by Ebony Silvers

Chapters : |2| |3| |Interlude| |4| |5| |6| |7| |8| |9| |10| |11| |12| |13|


Chapter 1
Prologue
"If I Was Your Mother"

(J. Bon Jovi, R. Sambora)
If I was your mother
Would you let me hold your hand?
Would you say you were my baby?
Would you always be my friend?

If I was your mother
Could I teach you what's right?
Could I tell you stories?
Maybe tuck you in
And kiss you sweet goodnight?

Tell me what I got to do
To make my life mean more to you?
I could get so close it's true
If I was your mother?

Would you always believe me?
'Cause I'd wake up in the middle
Of the night,
Just to see if you need me.

Tell me there's no mother
To who you're telling your secrets.
And would you tell me
'Bout all the boys you been
Bringing home to meet me?

Tell me what I got to do
To make my life mean more to you.
I could get so close it's true
If I was yours.

Mother, mother
If I was your
Mother, mother.

When love is blood
You're never on trial.
Love don't get deeper
Than a mother & child.
Oh baby, I got to get that.
Close to you.

Tell me what I got to do
To make my life mean more to you.
I could get so close it's true
If I was yours.

Tell me what I got to be
To make you a part of me.
There's no one else you'd ever need
If I was your

Mother, mother.
If I was your mother
Mother, mother.

New Orleans, Louisiana
Thursday, 9:14 pm
November 29, 2018

Baby looked up as Connor knocked on her office door. That in itself was odd. If the door was open, Connor knew there was no need to knock; it was okay to come in. In fact, he usually bounded, bounced, stomped, or trudged into the room, depending on his current mood swing. This hesitancy was not a good sign. "Can I talk to you, Aunt Baby?" he asked quietly.

Baby's concern increased. Whatever it was, it was bad. "Sure. Come on in, honey." She got up from her desk and moved to the couch. Connor closed the door and stood indecisively just inside the room. Baby indicated the cushion beside her. "Sit down, sweetpea," she ordered. Once he complied, she patted his knee and looked him over. "Now, you want to tell me what's got you so balled up?"

He sighed and just stared at her. He had known Baby his whole life. He couldn't remember when she wasn't a part of his world, albeit a sometimes transitory one. He knew the story of how she and Uncle Spike had saved him from kidnappers when he was just a baby. And though it had taken a few years for the family to really get together, he had no real memories of those times when the Pride was unwelcome at Angel Investigations. From his earliest memories, Uncle Spike and Aunt Baby had been the source of forbidden treats and raucous fun whenever they appeared at the Hyperion. As he grew older and relations between New Orleans and Los Angeles grew closer, he'd seen more and more of them, more and more of her. And despite the problems with his dad and the fact that Connor wasn't really sure exactly how angry he was with her, she was still the one most likely to help him in this situation. Especially now that Uncle Jean had gone to Mobile to live with that traitor René and Connor's mother. With Jean gone, there was no one left that he could really trust. Connor felt more alone than he ever had and he'd felt alone for most of his life. He was afraid to go to Spike with this. He didn't like to admit it but the Master, for all the time he'd spent with Connor teaching him to fight... well, Spike was intimidating. He couldn't imagine going to Spike with this. And with Spike not really an option, Baby was the only one he had left.

It could be worse. Whatever her failings, she didn't lie to him and she always listened to what he had to say. Aunt Baby had always been the easiest of his relatives to talk to about the weird shit that happened around him all the time. He could tell Uncle Jean his most secret thoughts and he could tell his mother most things but when it came to griping about his dad or the bizarre life they all led, Aunt Baby was the one he came to. And there were some things he could talk to Baby about that he couldn't imagine mentioning to Cordelia. He could talk to Aunt Baby about the weird sexual stuff he saw on the streets of New Orleans and girls and wanting to be somewhere that his father wasn't. She'd give him the straight explanation and commiserate on his dad being a jerk. She understood; technically Angel was her father, too. And Baby was the least judgmental of his relatives and he really needed someone who wouldn't be judgmental today.

"Connor? What is it?"

He took a deep breath. This was every bit as hard as he thought it would be. He didn't know how he was going to even begin to tell his father. It was hard enough tell his sister/aunt. "I fucked up, Aunt Baby. I've fucked up so bad."

She frowned in concern. "Connor?" Then she quirked an eyebrow. "And don't use that word."

"Yes, ma'am," he answered automatically. Then grinned. He could kill demons and take on the forces of Darkness head-on but he wasn't allowed to use profanity. His world was so weird. They couldn't seem to decide if he was to be treated like a grownup or a baby. It drove him crazy most of the time.

"What's so awful?" She simply waited for him to feel comfortable enough or desperate enough to tell her what was bothering him.

He took another breath. "I met a girl. A really beautiful girl. She is sooooo… I mean, her face and her body. Oh my God, she's just gorgeous and she has tits as big as yours! And…" He stopped and turned rather red realizing what he'd just said. He wasn't supposed to admit he noticed Aunt Baby that way, though with the way she dressed that was patently impossible. But embarrassing himself was the least of his problems today. He pulled up every bit of his not inconsiderable courage and just said the words that kept ricocheting through his head. "I got her pregnant."

Baby gasped. "Oh Connor!"

"She told me this morning. I don't know what to do! I don't want a baby!" He looked at his aunt. "Help me."

"I will." She nodded her head. "First, I'm gonna kick your ass for having unprotected sex because that can get you dead!" She slapped him gently on the side of the head. "I can't believe you were that stupid! How many times have we talked about that? Do I need to beat that into you?"

Connor shook his head and couldn't help smiling. "No, ma'am. I think I got the message this time. Loud and clear." He shook his head again. "Why the hell wasn't she on the pill? How could she do this to me!"

Baby tilted her head. "Well, now, aside from the odd mystic occurrence and the marvels of modern science, it generally takes two to make a baby. And if you didn't want one there are things you need to do. Not her. You."

Connor sighed. "I know. I know I fucked up, all right. What am I going to do now?" He knew that abortion was not even to be mentioned. In a house as tied up in saving innocents and as obsessed with souls and redemption as this one, it was not an option.

She smiled. "What we all do when life smacks us one: make some decisions." She took his hand. "Do you love this girl?"

He couldn't meet her eyes. "No. I don't. And I don't think she loves me. She's never said anything like that. I mean, I like her and God, she's pretty! But I don't love her."

Baby nodded. "All right then. That makes it a little more complicated." She thought for a moment. "Tell me what happened. Tell me about this girl."

Connor settled back with his head resting on the back of the couch, staring up at the ceiling, staring at the disaster that suddenly was his life. "She's a runaway. I met her over by the French Market. She was all... I don't know... crying and everything. And she was so pretty! And you know we help the hopeless. And she was all hopeless and everything." He sighed. "I started talking to her, you know? Just talking. And she didn't have anything to eat or anywhere to stay and... Well, I snuck her into the old house on Rampart, one of the safe houses. I figured no one would bother her there. Vampires and demons can't get in them. Everybody else stays away because they belong to the family." He snorted. "With all the magicks Uncle Wesley puts around them, no one can even see who's in one of them." His amusement quickly faded. "I kept a check on her. Made sure she had food and stuff. And one day... well... it just happened! And then it happened again. I've sort of been sleeping with her for a while now," he admitted.

"Connor!" Baby exclaimed. "And you never once thought about pregnancy or AIDS or anything?"

He frowned at her. "Well no! I thought about... I thought about..." He looked at his aunt and set his jaw. "I thought about how good it felt between her legs, okay! It's sort of a family tradition. Sex without thought to the consequences. Sort of like you and Dad."

"Don't take that tone with me, Connor. I know you're afraid but that's no excuse to be a dickhead." She stared at him until he hung his head and apologized. "We're vampires, honey. Sex won't kill us. But it can sure as hell kill you." She thought for a moment, wondering why no one had noticed Connor was sexually active. Hadn't anyone noticed the child at all? Who had been looking after the boy? Apparently, no one who really cared. She'd been in Mobile with René and hadn't seen Connor in weeks. It occurred to her that she was letting her duties in New Orleans suffer. Still, it was so hard to leave René. Even now, only a day away from him, she missed him so much it was a physical ache. She promised herself she'd figure out a way to be with René and still keep her obligations to Spike; she wouldn't let Spike suffer because of her obsession with his son. Spike deserved much more than she was giving him currently. Spike deserved much more than she'd given him in years. That guilt was growing stronger lately.

Right now, she owed Connor her attention. She turned her mind to his problem. "So you slept with a girl you hardly know and now there's a baby that we all need to think about."

Connor turned a tad green. "Oh God. A baby." He stood up and began to pace. "There can't be a baby. I don't want a baby! That's the last thing I want. I don't need a kid!" He looked at her with terror flaming from his blue eyes. "I am a kid!"

Baby nodded her head sadly. "Yes, you are, sweetpea. You're just a kid. But you're gonna have to make some very grownup decisions pretty quick now." She thought for a moment. "What about this girl? You say she's a runaway. " A million thoughts bounced through Baby's mind. Had the girl seen a doctor? Was she sure she was pregnant? Was she after Connor's family's money or was she a nice kid in a bad situation? Connor seemed completely sure the baby was his but she had to be certain. "Connor, you're sure you're the one that got her pregnant?"

He nodded sadly. "Yes, ma'am. I ... I was her first. I'm sure she hasn't been with anyone else." With Connor's vampire-like senses, he would know if she'd had relations with anyone else.

"Lord God," Baby murmured. Connor, little more than a baby himself, and some poor little virgin girl, it didn't bear thinking on. "Where are her people? Who is she? Where is she?"

"Her name's Gina." Connor stared out at the garden. "She's right out there. I brought her here with me. I didn't know what else to do."

Baby came and wrapped her arms around him, trying to offer him some sort of physical representation of her emotional support. "You did the right thing. This is something for the whole family to deal with, honey. Not just you." She also knew there was more than just the birth of an unplanned baby for the family to deal with. "But Connor, you got to curb this wild streak you're having." She continued quickly before he could protest. "You're putting yourself in danger. You keep slipping off from your bodyguards…" She put up her hand. "I know, I know. You're stronger and faster and a better warrior than any human. But there are things out there much worse than humans. And I don't think it's monsters we need to worry about. You've been running around with some hard cases." She stared at him and he found he couldn't protest. She'd only been home a day and she'd already heard about Connor. Ever since Jean had left, Connor spent most of his time on the streets of New Orleans. He seemed determined to sow every wild oat he could discover. He spent his nights in clubs and raves, running the streets. His days were spent in abandoned buildings and decrepit apartments with his new friends or in one of the family safe houses sleeping off the night's revels. His father couldn't control him; each lecture only sent Connor into a new round of debauchery. The young man seemed determined to develop a reputation for wildness that far rivaled that of the human Liam. If acting out was a cry for attention, Connor had rented time to scream on national television.

Baby squeezed him closely. She wasn't sure what she could do to help him short of locking him in one of the bunkers Spike kept for emergencies. She didn't know how to get through to him but she had to try. Connor wouldn't live to see twenty-one if he didn't stop the power dive of self-destruction he was engaged in. "The drinking and the carrying-on have to stop, sweetpea. You've got your life to think of. And now you have a baby to think of, too."

Connor turned in her embrace and laid his head on her shoulder. "I don't want a baby to think of. I don't want it." He wrapped his arms around her; her cool body familiar and comforting. He'd snuggled with Dru when he was an infant. He'd played in his dad's lap as a toddler. A vampire form held nothing revolting to him. In fact, sometimes, deep inside, the silent strength of an undead body soothed him more than the heartbeat of a living one. He was the child of vampires and something inside him always remembered that fact.

So he surrendered to that cool embrace and let some of what he was feeling inundate him. He wanted to cry. He wanted to let someone else tell him what to do. He wanted his family back together again the way they used to be. He wanted his mother back with his dad. He wanted his Uncle Jean here with him. He wanted René Beaumont dead. He wanted to crawl into a hole and die. He wanted to be twelve again. He wanted a million impossible things that he couldn't have. But mostly, he didn't want to father a baby. "I don't want a baby," he repeated.

She patted his back. "I know you don't, honey. But it's done and now we have to look after the baby and the girl." She lifted his face and wiped away his tears with her thumbs. He looked so young. Like a little child that had scraped his knee. Not that Connor had ever cried over such things. Wesley and Angel had begun training Connor to fight as soon as he could walk. The bumps and bruises delivered in sparring matches had never brought Connor to tears. But this wasn't a training accident. This wasn't some random sword slice that could be bandaged and ignored. This would be with Connor his whole life. She kissed his forehead. "Now, you go fetch her to me. I need to talk to her. Then we'll figure out how to tell your daddy."

Connor nodded and vanished through the French doors into the garden. He returned almost immediately with a girl no older than himself. Glossy black hair hid her down-turned face. She was only a little taller than Baby and, as Connor had so graphically pointed out, possessed of a rather curvaceous figure. "Gina, this is my aunt, Mrs. Roxton. She'll help us figure this all out." The girl lifted her face and looked at Baby. "Aunt Baby, this is G..."

"René," Baby breathed. "Oh my God." She stared into a face of stunning beauty. She had never seen a more beautiful girl. Eyes of a unique and very familiar shade of teal stared back at her. Baby had looked into eyes identical to these often enough over the past twenty years. It was those eyes that told her everything she needed to know. She knew the truth deep in her heart and her soul the instant she saw those eyes. "You're René's daughter. You're my baby," she whispered.

"René? What's he got to do with any of this?" Connor snarled, catching part of her words. "I don't want to hear about René Beaumont!" That traitor had taken everything. He was the reason Connor was alone. He'd seduced Aunt Baby and now he'd taken Connor's mother and his Uncle Jean. Connor hated him with a passion he couldn't begin to describe.

The girl spun toward him. "What do you know about him? Where is he? Tell me about him!" Desperation whirled from each question.

Connor managed to frown and raise an eyebrow at the same time. "He's a bastard! Why do you care?"

"He's her father," Baby said quietly. She felt like she needed to breathe and her knees felt weak. She couldn't quite think. This lovely creature, this beautiful girl was her child. This was the baby that had been sent away so long ago. Baby had given up any hope of ever seeing the child year ago and now she stood before her. It was like being hit by Thor's hammer.

The girl looked at her in surprise. "Yes, he is. How did you know that?" she demanded. How could this woman know that when Nina had only found out that her father was still alive a few weeks ago? A few words from a visitor carelessly overheard had led her to question whether or not her parents were dead. A quick search of her aunt's desk had revealed enough evidence to convince her that her father, at least, was very much alive and somewhere in New Orleans. It changed everything. Nina had gone looking for him. She had to know the truth. She had to know why her parents had given her away. She had to know why they didn't want her.

Baby swallowed and tried to find her voice. Her brain wouldn't work. "Because... because I'm your mother."

"Just one damn minute," Connor demanded. "You and René had a baby!" His anger, never cooled, never quieted, boiled over. Deserved or not, René was the focus of it. "That motherfucking son of a bitch! He's always been screwing with the family! I'm going to Mobile and stake the bastard." His disgust and anger glowed all around him. It darkened his blue eyes and hunched his shoulders. The son of the Champion of the Powers That Be was every bit as powerful as his father and prey to the turbulent emotions of a boy on the verge of manhood. And Connor had killed his first vampire long before he even considered shaving the down on his cheeks. If he truly wanted René dead, Connor was a danger to both the master vampire and to himself. It was wholly conceivable that René might die trying to keep from hurting Connor or be forced to kill Connor in self-defense. Either occurrence would be a tragedy beyond description and would rip the survivor and the family to shreds.

Baby took one look at the resolve and hate in Connor's eyes and slapped him. "That's enough!" She would put up with a lot out of her favorite little brother but threats to René didn't fall into that category. "We never attack family!" She wasn't going to let Connor's anger cause harm to either himself or René. If forced to choose between the two, she had no doubts she could and would bury a knife in Connor's heart before she let him kill René. After her time as Angel's consort, she had no illusions about what she was capable of. There were probably only three people on the face of the planet that she wasn't sure she'd be able to kill if forced to it. Connor wasn't one of them.

She also didn't want this beautiful girl-child to get any wrong ideas about her father. She looked at her daughter. "Not a word he just said about your daddy is true. René's a wonderful man. I..." She couldn't think of what she wanted to say or how to say it if she could figure it out.

"You're my mother?" The girl shook her head. She hadn't really heard a word Connor had said. She was focused on an impossibility. "No, I've looked everywhere. You can't be. This is... No." This woman couldn't be her mother. Her mother was Abigail Wilson. It said so on her birth certificate: Abigail Wilson not Baby Roxton. Nina had a very clear mental image of Abigail Wilson. The name told you everything you needed to know. Abigail Wilson was warm and loving and had been too young and been forced to send her baby away. That had to be it. There was no other explanation Nina could think of. Abigail had wanted her. Women named Abigail had to want their babies. They didn't send them away unless they were forced to. And when Nina found Abigail, she'd want her daughter again. It was simple. Nina knew it. This woman wasn't her mother. She couldn't be. This woman was as far from an Abigail as it was possible to be. This woman resembled the Abigail that lived in Nina's imagination in no way, shape, fashion, or form.

This was Connor's Aunt Baby.

Nina had heard all about Aunt Baby. "You'll like her," he'd said. "She's kick-ass. My Aunt Baby doesn't take it off anyone." Mothers weren't kick-ass. They were sweet and kind. "She says exactly what she thinks. She curses like a sailor. In fact, sailors could take lessons from her." Mothers didn't curse. They taught Sunday school and Girl Scouts. "And man, she's hot! For someone old, I mean. Aunt Baby is one step removed from a hooker. Not that she sells it or anything, but she's got all these lovers and shit. You wouldn't believe." Mothers didn't have lovers. They had husbands, husbands who were the fathers of their daughters. "All women should dress like she does. Well, I mean, women who are like she is. Easy. Not my mom or you. But women like her." Women like her. Her mother couldn't be a 'woman like her.' Her mother was... well, a mother.

Connor's eyes had glowed as he told her about his aunt. She sounded rather frightening to Nina. Nina stared at the apparition before her. Tight black jeans, a red shirt cut way too low, cowboy boots; this wasn't someone's mother; this was an off-duty Vegas showgirl! Her mother couldn't have wine-red hair and white skin that looked like she never went out in the day spilling out of the top of her shirt. Mothers didn't look like that. Mothers didn't have eyes like a wolf. She stared into those arresting golden eyes and felt faint. She started to sink to the floor.

Baby caught her before her knees could hit the carpet. The vampiress lifted the girl easily and placed her on the couch, calling for the Master as she went. As she had always done, she turned to Spike in a crisis and as ever, he answered her. Spike was already on his way. He'd felt his wife's distress two blocks away and was nearly inside Rue Royale when he heard her call. He was beside her in moments, his hands gentle on her shoulders, his thoughts warm in their bond. Spike's care had been a constant presence in her life for two decades. It was as strong now as it had been when he'd stopped Angelus from killing her all those years ago. Through everything, the love they shared had never diminished. It would see them through this as well.

"Rose, what's wrong?" The Master took in the scene quickly: Connor, one hand pressed to a reddened cheek with that obstinate expression that made him look so much like his father, a human girl on the couch, his wife bending over the girl with concern flowing from her in waves. Hmmm. Spike listened for a moment. A pregnant human girl, if Spike's ears didn't deceive him. He could hear a faint fetal heartbeat. "What's all this then?"

Baby stared up at him. She wanted to dive into his arms and hide. But she knew she'd been taking the easy road ever since she'd been turned. She had to stand on her own again before she could take the luxury of surrendering to Spike's care. She had to find her own strength before she could rely on his. She'd do it. She'd done it before and she was no weaker now than she'd been when she was alive. Still, she needed him beside her. She'd always need him beside her. "Look at her, Spike. Tell me what you see."

Spike frowned but did as his wife requested. His frown was replaced by incredulity and finally acceptance. "René. She looks just like René." He knelt beside her. Spike was an amazingly perceptive man. He was also much smarter than the world gave him credit for being. "So you're Nina, then. We've been looking all over for you."

"What?" Baby stared at her husband. "You knew?"

Spike shook his head. "That she was here? No. That she was missing? Yes." He forced himself not to take a step back in the face of his darling's anger. "Now, dove. Don't get like that. We didn't tell you because there was nothing you could do and you'd have worried yourself to flinders." He tried to look innocent and caring. That usually got to her.

Apparently it wasn't working. She radiated anger. "We? As in René and Jean and you, 'we?' I'm gonna hurt all of you." She sat down beside Nina, overcome by the events of the last few minutes. "As soon as my legs work again."

Spike was smiling at Nina. He knew his wife was all right. His contact with her was deep and abiding. She wasn't even really angry at him. Not at the moment, anyway. She was too focused on this lovely human child. Spike was as well. "How are you feeling, pet? Bit fainty? Expectant mothers get that way sometimes." He didn't need to be told that the child she carried was Connor's; she reeked of the boy. He'd find out how that came about later. Now this child needed soothing. Her heart was racing and she looked quite ready to pass out. "Connor, fetch your lady a drink of water, why don't you?" Not bothering to see if Connor obeyed, Spike continued to smile at Nina. "Now then, looks like you've had a bit of rough time. Why don't you have a bit of a lie down, get yourself together, then we'll sort this all out? How does that sound?" He took the glass Conner held out. "Connor, why don't you take Nina upstairs?" He stood. "Put her in René's room. It's only fitting. I have some phone calls to make. I need to let René know she's all right." He grinned at his wife. She looked a tad on the fainty side herself. "I think my rose needs my attention for a bit, too." He smiled at Nina again and she couldn't help but feel better. Something about this man was oddly comforting. "We'll sort this all out, pet. Don't worry," he promised her.

Nina woke in a strange room. It took her a moment to remember where she was. She couldn't believe she'd fallen asleep. But she'd been so tired for so long now. It seemed as though she'd been tired forever. The doctor at the clinic had told her it was normal for pregnant women to feel that way and it would get better the further along she got, but it didn't seem to. Of course, she'd spent two sleepless days and nights waiting for Connor to appear at the house he'd hidden her in. The anxiety of wondering how he'd take the news had kept her wide awake. And he'd taken it nearly as bad as she'd imagined he would. Another day had been spent in arguing and tears. Then he'd dragged her to this fancy house in the middle of the French Quarter and thrust her in front of that woman who'd insisted she was Nina's mother.

She was here now, Connor's Aunt Baby, sitting in a rocker while the young man with the half-bleached hair knelt before her. He was holding her hands and talking earnestly in a voice too low for Nina to make out the words. Baby kept nodding her head, that impossibly red hair swaying with each movement. Finally, the young man pulled her down and kissed her deeply and lovingly. Nina didn't understand any of it. There was no way this could be happening. She was supposed to find her parents, her real parents not this frightening red-head. She was going to have a normal family with a father and a mother. She'd run away from her aunt's farm to find that. She had to find that.

The young man pulled the woman to her feet and came and sat down on the edge of the bed. He was incredibly handsome. Nina hadn't really noticed that before, she'd been too upset. Now she realized he was absolutely gorgeous. She had never seen eyes that blue or cheekbones that perfect. She stared at his mouth and wondered why her upper lip couldn't have that perfect cupid's bow. Even the scar across his left eyebrow added to his perfection rather than marring it. "I'm Spike. This is my house," he explained. He grinned and it was as though the sun had come up and flooded the room with light. "And I haven't seen you since you were a tiny baby." He measured with his hands. "About this long. I used to hold you and sing to you. You rather liked for me to sing to you back then."

Nina believed him. It didn't seem possible. Spike wasn't much older than she was but somehow, she believed him when he said he'd sang to her when she was a baby. It was as though she could feel truth radiating from him. "You knew me when I was a baby?" she said, ignoring the woman standing behind him with her hand resting on his shoulder.

He nodded. "I was there when you were born. Brought you back here. Carried you in myself." He sighed. "And I sent you away. Gave you to Jean to carry you away where you'd be safe. Put you in his car with my own hands." There was more than a hint of tears in his voice. "Never thought I'd see you again." He looked down into her incredulous face. "It damn near killed us all to send you away." He patted Baby's hand where it rested on his shoulder. "Your mother cried for six months straight. I thought René was going to drink himself to death for the first two weeks, then he brooded for a year. He and Baby still get crazy around your birthday. Jean was a bit better off. He saw you from time to time, but the rest of us..." He paused. "What I'm trying to say, child, is that not a day passes that we haven't thought of you. You weren't here with us but you were never out of our minds or our hearts."

Nina didn't mind the thought of being in his heart, but Baby was another story altogether. Nina shook her head. "No. It can't be. Maybe you were here when I was a baby but not her. She can't be my mother. My mother can't be some... some..." She shook her head. Her sheltered upbringing didn't supply the word that she needed. "She can't be."

Whatever else she'd been about to say was interrupted by shouts from the hallway outside.

"Papa! Maman! Bébé!"

Of the two men that barreled into the room, one was very familiar and very, very welcome to the distraught girl. "Daddy Jean!" She sat up and held out her arms. She immediately forgot there was anyone else there.

Jean went to her immediately. "Nina, my petite joli! You scared me!" He gathered her into his arms. Spike moved away with a grin, allowing his son to take his place beside her on bed.

Nina sighed and relaxed into the comforting arms of the first familiar person she'd seen in months. She had missed him so. She felt safe for the first time since she'd left Mobile. "Oh Daddy! I..." There was so much to say and she couldn't get any of it to come out. She settled for crying on his chest and holding him tightly.

Spike raised an eyebrow at the appellation and turned to see how René was taking hearing his child call someone else Daddy. Jean had the same thought and looked toward his consort. René hadn't heard. He was completely absorbed in Baby. He had his fingers threaded through her hair as he murmured to her earnestly, every bit of affection he felt for her glowing on his face. As ever, his first thought had been for her. Spike sighed. He couldn't really expect anything else. It had always been that way and it would always be that way. Alpha and omega. And now that René no longer had to hide his feelings, it was evident that he loved Baby more than living.

Nina sensed a change in her beloved Daddy Jean and looked up. She followed his gaze and really looked at the other man for the first time. She knew instantly that the stranger so intent on the red-haired woman was her father. It was like looking in a mirror. Never had she seen anyone else with eyes that color. His face, his hair, she knew now what Aunt Billie meant when she said Nina was the spitting image of her father. And from the way he was looking at Baby, it was obvious he loved her. Nina had never seen anything to compare with that. It made her feel faint again. She looked up at the man holding her for an explanation.

Jean smiled gently and Nina thought there might be an edge of sadness to his smile. "Your mère and père, they love each other very much," he said. "They always have. Don't ever doubt that you are the product of love, m' cher." He took a deep breath. "René, m' amour. Come. You need to meet your daughter."

With evident trepidation and with his fingers laced tightly in Baby's, his brother approached the bed. Spike nodded, letting René know that he was welcome here and he had his father's support. It took three attempts but René finally managed to say her name. Jean took pity on his husband. "Nina, petite belle, this is your father. This is René Beaumont."

Up close, the resemblance was even more startling. The curve of his lower lip, the hint of a cleft in his chin, they all stared back at her from her reflection every day. There was no way she could deny kinship to this man. This was her father, undoubtedly. Along with that realization came anger. He wasn't dead like everyone had told her, like Jean had told her. She looked at her surrogate father and suddenly she looked exactly like her mother. "You lied to me!"

Jean went completely still. He had been so relieved and excited to discover Nina safe and sound when he'd feared daily that he'd hear her body had been found, that he'd forgotten why she was missing in the first place. "Petite, I don't know what you…"

"You lied to me!" She was shaking with rage. "You told me he was dead! You told me they were both dead and that's why they didn't keep me. You told me I was an orphan! You lied to me!"

"Joli! I…" Jean paused. "Yes, m' joli bébé, I did. Sort of. It… I…" He had no idea what to tell her.

Baby laid her hand on Jean's shoulder. "No more lies, my Jean. We've discovered how much harm those can cause, haven't we?"

Jean nodded. "Mai oui, Maman. We have, much to our sorrow." The four adults looked at each other and finally Spike nodded. It was time.

Baby took a deep breath. "We couldn't keep you because it was too dangerous. There is a very, very good chance that you would have been killed before you ever had a chance to go to kindergarten. We had to make sure you were safe. You couldn't be here with us and we couldn't take you and run. There were… people who would have come after us. So Jean took you into hiding and we made everyone think you died. We had a funeral and everything. And to make sure that you were safe, Jean was the only one who knew where you were, even what your name was." She stopped as a horrible realization hit her. "Come to think of it, I don't know your name."

"Of course you don't," Nina snapped. "You probably never bothered to ask!"

Baby gasped in shock but Nina didn't care. "You gave me away and never even tried to see me. You let everyone tell me you were dead! You didn't want me so why should you care what my name is?"

"Nina!" Jean couldn't decide if he should reprimand her or just rock her in his arms and beg her pardon for all the hurt she was feeling.

Baby was obviously rocked by Nina's accusation. Even without his consort link, René would have known how deep her hurt went. He knew that she felt immense guilt for sending Nina away, even if it was what was best for their daughter. René was beside his consort in an instant. Nina blinked. She hadn't even seen him move. Or Spike. Both men were engaged in comforting this woman who seemed, despite Nina's reservations, to be her mother.

"I'm alright," Baby insisted.

"No you're not, dove," Spike said and stroked her hair. "You're shaking like a leaf in the wind."

René nodded. "Mai oui. Papa is right." He tilted her face up. "Look at me. I am here. I am with you. And now that Papa has said it's alright, I always be with you. I never be more than a thought away."

Baby visibly relaxed. Spike gripped her hand tightly. He'd seen this happen a thousand times and it never ceased to amaze him. A few words and a glance from René could ease his wife's mind when nothing else would. Oddly, and for perhaps the first time, he felt no jealousy, no threat at seeing it. He knew beyond doubt now that he had made the correct decision in letting her go to René. He'd been terrified that once she was in Mobile, in René's arms, she'd never return to him. He had been fairly certain he was going to lose her forever. But he knew it was best for her. When she'd returned his joy and relief had been immeasurable. He hadn't lost her to his son and she had returned to Spike of her own volition. She still loved him and she wanted him. She was happy and that was all that mattered.

Jean watched with his own feelings carefully hidden. He didn't want René to feel any of his doubts through their link. "She'll be alright, Papa. René could always take care of Maman better than any of us."

Baby considered Jean. "That's not true, my darling son. No one took better care of me than you did."

Jean couldn't meet her eyes. René grinned at his consort. "It's true, m' frère. You took care of her when I could not, my brother."

Nina looked around her. She was tired of being ignored. And worse than that, she was confused. "Okay. I'm completely lost here." She was still angry. She glared at René. "You're my father?"

He nodded. "Oh yeah. And very proud of it." He started to say something more but she held up her hand in a gesture amazingly reminiscent of Baby. Spike couldn't help but grin. She might have her father's looks but she had obviously inherited her mother's resolve.

"You're Daddy Jean's brother? He always said he was my uncle." At René's nod, she continued, "Well, his last name isn't Beaumont and he doesn't look a thing like you or me." René opened his mouth and then shut it with a snap. He wasn't sure what he could say. She turned angry teal eyes on Jean. "I might could buy that he's your brother or stepbrother or something. But how come you keep calling him Papa?" She pointed at Spike. "I doubt if he's as old as you are. Come to think of it, you look awfully young to be my father!" René felt panic rising. "What'd you do? Get her pregnant when you were twelve?" She shook her head. "You know what? I don't care! I thought… I thought…" She pulled further away from Jean. "It doesn't matter what I thought. All that matters is that you didn't want me when I was a baby. You sent me away. And you lied to me. You told me my father died before I was born!"

"He did," Baby said softly. Instant silence descended. René was shaking his head. She stared up at him. "That baby she's carrying is Connor's…"

"Yeah," René snarled. "And regardless o' what Cordelia says, I'm gonna kill Connor."

Baby ignored him. She'd deal with René's paternal vengeance trip later. "And we have no idea what the baby will be like."

René froze. He hadn't considered that. Connor was the child of two vampires and possessed powers and abilities of a distinctly non-mortal sort. Nina's baby might possess some or all of those same abilities.

Baby nodded. "She has to know the truth. She has to be prepared." She sat down on the opposite side of the bed from Jean. She'd face this head-on. She had to. "What's your name, honey?"

Nina frowned. She wanted to tell this woman to go away but there was something terribly intimidating about her. She was nearly frightening. But by God, Aunt Billie had taught her to never back down in front of anyone. "Jeanina Renée Willamina Beaumont," she said tersely.

"Good God! Jean! What were you thinking!" Baby demanded, appalled.

"Yeah," Spike agreed. "Should have just called her Willamina and had done with it."

"Spike!" Baby threatened.

"It's a perfectly good name," he smirked. "Noble, sexy."

"Spike!"

"Just saying, pet, was all." His grin could have lit half the French Quarter.

Baby sighed. There was a very good reason she had married him. With his intentional silliness, he'd managed to lighten the atmosphere considerably. Nina was looking at him as though he'd lost his mind. Then he winked at her and she couldn't help but giggle. Baby shook her head and grinned at her husband before turning to her child. "I seriously hope they call you something else."

"Nina," Jean said. "I called her Nina."

She smiled at him. "That's a good name. Thank you, Jean." He understood what she meant and smiled softly. "Nina, I'm notorious for being somewhat blunt," she continued.

Nina nodded. "Connor said you were." René growled at the mention of the boy's name.

Baby nodded. "So I'm gonna tell you the truth. And I won't sugar-coat it. We sent you away because you were in danger. But we also sent you away because this wasn't a fit home for a baby. Not with your father and everyone being what they are." Nina frowned and Baby continued. "Honey, Jean didn't lie to you when he told you your father died before you were born. René's dead."

Nina looked at her with all the incredulity that only a teenage girl could manage. "So, you're crazy, too. I hope it isn't hereditary."

Baby's grin was a bit lopsided. "Well, I am fairly nuts but not about this." She held out her hand and René came to her. "Nina, put your hand on René's chest. You won't feel any heartbeat."

Nina was sure the woman was crazy now and decided to humor her. She waited to feel the reassuring thump of a heartbeat beneath her palm but it never came. She moved her palm over the thin material of his shirt searching but she couldn't find it.

"He doesn't breathe, either," Baby whispered.

René started to place his hand over his daughter's but thought better of it. "It doesn't hurt," he told her. "You get used to it real quick, the silence."

Nina jerked her hand away. "What... How... What are you?" she demanded.

"My petite, please don't be afraid," Jean begged. "Not of us. We love you. We've loved you since we found out Maman was pregnant."

"Daddy Jean, don't let them ... I..." Nina clung to him.

Baby looked at Jean and he slowly nodded. "Nina honey, René won't hurt you. He's no different than your Uncle Jean," she said gently. "Jean died over a year before you were born."

"No!" Nina protested. "He's not! He's... he's..." Her words trailed off as she realized the chest she was leaning against was silent. There was no thump-thud-thump sounding in her ear. She pulled away with a gasp and stared up at him.

"M' bébé belle, I'm the same man you've known your whole life. I'm exactly the way I've always been," he said softly.

Looking into his warm brown eyes, she knew that was the truth. This was the man who had been her father as much as any man could be. This was the same Jean Claude who had loved and protected her for as long as she could remember. "But how? How is this possible? Dead people don't walk around. They don't talk and take you to the parades and make sure they show up at your fifth grade play just because you got to play the princess."

René smiled at the memory. "You were the most beautiful thing I ever seen," he whispered.

"You were there?" she said, amazed.

He twitched a corner of his mouth, an odd self-deprecating motion. "Yeah. I been looking out for you since you about nine." He bowed his head, playing with a near-invisible piece of lint on the bedspread. "I saw all your plays, all your recitals. I couldn't see most of your ball games--they was in the daylight--but I saw all the night games." He refused to look up and meet anyone's eyes. "You why I picked Mobile to be my town. I rule there."

Baby's small white hand stole into his line of vision, covering his own. He stilled under her touch but couldn't look at her. "I couldn't tell you, ange," he said in a near-whisper. "It'd just make you sad."

"René," she whispered with her heart and mind.

He felt her through their link and wrapped his arms about her. He wasn't sure how to explain this to their daughter. He supposed Baby was right. You just said it. "I'm a vampire and I'm master of all the demons and the vampires there." He looked into disbelieving teal eyes and was forced to look down at the spread again. "I'm king. So you really are a princess, just like in that play." He kissed Baby's hand. "I wish you could have seen her, belle ange. She was so pretty and she was so good. I thought of you the whole time. She reminds me of you so much." He finally looked at the woman he'd loved for nearly two decades, who'd given him this precious child. "She built just like you. And her skin, it's all pink like yours was when you was alive. You gave me the most beautiful baby in the world and she growed up into the most beautiful princess ever." Baby nearly split his lip kissing him as hard as she could.

Spike smiled slightly. He wasn't bothered by their kiss this time. He could understand it. He came and lifted Nina's chin. Strangely, he didn't frighten her. She felt oddly at ease with him. "You're right." He smiled impishly. "Skin white as snow, lips red as blood, hair as black as an ebony frame. The fairest in all the land," he quoted. "Looks like you went and gave us Snow White, dove." The golden glow in Baby's eyes had nothing to do with demon fire. And that glow was for him, not René. He laughed. "It only makes sense. Your mother is the Queen, after all." Unholy glee lit his blue eyes. "Jean, I don't think you make a very good evil step-mother."

Jean laughed. "No, Papa. And I'm too tall to be one of the dwarves."

René thought for a moment. "I don't know. You might make a pretty good Dopey, you. 'Cept your ears are too small and you talk too much."

Nina couldn't help it. She laughed. "That's awful." She looked at Jean. "Please tell me I didn't inherit his sense of humor."

Jean laughed. "No, cher. Luckily, you got your daddy's looks and your mama's brains and not the other way around."

"Hey!" Baby protested.

René folded his arms. "Guess who's sleeping on the couch tonight," he grumbled.

Nina laughed so hard tears began to flow from her eyes. "For dead people, you're awfully funny," she gasped.

Jean turned her head so she looked into his sable eyes. "You see, you have nothing to be afraid of here. We're not monsters, Nina. We're just different." He gathered her close again. "I'm still the same person you've always known."

She inhaled the scent of his cologne, familiar and comforting. He'd held her like this a thousand times. He'd seen her through dozens and dozens of childhood tragedies. She was suddenly very glad he'd be there to see her through her first adult one. She held him tightly. "Oh, Daddy Jean! I'm in so much trouble! I'm going to have a baby!" She clung to him. More horrifying than the thought of vampires being real was the thought of having a child. "What am I going to do? I'm so scared!"

Jean rocked her as she cried. "It's all right, baby girl. We're here. We're all here. You're not alone anymore. I'm here. Your maman and papa are here. Spike's here." He looked over the top of her head at his family. "We'll see you through this. You're with your family now. You don't have to be afraid anymore."

Nina felt cool hands on her shoulders and her back. She knew the father and mother she'd looked so hard for were touching her, just offering their support. She felt a strong hand stroking her hair. She looked up into intense blue eyes.

"You are part of our family," Spike said. "You were born part of it." He studied her teal eyes, so familiar and so new. "No one will take you from us ever again." He stroked her black hair. In the back of his mind, she was still his daughter. "We may not be what you were expecting but we love you more than anyone ever born. We are your family. And we'll take care of you. This is where you belong."

