Summary: One year after the events of "Groom of Rosenberg" Buffy
the Rosenberg Monster and her honey have returned to ask a special
favor of their creators Rosenberg and Praetorius...While Tara faces
the
more or less Big Bad...

Disclaimer: Would Joss want his name associated with this?  I think
not...But anyway all BTVS characters remain the property of Joss
Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the
Vampire Slayer series...Though his brother Mort gets nothing...

Archived at the Cicelyverse page of the Buffy Rebecca verse,
www.geocities.com/buffyrebecca/Cicelypg.html

Part IX...

“What do we do, Giles...?” Faith asked as the team stood outside the
McNabb Museum of Horrors...The said Artemis McNabb following the Mayor
and Chief Brody to a waiting patrol car...Police officers still
scouting the grounds, pausing to cast appraising looks at the
“bystanders”, “Chief’s old friend and his family”, “Slayer’s Watcher
and her old team”...One veteran of the force noted to a
partner...still hovering round the crime scene...

“Should I race over to Willow’s with every ounce of Slayer
speed?...Buffy would, right?...”

“I think it would be easier to use my cell...” Giles pulled out the
named small electrical communication device from his trouser pocket...

(“Is that like the one in the other story?...” Angelus, eagerly...
“Cells, the Watcher called them?...”

Dru nodded...”Don’t really understand the name, myself...Wireless
telephone seems more appropriate...”

“Cells...”  Shrug at the name... “Anyway, I love those
things...Telephones without wires...You could telephone your victim
and be standing right behind her, fangs out...”

“Perhaps it’s that they’re all linking Humanity together...” Spike
noted... “Like the cells of a beehive...”

All eyeing him...

Well, forgive a poet for having a little sensibility even in demonic
form...he frowned...

“Charming...” Darla shook her head... “But when do we get to the
murders...?”

“I must follow the vision as it leads me, grandmother...” Dru noted...

“Well, try and get it to lead to someone’s throat...Soon...”)

“Though Buffy probably would have run off without thinking of the
phone...” Anya noted...

“Hello, Willow?...” Giles asked the phone... “Yes...You
did?...Excellent...” he looked at the others... “They’ve secured
Oz...Yes, but Willow...I’m afraid the police are on their way...With a
very irate Mr. McNabb, the museum proprietor...Looking for his
werewolf exhibit...”

“And Dracula...” Xander noted... ”And a Dracula statute...No, wax...It
seems to have disappeared as well...” Giles told the phone...  “Yes,
wax...” he repeated... “Possibly that was a shipping error...In any
case, they’re coming to your house...One of the guards here mentioned
you running off with Oz...”

“Why would anyone steal a wax statute of Dracula?...” Anya asked as
Giles continued on phone...

“The guy said it was priceless...” Xander replied... “And like Giles
said it could be the shipment got mixed up...”

“Besides...This is Sunnydale...Maybe Drac has fans who wanted to build
a shrine since Buffy blew him away...Needed a statute to finish it...”

“He called everything there priceless...But I wonder which...” Anya
pondered...

“I’d actually go with the fan explanation...” Faith, nod to a pleased
Xander...

“No...I mean which Dracula...”

Xander and Faith looking at each other...

“Vladimir, the scuzz-bag grandnephew Buffy nailed or Vlad the
legendary Impaler, founder of the line...His granduncle...” Anya
explained...  “Probably Vladimir...I doubt there’s a really good
likeness of Vlad around to copy from...”

“I was minion to Dracula’s dirt-bag grandnephew...?” Xander,
staring...

God...To Dracula the Big Guy bad enough...But a certain
acceptability...I mean “Dracula”...But...

“See...This is why I never mentioned it before...”Anya sighed at his
crestfallen face... “But honey, Vladimir had nearly as good powers of
thrall as his granduncle...Remember even Buffy was under the influence
for a bit...And more than she cared to admit to us, I’d bet...”

And speaking of Buffy...She frowned...

***

“So this young man is a friend of Miss...er Ms...?” Trying to get that
modern form of address right... “Rosenberg, doctor?...” Dracula,
comfortably seated in a leather armchair in Praetorius’ rather
magnificent library, gratefully accepting a glass of fine brandy from
Gibbons, the butler...

“Indeed, Count...” Andrew, from his chair, nodding a dismissal to
Gibbons while carefully fingering glass and savoring treasured
sip...My only weakness... “Which is why it is critical that he not
become aware of your presence in the house until we have managed to
speak with her regarding your ‘project proposal’..And I should mention
he happens to be a werewolf...”

“Ah...That explains it...” Dracula nodded... “I did sense an oddly
familiar presence in the house...Werewolf, eh?...Poor lad...How
long...?”

“I’m actually not sure...The boy is quite young and so far as I know
not arrested in aging...Not long, I’d say...”

