Once Upon a Midnight Dreary by D.M. Evans

Faith hunted down Spike before he headed off for the night to do whatever it was he did. She was afraid to think hard on that. She knew where Angel was. He'd probably be a little ticked that she left Connor alone. The boy had called her and asked to meet her. She had gone even before she realized he really was the one Angel wanted her to keep an eye on. Angel's information had obviously been accurate. Someone had been out to hurt the boy. She went to his new apartment without telling anyone, risky maybe but hell, she was a Slayer. She didn't have to fear going into a strange kid's place alone.

Angel had called in the middle of Connor telling her how he thought his friends had been killed by the woman she was looking for. By a twist of fate, Connor's father was connected peripherally to Wolfram and Hart and Gunn was the kid's new lawyer. Gunn was also freaking because the kid had skated out of the hotel where he had left him. She told Angel she was with Connor and he made her promise to look out for him all night while he and Spike hunted for Dru.

Faith had resigned herself to spending the night outside in the cold making sure Dru didn't track the kid to the new place but it hadn't been necessary. Connor had been so freaked, he didn't want to be left alone. After he had identified Dru from a bad copy of just Dru's face ® Angel had cut away the rest of the ambrotype he had called it so she wouldn't have to explain the old time clothes ® Connor asked what she knew about Dru. She couldn't tell him much but she ended up calling Angel back to tell him Gunn's suspicions were good ones. It sounded like all three boys had been drained by a vampire so Angel headed for the morgue to see if the boys were staying dead.

She hadn't told him that Connor bore marks of a vampiric feeding. He was freaking out enough about the kid and she couldn't figure it out. Angel wasn't normally so spazzy about things but he was so overprotective of the kid it made Faith wonder. She had even placed a call to Buffy while Connor, finally getting a hint of an appetite, was busy ordering out. Buffy thought it might have to do with the fact Dru was Angel's childe and he felt responsible for the things she did.

Either way, it was unlike Angel and Faith didn't want to worry him more. She knew she'd have to tell him about the bite marks but she wanted to wait until she could be in a room with him and see his reactions to the news. Faith quizzed Connor about how long he had known Dru but it didn't track. He insisted it was only two days but the marks on his neck seemed older, more healed than that. He admitted to having another big love mark but wasn't willing to drop his pants and show her.

She had only planned on staying until they were done with their Chinese food before going outside to stake out the apartment. Connor wouldn't let her. His parents were trapped in Canada thanks to a snowstorm and he was afraid to be alone. They had chosen some totally remote assed place to go on vacation and all roads were closed maybe for as long as two or three days.

So she had stayed and they had talked, mostly about stuff other than the murders so he could relax a little. He was a funny kid, downright quirky even, to use her original Watcher's favorite term for her. She liked him. She could understand how scared he must be, knowing the cops thought he might be involved or how the cops might just write it off as a drug deal gone bad or something because they found a couple of bongs.

She had spent the night on the loveseat and he on the couch. Come morning, he didn't want her to leave and a call to Angel had pretty much the same reaction. Angel was afraid Dru would send minions in the day, thinking Angel might be less vigilant. Faith didn't ask how Dru would know Angel had a clue Connor existed. He'd probably tell her as a seer she'd know. So, she gave in and after a while it was clear both she and Connor were ill-suited to just sitting around an apartment.

She had suggested he do something to take his mind off of it. He thought it was disrespectful but eventually he agreed and she watched him vent on his skateboard. She half expected him to fall and bust open his head since he had no helmet but he was good. She understood now what poetry in motion was. She wondered what he'd do in a really good setting, like a skateboard park instead of the deserted crappy areas around the Hyperion where she had steered him, hoping he'd just go back there so Angel and Gunn would stop having a cow. The boy wasn't having any of that. She didn't understand what freaked him out about the hotel. She couldn't figure out why Angel and company had abandoned it. It was better than living in the cold, heartless building that was Wolfram and Hart. Who wanted to live where they worked?

Finally, he insisted on going back to the apartment and another call from Angel said it was okay for her to leave him there. Wolfram and Hart had issued a security detail that the kid didn't need to know about. Since it was dark, and she had slept like crap on that loveseat, Faith didn't argue. She was surprised that Angel wasn't heading out to guard the kid himself or hunt for Dru but he insisted Connor's guard would be enough and that he was doing some research.