Much to René's disgust, he wasn't allowed to kill Connor. He wasn't even allowed to beat the shit out of the boy, which was his second choice. Of course, following the lecture he received from Cordelia and the I'm-so-disappointed-in-you speech he got from Jean, Connor rather wished they had let René kill him. The hurt in Jean's eyes was far worse than his father's anger. It cut deeper and kept Connor up at night. It coated his tongue with guilt, bitter and sharp, and made him want to do something to take away that disappointment. But there was nothing he could do. He didn't want a child; he didn't want to be a father. And he certainly didn't want to be a father to René Beaumont's grandchild. He couldn't believe he hadn't seen it. He supposed it was because he'd never heard of René having a kid. He couldn't think of touching Nina now. All he saw when he looked at her was her father and he really couldn't deal with that.

Connor's attitude hurt Nina, but not as much as she had thought it would. She didn't love him; she'd been alone and he'd been kind and caring. She realized that they had both been looking for something. The sad thing was that they hadn't found it. Nina received her fair share of lectures about everything from the stupidity of unprotected sex to the dangers of running away. Unlike Connor, it only set her back up as Baby termed it. Spike eventually told them all to leave Nina alone, that she was a bright girl, and was smart enough to know when she'd made a mistake and learn from it. She was also smart enough to figure out that if she ever thought of doing anything like that again, he'd lock her up for a few years. Nina half-believed him.

Nina learned quickly about this new family she'd found. It seemed impossible, but she couldn't deny the truth. They were vampires. She sometimes found that easier to believe than to believe that Baby Roxton was her mother. She still couldn't reconcile the image of Abigail Wilson with the reality of the Queen of New Orleans. She didn't think she ever would.

Cordelia, on the other hand, was a goddess. Nina couldn't understand Connor's anger and rejection of his mother. Nina would kill to trade places with him. Why couldn't Cordelia have been her mother instead of that frightening redhead? Nina decided life was utterly unfair.

Spike watched carefully as Nina integrated herself into the family. He also watched as Connor slipped further and further from the fold. He feared he had gained his lost daughter only to lose his well-loved nephew. Angel tried and tried but Connor refused to meet his father half-way on any issue. Angel's overwhelming initial anger at discovering he was about to be a grandfather had not helped matters. Connor felt more distanced from his family each day even as Nina found herself more and more at home in the house on Rue Royale. Still, there was little even Spike could do about Connor. He made sure the boy was safe and hoped that Connor lived long enough to see his way through this.

Spike, as he had ever done, watched carefully over his family. He wasn't really surprised when he noted his grandsire and his sons doing the same thing. So Spike grinned and charmed Nina and helped her through the miseries of teenage pregnancy. And when the nursery he'd so carefully set up for her was finally unlocked and set up for her child, he was the one who presented it to her as a present. Who was to say the Master wasn't every bit as pleased with the advent of a baby as he seemed to be?

The passage of time would see them all through, Spike knew. And in the meantime, he would finally have a chance to be father to a baby because regardless of biology and genes, he was the Master and any child born into his house was his child. For the first time in a very long time, Spike was content with his lot. And when the baby was born with the hullabaloo that normally accompanies the birth of a much-wanted child, they named him Jean Devereau Beaumont. And Spike carried Dev into the house for the first time, placing him in the bassinet he'd bought for his mother.

Chapters : |2| |3| |Interlude| |4| |5| |6| |7| |8| |9| |10| |11| |12| |13|
 

Chapter 2
"Here in the Real World"

(Alan Jackson/Mark Irwin)

Cowboys don't cry, And heroes don't die.
And good always wins Again and again.
And love is a sweet dream That always comes true.
Oh, if life were like the movies, I'd never be blue.

But here in the real world, It's not that easy at all,
'Cause when hearts get broken, It's real tears that fall.
And darlin', it's sad but true, But the one thing I've learned from you,
Is how the boy don't always get the girl, Here in the real world.

I gave you my love, But that wasn't enough,
To hold your heart When times got tough.
And tonight on that silver screen, It'll end like it should.
Two lovers will make it through Like I hoped we would.

But here in the real world, It's not that easy at all,
'Cause when hearts get broken, It's real tears that fall.
And darlin', it's sad but true, But the one thing I've learned from you,
Is how the boy don't always get the girl, Here in the real world.

New Orleans, Louisiana
Friday, 3:21 am
May 23, 2003

Richard Johnson stomped through the house on Rue Royal and into the parlor where he knew his siblings would be waiting. "They only paid half of what we had agreed upon," he said as he flung himself into a chair. "Fuck!" He snapped his fingers at a minion who immediately scurried away. "It's falling apart." He looked at his bothers and sisters. "Without him, it's falling apart. Another few months and we won't have any territory left."

Brenda nodded. "Tribute's already been cut in half. They aren't afraid of us." She wrapped her arms tightly about herself. She didn't want to become some near-nameless minion. She was used to being a princess. "We have to find him."

The others nodded. The minion who had left at Richard's unspoken demand returned with an obviously terrified human and flung her at the Prince of New Orleans' feet. Richard wrapped his hand around the frightened teenager's throat and lifted her off the floor. He sank his fangs into her neck and quickly drained her, tossing the corpse away when he was done. He didn't even glance at the minion that hauled the body away. "You're right. We can't rule without our sire. We have to get René back," he snarled.

New Orleans, Louisiana
Monday, 11:38 pm
May 26, 2003

Richard grabbed a handful of the tiny braids that covered the voodoo priestess' head. "I don't see him anywhere," he snarled. He pulled back, tilting Claire LeJeune's head back painfully. "I don't like being screwed with, bitch."

"Please," she gasped, her words slurred by a split lip and broken teeth. "I did what you asked. I called him back. He's here."

"Then he's invisible!" Richard pounded her head to the floor. "How stupid do I look?" He grabbed her hair again, pulling hard enough that blood began to seep from her scalp. "I told you what would happen to you if you didn't do exactly what I wanted, didn't I?"

She clasped her fingers around his wrist, trying to ease the pressure on her hair. It hurt so badly. "You can't drain me. I put a curse on myself." It was the only reason she'd survived the last two years. René would have killed her long ago if not for that curse. "The vampire who drains me turns to dust, him and his whole family!"

He jerked on her hair again. "And I told you I'd kill you if you didn't do a spell to bring René back."

"You can't drain me," she asserted again. "You bite me, bleed me, and you'll die."

He grinned coldly. "Yeah, you're a smart black bitch." He pulled a knife from his boot. "But I'm smarter," he said just before he sliced her throat. "I don't have to drain you to bleed you." He watched impassively as she rolled on the floor, her slim dark fingers pressed to her neck, trying in vain to stop the blood that spurted from her severed artery. When she lay still and soundless, he snapped his fingers for a minion to remove the corpse. "String her up in Jackson Square," he ordered. "Let them all know that we won't put up with being tricked or deceived." Maybe that would re-instill some of the fear they needed to keep control of the city. He looked around the room. The voodoo witch had let them down. They'd have to think of some other way to get their sire back.

Baby looked around, completely disoriented. She leaned against a wall trying to get her head to stop spinning. One second she'd been sitting at her dining table perched on Spike's knee, perfectly content, and the next she was in an alley. She thought back, trying to reconstruct what happened. Jean had been flirting outrageously with Jack, who of course loved every minute of it. It was becoming more obvious every day that Jack had more than a bit of a crush on Jean. It was really rather adorable. Her hard-nosed, cynical, sarcastic F.B.I. agent turning into a puddle of goo at a single glance or touch from her gentle philosopher son was one of the sweetest things she'd witnessed in some time. It was also rather surprising. But then, Jack was nothing if not surprising. A fair portion of Jack's attractiveness was his ability to surprise her.

For once, René wasn't snarling at the display of affection between Jack and Jean. He was playing with Dev, feeding his grandson from his own plate while Nina worried that the food was too rich or too spicy for the toddler. He ignored his daughter's fears, insisting that the baby was a Beaumont and as such genetically immune to such a thing as food being too spicy.

It had all been perfectly normal, or at least as normal as life could be for a house full of humans and vampires. Now she had to figure out when normal had shifted and thrown her here, wherever here was.

A few blocks away, Angel also tried to recreate what had happened. He remembered the dinner clearly, his photographic memory placing everyone and everything just as they'd been. He'd watched carefully from his spot at the foot of the table as Beaumont played with Devereau as if afraid René might drop their precious grandson. He hated to admit it, but the black-haired Cajun was wonderful with the boy. And there was no doubt in Angel's mind that René loved the child. Whatever problems Angel had with René, and they were myriad, he knew that René would sacrifice himself to protect the child. He'd curled his lip slightly as Cordelia leaned over and kissed René on the cheek. He would never reconcile himself to losing her. Having to watch her with Jean and René kept the wound in his heart open and bleeding but he couldn't really blame them, however much he wished he could. He'd brought it on himself. At least she was talking to him and willing to be in the same house with him again. Maybe, in a century or two, she'd forgive him. He lived on that hope alone. He'd glanced at his son. Connor, as usual, had placed himself as far from Nina and the baby as possible. Angel couldn't understand that. He'd wanted nothing more than to be with Connor when he was a baby. Angel had resented every case that pulled him away from his child. He pretty much felt the same way about Dev. Connor's need to distance himself from his son was something Angel just couldn't grasp. Connor leaned into his Auntie Dru's embrace, urging her to eat while handing her a thick crystal glass of warm blood, telling her she was too thin. At least that relationship was still strong. The spot beside Dru was empty. Wes had been delayed on some business or other but Angel knew his grandson would join them as soon as he could. Wes hated being away from Dru for even the smallest amount of time. Besides, the Englishman loved these family dinners and wouldn't forsake one unless he was forced to. He'd glanced at the head of the table where his other grandson and daughter sat happily overseeing the family get-together. At least they seemed happy. As usual, Baby was in Spike's lap. Angel couldn't remember the last time he'd seen them in separate chairs. That was a good sign. At least that marriage seemed back on track. It gave him hope for his own.

He'd been watching Spike and Baby when he felt a moment of dizziness. The room had swirled and faded and been replaced by the alley he was now in. He shook his head until it felt clearer. He could tell by the smells and the sounds that he was still in New Orleans. He headed for the street, determined to make his way back to Rue Royale, unaware that his youngest daughter was only three blocks away.

Baby's head was clearer now and like Angel, she realized she was in NOLA. She even recognized the area. She was on the edges of the Vieux Carré, not many blocks from home. She'd head back and figure out what had happened once she got there. It was obviously magical but aside from that, she had no clue. She'd figure it out, or Jean and Jack would. And then she'd rip a few heads off.

She was less than half a block away from where she'd started when she felt something through her link with Jack. In less than a second she knew her son was being attacked and she knew he was nearby. At her instruction, he called out. She could hear him, though he was not as close as she would like. She took off at a dead run. Jack was strong. He was very, very strong for a fledgling, but he was also very, very young in vampire terms and Baby feared for him.

She crashed into two of the vampires attacking Jack, sending them sprawling. The next two were thrown into a brick wall, knocking one unconscious and leaving the other groggy. Another kick and a couple of punches and she was beside her son. Jack's knuckles were bruised and bleeding. There was a gash across his left forearm, the material of his white shirt showing crimson about the edges of the cut. He was unarmed; he had emptied his Glock a good five minutes ago. Baby only had her Double Shadow blade and her backup knife. She handed the backup to Jack.

"Who the hell are these guys?" he demanded. He knew that vamps did not hunt the French Quarter. Spike had claimed that area as Pride territory only.

"Damned if I know." She was as confused as Jack was. It didn't make sense. Hunting the Quarter, attacking a member of the family--these idiots might as well have come to Spike and asked him to kill them and wipe out half their clan. The results would be the same. "Where are they all coming from?" There had to be a good dozen-and-a-half ranged against them now: tough odds even for Baby the Invincible. In fact, the odds were proving to be too much for the vampiress and her son. Had she had her guns and a stake or two, she and Jack might have broken through and escaped, but with only two knives they were rapidly being overcome. Soon she found herself pressed against the wall facing an opponent with a rather sharp stake and a vicious expression. Salvation dropped from the rooftop above in a flurry of elegant brown silk and long fangs. The vicious expression on her attacker's face changed to one of disbelief before fading to dust as Jean Claude stabbed a stake into his heart. Two other attackers quickly turned to dust as Jean cleared the area around Baby and Jack. Jack grabbed a stake from the hand of one shocked adversary and joined his lover in reducing the number of their foes. Baby flanked Jack, incapacitating any minion she could, leaving them for Jack to stake. They were beginning to believe it was possible to break free when Jean dusted a large, tattooed vampire. Nearly simultaneously, the pain of that death flashed through Baby's and Jean's link to René. Jack felt it from both his sire and his lover. The shock of it stunned the three for just an instant, but it was enough for their attackers to overwhelm them. Still rocked by feeling the death of an adversary as though he were a family member, they were soon held immobile by several minions. A stake was drawn back preparatory to being plunged into Jean's heart.

Baby cursed and fought the hands holding her down. "The Master will rip your hearts out! He'll kill every one of you!" She tried to bite the minion nearest her. "You don't want to know what he'll do you! No one touches the Consort to the Master of New Orleans and lives!" She could hear Jack cursing and fighting and feel his fear for Jean. "And René will tear your arms off! He'll pull you apart with his bare hands. No one touches the consorts of René the Beautiful without facing him. You can kill us but you won't live long!"

The minion paused, stake still upraised. "The Master? René?" He looked at his companions. "What do you mean the consorts of René the Beautiful?"

Jean growled, deep and threateningly. He might be about to die but that didn't mean he was defeated. "She's right. No one touches the Master's family. Papa will destroy you and your clan. And you don't want to know what René will do to you. My husband will kill every last one you. He'll torture you to death and laugh while he does it. My father and my husband will avenge us. The whole family will."

One of the minions holding Baby grabbed her hair and pulled her head to one side. He cursed. "She's got the Master's mark. She's René's consort."

Jean's collar was ripped open and more than one of his captors gasped. "So is he!" one of them murmured. They actually seemed relieved when Jack didn't bear René's mark. "René's consorts! We'll have to take them to the house. This is something for the Prince to deal with," one of them said. There was general agreement and Baby and her sons were hauled to their feet and bound before being pushed toward the street.

It didn't take more than a couple of blocks for Baby to become suspicious. She turned confused eyes to Jean. He was also wondering about their destination, as was Jack. All three were immensely intelligent people and it was obvious they were headed for Royal Street. Still, Baby was disbelieving even when she was pushed inside the doors of her own house. Jean looked around him, taking in little inconsistencies, small things that seemed out of place or odd. "Maman," he whispered. "This isn't our house but it's the way our house used to be." A nasty, nasty suspicion was growing in his mind.

She snarled and kicked at one of her captors but realized Jean was correct. She remembered when the rooms of Rue Royale had looked very like this. She'd replaced this wallpaper with something more historically accurate a decade ago. She'd bought a better secretary to replace the one against that wall and moved that one to one of the guest bedrooms three years ago. This was her house and yet at the same time it wasn't her house. "Jean? Where are we?"

He shook his head. "I'm not sure, Maman. And I think it may be a question of when are we as much as where are we."

They were shoved and pulled into the main parlor. A brown-haired vampire sat in one of Baby's finest antique chairs acting as if he owned the place. Baby decided she didn't like him one bit.

Richard looked at the bound captives and wondered why the minions were bringing strange vampires to him. "What the hell is this?" he demanded of the minions.

"Sir, we found them in our territory," the lead minion said. At the sight of Richard's face, he hurried with his explanation. "They bear Lord René's mark, sir."

Richard frowned. "What?"

The minion swallowed. He hoped the Prince wasn't in a kill-the-messenger sort of mood. "Two of them bear the Master's consort mark."

Jean was frowning at the minion. "Damn right!" he spoke up quickly. "I'm Consort to René the Beautiful and Lover to the Master of New Orleans." He sent instructions as best he could through his links to Baby and Jack for them to remain still and quiet.

Richard blinked. The minions backed away. They'd seldom seen him confused before. And those times had all resulted in bloody death for someone. Richard stood and jerked back Jean's collar. René's mark was clear and deep on his neck, obviously often and recently used. Jean also reeked of René as well as Baby, Spike, and Jack. Richard's confusion grew. René had been missing for months and now this stranger, a man showed up with his sire's mark and smell. It made no sense whatsoever. René never, ever allowed a man to touch him. He used his daughters regularly but aside from the occasional need to punish or dominate a son, René never touched a man and he certainly allowed no man to touch him. He for damn sure wouldn't claim a man as consort. And if by some miracle he did, that man would smell of no one but René. The Master of New Orleans didn't share well.

Richard turned to the other two prisoners hoping for answers. The redhead bore his sire's mark, too. He could almost understand that. René liked women a lot. And he seemed to have a preference for buxom redheads. Still, Richard couldn't see René claiming her; she wasn't very pretty. René liked pretty toys.

He knew for a fact that René had sworn he'd never take a consort. Yet, here were two people with his sire's mark. The other man at least didn't have René's mark or smell on him. He did, however, have as arrogant an expression as Richard had ever seen. All three of the prisoners did. It wasn't right. Those brought before him were always fearful, usually pleading for their lives. These three looked as if he should be begging to them. He didn't like it and he didn't understand it. They were the ones bound and helpless; what right had they to look arrogant and defiant? "Who the hell are you?" he snarled at Jack.

Jack snarled back. And his growl was deeper and more powerful. "Jack Niemczyk. F.B.I. Son of the Queen of New Orleans. Grandson of the Master of New Orleans."

Richard blinked again. "F.B.I.? Queen of New Orleans? There is no Queen of New Orleans."

"The hell there isn't!" Baby interjected. "I've been Queen of the city for twenty years!" She sniffed. "Imbecile."

Richard growled at her. No woman spoke to him that way. She growled back and her face changed. Richard reared back in shock. "What the hell!" He'd never seen any vampire face like hers. "What kind of vampire are you?"

"The kind that's gonna rip your fucking head off in about ten seconds if you don't untie me!" she spat. Richard moved just a tad too close and Baby's knee nearly shoved his balls into his solar plexus. Jack managed a forceful kick into the face of the minion nearest him, shattering his face and causing him to drop a knife. Jean locked his legs around the neck of another and broke his neck. Baby kicked at yet a third as Jack scrambled to Jean's side and began fumbling at Jean's bonds with the knife he'd managed to pick up from the floor. It was hard going with his hands tied behind him but he knew freeing Jean was their best chance. Jean was the strongest of them and the best fighter. With his sire prepared to kill any minion that came close enough, Jack simply prayed he had time to get Jean free. Unfortunately he didn't. Richard was in serious pain but he was also seriously pissed off. He managed to knock Baby aside, grabbing Jean by the hair, pulling him away from Jack. He pulled a stake from his pocket. With a roar of denial, Jack threw himself at Richard but was intercepted by two minions while Baby was held down by three more. Richard readied his aim.

Strong, slim fingers closed over Richard's wrist, crushing it. He looked up into teal eyes awash with yellow fire. "I'll kill you slowly if you so much as scratch him," René said. "I string you up and torture you for years if you put even one bruise on him."

"Sire!" Richard gasped and let the stake fall from his hand. "I... Sire!"

René pushed him away and knelt beside Jean. He used the knife Jack had been forced to drop to free Jean. He looked down at the man in his arms with an expression neither Richard nor any of the minions had ever seen on his face. "You all right, cher?" he asked.

Jean smiled up at him softly. "I am now; you're here," he answered. Of course, that look and that answer set René's heart afire and he nearly devoured Jean with the kiss he gave his brother. Spike smiled indulgently and stepped around his sons. He and Cordelia had been two steps behind René since they'd run into each other shortly after appearing in this odd, familiar city. He had already instructed René to take the lead here until they knew exactly what the situation was. René had quickly recognized that they were in the reality his doppelganger had ruled. Spike had decided it was best if that evil René's minions and family had no idea William the Bloody was back among them.

Spike quickly freed his wife and helped Cordy free Jack. René finally lifted his lips from Jean's and looked at the gaping minions. "Why are you still on your feet?" he snapped. The minions fell to their knee immediately. "Richard!" René snarled.

His son snapped out of the daze caused by seeing his father kissing a man with such passion and love. He knelt. "I'm sorry, Sire. I didn't mean... I'm sorry."

"That's better," René said as he rose and extended a hand to helped Jean up. He quickly checked Baby to assure himself she was fine, even though their consort bond told him she was all right. He kissed her gently and went so far as to shake hands with Jack. He'd seen his nephew try to throw himself between Jean and danger. Assured that his consorts were both fine, he turned to the kneeling figure before him just as several of his other children flew into the room.

"Sire!" one of the women gasped. "You really are here."

He lifted the corner of his lip and growled softly. Immediately they froze and then dropped to their knees. René had always had nothing less than iron control over his family. And they all recognized and felt his glowing anger through their family bond. They had all learned in numerous painful ways to fear their sire's wrath. René knotted his hand in Richard's hair and forced his eldest to look up at him. "Now, you want to tell me why you dare touch someone clearly marked as MINE!"

Richard was shaking too badly to answer. René used the knife he still held to slice slowly across Richard's cheek once, twice, three times. René reached almost casually into the wound and peeled the skin away from the muscles underneath, ignoring the tears that sprang into Richard's eyes and flowed down his cheeks, stinging and burning in the wound his father had made. Another two cuts and another section of skin was peeled away. Richard was openly sobbing now.

Jean laid a hand on René's shoulder. "Please, cher," he whispered.

"I'm gonna flay every inch of his skin off for daring to touch you, m' coeur," René answered. "He knew better. He knew what I'd do to him." He jerked on one of the flaps of skin, causing Richard to scream. "And he knows this is just the beginning."

Jean shuddered. "René, please."

René looked from his brother to the son cowering in his grip. "Only because you ask it, my love," he said. He leaned down and spoke softly into his son's ear. Still, his words were clearly heard by every vampire in the room. "You lucky Jean's a merciful man. You lay a hand on him again or on any of them and I'll make you scream for decades. You understand me?" he hissed.

Richard managed to choke out a strangled, "Yes, sir."

René looked at the vampires gathered in the room. All of his children were present now though only a few of the minions were. He'd worry about the minions later. "That goes for any of you. No one touches what's mine! I'll kill any one of you that dares. I'll flay your skin off and douse you in holy water. And that's just for starters. I'll see to it you hurt and scream for years and years." He knew he had to do this. He had to keep complete control of these demons. He knew just how vicious and cruel they were. Hadn't he taught them to be that way himself? "Do you all understand me?" There was a chorus of "yes sirs." He nodded. "Then get out of my sight. All of you!"

As soon as the room emptied and the door closed behind the last of his children René fell into a chair and dropped his head into his hands. Baby came and pulled him close while Jean knelt before him. As his consorts, his distress was an ache inside them, though Baby was sure he was blocking his feeling from his children. René leaned his head back against the chair. He was breathing hard, like a man who'd been running for miles. Cordelia was staring at him in shock while Jack's expression showed a new respect. Spike joined his consort and lovers. He stroked René's hair back from his brow. "Are you going to be all right? This is definitely where this body's from, isn't it?" he asked.

René nodded and opened his eyes. "Oui, Papa." He allowed the feel of Spike's touch to soothe him and ease some of the tension from his body. "Welcome to the world I built," he said bitterly. "You won't like it. It's not a good place."

Spike pressed his lips softly to René's. "Not you, son. Never forget that. He wasn't you. And you aren't him."

René wished he could believe that. "I could be."

Spike nodded. "Yes, you could. And I could destroy half the world. But we don't. Every day, we don't."

Jean kissed René's hand. "We all have that darkness inside us, m' amour," he said. "You just see yours a little more clearly than the rest of us."

Cordy pulled herself from Jack's arms. She went to René. "Honey, look at me." She waited until he complied. "I know you. I know who you are. You don't see me running away from you, do you?"

Baby smiled gratefully at the other woman. So did René. He looked around him. They were all smiling at him, even Jack, standing alone with his arms crossed. "I'm gonna need you to remind me of that," he told them. "'Cause I'm gonna have to be a complete bastard. If I don't keep a tight rein on those children of mine, they'll kill us all. I can't afford to be merciful." He leaned his head back again and closed his eyes. "I can't afford to show them any caring."

A quick scan of the family link revealed that everyone seated at the dinner table had been transferred here. Spike had a clear sense of his sire. Drusilla was fine, wherever she was. Baby could sense Angel and through him Connor and Devereau. They could only assume Nina was here as well. With Nina and the baby missing along with Connor and Angel, René sent out search parties with explicit instructions to find them and bring them back to him without harming or frightening them. He made sure each minion understood the price they would pay for harming any of the missing four. He went out himself with Jean and Spike. Baby and Cordelia stayed at the house to tend to Jack, who had been more injured in the two separate fights than he'd admitted. The young vampire was actually hurt rather severely. He'd recover quickly but he needed to rest now. Baby, at René's request and Spike's order, was there to help with Jack and to protect Cordelia. René didn't trust his children alone with Cordelia and Jack. Baby, now fully armed, was a match for any of them.

The search parties returned just before dawn with no news. They were somewhat surprised when the Master didn't kill the leaders of the expeditions but simply nodded and told them to try again as soon as the sun went down. Not being constrained by daylight, Spike and Cordy headed out into the streets to see what they could find. Their search was just as fruitless.

René was left with a gnawing concern for his daughter and grandchild. He knew just how dangerous the streets of his city were. He feared something had already happened to them. Much as he disliked Angel, he prayed his great-grandsire was with Nina and Dev though Baby's link with her sire was too tenuous for her to tell. Angel would kill anyone and anything that threatened his grandson.

Angel positioned himself so that any of the vampires attacking them would have to come through him to get to Nina and Devereau. Connor stood at his father's shoulder. He might not be interested in Nina any longer and he might not know anything about babies but he'd be damned for all eternity before he'd let one of these hellspawn make a snack off his son or his son's mother. He sneered at a vampire and the idiot made the mistake of coming a little too close. Connor staked him with ease but the fiend was replaced by two others. "Dad, there are too many of them," he said quietly.

"I know," Angel agreed. "If you get a chance, take Nina and the baby and run."

Connor nodded. "You do the same."

Angel stole a quick look at his son. The resolve on Connor's face was enough to convince him that his son was serious. Connor would stay here and die, giving his son a chance to escape. Angel had never been more proud of him. "I will," he promised. "Connor, I...." He didn't know what to say. He'd never figured out why talking to Connor was so hard. He supposed he should just say it. "Connor, you're a good man. I... I love you, son."

Connor nodded. He didn't dare take his eyes off the vampires. "I know that," he said.

Angel wanted to cry or scream and he couldn't figure out which. Instead, he staked one of the vampires that wasn't watching as carefully as it should. Unfortunately, the others seemed to consider this a sign to attack. The Champion of the Powers That Be and his son stood shoulder-to-shoulder, more than prepared to do everything in their power to protect the precious boy-child behind them.

The man watching from the rooftop was confused. The two men below him were obviously vampires. The speed and strength they displayed, the way they moved, they couldn't be anything else. Yet they were protecting a human girl and a small child. The large crucifix clutched in the girl's hand was testimony to her status. She seemed completely unafraid of the two vampires protecting her, though her terror of the Master's minions was evident.

When the girl tossed the crucifix to the young man who promptly used it to blind a vampire, the man's confusion grew. He decided it was time he took a hand in things. He headed for the fire escape and bounded down it. At the second floor landing, he took careful aim and shot three of the attacking vampires in rapid succession. There was just enough wood in each of his bullets to dust a vamp. They were hard to make but they were worth every bit of effort.

Two more vampires died before the others took off down the alley. They knew better than to try and fight him when he had plenty of ammo and a superior position. He leaped the remaining feet to the ground.

Angel and Connor turned toward the new threat. Nina did as well. Her face lit with pleasure. "Uncle Remy!" she cried and launched herself at the man.

"Captain McSwain," Angel murmured. "Thank you!" He held out his hand.

Remy McSwain rapidly pulled a cross and shoved it at Angel. The Master of L.A. flinched and backed away. Nina looked at him in confusion, gathered Dev, and drew away.

"Remy? What's wrong?" Connor said. "What's the idea of pulling a cross on Dad?"

"Who are you?" Remy demanded. He stared at the cross in Connor's hand. "What are you?"

"Uncle Remy," Nina said in confusion. "You know who I am. I'm Nina Beaumont." There was still no recognition on his face. "I'm René's daughter. You know that."

Remy looked at her carefully. He had no doubt she was telling him the truth. She looked exactly like René. His face and his heart hardened.

"Nina!" Angel placed her carefully behind him, shielding her from the human. "Take Dev and run. Get to Spike or your mother. Find your father. Just get to a member of the family," he ordered.

"Angel? I don't understand." She was terrified now, even more so than when those rogue vampires were attacking. "What's wrong with Uncle Remy? Why doesn't he know us?" She peeped around Angel's bulk at her kinsman. "Angel?"

Remy frowned. "Angel?" The name jogged a memory of something he'd read and the stories he'd heard. "The vampire with a soul? That Angel?"

The dark vampire nodded. "Yeah, that's me."

Nina couldn't comprehend it all. "You know Angel. You've known him for years. You know all of us! I don't understand," she wailed. "Why are you acting this way?"

"Oh stop whining!" Connor snapped. "Honestly! You are the whiniest girl I've ever met."

Her lower lip protruded slightly and began to tremble. Tears welled up her big teal eyes. "I am not! Oh, you're just awful! You're mean! Why are you so mean to me all the time? I hope Dev doesn't grow up to be like you!" Her tears now glistened on long coal lashes, making her eyes seem even larger if that was possible. Her full lips begged to be kissed so they would smile again. A joyful Nina was gorgeous; a sad Nina was heart-stopping.

It took a strong man to resist the famous Beaumont pout. Connor was a very, very strong man. He simply rolled his eyes.

Angel sighed. He was also a strong man. And he saw this daily. Besides, it reminded him too much of René. "Connor, stop picking on Nina. Nina, don't cry." He felt rather like rolling his eyes, too. He'd discovered the only thing more trying than teenage boys were teenage girls.

Remy McSwain, on the other hand, had no strength at all where women were concerned. And Nina was an incredibly beautiful young woman. And much as he hated to admit it, she reminded him of his young cousin René. He'd been very fond of René when he was alive. In fact, Remy had been very careful to segregate his cousin's memory from the monster that now wore René's body. He had thought René died childless but this girl looked so much like him, there was no doubt in Remy's mind that she really was René's daughter. She was obviously human, obviously frightened, and obviously his kin. "I don't know you, child," he said gently. "I don't know any of you. I've never met you before in my life."

Connor frowned. "Of course you know us. You were at the party we threw for Jack when he was cleared of those charges a couple months ago. Well, you'd have to be; you're sort of his only friend."

Angel had caught on. It was clear Remy had no idea what Connor was talking about.. "Alternate dimension," he said. "It's an alternate dimension."

Connor cursed and for once Angel didn't correct him. Angel quickly explained what had to be happening to Remy and Nina. "Okay, say I believe all this," Remy said. "What are you going to do about it?"

"Find a way home," Angel said simply. "First thing to do, we head back to the house on Rue Royale. Find Spike." He chucked Nina gently under the chin. "Find your father."

"That's the one thing you don't want to do," Remy said. "René may be alive and healthy in your world but here he's a vampire. And as evil a son of a bitch as you'd ever hope to meet." Remy clenched his jaw. "You go anywhere near him and he'll kill you."

Connor twirled the stake in his hand and grinned. "Maybe I'll finally get to kill him."

Nina slapped him on the arm. "My daddy would beat you up if you even tried it!"

"In his wildest dreams," Connor countered.

"Oh, he would soooo kick your ass!"

"Children!" Angel admonished. "Let's just find the Master and get this all straightened out."

"I just told you that you don't want to go anywhere near René," Remy asserted.

Angel did a double take. "Are you saying René is Master of New Orleans?"

Connor's frown deepened. "Where's Uncle Spike? What happened to him?"

Remy thought for a moment. The name was familiar. "The old master? René killed him."

Nina gasped and hugged Devereau so closely he protested loudly. Even Connor, who was willing to believe the worst of René at all times, was incredulous. Angel shook his head. "That's not possible. René would move Heaven and Earth for his sire. He'd never hurt Spike. René would die first."

Remy considered him sadly. "You don't know him."

Angel looked around the alley. "I guess not. Sounds like we have a lot to talk about. And if Rue Royale isn't an option, I've got a problem. I've got to get these three somewhere safe. Can you help us with that?"

Remy nodded. "I have a house we can use." He quickly explained about a safe house he maintained and, receiving Angel's approval, led them to his car. He had several ideas, but the vampire was right: he needed to get the girl and her baby to a safe place.

Angel shook his head as Remy finished his explanation. The New Orleans the Master of L.A. knew was nothing like the place Remy had described. Instead of the protection of the Pride and its master, New Orleans was a killing ground for the children of René the Ruthless. Angel wondered at the name. He knew that René had a reputation as being somewhat merciless in battle. It was what made him such a good warrior. René neither gave nor expected any quarter. When he fought, he fought full out. He'd conquered town after town in Spike's name, building his father's empire by defeating one master vampire after another. Angel had sensed from the beginning that René could be very dangerous. It was one reason Angel had often thought of killing his great-grandson.

Angel thought about what Remy had told him. He had no reason to doubt the human. And he had to admit that the attack they'd suffered just hours earlier would not have happened in Spike's town. He looked out the window, noting that the gray of incipient dawn was creeping over the street outside. The deep veranda would keep the sun from him but it meant he was confined here until sunset. He picked up Devereau from a pallet on the floor and held his grandson close, calming the fussy toddler. He sat down in an old rocker, the motion soothing the baby as Angel began to formulate different plans for getting this little section of his family safely away from this twisted vision of their home and back where they all belonged.

Chapters : |2| |3| |Interlude| |4| |5| |6| |7| |8| |9| |10| |11| |12| |13|

Chapter 3
"Angel Band"

(The Stanley Brothers)
My latest sun is sinking fast. My race is nearly run.
My longest trials now are past. My triumph has begun.

Oh come, angel band, Come and around me stand.
Bear me away on your snow white wings To my immortal home.
Bear me away on you snow white wings To my immortal home.

Oh bear my longing soul to him Who bled and died for me.
Whose blood now cleanses from all sins And brings me victory.

Oh come, angel band, Come and around me stand.
Bear me away on your snow white wings To my immortal home.
Bear me away on you snow white wings To my immortal home.

I've almost gained my heavenly home My spirit loudly sings
The holy ones, behold they come I hear the noise of wings

Oh come, angel band, Come and around me stand.
Bear me away on your snow white wings To my immortal home.

Alternate Dimension
New Orleans, Louisiana
Tuesday, 10:25 am
May 27, 2003

"Sweetheart, you should try to get some sleep," Baby said.

René sighed. "I can't. You know that. I'm awake for the same reason you are. I can't sleep when our baby's out there, maybe alone, maybe hurt." The fear in his eyes echoed hers. "What if she's hurt? What if she need me? What if something's happened to her?"

"Don't," Jean said softly and placed his hand over René's. "She's not hurt. I think..." He didn't want to make René's burden any more but it was time his brother knew. "I think I'd know if something bad happened to her. I sort of always have before." He looked down at their hands, unable to meet René's eyes. "Whenever she's been really hurt, I've always known."

"Because you're her daddy." There was only a hint of bitterness in René's voice though there was a wealth of sadness.

Jean didn't say anything. He couldn't. He continued to stare at his hands where they rested atop René's. He wanted to do something, to say something, but he had no idea what it would be. He felt soft hands on his face and Baby lifted his head. She kissed his forehead. "Thank you," she whispered. "Thank you for being there for her when we couldn't."

René's fingers stirred beneath his, twining with his, holding his gently. "Oui. Merci, m' amour. I thank God every night that you were there for my baby. The only way I could live with not being there was knowing that you were. I couldn't love her and hold her, but I knew you would. She was a lucky little girl to have you for a daddy." He pressed his lips fleetingly to Jean's. "I'm a lucky man to have you for a brother and a lover. I'd a been lost without you long ago, m' Jean."

Jean laid his head on René's thigh and held tightly to his brother's hands while Baby stroked his hair.

For long minutes, the three simply lay in silence. Confined by the bright daylight, they couldn't search for their missing child and grandchild. Though they had every confidence in Spike and Cordelia, it was hard to be forced into inactivity. As the clock on René mantle ticked away the seemingly endless hours, Jean and Baby could feel René's distress growing. Finally Jean said, "Cher coeur, I told you Nina's not hurt. I know I'd feel it if she was."

"It not that," René said. "I believe you. You never lied to me, frére."

"What is it then, darling?" Baby asked.

René swallowed. He wasn't sure he wanted to talk about this but he should have known that he couldn't hide what he was feeling from these two. "It's my children. These children here. Being so close to them, in the same house with them. I feel them," he explained. He shivered. "They like.... they like maggots in my head. Something dirty and crawling." Once begun, he couldn't stop shaking. "The things they think, the things they feel... it...it..." He couldn't begin to verbalize it. "They cold and hard. They..." He squeezed his eyes closed. "They make me hurt."

A dual burst of concern flooded through him as both Baby and Jean sent him their ever-abiding love. That warmth helped push the chill he was feeling further away. "Don't think of them," Baby insisted. "Think of me." She looked at her other son and nodded slowly. "Think of us."

René felt her lips on his, felt Jean's cool breath on his ear as his brother whispered to him. "Maman's right. Don't think of anything but us."

René sighed, letting their love wash over him. He surrendered to their care, focusing on what they felt for him, letting it thaw the iciness that threatened to freeze his heart. Since he had returned from Heaven, he sometimes felt that the coldness of the world would consume him and this world was a thousand times colder than where he normally dwelt. But here, in the arms of the two people he loved most, he felt safe and warm. There was joy here to rival what he'd felt in Heaven. This was what he had sought when he'd forsaken Paradise. They were his Paradise and his Reward. He knew that he was Redeemed because of them. If nothing else, being in this hideous world had shown him that his redemption lay in Jean's care, Baby's love, and Spike's mercy. Without them, he would have been lost to a darkness deeper than he had ever imagined. He kissed first one then the other, tasting salvation on their lips. He gave himself over, body and soul, to their love.

With tender care, Baby and Jean joined in proving to René that he need never think of the horror that might have been. Separately, they brought him joy greater than he'd thought he'd ever have; together they were a vortex of light and bliss that nearly drowned him.

He'd thought joining with them and his father was the greatest joy he could know, but he'd never had this before. He realized he'd never been alone with just the two of them before. And his spouses were completely focused on him. For them nothing else mattered. For this moment, for this day, he was their world as they had so often been his. All the love he'd felt for them over the years was being returned in one overwhelming wave of emotion. René rode the crest of that wave to a new level of joining. He'd never been this close to them, just as they had never been this close to each other. He could feel their hands touching him, loving him, soothing him. Peace such as he'd never felt settled over his heart and mind. As long as they were with him, as long as they existed, he never needed to fear the darkness. He never needed to fear being alone. He would never be alone again. Even if half the globe separated their physical bodies, they would be inside him. He'd carry them wherever he went. They were now irrevocably woven into the core of his being, just as he was woven into theirs. No one could ever separate them now. No one could ever take them from him again. Deep within him, the René that had created this chill, dark world still existed, filled with hate and longing and misery. Now, inundated by the love of the woman he craved and the man he secretly grieved, that desperate, injured René was healed and knew some measure of peace. For the first time since he had fought and taken this body that his lovers were lavishing such attention on, René was whole and at ease with himself.