“And you say, shot?...”

“Yes, quite gravely wounded...But I believe he will survive...”

“This violent country...” Dracula sighed... “No offense, Doctor...I
realize I am hardly one to cast the first stone...But I was reading
this afternoon that the Georgian...er Georgia...State Legislature has
voted to allow citizens to carry loaded weapons into public places
like restaurants...Horrible...”

“Indeed...A barbarian wilderness yet...Still I believe the boy was
shot in England, according to Ms. Rosenberg and Ms. Maclauy....While
in his transformed state...”

“Poor lad, poor lad...Well, lucky for him to be in your capable hands,
Doctor...Naturally I’ll abide by your wishes and do my best to avoid
letting him learn my identity or sense my nature...”

“Thank you, Count...As I mentioned I have told Ms. Rosenberg that I
have a fellow doctor, from Romania, as guest...Using your current
identity...” Thin smile... “We even speculated you might be a
descendant...”

“Hmmn...It seems that was an unfortunate choice...But as I said I was
pressed for time...A descendant, you say?...Well, I will try to do my
best to seem acceptably human should there be a meeting...I’ve done
fairly well in the past, especially since my reclamation, even with
Slayers on occasion...Not wishing to have to confront some poor girl
simply doing her duty...”

“Yes...” Andrew pondered... “Of course with Ms. Rosenberg coming often
to check on Mr. Osborne, the right opportunity to broach your proposal
to her might well come up sooner than we’d hoped...”

“I see...Yes...How fortunate...Do you think the lady would consider it
favorably, Doctor?...“

“We can but ask, Count...Still, given her scientific curiosity and
dedication to the field...Not to mention her boundless compassion and
generous, open heart...”

“Why, Dr. Praetorius...” Dracula smiled kindly at his host... “You
speak like a man in love...And I know the disease only too well...”

Shrug...“A man may dream a dream that must forever elude him,
Count...And sometimes one must accept Fate...But it is good to know
that I can again possibly be of service to another pair of star-
crossed lovers...As with poor Mr. and Mrs. Walthrop..Though I will
hope that we can provide you and your poor Elisabete with a happier
ending...”

“To be reunited even for an instant and have a final chance to beg my
love’s soul’s forgiveness is more than sufficient happiness for me,
Doctor...And I truly appreciate your efforts for us...But I must bow
to your fortitude in accepting what Fate has dealt you...I shall dare
to  hope, my friend, that you will find your own Elisabete...Or Ms.
Rosenberg, at least in another...”

“We shall see...But speaking of Fate, my dear Count, or from now on,
‘Dr. Alucard’...Since a tragic accident of Fate’s making has provided
us with an opportunity, I think we should be off about our labors...”

“Ah...Yes...” ‘Dr. Alucard’, a bit hesitant...

“Is there something wrong?...”

“Oh, no...” ‘Alucard’ waved a hand... “It’s just...Though I appreciate
that we are fortunate your staff was so alert as to inform us of the
opportunity...The notion of desecrating a grave...Several graves...I
realize it must be done...Still...”

“Indeed?...”

“I’ve never committed such blasphemy, doctor...My apologies...I know
with my record that must seem a trifle ludicrous to you...But even in
my worst days of evil I treated the dead with respect...Seems a bit
sad to have to abuse their poor bodies now to achieve the last stage
of my redemption...”

“Yes...Well...That is sad...Very sad...Indeed I wish we could simply
clone a new body for your beloved, my friend...However, I have found
for the recapture of souls as well as for the complete process of
reanimation, a framework of previously living tissue is a
necessity...I assure you we will perform our tasks with the utmost
gravity and respect...”

“Of course, Doctor...”

“And fortunately it will not be necessary to use a deceased brain as
was done in the case of poor Mrs. Walthrop...”

A mess of a project I had no part in...He rather smugly noted to
himself...

Though, to be fair...Willow was breaking new ground there...And she’d
never tried resummoning a soul before...Needed the support of the
original brain the first time out...

He paused after calling to Gibbons to fetch the car...To be driven
himself this night...

“I am sure even the dead we deal with tonight...All of whom my people
established as being voluntary organ donors before their tragic
demise...”

Well, this time anyway...Though perhaps not precisely of the organs
and skeletal bits we plan to borrow...

“...Would be happy to do what they could to aid you in restoring your
wife and finding permanent peace...”

“I hope so, Doctor...” Dracula sighed...

“Well, our assistants will meet us at the site...I believe, actually,
you may be of great help with them, ‘Dr. Alucard’...I being unable to
make use of my previous trained human staff for such work this time
out...”

Mears being a fried mass, hastily buried in an unmarked grave, and
Levinson being permanently out of the business...

“...Am forced to rely on somewhat less tractable assistance...”

