Disclaimer: Since my name is not Joss Whedon, Buffy: The Vampire Slayer and the amazing characters associated with the show belong to someone who isn't me. I also don't own the story line - that is taken from gidgetgirl's Before She Was Turned Challenge (details below). Lacey Kendall belongs to me.
The Before She Was Turned ChallengeUnbeknownst to the others, there was more to Harmony Kendall than met the eye. Two years before she was turned at graduation, Harmony actually gave birth to a child. When the child is turned, it's up to the scoobies to take care of him/her while soulless Harmony wreaks havoc.
Requirements:
Harmony's soul must somehow be tied to the little one.
The little one must be oddly quiet and shy for a Harmony child.
Someone snuggling with the child.
A skinned knee.
Author's Note: To Imzadi – Harmony didn't call and explain because she was afraid that Lacey would end up with a stake to the heart. Buffy & Co. think that Lacey was just turned.
Chapter 3
The next evening.
Spike knew almost as soon as he saw her.
"Harmony didn't kidnap her."
"What. . .?"
"The little bit looks like Harm, smells like Harm. . ." He glanced down at little Lacey. "What's your last name, platelet?"
"Kendall." Her voice was soft. "Lacey Kendall."
"Has the same last name as Harm." Spike finished, smirking at Buffy's discomfort. "You didn't think to ask what her last name was?"
"You mean. . .?"
"Yup." The blond vampire was clearly enjoying himself. "Congratulations, Slayer. You snatched Harm's kid. It's a proud day for good guys everywhere."
"Harmony doesn't have a child." /She couldn't. /
"Harmony's my mommy's name." Lacey piped up, favouring Spike with a shy smile, relieved to see another of her kind. Maybe now she would be able to go back to Mommy.
You had to be very careful about trusting humans, especially the Slayer, but vampires were okay.
"You sure about that?" Spike quipped.
Buffy just glared at him.
Assembling her minions had not been as difficult as she had imagined it would be.
The promise of chaos and mayhem had already gathered six or seven vampires under her banner and she expected others to join them.
Sure, most of the minions she had gathered together didn't have two brain cells to rub together, but their job didn't require any great intelligence and, in any case, beggars couldn't be choosers.
Absently clutching Lacey's purple unicorn, a gift for her daughter's first Christmas, Harmony reviewed her 'To Do List', trying her hardest not to worry about whether her baby was scared or lonely without her.
If she let herself think about it, she was half-afraid that she'd drive herself insane.
Pen poised over paper, she went over her plan again.
1. Find minions.
2. Train minions.
3. Send minions on killing spree.
4. Go to her house.
5. Get Lacey back.
Her plan mightn't have been the most elaborate, but she knew that Buffy wouldn't stay at home while a gang of vampires went on a rampage, just as she knew that the one left babysitting wasn't going to be among the Scooby gang's better fighters.
She had no worries about whether or not she would be able to fight off Xander or Dawn once Lacey had invited her in.
She was a bit surprised by how much she was relishing the thought of causing some proper havoc, enjoying a good fight.
It had been more that a year since Lacey had been turned and, aside from hunting for food and raiding the blood bank, she had kept a fairly low profile, partly because she couldn't leave Lacey alone, partly because she was somehow uninterested in the killing sprees many of her kind thrived on.
Now, she felt ready to make up for lost time.
"I never knew that Harmony had a kid." Willow knelt down in front of the little girl, taking the small hand in hers. "Hi, Lacey. I'm Willow."
"Hiya." Lacey whispered shyly.
"She did a good job of hiding it, I'll give her that." Buffy conceded. "I never even noticed her getting fat or anything." She glanced across at the red-haired witch. "Are you ready to do this?"
"As ready as I'll ever be." Willow looked troubled. "But do you really think that I should, I mean . . ."
"We can't leave her as she is." Buffy pointed out quietly.
"Red's got a point." Spike chimed in his two cents. "You want her to shove a soul in the tiny bit? Isn't one broody git annoying enough?"
"We have to." Buffy insisted. "We can't leave her like this or she'll grow up. . ."
"She won't." Spike interrupted. "That's kind of the point to being a vamp."
"You know what I mean!" Buffy exhaled impatiently. "We don't want her to be, you know E-V-I-L." She spelled it out, rather than say it in Lacey's hearing.
"Is it going to hurt?" Lacey asked softly.
She wanted to run but there were too many of them, and they were too big. They'd catch her before she got to the door.
She wished that her Mommy was there to stop them.
"Of course it's not going to hurt." Xander picked her up and held her. "Right, Will?" He gave his friend a pointed glare.
"Of course not." Willow echoed. "Just sit down on the couch with Xander and relax, okay? It'll be over in a minute."
One minute later.
Responding to the witch's chanting, the Orb of Thesulac flickered for the briefest of instants then, instead of glowing with the pale, bright light they had expected, it remained smoky and opaque.
Jolted from her trance, Willow shook herself lightly, trying to get her bearings.
"It's no good." She said quietly.
"You can't give her her soul back?" Buffy demanded worriedly. "Why? You've done it before? Why not now?"
Willow smiled ever so slightly. "Because she's already got it."
TBC.
Author's Note: I know this chapter is a bit on the short side. I'll have an update posted as soon as it's written. Please review and let me know if there are any requests.
