TITLE: Walk on the Wild Side

AUTHOR: Scorpio

ARCHIVE: All list archives, just tell me where.

FANDOM: Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Angel the Series

PAIRING: Spike/Xander (implied - preslash)

RATING: PG-13

DISCLAIMER: This is not my fault. I blame the corrupting influence of television (Joss Whedon) and slash fanfic.

CATEGORY: AU!!!! (don't know if this truly counts as 'transgender' or not, but just in case...)

NOTES: This story was originally posted on "Buffy" lists, but then I figured that I would share with multi-fandom lists as well. It you've already seen it, I'm sorry for the repeat. Just delete it.

CAST OF CHARACTERS:
Xander Harris as = Alexandria "Dria" Harrison
Spike (William the Bloody) as = Ice
Buffy Summers as = Barry Summerton
Willow Rosenburg as = Will Rosenstein
Rupert "Ripper" Giles as = Regina Glass
Tara McClay as = Todd McCook
Anya as = Zakya
Dawn Summers as = Don Summerton
Riley Finn as = Rachael Figg
Glory as = Benj Amin
Ben as = Glory
Angel/Angelus as = Angela/Angeless
Wesley Wyndham-Price as = Wanda Westham-Pryde
Cordelia Chase as = Cord Chastain
Charles Gunn as = Chastity Gundam

SUMMARY: Boys will be girls and girls will be boys. It's a mixed up world. It's a shook up world. Except for Lola! La la la la Lola!

Walk On The Wild Side
By Scorpio

An electronic ringing sound echoed through Dria's new apartment yanking her up out of sleep. With a groan, she rolled over in bed and reached across the still snoring Zakya to grab the phone.

" 'lo?"

{Dria? That you?}

Dria rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Who else would it be, Will? If I don't answer the phone, no one else will. Well...maybe Zak, but he's still asleep...I swear, that man will steep through *anything*."

A soft deep chuckle sounded over the phone line for a moment, but then Will grew silent. Dria frowned and looked over at the clock. It was only a little past midnight, but she had work in the morning. She was expected on the construction site almost before the sun and the gang knew that. She was almost always asleep and in bed by ten thirty...eleven o'clock at the latest. Unless it was a Scooby emergency. She sighed.

"Will? What...what happened? Is everything okay? With the guys, I mean?"

{Uh...that's sort of why I'm calling. Barry ran into something on patrol tonight. Some...guy or something. Apparently it was pretty nasty. This guy kicked Barry's butt and even the toys Rachael managed to steal from the Initiative before she left the military wasn't helping.}

Dria gasped in shock...and felt a tiny tendril of fear. It was hard to believe that *anything* could kick Barry's butt around. After all, he was the Chosen One. The One Man in all the world chosen to fight the forces of darkness and evil. Even the gang's pet vampire, Ice Princess couldn't defeat Barry. Chip not withstanding.

"Oh...wow. Will, that's..."

{Yeah. I felt the same way. Anyway, Glass has called an emergency meeting. Sorry...I know you were sleeping and all.}

Dria bit back a groan.

"No, no. It's...it's okay. I'll just shake Zak awake and we'll get dressed and head over. No problem Will."

{Cool. I...ah, I guess I'll see you later then. Todd and I are heading over to the Magic Box now.}

"Okay...see you later."

Dria hung up the phone and rolled over onto her back. Staring up at her bedroom ceiling, she sighed. It looked like it was going to be a long night of research followed by an even longer day at work when she was totally exhausted. Casually, she reached up one slim hand and gently scratched an itch under her left breast. She was unamused.

%%%%%%%%%

Ice glanced up from where she was sitting in her beat up old recliner to see who it was that was slamming open the door to her crypt. The pale blue light from her telly leached the color out of everything, masking it with a flickering blue glow, but it didn't matter. Ice couldn't mistake the Slayer and his fuck-toy for anyone else. Quickly stifling a groan, Ice offered up an irritated smirk instead.

"Slayer."

