LBSBSS 05
Title: Little Bit Strange, But Still Special
Author: Feygan
Fandom: BtVS/Anita Blake
--2003--
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It was probably pathetic, but they stood aside and watched as events took place in front of them. Some part of Xander urged him to get involved, but the logical portions of his brain kept him where he was. He was too vulnerable to bullets and werewolf teeth, and there was no way he was letting Spike end up dusted.
He kept his eyes open as the action was happening, wincing when he saw Drusilla get nailed in the throat with a bullet. It didn't *quite* take her head off, but she collapsed with a gurgle and William hauled her out of the way to give her a chance to heal. Xander didn't know if he would have rathered that she be killed or not.
Even knowing they were completely evil and would happily see him dead, there was something nice about having some familiar faces around. It made him feel a bit closer to home, which was probably a mistake on his part. Hesitation was the kind of thing he didn't want to show, not with these vamps that could move faster than his eye could follow and had no problem flying around like some kind of sinister deranged monkeys.
He nudged Spike with his elbow when he realized that yes, there was a break in the action happening around the blond girl. "You grab her, I'll cover you."
Spike raised his scarred brow. "Do you have something that reaches the distance?"
"No, but I've got some holy water and I've got no problem supersoaking some jerk vamps." Xander patted his bag, not willing to bring the bottle out unless it was needed. Vampires in this dimension took Holy Water pretty seriously considering how bad they were about healing the damage. They got the equivalent of acid burns that didn't stop hurting for decades.
There'd been a few times when Spike had been splashed with some holy water, and though it had burned him like acid and he'd cursed up a storm, given enough time and healthy blood he was able to heal himself. The vampires from this dimension were unable to heal and would end up spending the rest of their eternal lives covered in scars and miserable.
Sneaking a quick glance toward Asher, Xander could understand why the vamps weren't so keen about the liquid holy. He didn't know how he'd feel about ending up like Freddy Krueger just because he couldn't duck and dodge fast enough.
"Quick snatch and grab," Xander ordered.
Spike gave him a quick clap on the shoulder before dashing around the table and darted forward to grab the girl under the arms and scooped her up. She shrieked in surprise--still alive enough to want to keep on breathing--but Spike just carried her fast back to where Xander waited.
Spotting the sluggish seep of blood at her neck, Xander pulled a small white towel out of his bag and held it to the bite mark. "We're not going to hurt you. We're trying to help."
She cringed away from him, her wide eyes begging him not to hurt her any more. It made him sick to his stomach to see what had been done to her. She was just a kid.
"It's all right. I won't hurt you," he crooned. He pressed the towel against the wound to stop the bleeding, but otherwise didn't try to touch her. She was traumatized enough already.
She said something in French and he felt his heart sink. Looked like the vamps were bringing their own snacky goodies with them, though how they'd gotten her across international borders probably entailed some of their freaky eye mojo.
The things vamps could pull off in this world made him nervous. They had an unfair level of advantages going for them and it made him desperate for the days of "see vamp, stake vamp." It had all been so much easier.
"It's going to be all right," Xander told the girl.
She gave him a definite questioning his sanity look and he sighed. "Yeah, I know it sounds far fetched, but we're going to try our best to get you out of here alive and unTurned. Right Spike?"
Spike gave him a raised eyebrow, but managed to give the girl a smile that was only a bit smarmy. He said something in fast French that had her relaxing slightly, some of the animal terror leaving her face. She said something back and they were having a conversation he couldn't understand.
Xander sighed. He didn't know what Spike was saying, but he appreciated that the girl wasn't panicking. It allayed his fear that she was going to run off and get herself killed anyway.
Though he was curious about how she had ended up with the monsters. Was she a victim scooped off the street? Or was she just someone that hadn't recognized danger until it was sucking her blood out and dragging her onto one of the cruise ships the older vampires seemed to prefer for long voyages.
"Girl's name is Penelope. She met Angelus on a cruise with her parents. She was smuggled off the ship in a sea chest when they reached port in Seattle. She's been Feeding them for a week." Spike dug through his jacket pocket and pulled out a crumpled pack of cigarettes. He lit one and took a big drag.
"It's strange, isn't it? Different world, same poofy haired wanker." He shook his head.
Xander's hands tightened around his bag. He had the overwhelming urge to give Angelus a holy water shower.
The only thing that stopped him was not wanting to freak out the local vamps, but it was a near thing.