Then Faith saw the TV Guide and realized what Angel was up to. She didn't blame him. Everyone needed to blow off steam or they'd lose it. But she couldn't pass on a chance to have a little fun with him, which was why she was hunting up Spike. She found him in his room, suiting up for the night, in other words making sure he had enough cigarettes in his leather jacket.

"We need to go to Angel's suite before you leave," she said, stifling a yawn.

His eyebrows lifted. "You look beat."

"I am." She stretched, trying to loosen her back muscles. "Come on."

"Why?" Spike rolled his eyes.

"Because Angel's doing something he doesn't want us to see." Faith grinned.

Spike made a face. "I don't want to see that, luv."

Faith realized what she had said and punched Spike in the arm. "Not that. God, is sex all you think about?"

He grinned broadly, the tip of his pink tongue sticking out between his lips. "I'm a guy."

"Good point. Trust me on this, okay?" Faith said, heading for the elevator.

Spike looked at her ass. "I'll follow you anywhere."

Faith decided to leave that alone. They rode up to Angel's suite. She paused in front of the door. "It's probably locked."

As expected, Spike produced a key from his jacket and unlocked it. The TV was on rather loud for Angel. Faith could see his feet propped up on the arm of the couch and realized he must be stretched out, relaxed and she was suddenly struck by the fact she had never seen him that way before.

"Oh you've got to be bloody kidding me!" Spike cried, seeing Barry Manilow on the screen.

Angel's head popped up over the back of the couch, a horrified expression on his face. "What are you two doing here?"

"Just seeing if I was right and I am. I knew you couldn't pass up 'Barry Manilow live by request'." Faith grinned triumphantly.

"Faith, you swore you'd never use the information you learned on our Orpheus trip," Angel reminded her, vexed.

She patted his head. "I lied."

"Live by request." Spike jogged around the couch. "Tell me you don't have a phone."

Angel snatched the phone off the table, cradling it protectively. It was then that Faith saw he was holding a photo. When he saw her looking at it, he shoved it in one of the fat tomes he had on the table but not before she saw it was of Cordy holding a baby. She was afraid to know what that meant or why he'd be all moon-eyed over it while listening to Barry.

"You do have a phone," Spike crowed. "Every bloody vampire in the world is going to be embarrassed when they hear this."

"If I pull your tongue out now, they won't have to hear about this," Angel growled, putting his foot on the floor, ready to get up and pummel him.

"No, I can't even tell anyone this," Spike declared. "It'll reflect on me as your grandson."

" I like Barry so shut up so I can listen," Angel ordered, wearing the expression of a tantrumy two-year old.

"He's even been to concerts," Faith said, flopping down on the couch with Angel.

He glared. "Faith."

She just grinned and put a pillow on her lap. She yanked Angel's feet up onto it so he was back in his relaxed position.

Spike moaned. "It just gets worse. I'm going. I think I might know where Dru might go, or at least her usual sorts of places. Faith, if he starts dialing, you make the request for him or I'll have to live with the shame."

"Couldn't have that on my conscience," Faith said.

"Just go, Spike." Angel stabbed a finger at the door.

Spike shrugged and headed out. Faith waited for commercial then asked, "Vampires can feed without killing, right? Like the ones sucking the druggies Wes and I found?"

Angel nodded. "We can live without the kill but most find it less fun. Why?"

"I think Dru's been snacking on Connor."

Angel bolted upright. "What? Why?"

"He has a mark on his neck. He said it was a sucker bite but it looks like it might have had fang marks in it. It was mostly healed which doesn't jive with it being only two days old. He said he had another one but wouldn't show me. I guess it was on his thigh. You guys can feed there?"

"Anywhere there's a good vein. Down there can beÄ" Angel trailed off, looking embarrassed.

"I get the picture." Faith shuddered. "Does it mean anything that Dru's bitten him? Does that make him hers?"

Angel shook his head. "It doesn't work like that." He wrinkled his nose. "Except maybe for Dracula, the show off. But it can be a symbol in the vampire community, back off he's mine. How does Connor seem? Weak?"

