A/N: What did I tell you???? It's only been, like, three days!!!! It's a record!!!!! Be proud of me, I was thinking only of my lovely reviewers. And, I actually kinda like this chappy!!! Enough talking—enjoy!

Rebirth—Chapter 10

It seemed like a only a moment had passed before I was suddenly awake again.

Well, not really so "suddenly". I became conscious of cool sheets sliding across my skin, fresh, chilly air, and someone's breath feathering across my cheek. The world was black, and seemed strangely mute. I could hear faint, fuzzy voices far away, and catch snippets of dialogue...

"...the Plan..."

"...we can't..."

"...yes, but..."

I recognized the voices: Father Dom and Cee Cee. I swam up from the darkness, gritting my teeth to gain full consciousness quicker, but my suddenly seemed to shatter in an earth-splitting migraine. I moaned pitifully.

"Mommy!"

The voice was right beside me. Suddenly the voices seemed clearer, and my eyes, which were wide open the whole time, accepted the light and came into focus. I was met first with Rose's young eyes and joyful smile. I smile back at her, and the movement brought painful twitches to my jaw, but I did it anyway. We smiled at each other for a moment, and it was somehow reminiscent of the day she was born, when we first looked at each other. That same hypnotic feel surrounded the moment, and I spoke the same words I said to her when I first held her: "Thank you for saving me."

She pouted playfully. "Well, if I didn't save you, who would tuck me into bed?"

I laughed quietly, and reached up to tousle her hair. Every moment, strength seemed to be returning to me. The dull ache was slowly subsiding. I wondered vaguely how I was recovering so quickly...

Then I remembered.

In came to me in a head-pounding jolt: Alexiel, Angel of Death.

My head flew back, and I squeezed my eyes shut. I grabbed handfuls of the sheets, clenching them until me fists were numb.

What am I?

What am I?!

"What the hell am I?!" I screamed.

Rose's shocked face moved to the side, and Father Dom's and Cee Cee's faces floated into view.

"Suze." A hand waved across my eyes, fanning cool hair onto my forehead. "Suze, snap out of it. You're stronger than this. You'll be alright."

I blinked up at Cee Cee's purple eyes in numb shock. Father Dom was staring down at me with some concern...but more than that it was an intense gaze of concentrated interest.

...Wow, I still wasn't used to them being back. It was...like magic. Dead seven years, then, POOF! Magic.

"Yeah, I'll be alright," I mumbled. I started to sit up, expecting some sharp pain to throw me back down, but I made it up okay.

"Mommy? Mommy, what happened?"

I turned to face Rose, my face blank. I thought of the dream, the demons, the evil, my choice, the glow and the power...and I realized I wasn't ready to tell them. I wasn't ready to tell anybody. I felt my body even now gathering strength from...somewhere. The people around me, maybe? I don't know, but it was there. Somebody else's life force pumping into me in miniscule doses, slowly healing all my pains. I was sucking power from my surroundings to heal myself. I knew this instinctively, and I knew it had to do with the power that had awakened inside of me. Great power, scary power, swimming just below the surface. Power thrumming along my veins like plucked guitar strings. I also knew I could summon it, just as easily as I could lift my hand. A reflex. But I had no way of knowing what would happen if I did. And quite frankly, I was afraid to know.

So I turned eyes on Rose that showed nothing, and said, "Mommy had an accident."

She narrowed her eyes at me. "It was more than an accident, Mom."

Mom. Whenever she called me "Mom", it meant he was about to go all "eight- years-old-going-on-forty" on me.

"I fell into the tub."

"There was blood on your bed."

That was a surprise. "I...I'm not hurt. And it's not that time of the month or anything..."

Yes, my young daughter knew about that stuff already. Kids grow up so fast these days.

"It wasn't your blood."

I met her with silence. I didn't know what to say to that. The room suddenly seemed colder, and I shivered. How did somebody else's blood end up in bed with me...?

"It wasn't your blood, Mom. Whose was it?"

