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Becca (cowritten by Allison)
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Date Posted: 20:24:16 01/13/02 Sun
In reply to:
Becca (cowritten by Allison)
's message, "TCO Episode 2: Laying Groundwork Chapter 1" on 20:04:32 01/13/02 Sun
Chapter 2
“Oh bloody hell,” Spike grumbled as he stepped off the launch only to see Stefan about to feed on a young man. “What on earth are you doing?” he shouted.
“Blasted . . .” Stefan grumbled, pulling back from Nikolas as Spike approached the duo.
“Father! What in the . . .” Nikolas muttered, backing away slowly from his father.
“I thought I said not to leave,” Spike whispered as he sidled up to Stefan.
“I was just visiting with my son,” he protested.
“Your son …well then, I can make and exception . . .” Spike began. Suddenly he sensed another human was approaching. Figuring it was probably one of the thorns in his side, he pushed Stefan towards the launch. “Get the hell out of here.”
“Why?” Stefan groaned, glancing back at his bewildered son. “I’ll converse with you later my son.”
“What the hell is going on!” Nikolas shouted, the idea of his father about to do something to his neck really freaking him out.
The second Stefan stepped onto the launch Buffy appeared from around the corner, her stake drawn ready for action.
“This must be my lucky night. What are you doing . . .” She began cutting herself off as soon as she saw Nikolas. Her mind raced trying to remember his name, but all she could come up with was, “Lucky’s brother . . .what are you doing here?”
“Nikolas,” he informed, taking a glance back at Spike. “You better watch it, that guy looks dangerous.”
“Oh, isn’t this precious, the Cassadine lad is trying to protect you,” Spike quipped, stepping closer to the bunch.
“How do you know him?” Buffy asked, moving past Nikolas towards Spike.
“Boy, you are a slow one . . .” he shook his head, then grinned at her. “He’s a member of a rather prominent family, of course I know who he is. Did you think Giles was the only one who did research?”
“No, but I didn’t even think you knew how to read,” she shot her own smile.
“You better put that thing away before the clueless one gets a clue,” Spike informed, pointing to the stake she was holding at her side. “Speaking of research, I’ve been doing a little of my own on this town. It’s been full of secrets . . .secrets not even the present citizens know about.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know. Don’t worry doll, you’ll find out soon enough.”
“I hate you, you know that?” Buffy spat, glaring at his arrogant smirk.
“Oh, you and I both know the hatred is just an underlying passion. It’s taking everything you have to keep from jumping me,” he stated smugly.
“Oh yeah Spike I want to jump your bones just about as much as I’d like to impale my head with a big, rusty, metal pole,” she stated seriously.
“Ah, you see, part of you wants me . . .and nothing you can say will change my mind. I on the other hand, admit freely that a roll in the hay wouldn’t be so bad with you. It’s just your tendency to get clingy that I couldn’t deal . . .” before he could finish Buffy lunged at him, her hands circling his neck in a futile attempt to strangle him. “You like it rough I see.”
Before anything more could happen Buffy felt herself being yanked backwards, her feet kicking and swinging in the air. “I’m going to kill you one of these days!” she hollered to a laughing Spike.
“Yeah, just like the dozen other times, huh?” Spike snickered as he walked away.
Buffy spun around once Spike was gone, shooting an angry look at Nikolas. “What the hell did you do that for?”
“You mean me preventing you from committing homicide? No need to thank me,” he said with a roll of the eyes.
Buffy shook her head, realizing it was best to let it drop. “What are you doing here by yourself, at night?”
“I should be asking you the same question . . .you know, these docks can get dangerous, not exactly the best place for a young woman to be,” Nikolas noted seriously.
“Oh dear, you’re one of those.”
“One of what?”
“Big strong man who doesn’t think a helpless girl should be out alone at night,” she said sarcastically. “Please, I can, without a doubt, handle myself better than you …trust me.”
“Fine,” Nikolas groaned. He motioned to the direction Spike went and smiled at Buffy. “Ex-boyfriend?”
“Hardly,” Buffy exclaimed. “He was never even a friend. And if you ever see him again, run away. What were you doing with him anyway?”
