Chapter Five

The hem of a burgundy silk skirt lightly caressed the floor as Drusilla approached the little cd player and switched it on. She adored Rasputina, the strings and the lovely Gothic lyrics were simply dreamy.

"Once you're well, we're going dancing, Spike," she purred, dancing around her wheelchair bound lover and teasing his shoulders with her long fingertips. She growled, and smirked playful, as he grabbed her hand in his and kissed it, drawing her index finger into his mouth.

"That we will, Pet... an' we'll start with a tango on the Slayer's grave."

"Mmmmmm." Her midnight eyes flashed with a hint of gold. "Remember during the Boxer Rebellion when you killed your first Slayer?" Dru moved away from him a bit, putting her hand to her lower abdomen and danced suggestively to the music. "You were right about it being an aphrodisiac. And we'll have more again, and ride on, and on, and on..."

"Dru, you're insatiable," Spike grinned.

She wrinkled her nose at him and continued dancing, rolling her hips and swinging her other arm above her head as though it were a lasso. Then she stopped dancing, running her free hand over her head and down her body.

"Spike, I wonder what'd happen if we turned a Slayer?"

"Drusilla, dear," a new voice sounded from the doorway, and she turned to see Angelus framed in a square of light, a gunmetal door sliding shut behind him. "It's bad manners to play with your food."

She squealed in glee and prowled over to embrace her Sire, then snarled playfully at him.

"Daddy's home!" Drusilla ran a hand through Angelus' thick black hair, oblivious to Spike tensing in jealousy. "What have you brought your kitten?" She purred, rubbing her body up against his.

Angelus smirked and slipped one hand into the pocket of his trench coat, withdrawing a tiny rag doll in Romanian costume, which he presented to the waif-like woman.

Dru plucked it from his hands and danced about the factory with it, holding its tiny hands in hers.

"I'm going to call you Daisy Mae," she sang, "'cause you're as pretty as a flower... but I can't have flowers because they always die." Then here eyes went wide, and she crumpled to the floor, clutching the dolly to her chest and whimpering in pain. A flash of motion had registered on her third eye. "I see it..."

Through the pain and the confusion, she heard Angelus' voice.

"Tell me what you see, Drusilla."

"Rain... It's a rainy night... They're frightened... and cold... nowhere to run, nowhere to hide." She returned to the present as the sturdy metal door started sliding open again and turned to face their visitors.

They were two young vamps, newly turned.

"Oh, Daddy," Drusilla whispered, approaching the couple, "look who's come to visit." She caught sight of the well toned biceps on the male and reached out a hand with undisguised lust in her eyes. "Look at this one... he's built like a god!"

The female leaned possessively against the male, switched to game face, and hissed at Dru while the male simply stood there smirking and fondling one of the female's breasts.

"Mine," the fledgling female warned.

"Good girl, Jenny," Angelus chuckled cruelly. "I knew you could do it." Then he swaggered over to stand nose to nose with the male. "This will do better than kill her - it'll devastate her, won't it, Rupert?" He slapped the male on the shoulder. "After all, what good's a Slayer without her Watcher?"

"Not a damn bit of good," the fledgling male smirked. "And the name's 'Ripper' now."

Angelus laughed out loud, not bothering to disguise the contempt he felt toward this interloper.

"Oh, no no no no no.... Not so fast. You're gonna have to * earn* that name... Rupert."

Ripper glared at Angelus, but dared not challenge him just yet.

"We need a place to stay," Jenny explained. "The Slayer..."

"We had a melee with the little tart," Ripper smirked. "She looks like she'd be a hell of a shag."

"She was. And you can thank * her* for your new life style." Angelus took a blood bag from the cooler nearest the stairway and bit in, the salty coppery flavored liquid oozing out and into his mouth. It was life and nectar, invigorating... and best of all, it annoyed the hell out of Rupert who was watching with mounting hunger. "Now get out or I'll see you kissing daylight."

"Oh, * please* let them stay," Drusilla pleaded. "It's nearly Christmas day and the family should be together. We could have dinner with all the trimmings and a fine fat blood pudding for desert!"

Angelus sighed.

"All right, they can stay... but * only* a few nights, and that's final."

He stalked out, and Ripper flopped down in a nearby chair, pulling Jenny onto his lap and kissing her savagely. He paused, leering at Jenny, then glanced at Spike.

"He always that anal?"

"Only every bloody minute of the day."

"Hrmph." Ripper gave a hideous grin. "I'm not as dumb as he looks, you know." Then he returned his attention to Jenny.

Dru watched them, fascinated by the shape of Ripper's face, his jawline, the way his tongue darted into view, the way a few stray chest hairs peeped out above the collar of his shirt. He was beautiful, primally sexy, and she wanted him.

She was so taken with watching the vamped ex-Watcher that she barely caught the whisper of rubber against concrete as Spike's wheelchair slid up beside her.

"Welcome aboard, Ripper," Spike grinned. "It's nice to have some fresh blood around again." He glanced up at Drusilla. "Um, Dru? Show Jenny the guest room, would you, Pet?"

Jenny pouted, then kissed Ripper very quickly and very deeply before getting up and following Drusilla out of the common room.

"You're part of the family now," Dru reflected happily. "My great-great-great-great-great-great-grandniece! We'll have such fun together hunting and prowling and dancing in the moonlight." She skipped off hand in hand with the fledgling, ready for the new adventures that awaited them.

"Yeah, great," Jenny sighed, "whatever."

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