Dark are the Shadows - 11/17/19

Dark are the Shadows
Ms. Hunter Ash

a BTVS and Dark Shadows crossover

Most of the characters belong to their respective creators and companies.  The original characters are mine as is the plotlines.  No infringement is intended - this is for entertainment.  No harm, no foul.

rating: PG13
pairings: Barnabas/Julia; Giles/Angelique, Xander/Anya, Willow/Tara


# # #

Quentin poured himself a cup of coffee as Thomas hobbled into the kitchen in the late afternoon.

"How did lunch go with the Slayer?" he asked Quentin.

"We rescheduled," Quentin said. "She had to run her mother to the hospital for a quick treatment."

"Barnabas never came back," Thomas noted.

"No, he promised he'd stay safe," Quentin replied.

"Probably with Roxanne," Thomas grumbled.

"I don't think so," Quentin said. "He said he rejected Roxanne."

"You believe him?"

"Yes," Quentin responded. "He can lie easily but not about something like this."

"Are we leaving today?" Thomas asked.

"The rest of you are, I'm staying."

"With him?" Thomas asked.

"Yes and to help against Nicholas."

Thomas frowned as he leaned on his crutches.

# # # #

Barnabas frowned when he felt himself being shaken and it wasn't quite sunset.

"Barnabas! Wake up!" Cindy said urgently. "There's cops outside the door and one of them is a guy I zapped the other night!"

Barnabas nodded as he sat up. Ah, sunset, he thought.

"Let them in, they won't find me," he said.

Cindy disappeared and Barnabas grabbed his cane and listened at the bedroom door.

"What do you want?" he heard her demand.

"We have a search warrant," a male voice said firmly. "Find the hostile. Secure or neutralize. Don't take any chances."

Barnabas quickly faded from sight.

The vampire almost rematerialized when he saw Cindy being handcuffed roughly and thrown down on her sofa.

"Nothing!" someone yelled from the bedroom. "Closets are clear!"

"Crawlspace is clear!" another one yelled from the hall.

One of the "officers" pulled Cindy up into a sitting position and backhanded her hard. "Where is he? Where's the vampire?"

"Vampire? You believe in vampires?" Cindy replied and whimpered when she was backhanded again.

"Where is he?" the soldier repeated. "A neighbor saw a man matching his description come in last night and he didn't come back out."

"He turned into a bat and flew out the window," Cindy snapped and this time she was backhanded with a closed fist and didn't get back up from where she fell over on the sofa.

Barnabas watched the soldiers gather in the living room.

"All right, you check the alley and you check the storage unit in the garage," the first soldier ordered. "I'm going to stay here and...question our hostile lover."

The other soldiers left the room and the soldier glared at Cindy and pulled her up into a sitting position. "I remember you, bitch. It isn't fun being shocked. Want to know what it feels like?"

Barnabas materialized behind the soldier and wrapped one arm around the soldier's neck and squeezed.

Buffy kicked in the door and blinked when she saw Barnabas choking a soldier and smiling while doing it. "Barnabas! Let him go!"

"Stay out of this," Barnabas said. "Look at the girl and tell me to stop. He intended on killing her so she couldn't report them."

"Let him go!" Buffy repeated.

Barnabas released his hold on the soldier and stepped back as Buffy rushed forward and began examining the man.

"He's still alive," she said softly as she searched him and pulled out a handcuff key.

"Too bad," Barnabas said and took the key from Buffy and gently unlocked the cuffs from Cindy's wrists. He gently touched her cheek. "You should call for an ambulance," he said. "I believe her cheek is broken because of him."

"You can't kill him because he got heavy-handed," Buffy said as she pulled out her phone.

"They were after me," Barnabas said. "She protected me."

"You can't kill civilians!" Buffy snapped.

"They aren't," Barnabas said and glanced at the door. “How are you here?”

“Graham told me they were on the trail of a new type of vamp and told me they were going to capture him tonight, I followed them,” Buffy explained.

"Here come his playmates."

Buffy swore as the vampire disappeared. She held up a finger as soldiers rushed in. "Yes, I need the paramedics. I heard sounds of a fight and found this woman and she's unconscious and she's bruised and there's a guy and he's out too. Oh, the address is 1710 Baker St, apartment 24B. Yes, they're both breathing. I'll watch for the paramedics."

She ended the call before the operator could tell her to stay on the phone.

"Hi, guys," she said to the soldiers. "What's going on? I heard the sound of flesh hitting flesh and the door was partly open. What hit them?"

"Probably that vampire," Graham informed her. "You sure you didn't choke him out?"

"Why would I do that?" Buffy demanded. "Where's the vampire that beat the girl up?"

"That's who we're looking for," Graham responded as he glanced away.

"Fine, you deal with the paramedics or drag your buddy down the backstairs, I hear sirens," Buffy said.