Gentle touches drew him ever closer to bliss; gentle words soothed his spirit. Baby's body wrapped around him, Jean's within him, joined them physically as deeply as he was joined to them mentally. Every movement of his body was felt by both of them just as every emotion was shared. He wanted them with a passion he'd never experienced, desired them with an intensity he'd never known. It went beyond simply want and longing. It went beyond ardor and love. It was stronger than the bloodlust and the craving. It transcended anything he had ever imagined. When Jean's fangs slid into his shoulder and Baby's sank into his chest his consciousness exploded. There was no separation, no delineation between them. He was Jean, pouring his adoration into René, emptying his body into the brother he loved beyond reason. He was Baby, crying her love for René, filled with the man she loved beyond sanity. He was René, loved and needed, wanted and adored. They were one and would not be torn apart ever again.

The force of their joining blasted through the house, stirring Jack from his sleep and causing René's dark children to cower in their beds unable to face such light and love in their demon souls.

Chapters : |2| |3| |Interlude| |4| |5| |6| |7| |8| |9| |10| |11| |12| |13|

An Interlude
"Fighting In a Dark House"
by Fojiao2

Alternate Dimension
New Orleans, Louisiana
Tuesday, 11:25 am
May 27, 2003

"Cruel! That's what you are! Mean as a cottonmouth!" Nina's sharp tones cut through the darkened house.

"You're no bed of roses yourself," Connor responded bitterly. "Christ! God damn, where'd you learn to be such a HARPY? They give you lessons in some Alabama finishing school?"

"Don't you take the Lord's name in vain, not around me!" she warned.

"CHILDREN," came Angel's deep, commanding voice, quieting them both. The old, old vampire sat in a rocking chair, his human grandchild curled into a sleeping ball on his chest, where he cradled it with the utmost tenderness. "If either of you wake this child, I'll give you a scar of some sort. So if you have to continue arguing, can you do it another room?" He motioned with his head toward the bedroom. He had no problem at all sentencing the two teenagers to a bedroom, for although he held the evidence of their former passion in his arms, he knew that now they'd sooner cut themselves into small pieces than touch each other.

Nina stuck out a pouty lip. "No, I don't have any more to say," she said.

Connor leaned toward her, leering. "Well, I do! You give up?" He stepped into the bedroom, looking over his shoulder until his face couldn't be seen.

Balling her fists, the young woman stormed into the room after him. "Why do you gotta be like this?!"

"It's the only way to be," he said. "In case you hadn't noticed, we've been sucked into another dimension. We have to be on our guards at all times."

"So that makes you be mean to me?"

He smirked at her. "No. That's just for fun."

"Ohhh!" Nina stomped her foot in frustration and threw herself onto one of the twin beds in the room. "You're a monster! You're nothin' like the Connor I first met!"

Connor wasn't looking so happy anymore. "That's where you're wrong," he said. "I've been like this for a while now. Had everyone I loved and cared for walk out on me. So I finally got the message, the thing they'd been trying to teach me since I was Dev's age: that I can't count on anyone except myself. And that just because they're older and more powerful doesn't mean they have the answers." He crossed his strong arms, staring furiously at the floor. "Nobody has all the answers in this world. Nobody and nothing."

Nina looked up at the now-silent young man. She really was more compassionate than either he or his father could think of being . . . because she hadn't made the mistakes they had. Well, there was ONE mistake that she and Connor shared--which is probably why she reached out to him by saying, "Why don't you ever go any where with Dev and me? Why don't you go to church with me?"

"Church!" he snorted, rolling his eyes.

"It isn't right. You didn't even see your own son baptized," she said, her voice holding an edge of teariness.

Connor spun around, finger raised righteously. "What you call CHURCHES are just tombs, girl, tombs for some dead invisible man in the sky! There's nothing up there but the Powers That Be, and they spend most of their time laughing at us and baiting us like fish on the end of a line!"

Nina looked completely shocked at this outburst. "You can't talk about God like that," she told him.

"'Cain't,'" he mocked her accent. "Goddamn, you are so COUNTRY! I'm from L! A!, do you understand? I party with the rich kids in the richest city on this continent. At least I used to, before I got--" He looked around helplessly at the moldy ceiling above him. "Trapped! I'm trapped in this crumbling, antebellum Southern eyesore of a city that's sliding into the Gulf! We shift friggin' dimensions and I'm still stuck here!"

Nina crossed her arms defiantly. "You like New Orleans. You told me you did. Now you hate it? And you say I'm whiney. You never stop whining 'bout your own problems."

"Oh, what would you know? I'm sure your fine Alabama education prepared you for everything, eh?"

The young girl swallowed a deep knot of pain, and her voice--if her Daddy could have heard it--would have driven that proud Papa into a rage against the boy who brought her so down. "I've had to take on a lot in the last year; I think even you'd agree with that. I didn't grow up around vampires and demons like you. But I've been adjusting, and doin' all right with it. As if havin' a child wasn't adjustment enough! So I say, if you wanna leave so bad, maybe you should just leave."

Connor laughed bitterly. "Ohhh, if only I could. But I have nowhere to go. At least with the family I'm getting to fight the good fight." He shook his head. "Of course, that gets harder for me to define every day. I'm just another soldier in Spike's army. Don't think he'd miss me all that much." The young man sat down heavily across from Nina. He looked at her without bitterness for the first time in a long time. "Why'd you ever sleep with me?" he asked.

"What?!"

"I mean, a girl with your looks and . . . that bust. Little place in Alabama. The boys must've been trying to knock on your door since you were just a kid."

Nina's face now had a grim look. "Since eighth grade. If Daddy Jean hadn't taught me a few tricks in fighting, I might a' been one o' those victims you spend your time protecting."

"So why give it up for me? What's so special about me that you wanted to go all the way?"

"You're kidding, right?"

"No, I want to know."

Nina put her hands up as if sweeping back the curtain of memory. "I was all by myself in this city," she said. "First time I'd ever been away from home. And then you come out of nowhere. It was like you were . . . Superman. You never had any problem protecting me; wasn't a challenge you couldn't knock down. You had a house for me, and money, and-- and you gave me your attention. Something you ain't had time to give me in a long while," she said, her voice turning bitter. Then she closed her eyes, seeing the boy she'd known then, making herself the girl she'd been at that time, and her voice was now light and hopeful. "You were a hero and you had power, so much power that it spilled out of you, carelessly. Everything you touched seemed to absorb it. You showed me a world that I could take command of. When we'd go through the zoo, or you'd drive me around town and take me to all these fancy restaurants . . . it was like you owned the city. You didn't know what fear was. Is it any wonder that I wanted that . . . IN me, as a part of me? I'd never met anyone who could make me feel so safe, not even Daddy Jean. You were there for me, and I wanted to give you all of myself that I could." She opened her eyes, expecting to see his usual sneer, but Connor was humbled and made silent by her words. His face was so open, his eyes so filled with emotion, that she felt she might get an honest answer out of him. So she asked, "Why did you want to sleep with me?"

Ah, there was the patented Uncle Spike smirk, just as she expected. "Now you're the one who's kidding, right?" Connor asked.

"No. I really want to know. The real reason. Was it just 'cause I'm pretty and LET you?"

The smart-ass answer was on the tip of his tongue, a barb ready to be delivered. But he was still resonating with the power of her answer to him, with the strength of her words; so instead he decided to be honest. He didn't hesitate to look into her eyes as he spoke. "You were so innocent. Okay, not innocent like a baby, and you sure knew how to work it once I got your pants off. But . . . your soul. It was so innocent, so quick to trust. You weren't untouched by life, but you weren't messed up by the baser parts of it. You were always looking to the sky instead of seeing how everything was covered in slime. And your faith! You had faith in the silliest, stupidest . . . the most endearing things I'd ever seen. You weren't doing it to be popular, to follow a crowd or anything. You really believed, with all your heart and soul. And you had no idea what it was like to live in a place where that's rare, where that's something to be cherished and taken care of because it's like a single flower blooming in the middle of Hell." He paused to take a shaky breath. "It was something purer than I'd seen in a long time. It's hard for me to even remember when I was that innocent. Maybe when I was seven and attacked a demon with a bottle of dishwashing soap, 'cause I had to make it 'clean.'" He chuckled at the memory of little Connor, a person he didn't know anymore. "So, like you said: is it any wonder that I'd want to be part of that? I wasn't just looking for good lay. I was trying to find something sweet and pure that wasn't a part of the world of darkness that I saw every day."

The two teenagers then sat quietly, staring at each other, the potentials of both their lives hanging between them. For this moment, without words, they could exist as they did in their dreams, without a past or a future or anything beyond the NOW. They could take from each other and not think about consequences. Neither of them rose to approach the other . . . but it was a very near thing.

Then, from the other room, came little Dev's cry of need, his tiny soul needing the presence of his mother. And suddenly everything was consequences. Suddenly the past was all there was and the future was a frightening spectre leaning over their shoulders. Suddenly every mistake they'd made was open and bleeding once more, and their grasping hearts shut down, and their faces became masks once more.

Nina stood. "I-- I gotta get Dev, calm him down," she said, already moving toward the door.

Connor lay back on the bed. "Yeah, you do that. It's what you're best at, isn't it?"

Nina stopped cold in the doorway, looking at his reclining figure. "Cruel," she said, the word snapped off, and then went to take her child from Angel's loving embrace.

Connor could only nod at her assessment. But there was nothing to do about it. So he put his hands behind his head and looked for the Mendelbrot Set in the cracks on the ceiling. It was going to be a long wait for the sun to go down once more.

Chapters : |2| |3| |Interlude| |4| |5| |6| |7| |8| |9| |10| |11| |12| |13|

Chapter 4
"Who Says You Can't Have It All?"

(Alan Jackson/Jim McBride)
A stark naked light bulb hangs over my head.
There's one lonely pillow on my double bed.
I've got a ceiling, a floor, and four walls.
Who says you can't have it all?

My room's decorated with pictures of you.
Your letters wallpaper this shrine to the blues.
I've got precious memories at my beck and call.
Who says you can't have it all?

I've got everything a broken heart needs.
Oh, I'm doing fine. Don't you worry about me,
Cause I'm lord and master
Of a fool's Taj Mahal.
Who says you can't have it all?

Oh, who says you can't have it all?

Alternate Dimension
New Orleans, Louisiana
Tuesday, 1:09 pm
May 27, 2003

René swallowed and eased the key from his pocket. His fingers trembled slightly as he reached for the doorknob. He was shocked when it turned under his hand, unlocked. For an instant, blinding anger flashed through him. He had ordered that no one enter this room on pain of a lingering death. It took him a moment to remember that it no longer mattered. There was no reason to maintain this shrine to shattered dreams and buried love. Dreams came true and love lived.

He drew a deep breath. It was hard to separate his real life from the memories this house called up. Even though that dark entity within him was at peace, finally bathed in the love he'd craved, the memories of this life René had never led were nearly overpowering. The emotions and cravings of this body's children gnawed in his mind, keeping him awake, fearful of the nightmares they'd bring if he dared sleep.

Nor could he simply lie in bed, even cradled in Jean's welcome embrace. Inactivity seemed to spur the memories and make them seem more real. He had to be up and doing something. So he'd decided to gather some fresh clothing for Spike, Baby, and Jean. He knew that everything they'd owned when they'd died was carefully maintained just the way they'd left it. He knew because he took care of it himself. His parents' and his brother's rooms were cleaned regularly, every item lovingly returned to the spot their owner had last placed them. René knew there was something seriously sick about preserving the rooms of his dead love and two men he'd killed himself but he hadn't been able to bear the thought of anyone else in those rooms or of anyone changing anything in them. Now, with the security of his consorts and his father alive and well, it wasn't hard for him to see just how insane he'd been. He had no doubts that the man who'd walked away from staking his father and his brother was completely mad. He found that realization rather comforting. He hated to think he could have done the horrible things he knew his doppelganger had done if he was in his right mind.

Still, just as it had been each time for that insane René, it was difficult for him to walk into Baby's room and not see her bruised and broken body, golden eyes glazed and dead. Every time he crossed the threshold he fought to not see an infant Nina with her tiny throat and chest ripped open. That vision would haunt him forever even though he knew it hadn't happened in his reality. Reality or not, he remembered carrying them here after finding them outside the front door, each step a sword thrust of spirit-destroying grief. He remembered placing Baby on her bed, lying Nina, premature, tiny, and doll-like, in her arms. He'd wrapped them in soft blankets and gone looking for Phillip. When he'd realized that his brother had fled the city, taking Claudia with him, René had returned here, to this room. He'd held Baby and his daughter in death as he couldn't hold them in life and cried until his throat was raw and his eyes bled. And then he'd entombed them with Spike and Jean's dust and sworn to never, ever care about anyone or anything else again. A shudder ran through his whole body. No wonder his other self had gone insane; just the knowledge of what could have happened was almost more than René could stand. As it was, only his bond to Baby, Jean, and Spike kept him for spinning off into that black oblivion that had consumed his alter-ego.

So it was with splintered resolve that he pushed the door gently open and stepped across the threshold. In that frame of mind, to see a stranger standing beside Baby's vanity, looking at her private possessions, touching her things, was more than he could or would tolerate. He swooped down on the hapless girl before she even knew he was in the room. His backhand blow sent her rebounding from the bed and unto the floor. She scrambled away, crab-like, as he advanced on her.

"What the hell you doing in here?" he demanded as he picked her up by the front of her shirt.

"Please, Sire, please!" she chanted. "Don't be angry. Please don't be angry."

"I said, what are you doing here?" he nearly shouted, banging her back against the post of Baby's rice bed. "No one is allowed in here! No one!"

"Richard sent me, sire. He said I should clean. I've taken care of the room since you've been gone. Please don't be angry." Terror flowed from her in waves. She didn't try to contain the tears that flowed down her face or the sobs that broke up her sentences. "Please don't hurt me. Please don't hurt me," she babbled over and over.

René was overwhelmed by a memory and dropped her with a sharp intake of breath. She'd said those same words to him before. In an ill-lit parking lot near one of the downtown office complexes, she's said those same words, begging him not to hurt her just before he'd... "I'm sorry!" he gasped. "I'm so sorry. Oh mon Dieu!" He began to shake. "Dieu clementé! Me pardonner. Je suis si désolé." Merciful God, what he'd done to her! The blackness gaped ever larger before his inner eye, ready to consume him.

"René!" Baby reached him just as he fell to his knees. She'd been with Jack when her consort's distress had flamed through their link. Jean was only seconds behind her. He'd been woken from a sound sleep by René's mental cry. René wrapped his arms around Baby and buried his face against her. "Jean, I can't understand him. He's talking too fast. What's he saying?" she demanded.

Jean knelt beside his brother and urged René to look at him, to tell him what was wrong. A burst of French that sounded disjointed and fractured to Baby erupted from René's lips. Jean looked from his brother to the frightened vampire girl now cowering at the foot of Baby's bed. "Le Bon Dieu!" he muttered and grabbed René by the shoulders and shook him. "That wasn't you! You've got to separate out what he did from what you did! You aren't responsible for what he did here!" He shook René again. "That wasn't you!"

René went still, not moving for long seconds. He finally looked up at Jean. "Yes, it was. He's part of me now. I can't pretend he ain't." Resolve close to stubbornness settled over his face. "Much as I'd like to believe you and just pretend it wasn't me, I know inside that it ain't true." For once, he ignored Baby when she tried to shush him. He stood and gently pushed away from her arms. He looked over at his youngest daughter, risen only days before her sire had left intent on regaining his lost love. "I raped her and I killed her. I turned her without even thinking about asking. And I'm sorry for that." He went to her and helped her to her feet. "I'm sorry," he told her. "I'd give you back your life if I could but I can't. All I can do is tell you I'm sorry I hurt you." He caressed her cheek gently, easing the bruise where he'd hit her earlier. "I don't even know your name."

She felt something flow through her link with him that she'd never felt before. It burned inside her with a frightening glow. It was nearly painful in its intensity. It was caring and concern and it frightened her demon soul more than his anger ever had. "Rachel," she whispered. "My name's Rachel." That same something radiated from his eyes and made her tremble.

"I'm sorry, Rachel. Je suis si désolé." Then he was gone, sweeping from the room in long strides.

"Jean!" Baby said commandingly.

Her son was already moving. "I know. I won't let him be alone," he said over his shoulder.

Rachel found herself trapped against the bedpost, golden eyes swirling with yellow fire glaring into hers. "Not a word of what just happened here leaves this room. Do you understand me?" Baby hissed. "He may be all worried about your feelings, but I'm not."

Rachel understood perfectly. This was what her life had become. This was what she had known from the second she awoke. She was lowest on the family totem pole. Brenda pushed her around; Delaine pushed her around. She was allowed to live just to serve Richard's pleasure. She was very familiar with threats and how the strongest ruled and the weak got hurt if they didn't do as they were told. And the vampiress with a hand pressed so painfully against Rachel's chest was every bit as strong as Richard and even more frightening. "I, I understand." She recognized an alpha female when she saw one.

"Good," Baby snarled and released her before heading out the door at a run in search of her consort.

Rachel shuddered one last time and her gazed happened to fall on a photograph hanging on the wall. The same golden eyes that had just shriveled her insides laughed out from the picture. She made the connection. "Oh my God. He did find you! He did bring you back."

Baby caught René by the arm, halting his headlong rush down the stairs. "That's enough! " For a change, standing two steps above him, she was eye-to-eye with him. "No more guilt trips!" He glared back at her, his lips set in a thin line. "You're scaring Jean." She could feel Jean standing just behind her.

"Jean should be scared of me," René said. "After all, I killed him." Loathing whirled around him.

"Cut it out," she commanded. She knew what he was like when he got this way and it made her want to slap him. His self-destructive streak had surfaced and he was hell-bent on doing something stupid.

"What the hell is going on?" Spike demanded as he appeared at the foot of the stairs. He'd felt René's distress halfway across the Vieux Carré and dragged Cordelia back to the house.

"René's decided he's some sort of monster," Baby explained, still staring into teal eyes.

"I am a monster!" he growled.

"Don't ever say that! You are not!" she grated. "I know you!"

René shook his head. "You don't got any idea what I'm capable of."

"Can't be any worse than I what I've done," she asserted. "You were there for some of it. You saw me. I was Angelus' right hand."

"Angelus," René scoffed. "I make Angelus look like a fucking choir boy! He just playing. I deal for keeps." He curled his lip. "Angelus! He nothing but a barbarian raider. He comes down from the mountains, takes what he wants, kills a few people, and leaves. I'm fucking Ghengis Khan! I come, I conquer, I stay!" He looked down at his father. "I'm not even three years old here and I have this town terrified of my name. I'm Master of a goddamned major city and I'm still a baby!" He was breathing hard now. "I've killed dozens in your name for the Powers That Be, Papa, but I also killed hundreds here just for fun!" He looked up at his consort. "Look around you, Jean. Look at what I built. You saw that girl? She's pretty. I wanted her so I took her. I liked it when she begged me not to hurt her. I like it when they're all afraid of me." A muscle jumped in his jaw. "Look around you real good. This is what's inside me. This is what you been loving all these years." He threw off Baby's hand and pushed past Spike.

Baby started to follow but Spike stopped her. "No, dove. This is one I need to handle." He followed René into his study. His son had thrown himself into Spike's desk chair though Spike supposed that now it was René's. René already had a bottle out and was opening it. "Taking up the drink again?" Spike said as he sat down on the edge of the desk. Even a year earlier the growl René gave him in answer would have earned the Cajun the hard edge of Spike's fist but their relationship had altered considerably in the last few months. Spike picked up a paperweight and began to study the swirls of color inside; it had always been a favorite. He remembered that this particular paperweight had gotten broken in the Watchers attack on Rue Royale. He grinned and pocketed it.

"You know, of all my children, you're the most like me," Spike said conversationally. René refused to look at him, preferring to stare at the tequila in his hand. "I earned my name pretty quickly, too." He plucked a glass globe from the desk and tossed it from hand to hand. "William the Bloody. Spike. Before I was any older than that body you're wearing." He held the globe up and looked through it at the light of the desk lamp. "I was one of those barbarians you so accurately described. That's exactly what we were. The Scourge of Europe. I burned, pillaged, raped, and murdered my way across two continents." He put the globe back. "Difference is it took me over a century to reach the level of guilt you've discovered." He stood. "Now, pull your head out of that bottle and think. I know you're capable of it. I've seen you do it. Figure out which one of us is the bigger monster." He headed for the door. "And I have news for you, son. If you're not worthy of being loved and forgiven, then neither am I… and neither is your mother. And regardless of what you think about me, I think we agree on how we feel about her." He paused before stepping out into the hallway. "I'm going to see about Jean and Baby. You upset them."

René threw the tequila bottle against the wall and screamed in sheer frustration.

"I hate it when he does that," René said as he sat down on the bed beside Jean. "I really hate it."

Jean raised an eyebrow in inquiry. Sleep was obviously not going to be an option today.

"Make you think," René explained. "Make you realize how stupid you been. I hate that!"

Jean chuckled. Spike had done that to him a time or two as well. "Yeah?"

"Yeah," René acknowledged. He twisted his lips into a rueful smile. "You forgive me for being stupid?"

This time Jean laughed aloud. "I've sort of made it my life's calling, m' amour."

"Hey!" René protested and then grinned wryly. He kissed Jean tenderly. "Let's go find Maman and Papa. I need to apologize."

Jean crawled from the bed and stretched. "They might be busy," he said huskily.

"Yeah?" He was somewhat distracted by the sight of Jean clad in nothing but a smile.

Jean's grin turned decidedly lascivious. "They might need our help."

René's grin was blinding. "Oh, I hope so!" He raced his brother down the hall and into his parents' room and for the first time in two years, a grieving man felt no pain as he crossed the threshold. For the first time in all those years, joy dwelt in la Maison du Rouge s'Elevé.

Richard didn't want to know how his sire came to be in bed with two men and the redhead. The emotions flowing through the family link recently had been most disturbing and he didn't want to think about it. He actually didn't want to be anywhere near his sire right now, but he knew he had to redeem himself or he'd lose his standing in the family and possibly his life. René didn't accept failure or disrespect well.

He felt uncomfortable being in the forbidden room, as well. He was confused over why his sire was using it. He was confused by a lot of things his sire had done recently. However he didn't want to inquire into any of it; his sire didn't like having his actions questioned. Richard's face still hurt and there were angry red marks where his skin had been flayed away. Still, he would heal. In a few weeks, there would be no sign of the punishment his sire had dealt out. He knew how lucky he'd been. He wanted to do nothing that would ignite his volatile sire's temper again. Right now, he needed to prove to René that he was still useful. He motioned and two minions hauled a third into the room. "This worthless piece of shit lied to you, sir." He jerked the minion forward. "Tell the Master the truth and I'll kill you quickly."

The minion knew what the alternative was. Richard had learned torture at the feet of René the Ruthless. The minion stammered out the story of how they'd found a strange vampire and an even stranger young man protecting a human girl and a baby. He told of the battle and how the vampire hunter McSwain had appeared and driven them off. They'd been afraid to admit such a defeat to the Master and so had simply lied.

René's heart turned cold. From the description, there was no doubt that Angel, Nina, Connor, and Dev had been found. The problem was they had been found by Remy McSwain and René knew just how much his cousin hated him and anything to do with him. Of course, Remy had reason and enough to hate René. Hadn't René destroyed Remy's life? He'd been so angry back then. And a lot of that anger had become focused on Remy. Why should Remy have happiness when René was so miserable? And Remy had dared to try and defy René's rule. So René had seen to it that Remy suffered as much as a man as sensitive to family as McSwain could.

René had known his cousin well enough to take away the things that mattered most to Remy. René had systematically killed any of Remy's family he could discover. The McSwain family had been disseminated; his mother's family destroyed. René had been merciful and simply snapped his aunt's neck, leaving her in her bed for her sons to find. Others had faced more graphic deaths and been left in public spots as a warning to any other police or city leaders that might think they could stop René's rise to power. In a final coup de grace, he'd captured Remy's brother and fiancé. Bobby had been returned to Remy for his brother to dust. René knew seeing Bobby as a vampire and being forced to dust him would kill a part of Remy. And finally, once René tired of her charms, Anne had been returned to Remy, in pieces. Remy's punishment had been complete and the world knew the price they would pay for standing against the Master of New Orleans.

Now, like René, Remy was alone. Without his family, Remy had become just as cold and hard as René. René closed his eyes and tried not to see Baby's and Nina's dead bodies. They kept morphing into Nina and Devereau. René was certain he wouldn't be able to survive that. He couldn't see another woman and child he loved so deeply die. But his greatest enemy now held two of the most important things in his life. René knew just how much danger his child was in and it terrified him. Remy had been seeking justice on René for over a year and he had the perfect means to achieve that goal in his hands. René prayed that Remy was more merciful to Nina than René'd been to Anne.

René held tightly to Jean's hand. "Send out someone. Tell Remy I'm willing to deal. I'll give him anything he wants." As soon as the room cleared, René buried his face in his father's chest and surrendered to the fear for long, silent minutes.

Alternate Dimension
New Orleans, Louisiana
Tuesday, 4:15 pm
May 27, 2003

Remy McSwain lay back in his empty bed, the note crumpled in his fist. He'd had no problem recognizing the handwriting. Wasn't the graceful penmanship the same as the notes that had accompanied each black-and-gold wrapped box containing a part of Anne? The wording of this note was very different though the English was just as flawless.

Remy,
I am prepared to give you anything you want for the safe return of the captives you now hold. You have only to name it. You have my word on it.

If, however, you harm them, I will hunt you down and kill you like a mangy dog.

It was signed simply "René."

Remy had already sent his answer. It was just as brief. On the back of one of his old business cards he'd scrawled 'I want you dead.'

He stared up at the ceiling, not seeing the cracks and water marks in the old plaster. He saw what he always saw. Like a transparent screen of fine silk, Anne's face floated before him just as he'd seen her when he'd opened the final gift from René. Always, the vision of Anne's head cradled in midnight blue tissue was superimposed on the world.

When his cell phone beeped, he recognized the voice on the other end of the carrier wave. It belonged to the creature who'd ripped Remy's world asunder. When he'd jotted his cell number on the business card, he never expected the monster would actually call.

Hearing René's voice sent a shudder through Remy. He had no trouble remembering that voice mocking and taunting him. "I left you another present, Remy. It's on your front porch. You want to go get it, yeah?" "She was pretty, Remy. She felt so good. Damn, she a screamer, though." "I kept an earring. You don't mind, do you, Remy? I thought I might wear it as a remembrance of her, you know."

There was no mocking or jeers this time. The voice coming from the receiver was resigned and calm. "Done. I'm yours. You can do whatever you want with me. Just don't hurt Nina and Devereau." René's voice was soft, little more than a whisper. That quiet, richly accented voice sounded too much like his dead cousin. It sent another shiver through Remy. "Tell me where you want to make the trade. I'll be there."

Remy gave him a location and time and hung up. He stared unblinkingly at the ceiling again wondering if seeing her murderer die would cause Anne's face to finally fade from his mind's eye.

Chapters : |2| |3| |Interlude| |4| |5| |6| |7| |8| |9| |10| |11| |12| |13|

Chapter 5
"I Cross My Heart"

(George Strait)
Our love is unconditional. We knew it from the start.
I see it in your eyes. You can feel it from my heart.
From here on after, Lets stay the way we are right now,
And share all the love and laughter That a life time will allow.

I cross my heart and promise to Give all I've got to give,
To make all your dreams come true.
In all the world you'll never find A love as true as mine.

You will always be the miracle That makes my life complete.
And as long as there's a breath in me, I'll make yours just as sweet.
As we look into the future , It's as far as we can see.
So lets make each tomorrow Be the best that it can be.

I cross my heart and promise to Give all I've got to give,
To make all your dreams come true.
In all the world you'll never find A love as true as mine.

And if along the way we find a day, It starts to storm.
You've got the promise of my love To keep you warm

In all the world, You'll never find A love as true as mine.
A love as true as mine.

Alternate Dimension
New Orleans, Louisiana
Tuesday, 8:03 pm
May 27, 2003

The sun had barely set when René stepped out onto the dock. The gray of twilight covered the river and the warehouses but the sky was still bright and the colors of the fading sunset painted a pretty picture across the west. He was rather glad his last sunset had been a pleasing one. The sensors on the lights above him registered the change from day to night and clicked on the halogen bulbs, bathing the dock in a false golden radiance. The sky colors faded next to their harsh electric glow. René wished they'd waited a few more minutes.

His mother and brother arranged themselves behind him. He'd not been able to leave the house without them, of course. He'd managed to convince Spike, Jack, and Cordelia to remain at Rue Royale. It hadn't been easy, but a tiny deception here and a little exaggeration there had managed it. Besides, he really did need someone there; things would get ugly when he died. Spike would be more than capable of taking down any of his children who tried to take over, especially with Jack and Cordelia to back him up.

He supposed he should have told them the complete truth. Instead, he'd simply told them all that he'd arranged for Nina and the others' freedom but he hadn't told them the price of that freedom. He hadn't felt like arguing with them. He knew they'd try to come up with some sort of plan to stop him and he knew that would get Nina killed. They didn't know Remy, not the one that dwelt here. Remy wouldn't hesitate when it came to putting a bullet in Nina's brain. He probably wouldn't kill Dev, but René wasn't entirely sure of that... not if Remy knew Devereau was René's grandson. René wasn't prepared to do anything that would risk that little boy. So he would give up his life so his family could live. He smiled to himself. It wouldn't be the first time.

It wasn't that René wanted to die. He very much wanted to live. His life was better than it had ever been. He had everything he wanted. And that was probably why this had happened, he thought. No man, and certainly no vampire, was allowed to be as happy as he had been for the last few months. It was time to pay for that happiness. The universe was sort of funny that way, he'd found.

Remy emerged from the warehouse followed by several of his henchmen and, more importantly to René's mind, Nina and Devereau. They seemed unharmed and René couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. The way Nina's face lit up and the smile that spread across it when she saw him warmed René in ways he'd never be able to describe. He knew then, without the least doubt in his heart, that she was more than worth dying for.

She squealed in happiness. "Daddy! Papa!" She would have run to them but Remy's men stopped her.

"Don't hurt her!" René called, suddenly panicked. "Please. I'm here like I promised. I'll do whatever you want. Just don't hurt her."

Jean growled. "They better not!"

René placed a calming hand on his consort's arm. "As soon as she's free, you get her and Dev out of here," René ordered. "You take care of them."

Jean nodded. "All right. We'll wait for you back at the house."

René was still for a moment and then nodded. He couldn't tell Jean what he planned to do, not yet. "Let's get this done," he told Remy.

McSwain's eyes narrowed. This was not what he had expected. He hadn't actually expected the vampire to show up. That alone was surprising. The girl's obvious joy at seeing the vampires was also surprising. He knew she'd said that René was her father but Remy hadn't expected there to be this level of emotional attachment. He hadn't expected there to be any emotional attachment. He'd assumed it was expediency and fear that caused the child to claim René as a father. It had all been a pretense, just like the story of their origins. He'd realized they'd been lying to him about being from an alternate reality when he'd gotten the message from René saying the vampire was willing to deal for their return. Of course, lies were all he could expect from anyone and anything connected to René Beaumont. So he'd knocked out Angel, chained up the boy, and locked the girl and her child in a bedroom. Now, he was more than prepared to turn them over to the vampires if it meant he got a shot at René. Angel and Connor were now securely wrapped in chains, each held by three of his strongest associates. The girl was unfettered but held by two more of his men. "They go free as soon as I have you," he called across the empty space separating them. "One wrong move from any of you and I kill her first."

René nodded and started to walk toward his enemy. Jean stopped him with a hand on his brother's chest. "What do you think you're doing?"

René knew Baby was staring at him. He could feel it. He just couldn't bring himself to look at her. "Getting our daughter back."

"No," Baby said softly. "Not this way."

This time he did look at her. "Ain't no other way. I do this or we watch her die. You willing to do that?"

She shook her head. The truth was in her eyes. She knew there was no other option. She'd make that walk herself if she had to. René smiled ruefully and caressed her cheek. He was glad he'd had the chance to love her openly, even if it was for too brief a time. Nothing meant more to him than seeing his mark on her neck... nothing except the love in her eyes. That same love was bright in his brother's eyes and he pulled Jean to him and kissed him. "I'll see you in Heaven," he told Jean. Jean was shaking his head in denial. "I wait for you there. It's not forever. I'll be there when you're through here."

He kissed Baby and rested his forehead against hers. "And you. You'll be there, too. I know you will. You have to be. You find forgiveness so you can be with me, yeah? You have to be Redeemed." He took a deep breath and exhaled. "Take care of my children. Sam will need you both. Don't do anything stupid just because I'm not here. You promise me?" His hands squeezed them tightly. He couldn't do this any longer; it hurt too much. He had to get it over with. "I love you." He pulled himself from their arms, avoiding their eyes; he couldn't bear to see the pain this was causing them. He walked purposefully to Remy, careful to hold his arms out so Remy could see he offered no threat.

"Don't do this, René," Baby cried. "Please!"

"I don't have no choice," he said softly. "I won't let Nina die." He knew she heard him. He knew he might be sacrificing her as well as himself by dying, but their daughter and grandson had to live. And he had confidence in Spike. His father would find a way to keep her safe, even from herself. René stopped before Remy. "I'm yours just like you wanted. Please let her go now."

Remy was shocked that the Master had actually turned himself over. He was even more shocked by that one little "please." René the Ruthless didn't plead with anyone. Remy frowned but nodded at his men in the agreed-upon signal to release the prisoners.

Nina immediately ran to her father, throwing herself against him and holding him tightly. "Papa! I've been so scared. But I knew you'd come. I knew you and Daddy Jean would come."

René slowly wrapped his arms around her and Dev, never taking his eyes from Remy's. "It's all right, petite. You go to Jean now, yeah?"

She looked up at him, suddenly afraid again. There was something in his voice. "Papa? Papa, what's wrong? What's..." She suddenly realized what his presence here, like this, meant. "No! NO!" Tears sprang to her eyes. "No. It's not fair. I just found you! You can't go away again! You just can't!"

"Hush, petite amour." He risked taking his eyes from Remy long enough to look down at her and the child in her arms. "You got Devereau to think of now." He ran his hand lovingly over his grandson's face. "You have to take care of him." He bent and kissed the baby on the top of the head. He placed his hands on either side of her face; fingers that could have crushed her were gentle and soothing as his thumbs rubbed circles on her skin. "Your mama, she gonna need you, too. And your Uncle Jean. I need you to take care of them for me. Do you understand me?" She nodded, though tears still flowed unchecked down her cheeks. "Good. You a good girl, Nina. You make me proud and I love you. I have from the second I heard your heart beating from inside your mother's stomach. You the best thing I ever did." He kissed her and pushed her toward his family.

When he was sure she was safe with Jean, he turned back to Remy. "If you can't do it quick, take me somewhere else," he said hoarsely. "They don't need to watch. You got no reason to hurt them. Just me."

Remy looked at him in shock. "Who the hell are you?" Then he visibly shook off his confusion and hefted a stake. "Doesn't matter. Quick works fine for me. Just as long as you're dust."

René heard a sound he was very familiar with, the slide-click of Baby cocking her Barretta. With a muttered "Fuck!" he grabbed Remy and spun them both so his own body took the bullet meant for the human. "Bébé!" he protested. "That hurt!" The men who'd been in the process of releasing Angel were already on the ground moaning and bleeding. Jean had dispatched two of the men guarding Connor while the third ran. Baby could care less about her sire and her stepbrother. She'd shot the men so they wouldn't interfere with her saving René. The first of Remy's men who dared to stand between her and that goal was tossed away into the gathering darkness, his fate marked by a splash as he landed in the river. The remaining guard found himself lifted off the ground by a small hand wrapped around his windpipe. She shook him before lowering him to the ground and growling "Run!" He took her advice and sped off into the night.

Remy suddenly found the only thing between him and the still smoking barrel of a gun was his worst enemy.

"Get out of the way, René," she ordered softly.

He shook his head. "I can't let you kill him."

"Why the fuck not?" she demanded. "He sure as hell intended to kill you."

René sat up carefully. Vampire or not, a bullet in the back was not pleasant. "He has reason."

"I don't give a shit about him or his reasons. No one is going to take you away from me," she grated. "I won't live without you, not ever again." René might be willing to die rather than kill a human who might by some stretch of the imagination be considered an innocent, but she didn't have that same outlook.

Jean was beside her by now. "I gotta agree with Maman. I won't live without you." He grinned. "Didn't I tell you that you couldn't die on me again?"

Baby nodded. "Yeah. We really have to talk about that self-sacrifice habit you've developed." She was not amused.

Jean agreed. "Couldn't you just take up smoking again?" he quipped, mostly to keep from crying. That call had been far too close for his comfort. He dropped down beside his brother, sweeping away the stake Remy had dropped. "Now you come with me and I'll get you patched up. Nina's crying and she needs her Papa." He hefted René to his feet. "You just come with me and let Maman do what she needs to do."

He couldn't believe Jean was willing to let their mother simply shoot Remy in cold blood. He didn't understand the lengths Jean Claude was willing to go to on his behalf. René had never really understood the depth of Jean's love for him. Jean imagined he never would. René tried to push away from his lover. "No. Bébé, you can't just kill Remy."

She had loaded a fresh clip while Jean was talking to René. "I know you don't want to see it, baby. You were always fond of Remy. You just go to the car." She was totally focused on the threat to her husband.

René managed to pull away from Jean. "No, don't do this."

She jacked a fresh cartridge into the chamber. "He tried to kill you, darling. He'll keep trying to kill you. He threatened my baby girl. Nobody does that and lives." She looked down at the human who was watching the vampires in shock, Jean's foot holding him down. "I'm sorry, Remy, but I can't let that slide. You went after my husband and my daughter and that means you die. Rule number one of the Pride."

Jean nodded. "No one fucks with the family," he said. "I have to agree with Maman, m' coeur. I like Remy, too. But this isn't our Remy and he's a threat. Threats are eliminated as soon as they are identified. Spike taught us that before we were a week old."

René refused to be swayed. "Remy had more than good reason to go after me. You don't know what I did to him."

"Not you!" Jean insisted. "Him! It wasn't you!"

"We had this talk, Jean. It was me." René looked at the woman he adored and confessed to something he'd hoped she'd never know about. "Bébé, I killed Anne. I did awful, horrible things to her and I killed her. I was worse than Philip. And I made sure Remy knew about every one of them." He reached down to help Remy up. "Je suis si désolé, Remy. I know that don't mean anything but I am sorry."

Remy didn't take the proffered hand. He simply stared up at the vampire. "Who are you?"

