Be warned there is going to be nudity and references of heavy violence in this chapter, hence the "R" Rating.

Parental Guidance is suggested.


Part 8,


Looking human for Illyria was a strange feeling, but given that she was wearing the black dress of morning like Spike, Angel and Gunn and the rest of the Slayers showed a sign of respect. The Bracken Funeral glyphs circled the temple they were in. But it was the Cross-in the center of the room that caught most of Illyria's attention. A symbol that could harm a vampire just by being in its presence. Spike and Angel were clearly in discomfort but they bore it as a sign of honor to be with their fallen friend.

"We stand here today to honor the fallen warriors of the Light. Wesley Windom-Pryce and Carlos Sanchez." An eastern Orthodox priest said as the two pictures of Wesley and a high school graduation photo of Carlos hung by their caskets.

"In all the battles we fight to stave off of the darkness, sometimes we lose and innocent, other times we fall. But we give what strength we have to send a message to the darkness... We will never give up." The priest said as Illyria started to have tears fall down her eyes. Nina who was sitting next to her had given her some soft paper to tend to her eyes and nose with.

"Easy there Fred." Nina said, as Illyria could smell the hormonal chemicals on her skin start to indicate that tomorrow night; Nina would be going through her change to beast form. Illyria just wanted to guise to be gone, she, Illyria dropped commanded her flesh to turn blue; though she kept the orange tones of Fred's human self.

"Child, it is your time to speak." The priest said as Illyria was asked to get up and move to the podium. Illyria wished not to be part of this, but this was in Wesley's name and of the name of the young Bracken demon that she had not known, but learned so much about over the last few days.

"Many of you know me as Fred Berkle, others know me as Illyria of the Pyrmordium. But that doesn't matter. All that matters here is the fact we are here to honor the memories of Wesley and of Carlos. Wesley who was my friend, guide and... My... my love..." Illyria said as she let the tears flow. Angel got up and moved over to the Stage to aid Illyria, but she raised her hand and Angel Stopped in his tracks. "I'm okay... I can continue Angel." Illyria said as she looked down at the script written in the language of the Old Ones.

"Long ago, Illyria of the Pyrmordium was an individual that knelt down to no one, but now she knelt down on her knees to pay tribute to a person that helped her grow. It was a rough ride for her but he was there for her... Wesley you are going to be missed." With that Illyria used her powers and summoned a long trident fighting staff and placed it on Wesley's coffin. "Wesley, this is yours, use it as a sign of honor in your journey into the afterlife." With that Illyria left the stage and returned to her seat.


Charisma stood over the grave wearing her katana over her shoulder. This was the hardest thing for her. The funerary herb bowls surrounded the graves let out a soft scent of lavender. Bracken's did not burn their herbs for their funerary rights. They used herbs to give a calming sense during these times. Illyria had done well. It was as if she was raised around Bracken Practices. She knew every right, every code, every prayer as if not by memory, but by almost living it. Carlos would have been proud of the funeral he was being given. Illyria was even wearing a sheathed sword like Kar herself was. But it was the fact that this duo service had brought back together the various "Superhero groups" in the city. Whatever factions or problems had arisen between the groups over the years had faded away. The Streetwise warriors of the Crew talked with the Amazon warriors of the Slayers, The Neo-Scoobies talked with Initiative guys, The Rogues talked with the A.I. crew; Shadowmen and Wiccan, Street Fighter and Cop, Mutant and Human, Slayer and Vampire, Demonicus and Soldier all talked and spoke of their late friends well. Sheri came by her, the half human, Lillian demon woman put her hand on her shoulder. She had morphed into her purple skin battle form so she could carry Carlos's casket as part of being the Pallbearers. The purple flesh tones were still here along with her extra large claws.

"Kar... I know that you miss Carlos. But remember that we of the Demonicus will be here for you." Sheri said as Kar reached out and patted her on the shoulder.

