dark are the shadows 04/19/2020

Dark Are The Shadows
by Ms. Hunter Ash aka B. Cooper

a BTVS & Dark Shadows crossover

rating: PG13

pairings: Willow/Tara, Quentin/Buffy, Barnabas/Roxanne, Giles/Angelique, Xander/Anya

editing note - the timing is a bit off for the next few pages - I'll work on it next go around

# # # #

COLLINSPORT, MAINE

Barnabas held the door to the Blue Whale open with his foot.

“Carolyn, I'll be inside in a few minutes,” he told his cousin.

She glanced over at the street and saw Alex Thornton Sr standing by his car and nodded. “Good luck.”

The vampire walked over to the other man almost cautiously. “Good evening, Mr. Thornton.”

“Good evening, Mr. Collins,” Thornton responded. “Shall we skip the small talk?”

“I have no objection,” Barnabas said.

“The judge will probably grant bail to my son tomorrow,” Thornton began. “With conditions that he not consume alcohol, stay out of the Blue Whale and the diner and get a job. That he won't have any contact with any Collins or the Haskells. Does that work?”

“Yes, that's very reasonable,” Barnabas responded.

“The sheriff and prosecutor agree to him pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter with full allocation,” Thornton continued. “Your charges will remain in place until he pleads guilty. He'll likely receive probation or minimum jail time and then a long probation.”

“That's what the family and friends are looking for, thank you,” Barnabas said.

“He's going to actually start a job when he gets out,” Thornton said with a grim smile. “He's going to work cleaning rental properties I own and scrubbing barnacles off boats before they go into dry dock. Neither are pleasant jobs.”

Barnabas smiled. “It may do him some good.”

“He's also going to spend time caring for stroke victims,” Thornton added.

Barnabas nodded. “Thank you, Willie would like that. Thank you for being willing to try and rein him in.”

“I should have done it last summer,” Thornton said. “I'm sorry about your friend. Half the donation amount will be given to a charity or research group picked by the prosecutor. He's going to pretend he doesn't know about our agreement but he's willing to pick the group so there's no hint of favoritism or underhandedness. The second donation will be made in three months.”

“In the next quarter,” Barnabas noted. “Agreed.”

The two men shook hands.

“Have a good evening, Mr. Collins,” Thornton said. “Sign the complaint against my son, that will be held over his head.”

“I shall do so, thank you.”

In a few minutes Barnabas returned to the Blue Whale after signing the papers the deputy had presented to him. Alex Thornton Jr had remained quiet during his visit, thankfully.

When he entered he wasn't surprised to see that Maggie, Joe, Julia and Tom had joined the group. He had expected that David and Julia would want to see each other.

He joined the table and sat down next to Dawn. “Hullo, Julia, Tom.”

“Hello, Barnabas,” Julia said and Tom nodded. “How did it go with Thornton?”

Barnabas told everyone at the table the deal that had been worked out with Thornton and the authorities.

“That's probably better than we would have gotten otherwise,” Joe commented. “Thank you for letting yourself get hit, Barnabas.”

“A small price to get some kind of justice for Willie,” he said. “Now, have we discussed Christmas?”

# # # #

SUNNYDALE, CALIFORNIA

“I made some popcorn, Mrs. Summers,” Xander offered as she walked down the stairs. “I think Buffy is trying to get some sleep before getting up at 5am.”

“That makes sense,” Joyce said. “Please, call me Joyce.”

“I, uh, that feels weird,” he said. “Calling you Summers would be weird too. How about Joyce Mom?”

“I like that,” Joyce said. “What are we watching?”

“Time After Time,” Anya said. “A horror romance.”

“A what?”

“Its about a time traveling Jack the Ripper and H.G. Wells,” Xander explained. “It's kinda horror but no gore and not a lot of blood and it's a romance.”

“Okay,” Joyce said and joined them on the sofa.

# # # #

COLLINSPORT, MAINE

Barnabas noticed that Julia seemed more relaxed around him than the night before and Thomas was basically ignoring him.

“Carolyn asked if we will tell the next generations about us,” Barnabas said to Julia.

Julia frowned. “There's positive and negatives with that. You two know your children and grandchildren,” she said to David and Carolyn. “What do you think?”

“Well, my grandkids are too young,” David said. “My son and daughter... we probably should. They need to trust you two if....”

“If anything happens to David or me,” Carolyn said. “I agree.”

“This will be an interesting holiday,” Julia said with a laugh.

Barnabas chuckled and looked up when Dawn touched his arm, following her gaze and blinked.

Standing just inside the Blue Whale was beautiful red-haired young woman looking at him.

“Roxanne.”

“Go on,” Dawn said softly.

“Bring her to the house later,” Carolyn whispered in his ear.

Barnabas resisted looking at Julia and Thomas as he got up and grabbed his cane. “Excuse me, please.”

