Spike smiled back almost gaily, his brow ridges dripping blood. "I'd say we should, Pet." In a parody of their arrival, he offered her his arm, and then triggered the door to swing open and stepped out.

Tom was standing, gun to the head of Buddy the cornet player, shouting, when they walked in. "Where are my boys? What have you done with them, you lewd old hag?"

"I haven't done anything with them, Tom. I give you my word." Lulu's mouth worked tremulously.

"Where are my boys!?" He was shouting even louder now, now, red-faced, spittle-flying. He shifted his grip on the pistol. "Don't move, boy. I don't want to shoot you. You make pretty good music." The words made no impact on Buddy, though. He'd caught sight of Dru and Spike and fainted.

When Tom caught sight of them, he let go of Buddy and stood, open-mouthed. "What, what are you?"

Lulu took a look, another, and then fainted dead away as well. The girls scattered, screaming as she hit the floor hard enough to bounce. A yellow puddle spread out from her skirts and Dru finally started laughing, so hard she couldn't stand upright.

There were about a dozen of "the boys" left. A few of them tried to run, a few tried to shoot them. One was unlucky enough to graze Dru's face. She transformed immediately into a creature out of nightmare, bounding toward him so quickly he hadn't time to shoot her again. She caught him up and ripped his face off with one hand, catching the fountaining blood and then spewing it on the floor. "This one doesn't taste right," she whined.

"That's all right, Pet," Spike smiled absentminded, his eyes on Tom. "You just catch you another, right?"

She squealed like a girl and began running after them as they scattered. "Oh, this is like blindman bluff, but I'm not blind!"

Tom stood on the musician's dais and waited for Spike who sauntered up slowly, catching the blood on his tongue as it dripped from his eye ridges. Spike stopped at the bottom, one foot on the bottom step as he leaned over and braced himself, forearm on his thigh. "Nice night we're havin."

Tom began to splutter. "I don't know what you are, but I'll take you out. You won't have a chance in this town when I'm through with you. I own this town!"

Spike laughed. "You don't own shit, friend." He sniffed the air. "Though, I'm thinkin' your britches are a might soiled at the moment." He sobered. "I give you 30 seconds to run." Tom took off down the platform and ran, Spike hallooing after him.

It was all over in less than an hour. Tom had gotten away. The right bloody bastard had taken to wearing a crucifix about his neck which had startled Spike as it swung out of his shirt collar just as Tom had been cornered in the attics near a window. He'd taken advantage of Spike's moment of confusion and jumped. It was a long way down, but there was a lot of rubbish in the streets. Spike was pretty sure he'd gotten away relatively well. He'd be healing for awhile, though. Bloody religion.

Dru had a great lot of fun with the other men, and once the girls realized they were in no danger, they'd helped lure them into dead ends for Dru to finish them off. Amazing bunch of girls. Spike shook his head. He'd hate to be on the receiving end of a right mad bunch of girls after seeing this lot work.

When they went back to the receiving room to check on Lulu, they found only the puddle. Lulu and the band were gone. It was almost dawn. They went back to their room and snuggled up for sleep. Dru had just started to snore when Spike looked over at her regretfully and squeezed her tight. She awoke instantly, staring at him, her great brown eyes shining in the dark. "I think we'd best be moving on, don't you Pet?"

"Oh yes, lovey." Dru winked at him and laughed, licking blood off her chin with her incredibly long tongue. "I think we need to find some more parties like this to crash. This one's gotten all boring."

The next night the house was utterly silent when they got up. Confused, they thought Lulu would be doing a brisk business, they left their room and wandered the corridors. All the girls were gone. Lulu was nowhere in sight. Whatever was going on made them uneasy.

Suddenly, they heard a pounding at the door. Spike gave Dru a push and she raced back to their room, scooping the pouch of gold out of the hole in the floorboards. He met her as she came out and they raced for the attics, coming out on the roof just as the men at the door broke it down. Spike looked, confusion clear in his eyes, at Dru. She narrowed her eyes and hissed, curling her fingers into claws and striking down as if she'd rip out someone's heart, someone down on the street. Spike looked back down, eyes narrowed in disgust. Lulu stood there, well to the back of the men, bewailing the murders and the demons who had done good men to death in her perfectly law abiding establishment.

"Oh, well, that's really torn it then, hasn't it?"

Dru nodded, a small smile on her face.

"Dru, pet? What's that look for?"

She looked over at him and licked his chin, this time. He felt dried blood flake away with the licking. "She'll get hers, dying all alone and frothy, far away on the sea and never able to drink a bit of it. She's very frightened and she's getting everything she's frightened of." Dru pulled Miss Edith out of her pocket and hugged her, twisting back and forth. "That makes me really quite happy."