Ice transferred her glare to the shorter woman who still insisted on wearing military style clothing despite her having left the Marines.

"Tart."

Rachael glared back, but Barry wasn't in the mood to play obviously, because suddenly Ice found herself yanked out of her chair and flung across the room. In a blur of motion, the Slayer had her pinned up against the dank marble wall, his large supernaturally strong hand around her throat.

"I need you to get your undead skanky ho ass *over* to the Magic Box *now* to help us to research a new Demon in town. I'm *not* in the mood to play with you Ice. Help us now, or chip or no chip, I'll stake you. If nothing else, it'll make me feel better."

Something in Barry's eyes made Ice bite back the retort that was on the tip of her tongue. Instead of verbally flaying the Slayer and his bit of fluff, she simply nodded, smiled and then demanded more blood and a carton of smokes for her assistance.

%%%%%%%%%%

Regina Glass sat at the head of the table, several dusty tomes in front of her and a cup of tea by her side as she glanced around the room at her "children". It never ceased to fill her with an odd sense of maternal pride whenever she watched these young folks work so diligently at a problem. Well...excluding Ice, of course. Regina merely wished the bleached blonde vampire would just...go away.

Barry, her Slayer, sat next to his lover as they both scanned through thick books intently for some clue as to what it was they had come across. Will and his lover Todd were also looking through books, however, they were looking through books of magic instead. Searching for defensive spells as well as offensive spells. Anything that could help to strengthen the Slayer while weakening this human appearing demon in search of...of all things, a key.

And then there was Dria. Regina had often worried about the girl when she had been younger. It was a well hidden fact that the poor thing's home life was not the most pleasant, but the issue that had worried Regina so was the girl's seemingly directionless drifting through life. But it seemed that things were finally coming together for the girl. She now had a respectable job, one she both enjoyed and was good at and she had moved away from her less than caring parents. Dria's taste in romantic partners was still horrible, but Regina had hope. The other issues had worked themselves out with the girl's growing maturity...perhaps this propensity for dating demons...and even *ex* demons would also end.

Speaking of the ex Vengeance Demon...where was he? Regina looked around, but she didn't see her shop assistant anywhere. That was odd. Usually Zak didn't like to be away from Dria for any length of time unless it involved the earning of money.

Looking around, Regina noticed that the bathroom door was wide open and the light was out, so it was unlikely that Zak had slipped off to the loo. Frowning, the Watcher looked out over her sleepy and worried charges.

"Where's Zak? Did anyone see him leave?"

%%%%%%%%%%%

Dria sat there stunned. She held up the paper once more, Zak's neat precise handwriting staring back at her. She drew in a shaky breath, not even noticing the lone tear that dripped down her cheek.

Taking a brief moment to steady herself, Dria read the words again, her heart breaking.

~

Dria,

I know you will most likely hate me when you finish reading this, and I am sorry for that. I do love you. And if you are smart, you will leave as well.

Run. Run far far away.

I know what it is that Barry is searching for and he will not defeat this one, for it's not a demon the Slayer faces, but a HellGod. Benj Amin is one of the Unholy Triad that rules over the Demon Dimension. He was cast out after a war and imprisoned in the flesh of a mortal woman. He must have found a way to escape.

I am mortal now, and while my life is not perfect, it is the only one I have. I love you Dria, but not enough to throw that life away.

I am sorry and I wish you the very best.

Goodbye,

Zakya

~

Silently, Dria stood up and walked to the back of the shop to find a private place to cry, the letter falling from her hands to drift unnoticed to the floor.

%%%%%%%%%%%%

Ice stood locked in indecision for a long moment, torn between following the bint who reminded her so strongly of her Sire and listening in to what the Slayer, the Watcher and the two Warlocks were talking about.

Moving silently as only the undead can, Ice crept over and picked up the discarded letter left by Zak even as she concentrated on the whispered conversation on the far side of the room.