"Yeah, Sheri..." Kar said as she moved towards Illyria who was shaking hands with some of will wishers. Between the female Werewolf, the Dhamphir, the two Vampires and the dark skinned human. She was just glad that Illyria was there with her. They had so much in similar scars, but the wake for her Beloved Wesley said a lot about her. It was so very English.

"Illyria..." Kar said as she moved up to Illyria, she could see that Illyria was wearing some of her demon visage.

"Yes, Kar..." Illyria said as not so much with words but with how their eyes looked of acknowledgement and understanding.

"Thank you for helping me with these rights." Kar said as Illyria offered her hand out the blue stain on the back of her peach skin and placed it on Kar's face.

"You aided me too... I am yet to understand some of the human funerary rights, but I am glad that his life was honored." Illyria said as she looked at the floral bouquets around the room. Each bore the symbols of various orders. The Slayers, the Watchers, the Flag of the Demon Initiative, the Haloed Angel of Angel Inc, the funeral pyre symbol of the Crew, the allied flag of the Demonicus. It all mirrored the loss and feelings of understanding they have all been through.

"So many warriors." Illyria said looking around the crowd.

"Yes, many warriors. It's hard to believe that we all fought to save this city. I mean given the odds, would could have lost half of our number, but in the end we only lost two." Kar said looking at the various groups. The members of the Crew had started to talk with Sheri and if she wasn't in her purple mode she swore that she was almost blushing as she spoke about Carlos. Over in the corner was a tall man wearing an eye patch talking with several Slayers. A red haired woman and an older man in his late fifties wearing Glasses were talking with several of the Army guys. It was strange but there was a comfort in seeing this.

"Illyria is there anything you are doing later this week. I think we need to speak about some things since you are good friends with Angel." Kar said as she stood next to Illyria.

"What do you wish to speak about?" Illyria said as she looked at Kar.

"It was something insane... But I think it would make the folks in the local area feel safer in knowing that the demon and other community is out there." Kar said as she moved away to rescue her cousin from a very curious human girl that was poking at her horns.


Nina was stretching out her nude frame by Angel. Last night hearing about Wesley's early demon hunting days at the wake was interesting. Who knew Wes was such a klutz when it came to him being right of training. She could almost see him as being a larger adult version of Ron from the Harry Potter novels. I mean he wore leather pants when he first came into L.A. Talk about a hilarious sight she would have like to have seen. It was all the interesting stuff she heard about Wesley that made her think about what Angel and the rest of his friends were like. Then there was Faith, a friend of Wesley's that told her tales of how dorky he was. Fred had taken comfort in hearing about some of the more interesting tales of his youth. It took Nina a little while to realize that Faith was part of the same Amazon warrior tribe that Fred had taken to living with after Wesley's death. Maybe because Faith's order had so befriended Wesley. Nina had started to feel out of place in wanting to tell her sister and niece that she was a Werewolf; but after meeting Faith, Willow, Giles, Xander and even Buffy and her sister Dawn; telling her folks about what she was wasn't going to feel so bad. Though Buffy did say that coming out to her mom that she was some Amazon warrior, had her mom wondering if she would help out the police. But it was the fact that putting the issue out on the table had made her feel better. Nina sat up letting the covers pull off of her body leaving her top exposed.

"Angel..." Nina said looking out into space.

"Yes, Nina." Angel said as he moved back to he could caress her soft back.

"After all that I have seen and been through... Does it get any easier???" Nina said as the cool air worked around her breasts.

"What gets easier?" Angel said as he started to scratch a small mole on her back.

"Telling people what you are." Nina said as she turned towards him.

"Sometimes it is easy... Other times it isn't..." there was a pause from Angel knowing where this was going. "Nina is this about you telling your sister and Amanda that you are a Werewolf." Angel said as he felt tension in Nina's shoulders.

"Yes... It is, I just want... Angel... I'm scared..." Nina said as she fell forward on her knees. Angel just rubbed her back understanding.

