Chapter Thirty-Three: Episode 14 – part 2

Vhesthine looks up from the cooking as she hears the front door open. A moment later she stiffens as the scent of an unknow succubus wafts through the house, "Dawn, can you take over stirring the meat, I just need to see who's arrived."

Three paces through the kitchen door, she freezes as she recognises Xander standing next to a succubus that looks a lot like Anya. With an aggressive hiss in her voice she asks, "Xander, to what do we owe your pleasure? And who's your guest?"

Xander scuffs the floor with one foot, "We, um, that is Anya, needs your help."

Vhesthine follows Xander's hand to the succubus standing next to him, "You're Anya!?"

Anya nods and grabs Xanders arm, "Come on, I told you she wouldn't help."

Vhesthine narrows her eyes, "Help with what?"

Xander puts his arm around Anya's shoulders to prevent her from leaving, "Anya was turned into a succubus by Halfrek, and she won't stop jumping me. Buffy said you were our best hope for…"

Vhesthine sighs and turns back to the kitchen, "Come on through to the kitchen, and when was the last time you fed?"

Anya huffs, "I choked down a cheeseburger for lunch."

Slowly, Vhesthine turns back around, "That's human food, and not what I asked. I asked when you last fed."

Xander shrugs uncomfortably, "We had sex before we left to come here?"

Anya angrily adds, "Isn't that how you feed? Seducing men and having your way with them?"

Vhesthine stalks towards Anya, "Listen to me you little whelp, we do not seduce men away from their wives. They do that all by themselves. We feed on essence, not sex. That we includes you now. So, unless you want to slowly starve, I suggest you shelve your unwarranted dislike of myself and my family. Otherwise, you can just leave and take your chances out there. Then, when you go feral, Buffy will have to kill you."

Anya shakes her head, "I won't go feral."

Vhesthine growls, "Yes you will. You'll get so hungry that you can't stop yourself from pulling essence from people and demons. And you don't have a chip that stops you from feeding from humans like Elaena does. That means a simple kiss will be enough for you to rip all of the essence from a human, or Xander, leaving them to die. Then, drunk on the feeling of taking in essence you'll sleep for a week before waking up ravenous and looking for someone else you can take it from."

The click of Anya's heel hitting the front door makes Vhesthine realise she's been poking her in the chest with a finger, and her human disguise has dropped.

Stepping back Vhesthine shakes her head, "If you think it's easy being a succubus, you are about to find out how wrong you are. The only thing that might save your relationship is Xander isn't human. Simply speaking, it means he might be able to learn to share essence with you, not just have it taken or given. But I've already killed Buffy multiple times without meaning too. If he's a stronger type of demon than you, he may be strong enough to stop you from feeding from him. Oh, and welcome to almost the lowest rung of demon kind. Where almost everything else is stronger than you."

═══════ ೋღ ღೋ ═══════

Elaena grabs Dawn's arm, "Why is the Matriarch so angry?"

Dawn shakes her head as she stirs the meat with the other hand, "I don't think she is, I think it's frustration. What does your nose say?"

Elaena shakes her head, "I don't know, I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Remember what Buffy says? Don't be sorry, learn to do better. I think it's frustration, because I remember Vhesthine telling me point blank about the dangers of being a succubus. That was before Rack kidnapped me."

"Maybe we should go and help."

Dawn raps the spoon on the side of the pan as she thinks for a moment, "El, do you think you could feed Anya?"

Elaena shakes her head and softly says, "I don't want to, I only want to do that with you."

Dawn nods, "I don't really want you to do it with her either, as it feels like something we should keep to ourselves. I just thought it might be a way to show just how far you've come since you became my sister."

Vhestine coughs loudly from the doorway, "When were you going to inform us, your guardians, about this?"

Dawn and Elaena both freeze and turn a deep crimson in embarrassment.