The vampire walked over and he and Roxanne hesitated and then she hugged him tightly.

“What's happened? I didn't expect you,” Barnabas said. “How?”

“I flew into Boston last night,” Roxanne said. “Nicholas tried to call me to him and....it hurt. I hoped distance would be better.”

Barnabas nodded and grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the door.

“Wow,” Maggie said. “I do remember her.”

“They can catch us up later at the house,” Carolyn said firmly. “David, tell Julia about your son and daughter.”

“Well, I'm afraid my daughter is about as curious as I used to be,” he began.

# # # #

SUNNYDALE, CALIFORNIA

Joyce pulled a blanket up over a sleeping Xander and Anya on the sofa with a smile.

She knew Giles and Buffy were asleep, the only ones awake aside from herself were Quentin, Willow and Tara as they clicked quietly on their laptops and Angelique was out... doing something.

Joyce stepped out onto the patio and sat down in a lawn chair next to Quentin as the immortal drank a cup of tea.

“Can't sleep?”

“No,” he responded. “I keep running it all in my head. Nicholas Blair wants to open the door to the Leviathans and elder gods and that Glory creature wants to take someone innocent and open doors that would cause ultimate chaos that would probably destroy our universe and we haven't a clue how to stop her. With Nicholas... we just keep spoiling his plans, I suppose.”

Joyce sighed and nodded. “It's... very stressful.”

Neither of them heard Jinx moving away from the wall separating the property from the alley. Glory's minion was smiling.

# # # #

COLLINSPORT, MAINE

“Roxanne,” Barnabas whispered as they moved into the shadows of the building and he kissed her gently.

“I should have called and not let Julia see me, I'm sorry,” she said softly.

“It's done,” Barnabas said and kissed her again. “What happened?”

“I was in Boston when I talked to you,” Roxanne answered. “I wasn't sure if I was going to drive down or not. After Quentin and I got back to Sunnydale I was talking with Sebastian and it suddenly felt like I was on fire and I heard Nicholas' voice telling me to go to him. Sebastian knew what was happening and tried to help by sending me psychic energy. He said to get away from Sunnydale.”

“And you drove back to Los Angeles, did that help?” Barnabas asked as they began walking along the piers on the wharf.

“Only a little,” Roxanne said. “I needed to get to you and caught a flight. I stayed in a hotel last night with the Do Not Disturb sign on the door and a chair under the handle.”

“We'll work with the witches when we get back to find a way to block him from influencing you,” Barnabas said. “I'm glad you're here.”

“Even though it complicates things?” Roxanne asked.

“Yes,” Barnabas said and kissed her again.

“That was Roxanne?” Joe asked as the small group headed for the parking lot outside the Blue Whale.

“Yeah,” Carolyn said as Julia and Thomas got into their car. Since they were staying, they had promised to catch up with Joe, Maggie, David and Amy later in the week.... after Barnabas was gone, no doubt.

“Wow, I've never seen him look at someone like that,” Maggie said. “Not even when I knew he was hung up on Vicki.”

//Or you// Carolyn thought and nodded. “Yeah, Julia said he was drawn to her from the moment he saw her like it was magical or something.”

“Maybe that's why Julia didn't fight hard for him?” Maggie ventured. “We've had some strange experiences but....”

“Collinwood and the Collins family take the cake,” David said.

“Yeah,” Joe agreed.

# # # #

SUNNYDALE, CALIFORNIA

A young, blonde haired woman sat up and looked around with an expression of confusion. “Barnabas?”

“No, but you'll reconnect with him soon,” Tom Jennings said as he helped her off a work table. “Tonight you're going to learn how to feed that hunger that's hitting you and you're going to know more power than you ever thought possible. I'm Tom.”

“Cindy,” she said absently. “The hunger.... it hurts.”

“I know,” Tom said. “We're going to take care of that. Come on, I'll show you how to fly.”

# # # # #

COLLINSPORT, MAINE

Roxanne sighed as Barnabas wrapped his arms around her from behind as they looked out over Widows Hill.

“This is where you lost Josette,” she commented.

“Yes,” he acknowledged.

“And you'll never love another like that,” Roxanne suggested.

“I told Julia once that you were the only woman that had made me forget Josette,” Barnabas responded.

Roxanne turned in his arms to look at him. “Barnabas?”

“It's true,” Barnabas said with a smile.

“How long are we staying?” Roxanne asked.

“Another night? Carolyn would like to take Dawn up to the city,” Barnabas suggested.

“Who would watch over us?”

“Only three people know where we'd be sleeping,” he answered. “Carolyn, David and Dawn. Julia and Tom don't know about it and Amy will be there.”

“Should we spend some time with your family?”

“A bit but we can retire early,” he suggested.

“Please.”