"It's going to be okay, Illyria is going to be here. She knows how comfortable you are around her; and I am going to stand by you okay..." Angel said as Nina turned her head and looked at him. The tears running down her face let him know that she was over the worse of it. "Nina, how about we just stay here for awhile and you let me know when you are ready. I'll make breakfast and we can go from there." Angel said as he reached up and hugged Nina.

"Okay." Nina said as she lay back on Angel's chest letting her fingers work on Angel's back.


Scrambled Eggs, Pancakes, Sausage, Coffee, and juice, Grits, and Oatmeal: Angel was going out of his way. Jill thought as she saw Nina in a red floral sundress.

"Nina, I didn't know Angel could cook?" Jill said a she looked over the table in the large hotel kitchen they were in.

"Well he kinda does, I mean, for a guy that is mostly on a liquid diet he can sure cook for a king." Nina said looking at the large amount of food Angel had prepared.

"Well, when you are stuck inside for almost twelve hours a day, you start to do things to keep your sanity." Angel said as several other people started to come into the kitchen.

"Hey Ange... so how is your love life doing?" Faith said as she sat down by Amanda at the large table that was in the kitchen. Amanda had become fascinated by the full-blown true to life Amazon Warrior that Angel knew from his long life. There was some unspoken history between Angel and her, but it was more of Friendship than of love and it could be plainly be seen in how Faith and Angel interacted, even when Angel offered a place to stay for the night. The way Faith Acted, it was as if she was like a younger sister to Angel. One that got in trouble a lot, but had gotten her life turned around.

"Good Faith, so how are things going with the army of young Slayers you have been training?" Angel said as a large dark skinned man entered the room and kissed Faith.

"Hey Faith." The man said as he sat down next to her.

"Everything is Five by Five." Faith said as a blush started to from on her face.

"That's good." The man said back to Faith as she looked at the other people at the table.

"Um, Robin," Faith said as she adjusted some in her chair.

"Oh, sorry. Robin Wood, I'm Faith's fiancée." The man said as he offered his hand out to Jill, Amanda and Nina.

"So," Amanda said looking at Faith... "You're one' of those Amazons I saw at the funeral?" Faith just grinned and accepted the title, neither taking it as an insult or an honor.

"Well Slayer actually, but many of my kind could be considered Amazons, given the mythology that came about being with that social group." Faith said given some Slayer history one oh, one.

"So, what Amazons are real?" Jill said looking at Faith with doubt. "The next thing you know, you are going to tell me that Werewolves are real." Jill said looking at Robin, Angel and Faith. Nina started to get very uncomfortable after Jill had said this.

"They are..." Nina said as fear ripped through her eyes. Jill just stopped and got very uncomfortable.

"Nina... you mean you have met one..." Jill said as Nina looked like she was on verge of a panic attack.

"I got attacked by one." Nina said as she was about break down, Angel stopped his cooking and moved away from the stove and headed towards Nina to comfort her.

"Sorry... I didn't know." Jill said as she saw Nina so very clearly shaken up.

"It was during the attack that me and Nina had met. I saved her life while I was taking out the Werewolf." Angel said as Nina was breaking down and got up and left the table. Faith got up too and moved with such speed that she entered the door to the restaurant office before Nina closed the door.

"I... I didn't know." Jill said as a soft crying sound could be heard coming from behind the door.

"Yeah I have been helping her cope with the after effects of the attack," Angel said suddenly being stuck on damage control with Jill and Amanda.

"Robin could you see how Faith and Nina are doing?" Angel said as Robin got up and moved towards the door.

"Come on, where was she when she was attacked?" Amanda said looking at Angel.

"It was a few months ago and she got hurt." Angel said leaving some stuff out and letting Jill and Amanda fill in the Blanks.

"Wait... I remember Nina saying that she got attacked by a..." Jill just stopped as the realization hit her. "My God... that was the Werewolf...." Jill just looked at Angel. "It..." The thought scared her as what she had said earlier. "Nina is a..."