René wasn't sure how to answer that. He wasn't entirely sure who he was anymore. He settled for the obvious. "I'm René Beaumont."

Baby placed a hand on his shoulder. "Honey. I don't care what you did. You want to kill half the world? Fine, I'll be right beside you. As long as you love me, I don't care if you burn the damn city down tonight and kill all the people in it. Just as long as you still love me when the sun comes up."

He had only one answer to that. He grabbed her and kissed her with all the passion and love he felt in his demon soul. "I do love you. I love you more every day. I don't see how that possible but I do."

Something painful flashed across Jean's face but René was already reaching for him. "And you. I'd be lost without you. You give me strength. You keep me from the darkness." Jean welcomed René's kiss. He knew René loved him but he wished that just once he could see the depth of love he saw shining from René's face turned on him. He wanted René to look at him the way he looked at Baby. Just once, he wished René loved him best.

Baby took advantage of René's distraction to place her gun between Remy's eyes. A steel grip closed over her hand, moving it aside. "That should be René's choice," Angel said.

She knew she couldn't shake him off. Angel was far stronger than she was. She settled for glaring at him. René stared at his clan lord in shock. Considering how they felt about each other, it was mind boggling that Angel had stepped in to take his part.

Angel looked at the Cajun. "I'm still Champion of the Powers That Be. I still help the hopeless. I still save the innocent." He grinned. "Besides, I want to make sure he knows that if he ever threatens my grandson again, I'm gonna make whatever you did to him look like a Sunday picnic in the park." Angel had heard and seen enough while in Remy's keeping to know that the former policeman was fighting on the same side they all were. And Angel knew all about being ruthless when it was required. And he knew the lengths to which grief and loss would drive a man. And from what he'd been able to discover, René had doled out some serious grief to Remy. The Angelus part of Angel was rather impressed.

René nodded at his great-grandsire and looked at his wife. "Please, ange, let it go this time."

With a growl and a roll of her eyes, she holstered her gun. "Fine. This time. He ever even thinks about hurting you again and I'll cut him open and scoop out his insides."

Jean folded his arms and glowered. "Sounds like a plan to me."

René nearly laughed. They both loved him so much. How had he been lucky enough to be so loved by two such wonderful people? He reached down for Remy again and this time his cousin wrapped his fingers around René's wrist and let the other man hoist him up.

As he gained his feet, Remy looked over to the car where Baby was now cooing over Nina and the baby. Remy frowned as the vampiress brushed the hair back from Nina's face and kissed her cheek softly. Nina was looking at the two Cajun vampires, the love and trust on her face nearly heart-stopping. "You really aren't him, are you? I don't know who you are, but you're not René Beaumont."

René's smile was rueful. "I am but not exactly the way you think. It's a long story."

Remy looked into teal eyes and saw his cousin for the first time since he'd heard René had been shot nearly three years earlier. "I'm listening."

Remy leaned back against the seat of the limo and observed René closely. The vampire sat across from Remy with his arms about the red-haired vampiress who'd come so close to shooting Remy. The other Cajun vampire was lecturing the Master. Apparently he was not pleased that René had planned to sacrifice himself to save the girl and that René hadn't revealed his plan. Remy was amazed the Master hadn't already killed the other vampire. No one lectured the Master.

Truth be told, René wasn't listening to Jean. René had learned long, long ago to tune out lectures and hateful words and anything else he didn't really want to listen to, large or small. After the third time or so, he simply no longer heard Louis telling him how good a fuck he was or how he deserved what Louis was doing to him. The words just slid off the surface of his mind. He'd learned under Louis' abusive touch to divorce himself from what people were saying and doing. And what Louis hadn't taught him, prison had. So René simply thought of something else. Though Jean's lecture was something totally different from what had happened in those long ago days, René didn't feel like dealing with it. However, he knew Jean was upset and wouldn't be happy until he'd gotten it out of his system so René appeared to listen, knowing Jean would be all right later.

René was thinking of his daughter and how beautiful and precious she was. He was thinking of Baby and how precious she was, more so every day. He tightened his arms about her, simply holding her a comfort greater than anyone could ever understand. He was thinking of how much he loved Jean. He was thinking of how much he loved Devereau. He was thinking of how much he loved life. He was thinking how happy he was to be alive. He was thinking how just every once in a while things worked out for him.

Had he been able to see into Remy's mind, René wouldn't have been as sure things had worked out. Remy was also thinking about René being alive but not with the joy René felt. Remy's thoughts had taken a very different course than René's. Remy knew how close he'd come to dying lying there on the concrete of the dock. He also knew that he couldn't die yet. He couldn't die as long as René Beaumont still walked. He'd sworn an oath by everything he held holy over the casket containing Anne's shattered remains that he'd destroy the creature that destroyed her. If he had proof that the vampire sitting across from him in the limo was truly not that same creature, then his task was complete and he could join Anne with a free and clear heart. But if that thing was the same monster that had annihilated his family and tortured Anne then his oath still held. Until he had proof, he would gladly lie and pretend to be convinced all was well if it gave him a chance to remain close to the creature. He'd do whatever it took to get his shot at René. If he had any reason to believe that this demon had anything to do with ending his love's life, he'd find a way to kill it. And no one would stand between him and the accomplishment of that goal. It didn't matter if Remy survived afterwards or not. He'd kill anyone and anything that stood in his way and it was completely unimportant if he died in the process. All that mattered was justice for Anne.

Chapters : |2| |3| |Interlude| |4| |5| |6| |7| |8| |9| |10| |11| |12| |13|

Chapter 6
"Keep The Faith"

(Jon Bon Jovi)
Mother, mother, tell your children that their time has just begun.
I have suffered for my anger. There are wars that can't be won.
Father, Father, please believe me. I am laying down my guns.
I am broken like an arrow. Forgive me. Forgive your wayward son.

Everybody needs somebody to love. (Mother, Mother)
Everybody needs somebody to hate. (Please, believe me.)
Everybody's bitching 'cause they can't get enough.
And it's hard to hold on when there's no one to lean on.

Faith! You know you're gonna live thru the rain. Lord, you got to keep the faith.
Faith! Don't let your love turn to hate. Right now we got to keep the faith.
Keep the faith. Keep the faith. Lord we got to keep the faith

Tell me, baby, when I hurt you, do you keep it all inside?
Do you tell me all's forgiven and just hide behind your pride?

Everybody needs somebody to love. (Mother, Mother)
Everybody needs somebody to hate. (Please, believe me.)
Everybody's bleeding 'cause the times are tough.
Well, it's hard to be strong when there's no one to dream on.

Faith! You know you're gonna live thru the rain. Lord, you got to keep the faith.
Now you know is not too late. Oh, you got to keep the faith.
Faith! Don't let your love turn to hate. Right now we got to keep the faith.
Keep the faith. Keep the faith. Lord, we got to keep the faith.

Walking in the footsteps of society's lies, I don't like what I see no more.
Sometimes I wish that I was blind. Sometimes I wait forever to stand out in the rain.
So no one sees me crying, trying to wash away the pain.

Mother. Father. There's things I've done I can't erase. Every night we fall from grace.
It's hard when the world's in your face. Trying to hold on, trying to hold on.

Faith! You know you're gonna live thru the rain. Lord, you got to keep the faith.
Faith! Don't let your love turn to hate. Right now we got to keep the faith.
Faith! now it's not too late. Try to hold on, trying to hold on. Keep the faith!

Alternate Dimension
New Orleans, Louisiana
Thursday, 3:23 pm
May 29, 2003

Rachel closed the notebook and returned it to the old backpack then carefully hid the whole thing in the hole she'd gouged in the wall behind her dresser. The notebook wasn't fancy or richly covered. It was just a plain spiral bound notebook such as any school kid would carry. It and the others like it were her most prized possessions and she had stolen them. If her theft were ever revealed, she would probably die for it. But she couldn't give them back. For one thing, her scent was all over them and any vampire would know she'd had possession of them for some time. She could solve that by destroying them. But she couldn't. She couldn't bear the thought of not having them near her, of not being able to read them. She didn't know why. None of the words written on page after page after page were meant for her. They were intended for a woman truly dead and buried more than two years past. Every day of those two years and more, her sire had written a letter to Baby. Every day, in flowing script and flawless English, he'd written of his near-overwhelming need, of his abiding grief, and of his undimmed love for her and their child.

"I miss the sound of your voice so badly I can hardly stand it. I hear others talking and I want to rip their tongues out to silence them. Why should they be able to laugh and speak when you are silent now forever? Every sound grates on my ears. I can't bear to hear them laughing. That sound hurts my head. And it hurts my heart. I would give anything, do anything, to hear you laugh."

Each entry had revealed a bit more of his bleeding heart to her.

"I saw a woman tonight with red hair exactly like yours. I couldn't bear it. I killed her. I couldn't even drink from her. I just left her lying in the street."

Over and over, everything he heard and saw kept their deaths fresh for him.

"I saw a little girl today. She had blue eyes and black hair. Would our baby girl have had black hair? Would it have stayed dark like mine or gotten lighter as she grew? Why couldn't she have grown up? Why was she taken from me? Why were you taken from me? I can't live like this. The grief I feel is going to kill me. I pray that I die soon. I would kill myself but death won't get me any closer to you. You and our baby are in Heaven. I know that. I'll go to Hell.

I'm not afraid of Hell. It can't be any worse than living here without you. However, I can't go there until I send Philip there first. I'll find him one day. I suppose I can't die yet, however much I might want that. I have to find Philip. Until then, I'll live."

Rachel had cried when she read his words. And it wasn't just Baby and their child he wrote of.

"I saw a man on the street today who looked a bit like Jean Claude. Oh God! What have I done?"

On the first anniversary of her death, the words he wrote were obliterated by the tears he had cried.

In the next December, he'd written of how immediate the pain still was.

"I hate Christmas. The sight of red and green bows is like a sword in my gut. Why did he have to put Christmas bows on you and that sweet baby? I saw a red bow on a baby doll in a shop window. I threw up. And then I ordered that shop burnt to the ground. How dare they!"

His last entry had nearly shattered her.

"The demon has offered me a horrible choice: continue as I am or kill Spike and regain you. I hate Papa for letting you die but I'm not sure how I'll be able to kill him again. I have to, though. I can't exist without you. Each day that's more apparent to me. I have to have you with me. I'm empty without you. All I feel is pain. I miss you so. I'll do what I must. I'll build up the hate in me until I can't feel anything else. I'll think of nothing but how Papa and Jean kept me from looking for you. I'll think of how they let you die. I'll think of how they betrayed you. If I can make myself hate them enough, I can do this. And when I have you back with me, I will spend however many centuries it might take begging your pardon and earning your forgiveness for whatever hurt Spike's death will cause you. I'll try to make sure you don't see it, even if I have to knock you out. I'm going to have to be crueler than I have ever been before but I will do whatever I must to have you with me. I will make myself hate him more than anything on Earth."

"Forgive me for whatever I am about to do."

The entry ended as each and every one did. "I love you."

Rachel had read them dozens of times since her sire had disappeared. Ever since she'd found them while cleaning the forbidden rooms, she'd been unable to ignore them. She knew what they had to have meant to her sire. That was plain. Each word had come from his heart. There were tearstains on more than one page. She knew that here, in these ragged notebooks, the real René Beaumont dwelt. The man who walked the halls of Rue Royale was a sham, a violent shell built to protect the sensitive, injured man within. She had known the instant she read the first page that if Richard or the others found these books, they would use them against René and for some reason, she couldn't allow that to happen. Eventually, terrified that they would be discovered, she'd hidden them here where she could protect them as best she could. Only when the sun was high and she knew the house slept did she dare take them out.

She lay back on her bed and fingered the now-faded bruise on her cheek where HE had hit her. Just like everyone else in this place, he'd hit her. But unlike any of the others, he'd said he was sorry. He'd begged her pardon. Her sire, the man whose innermost thoughts she had stolen and now guarded with her life, had begged her pardon. He'd flooded her mind with his concern for her. He'd been concerned for her. She shivered at the memory. For just a moment, he'd allowed her to see the real René Beaumont. She was certain she was the only one in this hellhole that had ever been so privileged. She rolled onto her side and grasped a pillow to her. She didn't know what that meant. She wasn't sure what the significance of his apology was, but she knew that from that instant on she belonged completely to him.

She'd never undressed so there was no reason to delay doing what she knew had to be done. It was simply a matter of putting on her shoes and her courage and walking into the room she'd taken the notebooks from. The shoes were easy but the courage took a little longer. Finally she stood next to the bed, looking at René's sleeping face. "Sire?" she whispered in the tiniest of voices.

René's eyes opened instantly and she shivered, fearful of his anger and stunned anew by the intensity of their color. "I have to talk to you, sir," she managed to hiss. "Please."

René rose, disturbing his parents and Jean as little as possible. A few soft words assured them that he was all right and they should continue sleeping. He pulled on a pair of faded jeans, zipping them but not bothering to fasten the button. Clad in nothing else he led Rachel to his room and closed the door. While he looked displeased, he didn't exactly look angry. Nonetheless, Rachel was terribly afraid.

René could feel the fear coming off her and it triggered his compassion. "Cher? What you need to tell me? What so important you need to wake me up, heh?" She was shaking all over and he reached out and lifted her face with a pair of gentle fingers under her chin. "You tell your Papa."

To her knowledge, no one dared address him so familiarly. And to her knowledge, he'd never looked at any of his children or slaves with such ... caring. She couldn't breathe and needed to. Someone had placed a wide strap around her chest and was tightening it, drawing it ever smaller like an antebellum belle's corset. He stepped closer... too close. The smell of him filled her nostrils, spicy and compelling. The sight of him filled her mind. She could see nothing but him. "It's all right, fille. I'm here. Nothing can hurt you as long as I'm here."

Her good sense to the contrary, she believed him. When he put an arm around her shoulders, she wrapped herself around him as if she'd never let him go. Now in physical contact with her, René felt all her emotions: she was completely open to him. It was obvious she'd never been trained how to control what she was broadcasting. But then, he'd barely begun to control that himself when Spike and Jean had died. And it was useful for him to know just what his children were feeling while he himself remained distant and blocked. He stroked her hair and cursed himself for being an unfeeling bastard. He'd consigned these children to hell on earth as well as eternal damnation. And he couldn't see any way to save them. He searched the mind of the child in his arms... well, maybe not all of them were completely lost. "Cher?"

"They're going to kill you," she whispered. "Richard and the others. They don't like what's been happening since you came back. If things don't change, they're going to try to kill you." She held him closer. "They figure that if one of them takes you down, then they'll be feared enough to rule."

He continued stroking her hair, deep in thought. "So you came to warn me," he said, his voice as soft as hers. He knew the danger of speaking too loudly in this house where the unfriendly ears all had vampiric hearing.

She looked up at him, shocked. "I... I guess I did."

He smiled and kissed the top of her head. "It's all right. You know, we are allowed to do nice things sometimes. It's not forbidden." He sighed. He knew she had no idea what he was talking about. Still, he had a tiny sliver of hope. She'd gone against the usual demon instinct that told her to think only of herself to think of him. He wouldn't forget that. He kissed her lips very gently and then grinned. "Recent evidence to the contrary, I'm damned hard to kill. Me and Jean, we can keep those children of mine in line. Hell, Jack could keep them in line. And he ain't no older than you." He went back to his thoughts, absently petting her as he would have any child he'd turned in that world where Baby had not died at Philip's hands. René might be somewhat negligent on the day-to-day training of his children and leave most of that to Sam or Missy, but he was an affectionate sire and his children all loved him deeply. If troubled or saddened, they came to their sire, not so much for answers--Sam was better for that--but for love. And René provided that to them in abundance. If there was any one thing René Beaumont was good at, it was providing love to his family. Without thought, he sent her the calming reassurances he'd have sent any of his children who were so distressed.

Rachel had never been held by her sire. Not like this, with simple affection. She was very, very young and though strong enough to stand the early separation from her sire, something inside her still craved that closeness and wanted that bond. The caring he was sending her awakened things inside her that she'd never felt. She held him tightly, wanting to stay like this. For the first time since she'd been turned, she felt safe.

He shushed and murmured comfort to her, still deep in thought. "It all right. I take care of you. You don't need to worry; your Papa's here." The litany was familiar to him. René was lax about a great many things but he never let one of his progeny feel alone if he could help it. And loneliness flowed from this child in swells. He absently kissed the top of her head and the hand stroking her hair shifted its attention to her cheek. When she lifted her face, he kissed her forehead and then brushed her lips with the gentlest of kisses. He was surprised when her hands tangled in his hair, holding him to her so she could kiss him more soundly. "Rachel?" He pulled back. "Cher?"

She saw nothing but the concern in aqua-tinted eyes. "Please, please, sire. I need... I need..."

Rene understood. He had children too numerous to keep track of and at some point in their lives, usually soon after their turning, they had needed him. They had needed his closeness, his physical touch. Rachel, for all that she'd been turned by that evil son of a bitch that he'd become here, needed her sire. She was young, only a few months old, her development slowed by solitude and his absence. "You tried to help me, petite. You didn't have to do that. I won't forget." He let her kiss him again and thought for a moment. "But the others, they best not know you helping me of your own free will." His grin turned slightly wicked. "O' course, you was my favorite before I left... wouldn't be odd if you was still my favorite, now would it." He was surprised when she became embarrassed and looked away. "Oh, I'm sorry, 'tite. I didn't mean..."

"Please," she said so softly he barely heard her. He went quiet and listened. "Please, I want to be your favorite. I... I want to be with you."

René took a deep breath. "Cher, before, I was awful to you. I was cold and cruel. I don't see how you can even stand to look at me."

She wasn't sure how she could explain. "I've been taking care of that room. Her room. I know what happened and how ... well... what it did to you. I know you're not really like that. I mean the way you treated me." She swallowed. She couldn't tell him about the notebooks. Not yet. "I can feel you. I never felt you before but now you're here." She pointed to her temple. "And it feels so good. You care." She finally managed to look up at him. "You care about me."

René nodded. He understood. The first time he'd felt Spike's care and love, he'd thought he'd die from the sheer power and joy of it. The first time he'd bonded with his sire, Jean, and Baby he'd felt as though he had a home for the first time in his life. René didn't know if this child was capable of being Redeemed but he had to try and he could at least give her some sort of happiness and peace. God knew he owed it to her. "Yes, Rachel. I care about you. You are my daughter. You are my blood. You are my family." There was no greater title René could give anyone. Family. Nothing save Baby was more important to him. This time when he kissed Rachel, he allowed the love he always felt for his children to flood her heart and mind.

Rachel had never felt anything comparable, alive or dead. She'd never felt so accepted. René didn't care that she was beautiful. He only cared that she was lonely. No one had ever seen beyond her face and figure before. And he was so remorseful for what he'd done to her. She could feel it. He was truly sorry for every hurtful thing that he had done and some that he hadn't. He cared that he had hurt her. No one cared. Not in this house. When she urged him out of his jeans and into the bed, she'd never had any one treat her with such care and gentleness. And when he nicked his wrist and gave her his own blood, she knew that her loyalty and love would be his forever, even if he returned to the cold cruelty he'd shown her before. She had seen and felt the man he really was inside and no one and nothing would ever tarnish the image she now carried of him in her heart.

René had tucked Rachel in, leaving her sleeping in his bed, before he awoke his family. Now with all of them gathered in Spike's bedroom, he explained Rachel's warnings and his own suspicions. "There aren't that many children but there are a lot of minions that would just as soon see me dead. I'm not a popular ruler," he explained.

Cordelia reached out for his hand. "Let me get this straight, we're looking at what? A civil war?"

Jack shook his head. "Sounds more like a coup d'état. A small group of them overthrow René and any supporters he might have--and I'm thinking that would be us--and take over his throne."

René nodded. "That about the size of it." He sighed. "It's gonna be hard if a lot of minions or one of the masters of a rival city join them. I got a lot of people who hate me and a lot more who want this town."

Spike nodded. "Do you have any supporters? Anyone at all that will fight with you?"

René thought. "What's left of Ari's people will stand with me. They like the status quo. Some of the other minion clans who have power because of me will fight on my side. There are about as many that hate Richard as hate me. Of my children, well aside from Rachel, I won't count on any of them. Except..." He paused for a moment. "Yeah, they'd stand with me 'cause they got the most to lose."

Spike could tell René was thinking out loud. "Who, son?"

René took a deep breath. "My brothers. André and Etienne." He held tightly to Jean. "I turned them. I killed Louis and the rest of them and turned André and Etienne," he admitted.

Jean squeezed his hand. "I hope Louis hurt before you killed him," he growled. Baby nodded. Whatever René had done to Louis would be less than he deserved. She and Jean had begged René many times to let them kill his oldest brother.

René couldn't help feeling less guilty about killing Louis. The love from his consorts was sweeter than he'd ever imagined anything could be. His father surprised him by saying, "So do I. You really should let me have a go at him some time, son." René had no idea Spike harbored any such thoughts about Louis. He hadn't thought his father knew about Louis. René wondered if there was anything that escaped Spike's attention.

Spike narrowed his eyes in thought. "Looks like we don't have many options. If we run, we'll have few, if any, resources. If we stay we may have to fight." He looked at the small assembly. "We have to find a way home and we will need money and resources to do that. René, right now, you have those. We need some heavy duty mojo to figure this out. Jack, Baby, you two are the computer whizzes: find out what you can. Cordelia, you and Nina try to find Mama Claire. She's got to be somewhere in this city. Find Giles. I know the phone numbers we have don't work but he has to be somewhere. Find the Slayer. Find Willow. Find someone who can help us." He looked at his grandsire. "Angel, find Dru. She's out there somewhere. I know she seems all right but we need her with us. Connor, you've always been linked to her; help your dad." Finally he turned to his sons. "We're going to have to keep a lid on this pot. We can't let it boil over into an open rebellion." He grinned. "It's not the first time we've held this city against all comers, now is it?"

René smiled for the first time. "Yeah, we kicked ass a time or two."

Jean smiled as well. "Yeah, we did. Still do when we need to." He kissed his husband. "There isn't anyone that can stand against us as long as we're together," he said, his words encompassing everyone in the room.

Jean might not have been so confident if he could have witnessed the deal being made in Richard's study. Remy McSwain was revolted by the vampire across the desk from him but less so than he was by the thought of René Beaumont's happiness. He saw it every time he looked at the Master. That murdering son of a bitch was happy. Remy couldn't stand it. "All right, then. When you're ready, my people will join yours and we'll take that motherless bastard down." Remy took a small swallow of the bourbon that Richard had offered him. "I don't care if you rule this city. I don't give a shit about this town anymore. I just want Beaumont dead." He tossed back the fiery liquor. "I want to spit on his dust."

Chapters : |2| |3| |Interlude| |4| |5| |6| |7| |8| |9| |10| |11| |12| |13|

Chapter 7
"Tainted Love"

(Living End)
Well sometimes I feel I've got to run away.
I've got to get away.
From the pain you drive into the heart of me.
The love we shared seemed to go no where.
And I lost my life for I toss and turn I can't sleep at night.

Once I ran to you. Now I run from you.
This tainted love you've given.
I give you all a boy can give you.
Take my tears and that's not nearly all!
Tainted Love. Tainted Love.

Now I know I've got to run away. I've got to get away.
You don't really want anymore from me.
To make things right you need someone to hold you tight.
And they say love is to play. Well I'm sorry I don't play that way.

Once I ran to you. Now I run from you.
This tainted love you've given.
I give you all a boy can give you.
Take my tears and that's not nearly all!
Tainted love. Tainted love.

Don't touch me, please. I cannot stand the way you tease.
And I love you though you hurt me so. So I'm gonna pack my things and go.

Alternate Dimension
New Orleans, Louisiana
Friday, 10:40 pm
June 6, 2003

"What's the matter, Cinderella?" Brenda sneered. "Prince Charming leave you all alone tonight?"

Delaine laughed. "Yeah, Daddy Dearest getting tired of you?" She flicked a finger along Rachel's jaw. "Is he off somewhere with his redhead?"

Rachel shivered. She wanted to tell them not to call René names. She didn't dare. She wasn't supposed to defend him. She wasn't supposed to like him. She wasn't supposed to enjoy having him touch her and love her. And she certainly wasn't supposed to want him. She was supposed to be as afraid of him as the rest of them were. She wasn't supposed to be glad he'd found "his redhead" or that he was happy. She wasn't supposed to care about him. So she did what she always did when Brenda and Delaine shoved her around: she bowed her head and took it.

"Yeah. Life not treating you well, princess? You like it on that throne he's given you? What you gonna do when he picks someone new?" Brenda asked. "You gonna cry, little girl?" Brenda grabbed her jaw. "That pretty face will only see you so far. He'll get tired of it soon enough. Satan knows that has to be all he wants you for. Richard says you aren't worth shit in bed." Jealousy tinged her voice green. She didn't care about René personally but she cared a great deal about her position in the family. She craved the power that went with being alpha female and any new Favorite threatened her. Rachel's beauty was threat enough, but particularly troubling was the fact that René had taken her as his Favorite again on his return. René never kept a Favorite for more than a couple of weeks at the most. He never seemed satisfied with any one woman. None of them had whatever it was that he craved. Brenda was always afraid he'd eventually find the one that did and then she'd be supplanted as lead female. Right now, she needed to take out her anxieties on something and Rachel was just the something to take the abuse. "You won't be René's Favorite for long if that's true. He likes his bitches talented. He'll soon toss you out of his bed. It'll be bye-bye to that crown of yours. Then you'll be just another whore he's gotten tired of." She pushed Rachel away. Rachel stumbled backwards and grabbed a table to keep from falling. One of the cobalt vases tumbled to the floor and shattered. Brenda delivered a stinging blow to the girl, strong enough to knock her from her feet. "Look what you've done, you worthless little piece of trash! You broke my vase!" She pulled a knife from her boot. "I'm going to mess up that face of yours permanently! René won't want you when I'm done with you!"

Baby intercepted the blow before it ever came close to Rachel. "You know, I don't like it when the grandchildren fight in my house. I never have. And there are rules about hitting family members." She plucked the knife from Brenda's nerveless fingers and put it in her own pocket. Releasing her, Baby reached out a hand to Rachel. "You okay, child?"

Rachel stared at her a moment before nodding mutely and allowing the other woman to help her to her feet. Baby grasped Rachel's jaw but with a very different feel and intent from how Brenda had. Baby carefully checked to see how injured René's childe was. "Not too bad," she diagnosed. "Jack?" Her son was beside her in an instant. "Will you take care of her?"

"Sure." Jack smiled down reassuringly at the pretty little vampire girl. "Honey? Why don't you come with me?" Rachel took his hand and let him lead her over to one of the chairs. She couldn't get over how kind they all were. Or how powerful. She could feel the power coming from them. She looked at her sisters and wondered why they didn't feel it.

Baby turned hard eyes on a shocked Brenda and Delaine. No one interfered with Brenda's play time. "I think it's time you learned just who runs things around here," Baby said. She glanced toward the door where Jean lounged with seeming negligence. She knew he was keeping a close eye on Richard. If there were any interference from Richard, Jean would handle it. Jack would see to Rachel and back Jean if needed. "This is my house. And I won't tolerate this kind of crap."

"Your house!" Brenda exploded. "The hell it is! I'm alpha here! You do what I say or I'll beat the shit out of you!"

Baby grinned. She'd rather hoped this confrontation would take place. It was time these errant children learned a thing or two about real vampires. It was time they stopped playing at being grown-ups and learned their place and purpose in the world. "This is my house," Baby repeated gently. "It always has been. It was bought as a gift for me. I decorated these rooms. I picked out every piece of furniture here." She grinned. "I've ruled inside these walls for nineteen years. That vase you were complaining about is mine. I bought it down on Magazine Street. Jean took me shopping that evening. It was right after Spike bought the house." She smiled at her eldest son, who grinned in response. Baby turned back to René's daughters, though her words took in all the vampires assembled in the parlor. "I am consort to René the Beautiful and William the Bloody. I am Queen of New Orleans. And you're children who need to mind their tongues when they talk to me."

Brenda made the mistake of swinging at Baby. René entered the room just as Baby dodged and grabbed Brenda's arm. Delaine launched herself at Baby's back. René took a step toward them but Jean placed a restraining hand on his brother's broad chest. "Maman needs to do this. She's your wife and she needs to show them she's better than they are." He grinned. "Besides, when's the last time we got to see Maman clean house?"

René grinned as Baby flipped Delaine over her head and onto the floor. "Yeah, she don't get to do that much." He winced as Baby's elbow impacted Brenda's nose. "That gotta hurt."

Jean nodded. "Yes, I would imagine so." Delaine simply lay were Baby had tossed her. No other woman had ever been able to throw her off. She was stunned by both the impact with the floor and the ease with which Baby had flipped her.

Jack joined Jean and René when Rachel sought the protection of her sire. Jack grinned as his mother tossed Brenda against the wall. "She's cute when gets like this," the recently turned agent said.

Jean grinned. He felt the desire emanating from Jack. Watching Baby destroy things was a major aphrodisiac for Jack. Looking at his brother, he decided it was a bit of one for René as well. "I've never seen that maneuver before," Jean commented as Baby grabbed Brenda.

René grinned proudly. "She come up with that one on her own. She used it on Angelus' minions all the time. They hated it. Said it hurt like Hell."

Jack wrinkled his nose. "Looks like it would." He thought for a moment. "I'll have to get her to teach me that one."

Brenda was beyond angry now; she was completely out of control. Blood from her shattered nose flowed down her chin and there was already bruising on her face. She had never been challenged before. Always, the women René turned had bowed to her, had accepted her as the most powerful female in the house without question. She was unable emotionally or mentally to deal with the possibility of defeat. Baby had actually been going easy on her. She had no real wish to permanently harm the other vampire, she simply needed to put Brenda in her place and let her know that Baby now ruled as alpha female. She wasn't even trying to make Brenda an object lesson. But the blonde couldn't understand. She had been too taken with her own power. She snatched a stake from her belt. "You whore! I'm going to kill you!"

Baby rolled her eyes. "You better put that away before I shove it up your ass." She was getting bored.

Brenda launched herself at Baby, hurling abuse the whole time. Baby mostly ignored it until Brenda made the mistake of turning her invective on René and Jean. "It's your fault! You did something to René! You've turned him weak. He's gone soft! He's nothing now! He's worthless to us! All he thinks of is you and that damned faggot he brought back with him."

Baby's eyes narrowed and her consorts and child felt her anger. She growled and Rachel shivered and burrowed further under René's arm. Rachel could sense the power flowing from René's red-haired consort and didn't understand why Brenda didn't feel it. Delaine felt it, too, and backed away from the fight. She suddenly understood that someone might be stronger than her older sister. Brenda was too incensed to comprehend the danger she was in. She circled Baby, looking for an opening. "He doesn't think of anything else! I always knew he was a stupid motherfucker but at least he was strong! Now he's only interested in that Cajun bitch."

René was growling now, too. No one called Jean a bitch in his hearing. But again his brother lay a restraining hand on his chest. "Let Maman handle this. She'll be pissed off if you ruin her fun." He grinned. "Besides, I don't mind being your bitch." René nearly choked.

Baby wasn't as philosophical about it. In fact, she was royally pissed off. Brenda never really saw her move, didn't see the hand that twisted the stake from her grasp and used it like brass knuckles to increase the pain of the punch that sent Brenda sprawling. Spike wandered in just in time to see his wife pick up René's eldest daughter and slam her against one of the decorative columns. He arched an eyebrow and joined his sons and grandson in watching the show. Baby grabbed Brenda's blonde locks and pounded the other vampire's forehead against the marble column. A crimson smear soon stood out against the pale pink stone. "What did she do to hack your mother off?"

"Called Jean a bitch and said René was stupid," Jack answered calmly.

Spike nodded. "That would do it."

Brenda now hung limply in Baby's grasp, unconscious. Baby sniffed and dragged the blonde's lifeless form to the edge of the room and tossed her to the oak floor. At Spike's quizzical expression, she said, "You didn't think I was going to let her bleed on my carpet did you? That Afghanistan is over two hundred years old!" She snapped her fingers at Delaine. "You! Get this mess cleaned up." Delaine, not wishing to suffer the same fate as Brenda, quickly set about gathering minions to help her set the room to rights.

"Hello, dove," Spike said and kissed her cheek. "Having a bit of a day?"

"Just a tad, honey," she said and growled at the minions gaping at her. "Don't you all have something to do? Do I need to rip a few heads off?" They scurried off, eager to escape her attention. She stuck her lower lip out. "No one says things like that about my Jean Claude," she pouted.

Jean laughed and gathered her into his arms. He murmured something to her that the others couldn't catch and she smiled softly. "Jean," she breathed. "My sweet, sweet Jean."

Richard looked at them and curled his lip. He glanced at the crumpled form of his sister and sneered. He felt no loyalty to Brenda. If she was stupid enough to let René's new whore beat the crap out of her, then she wasn't worthy of ruling the females. However, it would make his life more difficult; Brenda had been afraid of him. Now he'd have to go to the effort of making the redhead afraid of him, too. Overall, he wasn't particularly pleased with the turn of events.

Spike noticed something was troubling René. "Son? What is it?"

René looked at him with sad eyes. "I hate this. It reminds me of Angelus' household." He sighed. "We had to fight all the time to keep his damned minions in line. Maman was always beating the crap out of one or another of them. I spent half my time growling at some idiot." He shook his head. "I can't live like that again."

Spike squeezed his arm. "It's not the same. You have your family here. We'll help you rule this lot."

René shook his head, his expression troubled and pensive. "I don't want to rule, Papa. It's not right. This is your house. It always has been."

Spike tilted his head. He knew what René was thinking. "If that's how you truly feel, son."

"Oui, it is," René answered without hesitation. He could see that Spike understood exactly what he was talking about and exactly what he wanted. This burden was more than René felt he could bear. It was also more than he felt he deserved. He didn't feel worthy of the title. At Spike's nod of approval, he knelt on one knee before his father. "Merci, Papa," he said in tones that caught the whole room's attention. "Merci beaucoup for everything you have given me, for everything you have done for me. Merci for my life, you have given that to me many times. Merci for teaching me to be what I am. Without you, I would have been nothing; I would never have seen Heaven and I would never have known what real joy is." He smiled up at Spike. "Regardless of what's passed between us and the times I gave you good reason to want to kill me, I am and have always been your vassal. You are my king. I built you an empire, and I'll keep building it, but it's yours to rule. Just like this house and this city. They're yours. Just like they should be."

Spike reached out and caressed the side of René's head, his fingers twining in the dark locks. "You're my son. You always have been and always will be."

When Richard moved toward the pair, Jack wrapped an arm around Richard's throat and squeezed. He clamped his hand over Richard's mouth. He wasn't going to let René's son interrupt this. Richard found that his struggles moved Jack not one little bit.

Spike was aware of Jack's actions but continued without pause. "I'm so proud of you sometimes I can't stand it. I feel like I'm going to burst open." He took a deep breath. "I accept your tribute in the spirit it's offered. You are Warlord of the Pride and will always sit at my left hand." He tilted René's face up, bent, and kissed his son gently. "You are my knight and my lance. With you and Jean Claude beside me, there is nothing that can stand against us." He bit his wrist and held it out to René. "You are my son," he repeated as René began to drink. "And I'll love you forever."

René drank and then stood. "Kneel before your lord and master," he ordered. "We serve William the Bloody. Spike is Master here now." As they all knelt--René's children, his minions, and even Baby and Jean--Jack kicked the back of Richard's knees, so they, too, could kneel before the Master of New Orleans now restored to his throne, the once and future king.

One by one and in small groups they repeated, "Spike is Master." When René was satisfied with the response, he knelt once more. "Spike is Master. For as long as I can move, he'll stay Master." Spike reached out and pulled his son to his feet. What he whispered in René's ear his son never revealed to anyone, but René's eyes were bright when he motioned to the others that they could rise.

Baby came to René at once, just as Jean went to their father. She reached up and laid a hand on René's cheek. "I love you so much; I can't even find the words to tell you." The glow in her eyes was worth a dozen empires.

Jean hugged his father and whispered his devotion so softly that only Spike heard. Spike kissed his eldest son, nicking his own tongue so he could offer his blood to Jean. Bonds renewed, their world back on course, the lords of the Pride were ready to face whatever came.

Richard pulled free of Jack's now-lax hold and shouted at René. "What the hell have you done? You've given away everything!"

René lifted his head from his contemplation of Baby's golden eyes. "It was mine to give away. Don't see where you have any say-so in the matter."

Richard stormed toward René only to find himself blocked by Jean's outstretched arm. Richard picked himself up off the floor. "You dare to strike the Prince of New Orleans!"

Jean raised an eyebrow. "Last time I checked, that was MY title." Jack shivered at the power that throbbed in Jean's voice. Several of the older minions, more worldly than René's children, caught an edge of that power and quailed. There were murmurs as the strength of the new regime was evaluated and found to be even more daunting than the old. If these men were so strong that René the Ruthless was voluntarily accepting third place among them, what chance had any of them to stand against this new master and his son whose voice resonated with the power of a true prince?

Baby grinned up at René. She had noticed the subtle changes in the way many of the minions were looking at Jean and Spike. "You know, it might be time Jean let these cubs of yours know what a real lion is like."

René grinned openly. "Yeah, you could be right. They know I can knock the hell out of any one of them but I don't think they know what Jean is yet."

Spike took Jack's hand and pulled him to René and Baby's side. "I think they're about to find out."

Jean calmly surveyed the room and everyone in it. "Mais oui, Papa," he said softly. In a voice ringing with authority he announced, "I am Jean Claude DuValliere, eldest son of William the Bloody and his marked Lover. I am consort to le Beau René and acknowledged Lover of the Queen of New Orleans. I am Crown Prince of Louisiana and have been for nineteen years. If any of you think you are vampire enough to challenge me, do it now, but know this: I will take you out! I will meet any threat to my family and myself with lethal force."

René grinned. "You might want to know that Jean can and has kicked the shit out of me more than once." He was pleased when a couple of his sons stepped back, obviously rethinking their course of action. Not all of his children were stupid.

Unfortunately, Richard was. "You motherfucking faggot," he snarled.

Jack knocked him cold with a single punch. He looked down at the unconscious vampire and sneered, "You aren't worth Jean's time." He swept the room with an arrogant glance. Jack had held authority even as a mortal; his new status as a vampire had not diminished his swagger at all. Jack was a prince among vampires and knew it. He had also grown up in inner city Chicago and understood the rules of street warfare and dominance. The strong and the smart ruled. Jack was both. "I'm the least of the vampires standing here. I'm not even six months old yet. I'm a fucking baby. And I just took out your best." He grinned. "Every one of them, including Baby, can kick my ass. That's what you need to think about." His grin turned into a smirk. "If I can do that to Richard, what do you think Jean can do to you?" He crossed his arms, his stance clearly daring any of them to knock the metaphorical chip off his shoulder.

Spike grinned. He really was starting to like his new grandson.

