"Daughter of Rosenberg..."
Summary: One year after the events of "Groom of Rosenberg" Buffy the Rosenberg Monster and her honey have returned to ask a special favor of their creators Rosenberg and Praetorius...While Tara faces the more or less Big Bad...
Disclaimer: Would Joss want his name associated with this? I think not...But anyway all BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...Though his brother Mort gets nothing...
Archived at the Cicelyverse page of the Buffy Rebecca verse, ...
(After long delay, the continuation…)
...
Part XXXI...
The Magic Box…
Giles, Xander, Anya staring at their visitor, Assistant Curator/Security Guard Lou…
"Harmony?" Giles blinked. "Harmony Kendall?"
"Yeah, I think that's the one…" Lou nodded, looking about…
Nice, Cousin Art might thinka checking out this place for possible replacements for the two "lost" exhibits.
Assuming nothing here is of the "gets up and went" variety.
"…If she's a vampire now…Poor kid. I remember she used to be a cheerleader at the Sunnydale High games when I took my nieces and nephews."
"You're saying…Harmony?" Anya blinked. "Harmony is behind this? We're fighting…Harmony?" slight grimace, eyeing Giles.
Embarrassing, to say the least. Buffy must be desperate if she's sunk to tag teaming with Harmony to revenge herself on Willow…
Though we still have Dracula involved somewhere in this…Maybe it's not as humiliating as…
"Harmony put Willow in thrall? Oz is sure about this?" Xander cut in, rising from his chair. "For Dracula? The one who ran off from your museum?"
"The kid says so…" Lou shrugged.
Phew…Anya sighed inwardly…
Now if Harmony's just the hired help…Ok, not so bad.
"And Andrew Praetorius is involved?" Anya, a bit archly…
"The kid says so…" Lou shrugged.
Knew it…Another monsterfest. Who called it, boys? Hormonal mommie Harris. That's right, Anya Harris is the Woman.
Oh, God…Another Monster lumbering round? Some tool of a Drac evil plan, maybe?
Though Buffy must be involved…Even if she turned to…Gag…Harmony…
Hmmn…What would Buffy want a third Monster running about for? Threesomes?
No, must be Drac's scheme…Buffy just in it for revenge.
On…Us…Slight gulp.
"What about Buffy the Rosenberg Monster?" Anya asked as Xander was halted from running out the door by Giles who urged him to a moment's patience. "Xander, wait!" she called, panicked now.
My Xander? Against Dracula and Buffy? Harmony, well maybe… But the Dracula and Buffy "tear your arms off, blow up your castle lab, break outta any jail cell" Monster Buffy?
Xander reluctantly halting and turning back to them…
"Who? Oh…Buffy Summers' resurrection thing." Lou nodded.
Has everyone in Sunnydale heard about Buffy? Xander and Anya eyed each other.
So much for our keeping a cooly low profile…
"Nah, I guess she's not in this one."
"I doubt that…" Anya frowned. "I'd bet she's the Big Bad, runnin' the whole show…Slayers who turn love that sort of thing…"
Hmmn…With…
Harmony…
Desperately repressing a giggle as Xander eyed her, frowning…An…
Harmony or no, Dracula involved…The Real Vlad, as you keep tellin' us. Willow in danger…His frowning look…
Hmmn…
Might be time to kick in a lil' hormonal jealousy…Of the "All this over Willow, still?" variety?
Maybe a question as to Harmony as well…? Tying into Cordelia…Yeah…
Oh…No, that would be mean, after what happened last year… Oh, my poor Xander…She teared up suddenly.
Damn you, hormones…You're supposed to work for me. I can be unselfish after the baby pops and we're past the late night feedings and diaper changes.
"Anya…" Giles put up a hand. "And you, Xander, please…Lets try to sort this out and not go running off blindly."
"Not alone, Gods…er God…" mental concession to Xander's beliefs… "…know(s)." Anya insisted.
"We must know exactly what we're dealing with here…" Giles pointed out. Xander sighing, but nodding…
"Say, where's Oz, why didn't he come?" he turned to Lou.
"He said he'd try to go back to the mad doctor guy's place, his lab…See if he could get a handle on what they're up to." Lou, carefully. "But he also said Dracula told him he was doing this for his wife…Something about redemption. And Ms. Rosenberg wouldn't be hurt, he promised."
