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Hellfire Tales: Away With The Boys In The Band pt 5
full header & part one || part two || part three || part four



Xander's back was about ready to give out by the time they reached the bus, for all that Matt wasn't that big of a guy, he wasn't little and he wasn't light. Neither was Devon for that matter and Devon had been plastered to Xander's back almost all the day before and as soon as he'd gotten to the Dingoes and their equipment.

He wasn't exactly sure what had Matt puking and passing out but he was betting it was something to do with maybe catching sight of whatever threw the tire iron and sent a couple rocks flying.

“The wards are holding them out,” Jake said.

“Them, multiple, of course. Great. Devon, no nothing. Got it?” Xander growled over his shoulder heading toward the back of the bus. “Shannon, c'mon.” Mostly for the sake of Vlad, Oksana, Mike and Jake. Shannon didn't seem like he was going to do anything but follow his brother. “Clay, Oksana, Mike, take the freaking gameboys and head up in the cab.”

Devon looked like shit, had been running a fever, shaking and twitching all morning. Oksana and Mike didn't need to see it if Dev lost it and started humping someone's leg. And—no, Andrew and Tyson got to draw pictures and explain things like Incubi and sex to Clay.

“Climb back up on the bed out of the way,” Xander ordered Jared who did without a bit of hesitation. “Blood's soaking through.” Xander sighed seeing the fine smear of red on the sheet as Jared's ankle rubbed against it. His sock and hem of his jeans looked wet.

“What?” Shannon yelped from behind him.

“Can you reach the med kit? It's in that compartment up there—big brown leather bag,” Xander asked Shannon. He laid Matt down on the bed with a groan before sitting on the edge of it. He tugged off his t-shirt. Matt was likely to be wired as hell when he woke up and the tatts would help calm him down hopefully.

“Just a scratch, I'm fine,” Jared shook his head.

“Yeah. Uh huh. Tell that to someone who'll buy it,” Xander snorted. “Did he hit his head when he went down?”

“No he was already kinda on his knees puking.”

“Cool, and the gravel's got more give than concrete. You first.”

“WHAT!” Jared yelped.

“You. First. You don't want me to make you be still if you try to kick me. Got it?” Xander ordered taking the med kit from Shannon and sitting it on the edge of the bed.

“Are you suicidal!” Not so much a question as a roar of outrage from Jake.

Xander glanced to the doorway of the crackerbox of a bedroom on the back of the bus. “You don't have anything better to do? Like—aren't you hired to be working somewhere on this circus?”

“You. Can't.”

“Oh shut up, Jake. Jared—” Xander reached for Jared's foot and yanked his shoe off. Jared's sock peeled off next.

“FUCK! JARED!” Shannon shouted seeing the bloodied bandage.

“So. What?” Xander pulled a knife from the med kit, unsheathed it and sliced the bandages away. “Ew. What chewed on you?”

“Rat things in a dream,” Jared shot back.

“JARED!”

“Shut up! You're going to wake Matthew and he'll kill Xander.”

Xander rolled his eye. “Nope. Not for patching up Jared. I'm positive of that one. So will you settle down? You're worse than Wes for the panicking.”

“Who?”

Xander shook his head and pulled a flask from the med bag. “Let's hope this doesn't burn.”

“What is it?” Shannon demanded.

“Holy Water.”

Jared screamed when the water was poured over the ankle.

“That's definitely not of the good,” Xander sighed, then frowned as the wounds—he tilted his head and looked over his shoulder at Shannon. “It just me or does that look a little better?”

“It—not just you,” Shannon agreed shakily.

“You got a clue what could do that, Jake?” Xander asked eyeing the wounds.

Jake didn't answer.

“Oh what?” Xander glanced over his shoulder.

“He's going to kill you,” Jake snapped.

“Matt is not going to kill me for taking care of his Jared.”

“Matt wouldn't—”

“Uh huh, mister ankles all chewed up by rat things in a dream? Think you're the only one that can get cursed?”

Jared's eyes narrowed.