“Nothing,” Nikolas muttered, still a bit embarrassed as to whatever his father was trying to do. This was something he was going to keep to himself until he could speak to Stefan about it.
“You are difficult aren’t you,” she sighed, stepping closer to him. “You should get home.”
“I guess I should.” Nikolas began to walk to the stairs but stopped, getting Buffy to groan. “Hey Buffy, would you like to go out some time?”
“What?” she asked, taken back by his question. “Like on a date? Aren’t you dating that Emily person?”
“Sort of . . .not really . . .I have a Jaguar,” he stated proudly, a bit confused from the incident with his father.
“As enticing a request that is I’ll have to pass,” Buffy noted, trying to stifle her laugh. “Be careful Nikolas.”
As Nikolas walked away Buffy laughed. As smooth as Lucky was, Nikolas seemed to be lacking in that particular department. He was cute, but then again she was trying to stay clear of the dark, smoldering type. She needed someone with light hair and light eyes, a real change. Lucky was otherwise occupied, so she’d have to find herself someone else.
Buffy walked absent mindedly down the docks, walking right into someone, nearly causing her to fall. “Excuse me,” he said softly.
Buffy looked up, her eyes meeting a pair of crystal blue eyes that were staring right at her. Her mouth hung open as she looked at him. The man was beautiful, blue eyes, and dark blonde hair. And under his clothes was a body to die for . . .or at least that is what she imagined.
“M…My fault,” Buffy squeaked out.
“Let’s just say we’re even,” he said with a smile. “Bye.”
Before she could introduce herself he was gone, in the direction of Kelly’s, leaving Buffy awestruck. “Definite sparkage.”
~*~
Carly wandered down the street, trying to figure out what she could do to cure this mind numbing boredom of hers. Spike was busy back at Wyndemere, obsessing over the whole “gem of power” thing, Stefan had wandered off somewhere, and Hannah had thankfully gone off on her own as well. She wanted desperately to hunt, but knew that somehow Spike would find out and yell at her. She didn’t like it when he yelled.
“Ah, now we’re getting somewhere,” she muttered as she came upon Kelly’s. Jason was sitting outside by himself, sipping a cup of coffee. He looked up as she approached and smiled.
“Carly. Where have you been?” he asked, obviously worried “I haven’t seen you in days!”
She slid into the seat across from him and smiled innocently. “I’m sorry. I ran into an old friend the other day and we just had a lot to catch up on.” Yeah, a 126-year-old friend. At least it was only partly a lie!
Jason studied her, not sure if he believed her excuse. Something about her looked different, but he couldn’t quite place it. Why did she keep staring at his neck? “Is everything okay? You seem...different.”
“Everything is wonderful,” she gushed. “Couldn’t be better!”
“What happened, did AJ finally agree to a divorce?” She was way too happy, and it was starting to unnerve him. Carly was never happy, especially since marrying AJ and having to live with the Quartermaines.
“No, I’m just in a good mood tonight, that’s all.” She leaned seductively across the table, her face inches from his. “Why don’t we go back to your penthouse?”
There was a small sound behind her suddenly, too soft for a mortal to hear, and she whirled around to see who it was.
“Angel,” she groaned, rolling her eyes as he stepped into the light.
“Carly, right?” he asked, looking from her to Jason. What was she doing with the guy? She better not have been preparing to feed on him, this place was much too public. Spike was obviously falling behind in his teaching.
“Yeah. What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be off making goo-goo eyes at Buffy?” Spike
had told her all about Angel and Buffy, and she found it to be slightly pathetic, although a little bit
romantic at the same time. Too bad she didn’t have a soul anymore, or else she and Jason might be
that way.
Angel ignored her question, glancing over at Jason again. He stared back, his face void of any emotion, a blank mask much like his own. Angel reached for Carly’s arm. “I need a word with you.”
Sighing, she stood up and looked back at Jason. “I’ll talk to you later, Jase.” He watched in confusion as she followed the stranger out of the courtyard, wondering how she knew him. It was totally uncharacteristic of her to obey someone like that, without argument.
Something strange was definitely going on with her.