"Redemption?" Giles pondered.
"Dracula promised…Great." Xander frowned.
"There are tales…" Giles noted…
"Yeah, they used to say Dracula…Vlad at least…Had sworn off killing people to try to win his wife's soul back or something." Anya nodded. "It was gossip back at D'Hoffryn's. All the girls mocked it to please the Boss but they all were mooning over it…You know…Wow, to be loved like that, that sort of thing."
She eyed Xander, wan smile… "It's a real turn on to have someone risk everything to save your soul from Evil."
"Nice way to do it, putting Willow in Harmony's grip. Why Harmony?" Xander grimly, then pondering. "Isn't she in LA last we heard?"
"When we vaguely spoke about how some day we ought to help her out but decided for now it was Angel's problem?" Anya.
When she sent that sympathy card to Xander about Cordelia and it didn't even have a bloody organ concealed in it…
Oh…
Xander staring as Anya patted him, wiping her eyes. An?
"That's my understanding…" Giles agreed. "In fact, Angel told the Council in one of our secret contacts that she was involved with Drusilla."
("Saving women, consulted by the Watchers…I seem quite the heroic figure in the future." Angelus, rather smugly satisfied.
Spike, Darla rolling eyes…
Well, at least there's some fun in that torn-off arm. Nice to know my restored Cicely has a touch of devil in her.
Wait…Darla frowned…
"I'm still waiting to hear what's happened to me? Dru? Don't tell me I got a soul and turned sickeningly good too." She sighed.
"Uh…" Dru paused.)
"Harmony and Dru? Roomies in LA?" Anya blinked. "Poor things…Sorta like already being in Hell before dusting."
"Well, she…Harmony…Is workin' for Dracula now, the kid said." Lou noted. "Has her in some kind of thrall…"
"He must be really short of good help…" Anya shook head.
…..
"All set…" Jonathan got into driver's seat of his car, currenly parked at a minimall consisting of an Internet café, laundromat, and a Doublemeat Palace on the edge of town, offering a soda which Dawn took. "I got hold of Buffy from one of the computers in there on the account I set up last year. She'll have an eye out for Faith, but she says to tell Giles, she'll meet him and her, alone, at a location she'll name."
Dawn frowned… "I dunno…I don't trust him. And Faith will follow his lead…What Buffy would do." Sigh.
"Buffy'll be careful. But she's worried about things…She says Will thinks the rat thing and Dracula must be connected. Something big's going down."
"You told her to be careful…?" Dawn eyed him next to her. "If she and Will start poking around…"
"She promised she would be…But she wants more intel…And she thinks, like me, the person to get it from is Andrew. He's up to something, especially if Dracula is the Romanian guy staying at his place."
Troubled look…
"What?" Dawn asked. "Dracula? Or was she mad at me for not telling her about our engagement first?"
"That…I kinda held off on that." Jonathan, guilty look. "I mean…" he eyed her grim, pouting face… "She's got a lot on her mind right now."
"Really? Well, guess it'll be easier for you to take it back when this is all over." She pouted, miffed tone.
"No way…I can't return your ring, that place has a no refund policy." He smiled.
"Good." She noted. "So…?"
"Buffy seemed really eager to talk to Andrew…And not just to nobly Slayer threaten him get him to spill the details on 'Dr. Alucard'." he noted. "I couldn't help wondering if she's still thinking about what you told me the other night." He eyed her.
"You know monster 3.0, baby/kid version."
"I told you…" Dawn, shaking head. "Well, we'll have to be the ones handling any contacts with that perv…"
"I said we would…She seemed ok with that for now but wants us to tell him she wants a meeting. 'With old drinkin' buddy', she said." Faint smile.
"Geesh…Mom…" Dawn groused. "I've barely had a couple of family dinners with them and she can't wait to bring in another kid to replace me."
"She did miss out on bringing you up…" he noted, cautiously.
"And I could use some of that…Within limits…" she replied.
"It's kinda cute…Buffy in Mommie mode…" he smiled. "I never thought she'd be so the maternal type…"
"Hey?" Dawn glared.
"No offense, she just didn't seem to have that as a priority in life, back at school. I know she had other things on her mind then of course."