"Yes..." Angel said as Jill and Amanda looked at him.

"Wow. So this is kinda of like the Movie Underworld, except you're the Vampire and she is like female version of Scott Speederman." Amanda said as Jill just looked at her daughter. "What Mom, I saw the movie on cable." Amanda said defending herself.

"Yeah... uhmmm." Jill said as she cleared her throat.

"So, let me guess. This is what Nina was holding back about when she said went "Camping." Jill said as Angel put his hands down and leaded forward on the table.

"Yes... I would offer Nina a save place where she could do her monthly transformations in." Angel said, as he started to move away from the table and move over and sat down by Jill and laid out his cards. "As the weeks went by, me and Nina became friends, then when she swung by about three months ago... Well she let me know that she was insisted and it had been a year or two since I had a serious relationship, and..." Angel got very uneasy and a little embarrassed. "Make a long story short, with me getting over my cold feet, when I came forward it was during the moments prior to her transformation and when I had my back turned, I gave her this long speech about why I had been avoiding her, some personal issues and the so; I told her my feelings that I would like to see her. During this entire time she was changing, then she reached out and decided to turn me into her new personal chew toy..." Angel said blushing heavily at the time before he continued... "I got away... I got medical help.... Came back a few hours later after she changed back. We talked, had breakfast and we've been dating ever since." Angel said as Jill looked into his eyes.

"So... you had cold feet. Um, so were you avoiding her?" Amanda said giving a grin of there was something more going on.

"Um, I had a run in with some um..." Angel cleared his throat several times. "Evil puppets." Which came out like a whisper.

"What???" Jill and Amanda said at the same time.

"Trust me... its a long story, that might include me getting some therapy afterwards." Angel said wishing he was in the Kitchen's office with Faith.


Nina was pacing around the office like a caged animal and Faith was worried.

"Nina. Calm down." Faith said as she watched Nina pace in the room.

"I mean Angel is out there, my life is over..." Nina said as she flung her arms around wildly.

"Nina, calm down.." Faith said as she moved forward and grabbed Nina and pushed her back against the wall.

"Let go of me.." Nina said as she felt Faith's grip around her arms.

"I will only let go of you, until you get something through your head. Telling your family what you are is the hardest thing you can do. I have a lot of secrets in my past, Lady... Trust me being a Werewolf is nothing... Try having a genetic memory of a warrior bloodline, having your mother being an alcoholic, your step mother being killed by some vampire, being hunted by the same vampire, being brainwashed, going evil, framing your best friend for murder, being put into coma, coming out of foresaid coma, going homicidal, and a few other things." Faith said as she lifted Nina off of the floor.

"What are you?" Nina said as she felt Faith's grip.

"Nina, get this through your head... Angel saved your life and he saved mine. We talked at Wes's funeral... Nina... during my darkest hour he took a woman who had super-human strength going through a really suicidal time in her life and showed her the light. I wanted to die... I had nothing..." Faith said as Nina looked into Faith's dark Obsidian eyes.

"He... Angel, he stopped you from committing suicide???" Nina said as she started to get a feeling that there was more back-story to Faith than she knew.

"Yes... I went to jail, got some help... But though it all... I had hope." Faith said as she reached up and took a Necklace off that had a large red stone on it. The moment the necklace came off Faith's face morphed. It took on a more rounded form but the eyes and hair remained the same.

"Wait, your face just changed." Nina said as Faith brought up a chair in the office and sat down on it.

"Yeah, its something I use whenever I come back to L.A. or the west coast." Faith said as Nina started to touch Faith's real face.

"How??? Is this some power your people possess?" Nina said looking into Faith's true eyes.