“He'll be a guilty idiot and try to kick you to the curb again after we figure the hell's trying to use you for a chew toy. Because of the nifty little curse that basically he completely owns me now. Makes sense now. He's all broody and guilty—he didn't believe there was something up that didn't have bad mundane explanation before?”

Jared swallowed.

Xander nodded and sighed. Yeah. That was starting to add up pretty clearly. He reached and laid his hand on Jared's calf a minute.

“DONT PET WHOEVER HE IS!” Jake bellowed.

Xander rolled his eye and deliberately stroked Jared's shin. “Been rough but like I told Shannon that night he pulled the call and hang up, I've taken care of him. He's..dealing. Think you've been tearing him up as bad as the shit that hit us that he didn't believe.”

“ARE YOU STUPID!!” Jake shoved past Shannon knocking him into the wall and grabbed Xander back away from Jared, knocking him back too. “Let me do it. He wakes and—”

“He's awake.” Matt croaked out eyes squeezed tight. “Fuck off, Coyote, do whatever you do to not seem so fucking much and go away.”

“Hey, hey, he's being all chivalrous. Thinks you're going to kill me for trying to patch up some minor owies on Jared.” Xander said quietly. “What happened?”

“It all got loose. And...”

“And. Wards too much?”

“Wards feel like Tara and the others...”

“Well, that sounds okay to me but doesn't really answer the question, Matt,” Xander snorted.

“It's...safe.”

“Matt.”

“Too strong right now, everything's too strong right now but I can stand how they feel because it's them.”

“That's better.”

Xander tried to ignore the commotion in the front of the bus, commotion that had a few voices that shouldn't be added to it. “You're calling Tara and seeing what she can tell you about shielding. And I need to call Wes. Shit...” he'd seen a lot of weird but wounds that started healing with holy water was a bit much. “What cursed you this time? You know what the curse is?”

“THIS TIME!”

“You sound like an old woman, Jake,” Xander snorted, The bites didn't disappear from Jared's ankle but the welted up almost rotting bleeding look of the bites did. They sunk back to just puncture wounds, “You know of dream rat things that can do this? If not go ask Vlad.”

“Nightmare demons if their toxin is allowed to take hold they can do considerable damage by way of belief,” Jake answered. “Their preferred methods of injury is biting and clawing, shapeless entities that take form of what would be most feared in a nightmare.”

Xander heard the clear as a bell, but it shouldn't do that unspoken. He shook off Jake's grip and managed to get back to the edge of the bed.

“Feels right,” Matt muttered.

“Uh huh,” Xander cast Matt a curious glance. “You're so not human. Luck of the Zeppo strikes again.”

“If I'm not it's news to me,” Matt shot back. “His ankles were sick, yellow green, wrong...not part of him but attached to him.”

“And invisible things throwing tire irons?”

“How the fuck am I supposed to know?” Matt hissed. “You're the fucking White Knight with half of Clem's fucking clan drooling like giggling fangirls over you.”

“What can I say? Demons love me,” Xander retorted.

Matt growled.

“Quit taunting him!” Jake squawked.

“Other ankle, Jared,” Xander ordered. He placed the extra voices up in the front of the bus. Oh for—yeah, wonderful.

“Please tell me I'm hearing things,” Matt whined.

“Nope, I'm hearing the short ones with the tattoos too. You passed out in front of the one that has the dog, dumbass.”

“You're better with names than that.”

“Says who?”

“Says me!” Matt snarled.

“I hear Frank and Brian too,” Xander agreed as he repeated the holy water on Jared's other ankle. Some of the salve Tara had made and bandages rewrapped around both ankles as the voices up front got louder. Matt managed to pull off glaring even with his eyes closed, mostly by way of the expression on his face and the tenseness radiating off him. Both Letos were a half second from losing it and having nervous breakdown. Jake didn't seem like he was that far off.

Xander didn't really give a damn about Jake. So Matt had his very own not-human follow him home? Maybe the curse decided to share the demon magnet factor between them. Jake didn't seem to be evil or anything much more than annoying at the moment.

“Jake, the wards here able to hold off what you think was chewing on Jared?” Xander demanded.

