Disclaimer: see prologue
Chapter 8
Katie Hansen slept through the night, her thumb in her mouth and her arm resolutely around the pink elephant. Luc spent most of the time watching her and listening to her slow, regular heartbeat, finding it soothing. Close to dawn, Darla appeared with her arm around Angelus' waist, and she smiled down at the little girl.
"Sweet."
"Not for nibbling, love," Angelus said, nibbling at Darla's ear himself. "Not yet, at any rate."
"Mmm." Darla put her head on one side. "Mmm. Are you staying with her, Luc?"
"She'll be nervous when she wakes," Luc said. "I thought I would. You two don't need to stay, if you have ... plans."
"Plans?" Angelus laughed softly. "Oh yes, we have plans."
"Such bloody plans," added Darla. "Come on."
Angelus let her tow him out of the room, leaving Luc with a smile. He turned back to Katie.
She woke up after dawn. Luc had carefully closed the curtains, and was sitting reading quietly. He registered the change in the sound of the girl's breathing before she opened her eyes, and put his book down.
"Mummy?" Katie looked around her, eyes wide. "Mummy?"
"Hush, ma petite," Luc said. She turned her head and looked at him. "Your mother isn't here."
"Mummy!" Katie repeated. "I want her. Where is she? Who are you?"
"Me?" Luc said. "Oh, I am a friend of your uncle Mike's. Your parents have had to go away, for a while, and so I'm looking after you. My name's Luc."
"Luke." She tried it out. "So where's Uncle Mike?"
"Busy, with his work," said Luc. "So you get to stay with me. Are you hungry?"
Katie nodded, her arm tightly around the pink elephant. Luc stood up. "Then let's find you something to eat, non?"
He bent, and scooped her up.
In the kitchen of the house, Luc deposited his burden on the table where she sat, still sucking her thumb. He opened the fridge and saw mostly empty shelves, but there was some butter and some jam. Further investigation in cupboards unearthed a plate and a knife and some bread, which Luc toasted under the grill before spreading the butter and jam on it and presenting the plate to Katie. She ate slowly and carefully while Luc watched, and then licked her fingers and smiled happily.
"That's better."
"Good," Luc said. "Now what would you like to do?"
Katie looked towards the window. "Play outside."
Folding his arms, Luc considered the request. "Come with me, chérie." He lifted her off the table and she followed him through to the living room, where he installed her in front of the television and told her to wait quietly.
Leaving the room, he hurried up two flights of stairs to the second floor, where he pushed open a door. A flood of sunlight hit him, and he moved swiftly backwards.
"How many times do we have to tell you to close the curtains?" he said.
The four demons in the room glanced at each other, and one of them got up and closed the curtains. Luc nodded. "Next time, keep them shut. I need a babysitter."
"A baby?" One of the demons looked up hopefully.
Luc sighed. "Not one you can eat, imbécile. Even if she were expendable, which, for the moment, is not the case, you would not get her. No - we have a hostage, a little girl, and she would like to spend some time outside. I would like some sleep."
"I'll come, sir." A demon stood up, pulling a sweater on over his t-shirt, and a hat over his large floppy ears.
Turning, Luc led the way out of the room, and back upstairs. "Katie."
The girl looked round from her position on the sofa. "It's Bugs Bunny," she said.
The demon felt his hat and looked off-put.
"On the television," Luc explained. "Katie, Al here will take you outside."
"Can't you come?" she asked.
"I don't really like going outside," Luc said. "Not during the day. You know when the sun's too strong?"
"I go red, unless Mummy puts cream on," she agreed.
"Exactement. Alors, when I go outside I burn very badly. So Al will look after you and play with you. Until she's bored," he added, for the demon. "Remember I can check on you from the window, so I suggest you remain in the garden and don't try going anywhere else. Understood?"
"Yes, sir!" Al said smartly. "Come along, little 'un."
Katie slid off the sofa and seemed content to take Al's wrinkly hand, and they disappeared. Luc sighed, and turned off the television.