"No, a friend of mine named Willow, she did a spell on this necklace but... I just wanted you to know... We all wear masks Nina... I use mine to protect my identity, you use yours to shield yourself from your fears..." Faith said as she got up and put her necklace back on. "I have learned that we all have to sometime take the mask off and reveal who we really are. I have done that with my people and my fiancée. You have to do it to." Faith said as she placed her hand on Nina's shoulder.

"Faith... I'm scared..." Nina said as Faith looked at her.

"I know... Trust me... Once you face your own inner demons, things get easier." Faith said as she moved towards the door and started to turn the knob. At that moment Nina moved by Faith and placed her hand on top of Faith's and started to turn the knob with her.

"Let's do this together." Nina said as she moved out the door with Faith.

"So... Tell me a bit more about Angel." Nina said as Jill and Amanda looked at the two of them.

"Okay... Nina, we know that you're a Werewolf, but what did the two of you talk about in there?" Jill said as Nina started to blush...

"The usual Girl talk..." Faith said as she hugged next to Nina.

"Ms. Faith..." Amanda said looking at Faith.

"Yeah... what is it?" Faith said to Amanda.

"Are you like Xena or Gabrielle?" Amanda said as Faith quickly went to her cell phone.

"I need to call Andrew... He is the expert on these things." Faith said realizing that she definitely needed the Science Fiction Geek's brain to aid her.

"Oh, Hi Fred... so when did you dye your hair?" Faith said as she waited for her phone to connect with Andrew's line.

"You are Faith. We must talk about Dana..." Fred said as the red of her garments off set and gave color to the sudden alabaster white skin she now had.


Dana was studying the smell of the Cleveland air with her nose. Mina was standing behind her watching this scene... So many voices...it was getting harder to have a moment of clarity for her. She wished... they wished to have a single mind. One essence, one time... She felt that no matter what drugs they put into her or what Spells they did. She was going to lose the fight.

"Mina... it's getting worse..." Dana said as she opened her eyes.

"How bad is it?" Mina said as Dana looked like she was struggling to hold it.

"Bad... I wish to sleep. I want darkness. No other voices in my mind." Dana said as she kneeled down.

"Dana..." Mina said as she slowly put her hand on the wrist control to Dana's bracelet to pump sedative into her.

"Not my clothes... Not my skin..." Dana said as she started to rub at her hands.

"Dana calm down..." Mina said as she slowly approached Dana. Then suddenly Dana grabbed at her clothes and started to pull and rip them off. First the t-shirt and sweats pants she hand on, followed by her sports bra and underwear. Dana was scared. Then Dana started to claw at her own skin...

"No... Not my flesh... I am not this color... I have..." Dana had a moment of terrifying clarity. "Mina... Voices... I must sleep now... You... Danger." With that Dana had lost her clarity and rushed at Mina like a wild beast. Mina used all of her Slayer reflexes to avoid Dana's nails as she leapt at her on the rooftop of the Slayer Stronghold. Mina realized that Dana had regressed to the First Slayer. Knowing that she couldn't fight that type of force Mina slammed her hand against the sedative control on her wrist as Dana running on all fours slammed right into her.

It took several moments for Mina to recover from the impact. The blow had slammed the two of them a good fifty feet from where they had stood. Every bone in her body ached as she turned to see where Dana lay. Between the sedative and the spells on her, Dana was out cold and was being restrained by a series of glowing white magical energy band around her body and her mouth.

"Well, I have to give Willow her props, when she decides to take down a Slayer, she takes down a Slayer and then some." Mina said as she got up, but realized that she had dislocated her knee from dodging Dana.

"Crap..." Mina said as she shifted around as she leaned and got on her earpiece. "Security... This is Mina... We need a team up here on the roof... Dana regressed to a feral state and I need medical help." Mina said as she waited for the team to show up.

"We read you... We will be up there in under a minute." The voice of the security officer said over Mina's earpiece.

"Okay, I don't think we are going anywhere." Mina said as she turned to look at Dana's body and steady breathing...

