It was underground. I was in a bar and I heard a demon say, "Yeah, you've heard the Chosen One, you know the Princess, is sick. Poisoned. Bantheazar is scouring the land for whoever did it. They know she survived. She's just going to be in a bad spot for a while. Lot of demons talking about going after her now that she's in a bad spot."

"Are you still listening, doll?" The waitress in front of me had a voice that was too sweet. Too syrupy.

"No, love. Shut up and go away." I got up from the table and crossed the room quickly. I didn't pull any punches. I just demanded, "What do you know about her being poisoned?"

"Who?"

"Who do you think?" I snarled. "The Princess. Who poisoned the princess?"

"I don't know."

I reached out and grabbed him by his throat to drag him close to me. I repeated, "Who poisoned her?"

"Let go of me!"

Angelus appeared over the demon's shoulder and laughed, "Whatcha doin', Jamesy boy? Why are you troubling these good demons here?"

"Fawn's been poisoned." I tightened my hold on the demon's throat and repeated. "Who did it?"

"Now, James, I'm sure these good demons don't know. Perhaps let go of him before you get into something for a stupid reason."

"Shut up. What do you know about her being poisoned?" I'd gone feral in my years without Fawn. I wasn't a lapdog anymore. I wasn't a pet. I was a killing machine and I was feeling something I hadn't felt in ten years. Protectiveness for Fawn. Righteous rage.

"Not much. Heard something going down with a demon out west. Thought Bantheazar will react to the death of her and go on a rampage. Carnage unlike this hemisphere has ever seen. They say she makes him human. They say she's the reason vamps are going soft. They want chaos. They want blood and terror to reign on earth again."

"And you want to have told me all this the first time I asked," I said calmly before I snapped his neck. His friend rose to fight me and I warned, "I asked him very politely what he knew. He lied to me. Get out of here before I do the same to you. I'm not feeling as generous as I once did."

The demon nodded and rushed to leave. Angelus chuckled, "I thought for sure you were going to get yourself without an arm there, Jamesy boy."

"Shut up, Angelus. I have things to do."

"You're going to go avenge the little princess," he said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"No. Those who did this will be found. I'm ending my leave."

Fawn put her drink down and informed them all, "I'm sure it was quite dramatic. I was dying."

"Tell them how you got poisoned and see if they have as much pity for you then," James said drily.

"I used to drink a lot…" Fawn began.

"You don't now?" Buffy interjected, staring at the wine glass in her hand.

"A very long life of drinking will build up quite the tolerance."

"It takes her eight bottles of wine to get a bit drunk," James said proudly. "She's my little lush."

"Cute. How did you get poisoned?"

"Well, as I mentioned, I spent a little bit of time drinking after James left. He upset me quite a bit. I was a holy terror to be around as well. My guards were terrified of me. When I was sober, I trained half the time and wandered half the time. They spent three or four hours a night just finding where I would wander off to during the day. I had god awful, blinding headaches and I drank to rid myself of them, which dulled me a little, which was why I didn't realize the idiot across the bar from me poisoned my drink. I thought he was thinking about biting me, which was definitely an awful idea. He poisoned me!"

"My bunny messed up because she was a drunk." He leaned forward and kissed up her neck and Buffy groaned. "It's your turn, princess."

She pouted but started talking anyway.

James makes it sound like I was dying and laying weak in bed, ready for somebody to rescue me. That's not the case at all. I did lay in bed for three days, wondering if death accepted those who lived as long as I did. The immortals. People usually assumed immortal meant invincible. But I knew I wasn't unbreakable. I'd always known I'd one day sink. So I lay in bed for three days contemplating the fact that my ship was finally sunk. That I was going to die. So, when I didn't, it was anticlimactic. On the fourth day, I woke up around eight, stared up at the vampire waiting by my bedside, and informed him, "I want something to drink."

Matthew, the old vampire Father chose as a non-Chosen-One advisor, replied, "I'll call for a glass of water."

He rang a bell on the table by my bed but I commanded, "Not water. Get me a glass of champagne and some strawberries."

"Fawn, you're very sick."

"Matthew, I am fine, and you are annoying me. I want champagne. I'm bored. Champagne and strawberries. I know some were bought before I got sick. Are they still fresh?"

"Fawn, you cannot have champagne. You are sick."

"I was poisoned. You guys gave me an antidote. Now I'm just annoyed. Go get me some champagne."

"You're weak still."

"I'm irritated." Two of my guard appeared at the door and I commented, "You took an awful long time for creatures meant to by my constant protection."

"We understood that you were arguing. We didn't want to bother you." That roughly translated to 'We didn't want to risk your wrath.'

"Whatever. Champagne and strawberries. Thank you."

"Princess, we don't want to argue with you, but you have been…"

"Ill. Thanks, sweetheart. Be a good boy and, when you get back, we'll talk about what happens when I get better."

"Yes, ma'am."

The vamp on the right left the room and the vamp on the left asked, "What would you have me do?"

"I'd have you leave the room so I can get dressed."

"Yes, princess."