Vhesthine sighs, "Elaena, I'm proud of you. But Buffy and I will be talking to the two of you about your experimentation. In the mean time, will you go and get your file. Dawn please set the table, we have guests."

Anya and Xander both share a glance with each other, and Xander raises a hand, "Sorry to be the only non-succubus in the house, but what's going on?"

Vhesthine walks over to the stove, "Xander, Anya, take a seat. Dawn, I think this would sound better coming from you."

Dawn swallows hard, "Wouldn't it be better coming from you or Buffy?"

Vhesthine looks over her shoulder, "At this point, I think they need to hear from someone who hasn't changed."

"But Tara lives here, she could do it."

"She could, but she's never been a succubus, and she's out on a date with Willow."

Uncomfortably, Dawn puts out three small bowls, one each for Vhestine, Elaena, and Anya, along with three plates. As she grabs the silverware she flushes red again, "Um, you know how humans are able to tell good and bad food by the way it tastes, and have preferences based on the five basic tatstes?"

Xander shakes his head with disgust, "That's not quite true of me anymore. Sugar and carbs barely taste of anything anymore, not even twinkies."

Dawn nods vehemently, "Oh yes, I wasted a chocolate dipped triple chocolate donut with sprinkles on it. Oh, that was just before you two came in and smelt like raspberry ripple sunday." Dawn flushes again, "Yeah, erm, emotions smell and taste like food really. Some, like fear, can add a little spice if there's something positive to go with it, but loathing and depression, they don't go well with anything."

Vhesthine sighs, "Dawn, I think you're avoiding the subject."

Dawn quickly ducks her head down as she mumbles, "The only thing that feels better than feeding from someone is being fed voluntarily, and it's even better when you're sharing with each other. Um, part of that is because you're not putting in the work to pull essence out of someone else."

Vhesthine smiles, "You did well there Dawn, could you get some napkins from upstairs please?"

Dawn flees the kitchen as Elaena asks, "Aren't the napkins in the drawer over there?"

Vhesthine smiles as she turns off the cooker, "They are, but I was giving Dawn a chance to recover her composure. Now take your seat as I'm about to serve up."

At the table, Anya and Xander both look at each other uncomfortably as Vhesthine puts a few serving bowls of food on the table. By the time she's finished, Dawn has made it back to the table with a handfull of unironed napkins, "Here you go."

Vhesthine smiles, "Thank you Dawn. Elaena, dinner time."

Elaena looks up with a smile as Vhesthine leans down to kiss her full on the mouth. As the kiss drags on, and Elaena mewls in pleasure, it's only Dawn staring at Anya that stops her from saying anything about the scene.

As she sits back at the table, Vhesthine dabs her lips with the napkin, "Sorry about that, I needed to feed Elaena, help yourselves to food. Which is the same thing someone will need to do for you until you work out what's happening and start to draw on essence yourself. Once you've done that, then you'll be ready to learn to hunt. If we were in our home hell as your Matriarch, I'd capture a human the first few times, and prepare them for you so that you can learn to smell when their essence is breaking free. This is also when you'd learn how to feed your own essence to someone else, as that's one of the core skills needed to tip a mortal over the edge and lose control of their essence."

Anya wrinkles her nose in disgust, "Does that mean I have to have… sex… with them?"

Vhesthine sighs, "Anya, we feed on essence not sex. In fact, the sharing of essence is what constitutes sex for you now. If you get really into it you can even get pregnant. Which is why Buffy and I will be having a talk with the two young ladies here. What matters is that your victim is having some sort of euphoric high so that their essence is easy to draw on. Next time you watch a football match, keep an eye on the cheerleaders. At least one of them is likely to be a succubus. They'll be the one giving the football player a full mouth kiss when they score a touchdown, and are celebrating. Catching a mortal as they've just got a promotion, beaten an arcade game, or they've completed a hard workout are other ways to discretely feed too. It's just that sex is the easiest and most consistent method of feeding."