"Not that I could see. He said he thought she was drugging him because he couldn't remember anything and he knew he wasn't that drunk or high."

Angel's expression fell into one of deep hurt and disappointment. "Drunk? High?"

Faith shrugged. "He's a college kid blowing off steam after finals. He had a few beers and smoked a bowl. He's smart but he likes to have fun. You said Dru can take your will and make you do stuff. To someone who didn't know vampires were real, that might seem like date rape drugs. I mean, they're all over colleges so that's a logical jump. I told him not to invite anyone inside his place that he didn't know. Maybe I should have said no one at all besides me. What if his friends rise?"

"We checked the morgue. They're still there but it's hard to sneak in and it's difficult to tell if one of them will rise. Some only take a few hours to wake up and the rest of us can be buried before we revive. Spike and I both had to claw our ways out of our graves," Angel said. "We'll keep an eye on them. Dru does make children, especially if she needs them to help her. You said he likes you."

"He does. I like him. He's sweet." Her chocolatey eyes took on a wicked light. "He's young but he's legal."

"Faith!"

"Don't sweat it, Angel. His last lover ate his friends. I doubt he's in the mood for anything right now." She snuggled into the couch. "But yeah, he likes me."

"See if you can convince him to come here and stay or at least go to the Hyperion. It'll be easier to protect him."

"I'll try but Dru seems to be able to waltz into here and I don't see Connor moving. He's stubborn." Faith paused for a moment, going serious. She knew this would be difficult but she needed to know. "Why are you so concerned about this kid? I mean, now I can see why since it's obvious Dru's after him but you were worried before that."

Angel looked away, bumping the sound up on Barry. "Dru's my responsibility. I need to protect people from her."

'Figures B was right.' Faith thumped his calf. "Okay. So, want to tell me about Cordy and that baby?"

"Just someone's kid we helped save once. I found it inside that book. We must have been using it as a bookmark," he lied rather badly but another bump up on the sound told Faith to let it go.

She sat back, listened to Barry singing Christmas songs and wondered if she shouldn't just go back to the apartment and protect the kid in person. As soon as Barry was over, Angel left the building, pretending he wasn't going to Connor's apartment. Faith knew better. He would have gone before Barry was off if he hadn't thought it would raise her suspicions. He never would have even taken two hours off to enjoy himself if she had told him about the bite marks earlier in the day. She wished he trusted her but didn't feel she knew the others well enough to question them about Angel's odd behavior. Instead she let her exhaustion rule and she headed off to bed, planning on asking Buffy once it was a more reasonable hour.

*
Connor glanced out the window of Tamar's living room, stroking Beggar's fur. He thought he heard sounds inside the apartment almost every few seconds. He knew he was being a wuss but he wanted desperately to call Faith again, to have her spend the night, but he didn't. He liked her. He didn't want her to think he was a coward. He wished his parents were home. He needed them. Frightened, Connor sat back on the couch, phone in one hand just in case he needed 911 or weakened and called Faith, and the remote in the other. He planned on watching TV until he couldn't fight sleep any more.

*
Dru saw Angel leaving his home. He wasn't close enough to catch her scent and Dru counted that as lucky. This was going to be a quick trip. Dru had planned on making this delivery the night before but she had been too tired and bloated from taking care of Little Brother's friends.

Dru slipped into the building, completely unchallenged once more, a plan forming in her mind. She had hoped for her darling Spike to be home so she could play with him but he wasn't. Still, with her new plan in mind that suited her just as well. Dru gently placed Miss Edith on Spike's pillow, kissed her forehead and told he to be a good little girl then headed back outside.

Angel's scent still lingered on the night breeze. He hadn't gone in a car. Dru knew her Daddy. When he was angry or worried, he had extra energy to burn. He preferred to walk or run to fritter it away. It sharpened him, made him deadlier. She also knew who he was going to meet and she followed him.

Little Brother no longer stayed in the room he shared with his friends, the door all covered with ugly yellow tape screaming their warnings to stay away. Dru, however, knew Daddy would know where to find him. She felt that deep in her unmoving heart. It would be an easy thing to follow him to Little Brother's new home. Dru set herself to the task, relishing the hunt.

Part Five