"Grab his arms and get him out of here," Graham ordered. "If you see that vamp, stake him, don't play around. He's got some different powers."

"Got it," Buffy said and sighed as they rushed out of the apartment.

She dashed out of the apartment and ran down the stairs. She wanted to say goodbye to Julia and the others.

# # #

Barnabas walked into the mansion and saw Julia sigh with relief. He walked over and looked at her packed bags of the new clothes they had purchased. "Thank you for waiting until I could get here."

"Barnabas, please come with us," Julia said softly. "I have a bad feeling about all of this."

"More the reason for me to stay," he responded. He glanced over when Buffy entered and hesitated when she saw him and then shook her head and went to talk to Carolyn. "I love you, Julia."

"I know, Barnabas," Julia whispered. "It's just that I watched you chasing love for years. I can't do it again."

"Damnit, I am not with Roxanne! I was not with Roxanne," Barnabas snapped and struggled to keep his voice a whisper. "I am with you because I want to be with you."

"I know, Barnabas, and I'll be waiting," Julia said.

"I have rarely lied to you, even when I preyed on our friends and family, and not about something like this," Barnabas protested. "I can't deal with the mistrust. I haven't earned this."

"I'll see you when you come home," Julia said and kissed his cheek.

Barnabas' jaw clenched. He tried to smile as Carolyn approached him. "You take care of yourself. I am so glad we've reconnected."

Carolyn hugged him tightly. "Beware of towers and fire," she whispered.

"Good ideas for a vampire," he said softly. "I love you, Carolyn. Again, I apologize for those years ago."

"Forgotten," she said with a smile and hugged him again.

Barnabas squatted down and hugged Elizabeth. "You study hard and take care of your father while he has that cast on. Can you do that?"

"Totally," Elizabeth said firmly. "Next time Uncle Giles is going to teach me how to throw knives and I'm going to teach him computer stuff."

Buffy's eyebrows rose and she looked over at her Watcher who only shrugged.

"That sounds like a bargain for both of you," Barnabas commented. "Go help your Aunt Carolyn with your bags after you say goodbye to your Uncle Giles."

Giles lifted the girl into his arms with a smile. "I'm going to miss you, you were great when we were in that western town. Maybe we can come out and visit you this fall."

"That would be cool," Elizabeth said and bit her lip.

"Shhh, we'll see each other again," Giles promised. "Now, run along."

Buffy noticed that Thomas didn't say goodbye to Barnabas who had stepped back away from the others.

In minutes everyone glanced around at each other as the door closed.

"Now what?" Xander asked. "How do we fight this unknown blonde and flush Nicholas out? I've got to get back to work tomorrow."

"Stick close to Dawn," Giles suggested. "Or stay totally away in case Glorificus figures out you're protecting the key."

"That's not helpful," Buffy complained. "And the Initiative is totally after Barnabas."

"What happened?" Quentin asked Barnabas.

"The apartment of the bartender from the Bronze was invaded by the soldiers," Barnabas said. "She was handcuffed and beaten. They were attempting to capture or kill me. The leader of their group beat her unconscious and he intended on killing her, he was one of the soldiers she hit with a stun weapon the other night. I stopped him and Buffy stopped me."

"What do you mean, stopped you?" Xander asked.

"I was choking him to death," Barnabas answered calmly.

"They aren't the enemy," Buffy complained.

"You weren't on the receiving end of stun weapons and silver stakes," Barnabas said with a shrug. "I protected someone who was innocent."

"Enough of that," Giles said. "We'll have an indepth discussion of who was right or wrong later. Willow did her magic with the computer and coordinated the police reports on the recent rash of mental patients. Look at the circles on the map."

"They surround three houses," Anya pointed out and Giles nodded.

"The FBI uses a program to figure out what is the center of a pattern, that's most likely where you'll find the criminal," Willow added. "The victims were a paperboy, the mailman, a PG&E meter reader..."

"People on foot in that neighborhood," Xander surmised. "Why do they go insane if they get near one of those houses?"

"Good question," Giles said. "I have a call into the Council about the superbeing you fought with. I haven't heard back."

"Terrific," Buffy said softly. "My first question besides who the hell is she and what does she want would be does she know the key is now human."

Giles nodded. "Perhaps magic might get us some answers."

"Witches to the left, heroes to the right and we'll pretend to be busy," Xander announced.

# # #

"Thanks for coming with me, Quentin," Buffy said as they sat on the porch of the Summers house. "Will you have to go back before sunrise?"

"Willow will watch over our vampires tomorrow along with Giles," Quentin answered. "How are we going to protect the vampires and your mother and sister between two houses?"

"Yeah, I know," Buffy said. "We should probably all be together. Will that nutjob figure out that it's Dawn?"