Alternate Dimension
New Orleans, Louisiana
Saturday, 2:21 am
June 7, 2003

With Richard sulking in a corner of the big parlor and Brenda nursing her injuries up in her room, an uneasy peace settled over the house on Rue Royale. The other members of René's household had been informed of the change in command and how Brenda and Richard had both been easily defeated by two of the vampires René had brought back with him from wherever he'd been. Word was already spreading out into the streets.

There was now a scramble among the minions and children to try and find ways to ingratiate themselves with their new rulers. It was obvious René was acting as Spike's second, keeping a close eye on everything and everyone that might come near his father. Cordelia and Nina had been surprised to discover the change in the ruling structure but not too shocked. They were both more comfortable with Spike openly in charge. Connor had been vocal in his disappointment at missing the fight. Angel had silently agreed with his son while pretending to be above such nonsense. Spike made it clear that Angel was clan lord and would be treated with respect.

Jean was talking to Nina, fiddling with her hair and playing with Devereau, when there was a small commotion. René looked up and then buried his face in his hands as two of his sons led a group of chained humans into the room and forced them to their knees. "Oh God! I thought they were all dead," he moaned.

"René?" Spike questioned. He gave the briefest of glances to the next group of mortals filing in to join the first.

René ran his hands through his hair. "They were a gift from Mörderer for my cooperation. They're captives he picked up all over, all different dimensions. There were about three hundred to begin with." He swallowed his nausea. "I thought they would all be dead by now. They were… food." He rested his forehead on his hand and closed his eyes, sickened by the man he had become here in this dark world.

André and Etienne looked at him peculiarly. They didn't understand their newly returned brother and sire but they were willing to stand with him. They were particularly hated by his other children and had experienced a severe decline in power while he had been gone. His return had resulted in a marked improvement in their lives and they were happy to consider themselves his men. "They were yours personally, René," André explained. "No one dared to touch them while you were gone even though we weren't sure when you were going to come back."

René shivered. For all the weeks he'd been gone, these poor people had existed as prisoners in the old warehouse. The thought was nearly more than he could tolerate. There were less than fifty of them left. These were the survivors of his predations. The face he turned to Spike was tortured and filled with grief. "Papa, I…" The words to describe how many he'd killed without a thought stuck in his throat.

Spike's own gaze was compassionate. "It's all right. I've done worse."

Jean reached out to them both. "Please, neither of you were…" A familiar scent hit him, driving all other considerations from his mind. "No… It can't…" He spun around, frantically searching the ranks of captives. They all looked the same: dirty, bowed, grayed by terror and captivity. There was nothing to differentiate them. Still, he could smell that one of them was different. He whirled through their midst, questing, searching, following that elusive scent until… "Olivia!" he breathed and reached a trembling hand to touch her matted hair.

Eyes of darkest brown lifted and looked at him in disbelief. "Jean?"

Her voice was weak, tremulous, barely heard, and the sweetest music that had ever fallen on his ears. "Oh mon Dieu! Olivia!" All Jean could do was drop down before her, fold her in his arms, and hold her as though he'd never stop. He rocked back and forth as tears flowed down his face and sobs racked his body.

Baby took one look at René and grabbed the nearest minion. "Get out!" she snarled. "All of you! Get out! Clear the house! I find one of you within four blocks of this house before sunset tomorrow and I'll dust you!" She flung the minion at the door. "Drag Brenda's ass out with you!"

"But... but where will we spend the day?" someone asked.

"I don't give a shit. Just don't come near here." She looked around quickly. "André, Etienne, Rachel, you stay. The rest of you have three minutes to clear this house. MOVE IT!"

Spike put a hand on her shoulder. "Jack, Angel, and I will see to it." The understanding in his eyes warmed her soul. He was freeing her to tend to René. Her younger husband was standing frozen with a look of such horror on his face as to make him nearly unrecognizable. She went to him and spoke his name softly.

He didn't look away from the tableau of Jean holding Olivia, covering her in tears and endearments. "Marie Sainte, la Mère de Dieu! Qu'ai-t-je fait? Dieu me pardonne! Qu'ai-t-je fait?" René cried. He turned tormented teal eyes to her. She had never seen him so stricken. "Qu'ai-t-je fait?" His legs collapsed beneath him and he fell to his knees. "Oh Bébé! Aidez-moi!"

She held him closely, her arms about his head, one hand in his dark hair and the other already rubbing circles on his back. "Shh. I'll help you. Tell me, darling." He shook his head, his face buried in her abdomen. "René. Mon amour précieux. You have to tell me."

His face still hidden against her, he haltingly said, "I... I didn't remember she was there... I... Oh Bébé! I didn't recognize her! I didn't know. Oh God forgive me! I didn't know!" He held her so tightly it hurt.

"My heart, shh. It's all right. Whatever it is. It doesn't matter to me," she whispered to him.

He looked up at her in sorrow and disbelief. "It will when I tell you what I done." He squeezed his eyes closed for a moment as if unable to bear the visuals his mind was conjuring. "Among the presents, the prisoners Mörderer brought me, there was someone I recognized. It was Jean. A different Jean. Still human, still alive." He shuddered so hard her body shook with his revulsion. "I killed him, Maman. I ripped him apart." René began to sob. "I tore him into pieces." He fought to get the final words out. "While his woman watched!" He broke down completely. "Oh God, Maman, I didn't know it was Olivia! I didn't know her then. I didn't know I was making Olivia watch me kill Jean! Qu'ai-t-je fait? J'ai assassiné Jean pendant que Olivia a regardé!"

Baby simply held him more tightly as he cried.

Jean was aware of René's distress, if not exactly the reason for it, but he couldn't spare any thoughts for René in that instant. His mind was consumed by the woman he held. It was truly Olivia. He would know her scent anywhere. He'd know the feel of her body. It felt... different. He pulled back a few inches and ran his hand over her swollen stomach, feeling the life within. "Olivia?"

She looked up at him. "The baby's all right, I think. He moves a lot and he seems to be growing." She looked bewildered, her dark eyes slightly vacant, stupefied by all that had happened to her. Dirt dulled her skin and hair, and her clothing was so filthy its color was no longer discernible. Jean had seldom seen anyone more beautiful or precious. "I've tried to take care of him, Jean. I pray every day that God will help me take care of our baby."

Jean was paralyzed by her words. He couldn't have heard her correctly. "Our? Our baby?" He could barely speak. The child kicked and moved under his hand. "You're carrying my child?"

She was puzzled. "Of course. What's wrong with you? You're acting..." It dawned on her that the chest she was resting against was silent. There was no steady thumping of his heart beating, no bellows sound of his lungs taking in air. The hand that held hers so tenderly was cool as the air around her. Aside from his eyes, there was no hint of life in his body. "NO!" Horror twisted her mouth and widened her eyes. She pushed away and scrambled across the floor. "NO!" She wedged herself into a pocket between an antique settee and tall curio cabinet, drawing her legs tight against her body and wrapping her arms around them, hiding from the cruelty of the world. "NOOOoooooooo!"

Jean knelt where she had left him, dazed by the terror and fear he'd seen when Olivia looked at him. Her wail of renewed grief cut through René's haze of self-loathing and he vaulted from Baby's arms. He was kneeling in front of Olivia before her cry had ended. "Cher. It's all right. No one here will hurt you," he said softly. She took one look at him and screamed in abject fear.

With a muttered curse, Baby pulled René away. "I'll see to Olivia," she told him. "Right now, Jean needs you," she said forcefully. "René! Look at me. Jean. Needs. You."

Nearly as dazed as his brother, René nodded. "Oui. Yes. I'll see to Jean." He stumbled to Jean Claude's side and began to murmur comfort to his brother, helping Jean to his feet.

Baby sat down in front of Olivia, careful to give the mortal woman plenty of space. "Nina! Find Cordelia. Bring me Dev and go find Cordelia and send her to me. Then find Spike and tell him I need him right now."

Nina, who had watched the entire event with wide and frightened eyes, hurried to obey her mother. With Devereau settled in her lap, Baby began to speak calmly and gently to the mortal. "Olivia? It's okay, honey. No one here wants to hurt you. I know it's been awful. Probably been worse than anything I can imagine, but it's over now. We're here to help you." She paused to pull a lock of her hair from Dev's fist. "Please don't be so afraid. It's not good for your baby. Dev, stop. We don't want to hurt you. That's all over with now. Dev, don't pull my hair. You really are safe." She freed her hair from tiny, sticky fingers again. "Olivia? I know you don't know me, but I really am a friend of yours. You can... Devereau Beaumont! Do not stick your fingers up my nose!"

Olivia giggled.

"Oh, laugh now. In a year or so you're going to be dealing with the same thing!" Baby said. Dev bounced up and down and squealed happily. He made a dive for that oh-so-appealing red hair. "He's a tiny hellion bent on making me bald. Devereau, I mean it! Don't pull my hair."

He happily ignored her. "Maman!" he crowed.

"Yes, you little rascal, I'm your Maman. Hopefully your Mémé and your Mama will be here in a minute." She sighed. "Ever since he learned to walk we don't dare leave him alone for even a second. He's into everything, constantly." As if to prove her point, he pulled away and toddled straight to the curio shelf beside Olivia. He reached up and began to pull himself onto the second shelf. "Oh no you don't, mister!" Baby plucked him from the shelf. "See what I mean? He's a climber, too." She turned him around. "Go to your Pawpaw," she ordered. Dev obediently staggered and bounced across the floor until he collided with René's leg. He cooed happily and held his arms up, squealing for attention. Olivia gasped and jumped to her feet. She would have run to the baby if Baby hadn't stopped her, gently holding her back. "It's all right. René would sooner die than have anything happen to that baby."

Indeed, before Olivia's amazed eyes, that monster that had destroyed her lover reached down, picked up the child and cuddled it closely. René cooed and baby-talked to his grandson in melodious French and tried to be stern when Dev swatted him across the nose. He was completely unsuccessful and ended up laughing. Of course, this simply encouraged Dev to slap him again. Jean took the baby from René. "You are too lenient with him," he scolded. "He's going to be completely spoiled if you don't at least try to teach him some self-discipline." He frowned at René. "Dev. We don't hit. We've talked about this."

Dev bounced and held out his arms. "Dada!"

Jean squeezed his eyes closed and there was such pain on his face that René flinched. Nina, entering with Cordelia on her heals, took Dev from him and looked to her father for answers. "Papa? What's wrong with Daddy?" René pulled her away and began whispering in her ear.

Jean, his arms now empty, simply stood where they had left him, alone. Olivia stared at him. "Jean?" she whispered. He looked at her and there were unshed tears in his eyes. "Jean? Is it really you? Are you still somehow... in there?" There was hope and longing and fear mingled in her tone.

He knew exactly what she was asking. He'd asked himself that question many times, especially in the early years of his existence as a vampire. In truth, only when he'd sat in Confessional that first time after receiving his redemption, only then had he finally accepted who and what he was. He knew he was different from the Jean Claude who had been accosted by a mugger nineteen years earlier but he also knew he was very much the same. His values might have altered but only slightly. He was Jean Claude DuValliere and would always be. He tried to keep the sob out of his voice when he answered her but didn't completely succeed. "Always. I'm still me. Different, but me." There was such need and caring on his face that Baby had to restrain herself from going to him and just holding him. She had never loved Jean more. His voice broke twice before he was able to say, "Oh, Olivia, I've missed you so much!" In every way, the tone of his voice, the longing in his eyes, even the tilt of his head, Olivia could see that he was her Jean, her lover and the father of the child she carried. She had never thought to see him on this side of the Jordan.

The shock was nearly overwhelming and Olivia would have crumpled to the floor if Baby hadn't been supporting her. Jean rushed to her but Baby put up a restraining hand when Olivia flinched. "Gently, Jean. A little at a time." Olivia hesitantly allowed him to take her hand. Baby assisted Olivia into a chair and gently said, "Olivia? This is Cordelia." She placed Olivia's hand on Cordy's chest. "See, she's alive. She's human. So is Nina." She gave Olivia time to process that information. "They're gonna help me take care of you. Is that okay?" She thought for a moment. "René, she probably needs to be seen by a doctor. Can you get one here?" He nodded. He had been careful to keep his distance. He was terrified of frightening her again. "Olivia, will you let Jean carry you upstairs?" She shook her head. "Will you let me?" Again Olivia shook her head and Baby was momentarily at a loss. She verbally pounced on Jack the second he entered the room. "Jack! Olivia, this is Jack. He's completely trustworthy. He's an F.B.I. agent and everything. Will you let him take you upstairs?" Olivia looked doubtful. "Jack, help me out here!"

Jack shook his head. "What am I supposed to do? Show her my badge?" Baby favored him with a look that promised retribution if he didn't think of something to help her right now! Luckily, Jack had been trained to deal with hostages and kidnap victims and he set about doing everything he knew to soothe and calm Olivia. Under his sympathetic care, she calmed and soon allowed him to if not to carry her up the stairs at least to assist her. She wouldn't allow Jean to accompany them, though.

Baby came back down almost immediately. "Cordy and Nina are taking care of her. She's more comfortable with them. Jack's standing guard." She dropped into a chair. "God in Heaven."

Spike sat down on the arm of her chair. "I sent André and Etienne out to guard the entrances. I didn't figure they needed to hear any more than they already have. Rachel's making a tray of food for Olivia. Angel and Connor are seeing to those poor sods that were chained up with Olivia. They're going to drop the lot of them off at Charity Hospital." He grinned. "I'm babysitting this terror." He pointed to Dev happily playing on the rug with a pair of wooden stakes. "And those two are seeing to each other." He gestured to his sons.

René had confessed his alter-ego's actions to Jean, who now understood Olivia's terror. He knew that somehow they had to find a way to help her. It was simply impossible to consider any other course. Jean wanted to be with her but he realized this was not his Olivia and right now, he would only frighten her. And René needed him. René was quite possibly as distraught as Olivia was. Perhaps more so; at least Olivia had no reason to hate herself. And right now, René hated himself more than he ever had. Jean had never felt this much self-loathing emanating from his brother, not when he'd killed an innocent child in a fit of anger, not when he'd betrayed Spike by becoming Baby's lover, not when he'd turned Olivia against her will. René had never hated himself more than he did at this minute. Jean understood that it both was and wasn't René who had perpetrated the murder of his own alter-ego; now he had to get René to see that. What had happened was horrifying and his heart bled for Olivia but it also bled for his brother. Jean had to help René sort this out. Jean had not pulled René from the bliss of Heaven to have him suffer this way. Jean would find a way to bring René peace and help him forgive himself. Jean found that his love for René was undiminished. If anything, the remorse René felt for actions that weren't really his own only endeared him more to Jean. Jean found that he loved his husband more each day.

Now Jean understood why Olivia was so frightened but it still hurt to see her recoil in fear from him. It hurt. And Jean found that as much as René needed his comfort, he needed René's. René's embrace, René's kiss eased some of that hurt. Jean had spent so many, many years craving René's love, wanting some small piece of his brother's heart. He had that now; the evidence of René's love and affection was marked on his neck for the world to see. Jean needed that love and affection now. He'd have to have it to see him through this. Jean knew that he was not as strong as he had once been. The events of the past two years had worn away his resistance to the constant buffeting he took from life. René was really his only shield from that erosion now. He was not ashamed to admit that he needed René.

Jean's need, both spoken aloud and felt through their bond, strengthened René. If he could offer Jean any sort of comfort, any kind of support, then his existence wasn't in vain. He basked in the fact that Jean didn't hate him. Jean hadn't turned away from him. Neither had Baby nor any of the family. René closed his eyes, buried his face in Jean's hair, and thanked God that Spike had turned him.

"There's no way we can kill him. They're too strong," Richard said and motioned for another drink. The bar had mostly emptied the minute he walked in. He liked it best that way.

Remy sighed. "You are all just too young. We need someone older. Someone who hates René."

Richard looked confused. "Where are we going to find someone that hates him who'll be strong enough to help us?" He drained the liquor remaining in his glass. "I've asked around. None of his rivals are willing to go against Rene the Ruthless, William the Bloody, and Angelus the Cruel. Who would be crazy or vindictive enough to take them on?"

Remy grinned. "You ever met your Uncle Philip?"

Chapters : |2| |3| |Interlude| |4| |5| |6| |7| |8| |9| |10| |11| |12| |13|

Chapter 8
"Twilight Zone"

(Golden Earring)
It's 2 am. Fear is gone.
I'm somewhere where the Gun's still warm.
Thinking my connection is tired of taking chances.
Yeah, there's a storm on the loose. Sun reigns on my head.
Wrapped up inside themselves. Circuits are dead.
Cannot decode. My whole life spins into a frenzy.

Help, I'm stepping into the Twilight Zone.
This is a madhouse. Feels like being home.
My feet they can't move under the moon and stars.
Where am I to go now that I've gone too far?

You will come to know When the bullet hits the bone.
You will come to know When the bullet hits the bone.

I'm falling down a spiral, destination unknown.
Double cross messenger, all alone.
Can't get no connection. Can't get through, where are you?
Well the night weighs heavy on his guilty mind.
This far from the borderline.
When the hitman comes, he knows damn well he has been cheated.

And he says: Help, I'm stepping into the Twilight Zone.
This is a madhouse. Feels like being home.
My feet they can't move under the moon and stars.
Where am I to go now that I've gone too far?

You will come to know When the bullet hits the bone.
When the bullet hits the bone. When the bullet hits the bone.

Alternate Dimension
New Orleans, Louisiana
Saturday, 2:01 pm
June 7, 2003

Olivia Fairchild sank back into her chair and took another bite of her sandwich. If felt so good to have real food instead of whatever her captors saw fit to toss to them, usually some sort of cold fast food. She never wanted to see another hamburger. The ham sandwich and hot potato soup on her tray were heavenly. So was the iced tea. It also felt amazingly good to be clean. She'd honestly forgotten what a hot shower felt like. She'd never been so thankful for anything in her life. She curled her legs into the big chair and tucked her feet under the generous folds of the maternity dress she now wore. It was too big, especially across the bust, but it was clean, soft, and comfortable. It belonged to the red-haired woman who'd introduced herself by the improbable name of Baby. There was something about her that troubled Olivia but she'd been very kind. Apparently Nina was her daughter and the teenager was the mother of the little boy who'd survived being held by that monster.

Olivia pushed the thought away. Just thinking about that creature ruined her appetite and she set the sandwich back on her plate. She concentrated on the feel of her own child moving gently inside her. She tried to return to her enjoyment of being dirt-free and comfortable. She ran a hand through her hair. It was clean and tangle-free for the first time in weeks. Cordelia had been forced to cut several inches off to accomplish that goal, though, and it now brushed Olivia's shoulders. Cordelia had also promised that she would take Olivia to a proper salon as soon as possible. Olivia smiled. Cordy, as she insisted on being called, had been incredibly kind and incredibly bossy all at the same time. She also talked incessantly. Oddly, the sound had been rather soothing.

After Nina and Cordy had helped Olivia bathe, Baby had appeared with a selection of maternity clothes that smelled faintly of cedar. Baby and Cordy had painstakingly combed Olivia's hair while she ate, picking at the tangles with clever fingers until they were all gone. They had tucked Olivia in the big bed and left her to nap. The baby had awakened Olivia an hour ago, kicking and moving about. Hunger had kept her from going back to sleep. She'd found Jack half-napping in a chair outside her door. At first, she'd thought he was there to keep her prisoner but he'd insisted he was there simply for her convenience. He'd made the sandwich and tea she was now sipping and warmed the soup. He'd brought the tray here where she could be comfortable and look out at the garden. At her request, he had returned to the kitchen. She knew he was trying to prove that she wasn't a prisoner. She wasn't very convinced but at least for the moment, the terms of her confinement had improved drastically. In a bit more than twelve hours, her life had altered tremendously but she didn't trust that any of the changes would last.

She took another sip of tea and set the glass down at the sound of angry footsteps clumping on the hardwood of the hall. She froze in terror, even the baby stilling. It was the monster. She knew his footfalls. She had only one thought, bouncing over and over against the walls of her mind: "Please don't let him see me. Please don't let him see me."

"René, wait!" The sound of a familiar voice didn't even register, she was so frightened.

The monster stopped clearly within her view, the open doorway allowing her to see easily out into the hall though he seemed not to see her. She prayed it remained that way. He was focused on something else, so perhaps he'd be less aware of his surroundings. There was a fan blowing cooled air toward Olivia. Maybe it was blowing her scent away from him. She hoped so. She hoped it also covered the pounding of her heart. She tried to breathe as little as possible. She had to be invisible and soundless so the monster wouldn't notice her. She'd learned that in the big cage she'd shared with so many other captives; to be noticed was to die. Doing anything to draw his attention meant he'd pick you for his next meal. She knew the rules: Don't move, don't speak, don't cry or scream or make any kind of a noise. Don't stare at him. Don't let the monster have any reason to turn those deadly eyes on you.

He'd turned those eyes on her once. Covered in Jean's blood, he'd turned those crazed eyes on her and she'd been sure she was about to join her precious Jean in death. She'd been too grief-stricken to fight the two vampires that held her. She'd simply sagged in their hold. Then that thing had touched her. He'd placed his gory hand over her stomach and laughed maniacally. "Pregnant," he'd spat. "I don't eat babies and pregnant women," he told her and ordered her returned to the cage. His handprint, marked out in Jean's blood, had still been faintly visible on her shirt when Nina had taken her clothes away for disposal. She shivered. It felt odd no longer to wear the evidence of Jean's death.

The monster's beautiful, horrible face with its burning teal eyes was now turned toward whomever was coming down the hall. She pulled further into the big wing chair, peering cautiously around the edge of the chair, shivering. "What?" he said harshly. The sound of his voice sent pure dread through every nerve in her body.

"René." There was gentle chiding in the other voice now and recognition dawned for her. It couldn't be. He would never talk to the monster in that soft, caring way. "Why are you like this, mon coeur? Hmm? You have no reason to be jealous of Jack."

The monster crossed his arms and frowned. "I am so very much not jealous of Jack Niemczyk!" The displeasure in his voice set her heart racing. She knew what that thing was. She'd seen enough while held in that awful warehouse to know what happened when he was displeased. She'd seen what he did when he was angry. She'd learned that Jean had actually died quickly compared to some of the tortures the monster could commit. She'd witnessed death in ways she'd never imagined were even possible.

Jean entered Olivia's view, smiling and relaxed. She felt as though her body had turned to ice. She could neither move nor make a sound. She knew now that she was dreaming. This was a nightmare. She prayed to wake up before she had to see Jean die again. Still, she knew she wouldn't. She never did. She never woke up until she felt his blood splatter across her face. Just as she'd felt it hit her in reality, each drop striking like daggers, half-blinding her so that she saw his death through a pink haze, so it was in her dreams. Only when that warm stream slapped her, only then could she awaken to live this continuing nightmare.

Jean laughed and she shuddered. "Then why are you pouting?" Jean drew ever closer to the monster.

"I'm not pouting."

Jean's laugh sounded again, deeper, more seductive. "Yes, you are. That lower lip of yours is stuck out."

René growled warningly and Jean laughed yet again. "You're adorable when you pout." Olivia's heart stopped when Jean actually touched the monster. Why didn't he run? She silently willed him to flee. Instead, he reached up and laid a hand on the monster's jaw line. "It's just begging me to suck on it." He pulled the monster down and did just that, sucking on René's lip and then kissing him. "You know I love you more than anything on Earth, in Heaven, or in Hell. You have no reason to be jealous, m' amour." He kissed the monster again. René groaned and uncrossed his arms so he could hold Jean. "Je t'adore, René," Jean Claude murmured, kissing that hideous creature passionately. "J'taime, mon mari."

René surrendered. He never had been able to hold out against his brother. "Jean," he moaned and returned his husband's kiss. "Mon Dieu, I love you."

"I know, my cher beau," Jean said softly. "Didn't you spend all morning apologizing for something you didn't do because you love me so much?"

"But Jean, that was me. I…"

Jean silenced him with another kiss. "I don't care what you say; I don't believe it. You would never hurt me. I know that with as much certainty as I know the sun will set tonight and come up again tomorrow." He rubbed his thumb against René's cheek. "And even if you did, I don't care." Jean's eyes were dark caramel, warm and sweet. "What we feel, it will see us through anything. Didn't we agree on that this morning? However bad we feel, however hurt or guilty we are, our love for each other will see us through."

René nodded and allowed the love in Jean's eyes to soothe his heart and mind. "Oui. I couldn't do it otherwise. I... you, Bébé, Papa, Nina, you're what keep me here. I couldn't stand this without you." His lips brushed Jean's. "Please don't ever stop loving me, Jonny. Please don't hate me."

"Oh René! I don't hate you. I couldn't." The need for Jean's love that shone in René's eyes awakened a fire inside Jean. "I love you." That fire was always there, often banked and smoldering, but those embers never cooled. With René this close, teal eyes begging for Jean's love and acceptance, that need ignited. Jean kissed René deeply as want surged through him. Jean tugged at René's shirt, opening it and sliding it off René's shoulders. "I love you and I want you, m' frère. I want you so bad. Please, Renny, I need you." René could only moan his agreement. "I want to make love to you." Jean tugged his brother toward the stairs. "Please let me." If he could hold René, love him, then he could erase some of the remorse from those teal eyes and maybe ease some of his own hurt. "I want to spend the rest of the afternoon making love to you." René followed him without question. They vanished from Olivia's sight.

She knew then that nothing of her Jean dwelt in that creature that looked so much like him. Her darling would never even speak to something as evil as that monster, much less say he loved and wanted it. Her Jean was truly dead, just as she'd known he was in her heart. She'd lived his murder. Didn't she see him bleeding and torn every time she closed her eyes? Didn't she hear his screams of unbearable pain echoing in her head constantly? That…that thing might look like him and even act like him but it wasn't Jean and it never would be.

Jack found her sitting silently, her food cold and barely touched. When he urged her to let him fix her more, advising her that she needed to eat for the baby's sake, she nodded. "Yes, I have to think about the baby. He's all I have left of Jean, you know." Jack didn't comment on that. He simply gathered her tray and carried it to the kitchen, not arguing when she tagged along. He somehow knew she didn't want to be alone.

Alternate Dimension
New Orleans, Louisiana
Sunday, 2:43 am
June 8, 2003

Jack sighed and closed the laptop. "Well, that explains why we can't get any answers from Sunnydale," he said. "I'm sorry, Spike, but it looks like the Slayer died well over a year ago in this dimension."

Spike nodded. He'd had his suspicions when none of the numbers he'd had for Buffy, Giles, or her Scooby Gang had worked. In a way, he felt gratified. Somehow, his death had altered Buffy's chance for survival. Without Spike, she'd died. She had needed him and somehow, he'd saved her. He grinned. He had a purpose in her life. "Well, keep looking for Willow. We could certainly use her abilities." He stood and paced to the window, looking out into the night. "I've left five messages at the Hyperion but so far no one is answering. Angel Investigations may be listed in the yellow pages and their message machine may say they are open for business but they aren't bothering to get back to anyone." He looked at Angel and frowned. "You'd think a phone call from your truly dead grandson would get your attention," he said accusingly. Angel shrugged; he had no idea what was going on in California. Spike twitched the curtain closed. "We need Wesley. And where the fuck is Dru? What's she playing at?"

Angel shrugged again. "You know as much as I do, Spike. You're just as linked to her as I am. Probably more so, actually. All I can tell you is that she's fine, she's not dead, and she's relatively happy."

"She misses Wes," Spike said. "But she's not… devastated. She's... well… fine, as you say. But dammit! I need her here! A fine time for her decide to do an Amelia Earhart."

Baby sat down in his lap and kissed his cheek. "Dru will show up when Dru wants to show up and not a second sooner."

"Yeah." Spike wrapped his arms around her waist and thought for a moment. He looked at his assembled family. "Look, I don't know what we're gonna do next. We've got the brains to solve this but we don't have the research material. And if it's a spell we're going to need-and I'll bet you good money it is-then we don't have the bloody talent. Until we find Willow or Wesley, we're buggered."

Angel nodded. "I think some of us are going to have to take a trip to L.A."

Spike agreed. He buried his face in Baby's shoulder. He didn't want to send anyone to California yet. He didn't want to split them up. His instincts told him they needed to be together. He couldn't shake off the feeling that a storm was coming and they'd all need to be together to weather it. The air in the house felt oppressive.

Alternate Dimension
New Orleans, Louisiana
Sunday, 1:35 pm
June 8, 2003

Spike came wide-awake when Nina slammed the bedroom door and bolted it. She held Dev tightly. "They're going to try and kill us," she gasped. She quickly gathered herself. "There's a lot of them downstairs. Not just René's children but lots of others. Minions, I guess. They're talking about how they're going to kill us all. I was going down for a snack and heard them."

Baby was dressing even as Nina finished speaking. Jeans, pullover, boots, all were on in less than two minutes. Spike was dressed just as quickly, both of them sending out mental warnings to their family. They armed themselves quickly. Spike opened the bedroom door and slammed it shut just as quickly. "Fuck! There must be over a hundred of them out there. The hall's packed." He was furious. He knew this was a possibility but he thought they'd cowed any rebellious urges among René's household. "Too many for us to fight through with Nina and Bite-Size." He thought for a moment. "Sun's out. It's a clear day. They can't follow us out into the street."

"Then take Nina and go!" Baby ordered without hesitation.

He grinned and snatched the spread from the bed. "You're coming, too." They both ignored the pounding on their bedroom door. They knew it wouldn't hold for long. "Nina, out on the balcony. Hurry."

Wide-eyed, the teenager didn't argue. She handed Dev over without the least concern when Spike asked for the child. Holding the baby closely, Spike leapt to the street below even as the bedroom door was torn from its hinges. He ran across the pavement and plopped Dev down on the sidewalk. Spike quickly moved a couple of heavy concrete planters, forming an instant baby pen. With Dev safe from wandering into the street, Spike ran back and stood below the gallery to his house. "Jump, Nina," he ordered.

Nina could hear her mother fighting in the doorway behind her, trying to keep the rogue vampires back and give Nina a chance to join Spike. She climbed up on the wrought iron railing and sailed out into the air. Spike caught her with ease and set her on her feet. "Get Dev and get into the sun," he ordered. "Get behind a car or dumpster in case they have guns." She ran to do his bidding.

"Dove, hurry!" he called up. "Dove!" He cursed when she didn't answer. Nina turned in time to see him leap from the street and grab one of the second floor gallery supports. He swung himself into the fray, his booted feet landing firmly in the chests of two of Baby's attackers. The force of his leap drove them back and into several others. He snapped the neck of the vampire that had his hand fisted in Baby's hair and tossed him out into the sun. Two others followed quickly, their screams and the faint sound of them exploding into dust ignored by the Roxtons as they fought shoulder to shoulder. More attackers filled the balcony, forcing Spike and Baby closer to the railing. A beam of sunshine set Baby's sleeve to smoking and Spike snatched her back from that deadly light. "Fuck!" Spike snarled and tossed another vampire over the railing and into the sun that threatened to claim Baby at any second. A canvas awning fluttered in the afternoon breeze, drawing Spike's attention. He snatched it from its moorings and ripped the bar away. Wrapping the heavy cloth around his wife, he tossed her over his shoulder and leapt out into the brightness. He hit the roof of a car passing below and rolled off its roof, across the trunk, and onto the pavement, his arms tight about his precious package. The canvas was already smoking and smoldering. He grabbed her up and raced for the safety of the shadows across the street. He hastily unwrapped her, patting out any spots that looked as though they might ignite. "Rose?"

She threw her arms around him and kissed him fiercely. He grinned. "I have to go after the others," he told her.

"I know," she agreed.

"If I'm not out in ten minutes, take Nina and run. Head for L.A. Find Angel." She didn't argue. They both knew what was and wasn't possible in these kinds of situations. They were warriors and there was always the possibility that one or both of them wouldn't come back. "If I can, I'll meet you there."

All she said was, "Hurry."

He nodded. "Don't worry. I won't let anything happen to our children. Mine or yours." He grabbed her head, his fingers buried in her hair, and kissed her quick and hard. Then he bounded out into the sunlight where she couldn't follow, leaving her with nothing but the taste of his kiss and the memory of his touch.

It was less than five minutes later when his mental shout echoed through her consciousness. One word, packed with all the urgency he could endow it with. "RUN!"

Jean plowed through the minions as though they were inanimate objects. He was covered in gray dust and smelled of eternal death. The stake in his hand had already destroyed an uncounted number of his attackers but it wasn't enough. They continued to impede his search. He was frantic. Olivia's room was empty, with no sign of her anywhere. The sounds of blows falling on flesh and the pounding of a human heart drew him further into the house. He recognized the labored breathing of the human fighting a dozen or more vampires before he ever reached the combatants. Connor dusted two vampires even as Jean took out another but those three were quickly replaced by others. Jean was two steps from Connor when a vicious clawed hand sliced across the boy's face. Connor cried out, blinded by blood and unable to see his attackers. Jean grabbed him and with terse instructions soon had Connor's hand wrapped tightly around his belt. Connor's sight was returning but blood kept running into his eyes, blinding him anew. With Connor following him, he fought his way across the shaded courtyard toward the garage. The scent of Connor's blood drew more and more vampires to them, making it impossible for Jean to leave his charge and search for Olivia. If he abandoned Connor for even a few moments, the young man would die. Vampire after vampire fell, eradicated by Jean's blows but there were always more and he was forced further and further from the main house, further and further from Olivia. Finally, with a burning heart, he was forced to abandon any hope of searching for her. With a curse he never used, Jean grabbed Connor and ran for the motor pool. He snatched a set of keys from the pegboard. He tossed Connor into the nearest vehicle with dark windows and climbed into the driver's seat. He roared out onto the street with Spike's warning ringing in his head.

Jack ducked and rolled. He had caught a glimpse of his mother through the window. He could feel her distress. He had also felt Spike's urgent command. He agreed with Spike's assessment. There was no way they could win this one; they could only escape and survive. He staked a vampire as he came up on one knee and took an instant to consider his options. They were few and unpleasant. He could stay here and fight until he was staked or torn limb from limb or he could burn up in the sunlight flooding the street. None were options he approved of. Still, they were the only options he had. Gathering his feet under him, he launched off the floor, sailing over the vampires that blocked his path. His way clear, he sprinted across the room and crashed through the window and out into the light, praying he had built up enough speed to make it to the welcoming shadows on the other side before he burst into flame. He heard Baby scream his name even as fiery pain lanced across his shoulders and he stumbled onto the broken sidewalk. Enveloping darkness claimed him as Baby and Nina wrapped the torn awning around him, smothering the flames and pulling him further into the shade with them. He shrugged off the heavy cloth and shook his head briskly. He could feel burns across his shoulders but he knew they would heal soon. He lived and that was all that mattered. He ran a hand through his hair, dislodged ashes floating on the zephyrs of a Southern summer, proof of how close he'd come to combusting.

Baby looked at him with huge, awestruck eyes. She'd been transfixed by the sight of her son, glass cascading around him, a sparkling corona that he fled, plunging into the deadly sunlight. Flames dancing on his arms, his broad back, and haloing his brown hair, he'd raced Death and won. She was spellbound by his daring and stunned by his triumph. There'd never been a fledgling to match him. "God damn, Jack. What are you?"

He kissed her rosebud mouth and laughed. "The toughest son of a bitch you could have ever picked to turn, sweetheart."

Cordelia crashed the SUV through the French doors and their wide window casings. There was barely enough room for her to avoid the brick walls. As it was, she lost the passenger side mirror, the cables for the electronic controls dangling from its shattered base. Luckily, it didn't affect the smooth operation of the car window and it slid down as she touched the button. "Angel!" she screamed. "Get your ass in the car! Right now!"

The Champion of the Powers That Be punched one of his attackers, sending it flying across the room and gaining him the few seconds he needed to dive through the window and into the vehicle. It was a narrow fit but he made it. He jerked his feet inside as he felt the window start to rise. "Damn it, Cordy," he muttered with his face buried in her lap. "Give a man a minute, would you?"

"No time," she snapped back and jerked the big vehicle into reverse. It bucked and protested as she floored the accelerator. Already minions were climbing onto the running boards and trying to break out the windows. Backing into the bright street, most of them fell away. Two vampires were caught against the back of the SUV and were pushed out into the sun. Their flaming bodies were crushed between the big Ford and a pickup as Cordy crashed into the other car. They crumpled onto the pickup and the roadway. Bits of fire still clinging to the back of the Expedition, she sped away from Rue Royale with one hand on the steering wheel and the other pulling a heavy tarp over her estranged husband. Finally convinced he was safe, she slipped her hand under the tarp, into his, and said, "Don't worry. I'll take care of everything. You'll be safe with me until the sun goes down."

Angel relaxed with his head pillowed on her thighs. He had missed her physical touch so badly over the last two years. He sighed and tried just to enjoy the sensation, but the scent of René and Jean was strong on her and ate away at his heart. Still, he squeezed her hand and said, "I know I am, honey."

Olivia screamed as the hideous fanged visage thrust itself within an inch of her face. She could smell the fetid odor of it and fought back rising bile.

"You're a nice morsel," it growled. "Mmm, pregnant. You'll make a real nice snack."

"Not going to happen," a stronger voice growled and the vampire was tossed across the room. She looked up in disbelief as the monster planted himself between her and the vampires rapidly filling the room. René had a stake in one hand and a sword in the other. He sneered disdainfully at the hostiles. He was not about to let any of these puling minions touch Olivia. "Hear me! I'll kill any one of you that comes near us!" he warned. "Olivia," he said much more softly. "Ease your way to the door." When she didn't move, he risked a moment to glance at her. The fear on her face at seeing him was greater than it had been when the vampire was about to eat her. "Fuck!" he muttered and pushed that hurt away. He didn't have time for it right now. "Olivia! Please! I know you hate me but we gotta get out of here!" He was forced to step away to meet the attack of an onrushing vampire. She saw it as an opportunity to escape and ran for the door, frantic to evade the monster. René jabbed his stake in the vampire's heart and sprinted after her, not bothering to see his opponent turn to dust.

She ran as quickly as her depleted reserves and her burgeoning pregnancy would allow. She knew the monster was right behind her. She could feel him pursuing her. She couldn't take the time to look and see just how close he was. In any case, she feared that if she saw his face, she'd be frozen and lost. So she simply ran as hard as her heart would allow her. She rounded a corner and slammed into a solid form. "Well, well, what have we here?" the man said as he grasped her shoulders. She looked up into a handsome face marred by a cruel smile.

René, seconds behind her, skidded to a stop, his boots sliding on the hardwood floors. Rage and terror warred for supremacy within him. "Philip," he breathed.

"Hello, little brother," the hellish apparition said with a laugh. "Is this one yours, too? Damn, what is it with you and pregnant women?" Philip grinned brightly and spun Olivia so she was facing René. She was transfixed by the terror on his face. What could frighten the monster? What could be worse than he was? "Should I give this one the same sweet treatment I gave the other? Hm?" Philip ran his hand over her stomach and suddenly she knew what might be worse. I don't eat babies and pregnant women. "Should I rip her open and take out that lovely bonbon she has stashed in there? They taste so good, those little preemies." René was shaking his head, a tiny, frantic motion. "Yours was particularly delicious." Olivia had never seen such horror as the monster was experiencing. Philip took a deep, deep breath, drawing her scent into his lungs. "Nice. Maybe I'll just do her like the last one and fuck her till she has the brat and then eat them both."