“Whatever help I may be of, Doctor...May I say again how grateful I am
that you are so willing to commence the work at once...”

“One must seize the day...Or night, my friend...And what Providence
has provided...” Praetorius, smiling...

“With all due respect and reverence for the departed, naturally...” he
noted solemnly to Dracula’s slightly distressed look...

***
“And we’re really very sorry about your exhibit...” Willow,
apologetically to the fuming McNabb...

Really sorry...Tara echoed...

“Like we told your guards we’d no idea those frat jerks had done
something so crazy...And then when we found out poor Oz had been
shot...”

“And my exhibit just vanished?!...Well, where the hell is that kid
now?!!...” McNabb, angrily...
“I’m sure Chief Brody and his people’d like a word with him...”

Chief Brody sighing a bit...

“A friend of ours, Dr. Andrew Praetorius, took him in...Saved his life
even...He’s there now, recovering...”

“The Andrew Praetorius?...” the Mayor asked...

Our second-largest employer...And the world-famous cloning wizard of
Sunnydale’s Technical Park?...

The famous and loaded Praetorius....? McNabb thought...Smiling just a
bit in spite of his rage...

“And what about my Dracula?!...They couldn’t’ve just walked him out
the door!...”

Uh...The Mayor and the Chief...And several veteran cops...Eyeing each
other...

In Sunnydale?...

“Dracula...?” Tara stared...

“We couldn’t say, sir...” Willow sighed... “But you know how that
‘element’ operates nowadays...Though I’m sure we...And my
father...Would be happy to cover your losses if the exhibits were
damaged...”

There goes our honeymoon in Europe...Tara, bleak look...

London, Paris, Rome...My first chance to go...Our first as a couple...

Odd that I was so looking forward to seeing Bucharest, though...

Must be all the work with poor Buffy and Faith...

***

“We’ve no real proof Buffy is alive...er well, existing...” Giles
noted reassuringly to the team as he drove back through downtown
Sunnydale toward Faith’s apartment complex...

“How many seven foot tall green women resembling the Monster...?”
Anya paused at the looks...  “...Buffy...Do you think there are in
Sunnydale, Giles?...”

More looks...

“Ok, right...” she shrugged... “But the officer recognized her...And I
felt something at the Rosenbergs’ earlier...”

“And we will take all due precautions, Anya...” Giles said... “But if
it were Buffy...Somehow having survived last year’s blast...She
certainly has made no attempt to threaten us or anyone in the course
of the year...”

“That we know...” Anya insisted...

“Maybe I should make a few sweeps...” Faith suggested...

“It’s late, Faith...” Giles shook his head...”And we’ve all had a busy
night...”

“And Buffy’s not likely to remember you too kindly...” Anya pointed
out...

“I think we should let this matter rest for tonight...Review events in
the morning...After all, we’ve rescued Oz and Willow says Praetorius
is confident he’ll survive his wounds...If the...Buffy...Is the
creature seen tonight, she’s been of no recent threat and we should
proceed with the utmost care in dealing with her...For her sake as
well as ours...” Giles involuntarily fingering the throat Buffy had
neared choked the life out of last year...

“Just like last year with the mill fire and the fire at Spike’s
crypt...” Anya shook her head... “I knew she wasn’t dead...And she’ll
be coming for us...Maybe like Angelus would...One by one, after
getting us all riled...”

(“I have a fan?...Who is this dear creature?...” Angelus beamed...)

“She didn’t hunt us down...We hunted her...” Xander sighed... “With
several lynch mobs’ help...Maybe she just wants to be left alone...”

“And is stalking us just for ole times’ sake?...” Anya,
sarcastically...

“All she wanted was William...Willow told us...”

“And if William’s gone...And she blames us?...On top of everything
Willow did to her?...”

“She hasn’t hurt anybody since last year...”

Guys...Faith eyed the couple...
“Are you willing to risk our baby?...Me?...” Anya fumed...

“All I’m saying is...” Xander put up a hand... “Giles is right...We
need to proceed carefully...”

“That should work when the Monster comes smashing through our front
door...”

An...Xander sighed...

“She didn’t seem too willing to let bygones be bygones when she
kidnaped Tara and threatened to kill us all...”

“She only said that to get Willow to resurrect William...”

Ah...Anya waved an angry hand...

“You still think it’s Buffy in that thing...I’m telling you she’s
evil...Why would Buffy have wanted Spike unless she’d turned
evil?...Willow probably blew it getting her soul...It’s probably a
demon in there...Using her memories...Whatever’s left of them in that
brain Mears dropped...To get us...”

“We can’t be sure of her nature or her motives, Xander...” Giles cut
in... “Nor whether she is an instrument of evil or simply a bit vexed
with us, Anya...If she is even still with us...”