Her eyes were emotionless, wintry. Full of a single-minded purpose: to know. To understand. It was another one of those moments. Those moments where the all-encompassing bond between mother and daughter was left behind in favor of one intelligent smart-ass to another. Yes, she really did take after me. In ways I wish she didn't.

"I don't know."

"Was anyone else in the room with you?" Cee Cee piped in. I turned my eyes to her, and to my great dismay, the corner of her lip was twitching, trying not to smile.

I glared at her. "No, Cee Cee. Nobody was in my room with me last night."

"You mean this morning," Rose said.

"This morning?" Cee Cee said, no longer hiding her grin.

"Yes, this morning," Rose said, grinning back.

Father Dom's eyebrows went up. Way up.

"God, don't get any ideas," I hissed between gritted teeth. "Nothing happened."

"Nothing happened," Cee Cee said, still grinning.

"Nothing at all," Rose replied. They exchanged conspiratorial looks.

"I am so not hearing this." I stood from the bed, glad my legs were steady. I tried not to think about what had happened earlier, or what I was hearing from my sweet eight-year-old daughter. Was this crap part of her studies, or had I really corrupted her so badly? I was afraid to look at Father Dom. I mean, he was a priest and all. Angel sleeping with demon? BLASPHEMY! Little Susie JUST sleeping with irresistible sex-god Jesse? Yeah. Suuuure.

I could hardly believe it myself. That I spent the night in his room, slept with him in his bed, and nothing happened. What hope did I have of convincing them? Especially perverts like Cee Cee and Rose. Did I just call my daughter a pervert? I didn't mean to. Honestly. It's just kinda creepy whenever I get glimmers of the knowledge stored in her young mind that, well, shouldn't be. Really creepy.

"Where's Bonnie?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

"Catching up on sleep, after staying up all night waiting for you to come back."

Rose was WAY too smart. Big mouth, too.

Realizing I hadn't succeeded in changing the subject, I tried again. "How long have I been out?"

"Four and a half hours," Father Dom put it carefully, a tightness around his lips that was very familiar. Back in Carmel-by-the-Sea, he got that same tightness around his mouth whenever he disapproved of something I did. Which was often. Good times, good times. I thought of Jesse sitting at the bay window, staring wistfully out at the rain...

Really good times.

Except that he was dead then. Now he was alive. But he wasn't the same. Good things never come without compromise. In exchange for life, he gave something up. Something very important.

But he was still Jesse, right?

Yes. No. Maybe. How the hell should I know?

Speaking of Jesse...

"Four hours?" I suddenly blurted.

"And a half," Father Dom said, nodding.

I searched slightly panicked for a clock, but found none in the massive bedroom suite.

"W-what time is it?" I asked, afraid to hear the answer.

Cee Cee pulled what looked like a pocket organizer out of her pocket and pressed something on it. "Quarter to eight."

"Shit," I said aloud, ignoring the indignant squeak from Father Dom. Way too prudish. He needed to learn how to party.

I was off to my first enjoyable social event in seven years. I mean...a date. I could not miss it. I just couldn't. I felt like a schoolgirl with my first crush.

"Does anybody know about me collapsing?" I called out as I sprinted for the ballroom-sized walk-in closet.

"Susannah, where on earth do you think you're going?!" I heard Father Dom cry behind me.

"No, nobody but your Adam and your step-brothers," Cee Cee said.

"Thank god," I murmured, grinning goofily.

"And Jesse."

Damn.

"Susannah, you just collapsed, you're not well! You are not going anywhere! You must tell us what happened!"

I stopped with my hand on the closet door, and looked back at them. Father Dom looked like he was hyperventilating, ready to rant and rave about why I can't leave, and utterly furious. Cee Cee was standing serenely beside the bed with her arms curled around a post, as always the voice of reason. Rose was kneeling on the bed, looking at me with a look on her face that told me she was strictly on observational mode, absorbing facts to use against me later.

I was NOT going to let them ruin this bit of fun for me.

