That Old Grand Sire of Mine Chapter 4: A Direct Management Style, an angel fanfic

Disclaimer: Don't own, etc., etc. Joss Whedon rules supreme and retains pretty much everything. Only written for personal enjoyment and because this plot bunny just wouldn't die, even after some serious staking…

Summary: Sequel to Vampirus (Non) Domesticus. Wherein there is a lot of heated debate and pithy comment…Rating PG13.

THAT OLD (GRAND) SIRE OF MINE

Chapter 4 – A Direct Management Approach

Pressing the intercom, Wesley got through to Harmony's desk. "Harmony, I forgot the Abercrombie file, please could you bring it to me, I can't progress further without it."

"Sure! On my way!" Came back the happy trill.

Bounding up from her desk, Harmony grabbed the file and tripped along the carpeted corridors to Wesley's office in her three-inch heels, beaming indiscriminately at those she passed. After being closeted with Lorne and Gunn and Fred for the past half hour, Angel had been much more relaxed and possibly even slightly happier than he'd been all morning.

Opening the door she stepped inside Wesley's office – "Urk!"

Wesley's hand gripped the back of her neck hard, pulling her scalp where his fingers tangled in her blond tresses as they dug into the sides of her neck. A large stake passed in front of her eyes and she felt a sudden pain between her breasts as Wesley pressed the sharpened stick into her torso directly over her heart. The file fluttered down from her nerveless fingers to scatter on the carpet; Wesley's smoke-grey eyes had gone as cold as pebbles on the bed of an icy mountain stream and an air of lethal intent turned his aura so dark purple it was almost black.

"You need to listen very carefully to my instructions, Harmony, and then you need to follow them to the letter. Do you understand?"

"Em-em-em" Harmony whimpered desperately; whatever the crazy man wanted.

"Shush."

She promptly clamped her lips tightly closed.

"Good, since I have your total attention now: Every day, you fetch Angel three mugs of blood, at half-past-ten, noon and three o'clock. As from tomorrow you will find in the bottom right hand drawer of your desk a silver cocktail flask full of blood plus an empty mug identical to the #1 Boss one Angel has. With me so far?"

"Em-em…"

"You will continue to fetch the blood for Angel each day as usual, but when you get back to your desk, you will pour the otter blood and some of the blood from the flask into the mug hidden in the drawer, which you will then take in for Angel after hiding the original mug in the drawer in it's place. At some point you will take the original mug back to the kitchen when the coast is clear and you will simply pour it away and wash the mug out as if that had been your drink. Harmony," incredibly his eyes got colder and even more frightening, "you must not drink from that mug. Do you understand these instructions?"

"Y-Yes." Harmony managed a tiny nod against his grip.

"Good…and Harmony…nobody must suspect in the slightest what you are doing. If you tell anyone, or show anyone, or in any way betray what is going on, I will personally hold you down on the floor by that pretty throat of yours and drive this stake right through your heart."

Casually he released her and stepped back, before beginning to collect the scattered file papers as if nothing untoward had happened. Fumbling frantically for the doorknob, Harmony stumbled out of his office and hurried back to her desk trying desperately to stop shaking, acutely aware of Wesley's eyes boring into her back from the shelter of his office. Act normal, act normal, actnormal, actnormalactnormal, she silently chanted the mantra until she could semi-collapse into her chair, dropping her eyes to her desk as if intently studying the open file there, and try instead to get the shaking to stop.

Wesley's lips tightened. What he'd just done was probably excessive, but Harmony was so self-centred and vapid that extreme measures were required to get the point across. Making a big fuss over the doctored blood had to be avoided at all costs, since it would drive the perpetrator underground. That could be avoided if Wesley alone of Team Angel knew what was going on, but the weak link was Harmony – the ditzy vampiress tended to blurt things out without meaning to. Terrorising her into cowering compliance was certainly cruel, but a lot more effective way to ensure the situation stayed secret than his only other option of explaining what was really going on and precipitating a willing but probably disastrous attempt by Harmony to 'help'.

To be continued in Chapter 5…