They headed for the river then, determined to cross and find a place to hide away from the sun by morning. At one intersection they ran across a parade just as Buddy Bolden and his band swung through, horns blaring. Dru, in a fit of pique at the music, roared into game-face and clawed at him. Only he, darting glances in every direction, saw her face. It was enough. She laughed as she scampered after Spike, enjoying the musical, anguished cries of one Mr. Bolden, jazzman, who began screaming about demons on the streets of New Orleans.

~~~~

She drew herself up, all affronted dignity. "Some of those people carry guns to blow one another to bits. I don't like seeing that, I don't, all the bloody bits and I didn't make them."

Loverly. I love your Dru. The horses, the girls, the blood. Lovely.

But, now, but I have to question this...

All flouncing about with her breasts out and her butt covered in a big pillow."

Because Dru's a proper lady, she is. Brought up with the old Queen. She'd say, if she had to mention the unmentionable at all, bosom and bottom, would she not?

She might at that. I have a hard time hearing Drusilla in my head. Okay, fixed on the original. I like that better.

Deena, I liked this, a lot.

Btw, I'll be rereading it in the morning, if you want more comments.

Of course! Comments are always welcome.

"Silly, I hear you all the time, even when I can't.

Oooh, wonderful.

and once the girls realized they were in no danger, they'd helped lure them into dead ends for Dru to finish them off. Amazing bunch of girls.

Perfect.

Dru watched from the landing, her hands covering her mouth to keep from breaking out into peels of laughter.

Peals, isn't it?

Deena, like I said, I really liked it, but being drunk now, I will be re-reading it. You know, content and all that.

Asleep on my feet, but both Deena's and Victor's look amazing.

Will read when actually awake....

Deena, that was gorgeous. Loving yours too, Victor.

I was watching the fireworks tonight, and a fic knocked on my door. Must go to bed, now, because I have to be at work at 6:30 in the morning. Hopefully all the US Postal Service customers will have better things to do tomorrow than call.

Angel in America, or, Angel on the 4th of July (can't decide on title)

I still feel safest at the Hyperion. The endless cheery subservience at Wolfram & Hart makes me very nervous. They all *look* so sincere, none of them have seemed false in the slightest. But when I really need to think, to remember, to . . . brood, I go home, to my hotel. To the last place I was happy.

It's not quite dark enough for the big show to begin off Santa Monica Pier, but the illegal fireworks are already firing off in various parts of town. Here on the roof I can see for square miles, and the night will blossom fire in all directions.

I love fireworks. I always have. Galway in the mid-eighteenth century hadn't had much in the way of pyrotechnics, but I remember a traveling fair where they fired off Roman candles, to the superstitious terror of the peasants and the giddy joy of the nobles. Bridget McAllister had been terrified and hid her face in my shoulder at the noise, and later she thanked me very sweetly for protecting her. Her cries were not those of pleasure the next time I paid her a call.

America was still the dumping ground of England when I was turned. The Irish who got too noisy about silly things like basic human rights were shipped across the Atlantic. Or they made the journey in order to make their fortunes. I knew both sorts, and I threatened more than once to leave my father to his expectations and to go to the colonies myself. I don't know when I found out America had claimed her independence. I must have known there was a war about it, but I was too young and enthralled with my new power to care about much more than my next kill.

I wanted to go, to see the new world, to taste the blood of brash, free men. Darla always refused, in no uncertain terms. She never explained why. It must have taken a direct order from her Sire, the Master, to bring her to his side in Sunnydale. She distracted me with scourging my way through Europe and points east. I remember one night, though, overhearing Spike whispering to Dru that they could run away from me, they could go to America, where they could be free to make their own way. I put a stop to that nonsense as soon as I could. Now, for the first time, I wonder if there was jealousy involved as much as outrage that Spike could imagine he could leave at a time of his choosing rather than my own.

But it was me who came, instead, making my own way, losing myself in the brave new world. They all watched me suspiciously, there in the steerage section of that immigrant ship. I don't remember how I got past Ellis Island, maybe I just swam to shore and disappeared into the immense anonymity that was New York and America.

It shocked me, how *big* the place was. I wandered for years, and the only borders I came up against were the oceans. Canada and Mexico never lured me, I felt safe within the confines of the land of my exile. It grew so quickly, so arrogantly. Each 4th of July I watched the fireworks and felt grateful for another year's refuge. Even during the witch hunts and suspicions of the '50s, I never thought of leaving, just migrated to the other end of my country, until destiny caught up with me again.

Who was it that caught me on the roof of the Hyperion the night of the 4th that first summer after I moved in? That's right, Wesley. Cordelia had wangled an invitation to someone's boat party, and Gunn was nursemaiding his gang through the carnivals and parades. Wesley had gotten homesick and tired of Ungrateful Day, as he'd taken to calling it, and wandered to the office to see if there was work he could lose himself in. I still think he headed up to the roof to watch the fireworks himself, but he always claimed he was just strolling through the halls and got suspicious when he saw the roof access door open. Whatever, we watched the fireworks together, not saying anything other than "Pretty" and "Oh, look, that building's on fire."

The next year, I was still numb from Buffy's death and the whole Pylea thing. Suddenly the 4th rolled around and Cordy's directing Wes and Gunn in carrying a grill up onto the roof, drafting me into lugging food and beer, and bullying Fred out of her room in order to celebrate her first Earth holiday in five years. It was a good night. I caught myself looking forward to the next one.

I remember thinking, "My son was born in America. He is an American." Well, Irish-American. I always hated St. Patrick's Day, but I was going to teach him to love fireworks as much as his old man did. I think I was too far gone to notice when the 4th rolled around again. I don't imagine they celebrated that year, though I wonder what Connor made of it.

I should have made them edit Connor from my head, too, after I saw him. But, no, I always get to remember everything.

Apparently Wolfram & Hart has a softball league. And a big picnic in a park on the 4th of July. I saw the fliers on the bulletin boards, and some of the folks in the halls said they were sorry I wouldn't be able to join them for the ballgames and barbecue, but they hoped I would be able to join them for the private fireworks display. Something about a unique show such as only Wolfram & Hart could organize. As their new boss, I suppose I should have gone, but as an old champion--who the hell pinned that word on me, anyway?--I can't stand socializing with them.

Two years ago I had a family with me. I even laughed and didn't feel like I was betraying Buffy's memory. Gunn and Wesley got into a not-fight about the Revolution, Cordy just shook her head and pretended she wasn