Apparently, Zak had recognized Barry's description of the demon and had fled in fear. And listening to the Watcher chit reading what little information that they actually had on the bloke, Ice couldn't really blame Zak for scrambling out of here. But that still left Dria all messed up, and the chit's mates didn't even seem to notice.

Carefully folding up the letter, Ice slipped out of the front room to hunt the woman down. The blonde vampire found the mortal in Barry's training area, huddled in a miserable heap on the floor, her face turned to look out through one of the windows, her bronze skin washed pale by the moonlight. Combined with her ebony curls, the resemblance to Ice's Sire Angela was even stronger than ever.

The sight of the dark haired and dark eyed woman sitting in the dark and brooding in sadness and hurt tugged at something deep inside of Ice. But she refused to admit it...at least out loud.

Reaching into one of the pockets of her leather duster, the vampire pulled out an ice pick, her trademark weapon, and began twirling it. She spun it around once, twice and then flipped it up into the air. It whirled in place for a long second and then descended. With practiced ease, Ice snatched it out of the air and twirled it again.

"That's not real reassuring, you know."

The mortal girl's voice was watery and thick, but filled with that odd sort of determination that Ice had seen shine through before.

"What? This?"

The bleached demon gestured to the ice pick in her hand. Dria nodded.

"Bloody hell pet. Can't hurt you with it. Chip. Remember?"

Dria flashed her a weak grin and shrugged.

"Um...that's not what I meant. I...uh...Well, you only play with it when you're hunting something, and I knew it wasn't me 'cause I'm not a demon, or..."

Dria trailed off and glanced away. Ice sauntered over to the girl and leaned back against the wall, then she folded her knees and slid down to sit beside her.

"Or?..."

After a moment, Dria turned to face Ice again. Her dark eyes were haunted with sadness...and fear.

"Or when you're nervous about something. It's like your, I don't know, undead security blanket or something."

Ice glanced down at the ice pick in her hands and smirked with wry amusement. It was true after all, she just never thought that the Scooby Gang paid enough attention to her to figure that out. Shaking her head, she reached into a different pocket and pulled out her cigarettes. Sliding one into her mouth, she then began to hunt down her ever elusive lighter.

"Don't worry your head over it pet. Slayer's in a snit and I fancy that he'd like to see my lovely self turning into a pile of ash at the end of his stake."

Dria looked deeply into her own blue eyes for a long moment and Ice knew that her easy lie was not fooling the other woman, but Dria didn't call her on it. Finally, she found her lighter and then the two women spent the remainder of the research session staring out at the moon together in thoughtful silence.

%%%%%%%%%%%

Don Summerton walked into the Magic Box looking for his older brother with barely repressed panic shining out of his hazel eyes. A quick glance around showed him that the two Warlocks were there, both of them hunched over the same book. It looked like they didn't know if they wanted to study or make out. Don was betting it was both, and that if they could figure out a way to do both at the same time, they would. Barry's Watcher, Miss Regina Glass was standing over at the cash register where Zak usually stood and it took a moment for Don to remember that Barry had told him about the ex-demon skipping out of town late last night.

Stalking forward, the young teenager pushed those momentary distractions aside. There was something much more important going on, and truthfully, it was a bit frightening.

"Glass! Is Barry here? I...I need to speak to him. It's...it's sort of important."

The older woman looked up with a distracted expression on her face, but after a quick appraisal of Don, her expression morphed into instant concern. She quickly walked around the counter and over to him.

"No...he's still at Uni, I'm afraid. Barry's last class won't let out for another forty-five minutes."

Don winced and his shoulders slumped down.

"Don? What happened honey? Is...is there anything that I can do?"

Don glanced up at Glass for a moment considering. He knew that she wouldn't make fun of him, but she might not take him seriously. Still...

"It's just that...Two things happened today. Both of them were *really* bizarre."

Glass nodded her head, her salt and pepper hair caught up in an elegant sweeping bun, and for a brief moment, Don wondered how she got it to stay up without coming undone when her head moved. Don was pulled out of his thoughts when the Watcher shooed him over to the table with the two Warlocks.

