Kin of the Clan
Kin of the Clan
Not all of these chapters are archived on my LiveJournal, but you can get them all on AO3 at
http://archiveofourown.org/works/2435687/chapters/5393936
Chapter 19: Progress
Jim looked up when at the sound of a heartbeat. He still had not gotten used to the fact that many members of the family lacked them, but he was getting there. Xander stood in the doorway of the office Jim and Blair had claimed, and Angel stood right behind him. Jim could immediately tell the difference in how Angel held himself and his facial expressions. The idea of having to share a body with someone who had such different values was a horror to Jim, yet most of these people acted like Anya had done the vampire a favor. Jim was starting to think that Xander's comment that demons were just weird had some validity.
"How's it going?" Xander asked.
Blair looked up from his computer, a highlighter smudge on one cheek and his glasses perched on his nose. "We're making progress."
"As long as a judge doesn't ask how we got these records," Jim said. Rupert Giles hadn't offered much when Jim had asked about his ex-wife. Either he knew very little about Jenny Giles' personal preferences or he had no intention of helping them stop her. Jim didn't actually care which was true, because either meant he lacked the information he needed. So Rosenberg had taken it on herself to hack all the Giles' financials. He knew every debit charge, every purchase, every debt the couple ever had. Rosenberg had been convinced that Rupert Giles had simply been too busy to pay attention to his wife, and considering that she was friends with the man, Jim had decided to not call her on the bullshit.
"The military judges are pretty good about not getting too picky," Xander said.
"So they don't care about civil liberties and privacy," Jim translated.
Xander's eyes got large. "Wow. You know, I never thought about it like that. That makes it sound definitely uncool." Angel looked down at Xander with concern in his expression, but then Xander shrugged. "I might care about that when we aren't up against someone who declared war on us."
Jim had to admit that Xander had a point. The Giles woman was playing with fire. However, he was still uncomfortable with how easily everyone in the group dismissed the rights of suspects. Maybe that wasn't an issue when he wasn't involved or when they didn't have Rosenberg and the weight of the Army on their side. Private individuals didn't have an obligation to protect others' civil liberties. But Jim was a police officer, and Rosenberg had a secret FISA court in her corner.
"I would be more comfortable if illegally obtained evidence didn't go back to the government where it might be allowed into court against all the rules of evidence," Jim said.
Xander looked up at Angel. "That's seems fair, right?"
After a second, Angel nodded, and Xander gave him a huge smile.
"Thank you." Jim couldn't believe that he was stuck defending the rights of the accused, but someone had to. Justice wasn't just about chasing down the criminal any way he could. He pushed his chair back from his own computer. "We are making progress here. I have a number of preferences that are specific enough that we should be able to start hitting the streets and seeing if the vendors have seen her. Once we figure out which stores she's using, we can start doing geographical profiling and pin her down to an area."
"And then vampire senses can take over," Blair finished for him. "No way does she get to fuck with this family."
"Huge with the not waying," Xander agreed. "And Wesley has progress too. He has a spell that will check for va'nuss, and if it's positive, he thinks he knows how to remove any magical blocks."
Jim wasn't sure how he felt about that. Suspicions were one thing, but he didn't need to have a confirmation that he was part berserker demon. "What if the test is negative?"
"Ahn is going to be hugely disappointed," Xander said in a conspiratorial tone. "Apparently the demon who cursed the va'nuss is a big muckety-muck who has made fun of her for getting undemonified, so if it turns out his curse didn't hold and the human rubbed off after a few hundred generations, she is going to be huge with the making fun of him. Now I would not make fun of a vengeance demon, but apparently Anya is still familish with D'Hoffryn's group because she gets away with it."
"Oh man, she is playing with fire," Blair said softly.
"Trust me, we have all warned her. Warned her, threatened her, begged her." Xander shrugged. "Apparently you can take the demon out of the girl, but you can't take the girl out of the demonic way of seeing the world. At least we've made progress. ``I'm almost sure she has given up on the goal of castrating any local politicians. She was really into it there for a while."
"Castrating?" Jim might be bending his sense of justice a little, but no way would he allow one of these people to target innocent humans.
