NAME: Kirk Baldridge

EMAIL:

TITLE: Sometimes You Get What You Need

DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of these characters, names, places, etc. They all belong to Kim Harrison, and I would just like to take this opportunity to thank her for creating them.

FANDOM: The Hollows

PAIRING: Rachel/Ivy

RATING: K+

SUMMARY: Several of Rachel's relationships are in jeopardy.

SPOILER: Sequel to You Don't Always Get What You Want and set sometime after Black Magic Sanction. While you don't need to read my previous stories to follow and (hopefully) enjoy this one, it would help.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I feel a little explanation is necessary. My Immortal and its sequel, Through Her Eyes, are a separate timeline from my other four stories, which-if you wanted to read them all-technically belong in this order. You Don't Always Get What You Want, Love and Vampires, Disturbing, and Sometimes You Get What You Need.

CHAPTER 3

'Ivy's could have been a dream but Jenks? The honey high doesn't make him hallucinate.'

Rachel was thinking about the mysterious figure Ivy and Jenks had seen as she was taking a shower.

Several possibilities came to mind.

The church was, of course, haunted for a time, but everything had been quiet ever since Pierce was given a body and now resided in the ever after, so while not impossible another ghost seemed unlikely.

Someone could also have cast a spell to make Ivy and Jenks imagine things, but if so it was a pretty pointless exercise since the figure didn't move or speak and neither of them was the type to freak out.

Out of the corner of her eye, Rachel saw movement. Through the semi-transparent shower curtain, she saw a figure—too short to be Ivy but way too big to be Jenks—turning away. "Hey!" By the time she got the curtain open, whoever or whatever it was had melted into the bathroom mirror and was gone. An unmistakable smell was left behind, however. "Son of a…"

Rachel shut off the water and grabbed her robe. Fuming, she stomped into the kitchen to the familiar sight of Ivy at her computer, buying music, with Jenks sitting on her shoulder, belittling each of her selections. "It's Al!" They both looked up at her. "I was in the shower. I saw someone watching me, and I smelled burnt amber."

"Are you sure?"

Rachel crossed her arms. "I think I know the smell of the ever after by now."

"Not that." Ivy shook her head. "I meant, are you sure it was Al? He's going to see you in a couple of days. Why bother?"

'I'll let you know." Rachel closed her eyes. She didn't like doing this, but short of summoning him, it was the fastest and easiest way to contact Al. She tapped the ley line behind the church, spindling its energy into her chi, and when she felt her cells humming, she knew she was ready. She took a deep breath and stepped out of the world; vanishing in front of Ivy and Jenks. A heartbeat later she found herself on her knees in Al's kitchen, gagging. Jumping without Bis's help was still a bitch. "Crap that hurts!"

"That's because you're still fighting it, itchy witch." Algaliarept stood over her in his crushed green velvet and lace suit, red, goat-slitted eyes peering over his smoked glasses. "Not that I am displeased to see you Rachel…" As she stood, her robe slipped partly open. "…but you are two days early. Perhaps, you could stand to be apart from me no longer?"

Gritting her teeth, Rachel yanked her robe closed. It wasn't like he hadn't seen her naked before. Early on, a curse she was twisting blew up in her face, disintegrating her clothes. Come to think of it, that sort of thing seemed to happen entirely too often. She frowned. There were more important things to be angry about right now. "Damn it Al! What are you doing?"

The demon blinked. "Excuse me?"

"You're spying on me!" Rachel crossed her arms. She had enough ley line energy spindled to knock him on his ass, though truth be told, she could do the demon very little damage. "Why? I thought we had an agreement?" One he took every opportunity to stretch, twist, or ignore when it suited him, so she wasn't surprised, she just didn't understand.

Al shook his head. "I honestly have no idea what you are babbling about, itchy witch."

"You…" Rachel blinked. She had seen Al angry, surprised, annoyed, furious, sad, and often enraged, but even though she was pretty sure this was not his real face his current expression was one she recognized as genuine confusion. "…don't know, do you?" He shook his head and she sighed. "Someone was there. Ivy and Jenks saw it first, and just a few minutes ago so did I. I smelled burnt amber, Al. Maybe it wasn't you, but someone from the ever after was in my church."

Al paced back and forth as he listened to Rachel tell him about the three strange sightings. "Your kitchen, as I recall, is unsanctified, so any demon could enter it easily enough. I am uncertain about your bathroom, but your bedroom? I have no doubt you made certain it was protected, especially after the last time this happened. Or have you forgotten?"

"What are you talking about?"

It was times like this Al wondered if the whole teacher thing was going to work out when his student was clearly so dense. "Oh, my pathetic itchy witch." He shook his head. "There has been a demon in your bedroom before." He sneered. "Finding you in Ivy Alisha Tamwood's would be no great chore…for her."

Rachel paled. "Oh crap."

"You should just consider yourself fortunate that whatever her reasons for doing this, she has chosen so subtle a method. As you know from experience, she usually knocks down walls and throws people around to get what she wants. Understand this, Rachel. Whenever Newt wants or, more often, needs to forget something she tends to go overboard and ends up…shall we say, loopy? Otherwise, in those times she is more lucid, she is our leader, and is an incredibly intelligent, and dangerous, creature."

"I-I have to go back. I have to warn Ivy and Jenks."

Al nodded. "Good luck." Once she was gone, his face fell. "Shit!"