So I let my joy shine across my face, and stopped hiding my feelings for once. A ruffle ran through Father Dom, and his wings, which were previously set out at an intimidating angle (Father Dom intimidate me? Ha- freakin-ha) lowered without him noticing. My gorgeous smile had disarmed him! (cough)

"I have a date with Jesse tonight," I said, and I was horrified by the girlish lilt my voice held.

I went into the closet to find an outfit, leaving that juicy tidbit hanging in the air behind me. So he knew I had passed out. So maybe he thought our date was cancelled. I was quite healthy, thank you very much, and ready to party. I was gonna knock 'em dead tonight.

I had no way of knowing just how true that statement would prove.

Against all odds, I was ready on time. Nay, I was ready three minutes early. Yes, my friends, I managed to find the perfect ensemble in twelve minutes flat. Rose and Cee Cee ended up helping me. Father Dom had stormed off in a huff, muttering about "crumbling morals" and a "religious wasteland". Wonder what's eating him? I mean, I didn't have sex with Jesse. Not yet anyway...

...okay, so I was hoping. The idea thrilled me and scared me at the same time. I mean, we spent one night together, but that was years ago. I was a little girl, totally naïve and utterly limp in his arms. He was a new demon going through a second puberty after a century and a half of no sex. More if he died a virgin, which I didn't doubt, given his annoyingly high morals. Then, anyway.

I knew more about sex now. Granted, I wasn't too proud of who my teacher was—definitely not who I had originally planned. But the knowledge and experience was still there. Plus...Jesse also seemed to have matured a great deal. In a good way. Seriously—buffer, sexier, rougher, and...well, yeah, you get the point. More in control. More contained. Sex and violence straining under a cool and calculated gaze that ran shivers up my spine.

It would be so good the second time.

If there was a second time.

I gazed in the mirror, and even I had to say, I looked good. The outfit was kind of slutty, I guess, at least in theory...but it was done with so much class, that it turned what could have been utterly skanky into something that reeked of composed sensuality. The stylish platform boots were black, made out of a soft leathery material that stretches and slinked across my legs like a second skin. They came up just under my knees. The dress itself was a slinky, sexy thing that reminded me vaguely of lingerie. It left nothing to the imagination, but covered just enough to be decent. It reached about mid-thigh, riding up higher when I sat, of course. Most of the dress was made of a sheer material, almost vinyl-like. Only around my breast and my butt did the material become a more solid black, but shadows of my body still played through in a teasing sort of way. It was strapless, and looked really like it was meant more to be taken off than on. I guess it could look totally trashy on some people, but it seemed made for my body.

Cee Cee had slapped some tasteful, gothic-looking make-up on me, and even managed to paint my nails black (I could never do it so fast or perfectly...). My newly short hair fell in dark chocolate-brown waves, flaring out nicely at the bottom. In that moment, I almost wished I could have my uber-long hair back. Almost.

"You look great, Mommy!" Rose squealed excitedly, clapping her hands. "Jesse won't be able to resist!"

I turned and stared at her. "Are you really just eight? Because you are acting way too old for your age. Seriously. It creeps me out."

Rose just gave me a knowing smile. "I know. I like being creeped out. It's like a massage down your back, y'know?"

"Um..."

Amazing. One second she's insinuating that Jesse will ravish me in this dress, the next second she's making some silly comment on "creeps" that fits her age and innocence. She was bi-polar. I just knew it.

"She's right, Suze," Cee Cee said. I glanced at her, and she was smiling, her eyes shining. "You look...perfect."

I smiled back. "Thanks, Cee. For...everything. Thanks for getting Jesse out. For taking us in. And just...for surviving. Thank you."

"Oh, Suze, you've grown up!" She suddenly wailed, and threw her arms around me, sobbing uncontrollably. I stiffened, totally not expecting it, but Rose gave me a look over her shoulder, and I patted her back hesitantly. I wasn't good with crying people.

"Yes...um, yeah, I have. You too, Cee. You finally got Adam."

She gave a laugh that was wet with tears, but full of a sad joy that pulled at something in my chest. Suddenly I felt something prickle behind my eyes, but I blinked it back, not wanting to ruin the make-up she had so quickly and expertly applied.