"NO!" René screamed. The vision Philip's words conjured threatened the tenuous hold René had on sanity. Philip, here in this house, holding Olivia was more than his mind could bear. René's heart and mind insisted that this was his lover, his Olivia who was pregnant with his beloved Jean's child, just as Baby had been pregnant with René's child. Had she been as helpless as Olivia? Had his Bébé trembled the way Olivia was trembling? He knew she'd been as frightened. Though they weren't consorts, he had somehow been linked to her even then. He'd felt her fear and pain. He'd felt her die. Now his mind screamed that it was happening all over again.

Even as he looked, Olivia's pale hair turned to wine, her dark eyes lightened to gold. Baby's face stared back at him for an instant before reality reset itself. The flaming knife that transfixed his heart whenever he thought of Baby's death was being twisted by a phantom hand, plunging ever deeper into his soul. He had not been able to save Baby who he loved more than life itself, and now he would see Olivia die the same way. He'd failed again and this time Jean would pay the price for his failure.

How would he be able to tell Jean that he couldn't save Olivia and Jean's child? How could he condemn his brother to the pain that he lived daily? If Philip killed Olivia, he'd be killing Jean as well. Philip couldn't be allowed to hurt Olivia or the child she carried. René refused to allow Jean to face what he had faced. He would protect Jean's child at any cost. "No! I won't let you. I won't let you do to her what you did to my wife and my child." In René's mind it was becoming harder and harder for him to separate the Baby who had died from the Baby who had survived, harder to remember that she lived. And now Olivia kept melding into his wife. He struggled to remember that this was Olivia. "I won't let you do to Jean what you did to me!" René shook his head, trying to clear it. Baby's golden eyes now stared at him constantly, even when it was Olivia's face from which they stared. "I won't let you kill my wife again."

Olivia listened to the monster in growing trepidation. She had always thought him evil; it had never occurred to her that he was insane. But there was no mistaking the terror on that beautiful face. Or the anguish that seemed to grow with each passing second. If the creature holding her was so awful that even the monster was immobilized by horror of him, how could she survive?

The monster was shaking his head again, the manic light in his eyes growing brighter with each passing moment. "No," he repeated. "You won't kill Bébé again. You won't kill my daughter. I won't let you. Not this time. You won't take them from me. I can't live like that. I can't become him again!" Tears further brightened his eyes.

Phillip threw his head back and laughed. "Looks like I really did a number on you. Go ahead and cry, mama's boy. Oh wait, I forgot; I fucking ate Mama." He laughed again. "And damn she tasted good!"

Olivia was unprepared when René grabbed her with lightning speed and whisked her behind him. "Not this time." He was breathing hard. "I'll save you, Olivia. I will. He won't kill you, Bébé. I swear it."

Philip had expected René to rush him. He hadn't expected the Cajun to go for the girl. "You've gotten good, little brother," Philip said. "Really good." He grinned broadly. "But not good enough." It took four shots from Philip's forty-five to knock René to his knees, his sword clattering to the floor. Philip picked it up and with a pleased smile shoved the length of steel completely through René's midsection. He placed his foot on René's chest and pushed his once-brother off the blade. René fell and lay motionless on the floor. Olivia screamed. Even though she had dreamed of revenge and though she wanted to see the monster die, she was horrified by this.

René turned his head toward her. "Olivia," he whispered. "I'm so sorry, Olivia. I tried to protect you. I'm sorry I failed you. I failed Jean." His eyes rolled back. "Bébé... Have to find Bébé."

"Touching," Philip said. "Nauseating but touching." He raised the sword high, preparatory to decapitating René. "Bye-bye, blue eyes," he said.

André tackled him while Etienne hauled René up from the floor. "Come on, Sire," he said.

"Olivia," René insisted. "I can't leave her."

Etienne grabbed Olivia's wrist none too gently and with René's arm draped over his shoulders and his arm around René's waist, Etienne pulled them both toward the carriageway tunnel. André got in a lucky shot and knocked Philip out but he had no stake. He knew Philip's and Remy's troops would soon reach this room. He broke off his attack on Philip and rushed after his brothers. A limo with darkened windows was waiting in the tunnel, Rachel impatient and concerned behind the wheel. André helped René into the back seat and then shoved Olivia in beside him. Etienne was already climbing in on the other side of René and André dived into the front seat.

Olivia tried to open the door but René threw his arms around her. "Olivia, stop. The car's moving. You'll hurt yourself." Etienne reached across to help him. "No!" René snapped at his brother. "No one touches her but me." Etienne held his hands up and sat back. His sire might be injured but Etienne still feared him. He'd seen what René could do even while grievously injured.

Olivia continued to try to reach the door handle. "Olivia, stop it," René ordered. Her struggles only increased. "Olivia! You're going to hurt the baby! You can't hurt Nina." Reality was still fractured for him and his mind confused his child with Jean's. He held her tightly even though each of her movements sent pain arcing through him. The pain didn't matter; she had to stay with him. He had to keep her safe. Physical pain couldn't possibly match the emotional pain if anything happened to her. He had to protect her, even from herself. He had to make her understand. "Olivia, I love you and I don't want to hurt you, but if you don't stop I will knock you out." He grasped her face. "Listen to me. I will knock you cold before I let you harm yourself or that baby." Jean would never face the pain René lived. "Nothing can happen to Jean's bébé."

She froze and settled back against the seat. René wearily copied her motions. Rachel sped through the light afternoon traffic. "Head west," he told her. "We'll head for L.A. We have to find Wesley. If Philip's here, you ain't safe. I gotta get you out of here. I have to find Bébé. I can't let Philip have her again." He sighed and wondered how long it would be before he passed out. He rolled his head toward Olivia. "Put your seatbelt on," he told her.

Chapter 9 -"Fathers of Fathers"

Hey Billy, my baby.
Hey kid, look at me.
It's clear you've got your mother's eyes.
But who do they see?
The nurse just called me father.
Well hell, I guess that's what I am.
But what makes her think I'm a family man?
Those fathers of fathers, fathers of mothers
How can you know what it's worth?
For all my aspiration
Are you to be the indication
That I walked the face of this earth?

My children, I miss you.
How much you can't know.
I laughed with you, I cried with you,
Helped each of you grow.
I kissed you every bedtime.
Your laughter woke me every dawn.
Then one day I woke and you'd grown and gone.
And fathers of fathers, fathers of mothers,
Strange how kids measure your worth.
They're here and then they scatter.
And in some way, they make it matter,
That I walked the face of this earth.

Hey father, I love you.
I pray you'll pull through.
You cared for me, it's my turn now,
To take care of you.
I've tried to show my children,
The kind of strength you showed to me.
I feel such a longing to be a son,
Instead now I'm one of those…
Fathers of fathers, fathers of mothers.
What man can say what it's worth,
This commonest of pleasures?
Why should it be a thing that measures,
That I walked the face of the earth?

Alternate Dimension
Los Angeles, California
Tuesday, 8:50 pm
June 10, 2003
 

Cordelia Chase looked up as what she hoped were prospective customers entered the lobby. She sized up the visitors quickly: a man, two women, and a baby. The two women were physically very similar and had the same unusual fair complexion, though the girl had black hair and the woman had red. She suspected they were related, possibly mother and daughter, though the young woman was much more beautiful than the elder ever would have been. Though the wine red of the older woman's hair had to have come from a bottle, the rich black of the girl's was natural. The young woman was stunningly gorgeous and for an instant, Cordelia felt a stab of jealousy. It quickly faded when it became obvious that the girl was frightened. It helped that the older woman wasn't all that pretty and while not as frightened as the young girl, she was obviously tired. The jealousy was replaced by compassion.

The man was different from either of the women in both looks and demeanor. He was tall and possessed a professional demeanor even in jeans and a casual shirt. His brown hair was combed and neat but he sported a couple days' growth of beard. There was an air of command about him. He might be the woman's husband, though somehow Cordelia felt that wasn't so. He was probably somewhat older than the redhead. It struck Cordy that the three made an odd company. It was the redhead who spoke for the group. "We'd like to see Wesley Wyndham-Pryce, please."

That was not a request Cordelia wanted to hear. She wanted to hear that they had demon problems or a haunting. Why couldn't they have a noisy ghost? Why couldn't their dog have been eaten by an Isacat demon? Why did they have to ask for Wesley? Angel Investigations needed the business badly and she didn't want to lose customers just because Wesley was gone. She pasted on her most ingratiating smile. "I'm sorry. Mr. Pryce isn't in right now. However, I'm sure one of our highly trained associates can help you, Ms....?"

The redhead ignored the implied question. "When will he be in? Is there some way you could contact him? This really is an emergency."

Cordelia's smile never faltered. "Mr. Pryce is on vacation and not expected back for several days. As I said, I'm sure..."

"Don't lie to me, Cordelia!" the woman snapped. "Wes never takes vacations." At the shock on the other woman's face, she tried to calm down.

Jack placed a soothing hand on her shoulder. "It's okay, Baby. Cordy, it really is vital that we speak with Wesley," he said.

Cordy frowned at him. "How do you know my name? I never introduced myself." She backed away from the counter slightly. She had developed a highly accurate sense for danger over the years and it was screaming now.

"Fuck," the other woman muttered. "Jack, I don't have time for this. We have to find Wesley. I don't know what's going on but René and Spike are both freaking out over something. I can feel it." She took a deep breath. "Cordelia, take my word for it. It's one of those Hellmouthy, magic things. We have to find Wes. Right now!"

Cordy backed further away and collided with Lorne's comforting bulk as he came out of Angel's office. "Whoa, lemon drop. What's the problem? I..." He noticed the visitors and knew immediately what they were. "Ah, honey, you might want to back away from them," he told Nina.

"Huh?" she said in confusion and Jack couldn't help but think how very much she looked like René. He kept the observation to himself; Baby didn't take Jack's snarkier comments about Rene well at the best of times and he didn't feel like being slapped by his dearest sire. Still it was an amusing thought and he filed it away for use at a more appropriate time.

The green demon gestured vaguely toward Baby and Jack. "Ah, those are vampires, sweetie."

To Cordy's shock, the girl waved that away. "Oh yeah, I know that," she said dismissively and switched the baby from one hip to the other. "Look, we really need to talk to Uncle Wesley." She thought for a moment. "Or maybe Uncle Angel can help."

"Uncle Angel?" Cordy said, surprised at the appellation. She'd never heard anyone refer to Angel as "uncle" before. And since when did humans hang out with vampires? Well, vampires that weren't Angel.

The woman sighed and agreed with the girl. "I suppose. If nothing else I can beat on Angelus 'til he tells me where Wes is."

Cordy had finally backed far enough away that she could reach the crossbow she kept stashed behind her desk. Before she could cock it, the woman had leapt the counter and snatched it from her hands. "Honestly, Cordelia!" the vampiress said in exasperation.

Lorne was backing away from Jack with his hands up. "You know, there's no reason for violence, cupcake." Jack had his Glock out and pointed in the demon's general direction.

The woman agreed. "No, there's not. We don't want to hurt anyone. We just want to know how to get in touch with Wesley. Tell us that and we're out of your hair."

Cordy didn't believe her for an instant but nodded. "All right." She looked the vampiress straight in the eye and screamed, "Angel!"

The vampiress rolled her eyes. "Oh wonderful. Now he's gonna come barreling down here all in hero mode being utterly annoying." She sighed again. "Don't let me kill him, Jack."

The man laughed and motioned Lorne and Cordelia into a better position for him to cover them and still see anyone who might enter the lobby or come down the stairs. "Nina, why don't you and Dev come over here by me." Nina had already learned that in battle or potential battle situations it was best not to argue. She followed his orders. Just as she positioned herself behind the F.B.I. agent, Angel came rocketing down the stairs just as Baby had predicted. Connor was right on his heels. Nina stared at him for an instant before she could be sure this wasn't the same boy who had fathered her baby. She couldn't quite explain it but there was something different about this young man.

Angel froze when he saw the vampire with the gun trained on Cordy and Lorne. Connor stopped just behind his shoulder. Angel knew how fast he was and that he wasn't faster than a bullet. "Put the gun down and I'll dust you quickly instead of torturing you for days," he growled. Cordy thought he was magnificent… and fairly frightening.

The vampires didn't seem to think so. Jack grinned. "That was pretty good. Not too original but still pretty good." His grin broadened. "The growl was fairly impressive but I've heard you do better ones."

"Jack," Baby chided. "Don't antagonize Angelus. I know you're smarter than he is but he's still stronger."

Jack's grin never dimmed. "Give me a few years, sweetheart," he advised her but raised his gun ceiling-ward. "No offense intended, Grandsire."
Angel frowned at him: grandsire? Baby shook her head. "Look, like I said no one wants to hurt anyone here. We just need to know how to get a hold of Wesley."

"Sorry, don't know what you're talking about," Angel said unconvincingly. That gun was still far too easily brought to bear on Cordelia for him to make a move yet.

Baby took an exasperated breath. "Why can't we ever do anything the easy way?" she asked a spot on the ceiling above her head. Presumably it housed a microphone linked to the PTBs. "Fine," she said to the world at large and looked at Lorne. "You'll listen to him, right?" she asked Angel. Without waiting for Angel's answer she apologized to Lorne, "Sorry, Kermit." Facing the psychic demon she began to sing:

"I tried so hard, my dear, to show that you're my every dream.
Yet you're afraid each thing I do is just some evil scheme.
A memory from your lonesome past keeps us so far apart.
Why can't I free your doubtful mind and melt your cold, cold heart?"

Lorne gasped and grabbed the edge of the desk to keep from falling under the sudden onslaught of impressions. She stopped and twitched her lips in a rueful smile. "Sorry. I hate doing that to you but could you tell Brood Boy to ease up some and tell us where Wes is?"

Lorne nodded, still breathless from all he'd seen. He needed a drink desperately. "Muffin, she's right. She needs to find Wesley and we need to help her." Angel stared at his friend. Lorne nodded. "Look, Angel-cakes, I don't write the libretto, I just translate the songs, okay? And believe me, you don't want her hanging around. Besides, there're nasty times coming if something happens to these four." He rummaged about and found the bottle he kept under the counter along with a glass. As he poured he continued, "They're no threat to us. Well, not as long as we help them out."

Connor frowned. "You're sure about that?"

Lorne took a long sip of his drink. "Oh yeah. So why don't we go all civilization on each other and talk about this?"

Baby nodded and handed him the crossbow. "Works for me." Jack holstered his gun and she grinned. "That's Jack, Nina, and Devereau. They call me Baby."

Angel was frowning at her again. "You still don't recognize me, do you, Angelus?" she said. "I guess the last time you saw me I was still human." She decided to refresh his memory. "Sunnydale. Me and Angelus in an alley. Later your mansion and a sledgehammer?"

His eyes went wide for a second. "Oh. I... yeah."

"Yeah," she agreed. "So you owe me one, anyway."

Cordelia wasn't sure she liked the way he was suddenly acting. He was being all… guilty. He nodded. "It's alright," he told Connor and Cordelia. "I do know her." Jack put away his gun as Angel turned back to Baby. "I heard you were dead. I heard you and Spike both died a couple of years ago."

"Yeah. I did. Here I'm very dead," she answered. "Elsewhere, I've been dead a couple of times now. Didn't you get a phone message from Spike?"

Angel shook his head. "Our message system blew up a week ago. The phone company is working on it." He stared at her. "Spike's alive, too?"

Jack sat down on the circular couch in the lobby. "Look, I know this is confusing. I'm still confused and I've been living it for over a week now, but we don't have time for a lot of explanation. Here's the short form. We're from an alternate reality and we need to get back there as soon as possible. To do that we need Wesley."

"That's for sure," Connor said as he entered the lobby. Angel and his son both gaped at the sight of his son's duplicate. Jean and Drusilla entered directly behind Connor. Cordelia looked from one Connor to the other. She recognized Drusilla, of course, but didn't know the handsome man that was with them. She wondered if he was a vampire, too. Apparently the redhead was overjoyed to see him. She ran directly to him and kissed him. The male vampire also went to him. Cordy's mouth dropped open as Jack kissed Jean deeply. Lorne smiled appreciatively. The newcomer was very popular, it appeared. Nina squealed happily and launched herself at him with a cry of "Daddy!"

Baby was now hugging Connor and checking his injury while Dru took the baby from Nina and cooed to him. "Hello, my little man," she said. "We have much to do. Yes, we do." Dru looked at this segment of her reunited family. "We have a problem."

Baby's eyes grew big. Dru's warnings were not to be taken lightly. Before she could say anything, Angel stomped toward them. "Dru, I warned you about creating any disruptions around here."

Both vampiresses looked at him in annoyance. "This is not your Drusilla," Baby advised him. "Duplicate. And if you mess with her Wesley will carve your heart out."

Jean nodded and grinned. "That's for sure. He doesn't like for anyone to say anything disparaging to Grandmeré, not even you, Angelus." Jean turned perfectly serious as he said, "Drusilla had a vision. And she says we're all in danger."

All eyes were now fastened on the Englishwoman. She nodded. "The Killer of Reality has joined your murderer, sister. And now he seeks a new target. He requires blood, strong blood, rich in magic. The son of the Champion is strong and his blood holds great power but his son is stronger yet for he is still innocent."

Nina gasped and hugged her baby closer. From the look on Jean and Connor's faces it was obvious Dru hadn't revealed her prophecy to them. "Dev!" Jean said.

Connor shook his head. "No. That fucker isn't getting my son!"

Angel and his Connor looked at this duplicate in surprise. "That's your baby?"

Connor nodded and Nina sniffed. "On occasion and when it suits him. The rest of the time he could care less," she said bitterly.

Connor sneered. "Maybe it's not him. Maybe it's his hick of a mother I don't care about."

"Connor!" Jean snapped. "Apologize this instant. Nina, don't antagonize Connor. I'm ashamed of you both." Jean's air of command was obvious even to Angel.

The two teenagers hung their heads. "Yes, Daddy," Nina said. "I'm sorry."

"Yes, sir. I'm sorry, Uncle Jean." He muttered an apology to Nina. Angel wished he had that much influence over his son.

Baby was focused on Dru's revelation. "Now that son of bitch wants Devereau." She shook her head and held tightly to Jean. "No. He's not getting near my grandson. We've kept him from Connor all these years and we'll keep him away from Dev."

"Damn right we will," Angel said as he swung the door open and let Cordelia precede him into the hotel.

"Doesn't anyone actually get into the building before they join the conversation?" Baby asked.

Angel faced his own duplicate with raised eyebrows. The Angel Investigations' Cordelia came from behind the counter just as Connor threw his arms around the newly-arrived Cordelia. "Mom!" he said happily. "We've been so worried about you! You're okay?"

She nodded. "Yes I am, sweetie. But look at your poor face!"

He winced a bit as she checked his injury. "Uncle Jean took care of it. He says it probably won't even scar." He smiled. "Uncle Jean saved me. Those minions would have had me for sure if he hadn't been there."

Angel closed his eyes at his son's words. That was a thought he didn't want to investigate. "Thank you, Jean," he said finally. He held out his hand. Baby transferred herself to Jack's embrace, allowing Jean to shake Angel's hand.

Cordy threw herself into her lover's arms. "Oh Jean! Thank you. Oh my God." Angel turned away from the sight.

Jean shushed her. "It's all right, m' belle. Connor's fine. I'm fine. There's no reason for you to be overwrought." He caressed her face. "I'm just glad you're all right, cher." The Cordelia he wasn't holding was amazed at how very intimate her duplicate seemed to be with this man. She also could not quite get past the image she had of him kissing another man.

The duplicate Cordelia kissed him tenderly and then with more passion. "Oh Jean. I was so worried about you. I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to you and René." She didn't like the way he went still under her hands and lips. "What? What is it?" She looked up and happened to catch a glimpse of Baby's face. It told her a great deal. "What's happened to René? I know he's not dead because you're both alive and sane," she said to Jean and then looked at Baby. "Well, what passes for sanity in your case," she amended. "What's wrong with René?"

Jean gently stroked her hair. "I don't know, petite belle. He's… he's in really bad shape. Something happened back at the house. I don't know what, but he's…" Jean couldn't think of words to describe what René was feeling.

"He's terrified," Baby supplied and hugged Jack more tightly. "He terrified and he's furious and he's worried." She felt him constantly pinging against their bond as if he needed continual assurance she was there.

Jean nodded. "I hope he's on his way here. He needs to be with us."

Cordelia kissed Jean. "Oh baby, I'm sure he is. He knows that we'll help him. He knows how much we love him. He'll be here soon. He knows that he belongs with us." She smiled at him. "He'll be back in our bed before you know it."

The Angel Investigations Cordelia choked.

Dru nodded. "The Black Duke will need us all. It's time for the rifts to close. The family must stand as one." They all stared at her. Drusilla seldom issued edicts. She lifted Baby's chin. "The time for guilt is passed. We must be one again." She looked pointedly at Cordelia. "Baby, René, and Angel must be taken back to our hearts. And our bodies." She looked around. "When did we last bond? When were we last all together?"

"Far too long ago," Spike said. He was leaning nonchalantly against the counter.

Angel and Cordelia were amazed at the joyous welcome Spike, of all people, was receiving from their duplicates and the rest of their extra-dimensional visitors. He was literally enveloped in bodies as he was hugged and kissed by all of the strangers. Angel winced when his duplicate kissed William the Bloody with a bit more enthusiasm than he felt was proper in a public situation. Cordelia, whose memories of Spike were not entirely pleasant, was more than shocked at the obvious affection her duplicate felt for the vampire.

Spike grinned at his family. "About time you showed up, Princess. That's a bit of prophecy, there. I don't suppose you could have told us a bit sooner."

Dru smiled impishly. "It wasn't time. Can't rush the tea, you know, or it will be bitter."

"Mmm," he agreed.

"You heard all that?" Connor said. "Where were you, Uncle Spike?"

Spike and Angel both pointed toward the kitchen. "I came in the back way," Spike explained. They all understood. The back way meant the sewers.

"Oh cool!" Connor crowed. "And only Dad knew you were here? You are still the best, Uncle Spike."  The leader of Angel Investigations shivered at hearing someone who was so obviously his son sound so taken with someone like Spike. His duplicate didn't seem surprised. "So we just need to find Wes now."

Jean nodded. "And René." He took a deep breath. "And Olivia. Did anyone see Olivia get out?"

All responses were negative. Jean bowed his head. "Then she's dead." Baby and Cordelia both wrapped him in their comforting embrace. "I didn't save her. Again." He buried his face in his mother's shoulder and sobbed quietly.

Cordelia was amazed at the depth of emotion flowing from these vampires. It had always been her experience that such creatures couldn't care about anything. Vampires didn't really love.

Spike shooed the women gently away and went to Jean. "There was nothing you could have done, son. Not any of the times you lost her. I know it doesn't make it any easier but you did everything you could. Sometimes, we can't win."

Jean wasn't consoled. "Papa, we fight and die for the Powers That Be. We've lost so many. Brothers, sisters, children. How many more? Why can't we have a day when we win?"

Baby laid her head on Spike's back. Nina sought refuge with Cordelia and tried not to think of where her father might be. She remembered his recent death far too plainly. Dru gave her comfort to both Angel and Connor. Jack quietly came and stroked Jean's hair. They all felt as discouraged as Jean.

Spike knew he couldn't let that sort of morale continue or they'd never live through this. "We do win," Spike said quietly. "Every time we stop a murder, every time we turn an innocent. Every time a fledge finds out they're Redeemed, we win. When we got your mother back, when we got René back, we won." He lifted Jean's face. "Every time we feel what we all feel for each other, we win."

Before Jean could respond, the front doors of the Hyperion opened again and a new group of strangers invaded Angel Investigations. Jean really only registered two of them. "René! Olivia!"

Baby sagged against Spike's broad shoulders for just an instant, closing her eyes in thanksgiving. Then she was across the lobby and in René's arms as he descended the steps. His embrace was crushing and his emotions nearly overpowered their link. Angel frowned at the stream of French coming from this new vampire. What he could follow, and that was only about half of it, made no sense. Something about her being dead and how this black-haired vampire had failed to save her but he wouldn't let her die and how he knew she wasn't Olivia, whoever that was, and yet somehow she was Olivia. They sank down on the steps together. Angel was shocked when Spike strode to the pair and cradled René's face firmly in his hands, he face glowing with love and caring. Since when did Spike care about anything or anyone but Drusilla?

"Look at me, son. René, focus!" he ordered. "Now tell me what's got you in this state."

René shivered but quieted under his sire's touch. "It was Philip, Papa. He was there. He was going to kill Olivia. Oh God, the things he said." René was shaking all over. "Mon Dieu! What he said he would do to Olivia; what he said he did to Bébé!" He swallowed and for a moment, Angel thought René would be sick. "Papa!" His lips pulled back a horrified grimace. "He said Maman and Nina tasted good when he killed them!"

Spike clasped his son close. Every member of his family felt the rage that Spike was experiencing, even the Angel from this dark reality. Jean growled and his teeth showed long and sharp. Jack had heard enough of what had happened both in the real world and in this dimension to know he really, really wanted to get his hands on this Philip. He joined Jean in growling. Spike felt his grandsire's hand on his shoulder. "That motherfucker comes near any of us and he'll deal with me."

Cordelia shivered. That was Angelus, not Angel. She'd recognize that voice anywhere.

Drusilla laughed. "Not if I see him first," she sing-songed. "Cordelia and I want to play with him a bit, don't we, Mummy?"

"Damn skippy," Cordy snarled. "I'm gonna practice some of that stuff Wes is always trying to teach me." She dropped down on the steps beside her lover.  "Sweetie, we're all here and we'll see Philip in tiny pieces before he gets near Nina." She grinned. "He might get a bit of a surprise if he runs into Baby. She's not the way he remembers her."

Baby grinned and kissed first Spike and then René. "I'll serve him up on a platter for you, baby. Then I'll carve him up however you want me to."

René ran the back of his hand over her cheek. "I just want you to be alive." The pain in his eyes nearly broke her heart. "Please don't be dead. I can't bear it if you're dead. I can't go back to being him. But I gotta protect Olivia so I can't go even if you're dead. Don't be dead!"

"Oh precious!" Baby had no idea he was so distraught, his mind so fragmented by the memories he'd gained with his new body. She looked at first at Spike and then back at René in distress.

"He's been like that ever since we left New Orleans," Rachel said.

Olivia shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. André stood at her elbow and she knew she had no chance of escaping just yet. She'd keep her wits about her, though, and take the first chance she got. If nothing else, the last sixty hours or so had taught her that the monster was completely insane. The first couple of hours, she'd been too afraid to move. She'd hoped to get a chance to escape when they stopped at a Wal-Mart for bandages and clothes that weren't bloody and battle-torn but one of the vampires was always with her and the monster. She'd discovered that she didn't enjoy watching the pain the monster went through as the woman vampire, Rachel, had dug the bullets from him and then stitched his gunshot and sword wounds closed. She had to admit that the monster had been brave. His whimpers and the way he stuffed his discarded shirt in his mouth to muffle his own screams had been horrible to watch. She'd honestly hoped he would pass out but he didn't. And when it was over and he was stitched and bandaged, as he lay back against the seat gasping, he had ordered the others to care for Olivia if something happened to him. He'd made them swear not to harm her and to help her get to someone named Angel in Los Angeles. He'd promised them vengeance from beyond the grave if they broke their oath. He'd then drunk the blood they'd stolen from a hospital and had fallen into an uneasy doze.

Looking at him now, she realized the redhead was the same Baby he'd called out for in his sleep, who he'd rambled to when he was awake. His dreams had been especially troubling to her. Over and over, he'd called for Baby who was obviously his wife, for Nina who Olivia had decided was his daughter, for Spike who seemed to be his father, and most troubling of all he'd called for Jean who he claimed as brother and apparently lover. Over and over, he'd called for Jean. He'd begged Jean's forgiveness for killing him a half a hundred times on the trip here. He'd begged Olivia's forgiveness just as often, both waking and sleeping. She didn't know what to think. The monster was obviously as horrified by his actions as she was. She couldn't understand it. She knew he'd vanished for weeks, she'd heard the guards talking about it. Sometime between the time he'd left and the time he reappeared, something had happened to him. He was still the monster, she had no doubt of that, but unless he was the greatest actor ever born, he now felt extreme remorse for all he'd done. She hadn't thought that was possible. Vampires were demons; they were evil by definition. She didn't think it was even possible for them to feel remorse. But there was no denying the sorrow in his voice when he'd told her how truly sorry he was that he'd killed Jean, how deeply he regretted that act, and how he would protect her until the end of time if need be. For Jean's sake.

Now the vampire who wore her Jean's precious form was kneeling by the monster. The vampire had tried to take her in his arms but she'd flinched away and he'd dropped his hands back to his sides. For an instant, he looked so much like her Jean, pained the way he'd been when Marie had called him an adulterous bastard and sworn to divorce him before another day had passed, that she'd nearly reached out for him. But the monster had begun to ramble and that not-Jean had turned to the monster. Now he was trying to get the creature to calm down.

"René, cher," Jean said gently. "Maman is fine. She's safe. And so is Olivia! Did you do that? Did you get Olivia out of that house?"

"Yes, he did." Olivia wrapped her arms around herself. "I don't know why but he got me out. Saved me from someone he called Philip."

Jean bowed his head, resting it against René's chest. "Oh Dieu! Merci, René! La Marie Vierge vous bénit, mon amour. Merci, m' frère. How can I thank you?"

René placed a hesitant hand on Jean's head, feeling his thick hair under his palm and around his fingers. "Jean? Is it you, Jean? I had a nightmare, Jean. You were dead. I killed you and you were dead. It hurt so bad, Jean." Jean lifted his head and looked into confused teal eyes. "You were dead. You and Maman and Papa. And I was all alone. I didn't mean to kill you, Jean. It was an accident. I was so angry and it hurt so much to see Bébé and Nina. I didn't mean to hurt you and Papa. I wanted to take it back as soon as it happened."

Baby looked at him in horror. She'd known for a very long time that René lived very close to the edge. Didn't she walk that knife with him? But she'd prayed to never see him fall. She felt Spike's arms come around her and his rich voice spoke softly in her ear. "We'll take care of him, Rose. He'll be all right. Just like we took care of you. He'll be all right. I swear it to you."

She turned in his embrace and fell into electric blue eyes. "I love you," she said.

He smiled and kissed her cheek. "I know you do." He looked at his sons. "Right now, René needs you. He needs you and Jean. Let him know you're both here." She nodded and blinked back her tears. Spike blinked back a few tears of his own. There was barely-suppressed rage in every line of his body as he stood. "René's right. Philip's back and he's teamed up with that lying Remy McSwain and that fucking wizard."

René, just a touch calmer now that Jean and Baby sat on either side of him, reassuringly solid and real, nodded. "And Richard. I'm sure my son had his hand in that attack, too."

Spike smiled and his teeth were sharp. "You don't have to worry about him, son." He knew now that René was so messed up he probably hadn't felt what had happened in New Orleans. He pulled a glass paperweight from his pocket and held it up to the light. "This is all that's left of the house in New Orleans." His grin was dark and he looked worthy of the name William the Bloody. "I torched that mother before I left. I'm afraid most of your children went up with it."

René stared at him, wide-eyed and not sure if he was saddened for his demon progeny's final damnation or elated to be free of them. "Richard burned?"