"Go. Sit down and I'll get you a cup of tea. That'll soothe your nerves a bit and then you can tell us what has so upset you."

Don nodded and went to sit down. Todd grinned at him shyly and Will just reached out and squeezed his shoulder in support. Don offered a weak smile back at the guys. He'd known Will since he was just a child, hell...the red haired guy had helped Dria to *baby-sit* him. And Don really liked Todd. He was good for Will and made him happy. They made a good couple and they always went out of their way to *not* make him feel like a "kid" and Don appreciated that. Honestly, he was glad they were here. Their presence alone was helping to make him feel better.

Then Glass was back, a cup of tea in her hands. She gently settled it on the table in front of him and sat down next to him. One of her delicate and ink stained hands came up to rest on his arm.

"Okay. Just...just tell us what happened. Try to remember as many details as you can. The more we know, the better we'll be able to help you."

Don nodded, took a sip of the tea and then proceeded to tell them about the drug addict on the way to visit his sick father and then the crazy person at the hospital. And how both of them had insisted that he, Don, wasn't a *real* person, but a sparkling glowing ball of energy. They tried to comfort him with platitudes, but when he asked why two different people in two different places had said almost the exact same thing, no one could answer him.

Todd merely suggested they could find a spell that would show them what the druggie and the lunatic had seen. Will agreed.

%%%%%%%%%%%

Dria heard the banging on her door and jerked awake. With a startled look around, she realized that she was in her apartment and sleeping, uncomfortably at that, on her couch. A flash of memory informed her that after work, she had dragged herself home, made a quick bowl of soup and then sacked out in front of the television.

Standing quickly, she stretched, adjusted her clothing and clicked off the set with the remote. There was still someone banging at her door, so with a resigned and sad sigh, she shuffled over to answer it. Standing up on tip-toes, she peered through the peep-hole...and sighed again.

A quick flick of her wrist unlocked her deadbolt and then she was twisting the knob to open the door. With a glare that spoke volumes, Dria faced the bleached blonde vampire standing in the doorway.

"What are you doing here Ice? We're not roomies anymore, remember? You stole my radio and moved into a damp and dreary crypt. It's that way."

Dria pointed down the hallway towards the exit. Ice smirked and rolled her blue eyes before gesturing to the interior of the apartment.

"Gonna invite me in pet?"

"No."

Ice grinned at her.

"Fine. I won't give you the message from Will and Todd then. Have a lovely night, ducks."

With that, Ice turned on her heels and began to saunter off, her hips swinging from side to side as if she hadn't a care in the world. Dria stood there uncertainly for a moment nibbling on her lip before she broke.

"Fine! Please Ice, do come in."

The bleached blonde bimbo stopped in mid-step and grinned back over her shoulder at the brunette. Then, she twirled around, black duster flaring out around her. She sauntered back down the hallway and past Dria to enter the apartment.

Dria sighed as she shut the door. Turning, she watched as the vampire slowly looked around her new place.

"Nice flat you have here. Much better than the Basement of Doom, have to give you that."

With another sigh, Dria stormed past the blonde and into the kitchen. She opened the fridge and pulled out a diet coke and glared at her unwanted guest.

"Yeah. Message. Now."

Ice turned and graced Dria with a look that was meant to be startled innocence, but fell short of the mark. The vampire just couldn't *do* innocent, no matter how hard she tried.

"Right. The ponce and the pouf wanted me to fetch you for some sort of Pow-Wow about that HellGod bloke. They think they know what...or who, the guy was hunting for."

Dria couldn't hide her instant interest and she quickly finished off the rest of her drink. Nodding quickly, she threw it in the recycle bin and walked back out into the living room.

"No problem. I'll just get changed real quick and then we can be off."

As she went to walk past the vampire to her bedroom, Dria felt a cool slim palm grab hold of her bottom and squeeze. She shrieked and twirled. Ice was standing there with a self-satisfied grin on her face.

"What in the name of the Hellmouth do you think you're doing grabbing my butt like that?"