Xander looks up from his food with panic stricken eyes, "You know, this is really good, what did you put in it?"

Vhesthine smiles indulgently at Xander as she lifts her own small bowl to smell it, "Fragrant herbs and spices. It takes a lot of effort to make something that we can stomach and isn't overpowering to humans, but learning to do so makes it much easier to blend in. Anya, if I didn't think you'd kill her out of hand, or draw the wrong sort of attention, I'd send you to Charlyss as soon as you know how to feed, as she already has a stable of vampires you could safely learn to feed on. As it stands, I don't think I could trust you not to kill her and all the girls she protects."

Xander puts his fingers in his ears, "La La La, I'm not listening."

Vhesthine pinches her nose, "Remind me, he is supposed to be closer to 20 than 10 years old isn't he?"

Anya squirms in her seat even as she slaps Xander on the arm, "Xander, behave."

Cheeks flaming, Dawn mumbles, "Maybe you should wait until Buffy comes home with Suzy, as I bet you're going to have to feed anyway."

Vhesthine nods, "That a good idea Dawn, and I'm sure that Anya already has enough to think about as it is."

═══════ ೋღ ღೋ ═══════

A few days later, Buffy stand outside the local VA hospital. In one hand she has her new Army ID and in the other Vhesthine is providing a comforting hand.

"Hey, it will be ok. You let off your excess void energy already and you're going to be amongst people who are suffering the same way you are."

Buffy starts to shake, "But what if I can't."

Vhesthine strokes Buffy's arm with her spare hand, "Then you come back next week. If that still doesn't work, you'll have some one on one sessions with a psychologist."

"Will you be here with me?"

Vhesthine nods, "I'll be with you until the meeting starts, then I'll be just outside. Remember, this isn't supposed to be a therapy group, it's a support group."

Nodding to herself, Buffy sets her jaw and walks into the hospital. It takes the two of them nearly 20 minutes to find the right room, but when they do they find it's already got a few people sitting inside with their backs facing a wall.

As soon as Buffy's eyes have finished noting the people in the room, they flick around the walls and ceiling noting the crash and yoga mats, the stacked chairs in one corner, and all the egress points and possible hiding places, beyond the door they've just come in through and the fire exit.

At the far end of the room a man that's missing a foot says, "You're a bit young to be here ain't cha?"

Buffy looks the man in the eyes as she says, "It's not the age, it's the mileage."

The man snorts, "Ya got that right. Call me Dozer."

Vhesthine lets go of Buffy's arm as Buffy walks over to grab a yoga mat. While she's doing that, Vhesthine asks, "Name or Callsign?"

Dozer looks Vhesthine up and down, "I guess you're the newbie then. We tend to use callsigns here, it helps with talking about shit."

Vhesthine shakes her head and points to Buffy, "Not me, I'm just the girlfriend. BunnyGirl is the vet, I'm just here to make sure she doesn't kill anyone."

Dozer nods and looks at Buffy, "Where you with the local lot a few years ago?"

Buffy unrolls her mat and nods, "I was, though I didn't stop when they were disbanded."

Dozer winces and another man walks in to the room and looks around, "Hey Dozer, is Mercury coming?"

Dozer shakes his head, "Not this week, he's got an appointment for his hand." He looks over at Vhesthine, "Sorry Miss, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave as I'm about to start the session."

Buffy tenses up as Vhesthine nods, "Ok, I'll be right outside if you need me BunnyGirl."

As the new arrival looks at Buffy he sneers, "Are we really baby sitting now? Jeez Dozer, you'd have thought they'd have sent kids that young to kindergarten."

"Maverick!" Dozer barks, "This is your only reminder that this is a mutual support group, if you can't get that through the shit you call a brain you'll be banned from this support group."

"But Dozer…"

"But nothing, Maverick, BunnyGirl signed up voluntarily, which is more than I can say of you. Or do you really want to go to the Oregon retreat?"

