FIC: Family Honour (6/?)

["Shadow" <Shadowlander1@xxxxxxx>]

Title: Family Honour (6/?)
Author: Shadowlander
Email: Shadowlander1@xxxxxxx
Rating: PG-17
Pairing: A/W/S and others
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters commonly associated with
Buffy the Vampire Slayer and are using them without permission. No copyright
infringement is intended. Archive: The usual places, anyone else just ask.

FAMILY HONOUR (6/?)

Drusilla arrived at hospital shortly after sunset intent on seeing her
Slayer and talking to Shadow and Faith about hurting the bad little doggie
that scared mummy Joyce. Entering the room, Dru nodded absently at Faith and
Shadow, who were playing cards over in a corner, before hugging her human
mum tightly. "Don't worry mummy... we'll make the bad little doggie howl in
pain," she promised Joyce very seriously as she tried to reassure the human.

Joyce tentatively nodded her head still a bit unsure of how to deal with the
vampire that practically worshiped her daughter, which in itself was odd as
hell considering that Buffy's job was staking vampires. "Gin!" Shadow said
from the corner lying down her cards with a smirk, casting a quick look over
at Joyce and Dru. Sometimes she really didn't understand Dru either, which
to her was a good thing, she didn't want to understand a person who carried
on conversations with dolls, she preferred to just torture the
aforementioned inanimate objects and not bother with what they ever had to
say.

"You're cheating!" Faith growled giving the smirking werewolf a dirty look.

"Of course I am!" Shadow defended with a laugh, "the cards are marked and
you're dealing from the bottom... if you want a straight game go play with"
she added but stopped thinking things over a bit, "no you can't even play
with Spike, he cheats worse then I do." She corrected herself.

"Exactly how DO you know Spike anyway?" Faith asked gathering up the cards
and for the next game.

"I don't," Shadow replied sharing another look at Dru, 'oh sure make me
explain things to the Slayer,' she thought ruefully. "But Midnight does, so
I do."

"Oh yeah that makes loads of sense," the dark haired Slayer smirked.

With a humorless laugh, "I know everything Midnight wants me to know," she
tried to explain tapping the side of her head with two fingers,
"telepathically ... it helps me do my job." Seeing the confusion in Faith's
eyes, "I'm a glorified familiar," Shadow said with a sigh. "The Powers That
Be use me to protect their champions that need someone watching their backs,
at the moment that happens to be Midnight."

"The dark-haired woman in the little black dress," Faith commented making
sure she understood what she was being told. 'Why the hell would she need a
protector,' she absently wondered.

"Yeah that's her... she just lost her dress to Spike by the way." Shadow
confirmed with an absent nod of her head, wondering just how one loses at
strip poker when their opponent started out naked to begin with, "she lost
an argument with a Chaos demon a number of years ago, I'm hers until she
gets her strength back."

"Seems like she loses a lot of things," Faith couldn't help but to add
with a wicked grin.

"Yup... she lost the entire continent of Africa once," Shadow replied quite
seriously, "she sort of misplaced it on Jupiter." Noting the expression on
Faith's face, "well she put it back!" She got out through a remarkable
straight face before breaking out into a big grin, getting a poker chip
thrown at her in response.

Cocking her head to one side as if listening to something only she could
hear, Shadow grew serious frowning a bit after a few moments before hanging
her head even as Dru let out a merry cry dancing around the room with Joyce.
"Shadow is our familiar now!" she all but purred, even as the werewolf was
looking skyward as if pleading to a higher authority, 'why me?'

"Huh?" Faith said sharing a look of total confusion with Joyce feeling like
she just missed a very important clue.

"I'm," Shadow began trying to find the right words, it wasn't often she ever
said these words to a real human before, "Buffy's new familiar." She got out
as Dru suddenly grabbed her and kissed her cheek sloppily. "Ewww, cut it out
Dru," she cried wiping at her face with the back of her arm.

"Familiar?" Joyce questioned suddenly finding her voice, staring at the
shorthaired blonde in confusion.

With another sigh, "I'm suppose to protect Buffy," she indicated with a nod
of her head to the unconscious Slayer on the bed, "Until she fully recovers
from her injuries. News of a crippled Slayer is going to spread like wild
fire in the demon community, the Powers are just stacking the deck in her
favor with me," she explained with a feral grin, "they want to make a name
for themselves by killing Buffy they have to get past me."

"And that hasn't been done yet," Dru added gleefully feeling very pleased
with the resent turn of events, she now had Shadow protecting her Buffy.

Banging her head slowly on the table Shadow wondered just how much worse
things could get, 'great Dru thinks I'm her personal Slayer watchdog now,'
she thought, only to stop in her head banging as her eyes widened in shock
realizing that she was now picking up Drusilla's thoughts too. 'If I start
hearing that damn doll I'm quitting!' she vowed to herself. 'Sacred duty or
not... I'm not listening to Ms. Edith for the next hundred years.'

********************************

Oz's Lair - across town

Oz walked through his lair in a blinding rage, 'how dare that upstart bitch
threaten me,' he raged his body shape shifting as his wolf surfaced,
Shadow's words ringing in his ears. "I want that bitch," he ordered with a
growl, "bring her to me!"

End Part Six.

Yes I know that was really cruel of me, but I couldn't help it... the Koala
made me do it. :)



Shadow --
Dir. of Pub. Safety of the SECoLGA and Chief Dungeon Keeper. Vampire Teddy
Bear and Flying Fox {Fruit Bat} of the Woods Outback. The Big Bad and
Little Comma. Mistress of Mischief, corruptor of the innocent, tormentor of
Quindolyn. Founding Member of the Get Willow and Buffy Naked Society.
{GWBN -- Hey, its a way of life.} Dark Mistress of Weirdness. Yang to
Alex's Yin. Charter Member of the Hand of Chaos, member of the Order of the
Silver Claw of the Highland Werewolves of Gaia. :{