Cee Cee stepped back then, keeping her hands on my shoulders. She looked at me seriously, tears still streaming down her face. "Now Suze—I want you to have fun tonight. But I also want you to be safe. No drugs—you wouldn't believe the crazy things they've created, Suze. One taste and you'll be addicted. Two tastes and you'll be dead."

I nodded at her. I felt like I was being lectured by my parents before a party. Parents...I blinked back more tears, and drowned the pain quickly. I was getting good at that. Ignoring pain, I mean. Years of practice.

"Stay close to Jesse, don't let any strange demons touch you, don't drink anything anybody gives you besides Jesse, don't leave your drink alone, don't look into any strange demon's eyes, don't—"

"Why avoid eyes?" I asked, genuinely curious.

Cee Cee was far from smiling now. In fact, she looked a little scared. The fear was buried deep, but definitely there. It unnerved me. "Some demons have the ability to hypnotize you with their eyes. I...I don't know how to explain this to you, Suze...but demons are kind of like vampires." I raised my eyebrows. "What I mean is, they like blood. Not need it, but like it. That's actually where the myth of vampires comes from—human encounters with demons." She lowered her voice to a whisper, and I had to lean in to hear her. "Some of them are addicted to it. Blood, I mean. Clubs are known hubs where Death Eaters—that's what they call addicts—go to lure victims to their deaths. They tend to use hypnotism...trust me on this, Suze. You do not want one of them controlling you."

I swallowed. I was thinking of Jesse's "kiss" last night. I was remembering his sharp canines digging into my mouth, and how excited he got as he tasted me. Was he a...a "Death Eater"?

"...can Jesse do it?"

Her purple eyes widened a bit, and her hands slipped from my shoulders. "I...I don't know. But my guess would be yes. Since he's the most powerful demon along with Paul...my guess would be he has most, if not all, demon abilities. Could Paul do it?"

"I don't know...he never tried on me."

"Glad to hear that."

We stared at each other for a space of seconds, and I realized she was afraid of Paul, and what he might've done to me. He never tried to hypnotize me, and he sure as hell never tried to bite me. I reassured her with a smile. "He wasn't too bad to me."

I realized Rose was standing two feet away from us, and I glanced at her, but her eyes were blank, revealing nothing. Good actress. Good liar, too.

"Just stay safe, Suze," Cee Cee said in a voice that now contained a spark of fear to match her eyes. "Hell Mountain is not a friendly place. Less friendly if you have white wings."

"Don't worry, Cee. I'm a tough girl."

A ghost of a smile appeared on her lips. "I know."

She was slowly but surely freaking me out. But I was determined not to let her warnings ruin my night. Nothing could ruin my night. Unless Jesse started hating me again. But he wouldn't. Jesse would never hate me again.

...right?

"Mommy, I don't think he's picking you up. He thinks you're still out..." Her voice was strangely hollow. I shook my head, a small, cynical grin appearing on my face. Not because I thought it was funny, but because it was so terrible how everything I said seemed to hurt someone I cared for. Rose, Jesse, Paul, Cee Cee, Father Dom, didn't matter what I said, SOMEONE I cared about got hurt. It was ridiculous. It really was.

But I managed to force the stupid grin (which might hurt feelings as well) off my face.

"You're father's a good man," I said as I walked past Rose.

"Maybe," she murmured.

"Maybe not to the world, Rose, but to those he loves."

I paused at the door, waiting for a reply. From anyone. A heavy silence fell behind me. I took a deep breath and, not knowing what else to do, pushed open the door and stepped into the silence of the hallway, shutting the door quietly behind me. Inside, I was wondering if I should have left. I was wondering if I should have stayed there to comfort my daughter. I was wondering if I was an idiot. She was obviously deeply insecure about the events that had transpired in our lives recently. I just never gave a thought to just how much all this might be affecting my daughter. Seeing how her father had literally torn the world apart had to have been a shock. Then seeing me running off with this old flame, who had damn near been abusing me just twenty-four hours ago...

I wondered what she was thinking.

