Okay, here we go. Chapter 2. I'm really enjoying this story. I started it almost a year ago, and never finished the first chapter. Then the other day, I was clearing out my file and came across it. I reread it, and decided to run with it. My muse, thus far, seems to be in agreement with me. Keep in mind that I am graduating soon, so I can be relatively sure that this will move fast with pretty regular updates since I'll have four months until I start classes at Ohio State University.

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The demons were the rough and tumble sort, and none of them wanted to share the two humans. Which left Ashling and King to not only battle three demons, but three warring demons. That made the task of killing them that much harder.

When King looked over and saw Ashling in a headlock, he headed to help. However, when he got close, she kicked his gun out of his hand, caught it and shot the demon in the head, spraying them both with purple, goopy, sticky blood.

"Hey!" King protested, running after her as she catapulted toward a second demon. "That was supposed to be a rescue!"

"Get over it, pretty boy. I don't need saving." Ashling tossed her chocolate brown hair over one shoulder, tossed him his gun. "Let's end this now, argue over who's got the bigger dick later."

"I think I've got you beat there. Though," he added quite seriously as he kicked one demon in the gut, then put a bullet through its skull, "I think you may win the breast category. Possibly the vagina one too. Providing yours doesn't come complete with fangs."

"No one's ever complained before." Ashling said sweetly as, together, they killed the third demon.

"I so didn't need to know that. I do not need to hear about the sex life of the daughter of a couple I have to work with every day."

"You're the one who brought up my vagina." Ashling pointed out, laying her sword on the table. She looked around, surveyed the damage. Nothing too bad. A lot of demon blood, no real damage to the furniture. A couple broken chairs, a severely ruined rug that would have to be replaced.

"True, true, but I didn't ask about what went in it."

"Can we please change the subject?"

"Please," Cordelia said regally, walking down the stairs, "do. You, Hannibal King, watch that mouth of yours when it comes to my daughter. And Ashling, please try to be good. I know you probably instigated it. Now, tell me what happened and what they were so we can get this cleaned up before the boys get back. Buffy! Come down here, please."

Buffy bounded down the stairs. She was the same age as Cordelia, and, like Cordelia, looked over a decade younger. Neither looked much past thirty. "Whoa. You two have a party and not invite Aunt Buffy?"

"Not precisely," Ashling began carefully, but King cut in.

"Mother fuckers broke in." he said offhandedly. "The Princess here and I took care of them." He looked at Cordelia, "You raised a decent fighter, Cordy." He started up the stairs. "Too bad that's the only thing she's decent at."

Cordelia barely smothered a laugh and watched her daughter's face turn bright red. She put out an arm and blocked Ashling's angry bound up the stairs after King. "Let him go. He's annoying, but harmless." She stroked Ashling's hair. "Calm down, go get a shower while Buffy and I clean this up. Cute, too, don't ya think?"

Ashling's only answer was a growl as she stalked up the stairs. She and Cordelia wore the same size, and Cordelia always kept clothes in the office, so she knew there was something she could put on once she got clean. Cordelia was silent until she knew Ashling was out of hearing range. The child had ears as good as her father.

"So, how long do you bet it is before they end up in bed?"

Buffy shrugged. "Couple days, maybe a week. Major sparks there."

"She's spitting mad, and getting madder because she's attracted to him."

"Yup. Same way you were with Doyle, if I remember correctly."

Cordelia sighed, remembered the way her relationship with her husband had come about. "Buffy, I need a little advice."

Buffy looked up from where she was rolling the rug so that it could be disposed of. "What's up?"

"I have a major problem."

"Okay, what is it?"

"Ashling's almost twenty four. She will be next week. Tristan's twenty-one, Quinn's nineteen and Olivia and Gray just turned sixteen. I'm forty seven."

"Yeah, so? Mid life crisis a decade early here or something? Cor, we don't look our age."

"All my kids are nearly grown. I'll be a grandmother in the next few years."

"Okay, you're gonna have to spit this out soon. I can't take much more suspense." Buffy teased, swiping blonde hair off her forehead.

"I'm pregnant." Cordelia laid a hand over her stomach. "I just found out. I thought I was starting to go menopausal when I missed my period, but I started getting sick, and today, I had a major craving for apples with barbecue sauce. So I took a test. Twelve of them. And they all say the same thing. I'm having another baby."