Once they were out of sight, Carly wrenched her arm out of Angel’s grasp. “What is so important that you had to drag me away from him?”
“Were you here to feed?” Angel asked bluntly.
“No, Jason is...was.. my boyfriend, sort of. It’s complicated. I was just talking to him, trying to have some fun. I’m bored out of my mind. Spike is busy, and he won’t let me hunt without him, so I figured I’d
entertain myself in other ways.” She winked suggestively at him.
“Fine, do whatever you want. I’d watch your back, though. There are two slayers in town, and considering how you tried to feed off of one of their close friends, I doubt they’re too fond of you at the moment.”
Carly snorted in amusement. “Yeah, those two little girls? I’m not exactly worried. Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going home. I’m hungry, and Spike promised to take me out tonight.” She breezed past him, heading for the docks.
“Those ‘two little girls’ are going to kill you one of these days,” Angel mumbled, shaking his head. He sighed and turned around, suddenly sensing someone behind him.
“How do you know Carly?” Jason asked, crossing his arms in front of him. He had followed them out there, but hadn’t been close enough to hear their conversation. Whatever they had been talking about, it was obvious they weren’t friends.
“Mutual acquaintance,” Angel retorted blandly, meeting Jason’s cold stare.
“I don’t think she likes you.”
“The feeling’s mutual.”
The two men stared each other down for a moment, neither saying anything.
“She called you her boyfriend,” Angel stated, curious how he’d respond.
“She does that.”
“Are you?”
“She’s married,” Jason responded, not sure why this guy even cared.
Angel was speechless for a moment. That wasn’t the answer he was expecting. “To whom?”
“My brother.”
“Your brother?”
“That’s what I said.”
“Then why was she with you?” He motioned to Kelly’s remembering how close they had been
when he had arrived.
“She doesn’t love him.”
“Then why marry him?”
“He’s the father of our son.”
“Our son?”
“Michael’s my son, but AJ is his birth father,” Jason explained, tiring of this conversation.
“AJ..”
“My brother.”
“Her husband.”
“That’s right.”
“So, how is the kid your son?” Angel asked, totally confused.
“I raised him, I’m the only father he’s known. AJ only sees him as a bargaining chip, to win his grandfather’s respect.”
Angel was surprised, that was the most Jason had said to him at once. “Why would she marry
him, then?”
“It’s part of her plan.”
“Plan?”
“To bring Michael back to me.”
“By marrying your brother?”
Jason shrugged. “That’s Carly.” He walked away quickly, leaving Angel alone and totally
mystified. Spike certainly knew how to pick them. If she was that psychotic as a mortal, he could
only imagine what she was going to be like now. Images of Druscilla popped into his head and he shuddered involuntarily. He was definitely going to have to keep his eye on this one.
~*~
“So is this, like, our new Bronze now?” Cordelia asked, looking around the club. “Cause if it is, I have to say, the Bronze was way cooler.”
“How so? The constant attacks on it by the undead?” Xander asked sarcastically. “Personally, I
like this place much better.”
“Me too,” Willow agreed eagerly. “It’s....cozy.”
“Ditto,” Oz intoned. The foursome fell silent for a few minutes as they ate.
“So, how about that research?” Xander asked suddenly, trying to break the silence.
Cordelia rolled her eyes. “How did I end up here? I should be hanging out with rich people right now, talking about fashion or something. What happened to my life?”
“Oh, admit it Cordy, you love us. We’re much more fun than those stuffy high-society people you used to hang with,” Xander teased.
“Fun? I’m sorry, but the last time I checked, getting nearly killed on a regular basis is not fun!”
“Then why did you come here with us?” Willow asked, unable to resist.
“I, um, well, I wanted a change of scenery, that’s all.” She knew it was a lame excuse, but it’s all
she could think of at the time.
“Hey, shouldn’t you all be off fighting crime or something?” Luke asked with a laugh, walking up to their table. “Isn’t night-time when all those creepy crawlies come out?”
“Yeah, but we don’t patrol unless the evil is really big—or Buffy goes missing for an extended period of time,” Xander offered. “Most of the time it’s just the slayers out there. They patrol while we hang out. It’s a very delicate balance.”
