Dark are the Shadows
Ms Hunter Ash
ripperbard7@yahoo.com
frost29@post.com
A BTVS/DS crossover
pairings: Buffy/Quentin, Willow/Tara, Xander/Anya, Giles/Angelique, Barnabas/Roxanne, Julia/Thomas, Maggie/Joe
rating: PG13
# # #
Angelique picked up her chirping phone and opened it. “Hello, Rupert.”
“Angelique, I... don't know what to say.”
“Rupert, I love you very much and I can't wait to see you again,” Angelique said softly. “I needed away from Sunnydale and you need to get back to your life.”
“You're part of that life,” Giles responded.
“Yes,” Angelique agreed. “And I will be here when all of you come back for two weeks. You know I can't stay there all the time.”
Giles sighed. “I know. I'm going to miss you.”
“And I will miss you terribly,” Angelique said. “I foresee long phone calls, my love and don't worry about me becoming jealous if you spend time with your family, I think the Summers-Giles family are marvelous. I can't wait to show all of you the island, its absolutely magical in the winter.”
“I can't wait,” Giles said and sat down on the porch railing. “Tell me about it.”
“Well....”
# # # #
SUNNYDALE, CALIFORNIA
Buffy smiled as Quentin wrapped his arms around her from behind. "Hey, handsome."
"Hey, I can't believe you took out all those vampires tonight," he commented. "You are amazing, you know."
"Thanks," Buffy said and leaned back into him. "When do you have to leave?"
"In a few days," Quentin responded. "I'm going to go up to San Francisco and maybe Seattle to see if it would benefit the business to expand to this coast. I wouldn't be gone more than two weeks. I like staying a few days where I'm exploring in order to check out things when companies aren't expecting it."
"Smart," Buffy said. "I'll miss you."
"I'll miss you too," Quentin said softly. "Just think, though, in a very short time we can risk getting frozen to death again."
Buffy laughed and lightly slapped his arms.
"Come to bed," he urged.
"Oh yeah."
# # # #
COLLINSPORT, MAINE
Barnabas leaned up on an elbow and gently touched Roxanne's cheek. "You're so beautiful. Julia was right, I was drawn to you as if by magic the moment I saw you."
"I love you, Barnabas," Roxanne said softly. "Never say No."
Barnabas smiled and kissed her gently. "I won't tonight."
"Please."
The vampire kissed her again and then he pulled back slightly and she saw his fangs elongate. Roxanne turned her head and winced as his fangs pierced her neck again.
# # #
SUNNYDALE, CALIFORNIA
Giles was trimming his goatee the next morning when he heard the doorbell to the Summers home.
“I've got it!” he heard Joyce yell and the door open downstairs.
A few minutes later, as he was putting away his shaving and beard care kit Joyce leaned into the bathroom.
“Uh, Ru,” she began.
“Yes? Is it Dr. Sam with another question?” Giles asked.
“No, uh, someone is here to see you.”
“Whom?”
“Just... come down.”
Giles pulled on a t-shirt and absently thought to he needed to fix the plumbing in the guest bathroom downstairs so he could use the damn sink.
He trotted downstairs in jeans, runners and a t-shirt and stopped at the bottom of the stairs, shocked into just staring.
“Hello, Rupert.”
“Father?” Giles stammered.
“Yes, and you look like hell.”
“Oh bollocks,” Giles muttered.
# # # #
Joyce sat down next to Giles on the sofa as they faced her father, the older gentleman taking a sip of his tea.
"This is nice, thank you," Lord Giles of Bath commented. "So, Rupert, you were more than a little vague about your condition and how it came to be that the Council wanted to stuff you into a cell and treat you like a lab rat."
"I didn't have time to explain fully," Giles said. "I had just been handcuffed and taken to a car without even a coat in Maine. I apologize for not calling shortly after."
"You've done quite well redeeming yourself after that mess with Ethan Rayne," Robert Giles commented and Joyce placed a hand on Giles' leg. "You have the most successful Slayer in history. I would think it would take a lot to get the Head Watcher to a small village in Maine to take you into custody."
"I agree with that assessment," Giles said after a moment.
"Your Head Watcher also refuses to discuss your case with anyone," Robert Giles continued. "You're too thin and have obviously lost weight recently and you're too pale."
"Yes," Giles said. "What are you suspecting me of, father?"
Robert Giles frowned and reached inside his coat and pulled out a small notebook and opened it.
Giles instinctively caught the item his father had removed from the notebook and tossed and promptly dropped it and jumped to his feet.
As he struggled to make his fangs recede his father seemed calm.
"What the hell?" Joyce yelled. "Rupert, sit down. Listen, Mr. Giles, you make one move to hurt Rupert and I will throw you out a window, I don't care how well trained you are!"
"I'll keep that in mind," Robert responded. "Are you involved with a vampire to the point of addiction or are you a ghoul?"
"Neither, sort of," Giles responded.
"Sort of? You've been in the States too long," Robert commented. "Can you hold a cross at all?"