"Congratulations or condolences?"

"I'm too old!" Cordelia screeched, dropping into a chair. "I'm nearly fifty. I can't start over with another eighteen years of constant mothering. I don't have the energy. And Doyle's fifty-two. We're too old to do this again. We were almost done." Cordelia whirled around, saw Ashling on the stairs, her mouth hanging open. "Ash-"

"I forgot to grab my purse. It has my touch up make up in it. I didn't mean to eavesdrop."

Buffy slid an arm around Ashling's shoulders to steady her. "It's okay, honey."

Ashling gave her mother as genuine a grin as she could work up. "Wow. This is some coming home present. I get a new little brother or sister." She walked down the stairs, and despite of the demon guts hanging on her, she wrapped her arms around Cordelia. "I so get to be Godmother. I am old enough. I insist on it. And you aren't old. We still get mistaken for sisters. That either means you look really young, or I look really old. And I don't look old."

Cordelia held onto her eldest child tightly. "I don't know if I have another two decades of this left in me. You'll be past forty by the time I get this one out of high school."

"And we'll all help. You know what they say. It takes a village to raise a baby. And I'm going to be a part of the village for a while. Between all of us, I'm sure we have enough energy to raise one baby."

"You're old enough to be its mother."

"And you're not too old to be its mother, either. So calm down, feed your cravings and tell Dad tonight over a romantic dinner of some sort. I'll take your rotation on patrol. Even though it means putting up with that jackass King, and it means you so majorly owe me."

"Thanks, Ashling. Now go get your shower. That stuff is starting to dry and it stinks." Cordelia laughingly pushed Ashling away. The younger woman ran back up the stairs and into the bathroom. And stopped in her tracks, faced with a very wet, naked but for a towel, Hannibal King.

"Oh, dear God." Ashling stammered, backing up toward what she thought was the door, and ended up being a wall. "I'm so sorry."

King ran a hand through his hair. "Not a big deal. Hop in if you want a shower. I'll be done here in a few minutes." He turned to the mirror, wiped steam off of it. When she didn't move, he turned around again. "Problem?"

"I'll just wait until you're done."

"I am done in the shower. I need to dry my hair and get dressed. It'll take five minutes. It's silly for you to spend another five minutes covered in demon shit until I'm completely done. Get in the shower, Ashling."

"You're almost naked."

With a heaving sigh, King dropped the towel. "There. Now I'm completely naked. Happier with it this way?"

Ashling couldn't breathe. Her face turned red, her breath caught in her throat and lodged there, her stomach did flips. "Clothes."

"What about clothes?"

"Put some on."

"I'm still wet." King pointed out, reaching for the buttons on her jacket.

"What the hell are you doing!"

"You have to get naked to get a shower, and you're apparently not going to do it yourself, so I'm helping you." He looked down at her hands, long and slim, folded over his, keeping her blouse closed. "Good Lord, woman, I'm not going to take advantage of you. You aren't my type. Too prickly. Get in the damn shower, before I dump you in there myself. And stop acting like you haven't ever seen a naked man."

The words were out before she even realized the thought had formed. "I haven't."

King was taken aback. He dropped his hands and reached for the towel again. "Okay, change of tactics here. I don't like frazzling virgins so soon. I'll wait a couple days to really frazzle you."

"Thanks ever so much." Ashling said dryly. "I appreciate it more than you can know."

"I'm sure." He secured the towel, deftly removed her blouse and unfastened her slacks. "Shoes off."

When she did as she was told, he couldn't have been more surprised. He soon saw why she had paled so quickly, and it wasn't because she had volunteered information she hadn't wanted to and was regretting it.

"Dammit, lady, why didn't you tell me you were hurt!"

Ashling's gaze snapped to his. "I am?" she looked down, saw the gaping hole in her lower abdomen. "It didn't hurt."

"Adrenaline. The demon form is much stronger than that of humans. You won't feel it for another few minutes. Ever been gouged before?"

"Can't say I have. Do I need stitches?"

"They wouldn't hurt. Hop up onto the sink, lemme have a look here."

Ashling slid onto the counter beside the sink, slipped her pants off so that he could see her stomach. "Maybe you should go get Mom or Aunt Buffy."