"Willow I hope that we find a way to help her." Mina said as she stated to feel raindrops start to fall on her head and on the roof. "Faith... I wished you were here." Mina said as she felt the cooling rain hit her body and Dana's body. The Wild Animal was asleep, but would it stay there?


Nina felt that this was a strange feeling for her. It was probably stranger for her family who were about to witness her transformation. She felt her bathrobe around her body.

"Three minutes Nina..." Fred said as she stood nearby away from the yellow line painted on the floor.

"Thanks, Fred." Nina said, as she felt more comfortable here with Fred.

"I remembered the promise I told you I would hold when you underwent your next transformation." Fred said as she placed two stools by the staircase of where Jill and Amanda would be to witness her transformation.

"Yeah... I just thought it would be more harder than this..." Nina said as Jill and Amanda came down the door.

"Nina... so you ready?" Jill said as she sat on the floor and not on the stool Fred had set up.

"Listen Jill, I'm so sorry about keeping this secret from you." Nina said as she sagged her head down.

"Nina, we're sisters... There are things that we have to tell each other... but you never told me that you were going through this... I mean would there be a cure to turn you back into a human?" Jill said as her medical training kicked in.

"Jill, I asked Angel, I asked Fred. Hell... I asked the entire science geek staff at Wolfram and Hart." Nina said as she moved toward the doors of her cell. "Jill, there are measures that I can take to help me through this, but I will always have an aspect of this in me. Even if I do get rid of the heavy furriness... I will have this part of me that I will have to wrestle with for the rest of my life." Nina said as she looked up at the clock. "Fred... you better take my bathrobe." With that Nina got out of the robe and tossed it to Fred. Nina slowly turned around as Amanda got a look at her aunt Nina's nude body.

"Aunt Nina... How fast does this change take???" Amanda never got the chance to finish her sentence as Nina felt her perceptions of reality shift quickly... she no longer saw her friends and family outside of her cell, she was caged and wanted out... Nina slammed against the cell with all of her force, the bars held strong. Nina smelled fresh meat and something else... something old, not living dead flesh, but older more powerful. The Female with a pulse moved to protect her cub as Nina barked and lashed out a paw through the grate that was holding her back from her meal... then suddenly there was a sound... it was soothing.

The sound was coming from the blue one. The creature smelled like the flesh of the mother and her cub, but there was something older about her... the sound was getting louder and more sad. Nina stopped lashing through the bars and had this urge to sit and listen... It was so peaceful, Nina felt as if she was running free in some wild field where there was plenty of food to catch and eat... then the blue one put her limb through the cell and started to scratch her ear... Nina had this urge the lay down and sleep. Then Nina smelled Angel... the tiled her head up and panted some... and heard something being communicated between the two of them... Nina growled and wanted to hear the sound from the blue one again and started to nudge the blue one's hand with her nose... then the blue one started to make the sound again and Nina fell asleep and chased after game in her dreams.


"Illyria what did you just do?" Angel said as Nina slept on the floor of the cell.

"I sang the song of the Green." Illyria said as she stroked Nina's head.

"What...." Angel said as Illyria just grinned.

"Among the Old Ones... There were beasts like Nina here... it wasn't until I smelled her transformed state that I knew what she was." Illyria said as Nina's leg started to scrape across the floor. "The Old Ones would use a spell on them so that they could use them in battle, they were worthy battle beasts, and often used by the members of the Pyrmordium as pets. But I do not know how they became mangled with humans or what fate some member of this species would deserve to be made into these creatures." Illyria said as Angel looked at Nina.

"So what you did was the Old One's way to..." Jill said moving closer to Illyria who was sitting next the bars of the cell.

"You say command them... No...." Illyria said as she looked at the blood kin of the creature in the cell. "It was the Old One's custom to give them the illusion of the wilds in their mind. Thus they could be allowed to serve with our followers." Illyria said as Angel started to sit beside of her and stroke at Nina's head.

"I think you found a way to make Werewolves into pets." Angel said as he found spot on Nina's belly and started to scratch.