“The wards on this bus could keep out all but the highest level demons and most powerful gods.” Jake huffed.

“They were aiming for trying to keep out Willow.” Xander sighed then shook his head. “So, nightmare demons that munch ankles kept away?”

“Yes, they're low level little more than imps of harrassment.”

“Cool beans. Nap Jared. You look like a half dead raccoon.” Xander declared. “Matt, make your Jared take a nap. I'll deal with the bunch up there. You try to rest too.”

The look Matt gave him, well, Jared would be napping. Matt and Shannon both seemed to be set to win that one. Matt actually listening and taking a nap himself? Xander didn't think so.

Jake was all freaking flustered and worried. Xander could give a shit less about that. He stifled the groan as he heard the decidedly female voice join the chaos up in the front of the bus. This was going to be fun. Not. But what else was new?

~*~


Brian's eyes widened at the pair that appeared out of Thin. Fucking. Air. Pepper yelped, pissed on Frank and tried to make a run for it.

“You look like crap, Devon.”

Devon who was hunched in a ball in the booth seat at the table didn't look up. “So, you're still dead, Cordelia,” he grated out.

Brian struggled to wrap his mind around the—ghost? Was she really a fucking ghost? She was glowing and semi-see through and Devon said she was dead.

Frank and Tomo on either side of him on the couch were staring as badly as he was.

“Holy. Shit.” Tim whispered from just the other side of Tomo. “Holy. Fucking. Shit. Cordelia. Chase.”

“You know a ghost?” Tomo squeaked.

“No.”

“I know you?” the ghost...Cordelia evidently, looked at Tim. “You don't look familiar at all.”

“Not surprised,” Tim said shakily. “I only lived in Sunnydale a year. No matter how damn good the job paid mom told dad we were leaving with or without him. He'd had enough too. You would've been a junior. I was a sophomore.”

“Loser obviously. I don't remember you at all.”

“Fuck, I thought you got over being a bitch constantly.” Devon looked up. Brian did a double take. His eyes were glowing red. Fucking red and his face seemed...straining like something not quite visible was trying to shift under the surface.

“Oh shit,” Tim whispered.

“He's part Incubus, not vampire, duh,” Cordelia rolled her eyes at Tim. “And his puppy would chew his ass up literally if he did more than feed with clothes on...you know. If Wes turns gay, I'm going to have to get a complex or something.”

“We need to have a support group. So traumatized by Cordelia Chase we'd rather swear off women.” Devon snapped.

“XANDER!” she shouted.

“He's not going to kill me, you said he wouldn't...”

“He might hurt you if he's in a bad mood, but Xander's a good guy. He only kills bad demons, or stupid ones that hurt his friends...oh wait. You're both. Guess you better hope you get lucky.” She shrugged and Brian had the impression the guy with the deformed face and horns who might be a demon couldn't move because she wouldn't let him.

“You murder people with facial deformities around here?” Brian demanded. That wasn't a ghost. That wasn't a demon. Fucking couldn't be. This...was some sort of screwed up flash back or delayed reaction from when he was using.

“Only if they're evil demons. Did you do this crap to Jared, Sid?” Xander came from the back.

Brian gaped. God. Frank's freakout a litte more understandable. He'd thought the guy was kind of freaky and the missing eye made Brian's skin crawl a little but holy SHIT Shirtless in the cramped bus lounge standing straight, glaring and poised to tear the deformed-face guy apart bare handed. Holy. Shit. That Xander was six foot and decent enough built he'd known, but the guy...damn just...Damn.

He seemed a hell of a lot bigger. No, he was actually standing up straight the first time Brian had ever seen. In Hellfire he'd been kind of hunched and hovering over that blond gal in the long skirt, then hunched over whatever the hell he'd been working on when Brian had tracked down Matt. Earlier he'd been leaning forward with Devon on his back or hunched over Matt, carrying Matt. The tattooed collar and the winged snake in the center of his chest matched Matt's newest ink.

“Okay those aren't so bad. But keep it up and your skins going to look as bad as those godawful Hawaiian shirts you had in school.” the glowing just wasn't—couldn't be a ghost Cordelia eyed Xander's ink.