"Ai'nt that bad. I can handle it. I've taken care of worse." He bent closer to see the wound, reached for a cloth to clean it. "We'll forgo the stitched. You'll heal fine without them. Probably have a scar though."

"I don't scar." Ashling said absent-mindedly. "Never have. Demon blood and all."

"Lucky. Okay, I'm gonna clean it out," with just that as warning, he poured rubbing alcohol on it, held her hips down when she screeched and jerked them. "Easy now, almost over. It'll stop burning in a second here. There, that should be better. Get your shower and then I'll iodine and bandage it."

Ashling glared at him as she walked into the shower. She closed the curtain with a smart snap and threw her sopping wet and yucky clothes over the top. He waited until he heard the water running to laugh. He didn't think she could hear him, and went about drying off and getting dressed. He was sitting on the counter, waiting, when she began washing her hair for the third time.

"Is that not coming out, or are you trying to wait until I give up and leave?"

Ashling stuck her head around the curtain to show him the goop that still resided in her shoulder length hair. "Both."

King looked her over. She wasn't beautiful. Had too much spirit to be so easily categorized. Classic features like those of her mother's, with Doyle's sparkling blue eyes. She was smaller than Cordelia, more delicate in build and stature. They were the same size, Cordelia just had more substance to her. Had to after having given birth five times. Her body was neat and tidy, a little on the slender side, but well toned. Actresses typically were.

She looked like pictures of Cordelia that he'd seen. Hollywood beauty, exotic charm, and a killer mouth. Her jaw was more square, her chin a little less pointed, her brows a little softer, taking on some of her father's traits. A perfect combination of the two parents.

King pushed off the counter, walked over, efficiently wrapped her in the shower curtain so she couldn't just duck inside and ignore him. "Y'know, Ashling, you look pretty damn good in purple demon guts."

"Stop patronizing me, and let go." Ashling snapped, pushing against his chest.

"No, I don't think I will." He bent his head, sniffed at her neck. "Smell good, at least. I wonder if you taste as good."

"Don't you dare-" was all that she got out before he nipped her shoulder, soothed with a quick flick of his tongue. Her knees very nearly collapsed. "Oh, God."

"Yup." He moved up her neck, to the slope of her jaw, and her eyes rolled back. "Now. Let me see here. I bet you taste even better right here."

With that, his mouth closed over hers. She wanted to fight him. Wanted to push him away and yell at him, call him all the names that had sped through her brain in the milliseconds between realization of his intentions and the moment he had actually kissed her.

Oh, he had a good mouth. Firm and warm and clever, his tongue darting in and out, keeping her wondering about just how he was going to go about the kiss. Her arms freed themselves from the shower curtain, snaked around him, kneading his back, sliding over muscles.

It was wrong. She'd only known him hours. Didn't like him in the least. And yet, there she was, in the shower, wrapped in the shower curtain, her mouth being plundered by that very man. He eased back from her slowly, with light nips at her mouth and quick kisses.

"You wanna come out, or do you want me to come in?"

Doyle had appeared at the door in time to see Hannibal kiss his daughter. He'd stared in shock at the unsuspecting couple, but reality broke through at King's words. He took a step into the room. "I suggest you get your hands off my baby girl." He said icily, waiting until King took a step back to take a swing at him. "You bastard."

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"Mom!" Ashling yelled, running down the stairs, "Mom!"

Cordelia met her at the bottom. "What's wrong? Why are you wearing a shower curtain?"

"Dad, and King, and he kissed me, and punching, and blood."

"Calm down. What happened?"

"I was in the shower, and King kissed me."

"You were in the shower with him? Ashling Mackenzie Doyle-"

"No, I was in the shower alone. He was waiting for me to get out, cause I hurt myself in the fight, and I needed a little help bandaging it cause it's in an awkward place, and he thought I was dilly dallying, and I was, and wasn't, and he kissed me, and Dad saw, and he asked me if I wanted to get out or if I wanted him to get in with me, and Dad was there, and they got into a fight!"

"Your father attacked King?"

"Yes! And fired him!"

Cordelia stalked up the stairs. "Allen Francis Doyle, what the bleeding hell do you think that you are doing!"

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Okay kids, chapter 2! R&R please! I live on feedback. I'm all open for suggestions. More will follow shortly. email me at if you want to contact me directly.