He managed to sleep for a while, despite lingering outside Angelus' door for a long moment on the way to his own room. He was woken a few hours' later by a crash from downstairs that sounded like something heavy being broken. Jumping out of bed, Luc threw on his robe and was downstairs in a flash.
In the living room he found that the solid mahogany coffee table was in two large pieces with a demon on top of them, and Angelus in full vampire-face reaching out to pull the demon up again.
"What did you say?" his sire snarled. The demon quaked.
"I ... don't kill me ... I ..."
Angelus held the demon with one hand and punched it hard in the face with the other.
"What did you say?" he repeated.
"I was in 'The Cloven Hoof' in Lambeth, last night - sir - and this girl came in. And we were playing cards, blackjack, me and two of my mates, and a blood - a vampire, I mean, who said he was called Spike. Bleached hair. Anyway, this girl came in, American, I reckon, small; and a bloke with glasses with her. And she seized this Spike and they handcuffed him and took him away. He called her ... he called her Slayer."
Angelus let the demon go and it crashed down on to the broken table and lay there whimpering.
"Sire?" Luc said. Angelus spun around, his face slipping back to human as he did so.
"It's you. Spike, the idiot he is, has got himself captured. By Buffy. Idiot!" Angelus lashed out a leg and caught the demon in the gut. The demon whimpered.
"Hmm," Luc said. "That wasn't in our plans."
"It damn well was not," Angelus said, and turned to the demon, who flinched backwards. "Was there anyone else with the Slayer?"
"Two men," the demon said. "One of them had a sling on. The other just looked kind of grey, you know?"
"The husband," Luc said.
"Grief," Angelus said. "Such a wonderful emotion." He hauled the demon up again.
"The thing is," said the demon, stuttering a little, "was that the ... well, your Spike, he owed us fifty quid when he got carted off. I was wondering if ... if you could pay it."
"You were, were you?" Angelus said, smiling. The demon returned the smile in a nervous way.
"Yeah. Yeah, I was."
"How charmingly naïve," murmured Angelus. "Spend one and a half centuries building up a rep, get the nickname to be proud of, and then a mere hundred years off the game and everyone forgets you."
"So, fifty quid then?" the demon repeated hopefully.
Luc ducked out of the room and found a sword in the umbrella rack by the front door. Back in the living room, he coughed.
"Sire. Tu veux que je le tue?"
"No, let me," Angelus said in English, and Luc threw him the sword. His sire turned back to the demon. "Thank you for the information." He smiled, and ran the sword through the demon. It looked aghast for a second, and then its face went grey, it gurgled, and fell to the floor. Angelus pulled the blade out and wiped it on the demon's jacket.
"So Spike's with the Slayer," Luc said, taking the sword back. "I wonder what they're doing."
"Nothing interesting," Angelus said, sitting down and resting his feet on the dead body. "Buffy doesn't have it in her tiny little body to actually torture anything. Giles, now ... well, old Rupert may, if he's angry enough. And I wouldn't put it past that Fletcher. Only his arms are still useless."
"He was rather a work of art," Luc said, going to sit next to Angelus. "It's a pity you never had a chance to take some photographs, or to sit and sketch him. I used to love your drawings."
"Drawings ..." mused Angelus. "Drawings. Thank you, Luc." He leant over and kissed Luc on the forehead. "You've just given me inspiration. Where's the girl?"
"In the garden," Luc said. "Playing. Shall I get her in?"
"Get someone to clear this out, and then fetch her," Angelus said with a grin. "For now I'm going to keep her alive, but we don't need to make that clear to the Slayer and her cronies. And you're right, I haven't drawn anything for rather too long."
Luc gazed into his sire's eyes for a moment, and then got up to go about Angelus' bidding.
He spent the afternoon in the living room, watching the older vampire concentrate on the drawing as Katie lay asleep on the couch, her face paler than normal and two neat puncture marks in her neck. By the evening the sketch was finished, folded and sealed in an envelope, and addressed simply to 'The Council of Watchers'. Luc summoned Charlie and dispatched him with it, and they settled down again to wait.
---
"Tu veux que je le tue?" = do you want me to kill him?