“Cordelia.” Xander snapped looking and sounding dangerous enough to make Brian flinch.

“She's having a crisis. You're with Matt. I'm with Oz. If Wes turns gay then three of her exes going for guys is giving her a complex,” Devon snorted.

“Hell there's already three, Larry.”

“Larry?” Devon frowned.

“Blaisdell, football captain, tried killing me about every other day. Got killed on graduation.”

“Larry was not gay...” Cordelia protested.

“Cordelia, he kissed me. And was up for hella lot more than that. Ask Dawn. She got sent by Buff for me to watch her because Buff was busy...goddess only knows what. But.”

“I swear. Was Dennis the only completely straight guy I ever slept with?”

Xander stared.

“What? He didn't require batteries!” Cordelia defended. “Hello! Ampata! Miss French! Faith! Anyanka! Vlad! Spike! Like you have room to talk! At least Dennis never tried to kill me or eat me—well, not in any non-fun ways. Anya was summoned to torture you! You danced with her at Prom!”

“Yeah, you're the one that summoned her on me. I know.”

“I'm usually glad she didn't but she was supposed to disembowel you or something not date you! I got impaled on rebar rescuing you and you were macking on WILLOW!”

“H-harris? Xander Harris...”

Xander turned and looked at Tim. “I know you?” he frowned, staring at the rattled Tim a second. His head tilted a little, “Tom? Keller? Kelly? Something like that?”

“Tim Kelleher.”

“You remember him?” Cordelia frowned.

“Yeah. Larry liked beating on him too. And he had a really freaking bad habit of sneaking out to the Bronze to listen to music. He got jumped by vamps a couple times. I made him a stake.” Xander dismissed Tim. “Now what the hells are you doing here with Sid? Sid, if you're the one that--”

“She summoned me! Summoned me straight into a confinement circle! She—”

“She who?”

“Willow. Who else?” Cordelia snapped.

“You need fed.”

Brian's attention snapped to the heavily accented voice's owner. Vlad. Vlad was freaky and kind of made Brian's skin crawl. Pale with dark hair all perfectly wavy down to his shoulders and dark eyes. Even if this was the second day of the tour, everyone was at least a little sunburned, those that didn't have a tan to start with or didn't tan easily. Everyone was sweaty it was getting on two in the afternoon and the heat was in full swing. He was pale, cool unruffled and unwrinkled and just fucking disturbing somehow.

“I'm fine. Fed last week and you haven't filled up. Make yourself useful and go ward Jared's bus?”

“You need to feed.”

“I'm fine.”

“You're not.”

“You—you—you—” Kelleher spluttered.

“Dude. I was out in sunlight,” Xander snorted and reached for the pile of newspapers and coloring books on the little table Devon was huddled at. Brian opened his mouth, shut it, and just stared. Xander was holding an elaborately carved cross inlaid with metal, Brian was leaning toward thinking it was really silver not just shiny-silvery metal patina of some kind. “Still got a pulse and what's left of my soul. Just an addiction to Dhamphyr blood. Occupational hazard.”

“THE FUCK!!” Frank squawked.

“Oh go grr and show them,” Cordelia ordered Vlad.

Brian made a strangled noise as Vlad's face changed dark eyes melted into animal yellow and his whole face shifted, brows ridging and wrinkling and MOTHERFUCKING FANGS!. Vlad stepped forward and right through Cordelia.

“Jeez! Rude much there, Dracula?” Cordelia complained.

D—Drac—Brian's brain skidded to a halt right into a brick wall.

Devon clutched his stomach and balled back up making a strangled sound that kind of sounded like an animal in severe pain half smothered with a pillow to keep it quiet. His very red eyes squinted shut.

“Xan?” Matt appeared back from the bunks.

“Thought you were laying down.”

“Shannon's got him. Will you fucking let go of me, Coyote?”

Xander looked back over his shoulder. Brian stared at the tech who was supposed to be working. Well, both techs, but Matt puked and passed out. Jake Coyote was another story. What the hell was he doing with this bunch?