Maverick slumps, "Really, you're going to pull that card?"

Dozer nods, "Damn straight I am, I'd rather have her here now than later when it's court mandated. Now grab a seat or get out." Dozer looks at Buffy, "Sorry about that BunnyGirl."

Buffy nods, "It's fine, I'm only here because I promised Vhe…"

Dozer holds up his hand, "Let me stop you there. No real names in this room. I've got your details in my office same as I've got the details of the others. Though there's more black on your records than I'm used to." Maverick stiffens in surprise as he's picking up a chair, "However, everyone in this room has the clearance to hear 'fictionalised' accounts of what you've been through. By which I mean made up names, places, and absolutely no dates what so ever. Now I know you saw one of the regular psych's yesterday, but later in the session we'll be doing a brief introduction along with why we're all here. First though we usually have a recap of how we've been doing since last week."

Buffy tenses again as Maverick carries his chair past her before sitting with a clear view of everyone else, "Um, sure, I've never done this before."

Dozer nods, "I'm not surprised. Anyway, I'll start next will be Nobody, then Minute - pronounced both ways, and finally Maverick." He indicates the two men that are between him and Buffy, before pointing at Maverick.

After each man either nods or waves when uses their call sign, Dozer continues, "I had a good week this week, I only had one flashback and that was at the beach with my kid. I also managed two nights sleep without drinking."

Nobody nods as his voice comes out in a rasping tone, as though he doesn't get much practice speaking, "I was able to sit on a park bench for an hour on Saturday. I even said hi to the old lady that sat down on the other end of the bench."

Dozer smiles, "Well done, that's great progress. Minute?"

Minute sits there for a long time before softly saying, "I went to a 7/11 with one of the nurses and bought some snacks without hurting any civilians."

Dozer nods, "How did you feel after that?"

Minute looks down, "Relieved."

"That's good. Maverick?"

Maverick crosses his arms, "You already know how my week went."

Dozer shakes his head, "No I don't, and you already know that. I know some of what happened."

Maverick throws his hands in the air, "Fine, I broke the arm of one of the security guys after he went for his gun and then I was sedated, Happy?"

Dozer looks at Maverick levelly, "Maverick, this is about what you achieved last week, not about how you failed."

Maverick slumps down, "Fine, I only broke the guys arm, I was pulling back when they sedated me."

Dozer nods, "Better, but I'd rather you focused more on the things you did well rather than where you felt like you failed."

At the brief pause, Buffy speaks up, "Does buying a burger at peak time without any of my friends around count?"

As Maverick starts to splutter, Dozer nods, "For you, yes it would. But as you didn't have any goals to work on it doesn't count this week. As we have a new member, we're going to have an introduction round. When it's your turn I want you to start with your callsign, then give a 30 second description of the operation you're most proud of, followed by the operation you're least proud of. If you feel up to it after that, you can give a brief description of why you're here. Again, I'll start."

"I'm Dozer, and my proudest moment is when I assassinated a warlord and found 20 living children in their basement. My least proud moment is where I rigged a bomb in a gang vehicle, only to find out they were using a school as their base. I'm here because I'm the group leader, and I've been in your shoes."

Nobody sighs, "I'm Nobody and my proudest moment was preventing a foreign agent from reaching a defector. My least proud moment was the same mission as I accidentally killed the defector when they tried to hug me once we reached the USA. I'm here because I'm afraid that I'll do that again."

Buffy winces as Minute speaks up, "I'm Minute, and my proudest moment was bringing a terrorist cell that targeted girls schools to justice. My least proud moment is when I failed to spot a suicide bomber before they got into a mall. I'm here because I have PTSD and I'm not safe to be amongst civilians."