Chapter 8
Katie Hansen slept through the night, her thumb in her mouth and her arm resolutely around the pink elephant. Luc spent most of the time watching her and listening to her slow, regular heartbeat, finding it soothing. Close to dawn, Darla appeared with her arm around Angelus' waist, and she smiled down at the little girl.
"Sweet."
"Not for nibbling, love," Angelus said, nibbling at Darla's ear himself. "Not yet, at any rate."
"Mmm." Darla put her head on one side. "Mmm. Are you staying with her, Luc?"
"She'll be nervous when she wakes," Luc said. "I thought I would. You two don't need to stay, if you have ... plans."
"Plans?" Angelus laughed softly. "Oh yes, we have plans."
"Such bloody plans," added Darla. "Come on."
Angelus let her tow him out of the room, leaving Luc with a smile. He turned back to Katie.
She woke up after dawn. Luc had carefully closed the curtains, and was sitting reading quietly. He registered the change in the sound of the girl's breathing before she opened her eyes, and put his book down.
"Mummy?" Katie looked around her, eyes wide. "Mummy?"
"Hush, ma petite," Luc said. She turned her head and looked at him. "Your mother isn't here."
"Mummy!" Katie repeated. "I want her. Where is she? Who are you?"
"Me?" Luc said. "Oh, I am a friend of your uncle Mike's. Your parents have had to go away, for a while, and so I'm looking after you. My name's Luc."
"Luke." She tried it out. "So where's Uncle Mike?"
"Busy, with his work," said Luc. "So you get to stay with me. Are you hungry?"
Katie nodded, her arm tightly around the pink elephant. Luc stood up. "Then let's find you something to eat, non?"
He bent, and scooped her up.
In the kitchen of the house, Luc deposited his burden on the table where she sat, still sucking her thumb. He opened the fridge and saw mostly empty shelves, but there was some butter and some jam. Further investigation in cupboards unearthed a plate and a knife and some bread, which Luc toasted under the grill before spreading the butter and jam on it and presenting the plate to Katie. She ate slowly and carefully while Luc watched, and then licked her fingers and smiled happily.
"That's better."
"Good," Luc said. "Now what would you like to do?"
Katie looked towards the window. "Play outside."
Folding his arms, Luc considered the request. "Come with me, chérie." He lifted her off the table and she followed him through to the living room, where he installed her in front of the television and told her to wait quietly.
Leaving the room, he hurried up two flights of stairs to the second floor, where he pushed open a door. A flood of sunlight hit him, and he moved swiftly backwards.
"How many times do we have to tell you to close the curtains?" he said.
The four demons in the room glanced at each other, and one of them got up and closed the curtains. Luc nodded. "Next time, keep them shut. I need a babysitter."
"A baby?" One of the demons looked up hopefully.
Luc sighed. "Not one you can eat, imbécile. Even if she were expendable, which, for the moment, is not the case, you would not get her. No - we have a hostage, a little girl, and she would like to spend some time outside. I would like some sleep."
"I'll come, sir." A demon stood up, pulling a sweater on over his t-shirt, and a hat over his large floppy ears.
Turning, Luc led the way out of the room, and back upstairs. "Katie."
The girl looked round from her position on the sofa. "It's Bugs Bunny," she said.
The demon felt his hat and looked off-put.
"On the television," Luc explained. "Katie, Al here will take you outside."
"Can't you come?" she asked.
"I don't really like going outside," Luc said. "Not during the day. You know when the sun's too strong?"
"I go red, unless Mummy puts cream on," she agreed.
"Exactement. Alors, when I go outside I burn very badly. So Al will look after you and play with you. Until she's bored," he added, for the demon. "Remember I can check on you from the window, so I suggest you remain in the garden and don't try going anywhere else. Understood?"
"Yes, sir!" Al said smartly. "Come along, little 'un."
Katie slid off the sofa and seemed content to take Al's wrinkly hand, and they disappeared. Luc sighed, and turned off the television.