Ice just grinned harder.

"Coping a feel?"

Dria ground her teeth together for a moment until a thought hit her. Then she was just confused.

"Uh...I didn't think you swung that way Ice. What's up with that?"

Ice rolled her eyes and snickered.

"Vampire here pet. We swing in *every* direction. Besides, my Sire wasn't always a broody cow of a nun, you know. There was a time when she was a dark and evil seductress."

Ice waggled her eyebrows. Dria grimaced.

"Too much information there Ice. I didn't *really* need that mental visual. Thank you *so* much."

Ice snickered and Dria went to go change clothes.

%%%%%%%%%%

Barry looked over as the door to the Magic Box swung open and he tensed up. His Slayer senses were screaming that a vampire was near. Then, he saw Dria and Ice walk in. Slowly, his body began to relax as he forced his mind to override his instincts. With the chip, Ice wasn't a threat.

For a moment, Barry felt bad for Dria. He took in her tired eyes and slouched posture and realized that the girl had been running for two days on little sleep...and had been dumped in the process. And yet here she was, willing and ready to help out.

A big part of him wanted to go over and offer comfort and support, as well as offer to knock Zak's head through a wall if the jerk ever showed up again, but he didn't. He still remembered the crush Dria had once had for him and how awkward everything had been because of it. He didn't want to accidentally encourage the girl.

Then Don walked out of the bathroom and sat down next to him. Instantly all thoughts about Dria fled Barry's mind as he once more boggled over the fact that his annoying twerp of a brother was, in fact, this mysterious "key" that Benj Amin was searching for.

A twinge of real fear sizzled through him and he swore once again, that he would do anything, *anything*, to protect his brother.

%%%%%%%%%%%

It had taken several hours of solid research, plus a phone call to her dozy mare of a Sire turned nun up in L.A. Angela didn't know anything, nor did that wanker of an ex-boyfriend of Dria's. Chastity hadn't even been around to ask. Ice was certain the little street tramp was out either making unlife bloody hell for some poor unfortunate vamp or sleeping with some stud from her stable of men. That other ex-Watcher bint had heard of Benj Amin, though. And she'd flown into instant P.M.S. when his name was mentioned.

So, because her frigid cow of a Sire was convinced that the sun rose and set in Wanda-poo's eyes and Cord was getting all snotty and stuck up about everything, the Angel Investigations team was coming down to help out. Ice idly wondered if she would rather stay for the upcoming fireworks...or just beg the Slayer to stake her now.

That bitch Rachael didn't look too happy about the thought of having to compete with Angela for Barry's attention and Ice was all for that. Anything that made Rachael chew on her own liver was at least a *little* bit fun. And Sire baiting was always entertaining. However, Ice wasn't too sure that the idea of Cord showing up to comfort the grief-stricken Dria was, to use a Sunnyhellism, "of the good".

Dria and Cord had split up a while ago, but how long would the bint last with all those rippling muscles being flashed around? Okay, granted, there was Barry looking all edible all the time, but that was different. There were no sweaty closet memories between *those* two, now was there?

And Ice wanted the girl for herself.

%%%%%%%%%%%%

Tension was rising high and tempers were starting to fray. Will watched with a sinking feeling in his gut as Angela became the focal point of a lot of unease and mistrust. Barry was wavering between his obvious desire to sweep the brunette vampire off of her feet and wanting to stay as far away as possible. Rachael looked green with envy and if looks could kill, Angela would be a pile of dust. And Ice? Well, the blonde vampire just kept popping up with snide comments and rude observations that either made her Sire wince or growl threateningly.

Glass was trying desperately not to be snippy and short with Wanda and Wanda was trying not to be an annoying bitch, but their dislike of each other was plain to see to those who knew them well. Still, they were doing better than Ice and Angela...or Rachael and Angela for that matter. With a sad shake of his head, Will realized once again that females were crazy.