"Unlikely unless whatever that thing is knows that the key was made into a human being," Quentin said thoughtfully. "We have to find out what that energy does that may tell us how to fight whatever she is."

"Help me pack up some of Mom and Dawn's things and move them to the mansion tomorrow?" Buffy asked.

"Of course," Quentin said with a smile.

"You know you don't have to stick around," Buffy said softly.

"Nicholas is still my enemy and the enemy of my family," Quentin said. "Barnabas is here and all of you are family now. I'm here."

He leaned over and kissed Buffy gently.

# # #

Giles looked up from the table as Xander placed a cup of tea in front of the Watcher. "Hullo, what time is it?"

"3 a.m.," Xander responded. "Are you really going to buy this place?"

"Yes," Giles said. "We need the space and you can help with the repairs or recommend trusted handymen."

"I can do that," Xander said. "Are you going to move in or keep your place? I mean you said Angel and crew could stay here whenever they're in town. Can you live here with Angel popping in sometimes?"

"I believe so," Giles said. "Especially if we actual fix this place up and change it from.... Lord Byron's brooding place to a home for most of us."

"Do you still want to do the secret room below the store?" Xander asked.

"Yes," Giles said. "We need to have a secure place where Tara and any other vampire here won't be discovered."

"I'll look on the internet for bomb shelter plans," Xander offered. "You'll need Willow and Tara working on Super Barbie."

Giles nodded and smiled as Angelique walked into the dining room.

"Time for a break, you two," she declared. "Anya is asleep, so is Willow."

"And Quentin and Buffy are watching over Joyce and Dawn," Giles added. "You're right, let me stretch my legs. Where's Barnabas?"

"Brooding," Angelique answered.

"We're down a major fighter and he's distracted as hell," Giles said thoughtfully.

"A fighter?" Xander asked.

"Thomas, someone that can change into a werewolf at will," Giles pointed out.

"Barnabas is a powerful vampire," Angelique said. "As am I in addition to being a witch."

"Let's hope we find a way to protect everyone," Giles said. "Try and get some sleep, Xander."

"Okay."

# # # #

Buffy pulled a blanket over Quentin as he was stretched out on the sofa and smiled and then shook her head. The last thing she needed was another boyfriend with complications. Especially an immortal boyfriend.

Still, he could go out in the sunshine. A plus.

The Slayer sat down with a cup of herb tea with her mind racing.

There were so many problems to tackle and they all centered around her in a way.

Glorificus, Nicholas Blair, brooding vampires…

Well, she couldn’t really help with that one. Barnabas, Julia and Angelique were complicated and mostly a mystery. Quentin was also a major mystery. She knew a little about him but only when she asked. Maybe that was how someone immortal survived, never volunteer information and give only the barest basics of answers.

Dawnie. Buffy couldn’t believe her memories were false. She remembered holding Dawn just after Joyce and Hank Summers had brought her home. She had helped with everything, from changing diapers and bathing Dawnie to rocking the infant to sleep so Joyce could get a nap.

How could those monks have formed those memories into everyone around Dawn, especially Joyce and Buffy? She frowned.

Dawn was NOT going to find out she hadn’t started life as a human being, that her memories were false as well. Buffy had no idea how that would impact an insecure teenage girl.

# # #

Cindy opened her eyes with a moan. Where…?

Then she remembered the ride in an ambulance and then a trip to the hospital where doctors, nurses and police wanted answers. Answers she couldn’t provide.

Barnabas was a dangerous vampire and the soldiers knew who she was.

So the police were looking for a tall man dressed in black wearing a black ski mask. Cindy had added in the touch of a Southern accent and gruff voice but not very much beyond that.

“Easy,” a voice said softly.

Cindy tried to smile when Barnabas stood up and moved to her bedside.

“Your cheekbone is broken but it didn’t shatter,” Barnabas said. “No bone chips, in other words. You’ll have black eyes and major bruising, especially at the cheek but, according to your records, you won’t need surgery.”

“What happened?” she asked softly. “I saw you choking that guy.”

“I didn’t kill him,” Barnabas said. “I left when his platoon mates came back as someone was dialing 911 for you.”

“Thank you,” Cindy whispered.

“I should be thanking you,” Barnabas protested. “You took that beating to protect me and I’m grateful. I can’t stay long, however, it will be sunrise soon.”

“Will I see you again?”

“Not for awhile,” Barnabas responded. “Those soldiers will be watching you.”

Cindy nodded and touched the bandage on her cheek. “I’d like to see you again when they stop.”

“If I’m in town it would be my pleasure to spend time with you again,” Barnabas said and raised her hand to his lips. “And if that bastard comes back… I may not stop next time.”

“Just be careful,” Cindy urged. “You’d better go, the sky is turning purple.”

Barnabas leaned over and kissed her very gently. “Thank you. Sleep and heal.”

