in sector nine a young punk rocker drunkenly stumbled against the girl who'd picked him up at the club in sector seven. He threw an arm around her shoulder and nuzzled her neck, but she barely paid attention to him. She'd started to move with more purpose as soon as they'd past the sector gates, pulling him along forcefully at times.
She pulled away as the man tried to push her up against a nearby abandoned building. "Hey baby, where we goin'?" He asked blearily, slowly following her. "Why don' we just stop here? I'm sure we could make each other very comfortable," he leered drunkenly at her turned back.
The girl didn't even look over her shoulder, just continued stalking down the road. "Just a bit further honey. Then I'll show you something you've never seen before."
The drunken clubber blinked, looking around him. Where the hell they were going he had no idea. This part of sector nine had been abandoned for the past six years. There was nothing here but a bunch of empty, run down buildings. His inebriated mind was just beginning to wonder what exactly it was she was going to show him when she turned down a dark alley way.
The girl walked up to a big steel door in the side of a large building, banging hard a couple of times. The door swung open just as her companion caught up. A pair of large, forbidding looking men stood in the shadows inside of the door, staring blankly at them.
"Kris'tual," she snapped, reaching out to grab the drunken man's arm with talon-like fingers. "He's with me."
The two men nodded, then stepped aside as the girl pulled the guy along with her. She led him stumbling down a long flight of stairs. He blinked a few times, trying to see ahead, but the stairwell was almost completely dark. He had no idea how she could see her way down the stairs.
"Hey," he said, trying to slow down, "Where are we-" He cut off as they turned a corner and were suddenly bathed in pulsing lights. For a second he thought the flashing colors were playing tricks with his eyes, but the scene before him didn't change. He heard the girl behind him laughing as if from a far distance. "Oh, God," he whispered, taking a step back and bumping into her. Terror struck, he couldn't move any further; not even when he felt a sharp pain in his neck. He couldn't move even when darkness began to over take the flashing lights and the coldness began to creep up his body.