"Infidelity is her hot button," Xander said. "Every time some politician gets caught cheating, she gets nostalgic for her good old vengeance days. Once or twice she tried to get us to help with a little castration, but surprisingly, the rest of the clan is not really thrilled with the idea of making someone eat their own balls. So, are you ready to give Wesley a little blood?"
Jim looked over at Blair. If this test came up positive, it impacted both their lives. He wanted to know how Blair felt about it, but the man wasn't putting out any signals. His body language, his facial expression, and even his scent was devoid of any emotion. If they'd been alone, Jim probably would have confronted Blair about that, but instead he stood. "Let's get it over with."
Angel stepped back and since he had his hand on Xander's shoulder, he pulled Xander back with him. Angel was a hell of a lot quieter than Angelus, and Jim wasn't sure he liked that change. He wasn't sure what Angel was thinking, and that was uncomfortable. He followed them out into the hall, and Blair trailed behind.
"Chief, you okay?" Jim asked softly.
"Yeah. Totally. I'm just thinking about all the times I made comments about your Blessed Protector syndrome."
Jim's guts tangled a little. "And now you think it might be more of a psychopathic syndrome?" Sadly that matched Jim's behavior during the Alex affair, and it definitely matched Alex herself.
"Whoa, no way!" Blair caught Jim's arm. "You are still my great protector. I'm making fun of my own cluelessness because man, I know better."
Jim raised an eyebrow. "Because I'm a demon?"
"Hey! So am I. And both of us are human more than demon, so don't poke that button," Blair's scent shifted toward aggravation, which was much better than the dull nothingness of earlier. "And you're stuck with me no matter what this test shows." Blair moved to Jim's side and leaned close.
A cold knot of ice thawed in Jim's heart and he slung his arm over Blair's shoulders. "I guess my drains will have to learn to deal with the hair."
"Asshole," Blair whispered, but Jim steered him down the hallway where Angel and Xander had vanished. He was guessing that they'd headed to Wesley's main office. When they reached the lobby, Jim stopped dead. A whole troupe of dog-faced demons stood in front of the counter. Amber was checking them in while Cordelia occasionally glanced over at the drama as they all tried to crowd closer to the counter.
"Cool. I don't know that type of demon. I wonder if they're the sort to swap stories," Blair said.
Jim steered him toward the corridor that led to Wesley's office. "Forget it, short stuff. We have our hands full without you staring a feud with Fido."
Blair snorted. "And calling them Fido wouldn't cause a feud?"
"I didn't say it to their faces," Jim said. A half second later he realized the flaw in his logic. If Angelus was right, Jim's senses came from having demonic blood. If other people had demonic blood, their senses might be just as well developed. He asked Blair, "If demons have better senses, why didn't you ever assume I might have some demonic ancestors?"
"Because the whole thing with Sentinels is that they didn't have a demonic background. They arose spontaneously in a part of the world that was definitely demon-lite. And demons tend to track all their lines. My uncle knew he was my uncle because he could smell my father's genes. And even though my father didn't want a kid, he told his family that he'd sired a son. Demons are big about tracking that stuff. At least some are. Vampires sometimes get a bit of a reputation because they reproduce a little indiscriminately."
"Do they?"
"Well, not in this family, but the typical vampire? Sure. Man, if you need someone to hold open a door, just take your next meal and turn them into a vampire. So not cool."
They walked into Wesley's office. He sat behind a pile of books higher than his head. Angel and Xander were on his couch, and everywhere Jim could smell Harmony. She had even left a little glass unicorn on one of Wesley's shelves. Clearly she had more than one sexual partner, but given the way Blair had talked about this group when they'd been back in Cascade, Wesley and McDonald might be sleeping together too. No wonder they kept it in the family. One STD could take out the whole clan.
"Right. There you are." Wesley stood up. "This is a rather straightforward potion, but if you have no va'nuss blood, you might experience some discomfort and a temporary change of skin color."
"Skin color?" Jim hadn't expected that. "And how much discomfort?"
Wesley kept his gaze on the book. "The discomfort is described as a sunburn, and there could be an after effect that causes some blue staining of the skin, but the records are clear that it is temporary."