Luke grabbed a chair and sat between Cordelia and Xander. “So, what’s the deal with this whole thing anyway? Natasha filled me in on the basics, but I’m still pretty confused.”
“Natasha?” Willow asked.
“Sorry, everyone else calls her Alexis, but to me she’ll always be Natasha,” Luke answered, sounding almost sentimental.
“Care to explain?” Xander asked, curious to hear more about the new Watcher.
“Have you met any of the Cassadines yet?”
“Yeah, Lucky’s brother is one, isn’t he?” Willow asked. Luke flinched.
“Unfortunately. Well, when Natash- I mean, Alexis, came to town, she was his cousin. Count Stiff....sorry, Stefan, was his uncle. Anyway, it turned out later that Alexis was actually Natasha, the bastard daughter of Mikkos Cassadine, Stefan’s father. So, they were actually half-brother and -sister instead of cousins like they had been raised to believe.”
“Wow. Talk about family secrets!” Cordelia gasped.
“Oh, you ain’t seen nothing yet!” Luke chuckled. “It gets even better. So, once that skeleton’s out of the coffin, it comes out that not only is she Stefan’s sister, but Nikolas isn’t his nephew after all, he’s actually his son! Now, Stefan and Nikky’s mother, my wife, knew that all along, but kept it a secret to supposedly protect the kid from his grandmother...”
“His grandmother? What would she do to him? Pinch his cheeks to death?” Xander asked.
“You got the death part right, but Helena’s more into pinching rat poison than cheeks. If she knew that Nikolas was Stefan’s kid, it meant he wasn’t the prince, which would make him useless to her. All she ever cared about was getting her hands on the family fortune, and the only way to do that was from the prince: the eldest son of the eldest son. Stavros Cassadine was the eldest son, and had forced my wife to marry him while holding her captive on their Greek island. They passed off Nikolas as his child, and when I accidentally killed Stavros, Laura left the kid with Stefan. She didn’t tell me or Lucky about him until they showed up in Port Chuckles a few years back when our daughter needed a bone marrow transplant. It turned out that the demon spawn, sorry, Nikolas, was a match for her. Now he thinks that since he saved Lulu’s life, I have to be nice to him, but as long as he’s a Cassadine, that ain’t happening.”
“I thought Alexis was a Cassadine?” Oz asked, still mulling through the story in his head.
“Yeah, but she hates the rest of them almost as much as I do. Except Nikolas. Everyone seems to have a soft spot for the unPrince. Even Lucky likes him now, although he did push him down the
stairs once...those were the good old days.”
“Wait, let me get this straight...” Cordelia started, her brow furrowed in contemplation.
“Uh-oh, this could take a while. Where’s the waiter? I need some cheese fries for this,” Xander smirked. Cordelia smacked him, then resumed her question.
“So, Nikolas was a prince, but now he’s not, because his uncle turned out to be his father, and his cousin is now his aunt, and all of that was a secret because his grandmother would have killed him?”
Luke snickered. “That’s what it pretty much boils down to, although Natasha’s identity was a separate secret that had nothing to do with Nikolas. Helena hated her mother, and slit her throat when Natasha was just a baby. She was an opera singer, so Helena figured it was a fitting way to kill her. She tends to remind Alexis of that pretty much every time she sees her.”
“Nice lady,” Oz deadpanned.
“Oh yeah, she’s a real peach. So, now you know about our resident evil, what’s the deal with all the critters you brought along?”
Xander chuckled. “You mean vampires and demons and witches?”
“Oh my,” Oz tossed in. Willow giggled and leaned her head on his shoulder. She was quite adept at knowing when he was joking, even though to everyone else, his voice never really changed from
the flat monotone in which he usually spoke.
“We didn’t exactly bring them, we followed them,” Cordelia explained, not wanting to be blamed for this. “Basically, they try to kill us, Buffy kills them first. At least, so far that’s how it’s worked.”
“Sounds like a good girl to have around,” Luke mused. “And now Liz is like her? I just can’t picture her battling evil. Granted, I’ve seen her put Lucky in his place a few times, so I know she can stand up for herself, but that’s not quite the same.”