He managed to sleep for a while, despite lingering outside Angelus' door for a long moment on the way to his own room. He was woken a few hours' later by a crash from downstairs that sounded like something heavy being broken. Jumping out of bed, Luc threw on his robe and was downstairs in a flash.
In the living room he found that the solid mahogany coffee table was in two large pieces with a demon on top of them, and Angelus in full vampire-face reaching out to pull the demon up again.
"What did you say?" his sire snarled. The demon quaked.
"I ... don't kill me ... I ..."
Angelus held the demon with one hand and punched it hard in the face with the other.
"What did you say?" he repeated.
"I was in 'The Cloven Hoof' in Lambeth, last night - sir - and this girl came in. And we were playing cards, blackjack, me and two of my mates, and a blood - a vampire, I mean, who said he was called Spike. Bleached hair. Anyway, this girl came in, American, I reckon, small; and a bloke with glasses with her. And she seized this Spike and they handcuffed him and took him away. He called her ... he called her Slayer."
Angelus let the demon go and it crashed down on to the broken table and lay there whimpering.
"Sire?" Luc said. Angelus spun around, his face slipping back to human as he did so.
"It's you. Spike, the idiot he is, has got himself captured. By Buffy. Idiot!" Angelus lashed out a leg and caught the demon in the gut. The demon whimpered.
"Hmm," Luc said. "That wasn't in our plans."
"It damn well was not," Angelus said, and turned to the demon, who flinched backwards. "Was there anyone else with the Slayer?"
"Two men," the demon said. "One of them had a sling on. The other just looked kind of grey, you know?"
"The husband," Luc said.
"Grief," Angelus said. "Such a wonderful emotion." He hauled the demon up again.
"The thing is," said the demon, stuttering a little, "was that the ... well, your Spike, he owed us fifty quid when he got carted off. I was wondering if ... if you could pay it."
"You were, were you?" Angelus said, smiling. The demon returned the smile in a nervous way.
"Yeah. Yeah, I was."
"How charmingly naïve," murmured Angelus. "Spend one and a half centuries building up a rep, get the nickname to be proud of, and then a mere hundred years off the game and everyone forgets you."
"So, fifty quid then?" the demon repeated hopefully.
Luc ducked out of the room and found a sword in the umbrella rack by the front door. Back in the living room, he coughed.
"Sire. Tu veux que je le tue?"
"No, let me," Angelus said in English, and Luc threw him the sword. His sire turned back to the demon. "Thank you for the information." He smiled, and ran the sword through the demon. It looked aghast for a second, and then its face went grey, it gurgled, and fell to the floor. Angelus pulled the blade out and wiped it on the demon's jacket.
"So Spike's with the Slayer," Luc said, taking the sword back. "I wonder what they're doing."
"Nothing interesting," Angelus said, sitting down and resting his feet on the dead body. "Buffy doesn't have it in her tiny little body to actually torture anything. Giles, now ... well, old Rupert may, if he's angry enough. And I wouldn't put it past that Fletcher. Only his arms are still useless."
"He was rather a work of art," Luc said, going to sit next to Angelus. "It's a pity you never had a chance to take some photographs, or to sit and sketch him. I used to love your drawings."
"Drawings ..." mused Angelus. "Drawings. Thank you, Luc." He leant over and kissed Luc on the forehead. "You've just given me inspiration. Where's the girl?"
"In the garden," Luc said. "Playing. Shall I get her in?"
"Get someone to clear this out, and then fetch her," Angelus said with a grin. "For now I'm going to keep her alive, but we don't need to make that clear to the Slayer and her cronies. And you're right, I haven't drawn anything for rather too long."
Luc gazed into his sire's eyes for a moment, and then got up to go about Angelus' bidding.
He spent the afternoon in the living room, watching the older vampire concentrate on the drawing as Katie lay asleep on the couch, her face paler than normal and two neat puncture marks in her neck. By the evening the sketch was finished, folded and sealed in an envelope, and addressed simply to 'The Council of Watchers'. Luc summoned Charlie and dispatched him with it, and they settled down again to wait.
---
"Tu veux que je le tue?" = do you want me to kill him?