# # # #

SUNNYDALE, CALIFORNIA

Cindy watched several customers leave the Bronze with Tom in the parking lot, waiting patiently.

“Where's Barnabas?” she asked.

“Out of the state right now,” Tom responded. “There, single guy heading for the college. You get to choose; you can wait until he gets near some shadows and jump him or find an excuse to get close to him and then attack.”

Cindy frowned. Did she want to kill? She was so hungry!

Cindy trotted quickly up to the young man. “Uh, hi, can I walk with you? There was this really creepy guy and he followed me out of the club.”

Tom grinned as she slipped her arm to interlock with the student's.

“Yeah, sure,” the young man said. “Where are you heading?”

“Baker Hall at the university,” Cindy said. “I'm staying with a friend there. I'm going to be enrolled next semester.”

“Oh, cool,” the student said. “I'm Bill.”

“I'm Charlene,” Cindy said. “I can't thank you enough for this... will your girlfriend get angry if she finds out?”

“I don't have a girlfriend right now,” Bill said.

“Wow, that's hard to believe,” Cindy said. “Maybe we could... exchange numbers or something?”

“I'd like that,” Bill said with a wide smile.

Bill was a bit thin and studious looking with black rimmed glasses and unfashionable khaki pants and button up shirt. He was actually handsome once you saw past the stereotype and insecurities. At least he didn't have a pocket protector, Cindy thought to herself.

She stopped him under a tree and pulled him close, kissing him firmly and passionately. Bill responded eagerly after a moment of surprise. He moaned when her fingers began unbuttoning his shirt and her lips moved to his neck.

He hissed from a sudden pain mixed with an overload of eroticism as her fangs broke his skin and she began to feed. It was only moments before she followed his body down to the ground, continuing to consume his blood.

“That's enough,” Tom said softly and gently pulled her up from the body. “Don't feed from the dead for long. The blood loses its... magic really quickly. How do you feel?”

Cindy looked at the body and blinked. “He's dead?”

“Yeah, that's not uncommon on the first night,” Tom said. He turned Cindy into his arms and began kissing her aggressively and then sank his fangs into her neck and Cindy cried out and ripped his shirt open.

Tom pulled back and laughed. “Let's go back to the house. You've been with a repressed vampire, now try one that will show you exactly how long vampires can last. We'll order take out, the birds can have the pizza, we'll take care of the driver.”

“The sensations....”

“Amazing, aren't they?” Tom asked. “Come on, there's a lot more.”

# # # #

COLLINSPORT, MAINE

Roxanne hesitated just inside Collinwood. “They like Julia, they won't accept me,” she said softly.

“They accept us as vampires and love us, they'll see how I feel about you and accept you and me,” Barnabas said. “Angelique and Julia both knew how I felt about you just by how I looked at you. Come on.”

Barnabas held her hand as he reached for the doors to the parlor. He seemed confident but he was secretly hoping Julia and Thomas weren't there.

He almost sighed with relief to find everyone else was in the parlor but no Julia and Thomas.

“Uncle Barnabas!” Elizabeth exclaimed and ran to hug him.

“Hello, shouldn't you be in bed?” he asked as he squatted down to her level.

“She refused until you came in,” Carolyn said with a laugh. “She's staying up here tonight.”

“I'm going with Dawn and Aunt Carolyn to the city tomorrow,” Elizabeth explained.

“Oh, you three are going to have fun,” Barnabas said. “You're not going, Amy?”

“No, I'm going to hang around here tomorrow, I've got an art project I need to do some work on,” Amy said.

Barnabas suspected that she had volunteered to stay in Collinwood to keep anyone from exploring and trying to find him and Roxanne.

“Barnabas, Roxanne, come sit down,” Carolyn urged. “We want to get to know Roxanne. Barnabas, you're pretty cute when you're in love so we want to know more.”

“Thank you, I think,” Barnabas said with a chuckle.

“When are you three heading back to California?” Maggie asked as the vampire couple sat down.

“Another night or so,” Barnabas said. “We'll see when they demand to have Dawn back. Her mother and sister will want her home soon, I think.”

Maggie nodded. “Understandable. I'm glad they let her come with you. How are your hands?”

“Much better. Still a bit sore but better,” Barnabas replied.

“Good,” Joe said. “Roxanne, Barnabas told us a little on how he met you but very little. Tell us about yourself, if you don't mind.”

“Well, I was ill and under the influence of a sorcerer,” Roxanne began and Barnabas resisted smiling as she began twisting the actual history much as he had done with his own story to Maggie and Joe. “My energy and soul were being used to give life to the daughter of the sorcerer, a very evil witch who was out to destroy the Collins family. Barnabas and Julia saved me. When I looked into his eyes, it was like I had known him forever but we were separated.”