"No, the Song of the Green is only used to calm them... it does not take away their violent nature. So she will be hearing the call of the moon again and will be barking to serve it." Illyria said as Angel took out a video camera and recorded this for Nina to view when she reverted to her human form.

"So are there any side effects Illyria?" Angel said as Jill and Amanda came to look at their family member in the cell.

"Yes... the first time they hear the song they will want to mate after wards." Illyria said as she got up and moved to a box and took out a long chew bone and placed it into the cell next to Nina...

"So, in other words when Nina wakes up..." Angel said as Illyria moved towards the stairs...

"Nina will want to mate with you Angel." Illyria said as she went up stairs.


"Nina... you wake?" Faith said as she came down the stairs with Spike following her. Nina was still groggy, but she felt calmer, less like a monster and more human... But Nina felt like she wanted to have sex... Lots and lots of sex.

"Nina..." Faith said again as the knocked on the frame of the cell door with her knuckles. Nina rolled onto her back and stretched with a large grin on her face...

"Hi Faith..." Nina said getting up unconcerned that she was Nude.

"Wow, most of the time I have seen my friend Oz wake up after a night of wolfing out he was more or less freaked when people came in." Faith said as Nina came towards the cell door.

"For so reason... Faith..." Nina said as she started to feel her arms and noticed that she was undressed that some of her modesty started to kick back in... "I feel like I have this sudden urge to have breakfast had have a lot of sex." Nina said as the words just rolled out of her mouth.

"Well Fred did say that was going to be a side effect of what she did to you last night." Faith said as she put the robe through the cell.

"Side effect... Side effect of what?" Nina said worried as she watched Faith unlock the door to her cell.

"The Spell... it was something she had dug up on some species called the Old Ones that used Werewolves or something like them as battle creatures and as pets." Faith said as Nina started to get concerned as she started to head up the stairs with them.

"So... did I do any damage last night?" Nina said as she looked at some of the bite marks on the door.

"Well I think most of your anxiety you had about coming out to your folks got transferred to your doggie form." Faith said as Spike moved by her.

"Yeah, the Little Shiva started the spell from what old hair gel said." Spike said giving his annoying little brother thing he did. Nina did notice something about Spike, as she got closer to him.

"Spike..." Nina said as she started to run her fingers through his hair. "Did you dye your hair?" Nina said as she looked at him.

"No... Actually, I have brown hair... I just dyed it blond. But given the battle we went through here in L.A. and learning that Buffy Dumped the Immortal... I wanted to make a change." Spike said as he ran his fingers through his locks... "Talk about having brown hair for the first time in a hundred years... though Niblet did love the change..." Spike said as Nina saw that there were people in the lobby and suddenly embarrassed that she was not only under dressed, but Underdressed and then some.

"Hi, Spike..." A very round-faced brunette girl said as she moved by and hugged Spike.

"Hey there Niblet..." spike said as the girl hugged him like they were siblings that hadn't seen each other in a long time as he ran his fingers through her dark hair.

"Spike I missed you..." the girl said as tears started to flow from her eyes...

"I know Dawn... I'm not going anywhere." Spike said with real concern... Was this the same Spike that banged Angel's blond secretary at Wolfram and Hart in the storeroom? Nina thought as she saw another person approach them.

"So Spike... come back from the dead again... you know you are one to one with Angel over there." The man with an eye-patch said.

"Xander... I know that between your journeys to Nigeria... Tracking down Slayers... Pretending to be gay after that little fantasy you had of Virgin Slayers." Spike said as the man with the Eye-patch looked at him.

"Yeah... Well considering that there ain't much of the old gang left. Ms. Calendar... Kendra... Cordillia, Wes, Tara... Joyce.... Anya..." Xander stopped as he nearly choked on the last name he said.

"Anya... you two were."

"Married, left at the alter, friends..." Xander said as he attempted to find the right words.