I wondered if she was really as calm and controlled as she seemed to be.

I wondered if she had the maturity to handle her intelligence, and her knowledge.

Then the door across the hall opened, and I couldn't wonder about anything anymore. It was breathtaking how Jesse could shock even the deepest and most important thoughts out of my head, and turn me into a blubbering pile of jelly. Not that I was blubbering or anything. But one second, I had been alone in the hall, thinking about my daughter's psychological state of being, and the next, Jesse opened his door and I forgot how to breathe.

I actually hadn't thought it was him. I thought some strange demon had just opened his door, until I met his eyes. He was staring at me with something that looked, if I'm not quite mistaken, like absolute shock. I'm sure my look mirrored his. I mean, Jesse's all about the black, shiny leather. What is he doing wearing something that looks like it comes from somewhere in the mid-eighteen hundreds? Sure, it's his time period, but still. Soft knee-high leather boots (my boots minus the platforms, basically), tight black pants...wait, those are jeans...okay, he's not completely eighteenth-century on me. But still...that shirt...well, it was white and kind of puffy, tucked sort of lazily into his jeans. But the lace...yes, Jesse's shirt had lace on it. It was open-throated, and a lace- bordered, low-cut V exposed a nice bit of his chest. It was long sleeved, and the sleeves sort of billowed around his wrist...and ended in a long splay of soft-looking lace that almost completely covered his hands.

Don't get me wrong...it wasn't bad looking. In fact, I'd say he looked yummier than usual. Seriously. The contrast of black and white did let me realize for the first time something I hadn't noticed before: Jesse was not tanned like I remembered him. Jesse was downright pale. But the paleness, in contrast with the hair that flowed around him like a dark dream, only served to make him more beautiful. Yes—beautiful, masculine, powerful. He reeked of darkness and strength.

Cee Cee's words suddenly rang through my head. And I remembered his bloody kiss. Faint alarms began blaring in my head—Jesse, in this moment, standing before me in such pale and old-world glory, looked like he had been pulled right out of an old 1950's vamp movie.

No. No. Jesse is not a vampire. No. He is a demon.

Yeah, and that's soooo much better, Suze.

I suddenly took a deep breath, like he was relaxing himself after a nasty surprise. Me? Nasty?

"Susannah," he said, in a strangely low and throaty voice. And that's all he said. I blinked myself out of my vampiric reverie, and finally realized that Jesse was staring at my outfit. Drinking it in with hungry looking eyes. I felt my face heat up under his intense scrutiny and obvious approval. When I saw obvious, I mean...those were some really tight pants.

His eyes roamed over my body, rising slowly, until our eyes finally met. And this time, there was a dark light in his eyes that scared me.

"Um—uh—" I gave a small cough. Too embarrassing. Why did I come here. "Uh, nifty shirt." My voice squeaked a little on "nifty". I could have kicked myself.

"You don't look so bad, yourself," he said. His eyes were almost normal, now. I think he realized he was showing too much. I don't know. He seemed to have regained control of himself in other ways, as well. Don't ask why I was looking there, I do not have a non-sluttish answer.

"Um...our date?" I said, feeling stupid now.

"Our date, querida?"

"Yeah...um...Roger's Place. You know."

He mouthed, "Oh."

"Unless, of course, you don't want to go." I laughed nervously, high- pitched and annoying even to me. "Which is fine, you know, I mean, don't worry—"

"I thought you had passed out," he said softly. There was something else in his voice now. Confusion.

"I did."

"You were very weak, Susannah. How did you recover so quickly?"

"I..." I didn't want to tell the truth. That I sucked the energy from people. It sounded...freaky. But then, wouldn't he know already? Wouldn't he read my mind?

"Read my mind," I said.

He stared at me for a long time, then finally shook his head. "I can't."

"Why not?"

"No, not that I don't want to." He met my eyes again. Confused, definitely confused. And a little annoyed. "I mean, I really can't."

"You...you can't read my mind?"

He shook his head. "No. There is something powerful guarding your mind." He stared at me again, and it was getting creepy.