"I agree with that as well," Giles said as he and Joyce sat back down. "I can hold a cross but it's not comfortable for me. If it lies against my skin for any length of time it burns. Bright sunlight is painful. I'm not a vampire addict or ghoul but something inbetween vampire and human."
"Go on," Robert urged.
"If you're all right, I'm going to start some brunch," Joyce suggested. "I'll stay right here if you need."
"I'll be all right, luv," Giles said softly. "Thank you."
"I take it this will take awhile," Robert said.
"I'm afraid so," Giles said. "And you're not going to like it."
"Explain."
# # # #
COLLINSPORT, MAINE
Carolyn smiled as she entered the coffee shop. "Hey, Maggie, how goes?"
"Not bad," Maggie Haskell responded. "I got the first order of blood in. Enough for your puddings."
"Great, we're going to be doing extra ones too," Carolyn said as Julio placed an order into the pass-thru window.
Maggie grabbed it and took it to a customer sitting at a table glancing over the local newspaper and then returned to Carolyn at the counter. "Really? Another family member has discovered blood pudding?"
"Yeah, this morning," Carolyn answered.
Maggie hesitated and pulled off her apron. "I need to go over to the post office, want to walk with me before heading off with your order?"
"Sure," Carolyn agreed.
Once outside they began walking slowly over the shoveled walkways.
"Roxanne?" Maggie asked.
"Yeah," Carolyn answered. "I had a flash earlier that I should pick up the blood today before sunset."
Maggie sighed. "I don't quite get it, you know? It wasn't....pleasant from what I remember."
“You probably didn't know but I, well.... Damn, this is hard to talk about, isn't it?” Carolyn stammered. “Barnabas, something went wrong with Julia trying to help him with science and he was suddenly starved and I walked in. It was frightening but not painful or.... horrible.”
“Did it continue?” Maggie asked as they neared the post office.
“A few times and I didn't mind,” Carolyn admitted. “Probably why a couple of others kept seeking him out despite him staying away from them.”
“It wasn't like that for me,” Maggie said as they stopped at the door to the post office. “It was right after he had been released after 130 plus years. He wasn't sane and I looked just like his Josettte.”
“Yeah, I figured that out later,” Carolyn said. “He's still torn up about how he treated you.”
“So Roxanne is totally okay with this?” Maggie asked.
“Totally,' Carolyn answered. “They've been arguing about whether it would be sooner rather than later.”
“Amazing,” Maggie responded. “Come on, let's get inside. It's freezing out here.”
# # # #
SUNNYDALE, CALIFORNIA
Robert Giles frowned as Giles finished catching his father up on what had happened over the previous year.
"So you're part vampire? A dhampir?" Robert Giles asked.
"The rare mating between a Balkan vampire and a human?" Giles pondered. "Of sorts. Mine is through magic rather than birth but, yes, I am part vampire and will become one when I die unless I die through fire, explosion or something catastrophic."
"Or your body is prevented from rising," Robert commented. "How the hell did you allow this to happen?"
"By choosing to be attacked by a vampire who then preyed on me several times," Giles snapped. "Repeating, I was placed under a spell as I died. The spell twisted my death into something between a vampire and human."
"But you're still involved with the vampire?" Robert questioned. "And how does Mrs. Summers here fit in?"
Joyce brought toasted garlic bread to the table. "Lasagna is almost done. I fit in a bit awkwardly. The marriage was a suggestion by Rupert's friend and it was agreed on as a family. We're close and we have no doubt how much Rupert loves all of us, especially the girls."
"And where is your vampire?" Robert asked.
"Off handling her business and giving me a chance to adjust back into my life in Sunnydale," Giles said.
"And you're going to continue your relationship with her?"
"Yes," Giles said as Joyce dished each them a serving of lasagna. "She also knows I'm dedicated to Joyce, the girls and the others. She isn't threatened by my marriage to Joyce."
"I've noted that you haven't said her name," Robert commented.
"And I don't intend to," Giles responded. "It's an unusual name and knowing what region of the States she comes from would make it fairly easy to discover who she is. I won't risk that."
"So what happens now?" Joyce asked after several moments of silence.
"I would like to stay and get to know you and the girls," Robert said. "And my son. We've been...distant for a number of years because of me. I'd like to rectify that."
Giles nodded. "We can give it a try."
"Now, tell me about that Glory creature a bit more," Robert suggested.
# # #
COLLINSPORT, MAINE
Roxanne opened her eyes slowly and smiled as she reached out and touched Barnabas' cheek as he watched over her.
"Thank you," she whispered.
"I never thought someone would thank me for turning them into a vampire," he responded and kissed her gently. "There's blood here. Carolyn left it by the door a moment ago."
"How...?"
"Her psychic abilities, perhaps," Barnabas suggested and helped her sit up and handed her a mug of blood.
Roxanne drank quickly and then sighed. She set the mug aside and pulled Barnabas back down onto the bed.
# # #
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