“Matt isn't going to kill me.” Xander rolled his eye.

Coyote seemed less than convinced of that. Matt was glaring at Xander like he just might. “You need it?”

“I'm fine. It's only been a week. I can make it six.” Xander argued.

“He needs to feed. The last two times he barely took more than a swallow.” Vlad snapped.

“I'm fine.”

Matt's glare scared Brian. Cortez looked fucking psycho. Really fucking psycho.

Devon moaned.

“Xan?”

“He's changing. Crossed too far with you because of Angelus,” Xander said quietly.

“Fuck,” Matt stared at Devon looking a little sick.

“PLEASE! AND LET ME FEED ON IT!” Devon whined.

“You can feed on Xan while he feeds.”

“I don't—,” Xander protested.

Matt growled. Seriously growled like a wild animal or something.

“Fine—AFTER we deal with Cordelia and Sid. I quit putting on shows when I quit stripping thanks.”

Matt snarled.

Brian was seriously fucking scared of CORTEZ. He looked just...crazed and murderous. Xander just reached and pulled Matt into his arms. “Yours and you know it. Yours. Keep it together. One thing at a time. One thing at a time.”

“Matt, please,” Devon whined.

“Take what you need,” Matt swallowed.

Xander tightened his arms around Matt and made a strangled sound for a second then looked at the ghost. “So what are you doing here? And is Sid the one that did this shit with Jared?”

“Willow—”

“Willow what?” Xander demanded tightly.

“Bitch,” Devon growled looking up eyes demon red and face less human somehow. Every muscle in Matt's body went taut, the growl he gave little better than the red-eyed Devon.

“Can I finish?” Cordelia snapped. “Grr grr grr, is that seriously all you guys can do?”

“Cordelia!” Xander glared.

~*~

Matt growled fighting the insane rage and jealousy boiling up. Xander's arms tightened almost painful around him.

Frank was making breathless squeaky noises and holding onto Pepper tight enough to make her whine. Brian was fucking hyperventilating. Shock, disbelief and terror rolling off of them enough to turn his stomach.

Tomo was better. Not as broken brain. Not so much disbelieving. Almost resigned. Tim was panicky but it was a different sort than Frank and Brian. Tim knew what he was scared of and that made a huge difference.

Coyote was all fucking paranoid and hadn't “turned down” the sheer force of his presence enough though it was salt in an open wound level not battery acid on raw exposed nerves. That was an improvement. Vlad's demon was the usual hungry angry twisted up threaded through his presence which was worried and horny. Vlad got off on feeding Xander as Xander got horny and wired. Devon was raw hunger and agony.

“Kids? Clay?” he murmured.

“Upfront,” Xander answered going right back to arguing with Cordelia. Or whatever the hell. Willow. Willow did something to Jared because of Xander. Summoned the guy with Cordelia on Jared. Not a guy. Fuck no not. Matt tried to reel in the feel of everything. Too fucking much he quickly switched tactics and focused on Xander.

Willow.

Goddamn bitch.

His Xander was breaking. He'd never laid eyes on the bitch but he wanted to tear her to pieces. Fucking bitch. He could feel Xander. Heart and soul just being shredded to fucking confetti. The words around him were incomprehensible, enough got through the haze he was fighting not to try to tear Cordelia apart. She was only the messenger.

“Let go. Let go. I need him to answer baby, Need to get him to talk.” Xander whispered.

“Mine,” Matt snarled.

“Yours. You own me. You got me. I'm yours.”

“MINE,”

“Yeah yours.”

The flare of pain tangled up with lust in Xander's aura or whatever the hell it was burned through him. He pressed harder against Xander a growl rumbling deep in his throat. Xander leaned back against something going lax save for his arms tight around Matt, one hand snaking up to tangle in Matt's hair with a whine.

“Oh Shut up, Cordelia,” he heard, could feel the vibrations against his chest, his lips, tasted the coppery hint of blood...

“Jesus, fuck,” Matt pulled his head back shakily, licked his lip and stared in horror at the bruised forming on the juncture of Xander's neck, teeth indents deep enough to have broken skin.