Matthew and the vampire left the room and I got up so I could change out of my nightdress and into my gown. I was weak, but I wasn't dead. I was lacing it up slowly when there was a knock on my door. I called out, "Just come in and sit it on the table."

"Miss, there's a commotion in the main hall. We need you to stay in the room."

"Ugh. That's not going to happen." I finished lacing my dress and then waved the door open. I walked out into the hallway where a vampire was holding a glass of champagne with strawberries floating in it. I plucked it out of his fingers and wandered towards the shouts in the hallway. As I walked, my guards' weapons floated behind me. I muttered, "Lazy beasts."

I walked into the main hall, still sipping my champagne. There was a group, surrounding a tall dark haired man. I called out, "Is this situation dangerous, because I am truly tired and I would like to drink and sleep."

The crowd cleared and I found James, standing above a kneeling, gagged vampire. He announced, "Princess, I've brought you the vampire that orchestrated your poisoning. I've brought you the culprit to punish as you and Bantheazar see fit. And I've come to return to my post as guard."

I stared at him coldly over my glass and waved my free hand so that the weapons dropped to the ground. I turned my eyes away from James and focused on the vampire kneeling in front of him. I walked over slowly, the floor freezing beneath my bare feet. I knelt down so that we were at eye level and stared into his eyes. I informed him, "You realize what's going to happen to you, don't you?"

I emptied my glass and held it out to the side so somebody could take it from me. The vampire just glared at me. I said slowly, "I'm going to give you your soul back and that's going to hurt. You're going to spend days in agony. Maybe weeks. Perhaps months. But not long enough to get used to it. Then, I'm going to take your soul from you again. And, just as you get to celebrate your one moment of relief, I'm going to take you outside and leave you in the sun until you burn. Do you understand that?"

He sneered at me and if there hadn't been a gag in his mouth, he would have spit at me. I stood up and flicked my wrist, allowing two of my guards to drag the demon away as Father swept into the room. Father greeted, "James, good to see you back. Good to see you've gotten the thing that hurt my little girl."

Father dropped his arm over my shoulder and hugged me to his body. I just glared at James. Father pressed a kiss to the side of my head and asked, "Have you decided what you're going to do to him, Vengala?"

"I'm going to destroy him."

"There's my little girl. Now go lie down for a while. You're still ill."

"I'm fine, Father."

"You're not," he chuckled. "James, you're back on guard duty for her."

"That is a very bad idea," I lied. Every cell in my body said that James was supposed to come back to my room with me. That James was supposed to be in my life. But I was very angry and I wanted nothing to do with him.

"You're lying, Vengala. I know when you're lying. I've watched you try to lie to me for over a thousand years. Now go to your room and we'll send some breakfast up. I'd like you in bed for a few more days."

I bowed my head down in obedience and turned away from James. I commanded over my shoulder, "I'd like more champagne."

I heard James whisper, "How much does she drink?"

"She'll be better now that you're back. It's just been the headaches have been so rough on her," Dad assured him.

It was much later that James actually came to my room. A knock on the door woke me up from a light nap and I called out, "I don't want to talk."

James opened the door and slipped inside. He shut the door behind him and replied, "Too bad. Because we are going to talk about this. You're a drunk."

"And you're a demon. Let's talk about other obvious things. Did you know that it gets really bright when the sun comes out? Or have you been missing your soul so long you've forgotten?"

"Bunny…"

"No!" I sat straight up in bed and yelled it at him. "No! You don't get to call me that. You don't get to pretend like everything's the same just because you wandered in here with somebody that tried to hurt me."

"They didn't try to hurt you, princess," James spat back. "They did hurt you. They almost killed you, you little asshole. You almost died and now I'm back to make sure it doesn't happen again. Because I don't care where I am. I don't care how far away. The world doesn't exist without you in it. It can't exist without you in it."

As James spoke, he stalked towards me, closer and closer. "Look here, Fawn, I had to hear from two demons in a bar that you might die. That you have a big target painted on your back. That you could just cease to exist. And you can't just cease to exist. You are immortal."

"Immortal doesn't mean invincible."

"Of course it doesn't. But you're still not going to be killed. The world needs you."

I stared at him and then demanded, "Why did you come back?"

"Honest answer? The answer that makes me less than a demon? The answer that makes the last ten years worthless? I came back because I was so pissed when I heard you died that I wanted to kill anything and everything I thought might have had anything to do with it. I came back because I couldn't think. I came back because all this time I spent hunting that bastard down was also spent worrying that you were truly gone. I didn't try your fancy way of interrogating. I ripped my way through the masses making sure that none of them questioned that I was your knight again."

"Yes, you are my knight. You are my knight that shouldn't be in my bedroom. I am resting. I am healing. I want another glass of wine."

"And I want you to be the perfectly well behaved princess everybody thought you would be. You're not getting any more wine."

"That's a bad idea."

"Oh hush, Fawn. I'm not one of these sniveling idiots that you can bend to your will. I may have been gone for a while, but you're still not going to get away with half of what you did with them. You may not be welcoming me back with open arms, but I'm glad I'm here because they've gotten lax and it's almost gotten you killed. This will not happen again."

"Glad to have you back, James. Now get out."

"No. I'll be in your corner."