Spike leaned down and kissed him. "No. I staked him myself. No one betrays you and lives, my dearest boy."

~~~~~

Cordelia stared at all these strangers who had descended on her hotel. Lorne insisted they were all right and needed Angel Investigations' help but she wasn't so sure. It was all too weird. Two Connors, two Angels, and most unsettling of all, two of herself; it was just beyond bizarre to see herself that way. Especially since this duplicate Cordelia acted so strangely. She was all touchy-feely with Spike of all people, and more than touchy-feely with the two men with the lovely accents. Cordy had to admit that whatever universe she was from, Cordelia Chase had good taste in men. Those two were just lovely, especially the black-haired one. He was completely Looney-Tunes, of course, but still the most handsome man Cordy had ever seen. As nearly as she could figure out, her duplicate was lover to both of them. Cordy couldn't help but give a silent "Yay me!" at the thought. And the duplicate Angel was jealous, flamingly, obviously jealous. That mental grin grew even as she forced her attention back to what they were talking about.

Their story was pretty fantastic but no more so than many that she'd heard told within these very walls. The hardest one for her to grasp actually was not that they were from a different reality--after all, she'd been there and done that herself--it was that they were from the future as well. All those years and so little had changed. Angel Investigations was still fighting for the PTBs, she was still having visions, she and Angel still couldn't get their act together romantically. It wasn't all that encouraging. On the other hand, they were alive and her duplicate still looked damn good! Cordelia was ecstatic to discover that being demonized seemed to delay aging. She liked the thought of looking good for a really long time. She refocused on the conversation.
"And Drusilla was just there," Jean said as he recounted his and Connor's experience at a truck stop in Lafayette. "She just walked up and said it was about time we arrived. I don't mind telling you it was as eerie as anything that's ever happened to me." He was sitting on the floor of the lobby with his arms around René.

Spike nodded. "My rose was right about our Dru showing up when she wanted to."

Dru smiled benevolently at them all. She was happily playing with Connor's hair as he leaned back in her embrace. Like Jean and René they were quite comfortable on the floor. "And when the time is right, Wesley-my-Wesley will join me."

They were discussing all that had happened and what they needed to do now. It all boiled down to one thing: they needed Wesley. Unfortunately, that was a problem. "I don't think we can wait, Princess. With Mörderer involved we need Wes and we need him now." He turned to the head of Angel Investigations. "So where's the mage got himself off to now?"

Angel looked more than a bit uncomfortable as he said, "I don't know."

"Oh, come on. We told you everything there is to tell about us…" Spike began, but Cordelia cut him off.

"We honestly don't know." She looked at her boss and sighed. "Wes got all angry, took Dru, and left."

All the newcomers with the exception of René's children and Olivia immediately looked at Angel. "What did you do?" Spike asked.

"What?" he demanded.

"Look, we know you. And we know Wes. If Wes got pissed off enough to leave, then you were the one to piss him off. He doesn't give a shit what the Gunns or Lorne think and Cordelia never pisses him off that way." Spike stared at him hard for a moment. "You said or did something to Dru, didn't you?"

Angel glared back at him and his duplicate grinned. "Probably. I'm the only one who could ever really get Wes that wound up."

Cordelia decided she didn't like this new Angel all that much. He reminded her of Angelus far too much. "Wes had some issues with the rules we set for Drusilla."

There was a collective, "Oooohhhh."

"That explains it," the other Cordy said. "Wes gets really antisocial when you try to set boundaries for him and even more so if you try to do it for Dru."

"Well, I couldn't just have the pair of them out killing as the notion struck them," Angel said defensively.

The new Cordy frowned. "Why not? They're always careful. A little hunting and bonding is good for the family and we always…" She trailed off at the look on his face. "Oh my God! You don't hunt with the family." Her eyes got very wide and she looked at her duplicate. "That's right. It was years before I found out what I was missing. Oh honey, don't make that same mistake." She looked at Angel and her frown deepened. "Don't tell me you were stupid enough to try to stop Wes and Dru from hunting! Oh, you were!"

Her own Angel shook his head. "It took me a while to wake up, honey. I admit I was wrong, okay. I should have taught you all about vampires and how we relate as a family from the beginning."

The duplicate Angel looked at him and did a quick survey of the room. He took in body languages, expressions, how they were all in physical contact with at least one other of their number. The truth smacked him like a wet sock. "You're a true pride. A real pride, not just a hunting pack." He looked at the other Cordelia, the one who wasn't his, in shock. "You bond with them? But that means that you…"

"Any chance I get," she responded.

"What? What!" his Cordelia demanded.

"They all sleep together," he answered in wonderment.

The alternate Connor rolled his eyes. "Constantly," he groused. "There are times when I can't get through a hallway without tripping over people doing things that I would just rather not know about." He crossed his arms and glared at them all. "I so wish my family was normal. Or had some self-restraint."

Jean raised an eyebrow. "Connor. Be respectful. And you know we are very careful to make sure you don't see anything inappropriate." He raised his chin proudly and addressed this other Angel that he wasn't sure he liked. "Yes, we are a true pride. Spike has molded us into a family. And yes, we bond physically and emotionally. It's the most wonderful thing I've ever experienced."

Spike reached out to his eldest through their bond, bidding him to be calm and letting Jean know how proud he was of him. "It's all right," he said aloud. "Yes, Angel, we bond. Baby is my consort. She is also consort to René. Jean is René's other consort. Both Jean and René are my marked Lovers. Cordelia is Angel's consort and she's taken Jean and René as lovers as well. Jack is Baby's son and her Companion. Our Wesley is also her son and he and Dru are consorts. I have a great many children and grandchildren and descendants. We're all linked together. We take our bonds seriously. We take being a family seriously."

Jack grinned. "Rule Number One."

"Don't fuck with the family," they all said softly.

The Angel who'd sired Baby grinned and pulled Rachel into his lap. He'd forgotten how very good it felt to not be alone. It was also rather fun to freak this earlier version of himself out. And maybe the shock would help wake this other him up to the possibilities that were out there.

Angel could only stare at them with wide eyes and wonder how on earth he could explain that to Cordelia.
 

Chapters : |2| |3| |Interlude| |4| |5| |6| |7| |8| |9| |10| |11| |12| |13|

Chapter 10
"I'd Love You All Over Again"

(Alan Jackson/Jim McBride)
Has it been ten years since we said I do?
I've always heard marriage made one seem like two.
But you're looking better than you did back then.
You still make this old heart give in.

And if I had it to do all over, I'd do it all over again.
If tomorrow I found one more chance to begin.
I'd love you all over again.

The preacher has said till death do us part.
That seemed like forever to a young man's heart.
Now the days seem much shorter the longer we love.
And the memories just keep adding up.

And if I had it to do all over, I'd do it all over again.
If tomorrow I found one more chance to begin.
I'd love you all over again.

If tomorrow I found one more chance to begin,
I'd love you all over again.

Alternate Dimension
Los Angeles, California
Tuesday, 3:35 am
June 11, 2003

They had all talked for hours. Olivia's head hurt. It wasn't that she hadn't been shown every consideration. She'd been given a comfortable chair, hot food, fresh tea. Seeing twins of some of her captors went a long way toward convincing her that at least some of what they had told her was true. There were alternate realities, worlds where things and people were different than they were in the world she'd known. She had to admit the thought gave her some comfort: it meant that somewhere Jean was still alive.

They were talking about Philip again, trying to figure out what his next move would be. There was a great deal of discussion about him and someone named Remy. Overall, they seemed more concerned about Remy than about Philip, though there was greater anger directed at the latter. She wished they'd finish. She was tired and dearly wished for just a moment alone. She sighed and tried to shift so she wouldn't have to see the monster.

Her monster wasn't listening to any of them. René pulled from Spike's grasp and reached for Baby. Talking about Philip had made the memory of her death too immediate. He had to assure himself that she wasn't a mirage. She felt his fear and his need. She shushed him and let her love flow through their link. His answering response was so powerful she gasped. Spike felt it and ran his hand over her smooth hair. He leaned over and whispered in her ear. She nodded and looked to him for guidance.

"René's still injured," Spike said to the AI team. "Is there somewhere he can lie down? Olivia could do with some rest, too." He sighed. "Look, normally we'd find a hotel." He stopped. "Actually, normally we stay here. We've always bunked here when we're in L.A. Right now, I don't think any of us have any extra funds and I doubt if our credit cards are functional. I only have a few thousand on me and that won't last long if we have to buy any items for whatever spell we'll need to get home. Is that third floor of yours still half-furnished?"

Angel thought for a moment and reluctantly nodded. He didn't really want these strangers out of his sight though he wasn't thrilled at the thought of having them in his hotel.

Spike was secretly relieved. He hadn't been sure this Angel would let them stay. "The undead among us won't have a problem with that and Connor's tough. But Olivia, Nina, and Bite Size will need something better." Again he waited for the duplicate of his grandsire to agree before he really relaxed.

"They can have Fred's old room. Fred's moved in with Gunn," Angel explained.

The older Cordelia nodded. "Oh yeah, they ended up married in our world." She nodded toward where Spike, Baby, and René were clumped together. "They've had more ups and downs than the Olympic champions of dysfunctional relationships over there but they're still together."

Baby tilted her head and curled her lip. "And so are we."

"Not through any effort of yours," Cordy shot back.

"That's enough," Spike said softly. "Not tonight. Save it for another time. Or better yet, let it go completely. Dru's right: we've got to get past this. All of us."

Cordy stared at him for a moment. She wanted to snap back that he had no idea what she felt like but she knew that would be a lie. He knew exactly how she felt. And he'd forgiven them. Cordy wasn't sure how he'd managed that. Maybe he was tired of being hurt and angry; God knew she was. She just wasn't sure she could let it go the way he had. "Fine. Whatever," she said. "Come on, Olivia honey. Let's get you settled in. You look ready to drop."

Spike watched her go with more than a touch of sadness. He knew Cordy was miserable still. It had been two years and she still felt the pain too immediately. He was glad he'd finally found the strength to forgive and love his wife and son again. That love shone from him when he turned toward them. "Dove, take René up and find a spot for the two of you. I'll take care of everyone else. Find somewhere that you can have a bit of privacy, all right?"

She understood what he was saying and her grateful smile made it all worthwhile somehow. He kissed them both and helped René to his feet. "Don't worry, son. Everything's going to be fine. I give you my word on that."

René nodded solemnly and embraced his father before allowing his wife to lead him up the stairs.

"Papa?" Jean said as he stepped up and paused at Spike's shoulder. "Will it really be fine?"

Spike continued to watch his wife and son slowly ascend the staircase. "It has to be, my Jean. We've come too far for it to end like this."

Jean Claude nodded. He agreed with the sentiment if he couldn't agree with the logic.

"Jean? Stay with me tonight," Spike said. It was only half a question.

"I'd like that, Papa," Jean answered and relaxed as he felt Spike grip his shoulder. "I think I need that."

Spike looked back over his shoulder. "The rest of you can sort yourselves out?" he asked. "Jack? You're all right?"

Jack smiled and chucked Rachel under the chin. "Yes, Master. I'm just fine."

Spike grinned. Jack really was starting to grow on him. He looked at André and Etienne. "You two know the rules? Did René explain anything at all?"

"Not really," André said. "But I'm thinking that everyone inside this building is off-limits. And that we should probably have your permission before we do anything, yeah?"

Spike smiled at him. "You're a smart boy. That's exactly how it stands. I'll see you're better educated tomorrow but for now no hunting. There's blood in a cooler in the kitchen. I brought it in myself. Take however much you need; I can get more tomorrow. Rest now. We'll figure out what to do after we've all had a spot of sleep. Angelus, would you…?"

His grandsire nodded. "I'll see they're comfortable. I'll take care of Dru, too." He could tell by the way Spike held himself that he was wearier than he let on. "Why don't you head on up? You'll have a lot of decisions to make tomorrow."

Spike nodded and allowed Jean to lead him up the stairs. Angel frowned at this duplicate that didn't seem to mind being called Angelus. "What do you mean he has a lot of decisions to make?"

Angelus watched his grandson take the stairs slowly. For once, Spike looked his age. "I lead the Scourge but Spike rules the Pride. And this is mostly a Pride matter. We'll all have our say-so, but what we do will be Spike's choice." His duplicate clearly thought he was crazy and Angelus laughed. "Believe it or not, Spike makes a pretty decent ruler. Despite all the craziness and his impossible love life, he turned out pretty well."

Dru came and leaned into his chest. "The White King has found his path. You will find yours as well," she said. "The Black King has turned Red once more but maybe one day he'll be White, too."

He wrapped his arms around her. "I hope so." The lord of the Scourge held his daughter closely. "I really hope so."

René lowered his head and licked that point where Baby's swan-white neck joined her shoulders. The skin there was so soft, so delicate. He couldn't contain the moan that escaped his lips. She tasted so exquisite, better than the finest wine, more intoxicating than the most potent alcohol. He was sure she would taste like raspberries and burgundy if he gave in to temptation and bit her. With arms wrapped around her, his hand supporting her head, he lowered them to the bed, spreading her hair, carmine and sanguine on the plain mattress. He felt peace flooding him as he looked into her golden eyes. The confusion that plagued him seemed to unknot as he looked at her. Feeling her body, solid and cool in his arms, helped him separate the what-was from the what-could-have-been. The what-was was wonderful. It had taken years and heartache untold but he'd finally reached the point where he was truly happy and content with his life. He was happy with who he was and what he had accomplished. There were moments and actions that he was ashamed of and would always be ashamed of. He knew he'd made innumerable mistakes along the way but he also knew he'd done his best. He'd tried to be the best man he could be. He smiled into those golden eyes. And he'd done it all for her sake. She'd convinced Spike to turn him and Spike had shown René a path he'd never imagined existed. Baby had always been and always would be the center of René's existence but Spike was his ideal and Jean was his hero. Spike and Jean were the standard he'd set for himself. He knew he would never live up to the measure he'd set for himself but he could keep trying. And they'd both be there to catch him any time he fell. Spike and Jean had never and would never let him down.

And if he couldn't keep to the path, if he failed completely, it wouldn't matter in the long run because she'd still love him. He knew that now. Regardless of what happened, of what life and the Powers That Be threw at them, she'd always love him. That thought alone set his heart ablaze and he kissed her with all the passion he had carried locked inside for nineteen years.

She reveled in his love. It flooded her, flowing through their link uninhibited by any doubts or reservations. If it was possible to love him back to sanity and health, she would. She returned his kiss with all the love she felt for him in her soul. She no longer had to pretend that he wasn't as necessary to her as the blood that flowed in her veins. She didn't need to hide her true feeling from the world or from herself. She could hold him and let him know that she adored him every bit as much as he adored her. Each passing second increased her desire for him and eventually she grasped either side of his head, urging him lower, to her breasts. As in all things, he complied with her wishes and took an already hard nipple into his mouth, wrapping his tongue around it and suckling her. She was the one who moaned now, one of her hands in his hair and the other lying motionless on her neglected breast. He brought his hand up to cover hers, guiding her hand in kneading and rolling her breast. He bit down none-too-gently on the pebbled nipple in his mouth and she surged off the mattress. "Oh God!! Yes! René."

He smiled. Just to hear her call out his name brought him joy beyond imagination. The fragmented, tortured portion of his mind still couldn't quite believe that this was real. The grief-stricken man who'd turned New Orleans into a killing ground still lived within René and daily that man needed assurance that she was real and alive and, most amazing of all, his. Spike had given René a gift greater than either of them had known when he agreed to share her. René found he loved his sire more each day. And René had discovered that he needed Spike nearly as much as he needed Baby. Jean completed the puzzle of René's life. Jean kept him sane. His dark aspect grieved for the love that he'd lost when Spike and Jean had died but now he could have that, too. In those days of his vampiric youth, that René had needed Spike, Jean, and Baby. Losing them had destroyed him and he had vented that destruction back out into the world. Now, through a miracle, he'd regained that. If losing his separate identity in this other René who was somehow both stronger and softer than he was meant that he could have the three of them again, he'd lose himself in this other him and give up his struggles to regain control of his body. He'd merge with this other self. He'd have her. And he'd have them. Finally.

René felt his other self's needs. He was tired of fighting those memories, tired of fighting against that grief. Right now, he just wanted to be with the woman he loved. He wanted to hold her and kiss her. He wanted to see her come. He had to see that. He wanted to make her come for him and for him alone. He needed to feel that instant of release. Suddenly the need to taste her was nearly overwhelming. He rose up and looked down at her. This really was how he liked her best. She was good atop him and spooned beside him and, God knew, kneeling in front of him. But like this, lying beneath him, her hair flowing over the pillows, limbs sprawled, she was perfect. He loved seeing her face transformed by passion, seeing her eyes dilate with ecstasy. He placed his hand over her and grinned. She was already wet. Wet for him. That need to taste her grew and he began to kiss up the inside of her leg, causing her to grip the sheets in tight fists.

"Écarter," he murmured. "Ouvrir pour moi." He kissed her thigh. "Please. Pour moi?"

With a moan she complied with his request and opened her legs wide for him. He settled himself between them, his face in her soft stomach. He worked his way slowly back up her body, assuring himself with each kiss, with each touch of his tongue to her flesh, that she was real, that she was alive. Finally, his tongue found her consort mark, his mark. He traced the outline of the scar with the tip of his tongue, rewarded when she moaned and clasped him tightly. It meant so much to him that she bore that scar openly. His wife. All he had ever wanted. All he had ever desired. His love for her, sanctioned and approved by his father, open for the world to see. He wanted her so badly in that instant that he felt he would disintegrate if he couldn't have her. "Je te veux. S'il te plait, m' ange. Tu es si belle. Je te veux si beaucoup."

She was gasping for breath, panting against him. "Oh yes, René. I want you, too. Oh I love you."

Enflamed by her words, he pushed powerfully into her. She arched against him, wanting to be joined to him as much as he wanted to be a part of her. He shifted from his mark to her lips, kissing her as he drove himself ever more deeply into her. Long minutes passed as he stroked into her body, bringing both of them the greatest pleasure he could. He released her lips so he could lay his head against her neck, panting in time with his thrusts, whispering love in her ear. "Viens pour moi," he begged. "Please, m' belle ange. Come for me." He felt his mark beneath his lips again. His wife. She was and would always be his wife. She'd sworn it in the depths of the night and hidden from the burning light of day. She'd sworn that whatever happened, she was and would always be his wife. "Tu est mon monde," he told her. She moaned and lifted her body to meet his thrusts. Her answering words of love and want simply made him want her more. When she pressed his head against her throat and begged him to drink from her, he didn't hesitate. He slipped his fangs into her consort mark and held her tightly as she screamed and surged against him, the force of her climax rocking her entire body. Her emotions, her love, flamed through their link and triggered his release. The taste of her blood was electric on his tongue; it carried her strength and her need. It set his mind ablaze. With a final plunge and a cry that pulled him from her throat he exploded deep inside her body and her mind. White fire burned through their link. It ricocheted from her to Spike and from René to Jean, their own bonding strong and adding to the force of the feedback loop. Cordy felt it through her link to Jean and nearly collapsed from the sheer need it awakened in her. Angelus was caught through his connection to Cordelia and Drusilla felt it from both her sire and her son. Their joining also increased the power of the force flowing through the family link. Jack nearly cried out with the intensity of what he felt from his sire. Rachel half-fainted before she grabbed Jack and pulled him close. She had never experienced anything remotely like this. If she'd had any doubts that siding with René against her siblings was a mistake they were wiped away. André and Etienne cried out as they shared their bother's emotions. They had never felt such emotions from their sire and it was nearly beyond their comprehension; nonetheless, it was welcome. They found it fed some need they had not known they had. If this was the new world René had told them about, they wanted to share in it.

In the lobby, a younger and unaffected Cordelia was shocked when her Angel fell to his knees. He gasped. He'd had no idea. Spike had said they were all linked but he had no idea it was something like this. He looked at Cordelia, barely able to see her through the haze of sensation. "I… I want that."

Cordelia looked at him peculiarly. "What?"

"What they're feeling. That. I want that." He reached deep down and found a bravery he hadn't been sure he possessed. "I want that with you."

~~~~~

Alternate Dimension
Los Angeles, California
Tuesday, 1:48 pm
June 11, 2003

Spike watched silently as his consort stared down into the lobby. She might have been some sculpture placed against the railing, she stood so still. She was also blocking most of her emotions from him and everyone else. He had a sense of her presence but not much more. But he didn't have to be linked to her to know what she was feeling. She'd been his companion for twenty-two years. He knew exactly what was going through her mind.

He came up behind her, knowing she was aware of his presence, and wrapped his arms around her. "Dove," he ordered. "Stop doing this to yourself."

She didn't pretend to not understand him. "Why? Shouldn't I feel this way? Isn't it what I deserve?"

He laid his cheek against the top of her head. "No, you shouldn't. It's done. It's over. It's just being here in the hotel that has you feeling like this."

She still didn't move though she agreed with him. She hadn't set foot in the Hyperion since Mörderer had somehow caged her soul and set her demon ascendant. For over three and a half years she had avoided facing the memories this place called up. "I can barely stand to look at some of the rooms. I can't begin to go into Angel's office. Or Gunn's. This whole place gives me the raging creepy-crawlies." She twitched one shoulder. "But then, it should. What I did here…"

"Stop. I told you, it doesn't matter," he assured her.

She turned in his embrace. "How can you say that? What I did here was… awful." She smiled sadly. "Of course, in a lot of ways, what I did here with Angel was the least of what I've done to you over the years." She turned back to the rail. "I sometimes wish I'd never set eyes on René. I love him but I think of all the pain that I've caused him and you and I think you'd both have been better off without me."

He ran a hand over her hair. "That's not true. I won't claim that I haven't thought that myself but every time I do, I discover that I can't imagine life without you. Or René. Or Jean." He tightened his hold on her and whispered in her ear. "There have been times when I honestly wanted to kill you. You've hurt me more than any person ever has." She bowed her head. She knew it was true. "But you've also brought me greater joy." He forced her to turn and look at him. "Listen to me. When you were dead, I realized that I couldn't and wouldn't live without you. I didn't care what you'd done, I didn't care who you'd slept with. I just wanted you back. I didn't know why. I just felt like I was dying without you." He smiled. "I know why now." He switched sides and whispered in her other ear, his hands now holding her head steady, not allowing her to pull away. "You never stopped loving me. Through all those years and everything we've done, you never once stopped loving me." He wouldn't allow her to look away. "Even when you thought I'd killed René and you hated me for that, you still loved me."

She nodded and he kissed her quickly and gently. "And I've never stopped loving you. We may not be each other's first choice, but we're each other's best choice." She looked at him with a question in her golden eyes and he smiled. "We make each other stronger. Buffy doesn't do that for me and René doesn't do that for you. Together, we're better than we ever could be apart regardless of whether we're with anyone else. You could have left me for René any time over the years but you never did. And I never left you for Buffy." He kissed her again. "Because in our hearts, we both know that we belong together. We have since that first kiss. You know it and I know it. I'll never leave you and I'll always love you." He smiled and brought his lips close to hers so that each word he spoke was breathed onto them. "So stop thinking about the past. Think about me. Think about now. Think about loving me." He kissed her then, the way he'd kissed her that first night together, the way he'd kissed her when they'd discovered she was carrying a child, the way he'd kissed her when he'd pulled her back from Hell. "I love you."

She kissed him back with equal intensity and dropped the barriers that she'd been hiding behind, letting his love flow into her and hers flow into him. "And I love you. I always have and I always will."

He grinned. "I know that. Why do you think I've been walking around so damned happy for the last few months?" He cupped her face gently with one hand. "I finally figured it out." His next kiss was a bit less tender, a bit more aggressive. "I have you and René and Jean. I finally got it right."

She gripped him tightly, feeling the desire that now tinged his love. "You sure did. I've never been happier. You've always made me happy. You've always known what's best for me."

He nodded. "Mm-hmm. And what's best is for you to stop being guilty and pay some attention to me." There was a wealth of desire in his next kiss. "That would do me a hell of a lot more good than watching you beat yourself up." He ran his hands over her back. "Stop brooding and love me."

For once, she didn't argue. Not then or when he carried her to an unoccupied room and proceeded to reacquaint her with his ability to love away the afternoon.

Alternate Dimension
Los Angeles, California
Wednesday, 12:53 am
June 12, 2003

Things had been calm and quiet most of the evening. Angel had explained their new visitors to Fred and Gunn as soon as they had arrived back at the hotel from their jaunt to Santa Barbara. It had taken them all the night before but they'd reached an agreement with the poltergeist disturbing a bed-and-breakfast. It finally had agreed to do a nice, occasional haunting that would draw in guests without destroying the b&b and in return the owners of the tiny hotel would consult the dead interior decorator on any future décor and remodeling changes. They had proudly displayed the cashiers' check they'd received for their efforts to their boss. And been disappointed by his and everyone else's lack of proper appreciation. Gunn was amazed that anything could distract Cordelia from a payment from a client. They soon saw why. It was easy to see why even Cordelia had been preoccupied with the small horde of vampires that had descended on Angel Investigations the night before. They had to be the most bizarre collection of individuals ever to infiltrate the hotel. Vampires, humans, pregnant women, and toddlers! It was nearly inconceivable. Duplicates of Angel, Cordelia, and Connor were just freaky to Gunn's way of thinking.

At least telling them apart wasn't going to be a problem. The new Connor's hair was a little different, shorter, more stylish. Cordelia's hair was longer, rich with amber streaks. And the new Angel sported a look that Charles had never considered for his undead employer. "What's with the mustache and the jazz patch, man?" he'd asked.

Angel had grinned. He was feeling amazingly mellow considering he was talking to Charles. Of course, this Charles looked very different from the forty-something man he'd treated so horribly as Angelus. Or maybe it was the need to separate this Charles from the one he'd known that made Angel say something he'd never have said to the Charles Gunn he knew. "It's sexy. Spike gets off on it."

Gunn had frozen. He'd had no idea that Angel was remotely interested in men. Lorne's grin had not made Charles any more comfortable. His own boss had looked as though he was on the verge of passing out. "I think we should all get to work researching your problem," he'd growled menacingly.

It hadn't frightened anyone in the office. Baby had actually shaken her head and sighed, "Jesus, sire! I forgot what a tight ass you were."

Spike hadn't helped matters when he said, "Actually pet, Angel's ass is nice and...."

Gunn's Angel had practically screamed. "SPIKE!"

Spike had looked unconvincingly confused. "What? I'm just saying, is all..." Angel had cut him off again and managed to get them settled into researching, though Gunn was left wondering just how well he knew Angel.

Hours had passed in quiet investigation. Books and scrolls, the Internet, all avenues were explored. The problem seemed not to be so much finding the dimension their visitors were from--that proved easy enough with some calls to individuals familiar with the pandimensional black market--but in figuring out how to return them to when they were from. Dimensional travel between realities was not that unheard of but time travel was another cauldron of demonic fish. They'd then discovered that travel to and from their reality at any point in time was iffy. It seemed a time distortion had caused the original rift creating their world and it was hard to get it in sync with any normal portal spells. The more they researched the more it became apparent that only a highly skilled and powerful magic-user would be able to help them.

Around 1:00 am, René had slammed the tome he was trying to read closed with a loud thouwumph. "This is useless; we can't do nothing without Willow or Wes." He glowered. "Reading Latin makes my head hurt." He then uttered the words that all of them dreaded. "I'm bored." He frowned at them all as if daring anyone to contradict him.

"Perhaps a bit of a break wouldn't be a bad idea," Spike agreed softly as he put aside the Sanskrit text he'd been studying. He didn't need René going off into a sulk. That invariably distracted Baby, Cordelia, and Jean to the point where they were useless. Watching Cordelia attempt to coax René into a better mood would then aggravate Angel and Connor. With the two of them brooding or snarking at anything anyone said, they would upset Nina. Dev would then sense his mother's unease and be up and grumpy. In short, they wouldn't get any work done. And Spike was unsure how René's current mental state would handle too much upheaval. He suspected that René wasn't up to any turmoil, though his son had been relaxed and relatively clear-headed since he'd gotten up. Morale, not just René's but the entire family's, was extremely important and a bit of relaxation might keep them from getting discouraged. He wasn't adverse to a little fun if it placed them in no danger.

With a pleased exclamation, René turned on the stereo. Salsa flooded the lobby. He considered it for a moment. "That'll do." He grinned at his Cordelia. "You come dance with me, yeah?" She'd grinned back, happy enough to do something physical after hours of sitting.

That sight set husband and son both glowering but Jack had been unfazed. "Dance with me, sire," he ordered. Baby laughed and complied. Spike laughed, too, and offered to show Nina how it was done. Blushing, she happily took his hand. Well aware of the crush she had on him, Spike was careful to keep a good cushion of air between them. Still he enjoyed dancing with his Snow White.

Frowning at the way Cordelia's hands were roaming about René's chest, and silently cursing his great-grandson for having his shirt unbuttoned again, Angel stood and held out his hand to the alternate Cordelia. "Would you care to join the fun?" he said.

She looked at him in wonder. "You can dance?"

"I can do a lot of things," he assured her with a warmth in his eyes that set her heart racing. If her Angel ever looked at her like that she'd jump him so fast his little head would spin. Her Angel was not sure if he was jealous or pleased that his duplicate was showing the woman he loved a side of himself that he wanted her to know about but had been too afraid to ever show her.

"I can do that," Etienne informed his younger brother after watching for a few minutes.

André curled his lip at him. "No, you can't. You ain't never danced like that."

Etienne's face settled into the stubborn expression that actually made him look a great deal like his sire. "If René can do it, I for Goddamn sure can." He held out his hand. "You wanna dance with me, Rachel, huh? I show both my little brothers that Etienne Beaumont ain't behind the door on nothing." She looked from one to the other and decided neither was likely to hit her if she did or didn't accept. For once the choice really was hers. She accepted.

The lobby was now full of dancers. They swayed and shimmied and laughed. "Wow," Fred said as she watched. "They all sure look like they're having fun."

There was a faintly wistful quality to her voice that didn't escape Jean's sensitive ear. "You want to dance, petite?" he asked.

She shook her head. "Oh no, I couldn't. I mean, I don't know how. Not like that," she said.

Jean waved her objections away. "It's nothing. Come. I will show you." He pulled her away from the counter a few steps. "Now, just move with the music, cher." Jean patiently began to show Fred how to perform the steps of a rumba. After a few moments, he tsked. "Here, try this," he said and pulled her very close. "Do you feel how my hips are moving? See, like that. Just relax and feel the music. Let it get inside your head and your heart." He placed hands far down her back so he could guide her hips. "It is just like your equations, petite. Sometimes you just have to feel it."

Charles Gunn decided that as much as he hated the feral, marauding vampires he'd fought on the streets of Los Angeles since he was a teenager, he hated these civilized, friendly vampires Angel had taken into the hotel more. Much more. Especially that Cajun one. He would whoop with joy if he could drive a stake into Jean Claude DuValliere's unbeating heart. In fact, if that motherfucker's hand slid one inch further down Fred's butt that was exactly what he was going to do. Of course, he might just shove that stake somewhere else first. He glowered at the pair.

Baby was smiling up at her handsome son when the floor began to shake. "Earthquake!" someone shouted just before a greenish glow began to form in the air above them.

"I don't think so," Angelus said. "Magic!"

Jean quickly shoved Fred behind the counter while Spike did the same with Nina. "Olivia!" Jean shouted over a rising wind and headed for the stairs. Before he could make it, a huge iridescent tentacle emerged from the green glow and smacked him back across the lobby. He slammed into the counter with a sickening crunch. The rest of the multi-eyed, octopoid creature slid from the portal and it closed behind the thing with a final sparkle.

The gigantic demon seemed to fill the lobby, innumerable tentacles reaching out while its equally numerous eyes searched for victims. Standing atop the monstrosity was a tiny figure the elder members of the Pride recognized: Mörderer de Realitäten.

Chapters : |2| |3| |Interlude| |4| |5| |6| |7| |8| |9| |10| |11| |12| |13|
 

Chapter 11
"Someday"

(Alan Jackson/Jim McBride(Alan Jackson/Jim McBride)
She looked me in the eye and said, "It's over.
I can't take this heartache anymore."
She said, "Don't tell me lies and try to please me.
I've heard it all so many times before."
And I took her by the arm and said, "Don't leave me.
There's nothin' in this world I wouldn't do.
Just give me time I'll be the man you've needed."
She said, "I wish that I could take that for the truth."

And I said, "Someday I'll get my life straight."
And she said, "It's too late.
What's done is done."
And I told her, "Someday."
She said, "I can't wait.
'Cause sometimes 'someday' just never comes."

She said, "All I've ever wanted was to love you.
And somewhere deep inside me I still do.
But now I think it's time I stopped believing.
'Cause I'm never gonna see a change in you."
And I said, "Someday I'll get my life straight.
And she said, "It's too late.
What's done is done."
And I told her, "Someday."
She said, "I can't wait.
'Cause sometimes 'someday' just never comes.
Sometimes someday just never comes."

Alternate Dimension
Los Angeles, California
Wednesday, 2:26 am
June 12, 2003

The lord of the Pride shouted instruction to his family above the magical winds stirred by Mörderer de Realitäten. Baby was already rushing to the weapons cabinet with both Connors on her heels. She looked at the fine collection of swords, axes, and hand weapons and cursed. "Goddamn it! Hasn't Angel ever heard of artillery?!" She turned and shouted back to Spike that there was no real firepower to be had. She dug out a shotgun and tossed it to her Connor while grabbing a pistol for herself and slinging one across to René. Jack already had his Glock and his backup out.

"Aim for the eyes," Spike ordered. "And keep the hell away from those arms."

"No shit," Connor muttered. "Stating the obvious, Uncle Spike."

Drusilla appeared at his elbow and took a huge knife from the locker. "Mustn't curse, my darling. And mustn't go near the nasty man on the great fish. No no. That would ruin my tea."

His own axe in hand, Connor nodded. "I know. I remember what he did to Joseph."

Weapons were tossed across the office as the Pride and the members of Angel Investigations armed themselves as best they could while the behemoth flailed about, adjusting to its appearance in a new dimension. Those precious moments gave the vampires and their confederates a slim chance for survival. At least they would fight with something more than claw and fang.

Baby dived under a tentacle and slid across the floor with a broadsword in one hand and a battle axe in her belt. She came up beside her son and handed him the sword as he emptied his backup pistol into the monster. At least four of its bulbous, unblinking eyes went dim. It shrieked a high nails-on-chalkboard sound that caused the humans to flinch and the vampires to grimace in pain. Baby pulled Jack's attention from the monster long enough to say, "Take care of my daughter, Jack."

He read the unspoken message in her eyes and nodded. "For as long as I'm alive, sweetheart." He vaulted over the counter and pulled Nina and Devereau toward the path that would get them to the sewers and away from the threat of the demon creature and its wizard master. His mother turned back to the fray, joining her daughter's father as he fired the last of his ammunition at the squirming mass, blinding another eye. He threw down the gun and took the sword Jean held out for him. The Prince of the Pride was on his feet, though from the way he moved René and Baby could both tell he'd been hurt when the creature slammed him across the lobby. The three tried to cover Nina's retreat but Mörderer was directing the monster from his perch atop its head and a giant tentacle slapped the floor inches from Nina, blocking the way to the basement. Jack snatched her back from the questing blob of flesh and stabbed at it. Its tough hide was impervious to his blows and he quickly abandoned the effort, settling for placing himself between it and Nina and her baby.

Angelus and Spike had begun a determined assault on the main body of the behemoth, quickly joined by the other Angel and both Connors. They were surprised when René's children joined them. Spike had expected them to flee at the sight of the hideous beast. Apparently René's get were made of sterner stuff. He grinned. Cordelia edged her way along the walls, her younger duplicate, Fred, and Lorne following as she tried to make her way to the doors. Reaching them, she pushed the other three outside while she continued her wall hugging. She intended to reach the stairs and get to Olivia.

Drusilla joined Charles in trying to distract the creature from Cordelia. Blue fire danced from Dru's fingers but impacted harmlessly on her foe. She snarled and her face changed at the vexation she felt. She was used to strong magic, focused and directed by Wesley's talent and intellect. Without him, her abilities were crippled.

Against such a foe, even the might of the Pride and the new Scourge seemed ineffectual. Huge tentacles waving, ichor dripping from ruined eyes, the creature searched with its remaining eyes for anyone and anything to vent its pain and rage upon. Its flailing arms smashed the counter, slivers of deadly wood flying everywhere. One long missile buried itself deep in André's back, barely missing his heart as it transfixed his body. Another sliced across René's bicep, setting him snarling and bringing on his game face. Rachel was swept up and hurled across the lobby, smacking into one of the columns supporting the second floor balcony. As the creature resisted every offensive maneuver the vampires made, it edged ever closer to Devereau.

"We've got to do something about that green monkey that's driving Cthulhu," Baby screamed above the whirling winds. "That motherless bastard is not getting my grandson." René snarled his agreement and leaped over one of the tentacles reaching for him. He landed on another of the undulating arms and ran up it the way he'd run up live oak limbs as a boy. Jean gave a battle cry and followed him. Baby cursed into the wind and spun back to make her way to where Jack stood grim-faced between Nina and death.

Both Angels, Spike, and the two Connors had made their way to the body of the monster where many beaked mouths snapped and tried to grasp any living or undead morsel that might come near. Angelus and Spike worked in perfect sync with their Connor, years of training and fighting together allowing them to accomplish near-miraculous martial feats. Avoiding the flashing beaks that could bite vampire or human in half, they set about systematically blinding the monster, its eyes seeming to be its only weak spot. Angel and his son followed their duplicates' lead and if they did not have the years of experience that were evident in the other three, they had an instinctual ability to move together.

Charles and Drusilla now stood shoulder to shoulder at the foot of the stairs, ready to defend Cordelia as she made her way down with Olivia in tow. Cordy knew the creature was capable of bringing the whole building down and she intended to get the helpless among their number out and into the relative safety of the street.

René had nearly made it to the wizard creature when Jean cried out and he felt a burst of excruciating pain through their link. He turned to see Jean trapped by one of the tentacles, the glittering mass wrapped around his brother, slowly squeezing him in twain. With a cry, René turned back to try to save Jean. He hacked at the monster, his blows bouncing off the tough scaled hide. Hooks within the myriad suckers tore at Jean's clothing, digging into his flesh, shredding it as easily as it did the cloth. The pain as thousands of the tiny hooks sliced into him ripped a scream from his throat. René screamed along with his husband, the sight of Jean being torn apart more than he could stand. The tentacle wrapped more tightly about Jean's chest, crushing his ribs and destroying his shirt, bringing it in contact with the rosary he always wore tucked carefully inside his clothes. With another shriek so high-pitched the vampires cried out in pain, the creature released Jean, its suckered arm smoking and withering even as it pulled away. Jean fell to the floor, unmoving, René dropping down beside him. Tentacles flailed about them, threatening to dash them both to bits.

Nina, mindful only that the two men she loved most in the world were about to die before her eyes, thrust Dev into her mother's hands, grabbed the large crucifix she always carried and ran to them. Jack sped after her with a curse on his lips. A thrashing octopus-like arm hit her, sending her sprawling, the cross knocked from her hand. Heedless of the pain it would cause him, Jack scooped up the blessed object and thrust it at the creature. René had fished his own rosary from his pocket and with it wrapped tightly about his fist, protected his daughter and lover. Baby, the child the monster sought so avidly clutched in her arms, could only watch in awe as Jack took the offensive against a monster a hundred times his size.

Over and over, Jack pressed the cross to the monster until its screams were continuous and delicate membranes in his ears and nose burst. Bleeding, he continued to burn the creature with the crucifix he clutched tightly.

From the staircase, Cordelia quickly sized up the situation and raced to the weapons chest. She gathered an armful of crosses and headed for the monster. Slapping one into Gunn's hand, she screamed for Connor. Both young men turned toward her and she threw a large cross to each of them.

Their faces pressed against the glass of the doors, the others had seen what was occurring and raced back inside to join the fray. Soon, any who could touch the holy objects were armed and advancing on the creature. Each touch of the cross burned the monster, its flesh drying and shrinking away. Freed from the need to fight the behemoth, Angelus and Spike turned their attention on the wizard. They dodged the lightning he threw, his aim destroyed by the writhing of the creature beneath him. He muttered the words that would open a portal, allowing him to escape yet again. He smiled as the dimensional gateway opened. He leaped for the protection of its shimmering light and found himself transfixed on Spike's sword. "Not this time," the Lord of the Redeemed snarled.

Even so wounded, the wizard began to chant an incantation, but his words were silenced forever when the leader of the Scourge lopped his head from his wizened shoulders. "Not ever again," Angel grated. The body seemed to shrink, becoming dehydrated and wasted. It fell from Spike's sword, a pile of dust and bones.

Olivia watched amazed as the monster and the vampire that looked like her Jean held off the giant creature with holy rosaries and prayers. Cordelia, with screams for the Unforgiven to shield themselves, began to lob opened bottles of holy water at the injured monster. Jack, caught up in the battle, either didn't hear her or chose to ignore her. Half a bottle of blessed water splashed across his face. He was untouched. Just as the crucifix in his hand didn't burn him, neither did the holy water scald him. He didn't even notice. Only when the creature lay dead, as dry and desiccated as its master, only when his sire ran to him, tears streaking her face, only then did he notice the way they were all staring at him. "What?"

Baby reached up and touched his cheek gently, her own hand smoking from contact with the residue of the blessed liquid on his skin. "Look what you're holding, darling." He looked from the cross in his hand to her tear-filled eyes in confused wonderment. "You're Redeemed, Jack." She could barely speak. "You're Redeemed." Then his hard-as-nails mother, who only ever cried over Spike and René, buried her face in his shirt and sobbed for all she was worth.

Jack held her tightly, careful to keep the cross away from her. He looked at where a beaming Jean Claude was being helped to his feet by an equally pleased René. "But how?" Jack asked. "I'm souled. Wes said the souled couldn't be Redeemed."

Jean grinned. "Looks like Wes was wrong. For once in his life, Wes was wrong. And I can't tell you how glad I am!"

René, not noted for any great warmth of feeling where Jack was concerned, helped Jean stagger to Jack's side and laid a friendly hand on Jack's shoulder. "I'm happy for you. I'm glad."

Jack took his words as they were meant and nodded a silent thank-you.

Angelus stabbed his sword into what remained of the octopoid and strode out the door. Cordelia saw him go and followed after him. She found him leaning against the gate. "Angel?"

He took a shaky breath. "I try, Cordy. I try so hard. Over and over and over. For decades. Why?" She reached up and captured one of the tears that flowed down his cheek. "Why won't They forgive me?" He stared out unseeing at the street. "I don't hunt. I don't feed. I don't kill. I'm not out there torturing anyone like Wes or Baby. Why am I still the monster?" He looked down at her. "I am sincerely sorry for every crime I've ever committed. So why does that … child get Redemption and I'm still bound for Hell?"

His pain was so real, she'd have felt it even without their bond. She wrapped her arms around him and he slowly sank to his knees, his arms around her and his face buried against her. He spoke so softly it took her a few moments to understand what he was saying. Over and over he whispered, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I love you."

She blinked away her own tears. "I know, baby. I know you do." Something burst inside her. "I love you, too. I never stopped." She lifted his face so he'd look at her. "I forgive you." His breath caught and frightened hope shone from his eyes. "I forgive you," she repeated. He dropped his head once more, his face pressed tight against her, and cried in earnest.

Fred surveyed the ruined lobby. "I don't look forward to cleaning this up," she said and then brightened. "At least there are lots of us to help this time."

Baby arched an eyebrow and looked at her from the security of Jack's embrace. "That's what minions are for, Texas," she informed the other woman. "I don't clean. I haven't cleaned since we moved out of the warehouse in '01."

Fred looked at her in disappointed shock. "But, I mean, surely you don't intend to just leave that for me to…" She looked beseechingly at the new Cordelia.

Cordelia shook her head as she settled Angelus in a chair and handed him a drink. "Sorry, I have to agree on the minion thing. I gave up housework around 2010 or so. Besides, there has to be some reason not to kill every minion I see." She grinned. "Housework, gardening. Filing! They can be useful."

René grinned and called Etienne and Connor to him. For once, Connor didn't protest when he heard what the Master of Mobile had to say. In fact, he grinned in pleasure. "Oh yeah," he chirped. "I can do that!" He grabbed his duplicate. "Come on, brother mine. Let's go have some fun!" He dragged his twin up the steps and out the door, a laughing Etienne following. René went back to helping his father tend Jean's injuries.

It took a while but eventually all wounds were bandaged. The members of Angel Investigations watched in shock as Etienne and the Connors led a crew of vampires into the lobby. Under watchful eyes, the minions cleaned the hotel, removing all trace of the monster and Mörderer. The debris of the shattered counter and a couple of smashed desks were carted away. When they were finished, their leaders paid proper obedience to Angelus, bowing and showing submission before they were herded out. René grinned proudly. "I get good ideas once in a while," he observed. Fred and her Cordelia were both quite happy with his "good idea."

Gunn finally voiced the question on the minds of several of those assembled. "Okay, you're all vampires. I saw that. I saw the fangs and the bumps. What I've never seen before are vampires that carry rosaries and chant prayers. What the Hell are you people?"

Jean shifted in his chair, trying to find a position where his ribs didn't hurt. "We're the Redeemed."

Gunn looked at him in confusion. "The what?"

"Redeemed," Spike repeated. "My children, my grandchildren, all of my descendents, they have the possibility of becoming one of the Redeemed."

Gunn wasn't impressed. "Yeah. I heard you all going on about that earlier. Acted like it was a big deal. Seems Fed Fang just proved he was one or something."

Baby curled her lip back and one fang showed, long and sharp. "Pet," Spike said gently, bidding her to be calm. She glared at the human and went to Jack, settling in his embrace. Jack was unperturbed by Gunn's opinion of anything and simply ignored him. He raised Baby's hand to his lips, kissing the blisters in her palm gained when she'd touched his holy-water-splattered face.

"You might feel it's a big deal if you'll let Spike finish," Angelus said. "I'd do almost anything to have what Jack got tonight," he admitted. Cordy placed her hand over his and favored Gunn with a hard look. Even Jean was glaring at Charles.

Gunn held his hands up. "So explain."

Spike took a deep breath. "My family is forgiven." It really was hard to find the words to explain the miracle that had occurred in a Louisiana swamp.

"Forgiven? By who?" Charles asked.

"By God," René answered. "God has forgiven us." He reached out for Jean's hand.

Jean nodded. "God has forgiven us our demon natures." He thought of the prophecy the Watchers had never understood. "The Fallen have been reclaimed." Not only Gunn but the rest of Angel Investigations, Olivia, and René's children were looking at him without any real comprehension. "When we die, we don't go to Hell. We aren't bound to be punished just for being demons. We can go to Heaven."

"That's not possible," Angel said.