“Have you met Buffy yet?” Xander asked. Luke shook his head. “Well, trust me, to look at her you’d never think she could be a slayer, either. She seems more like a valley girl cheerleader.”
“Hey! I’m a cheerleader! What’s wrong with that?” Cordelia shouted. “I’ve done my share of demon-fighting, haven’t I? I even break a nail sometimes, and do you hear me complain?”
“Yes,” Xander responded. “All the time, in fact.”
“What about vampires? Are they pretty much what all the stories say?” Luke asked with a chuckle. He liked this Xander kid, he obviously knew the value of a good wisecrack.
“Let’s see, they live off of blood, sunlight makes them burst into flames, they’re killed by a wooden stake to the heart, they don’t like crosses, and based on the many I’ve met in my day, they have no
sense of humor,” Xander explained.
“I don’t know about that,” Willow corrected. “I’ve heard Angel crack a joke now and then. And Spike too, although his sense of humor is a bit morbid.”
“Spike? Another good vampire?”
“Oh no, Spike’s the opposite. He’s the worst of them. At least, the worst that Buffy hasn’t dusted yet. We just found out he’s in town as well. In fact, he’s the one responsible for those two vampires that were having that catfight in here last night.”
“You mean, he’s the one that did that to Caroline?”
“Who?” Cordelia asked.
“Carly. The blonde one. My niece, unfortunately.”
“Yep. What’s up with her anyway? Was she psychotic before, or did becoming evil do that to her?” Xander asked.
“Well, some people around here would say she was already like that. Why, what did she do?”
“I haven’t actually seen her do anything yet, but from what they were telling us earlier, she tried to
feed on her cousin...owe!” Xander was cut off when Willow kicked him under the table. She knew
that they didn’t want Luke to know about what Carly did to Lucky yet, but once again, Xander spoke before he thought.
“Whoa, hold on a second. Caroline did what?” Luke stared them down, sensing that there was more to the story.
Figuring he had already blown the secret, Xander explained. “She bit Lucky last night, but Liz saved him before she could do any real damage.”
“She bit him? You mean...”
Xander nodded. “She was sucking on his neck. Literally.”
Luke shook his head. “First her stepfather, now her cousin....that girl’s got some serious issues!”
~*~
Her footsteps were rapid and authoritative as her head pivoted, searching the part for any signs of trouble. If Lucky wasn’t working so hard to keep a silent distance while following her he’d have been mesmerized.
He hated that she was going out alone. Slayer or not, this was obviously a dangerous world, and if anything ever happened to Liz . . .Lucky didn’t even want to think about that. He couldn’t imagine his life without her.
Depending on and trusting people was something particularly difficult for Spencers to do. That’s why Lucky was often taken back by how much he needed Liz. And it wasn’t just the big things like how she helped him when Ruby died, or when they decided to forgo getting regular dates and went to the prom together because they knew spending the night together would be more fun than with someone they barely know let alone like. But it was the small things, the little every day occurrences that Lucky treasured. Their late night study sessions which would dissolved into in depth talks about everything but the subject at hand, or the way she’d laugh when he told a joke, or how they knew exactly what the other was thinking just by a single glance.
People would always tease them that they didn’t belong on a regular college campus. They were too complex, too connected, too different to really matriculate like other people. And amazingly enough they couldn’t agree more. The only way they managed to make it through the tedium of going to class and living the life of normal college students was each other. They were each other’s solace, each other’s smiles and tears, when together Lucky and Liz were in their own little world and they didn’t want it any other way.
But this is what bothered Lucky. Lately all he did was think about her, and it wasn’t in a strictly platonic sense either. But it couldn’t happen, that was something they both agreed on, the friendship was too important to sacrifice even for romance. Then thoughts of losing Liz to another guy would engulf his mind and totally confuse Lucky. He couldn’t be in love with his best friend, could he?
He was still following closely when she stopped walking to scan the bushes. Her seemingly sudden stop caught Lucky off guard, and as he tried to stop from getting too close he tripped over a branch, which sent him soaring through the air.
As if on cue he fell face first in front of a surprised Liz’s feet.