Speaking of crazed females, Will was also worried about Dria. He loved the woman like his own sister, but she was not acting like herself. And Cord just kept watching her silently. Will didn't know if he wanted the other man to go comfort his friend or not. Over the past year, Will had grown closer to the other man as they had stayed in touch. Usually, when either group had a problem and needed help, it was them who were elected to contact the other. For various reasons. And so...here they were, semi-friends.

Then there was Don. The poor kid looked like he wanted to throw up from the tension and fear, but was forcing himself to keep it together so he didn't look like a child. Don was at that age where any sort of hint, no matter how insignificant, that he wasn't a man was met with major hostility. And this whole situation was a harsh blow to his fragile ego.

All in all, Will would have liked nothing better than to just grab Todd and head on home. A nice hot shower and then a long hard fuck would do wonders for his attitude. And Todd may be quiet and reserved around Will's friends, but in the sack the man was a powerhouse.

With a sigh, Will glanced over at his lover. Todd looked up and their eyes met. Silently they communicated their mutual desire and then grinned. Later. Definitely get some hard fast loving later.

But right now, it was time to work.

%%%%%%%%%%%

Angela sighed in resignation. The battle plan itself was simple enough. Very little to actually screw up. And that was good. There was no exact timing to worry about, no need to hunt down some lost and obscure weapon. Things were easily divided into jobs by talent and ability.

The two Warlocks and the two ex-Watchers, both of which were fairly decent witches would perform the spell that would, in theory, weaken Benj Amin. With the HellGod distracted and vulnerable, she and Barry were to attack and fight him. During this time, the remaining members of the two groups were to hold off any of Benj's warriors and minions. They were hoping that if Benj Amin were injured enough, that he would be forced to return to the form of the mortal woman he'd been imprisoned in. At that point, the Warlocks would use a spell to bind Benj to that form, effectively neutralizing him.

Simple. Easy. Until Angela looked out over the "troops". Then she cringed. Ice, despite her puffed up attitude and arrogance was very vulnerable when it came to humans and it had been discovered that Benj used mentally deranged humans as minions. And Dria, in spite of her bravery and fighting skills, was no match for the demons. Angela had been worried about them both.

Ironically, it was Ice herself that came up with the best solution to both of their problems. Twirling her ever-present ice pick in one hand, the blonde vampire had sauntered over to the brunette woman and smirked.

"You keep those nutters off of me and I'll keep the demon spawn off of you. What'cha say pet? Deal?"

And amazingly, to Angela at least, Dria had agreed without hesitation. She almost wanted to warn the mortal girl not to trust her childe, that Ice was not likely to keep up her end of the bargain, but stopped herself when she realized that not one of the Sunnydale bunch even raised an eyebrow at this arrangement. Cord and Wanda both exchanged looks complete with raised eyebrows, but they held their tongues as well. Chastity just shook her head.

What's more, Angela felt...odd about going into battle with Rachael. She wasn't convinced that the other woman wouldn't try to sneak up behind her and shove a stake in her back.

And Barry? Angela wasn't sure which was worse. The ache in her heart or the ache in her groin. Every time she looked over at the handsome blonde Slayer, she had visions of either sappy romantic candlelight dinners...or riding his thick cock into a shattering orgasm. Unfortunately, the curse wouldn't let her enjoy either option.

Then, finally, the plans were finished being drawn up and the translation of the spell was completed. With a tired sigh, Glass offered her and her team the hospitality of her home and advised everyone else to get to theirs. Tomorrow night would be a tense one, and she wanted everyone to get plenty of sleep.

%%%%%%%%%%

Dria had dressed carefully for the festivities planned for the evening. Loose fitting and comfortable jeans combined with her work boots ensured she had lots of leg movement and the ability to run if needed. A loose, but not baggy T-shirt over her favorite sports bra would ensure arm and shoulder movement, but was unlikely to catch on anything. And just like she did for work, her dark hair was caught behind her neck in a long braid.