Jim had seen the devastating effects of a serious sunburn, so that wasn't all that reassuring. However, he couldn't live with ignorance. If he had to suffer a little to get a real answer-an answer about who he was and why he had turned on Blair-an answer about where his powers came from-then he would.
“Let’s do it.” Jim took a step forward.
“Whoa, hold on. What a demon calls discomfort can be fucking terrifying for a human,” Blair interrupted. “Demons are the archetype of the macho guy saying ‘that didn’t hurt’ when you hit him with a two-by-four. I think we should get a little clarification on the whole discomfort part.”
Wesley looked up. “I assure you there is nothing that would indicate that a human couldn’t bear the pain.”
Xander spoke up. “Yeah, but remember what happened after Wolfram and Hart’s covert ops team broke Graham? A human could handle the healing spell, and maybe he’s lucky enough to not remember that night, but the rest of us can’t forget the screaming and the shrieking and the blood-curling screaming.”
Jim was starting to wonder if Xander had actually managed to pass English class or if someone had cast a spell on his senior English teacher back in high school. “Listen, Chief, I don’t care if I end up screaming. We need to know the truth, and if that means some pain, it won’t be the first time I’ve endured a little.”
Blair rolled his eyes. “And now you do your macho impression. Testosterone poisoning… man, it’s not a pretty way to go.”
“My choice,” Jim said sharply. Blair frowned, but he didn’t voice any more objections. If this spell worked, Xander had said they might be able to get Jim’s spirit guide unblocked. That was step one in his quest to earn his freedom back. As much as he was starting to respect this family, he didn’t like being forced to stay. And if reaching his goal required pain, Jim would pay that price. Every damn time he’d pay that price. Jim focused on Wesley. “What do I need to do.”
Wesley looked over at Angel, and Jim turned that direction as well. After a second, Angel nodded without saying a word. He had the mime impersonation down well. Wesley pulled open one of his desk drawers. “I prepared a vial. The spell requires only that you drink it at once, and given what it smells like, that might be a difficult task. However, once you have imbibed, we should know within the hour. A va’nuss’s biology will shrug off the herbs within the potion. A human will turn a shade of blue, much like a human might react to ingesting silver or silver dust.”
“Why would someone eat silver? Werewolf phobia?” Xander asked.
Wesley blinked at him, but Jim’s brain was stuck on werewolf. Werewolves were real? His brain could not handle any more rearranging, but Blair’s family did seem determined to destroy any illusions Jim might still cling to.
Wesley cleared his throat. “I suspected humans suffering from argyria are mine workers who are exposed to unhealthy air due to unethical and dangerous working conditions.”
“Oh, that makes sense.” Xander nodded. “One of the guys I go to school with asked us to help out with remodeling his house, but when I got there, it was a 1950s cottage with original finishes, and when I asked for an asbestos test, he outright refused. God forbid that my desire for intact lungs interfere with his money.” Xander snorted in disgust.
“He put you at risk?” Angel growled the words, and it was the first emotion Jim had seen since the soul had returned.
Xander patted him on the arm. “Stand down, big guy. He did not put me at risk because I told him to bite me. My lungs are worth way more than his house. I walked. But other guys-guys that needed the money-they were totally in there ripping out linoleum like morons.”
“As much as I enjoy getting completely off-topic,” Wesley said in a tone that sounded suspiciously like an unhappy school teacher, “this potion might create the appearance of argyria in a pure human, but the similarity is pure coincidence. It will not cause any long term harm.”
“So I won’t stay blue, and we have a good cover story if I’m blue longer than you assume,” Jim summarized. He held his hand out for the vial.
“That would be accurate.” Wesley surrendered it.
“You so don’t have to do this,” Blair said in a sing-song voice.
Jim ignored him and took the top off the vial. The smell was a cross between durian fruit and a sour kitchen washcloth that was left wadded up in the bottom of the sink to grow a new generation of killer bacteria. Jim had to grab his dial for smell and brutally crank it down. Even Angel looked fairly ill, and he pulled Xander toward the exit. Rather than expose all of them to the noxious brew for too long, Jim upended the vial and drank as fast as he could.
And then he waited.