"What?"

"Susannah...that is your power. There is something inside of you that wasn't this morning. What is it?" He lowered his voice to a whisper, but I heard it, felt it like a snake sliding across my skin. "What have you done, querida?"

I tried to hold his eyes with mine, but finally looked away, and stared at the ground. "I...I-I had a dream. A dream where...where this big, shadow—thing...called me...said I was..." I shook my head. "I...I don't know what happened."

"What did he say, Susannah?" There was something radiating from Jesse...something akin to seductiveness...like a strange aura pulsing from him and beating on my skin, in my head, making me want to answer, to tell the truth...

Making me? Making me?

"Jesse, are you trying to hypnotize me?" I said, suddenly angry.

He stiffened, and whatever had been there a second ago slipped away slowly, reluctantly.

"Jesse?"

He smiled—a slow, guilty smile, that said it all.

"Jesse, what gives?"

"It...it worked on you before."

"Before?"

"Before you passed out today. Before you gained this new...protection."

"Wait a second—you've hypnotized me before, Jesse???? Without me aware????"

"Well," he said, looking away, "that is sort of the point, Susannah."

"When? Where? What did you make me do?" I was pissed. Seriously. I hated the thought of falling victim to such a lame and cowardly trick. Hypnotism! What did I do while I was hypnotized?????

But Jesse only shook his head.

"Jesse, don't mess with me. When the fuck did you have control over me?"

Our eyes clashed again—coldness. Distance.

"Answer my question, querida, and I'll answer yours," Jesse said with an almost cruel smile.

"You bastard," I whispered.

"Indeed," he said, raising his eyebrows.

I looked away from him, my fists balled in my anger. Jesse was utterly relaxed, nonchalant. His arms were crossed over his chest, and he was leaning casually against the door frame, one leg propped against the wall behind him. I hated how comfortable he was when I was so furious.

"Okay, Jesse," I said, willing my hands to relax. "Okay." I took a deep, deep breath, and looked at him again. "He called me Alexiel, the Angel of Death."

He remained motionless—nothing to give it away. Except his eyes widened almost imperceptibly. The name meant something to him. He knew something I didn't. Something I wanted to know.

"You know something," I said, pointing accusingly. "What is it? What does it mean?"

He looked away from me, and spoke in a quiet, almost grim voice. "The deal was for one question, Susannah. You answered one question, I answer one. Do you want to know when I hypnotized you, or do you want to know what the 'Angel of Death' is?"

I rolled my eyes, and put my hands on my hips. "Just tell me what it means, Jesse."

He looked back at me, and gave my outfit another once-over. "You're dressed for a night at a dance club."

"I was expecting a night at a dance club."

"I wasn't, not after you passed out." He uncrossed his arms, and stepped closer to me. "Are you still expecting a night at a dance club?"

"I'm expecting an answer to my question."

We stared at each other for a long moment. Measuring our opponent. Judging. Weighing our options. Was this what our love would always be like?

"I'll answer your question..." He stepped closer, and the heat from his body washed over me. "...later."

"How much later, Jesse?"

He smiled, but the smile didn't reach his eyes. I realized he was being very, very careful. "When we get to Roger's Place." He held his hand out to me.

I stared at his hand. Why did it seem like he was offering me so much more than just a date at a club?

"Okay," I said, and I took his hand.

A/N: YAY! THEY GET TO GO ON THEIR DATE! AND SUZE DIDN'T DIE! YAY! AND JESSE'S HOT! YAY!

Did anybody but me notice a sudden change in Jesse's physical description and mannerisms? Well, in defense of Jesse suddenly being a "vampiric demon", I can only comment that during my 5-month hiatus from fanfiction, I aquired a mysterious and inexplicable obsession with vampires, particularly one by the name of Jean-Claude. (Amanda is shaking her head at me)

cough--Anyway—REVIEW please!!!!! I'll begin work on the next chappy as soon as I get...oh...eight more reviews! And not a moment before then! (I know, I know, high standards...that's why I'm still single, lol)

TTFN