She looked like a homegrown tom-boy and she knew it, but that didn't matter. Comfort, speed and mobility was the name of this game. And the fact that Angela, Ice and Chastity looked like a trio of biker chicks that could your kick ass to hell and back or fuck you into unconsciousness depending on their current mood did *not* make her feel frumpy and plain. Honest. She *wasn't* jealous of the three other women.

However, it was difficult to convince herself of that when she walked into the Magic Box only to have all three women turn and stare at her. Of course, it was Ice who opened her trap and made a snide comment.

"Oh goodie. It's the glorified brick layer. We're all saved now."

Dria glared.

"Stuff it blondie or there won't be enough of you left for Benj Amin's lunatics to torment."

Ice flashed her a wide grin and hissed playfully as she "clawed" at the air with one hand.

"Love it when your bitchy pet. Makes me all tingly inside, it does."

Dria rolled her eyes and tried not to giggle. Laughing at her would only encourage her. A slight snicker escaped. Oops.

"Honestly, one of these days I'm just going to set your entire wardrobe on fire. Burn it to the ground and force you to start all over. Maybe next time you'll get it bloody right."

Dria grinned back at the blonde vampire.

"You know...its comments like those that will get all of your lighters and matches taken away. And then we will all sit back and laugh at you when you have a nicotine fit over the cigarettes you can no longer light."

Ice mock frowned at her, shaking her close cropped white blonde head.

"Now, now, ducks. That's not a nice thing to threaten a girl with. Not nice at all. And I haven't even groped you once yet tonight. You're *supposed* to save the good threats for *after* I've coped a feel. Remember?"

Suddenly, all conversation stopped and all eyes swung to stare at Dria. Instantly, she felt her cheeks go bright red and she wondered if a person could die from embarrassment. In either case, she was giving it a good try at the moment.

"Ice!"

Dria hissed at the vampire, trying desperately to convey the idea to just *shut up*, but the bleach the vampire used must have sunk into her brain at some point, because she just smirked harder and stage whispered to Cord.

"Dria's got one lovely arse and it feels good in your hand. Oh. But you already knew that, didn't you mate?"

With a resigned sigh, Dria closed her eyes and wondered if it was too much to hope that the Hellmouth would open up under her feet and suck her into Hell. It couldn't be *that* bad, right?

%%%%%%%%%%%

The fight was going wonderfully. Ice could hear the Warlocks and the Witches chanting their little hearts out and the stink of mojo hung thick in the air. The sounds of weapons clanking off of weapons filled her ears, with the occasional scream or whimper acting as some sort of staccato accent to the music of violence.

Barry and the undead nun were fighting with Benj Amin and they weren't doing bad. The HellGod was taking a pounding...even if he was giving a great go of getting his own back on the gruesome twosome.

Angela's two pet humans were on one side of the large factory battling it out with a bunch of Benj's hired help while she and the butch bitch were fighting it out over here. Actually, Dria wasn't doing all that bad. Her skills in taking out the 'bad guys' had improved greatly over the past year or two and Ice was more than willing to take the credit for it. Even though she knew it had more to do with helping the Slayer spar and long talks and workouts with the General's Daughter.

Speaking of Rachael, Ice looked around trying to locate the dozy mare...and managed to leap out of the way just in time to miss being hit with a crossbow bolt. She glared up and saw the bint reloading her weapon up on the crosswalk overhead. She growled low in her throat, indignant anger overwhelming her for a moment.

She was forcibly yanked back to the battle around her when with a shouted, "Ice! Look out!" she was shoved aside by Dria as the young woman swung her sword, the flat of it smacking a crazed human in the side of the head, knocking him to the floor unconscious.

"Ta pet."

And with that, Ice spun around the brunette human and leapt onto the startled demon that had attempted to sneak up on them.

%%%%%%%%%%

Angela watched with a shudder of horrified fascination as the handsome features of Benj Amin blurred and then melted into that of a stunningly beautiful woman. A woman with sad and haunted eyes.

"I'm...I'm so sorry. I...I can't stop him from...from taking control. I..."