Buffy looks at the floor, after a moment she decides not to change the names of Orokin system stuff as if they recognise it, it means she's not alone. Looking back up at the group she says, "I'm BunnyGirl, and I guess my proudest moment is the first time I successfully acted as both bait and containment on an infested Corpus ship. My… faction was able to save 15 people who weren't infected. I guess my least proud moment is when I infiltrated a Grineer science installation and destroyed research that could have saved billions of lives, and assassinated the lead scientist." She grimaces, "I'm here because I can't handle being around more than a few strangers at a time. I've been told I probably have PTSD."

Maverick shouts, "Bullshit, there's no way you could have done that without us knowing about it."

In a firm voice Dozer says, "Maverick, I have one word for you. Initiative."

Maverick slumps back in his chair, "Really? You had to go there?"

"It's your turn Maverick."

In a small voice, Maverick says, "I'm Maverick, and my proudest moment is when I joined the army, it's all downhill from there. My least proud moment was slaughtering a group of kids while pumped up on whatever shit the eggheads gave me. I'd rather not go into why I'm here, but I will say that it's to do with that shit."

Dozer nods, "Ok everyone, grab a crashmat as it's time to burn off some energy before we do some control training with the pads. BunnyGirl, everyone in this group has been so highly trained that the wrong sort of contact can have lethal results. So the middle half an hour of the session is all about learning how to bring your trained reactions under control. In the last half an hour we'll be talking about techniques we can use to prevent us from falling into a flashback and ways of dealing with our anxiety."

Buffy nods as she walks over to grab a crashmat. Just after she's grabbed one, someone touches her elbow from behind, and the next thing she knows there's a series of loud cracks and she's broken Maverick's wrist and four of his ribs with the follow up kick.

Quickly letting go of the wrist, she scoots to one side and activates squad healing, "Um, sorry, I can fix that."

As she says that, Dozer finishes crossing the room to the fire exit, and lifts a flap to press an button. Seconds later the half a dozen orderlies push their way into the room with padded shields and medical gear.

═══════ ೋღ ღೋ ═══════

Roselyn gingerly props herself up on an elbow as Tazin lies back on his pillow with a satisfied grin on his face. As she does, she thinks back to the brief conversation she had with Dawn at Buffy's birthday party.

Swallowing hard, she licks her lips before saying, "Tazin."

Tazin smiles at Roselyn, "Yes dear?"

"Um, do you remember I got home very early the other week?"

Tazin nods, "I do, I'm glad you know me so well."

"Well, just before I left work, I asked Razial if I could learn magic."

Tazin chuckles, "I bet the answer was no."

Roselyn nods, "Right. But he also offered to turn me into a succubus if I signed a contract to continue doing what I do now, for the next 50 years."

Tazin tries to look angry, "Are you saying you're breaking up with me?"

Roselyn shakes her head vehemently and pushes herself painfully to lay on his chest, "No, not at all. I love you. I asked if he could change you too, and he said he could for an additional 25 years." Putting a finger to Tazin's lips she continues, "Tazin, I asked because I love you. We both know that one of them is going to catch your scent at some point, and no matter how much we run, eventually we're going to run out of luck. I, just think that an uncertain life together is better than an uncertain death together. You've also seen Buffy and Vhesthine together, do they really look like the sort of thing everyone says they are?"

Tazin shakes his head, "Buffy's the Slayer."

Roselyn shakes her head, "I've managed to talk to Dawn a few times since then, and she says that succubi are monogamous, but only with other succubi." She swallows hard, "It would be a big change, but I'd do it for you. I… Just think about it, please."

Tazin lets his head sink into the pillow with a sigh, "Why did you take so long to tell me?"

Roselyn looks uncomfortable as she says, "Honestly, because the idea scares me. I mean, I love you, and adapting to your needs was hard. But I'm still human, but…"

Tazin pulls Roselyn in closer and kisses her on the forehead, "I have to admit that I never believed I'd ever live this long, or be able to experience love."

Roselyn nods, "I bet humanity surprised you too."

Tazin shakes his head, "Not at all, as all I knew was that humanity wasn't my own people."