# # # #

SUNNYDALE, CALIFORNIA

Nicholas Blair stayed in the shadows as he watched Cindy and Tom feed from a delivery driver. They had given the restaurant the address to an empty house up the block and had waited for the boy in the shadows. It had been almost startling to the sorcerer at how fast they had taken the kid to the ground and had fangs in his veins before he could even cry out.

It was messy but necessary, Blair supposed. Now the vampires were approaching the house holding hands and smiling widely as blood slowly dripped from their lips.

“Hello, Nicholas,” Tom said casually.

“Hello, Tom, Cindy,” Nicholas responded as if he were addressing coworkers in a 9-5 office. “Enjoying yourself, Cindy? Are you finding the powers amazing?”

“Yes,” Cindy said.

“Good,” Nicholas said. “Tom will tell you what few restrictions and fears you will have from now on. There is an even more exhilarating feeding if you’re both interested.”

“Yeah, of course,” Tom answered.

“Feeding from another vampire is rare and you can’t actually kill them by feeding but you can send them into a vampiric coma or into extreme weakness,” Nicholas said. “Once they’re in that condition they can’t move even at night other than maybe crawl slowly. It leaves them very vulnerable even at night. Drain a vampire and leave him or her in the front yard and they’ll discover how burning up in the sun feels.”

Tom lost his smile. “The pain is incredible.”

“Yes, exactly,” Nicholas agreed. “The high from feeding from a vampire is also incredible, I’m told. The down side is that every other vampire will be out to kill any that prey on their own like that.”

“We’re not looking to join the vampire country club,” Tom said.

“Good,” Nicholas said. “Want to learn about an even more intense high?”

“What could be better than that?” Cindy asked.

“Feeding from a vampire that is also a witch or sorcerer,” Nicholas said. “Like Angelique, the woman that turned you into this Tom.”

“The blonde in the woods,” Tom said, his eyes widening.

“Yes,” Nicholas said. “And there’s another vampire witch with her in that house, a witch, a Slayer, a half-breed and an immortal werewolf and something that goes beyond any imagination if you know how to tap it, any of those will be like fine wine compared to.... your most recent meal.”

“When and how?” Tom asked as he slipped his hand into Cindy's.

“Very soon and it'll be here,” Nicholas said. “I considered running over to Maine to annoy the Collins family and grab the girl but it'll be more fun to annoy the heroes here for now. We'll see how long Barnabas and the girl stay in Maine.”

# # # #

COLLINSPORT, MAINE

“We're going to head out,” Joe said as he and Maggie stood up. “6 a.m. is in about four hours and my boss is a taskmaster.”

Carolyn threw a throw pillow at her plant manager. “Your boss will let you clock in at 10 a.m. in the morning today.”

“Roxanne, nice to meet you,” Maggie said as everyone stood up to make their goodbyes. She hugged the female vampires. “Make him as happy as you can,” she whispered.

“I'll do my best,” Roxanne whispered back.

“Barnabas, now I understand some of your.... eccentric behavior and why you held a lot of people at arm's length,” Maggie said. “I am so happy you risked telling us. We'll see everyone tomorrow night.”

“Thank you, that sounds good,” Barnabas said as he hugged Maggie quickly and pulled back. “Joe, see you tomorrow night.”

“I look forward to it,” Joe said with an easy smile.

“Goodnight,” Barnabas said as the couple left.

“I'm heading up to bed as well,” Amy said. “Elizabeth gets up early.”

“Me too,” Carolyn said. “Goodnight you two. I'm going to move things around in the basement and then wake Dawn and Elizabeth up for our trip to the city. Oh, there's an air mattress in your sleeping area, by the way.”

“Sounds good, we're going to head off to our sleeping area in a bit,” Barnabas said. “Goodnight, thank you both for everything. Goodnight, Dawn, don't forget to call your mother and sister in the morning but remember the time difference.”

“I will,” Dawn said and waved at Roxanne as the humans left the room.

“Now what, my love?” Roxanne asked as Barnabas wrapped his arms around her.

“We ensure the firescreen is in front of the fireplace, turn out most of the lights and head downstairs,” Barnabas suggested. “We've a bit of time before sunrise and I want to hold you and more. Did you bring a suitcase?”

“Yes, it's in the rental car. I'll go get it,” Roxanne offered. “You shut everything down.”

“Roxanne... I love you,” Barnabas said as Roxanne hesitated by the door.

Roxanne smiled widely. “Be right back.”

# # # #

Buffy smacked her alarm clock and she was certain she broke the thing when it began beeping at 5 a.m. “I keep vampire hours, Giles!” she muttered.

The Slayer sat up and glared at Quentin who merely continued to sleep.

It was going to be a long day. First driving towards the desert, getting breakfast, winding up wherever they were going and then.... whatever Giles had in mind and he had hinted it might take more than a day.

In the desert....

Joy.

# # # #