"Oh... So in other words, very close..." Nina said as Xander moved and sat down on the circular couch in the middle of the lobby...

"Yeah... A human with commando knowledge downloaded into his head and a Vengeance Demon..." Xander said as he and Spike acknowledged a common bond between them.

"So... The entire interspecies thing didn't work out for you two..." Nina said attempting to figure out some of what was going on...

"Noo, it wasn't that... it was me being too human..." Xander finally said as Nina understood. "That and the mess that arose with the First... Anya knew better but she knew that she had to do." Xander said with sadness in his voice.

"So... Anya is...." Nina realized what the names meant down. The Fallen...

"Yes... she died when we fought to seal the Hellmouth." Xander said as Dawn moved and patted him on the shoulder.

"Its okay Xander... She would have wanted you to go on." Dawn said as tears came out of one eye.

"I know... But I still feel that Anya is watching out for me." Xander said as Spike tapped him on the shoulder showing respect.

"Nina..." Amada said as she came up to where Nina was sitting... "So..." Amanda looked at Nina as if she was examining her like a Ming vase. "... Sleep well?"

"Yes... But Amanda... Tell me what all these people are doing here?" Nina said as she pulled the robe closer to her body...

"Well, a few dropped by to pay Angel a visit Aunt Nina..." Amanda said as she started to look at Nina's ears.

"Amanda... What is it?" Nina said as she reached back and started to feel her ears with her fingers.

"Nothing, just that well during your change, you looked kinda of weird, but it was your ears that were just creepy." Amanda said as she touched a particular point on Nina's ear.

"What? Oh, no are my years pointed." Nina said as she felt her ears.

"No. It just that... How well can you hear?" Amanda said as she moved with Nina and had her start to go up the stairs with her.

"Um, lets see..." Nina searched the groups of people that were in the lobby of the old hotel. Then she spotted Connor talking with a woman with Red hair. "Okay, I'm going to use my powers to repeat what they are talking about." Nina said as she listened in.

"So with the issues pertaining Dana... I mean she is more screwed up than Dana... this is the first time I have seen Fred since her..." there was a pause in Nina mouthing the words.

"Aunt Nina, what is it?" Amanda said as Nina just kept listening in.

"Fred... Merged with a demon..." Nina said as she leaned forward and tilted her head some to start to sort out the sounds of the room. "Their talking about some girl named Dana..." Nina went white as a sheet after what she heard... "Who would do that to a child...." Nina said as Angel came up beside of her.

"Yeah... I know... there are just some monsters that don't need the horns or the claws to make them terrifying." Angel said as he placed his arm on Nina's shoulder...

"You know about Dana..." Nina said as he just stood there.

"Yes... Even when I was evil, I would have never done that to a child." Angel said as she understood that during his three hundred and fifty years on earth, there were just some things that would make even a being like him cringe in fear.

"Is Dana going to be..." Nina stopped listening to the conversation.

"I don't know, Illyria thinks that from what she has learned from Faith is that if there is any way for Dana to regain any sense of who she is and what she is, she will have to use her powers to undo some of the damage." Angel said as Amanda looked up at him.

"Angel, what happened to Dana?" The child said wondering what had scared her aunt.

"Have you heard of Polly Klass... Well think of that case happening the way it did, with a killer that had taken a page from the Manson Family. Now imagine old Polly escaping, nearly Feral... and having superhuman strength." Angel said leaving most of the details to the cultural references he had used. Probably hoping that Amanda wouldn't know who the Manson's were.

"You, mean she was..." Amanda couldn't speak... "Manson as in the guy that did a slice and dice that would have made Jason Voorhees' barf." Amanda said, as Angel knew that he had just put the girl into major therapy. "Okay, and I thought the demon horde guys were bad... but there is a worse..." With that Nina leaned over to her niece and walked her up to Angel's room so that she could throw up.

Angel wondered if a person who had undergone that type of trauma could ever be human again...


TBC

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