The vampire stepped away into a darkened corner of the room and Cindy had the impression he was no longer there. She pressed her call bell, she needed pain medication.

# # # #

Willow was pacing when Barnabas entered the mansion. “There you are! It’s almost sunrise!”

“I know,” he said. “Is Angelique sleeping with Rupert?”

“Yeah, the room with the bed that has the curtains,” Willow said.

“I’ll take Angelique’s coffin then,” Barnabas decided. “It’ll feel comforting, I believe.”

“Barnabas, what’s happened with you and Julia?”

“I wish I could explain,” the vampire said. “I’m not with Roxanne and haven’t sought her out. I told her I love Julia and that’s where I want to be but it doesn’t seem good enough for Julia. I’ve a feeling that even if Roxanne left town Julia would see her as a threat and be watching for her for decades.”

“Ouch,” Willow whispered. “You’d better get in your coffin.”

Barnabas glanced over his shoulder to a window and nodded. Covered windows or not, sunrise would force him into a vampiric sleep in minutes.

The vampire kissed Willow’s cheek. “See you at sunset.”

## # ##

“How am I supposed to decide what clothes to take?” Dawn yelled from her room.

Buffy rolled her eyes as she helped her mother pack some things.

“This is going to ruin my social life!” Dawn declared as she went to her mother’s bedroom. “How am I supposed to explain this?”

“Just don’t tell anyone,” Joyce suggested. “If someone wants to spend the night suggest you do it at their place and tell everyone you’re helping me out at the gallery after school so you won’t be home.”

Dawn frowned and then nodded. “Okay, that works.”

She returned to her bedroom to pack for the temporary move to the mansion.

“Thanks, Mom,” Buffy said. “That was good.”

“Well, we know you’re very clever,” Joyce said. “Where do you think it get it?”

Buffy laughed and grabbed her mother’s favorite books to read before falling asleep.

Quentin appeared in the doorway with a smile. “I’ve got those groceries in the car you wanted, Mrs. Summers.”

“Please call me, Joyce.”

“If you’ll call me Quentin,” he countered. “I’ll grab the weapons Buffy told me to grab from the hall closet.”

“He’s very nice,” Joyce commented after he started down the stairs.

“Yeah,” Buffy agreed. “And he knows about vampires, demons and Slayers. That’s a major milestone marker in my dating plans.”

Joyce shook her head.

“Life has been turned upside down,” Joyce said as she grabbed another pair of socks and pantyhose and stuffed them in a suitcase. “Rupert is dating a vampire, a sorcerer had me and Dawn under his power and now he wants Dawn back. We met new vampires that are different than other vampires and then demons attacking last night.”

“Don’t forget to add the fact that Tara is now a vampire,” Buffy pointed out.

“That’s so… hard to comprehend,” Joyce admitted.

“Yeah, I agree.”

# # #

Quentin handed a box of groceries to Xander as they transferred things from the Summers house into the new property being purchased by Giles, the mansion formerly belonging to Angel.

“You’re off work?”

“Yeah, something went wrong with a permit so we’re delayed a couple of days,” Xander responded. “Giles still isn’t sure if he’s keeping his condo or moving in here totally.”

“Why have two places to live?” Quentin asked.

“Because he’s giving Angel sleepover rights,” Xander said as they began unboxing the groceries.

“And that’s a problem?”

“Did Buffy or Giles tell you about Giles’ girlfriend that was killed?” Xander asked.

“Yes, a vampire that killed his girlfriend and left her in Rupert’s bed.”

“That vampire was Angel,” Xander said.

“What?”

“He has his soul because of a curse,” Xander said. “That curse made him lose his soul.”

“Yes, Buffy mentioned that,” Quentin said. “I didn’t realize it was the vampire that was here last night.”

“Yeah, that’s Buffy’s ex.”

“No wonder he told me not to date Buffy if I intended on hurting her,” Quentin said.

“Yeah, he won’t let go even though they can never be together,” Xander commented. “Want to help hang that front door with me later?”

“Of course.”

# # #

“Well, I suppose I can’t be overly picky about the servant Diablos sent me,” Nicholas muttered as he watched a young man finish feeding from a homeless man.

The vampire dropped the corpse to the floor and looked at Nicholas.

“Julia Hoffman,” he demanded.

“Clear across the country,” Nicholas said and laughed at the vampire’s look of frustration. “I can, however, provide you with the man that killed you twice. Tell me, I do believe being staked hurt but did burning to death in the sun hurt as well?”

The vampire’s hands clenched. “It was…horrible.”

"And how do you feel about the fact that both Julia Hoffman and Barnabas Collins are both vampires?"

"What?"

“HE is the one that turned her. You do as I say and you can have Barnabas to burn slowly over an open fire,” Nicholas promised. “And the lords of hell won’t bring him back.”

# # # #