“I'm yours. You own me, baby.” Xander caught his hand and pulled it up between them over the black and red winged serpent on his chest. “Your mark on me. No one else's.”

“Fuck.”

“Yeah, but I need to find out what he did first, what she caused and what from there. Need to find out what was done to hurt your Jared. Can you let me go long enough for that.”

“Yeah.” Matt forced himself to let go. It nearly killed him. The growling he heard had to be him. He was fucking shaking. Brian and Frank were staring at him like...

“Here's your blade.”

“Theatrical motherfucker,” Matt muttered at Vlad. The flourish which he'd produced Xander's knife without of thin air and how he turned it over with a dramatic little bow was really fucking unnecessary and bordering on ridiculous.

“Make yourself useful. You and Jake go ward Matty's Jared's bus, and that bunches buses.”

“After you've fed.”

“I fed last week.”

“YOU'LL FEED!” Matt snarled.

“Fine I'll feed after I deal with Sid. And then your stupid asses are going to ward the buses to high heaven and hell got it? Andrew, Tara and Wes can't leave Hellfire anytime soon.”

“Not while Willow's alive,” Cordelia huffed.

“Yeah.”

God the pain that radiated off Xander was excruciating.

“We've got to get Doyle somehow first. And Dawn the hell out of there. Away so Willow can't use her. Wes is working on it.”

Cordelia bit her lip in a way Matt really didn't like. She was hiding something. Matt was sure of that but Xander was hurting too much to call her on it.

“I know. I've been yelling at Wes all morning.”

Whatever she wasn't telling Xander Wes knew. Good enough. He winced at the scream the demon gave when Xander skinned off an inch wide strip the length of his forearm while Vlad held him.

Matt ignored Frank and Brian. Both of them were freaked to incoherent. He didn't quite catch all what the demon was screaming about. A lot of apologies because it owed Xander or something. Xander held something over it's head that it forfeited everything if it hurt anyone under Xander's protection and Jared had been for years. Jared was still wearing the necklace with the charm Xander gave him from not long after the wedding that wasn't and the charm from years before that, from when Xander had landed in freaking Oxnard after graduation.

“Think we need to put your Jared on a leash, Matt, every time I meet up with him he's fucking cursed.” Xander said almost as an afterthought over his shoulder.

“Great S&M and Demons and haven't even gotten fucking coffee yet,” Tomo mumbled more dazed and shellshocked than anything.

Matt had everything he could do not to attack the demon that Vlad and Xander were flat out torturing. The screamed and sobbed out answers didn't make much sense. Willow was all Matt really got from it. Something about some other demon and Lohan? He wanted to tear something apart. The demon hurt Xander, hurt Jared, it would do. The heavy hands that landed on his shoulder almost startled him.

“Turn it the fuck down Coyote. I don't have it wrapped up enough. You're killing me.” Matt snarled. “Enough. Enough Xan. You got enough?”

“Yeah. He's lifted the wishes at least. All we can get from him.”

“Vlad can you eat him?”

Vlad slipped into game face with a grin.

“You fuckin' feed then feed, Xan.”

The demon sobbed and begged. Matt snarled at it. Coyote's fingers dug into his shoulders and Devon whined, sounding more sick and pained. Feeling more terrified and agonized. Behind him Coyote let loose with his full presence. Matt would have dropped to his knees without Coyote's brutal hold on his shoulders. At this rate they were going to be calling and begging for more of Tara's salves and shit before the week was up. She was so going to kill them for that when they got back to Hellfire. And hell Rose was going to kill him for the phone call earlier.

The demon tried pleading with Matt.

“Xander's mine. Jared's mine. You're dead.” Matt grated out fighting the inhuman rage coursing through him. Xander was fucking destroyed in so much pain it was almost impossible for Matt to think straight. He could see it in the damn colors, aura whatever it was around Xander, could feel it.

“Fool. Look at the young hunter's chest,” Coyote sneered.

“Serpent's Blood.” the demon whispered, eyes widening at Xander.