"Oh, it's true," René said and there was a light in his eyes that made it hard for the Unforgiven to look at him. "I saw it. You can't understand but it's true. If we…" He couldn't continue.

Spike reached out to his son and took up the thread. "René died a few months ago. He was dusted. We needed him desperately and he gave up Paradise to return to us. We're working on more than just the word of the Conduit of the Powers That Be here."

Angel could only stare at him in shock. Fred looked at the vampires, at the rosary still wound through Jean's fingers, at the crucifix lying on the desk beside Jack that he couldn't help but keep fingering. "You're all this 'Redeemed,' then?"

Baby went very still. "No, not all of us," she whispered.

"Rose," Spike said as he stood to go to her. She held up a hand, warding him off.

"You should be. You were the first Redeemed. You should still be one." She looked out at the assemblage. "Spike, without a soul, without any kind of agenda, changed the way he did things. He fought for the Good. He helped the Slayer. Helped other people. Just because he wanted to. And he taught that way to his children. They're not monsters or mindless murderers. They're good men and women who just happen to be demons. The Powers That Be noticed and gave them their rightful reward." She gave a twisted smile. "Not all of us are as good he is, though."

"Dove," he said in warning.

Her hand came back up. "I was dusted, too, a couple of years ago. I went to Hell." She sat up straight and lifted her chin. "Spike saved me from that. He gave up his own redemption to pull me out of Hell." She turned hard eyes on Charles Gunn. "René left Heaven to be with me. Spike gave it up to be with me. He linked the fate of his immortal being to mine. Don't you dare make light of being Redeemed."

Jack pulled her back against him. "Hush, sweetheart. It's all right." He looked around. "You're right, Gunn; it was a real big deal for me. I'm like Angel. I have my soul. So does Baby and so does our Wes. We thought that because we had souls, we couldn't be Redeemed. We're not true demons like Jean or Spike. It's a bit of a shock to find out we can have proof of our fate, too."

Jean grinned. "It's wonderful. You can't understand what it means to us to be Redeemed. And now Jacques is one of us." He shook his head. "I don't see how Wes could be that wrong but somehow he was. I've never been happier about a mistake in my life."

Jack grinned back at his lover. "I still don't understand it."

Baby took his hand and wrapped his arm around her own waist. "I do. You're not like me and Wes. You're not even like Angel." She closed her eyes for a moment. "Jack, do you feel like you're two different people?"

"Huh?" He looked down at the top of her head. "What are you talking about, honey? Of course I don't."

She smiled slightly. "Of course, you don't. If I were to ask Angel or Wes that same question, I'd get a very different answer. Wes, Angel, me, we fight against that demon part of ourselves all the time. We're in conflict all the time. Jean and René talk about fighting the darkness inside themselves, about controlling it, but they don't talk about it like it's a separate person." She grinned at her sire darkly. "They don't give it a different name. It's just a part of who they are." She patted his arm. "Just like it's only a part of who you are. Jack, somehow, you managed to completely integrate your demon aspect with your human aspect. There's not a demon Jack and a human soul Jack. There's just Jack." She turned in his embrace so she could look at him. "And a taste for kinky sex and a wicked tongue aside, that Jack is a decent man." She smiled up at him. "As fine a one as I know." Her grin grew. "Fidelity. Bravery. Integrity. You really do have that FBI motto thing going on."

Jack laughed. "Maybe I should get it tattooed on my chest." At the look in her eyes, his expression changed to one of warning. "Don't even think it!"

René's children had drawn together, some instinct making them fear vampires that spoke so intimately of Heaven and Hell. André swallowed. "What about us? What are we?"

Spike, content that Jack would keep Baby calm, settled back in his chair. "I don't know. I honestly don't know. You're my grandchildren. It's more than possible that if you find the will, if you want to do the right thing, you'll be Redeemed, too."

They fell silent. This was far more than they had bargained for when they decided to follow their baby brother rather than the other children he'd sired.

Olivia was staring at René. "He can't be forgiven," she said. There was a hatred on her face stronger than any of them had ever seen. "After all he's done? That monster can't be forgiven. God would never accept him."

Jean gasped and would have objected but René laid a quieting hand on his arm. "I wasn't sure myself," René said. "I've been afraid to try and touch that rosary in my pocket." He smiled at her sadly. "Today meant a lot to me, too. Showed me that there is forgiveness even for someone as awful as I am."

Olivia ignored Jean's protest. "No, there's not. It's some trick." Her dark eyes were as hard as pieces of jet. "I'll never forgive you. I hope I live long enough to see you tortured. I hope I live to see you in Torment," she said and swept from the room before anyone could hinder her.

René looked after her. "You already have, cher," he said to himself. "Every day."

Chapters : |2| |3| |Interlude| |4| |5| |6| |7| |8| |9| |10| |11| |12| |13|

Chapter 12
"Be Careful with my Heart (Cuidado con mi corazón)"

(Ricky Martin)
Be careful with my heart,
You could break it.
Don't take my love for granted.
Things could change.
Sometimes I go insane.
I played the fool and you'll agree.
I'll never be the same,
Without you here with me.

Cuidado(please careful) con mi corazón
Me siento algo desnuda
Cuidado(please careful) con mi corazón
Mi corazón

(Be careful with my heart
You could break it
Don't take my love for granted
Things could change
Sometimes I go insane
I played the fool and you'll agree
I'll never be the same
Without you here with me)

Cuidado (please careful) con mi corazón
Carión no me lastimes
Cuidado (please careful) es mi corazón
Mi corazón

If I could reach out to you
(Nothing will stop me}
Take your head in my hands
(Tell me what would you do)
Kiss your eyes, sing you to sleep
(Your voice sounds like a lullaby)
Here's my heart, this time to keep
(Here's my heart to keep)

Alternate Dimension
Los Angeles, California
Wednesday, 9:26 am
June 12, 2003

Remy McSwain stared up at ceiling of his TraveLodge room. He had sent all of his troops away. He wanted to be alone. The news of Mörderer's defeat was disheartening but he couldn't claim he was surprised. It was going to take more than some tiny green wizard to kill a marauding son of a bitch like René Beaumont. In a way, he was glad the bastard was still alive. He wanted to be the one to kill that thing. He wanted to look into those teal eyes as he staked its black heart. He stared up at the vision of Anne that was always with him. "I'm sorry, baby. I'll get him. I promise you. Somehow, I'll kill him."

"Yes, you will," Philip said as he stepped from the deep shadows and sat down on the edge of Remy's bed. The former policeman didn't move or acknowledge his visitors. He heard them, the vampires, but he didn't feel like looking at them. He might have to work with them but he didn't have to chit-chat with them. Besides, Anne was watching. He didn't want her to see him talking to such scum. Philip wasn't put off by the human's silence. "He's been lucky twice now but third time's the charm. Or so they say. Next time, we'll find my oh-so-lucky brother and kill him. He'll pay for what he did to your woman."

"And for what he did to my father," Claudia added as she sat down beside Philip. "He betrayed the family. He killed Jean and Daddy. He tried to frame Philip for killing Mama. His lies won't save him this time." She tossed a stake into the air and caught it expertly. "You should have called me in right away, Phil baby."

Her lover placed a possessive hand on her leg. "I just didn't want seeing him to cause you any more pain, sweetheart," he said. "I was trying to protect you."

There was love and adoration in her green eyes. They glittered in the dimness of the hotel room. "That's so sweet. But I want to see him, honey. I want him to know I'm there when we take him down."

Remy didn't bother to look at the two vampires. "And I will take him down. Don't you worry about that, Anne baby. I will take him down." He could have sworn a smile lit Anne's dead eyes.

Alternate Dimension
Los Angeles, California
Wednesday, 10:08 pm
June 12, 2003

Wesley Pryce looked from the night blue eyes of his darling to the identical ones of her twin. "Amazing. I should have known you weren't speaking in riddles when you said there was another you who needed our help, my darling."

His Drusilla giggled, a bubbling, effervescent sound. He could almost see it sparkling in the air around her. He was momentarily distracted by the sheer appeal of watching her laughter dance on the still air.

Spike continued to observe Wesley as the Master pressed his body against Baby's back. "You all right, Dove?" He put his arms about her waist and encouraged her to lean back into him.

She nodded. "It's just freaky to see him alive and breathing again." She placed her arms over his, grateful for his presence.

He knew what was bothering her. "Pet, you didn't murder Wes," Spike whispered. "Wes wanted to be turned. If you hadn't done it, then Dru or I would have. Jean or René would have. Wes wanted you to be his sire. You simply gave him what he wanted." He kissed her ear. "You made him very happy and I can't think of anyone better suited to be his sire. You, Wes, Jack, there's something about the three of you that just seems right. Faith fits nicely, too."

She laughed slightly. "We're all freaking psycho."

He grinned. "There is that." He turned his full attention back to Wesley. "So basically Dru just told you that the two of you were needed here?"

Wesley nodded. "Yes, rather. It was somewhat disconcerting."

Spike shrugged. "That sounds about normal. Get used to it, mate. She does it to us all the time." Baby settled back into his embrace and watched the twin Drusillas as Spike explained all that had happened in the last several days and why he was needed to this new Wesley. It was obvious the Drus were somehow communicating. It was like watching shadow dancers. Movements and expressions were mirrored. She almost expected them to merge into one. Perhaps in that altered landscape where Dru's consciousness lived they already had. Baby suspected from what she had seen and from more than one long conversation with her vampiric sister that Dru was often aware of what was happening on multi-planes of existence. She shook her head. No wonder Dru was nuts. Baby had enough trouble keeping a grasp on the reality she lived in without trying to sort and manipulate dozens of them. Baby wasn't entirely sure she actually had a grasp on reality at all. She frequently suspected she was living in a delusional state. She smiled to herself. Dru lived in dozens of worlds and she couldn't even manage to live in one.

Spike's explanation and Wesley's questions took time. Jean and René joined the discussion. Angel and Angelus both contributed their bits. First one Cordelia and then another wandered in, this one accompanied by Fred and Charles. Bit by bit the visitors from the alternate dimension and the members of Angel Investigations converged on the lobby, listening and adding to Spike's story. It made for some interesting moments. Wesley had no memories of Jean, René, or Baby, of course; he'd never met them. Introductions had to be performed. It struck the Pride as very odd to be introduced to what their minds kept insisting was one of their own number. The complete acceptance the Pride and Scourge had for Wesley and Drusilla's relationship seemed to shock Wesley. He was often distracted by a too-familiar comment or action that showed how intimately these vampires knew his duplicate. René handing him a cup of coffee already prepared to his preferences or Connor making a joke about how attached Wesley was to his switchblade would bring on brief moments of puzzlement or introspection. The fact that Connor could joke about Wesley's switchblade was cause for a great deal of thought. The fact that the others laughed at the joke brought on shock. Wesley was used to the discomfort his preference for blood and violence produced among the members of AI. He was not used to the laughing acceptance it produced among the visitors. Cordelia was laughing at something Jean had said. "I've lost more underwear to Wesley's knife than I have to your silver tongue, mister, so don't get all Ego Boy on me," she quipped. "You may be the best lover in Louisiana…" She paused at his raised eyebrow. "Okay. You are the best lover in Louisiana but Wes is damn good, too. I mean, oh my God! When he's really into the hunt and he finds someone to carve up… well…" Her eyes glazed over slightly.

"Oh yeah," Baby agreed. Jean was nodding and Spike's eyes glowed.

Jack shook his head. "No. That's okay but not the best. When big brother and our sire are both into the hunt, that's when it's really good." His own eyes were somewhat glazed. "The Slasher and the Ripper together are everything this poor FBI boy could ever dream of."

Cordy, lost in the past, when the Consorts of the Scourge had been a force unto themselves, could only agree. She realized suddenly how much she missed those days.

Angel didn't like the turn the conversation was taking. His visitors lived too close to the darkness for his tastes. The world they lived it was too tempting. He quickly brought the talk back to their problem and how Wesley could help them.

Wes stared at him coldly. He had not forgotten the heavy-handed, patriarchal attitude that had caused him to take Drusilla and leave months earlier. "My darling says that I'm needed here. I intend to do what I can to help. Then Drusilla and I will be on our way." He set his mouth in a hard line. He didn't need Angel. He didn't need anyone except Drusilla.

Nina, descending the stairs with Olivia and Dev, caught sight of the newcomer. "Uncle Wesley!" she crowed happily and then saw the two Drusillas and her face fell. "Not Uncle Wesley."

René smiled at her. "No, not Uncle Wesley. Come, my 'tite fille. Let me introduce you." He smiled proudly at the Englishman. "This is my daughter, Nina, and my grandson, Devereau."

Wesley stood and politely greeted the teenager before turning to her companion. "I'm Wesley Wyndham-Pryce and this is my wife," he said somewhat formally.

Olivia held out her hand. "I'm Mrs. Jean Claude DuValliere," she answered. "But please call me Olivia."

At least half the room went completely still for at least a ten-second count before erupting into exclamations and questions. Eventually Angel held up a hand and roared for silence. Jean was gasping. "Mrs. Jean Claude DuValliere? You were married to my alternate?" he stuttered.

She looked at him as if he were mentally deficient. "Of course, I was."

Jean, who had been standing, sat down very hard on the stairs.

"What's wrong with you? You told me that you knew me in this other world. That we were together," she said accusingly, sure she had caught him in a lie.

Jean could only stare at her. "We were, but I never… we never…"

Spike came to his rescue. "Jean and Olivia were together for a very long time but they never formalized the relationship in quite that way. Olivia was his companion but never his consort, his wife," he amended. "Jean was already married to Marie," he further explained.

Bright flags of color appeared on Olivia's cheeks but she held her head up proudly. "Jean was married when we met. He was teaching a class I took at Tulane." Her expression dared any of them to say something demeaning about Jean or their actions. "We… we fell in love. Marie found out we were having an affair and divorced Jean immediately. Jean married me as soon as the divorce was final." She glared at them all. "You actually thought Jean would allow a child of his to be illegitimate?"

Jean was staring at her, open-mouthed. "I… we… Oh mon Dieu!" He closed his eyes and gathered his scattered wits. "He divorced Marie," he said, speaking to himself aloud. "He divorced Marie and I couldn't even take off my wedding ring, much less ask you to marry me!" he said bitterly. "I consigned my Olivia to all those years of pain for the sake of my morals! I was an idiot! A blind, stupid, idiot! If I couldn't love her that much I should have been man enough to leave her in peace."

"Jean," René said soothingly. "It was different. You keep telling me that we aren't those people."

Jean shook his head. "Well, at least that me wasn't stupid." He looked up at Olivia. "It sounds like you were very happy."

She nodded, smiling sadly, wistfully. "We were. We were amazingly happy until…" she couldn't look at him standing next to the monster and continue.

René picked up where she left off. "Until I…" He swallowed. "Until I killed your husband." His bitterness twisted his face, marring and yet deepening his beauty. "Until I made you watch me kill your husband." He looked away. "It's no wonder you hate me. I… argh!" He strode out the door, his anger at himself too great to be contained within the walls of any building.

Normally, René's need to physically work through his anger was not that big an issue. But considering the circumstances and his current state of mind, Spike didn't protest when Baby set out after him. Jean was tempted to stay and ask more of Olivia but one look at her set face told him that she didn't want to have anything to do with him or any vampire. He set out after René as well, if for no other reason than just to give himself some time alone with his thoughts.

René swept through the back streets and alleys of Los Angeles like a Santa Ana wind. No matter how much he tried, he couldn't help but think what an utter bastard he'd become. The anger inside grew and grew. Normally, he'd find some miscreant and vent his rage on them, ripping them apart bare-handed, but right now the thought of killing anything was abhorrent and killing in that fashion doubly so. His head hurt again and that confused feeling he hated so much was back.

He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt this angry at himself. When he'd first slept with Baby? No, he'd been too hurt by her lack of humanity to be this angry. When he'd turned Olivia? No, that had been necessary; Jean needed her. The only thing that came close to this level of self-loathing was when he'd finally quit fighting Louis and let his brother use his body however Louis wanted and then prostitute it on the street. He kicked out at a pile of crates, scattering them. Maybe he should go back to that; it would be no more than he deserved. He grabbed a wooden pallet off the top of a stack and flung it against the brick wall opposite. It splintered, shards of wood flying everywhere. He grabbed another and spun about, hurling it at the wall with all his strength. Another followed and another until the air was full of missiles of wood. One of them sliced across his cheek, leaving a bloody trail. A huge splinter from one of the pallets had dug into his palm and blood now dripped slowly from that wound. It didn't matter; it wasn't enough. There wasn't enough pain to make up for what he'd done. He kept seeing Jean die. In his mind's eye he saw his brother turn to dust, shock and disbelief his final emotions. He saw a human Jean, bleeding and in agony, the light dying in his brown eyes as he lay torn on cold concrete. And he saw his Jean, his own consort, chained, his wrists cut by the manacles, all hope and the will to live extinguished by the loss of his consort as he waited for René to drive a stake into his heart. Accompanied by his roar of sheer hurt and frustration, the last pallet shattered and René fell back against the wall, slowly sliding down its grimy surface until he was sitting on the muddy pavement, his forearms resting on his wide-spread knees. Blood oozed from his cut palm and ran down his middle finger to slowly drip onto the asphalt between his feet.

"Having a bad night, little brother?" Claudia asked quietly.

René lifted his head to meet his sister's eyes. He was tired and confused but not so much so that he didn't recognize the hatred in their green depths. There was a sneer on her lips as she said, "I heard you screaming for Jean. It won't do you any good to call for him. He's dead. You killed him."

The pain in his head grew worse and it was harder for him to feel Jean through their link. "No, Jean's… Jean's all right," he murmured. "I couldn't…"

"But you did." She stood before him, a dark angel bent on vengeance. "You…" She couldn't think of a word bad enough to describe him. "You killed Jean. You murdered him! Just like you murdered our father! You traitor! You patricidal bastard. They were the two finest men ever born and you murdered them!"

The confusion in René's head was growing. He could barely feel Jean and Baby now. Part of himself was amazed he could feel them at all. They were dead, after all. Philip had killed Baby and in crazed grief he'd killed Jean. That was true. That was why he was alone. Claudia had run from him, just as she should. Didn't she have every right to turn from him? He tried to cling to the memory he had of holding Baby just the night before but it was slipping away, overshadowed by the memory of holding her cold body, dust from Spike and Jean coating her sightless eyes. "No, I can't… I didn't… Philip…"

"Philip didn't do anything!" Claudia spat. "YOU killed Daddy. YOU killed Jean."

He was shaking now. He remembered. He could still feel the stake slamming into Spike's chest. He could still feel his heart screaming, wailing for his hand to stop. "Yes. I did! Oh God help me, I did!"

She was unmoved by his distress. "God won't help something like you! Nothing can help. Only wiping you off the face of the Earth will help." She raised the crossbow she held and aimed it for his heart.

Baby knocked the weapon from her hands. "Don't be stupid!" she snarled. "You hurt him and I'll rip your head off," she warned. Her point made, she chose to ignore her daughter. René was far more important. She had felt his mental cry with such clarity and strength, it had left her gasping. She knelt before her husband. "Precious, I'm here. It's all right. I'm here."

René stared at her in surprise. She couldn't be there; she was dead, after all. "Bébé?"

She took his injured hand in hers. "Yes, my darling. I'm right here." She stroked his cheek with her other hand. It hurt to see him like this. It must have hurt him this same way to see her as insane as she'd been when she came back from Hell. She knew her own dementia had been much worse and marveled that he had been able to care for her as he had. He had been all that was good and compassionate during those months. He'd never turned away, never left her care to another. He'd been so strong. She was going to have to find that same sort of fortitude.

He lifted her hand to his lips. "God let you visit me? I didn't know He let angels visit the damned."

With a tiny gasp, she pulled him close, cradling his head against her shoulder. "Oh, my sweet René. You're not damned, my darling. You're Redeemed, remember?"

"He's damned all right," Claudia said. Baby turned slightly and the consort mark on her neck became visible to Claudia. Seething, boiling rage erupted deep in the young vampire. Her father's mark should have been there, not her bastard brother's. "And you along with him! You're supposed to be dead! What was it? A trick to fake your death so he could have you for himself? A way to get Daddy off guard so he could kill him? You fucking whore!"

Baby wasn't expecting the blow that snapped her head violently to one side, Claudia's steel-toed boot catching her squarely across the temple. She went down hard, sliding bonelessly from René's hands. He stared at her fallen body, so still and lifeless, so much like he'd seen her stretched out before the front door of Rue Royale with a green Christmas bow in her hair. The pain in his head exploded. The grief in his heart overflowed. The fear of her death was nearly overpowering. His hands were trembling so violently that he could barely grasp her enough to pull her up and into his arms. "No. No. You can't be dead. You promised. You can't leave me. Ne pas me partir. S'il vous plaît n'aller pas. Ne pas mourir. Je t'aime."

Claudia snarled. "Don't worry; you'll be together. I'm sending you both to Hell." She pulled a stake from her belt.

"Claudia!" Jean shouted in warning. "Put it down." He ran toward his consort. "Claudia! Stand away!" There was no mistaking the authority in his voice.

There was nothing but disbelief on her face. "Jean?" She shook her head. "It can't … Jean?"

"Yes, my petite soeur. It's Jean. Reach inside and you'll feel me," he told her as gently as he could. He wanted to shake her and demand if she couldn't see that René had paid enough for any imagined transgressions but he knew she wouldn't listen. He knew how she was when her mind was set on something. This really was the same Claudia he had taught as a student and loved as a sister; he knew her well. He reached out to her mentally. Of course, he'd had no contact with this version of her in years so their link was weak and tenuous but he could feel her just a bit. And if she would just stop radiating anger, she'd feel him, too. His Claudia had always been a smart girl and he felt the faintest questing touch. It withdrew almost immediately.

"It…You really are…." A smile brighter than the daytime sun lit her face. "Oh, Jean Claude!"

He smiled back. "Now put your stake away, heh?" He moved to René's side and began to stroke his brother's raven hair. He could smell René's blood on the damp air. "Where are you hurt, m' amour? M' coeur? Tell me where you're injured."

René lifted lost eyes. "She's dead, my Jean." There were smears of his blood on Baby's face and hair where he'd caressed her with his injured hand. The wound on his own face had nearly stopped bleeding. "She's not breathing."

Jean had to close his eyes and bite his lip before he could continue. He opened his eyes and smiled down at his beloved. He continued stroking René's hair as he gently said, "She hasn't breathed in a long time, m' coeur. She's a vampire now. Just like us. Remember?" He tried to push through the disorientation in René's mind, sending calm assurances to his spouse.

René considered what Jean had said solemnly. "Oui. I remember. She made me her consort." He lifted the hand that had been petting Baby's cheek and playing with her hair to his chest. "Jean! No. There's no mark. It was a dream. She didn't. She died."

"Oh fuck!" Jean whispered before saying more loudly, "No. It wasn't a dream. That's a new body." It was clear René had no recollection of what Jean was talking about. "Putain de merde!" Jean cursed. He quickly unbuttoned his shirt enough to reveal his mark. He took René's bloody hand and placed it over the scar. "I am your consort. She is your consort. We both bear your mark. We both love you. We would do anything for you. You know that. Remember. We'd move Heaven or Hell for you. We'll kill anyone or anything that threatens you."

René nodded slowly. "Yes. Yes. You and Bébé. Papa. I remember."

Claudia felt as though her guts were being sucked out. She hadn't really been shocked to see René's claim on Baby. Her mother had always petted and humored her new brother. It had been disgusting from the outset. She wasn't surprised the whore had betrayed her father. But to see it on Jean! And to hear him talking like that! It was obvious now. Jean and Baby had somehow helped René set up Spike's murder. The lying, sneaking bitch had managed to corrupt Jean, too. Or maybe it was René. Everything had been so good until Baby had brought him home. It didn't matter. Claudia would kill all three of them. For Spike.

Baby stirred and opened her eyes just in time to cry out a warning to Jean. He spun and blocked Claudia's down stroke with his upper arm. Claudia had donned her full game face, determined to kill any of them she could. René was simply staring at her and her hatred of him, fueled by all he had done as human and vampire, felt as though it would consume her. He had to die even if making that happen meant she died, too. With skill born of desperation, she evaded Jean's next block and dove beneath his arm. Claudia was very fast but Baby was a touch faster. The queen of the Pride grabbed her consort and threw him backward, her own body a shield for him. Claudia's deadly stake was buried just below Baby's shoulder blade rather than in René's heart. Jean lifted Claudia off her feet and hurled her away. She managed to land in a crouch. She snarled at the three. "Murderers!" she shrieked. "I'll find a way to kill you. You can't hide from me and you can't protect him forever! You killed my daddy. I will kill you." She ran off into the night.

"Claudia! Wait! Spike isn't dead," Jean called after her. "René didn't…." But she was gone. She probably wouldn't have listened in any case. Jean bent and helped his mother to her feet. "How are you?"

She was steady enough. "I'm okay. Been a lot worse." She was far more concerned for René than for herself.

Jean helped his brother to his feet and didn't demure when René solemnly touched his face, assuring himself that Jean was not an illusion. "Let's get you home, heh?" he said and waited for Baby to take René's hand. "We have to get out of this world, Maman. If just being here doesn't kill him, Claudia or Remy will."

Baby nodded and squeezed René's hand. She had no doubts that Jean was right. If they stayed in this world René would die and neither she nor Jean could face that again.

Chapters : |2| |3| |Interlude| |4| |5| |6| |7| |8| |9| |10| |11| |12| |13|

Chapter 13
"Would You Lay With Me"

( David Allan Coe)
Would you lay with me in a field of stone?
If my needs were strong, would you lay with me?
Should my lips grow dry would you wet them, dear?
In the midnight hour, if my lips were dry?

Would you bathe me with me in the stream of life?
When the moon is full would you bathe with me?
Will you still love me when I'm down and out?
In my time of trials, will you stand by me?

Would you go away to another land?
Walk a thousand miles through the burning sand?
Wipe the blood away from my dying hand.
If I gave myself to you?

Would you lay with me in a field of stone?
If my needs were strong, would you lay with me?

Alternate Dimension
Los Angeles, California
Thursday, 2:14 am
June 13, 2003

Spike finished bandaging the wound on Baby's back and helped her pull a clean shirt on. He glanced at where Jean was coaxing René to eat. "I want one of us with René at all times," Spike said softly and took the mug from Jean. "René, drink this and don't argue."

There was a vagueness to René's expression that troubled Spike greatly. He wondered briefly if insanity ran in his bloodline. It certainly seemed to inflict the older members of the clan. Maybe it was Dru's influence. Of course, Spike wasn't sure Angelus was all that normal. He'd been fairly mad back in Sunnydale. He righted his thoughts from their tangent and returned to the problem at hand. He stroked René's hair. "It's all right. I didn't mean to snap. I'm just worried about you."

For a moment the vagueness lifted. "So am I, Papa," René answered. "It so hard to keep it all straight. I feel like I'm being pulled apart."

Spike patted his hand. "I know. I remember." He wrapped his fingers around his son's. "You're going to have to sort out the bit you want to keep and lock the others away. You can't live with them right in front of you all the time. You don't forget them, but you don't parade them back and forth in front of you all the time, either. Live in the now for a while, son. Just be here with your mother, your brother, and me. Just be here with us for a while."

René nodded. "Mais oui. I only want to be with you. I'm tired of being alone."

Spike kissed his forehead. "You don't ever have to be alone again, son."

René sighed into his father's arms and let his sire's surety wash through his mind. Slowly, as Spike's calm fed into him, he felt his bonds with his consorts open. Spike gently soothed the ache that had buried itself in René's heart. His sire was alive and closer to René than he'd ever been. Baby and Jean were his consorts, alive and very much in love with him. He could feel them deep inside himself. He needn't fear anything. Secure in his sire's embrace, he drifted into sleep, exhausted in mind and body.

Alternate Dimension
Los Angeles, California
Thursday, 1:46 pm
June 13, 2003

"Wes, honey, you're making my head hurt," Baby said as yet another attempt at opening a portal to her home dimension fizzled and died with bright sparkles and a squeal.

He slowly closed the ancient text he held and sighed. "It should work. All of the elements are in place. We have the correct talismans and objects. I don't understand it." Frustration colored his every gesture and word.

Spike rubbed the back of his head. "And if we don't do this tonight we can't try again for two weeks?"

"Yes. Unfortunately the only spell I could discover was tied to either a full moon or the dark of the moon." Wes reached for another tome and began leafing through it. Spike sighed and did the same. Even though it was the middle of the day, all of the vampires in addition to all of the humans currently housed at Angel investigations were awake and assembled in the lobby. Now they turned back to research and preparing herbs and the same things they had done over and over all morning long. Eight attempts so far had failed spectacularly. They were all disheartened but knew they had to continue. The members of the Pride and the Scourge worked because they wanted to return home and knew that the longer they remained in this dimension the more likely they were to lose René. The members of Angel Investigations worked because they had taken on the mission of helping people such as these and because they wanted the strangers gone. And René's children worked because their sire had asked them to. He had asked, not ordered, but simply asked. That had never happened before in their vampire lives.

René wasn't doing well at all. His confrontation with Claudia had left him continually plagued by bouts of disjointed memory and terror. He was having more and more trouble holding onto reality and the knowledge of what had and hadn't actually happened in his life. Baby and Jean were with him constantly and that helped. Seeing Spike helped just as much. Being able to feel his sire allowed him to fight against some of the worst of the confusion that made it so hard to tell what was from what wasn't.

Olivia hated seeing the concern and love they all lavished on the monster. It particularly disturbed her to see an image of her Jean touch and kiss that creature. It caused her stomach to clench and nausea to flood her throat. She sat as far from the monster as she could and out of a direct line of sight. She wouldn't look at it if she could avoid it.

Hours passed in fruitless effort. Only the Drusillas seemed happy, giggling and whispering to each other. Whenever asked, they refused to reveal what was so amusing and exciting. In chorus they would simply laugh and say, "Silly children! You will see. Oh what a lovely tea we'll have."

This time the failed spell left the lobby full of choking fumes. Wesley snarled in frustration. "I don't understand it! Why isn't it working?"

"Because you simply don't know how to focus your power yet," came the answer in an identical voice. Wesley whirled and faced his own duplicate as the Aurelius Mage stepped from the portal he had created followed by a man in priest's garb. "But you will."

"Wes!" Baby almost squealed.

He grinned indulgently at her. "Hello, Mother. Surely you didn't doubt that I'd come for you, dearest?" Then his gaze settled on Drusilla and it was obvious he saw nothing else. The vampiress was in his arms in an instant.

Baby grinned crookedly. "No, I never doubted that you'd come for her. I knew Hell nor high water would keep you from Dru."

Wes lifted his lips from Drusilla's. "Nor all the forces of the armies of Light and Darkness combined," he said without looking away from her midnight eyes.

His family laughed and began to greet the priest. Olivia looked on in wonder as first Jean, then René greeted the holy man, kissing his bishop's ring and receiving a brief blessing. It gave her chills. There was no mistaking the joy all of them felt when Jack greeted him the same way. Nor was there any mistaking the shock on the older Wesley's face. He looked to his mother for an answer.

She grinned broadly. "Your brother went and got himself redeemed," she drawled.

"Obviously," he snapped, causing her to laugh softly. "I'm sure you've all been joyfully picking my theories apart."

Jack laughed. "You're so seldom wrong, big brother; you've got to let us get our jollies when we can."

"Lovely," Wes countered, unsuccessfully hiding a grin. "If you're all quite through having a laugh at my expense, could we move along? I can't keep that portal opened all day, you know."

"But Wes, I thought you could do anything," Cordelia purred as she helped Nina gather up Dev. Her words gained her an arched eyebrow and a smoldering look from Wesley. His reply was abandoned as the front doors of the hotel were blown from their hinges and an arrow buried itself deeply in Angel's heart. Fred screamed and dived for the Champion but he was gone before she could reach him. Spike was already pulling Olivia down and across the lobby toward where Easy and Wesley were crouched. "Keep that damn thing open, Wes," he called.

Humans were pouring through the shattered doors, armed with automatic weapons, crossbows, and at least two flame throwers. More were appearing through the doorway that led up from the basement; the sewer access having been blown at the same time as the front doors.

Angelus grabbed his grandson and his consort and dived for the portal, shouting for the others to follow him. He made a grab for the second Cordelia as they raced past her but she evaded him and managed to grapple a gun away from one of the attackers. She killed three of their number before their return fire ended her life.

Jack simply lifted Nina off her feet and ran after Angelus. The girl barely had time to see Gunn fall in front of Fred, bleeding from at least two bullet wounds, before she disappeared into the safety of the portal.

Lorne pulled Fred away, the Wesley he knew providing what covering fire he could as he and his Drusilla fled with the Pylean and the scientist, opting for the closer security of the offices as Baby, Jean, and René made their own dash for the portal. They were only feet from it when Wesley erected a shield that held against the firepower of the attackers. Connor pushed through, joining his beloved aunt and uncle while his duplicate decided to follow his Cordelia's path and take out as many of his opponents as he could before they in turn took him out.

"No!" Remy shouted as he raced toward Wes' barrier. "No!" Wesley strengthened it so no one else could pass, locking the human outside. Remy beat against the thickened air with his fists. "You murdering son of a bitch!" he shouted at René. "I won't let you get away with it! You killed my wife and you'll pay for it, you monster!"

Jean pulled René through the portal even as his brother was once more telling his cousin how sorry he was. His children followed, confused but willing to face life in a new world over sure death in the old one. The young bishop gently pulled Olivia toward the portal. She looked back at the man pounding his fist in futile rage against an invisible barrier and knew his agony. For just an instant their eyes met and both knew the other's pain.

Remy's vampire cohorts joined him. Claudia stared open-mouthed at the living image of her father. Spike however only had eyes for Philip. "This ends here," the Master ordered. "No more. I see you again and I'll kill you." He took his wife's hand and kissed it. "Let's go, dove. Our sons are waiting for us," he said with a sneer at Philip.

Wesley followed his example, leading his darling Drusilla to the edge of the portal. He looked back at the human and the two vampires. "Take Spike seriously. And if you don't take him seriously, remember that I'll be there, too." With a burst of power that he really didn't have to spare and that he knew would leave him exhausted for days, he sent energy surging through the room, knocking the attackers from their feet. Maybe the four in the offices could escape, he thought, but didn't stay to see. He had used what strength he had and so leaned heavily on his ladylove as he followed his sire and grandsire through the rift to the security of home.

New Orleans, Louisiana
Thursday, 3:23 pm
August 29, 2020

René let the curtain fall back over the window and turned back toward the bed. "You should be asleep, ange," he said softly.

"So should you," Baby answered. "Come back to bed, darling."

He shook his head. "I don't want to dream right now," he said.

She nodded. Baby knew all about those kind of dreams. "Then come sit with me," she said. "Or play your fiddle for me or anything else you want to do."

His lips twitched in a hint of a smile. He recognized the speech. He'd used it on her often enough. He never thought their roles would be reversed and she'd be the one caring for him and trying to help him keep a hold on his sanity. That was why they were at her plantation rather than the house on Royal. Olivia was there and René made her more than uncomfortable. And seeing her set every doubt and every piece of guilt he carried alight, begging for his attention and trying to overpower everything else in his mind. He had to get away. He'd thought to go to Mobile but Spike didn't want him that far away. His hint of a smile grew. Spike worried that Mobile was too far for René to reach his sire or vice versa should the need arise. René had to laugh when Spike had told him that. With rush hour bridge traffic, getting to and from Mobile might be quicker than getting to and from River Road. Still, he was glad Baby had insisted they go to the plantation. It was quiet here, just the two of them. In Mobile there would have been questions and duties, and René wasn't sure he was up to that.

Besides, the plantation had always been special. It was their place, his and Baby's. Spike didn't like it and had not visited it for years. He hated the quiet and the lack of people. At heart, Spike was a city boy. René loved it. The river, the big moss-hung trees - it reminded him of dreams he'd had as a boy when he'd pretend he was Tom Sawyer. He was never Huck Finn. Huck was too close to real life for René to want to pretend to be him. His lips twitched again when he thought of how very much the plantation and all it represented must gall Louis. He'd have to find a somewhat subtle way of letting Louis know he was staying here for a while. He could almost hear Louis' teeth grinding already. Such revenge might be petty but it sure felt good.

He sat down on the bed and told Baby his plan. She laughed, of course. She always laughed at digs he dealt Louis. He thought she enjoyed them nearly as much as he did.

He reached out and touched her cheek with the tips of his fingers. He closed his eyes for a moment, just letting himself feel her skin and smell her scent. "Real," he told himself. "She's real. This is real." A nagging little voice insisted he was wrong; that this was a delusion he'd created to escape the pain of what he'd done. Suddenly he didn't care. If being able to touch her and hold her meant he was mad then he would gladly embrace madness with open arms and a welcoming heart. If being mad meant Jean was alive and Spike was alive, then René was proud to call himself a madman. He was tired of fighting and trying to figure out what was real and what wasn't. He would take the easy path and believe that he was not at heart that iniquitous creature that surrendered to the darkness in a misguided attempt to assuage the pain he felt. He would believe he was what she believed him to be. He opened his eyes and let himself fall into those wolf eyes he dreamed of constantly. He kissed her gently, barely brushing his lips across hers. He eased her back onto the pillows. "You're my wife."

She smiled up at him and turned her head so his mark was plain to see. "I am," she said. "I am your wife."

He ran his fingers over the mark as she sighed in pleasure. "You're my wife but I'm not your husband. I don't have your mark no more, m' belle ange." He ran his hand through her hair. "I want to be your husband. I want to be yours the same way you're mine."

"Oh René," was all she could say.

He placed her hand on his chest. "Just like before. I want it just like it was. I want to have your mark over my heart just like it's already on my heart." He searched her face for answers to questions he couldn't ask. "Will you? Will you bind yourself to me that way?"

Her kiss answered that question and a hundred others. He knew then that it didn't matter if he were mad or sane: she intended to stand by him. He held her and loved her and when the time came and she sank her fangs into him, he surrendered himself completely to her. And when he lay quiet and peaceful for the first time in days, he opened his mind and felt Jean and his father waiting for him. There was love and concern and not the slightest hint of rebuke in their hearts. And he wished they were with him. And less immediate but deep and strong, he felt his bond to Sam, and there was a balm in the strength and love of his children and grandchildren. He lay back in Baby's arms and let the exhaustion finally overpower the worry. He let the love and care of his consorts, his sire, and his family dull the ache and soothe the pain. He drifted, secure in the knowledge that when he woke, Jean and Spike would be with them, secure that they, at least, did not find him a monster. For the first time in days, he truly slept.

Baby held him closely and watched the late afternoon shadows dance across the walls. In her heart she swore to God above and Satan below that he would be healed and no one would ever harm him that way again. She didn't care if blood flowed like rivers and cities were reduced to ashes, he would healed. As she had once sworn to restore Spike to life, she now swore to restore René to sanity. If she had to alter realities and rip worlds apart, Spike, René, and Jean would not pay for a world of Philip's making. They would have as much peace and happiness as she could manage to provide them. And one day she would find Philip herself and he would pay her reckoning.

~Fini~