“So...For the moment...”  And the sake of your marriage, he did not
say, looking briefly back at the angry, hmmn, yes, definitely...a tad
jealous, Anya and frustrated Xander... “Lets accept we can do nothing
further tonight...”

He pulled into a spot in Faith’s apartment garage... “Faith, try and
get some rest...You may well be called on for rather strenuous efforts
in the next few days...”

***
Willie Bar...Favored hangout of Sunnydale’s darker element...Both
living and not...

To which an anxious Mayor with aides in tow had dragged an
uncomfortable...And equally anxious...Chief Brody after a somewhat
mollified McNabb had finally agreed to await developments as to his
missing property...

More important things than an irate campaign contributor with
political muscle worrying both...

And apart from that which the Slayer and her team might offer...In
their own good time, after the city had yet again seen economic
devastation and potential disaster, the Mayor had nervously
insisted...The Chief all too well aware the Mayor’s real fears being
somewhat more personal...He too having been involved in the Monster’s
brief capture last year...Willie’s being the best place to see ‘help’
capable of deal with such concerns...

“Brody...Do you think it could be?...Is that man of yours
reliable?...”

“He’s reliable...It could be...”

“The Monster...Back?...” the Mayor sighed...

“Back and probably not too happy with the people of Sunnydale...”
Brody nodded, a wan look... “Still, probably best to leave it to the
Slayer...”

The Mayor shook his head... “Whatever your faith in that young woman,
Brody...I fail to see how she can protect this city from a creature
like that...”

“I really don’t think another lynch mob’s the answer, sir...”

“Indeed...And that’s why we’re here, Brody...I want a little more in
our corner than a slight twenty year old girl...”

“I wouldn’t underestimate the Slayer, your Honor...” a deep voice,
smiling tone... “Though I agree, it can’t hurt to have a little extra
in your corner in dealing with the Monster...Having met her myself...”

“Oh…You’ve… ‘Met her’?...” the rather annoyed Mayor eyed the source of
the comment, a tall, well-built figure dressed all in black, seated at
a table just across from the booth where the Mayor, aides, and Brody
sat, with a slighter, though equally tall, bespectacled youngish man
beside him…

“I have…You might even say I have intimate knowledge of her…Not to
mention…” cold grin, pat of his right arm… “A keepsake she left me
with…”

“Indeed?...And you have a suggestion for us, sir…?”

“I might…” the figure rose from its seat, crossed over to the large
dartboard where several men and ‘others’ nervously cleared a space for
him, raised an arm, and to the shocked surprise of the two civic
leaders, rammed four of the darts from the board into the arm
stretched level before its chest…

“There’s only one way to deal with such a creature, Mr. Mayor…” the
mysterious figure in black leaned forward…

“My way…” he moved his arm in a sudden, rapid jerk, causing all four
darts to fly…

Directly into the chest of a large, hulking figure that had just risen
from a booth on recognizing an old menace and taken an assault
posture…

The Mayor, the Chief, and various assorted aides stared…At the large
dust cloud where the creature had been…

The bespectacled young man beside the figure in black nodding… “So
much for Gorgos the Magnificent…” He pulled out a cell phone and
excusing himself from the group, rose to make a call…

“Good thing Willie still uses darts with a little real wood…Sorry for
the interruption, fellas...” the figure in black smiled at the still
startled group…

“Yes…” the bespectacled young man noted to his phone… “The last of the
Gordians is destroyed…

“Angel...” Angel offered the limber hand of his remaining upper
limb...Shoving back the artificial one to a position at his side with
some slight difficulty... To the staring Mayor...

“Liam Angel...”

(“Well, at last.   I’m finally here to wreak havoc and spatter gore.
When do I start killing and feasting, Dru?...Preferably after staking
our feeble souled Spike?...” eager anticipatory look…

Snarl from fuming Spike across the table…

Ummn… “Well, Father…Actually…”  Ummn… Brightly… “Will is immortally
human now, in the story…You can’t stake him…In fact he’s nearly
indestructible…”

Hmmn?...William blinked…Really?...Well…

“Stake-proof?…Indestructible?…And Immortal, too, Dru?...” he beamed…

“Oh, yes…Nearly…”

“With whining, putrid soul…And clinging brain-dead Slayer wife, family
man…” sneer… “Unlike some of us who remain true and pure…”

“Uh, Father…You do remember in the last story I mentioned you getting
a soul…?”

Ha!...Spike chortled at the stricken expression…Say wha…?

“But your new persona, Angel is very heroic…And he is still a vampire,
though souled…” she gave an encouraging smile…

Bwha…Darla choked…A souled vampire?...

Heroic?...

“Still in vamp with soul, eh?...Not even able to taste the pleasures
of daylight…Like some of our future Immortal selves…Well…Cheer up,
‘Angel’…” William grinned… “At least from the sound of it you’ll have
a charming new boyfriend…”)

***