“Not me. My Matt,” Xander growled. Something other rising up, more feral animal than anything else. He stepped back and pulled his cellphone from his pocket. “Yeah. Wes, it's me. Brace for incoming. You may have to slay some of it. I don't know. I just called in geis debt. Corral by the livery, yeah.”

“You you.”

“Corral by the livery stable in Hellfire. Anything living or dangerous properly contained. Geis bound, Geis broken, payment due NOW.”

The demon sobbed and seemed to weaken as something happened, power used, ciphoned off him somehow. It was begging as Vlad's fangs sunk into it's neck.

“Do I finish it?” Vlad asked pulling away a little while later licking blood off his lips and fangs. “He will take a long while to recover. A tablespoon from fatal.”

“Let him live,” Matt snarled.

“His power's broken. Everything he had for markers and bargaining chips and wealth are mine. And he's one of D'Hoffryn's court. D'Hoffryn has a bounty offer out on me in about thirty dimensions I think the last count Clem said was. Any can get here and get me and deliver me. Big big bucks for my ass delivered alive. Not to shabby for me dead and my head on a platter but D'Hoffryn would rather have me alive to torture himself. You let him live, he's defenseless. Have to send his dumb ass to Hellfire and stick him in the jail there to recover and let Doc at him. Past that who knows. You let him live, we're stuck responsible for him.”

“Let him live,” Matt swallowed.

Xander pulled his phone again. “Yeah, me again, Wes. One three fourths dead, ex Vengeance Demon, specifically Patron Saint of Betrayed Loyalties headed your way. Stick him in the jail and let Doc take a look at him.” Xander snorted. “No, really? You think D'Hoffryn's going to raise the bounty on me for taking another of his court out of action when he holds me responsible for two of them getting Redemption? Duh much? Yeah. Cordelia will be showing up with him in a second. Try to stay straight Cordelia's having a minor crises Dennis might be the only completely straight of her exes. Angel was a vamp. Me. Devon. Larry. Yeah, Phantom Dennis. Yay, I'm glad Faith's happy with something to slay. Shit. Rose. As long as it's not anything that'll hurt the baby. Matt, babe?”

“What?”

“Want to formally recognize Rose as a concubine so she can deal with sorting through the pile in and around the corral? Lot of it can't be touched to be sorted through unless it's by me or my designated clan member...”

“Yeah. Fuck I—”

“Nothing more than formal acknowledgement she's family.”

“Yeah. Yeah. She's having our kid...” Matt agreed shakily.

~*~

The demon disappeared into thin fucking air. The demon that was scare to hell of Matt because of whatever the hell Serpent's Blood was..disappeared. Into. Thin. Fucking. Air. The ghost disappeared too, after some kind of imperious dictate that Frank needed his head fucked with to forget this. That he couldn't know yet.

The damned Vampire....

Matt kind of launched himself at Xander, which made Coyote look like he was going to crap his pants. Xander wrapped his arms around Matt and kind of tilted his head. Demands of fucking feeding. Matt growled and bit Xander.

Brian could only be relieved Matt didn't grow fangs or some damned thing. Vlad cut his wrist open on a fang and pressed it to Xander's mouth.

Xander...groaned like—Brian wasn't sure if it was closer to the best drug in the world or the best sex in the universe. Blood dripped down his chin a bit as he sucked on Vlad's wrist and Matt fucking licked it away. When Vlad took his wrist back, licking at the wound and it starting to heal Matt attacked Xander, more raping his mouth than kissing him.

“In back, c'mon back. Vlad, Coyote, take care of them and ward the fucking busses,” Xander ordered with a gasp.

Brian couldn't bring himself to object when Vlad did something to fuck with Frank's head. Making him forget everything, thinking only Matt had a case of food poisoning or some fucking thing. Frank seemed a bit reluctant to go but did when reminded about the interview coming up in an hour.

“What. The. Fuck?” Brian managed to get out. He stared at the Dingoes singer who—was looking blissed out orgasmic making strangled little moans and no longer really human looking, his face shifted and eyes fucking crimson.

“You want to know or you want to forget this?” Vlad demanded.

“I want to know.”

An hour later he almost regretted that decision.