Barry just stared at the woman, compassion and anger warring in his honest eyes. Angela felt the conflicting urge to comfort the woman...and kill her. Barry was obviously fighting that same internal battle. But than Will came up and his soft and soothing voice took that decision away. Both she and Barry sighed softly in relief.

"Shhh...it's okay. We're here to help actually. We, me and my lover, we're going to cast a spell on you. It will keep Benj Amin from breaking free again."

The look of utter relief that flashed over the woman's face was heartbreaking. Helping out as best as she could with the preparations, Angela watched silently as the Warlocks began the spell.

It was a fairly simple spell, but it required a massive amount of power to fuel it. And only the two men were that strong. The ex-Watchers were both talented and well educated on the subject...but they lacked that raw gift. As did she herself.

When it was done, Will and Todd both crumpled to the ground in exhaustion. Without a word, Angela followed Barry's whispered request that she grab Todd while he himself grabbed Will. It was a bit awkward since Todd was larger than she was, but she had preternatural strength to draw on, so it was possible.

Finally, with the exception of Regina Glass, who had dashed back into the factory to grab something she had left behind, they were all outside, ready to leave. They were a battered group, tired and sore. But they were victorious, and that was the most important thing.

Trying to busy herself in order to calm her raging demon, Angela began to help Wanda tend to the wounds that the other's had suffered. And it was because she was concentrating on cleaning a shallow cut on Chastity's shoulder that she completely missed the sound of a human heartbeat stop and go silent.

Then Glass returned.

%%%%%%%%%%%%

Ice watched her Sire try and burn off the violent energy that all demons generated in the heat of battle by turning into a fuss-budget mother hen. The older vampire bustled about offering quiet words and gentle touches. Which, actually didn't sound that bad to Ice...just in a different venue.

The blonde shifted around slightly until she could stare at Dria. The mortal woman looked both tired and exhilarated at the same time. She knew from her time with the Slayer and his chums that the girl was riding on a high of endorphins and adrenaline. Soon enough, she would crash and burn.

But Ice was of a mind to take advantage of the waves of energy pouring off of the brunette before it dissipated. Causally, she sauntered over to her while visions of hot steamy sex flittered through her mind. Dria was tall with lots of leg. And her figure was lush, filled with interesting curves and hollows. Ice wanted to explore them all with her hands and her mouth. Preferably soon.

And getting her out of those clothes was just an added bonus.

As she drew near her prey, dark eyes turned to look right into her own blue ones. Ice smiled and pulled out a cigarette. Then, overacting a bit to get her point across, she dug in her pockets to find a lighter. Dria grinned back at her and chuckled. Mission accomplished, Ice "found" her lighter and flicked it on. Drawing a deep drag off of her cigarette, she smirked up at the mortal.

"Nice fighting back there pet. You did good...despite your horrid taste in clothing."

Dria rolled her eyes and shook her head in mock exasperation.

"Ice, Ice, Ice...what am I going to do with you?"

The blonde vampire leered as a mental image of herself tied down to Dria's bed while the other woman licked her from head to toe popped into her head, but she didn't voice that idea. They would work up to it eventually, but it was too soon. Instead, she got serious and offered up a slight shrug and nodded her head in the direction of the other side of town.

"You're gonna let me walk you home, ducks."

At Dria's confused look, she explained.

"It's the least I could do for you. It's not nice to let someone get eaten by demons right after they bash some bloke in the head for you."

Dria's confusion visibly melted away and she nodded her head. She hopped down off of the car hood she had been sitting on and tuned to go, gesturing for Ice to follow. They said a few quick goodbyes and Dria promised to call everyone tomorrow evening.

Then, they were heading towards the edge of the parking lot, walking shoulder to shoulder. One vampire and one human. With a wicked grin on her pretty face, Ice reached out with one hand and grabbed Dria's arse...and squeezed. The night air was suddenly shattered by a high-pitched squeal of astonishment only to be quickly followed by a shouted admonishment.

"Ice!"


END: Walk on the Wild Side