“Lucky?” she asked quietly.
“Elizabeth . . .hi,” he muttered innocently as he climbed to his feet.
“What are you doing here?”
“Well, I, um …can’t a guy take a walk?” Lucky asked a bit defensively.
Liz’s eyes narrowed as Lucky tried to charm his way out of this with an irresistible smile.
“Don’t you smile at me Lucky Spencer. You were following me, completely ignoring the fact I told you not to. So why did you do it?”
“I wasn’t, I was just . . .” he paused, trying to come up with a good excuse. “I was going home.”
“Oh really, then you must have hit your head hard when Carly attacked you the other day, because the campus is that way,” she informed, pointing in the opposite direction from where they were going.
“Taking the long way?” he tried, noticing she wasn’t buying it.
Liz glared at him, shaking her head before continuing. “Lucky, I never thought you were the type of guy who saw women as fragile little things . . .”
As she spoke Lucky saw a vampire approaching. “Elizabeth . . .” he began but she rose her hand to hush him.
“I’m not finished . . .Now, if that is how you see me it is really too bad. The fact is Lucky I can take care of myself. Even before I became the slayer I could handle myself. Just because I’m a female does not mean . . .”
“Elizabeth, trust me, I believe you but . . .” Lucky stammered as the vampire got closer.
“But what? It’s your duty as a man to protect me? I don’t need your help Lucky!” Liz shouted just as the vampire was about to pounce. Like she had eyes in the back of her head, her arm shot back, the stake landing right in the center of the vampire’s chest, turning him to dust. “Now, you may talk.”
Lucky just stared at her in awe. He had seen Buffy pull a move like that, but never Liz.
“What?” she asked, rather miffed.
“How . . .how’d you do that?”
“What? Stake the vamp? It’s kind of my job,” Liz sighed, spinning the stake around in her hand.
“You did it without even . . .” Lucky sighed with a smile.
“It’s like a . . .a sixth sense.” Liz grinned as she observed his expression, seeing him in such awe of her was oddly pleasing.
“You see dead people?” Lucky quipped.
“Yeah, and I kill them,” she replied with a giggle. With a deep breath her expression became serious again. “Lucky, I’m serious though, you really shouldn’t follow me. If it is because you are worried about me, don’t be,”
“I just needed to see for myself that you are safe. Have you heard the stories that Buffy and her friends have told? I just don’t want to . . .” his voice trailed off as he stepped closer to her.
Their eyes locked and the rest of the world seemed to fall away. Just as Lucky was about to move in for the kiss, two hands grabbed his shoulders, yanking him backward.
It took Liz a second to realize what had happened, but once she did she switched to slayer mode.
“Hey fangface . . .who do you think you are?” Liz snipped as she pulled the vampire off Lucky.
“Back off little girl.”
“Dr. Scanlon?” Liz asked in shock.
“Joe Scanlon?” Lucky reiterated her sentiment.
“What?” Joe grumbled.
“I always thought, you know, that Frank would be the brother to turn evil. This is just a shock. Spike chose a real softy to make a vamp, don’t you think?” Liz asked Lucky with a laugh.
“I’ll show you softy missy . . .” he began to lunge for Liz.
“I was thinking about that, and you know what?”
“What?” Joe asked, stopping in his tracks.
Could he have been any dumber, Liz mused to herself.
“It’s time for you to meet Mr. Pointy Jr. Say hi!”
“Hi,” Joe muttered at the second Liz jabbed the stake into his heart, turning him to dust immediately.
“Mr. Pointy Jr.?” Lucky asked with a laugh.
“Yeah, what of it?”
“Nothing,” he grinned, totally amazed at the “slayer” side of his friend.
Liz sighed, pacing her hands firmly on her hips. “I know this is like beating a dead horse, but you can’t follow me Lucky. Joe could have killed you, and if not him it’ll be another vamp. I couldn’t handle that, it’s my job to slay vampires, not play bodyguard to my bo--…to you. If something happened to you, Lucky you just . . .”
Before she could say another word Lucky too her head in his hands, their lips connecting in a searing kiss, sending the duo into another reality for a moment. This was certainly going to change everything.
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