"She was always maternal, my sis. In her way. Geesh, Spike saw that right off. Anyway, it's still crazy. A resurrected baby or kid? And where would they get the soul? It could be a real monster, without one. God if Giles hears Buffy's even been considering something like this…"
"That's why we ought to be the ones talking to Andrew…" he noted. "Though maybe not both of us just in case he or worse, Dracula, decide we're asking too many questions."
"Maybe only one of us should…" Dawn eyed him.
"Exactly…" he nodded. "And it would be a great field test."
"Uh-huh. Don't get too much with the hubris thing, Mr. Levinson, Giles would say. And the future Mrs. Levinson agrees. Dracula and even Andrew won't be easy to fool." She noted. "Andrew knows about Mears' robots."
"Not about her. And I can glam her a bit…She'll pass. They won't be expecting a bot and Andrew knows about you, a little different aura and all, if Drac senses anything."
"I dunno, Jon. Are you sure this is gonna work?" Dawn sighed to Jonathan…Smoothing hair.
"She still doesn't look all that 'Dawnie' to me. And even if she gets past Andrew and his houseguest, I don't see her fooling Giles or Willow." she looked back to the rear seat, frowning at the figure seated there.
"Well?" Jonathan eyed the rear view mirror…
"Not bad…Getting there." Dawn in the rear nodded. "But we gotta get her a change of clothes, those things are two years outta date. No one'll believe I'd be caught dead in that."
"What?" Dawnbot stared at the two in turn.
…
Underground adjunct lab, Praetorius Cellular Technologies…
Temporarily closed to all nonessential staff…
"Ms. Rosenberg…" Dracula sighed to a rather blank-eyed Willow standing by a now rather blank-eyed Harmony near a long lab bench. "Pray accept my deepest apologies for taking you away from your dear wife's bedside at this time. Only that Dr. Praetorius assures me from his contacts that your wife was out of any danger and quite well and our own urgent situation here would I have done so."
"Sure…" Willow, vaguely. "Glad to help since Harmony says I should…"
Harmony starting to nod but returning to blank attention at Dracula's slight frown…
"And my apologies for that as well…I give you my word I will see the thrall is lifted as soon as our work is complete."
"Indeed." Andrew chimed in, looking up from a monitor on which a scan of his latest artificial human brain was displayed. "But if you could, come and have a look here, Willow. This is the positron scan of the brain I cloned from Miss Drusilla's neural tissue. It appears to be in excellent condition in its new home and ready for activation."
She walked over, looking carefully at screen. "Yes…"
Hmmn…She might be a bit more enthused about the world's second only cloned brain…He thought. And from a vampire's tissue at that.
Still, can't be helped at present, I suppose.
"This is Drusilla's brain tissue…?" Willow asked, vaguely.
"Yes, quite so." Andrew nodded. "As I explained, Miss Drusilla Waverly was the reincarnation of Countess Elisabete of the Dracule, 'Dr. Alucard's' late wife. Drusilla, therefore, like Spike, had human-vampire hybrid tissue related to our subject."
"It may be more difficult. Spike was the direct counterpart of William…" Willow noted. "Drusilla is a reincarnate…"
"As was Buffy Summers…" Andrew pointed out. "You did succeed in pulling Cicely Walthrop's soul back into her."
"It was the original brain and Cicely was Buffy's soul…" Willow pondered.
"As Elisabete's was poor Miss Waverly's…" Dracula, anxiously, coming to them. "Do you foresee problems, Ms. Rosenberg?"
"It could be more difficult this time…" she mused, vaguely. "Still, it worked on Spike…"
"Anything we can do to ensure our success, we're at your service, madam." Dracula, earnestly. "Just please don't leave any stone unturned."
"If we knew your wife's soul was near Drusilla, like Will's kept near Spike…" she sighed.
"Sadly I have not sensed that…" Dracula, hesitantly. "But I am certain she has not retreated to Heaven…My primary concern here. She has not been at rest since her death in 1463."
"Yes?" Praetorius hurried to a buzzing intercom. "Gibbons? I gave orders not to be disturbed…"
"My apologies, Professor." Gibbons' voice, just faintly perturbed. "But I thought you would need to know that Ms. Maclauy is here, in the parlor. Demanding to be taken to someone named 'Vlad'. Most insistent and she appears magics capable…."