The detective bustles in, being careful not to pay any overt attention to the caged suspect. Bayliss' Bad Cop is like something from James Dean. Pembleton privately calls it Sullen, Moody, Cop.
"Excuse me, Detective Whelp?" Angelus says. Bayliss counts to forty. "Were you addressing me? For your sake, I hope not."

"I've seen many boys like you. Broken them, too. And they all thanked me before they died. One didn't. He turned on me. Family can be such a trial.

'Why don't you break his neck, like you did Jenny's? And while we're on the subject, I know places to put a crucifix that will make you wish you were buried alive all over again. And whatever I say about it, people will believe. I'm like Superman around here. Pure as the driven snow." Bayliss approaches the cage, holy water concealed in his left hand.
"The whelp is a terrier. Feisty. I like it. Of course, I'll kill you anyway, but we can have some fun first."
Bayliss splashes some holy water, hitting the vampire in the hand. "Great. My turn."

FUCK!

just realised, during the downtime, it ate my previous post.

erika, I said - IIRC - how much I loved the next-to-last bit, but was wondering if you could place Frank visually for me. I can hear him, but can you move him around for me? I gather the table in the cage has been pushed aside to make room for the cage - what's Frank doing, leading up to the (suhNERK) miranda rights reading? Is he pacing, slamming his hands on tables, being faux-easy - he's so kinetic, I'd love to see him as well as hear him.

OK, I added a little, but it must be insufficient. Also, I lost it, I think.

erika, as weird as it sounds, I'm kinda relieved that it wasn't singling me to hiccough at, or my posts to eat. I'm post-Avonex and grouchy, damnit.

THERE'S your new stuff. It just popped up on my screen. Weirdness abounding.

Gorgeous!

Bayliss splashes some holy water, hitting the vampire in the hand. "Great. My turn."

HOOBAH! Loving this. Mean Zen!

erika, I am absolutely in love with your story. Frank'n'Tim vs. Angelus. Mmmmmm.

Still rooting for Angelus to play their minds like fiddles. Once he's out of there and away from all those other cops, then he can play with their brains. Soccer might work.

As much as I love the hairloaf, FrankNTim in the box with Angelus is soooo happymaking. Or it's the wine.

hee! My money is 100% on FranknTim.

More V!Giles. Angst ahoy.

The late-model silver Lincoln crept to a halt on the edge of the Knights' position. The soldiers stared suspiciously, then glanced toward the wall and their commander for instructions. Gregor pulled himself to his feet to see what was going on. He gave a short whistle, and all the soldiers drew their swords.

Spike settled down at Xander's side, but he said nothing. Xander looked over at him and got a familiar cocked eyebrow in return.

"So, are you really going to let Glory kill all of us without making good on your threats to bathe in our blood?" Xander asked.

"She might not kill all of us."

"True. She might get sloppy and miss a few." He looked down at the car, which was disgorging a half dozen of Glory's wizened minions. "If Buffy and the others had to stay where they are, would they be OK?"

"Don't know the place, luv, got no idea. But I imagine there'd be food problems for someone before long. Here we go," he added, nodding at the car.

The minions opened the passenger door, and one gave a hand to the woman inside. Glory looked like she needed the support as she climbed out of the car and straightened.

"The Beast," Gregor hissed. "Long have I waited for the day to confront it."

"Oh, be quiet, bad dialogue guy." Xander saw Willow hurrying up the steps but only gave her a nod.

Glory took a deep breath and glared at the soldiers surrounding her. "Twits." She reached out, and Dreg was at her side just as her hand came down looking for something to lean on. He winced but smiled proudly.

The soldiers braced for action as she stepped forward. Glory ignored them and looked at the people at the top of the wall. "Where's my Key! Give it to me!"

While the others were debating the best response, Gregor stood. "We defy you, Beast! Our order has existed for centuries for the sole purpose of destroying you, and here is where we make our stand!"

Xander glanced at Spike. "And I thought our Monty Python riff sounded dumb."

Glory winced and put both hands to her head. "Stop it, stop it," she muttered. "Not going to let you--" Her face and body flickered, very briefly taking the form of a man who did not look nearly as good in the designer dress and heels as Glory did.

"That's that doctor guy, Ben," Willow said. "What's he doing here?"

Spike did a double-take. "Didn't you say that Glory was put into the body of a human? I'd say that's the human."

"Oh!" Xander gasped. "Ben's Glory! Or is Glory Ben?"

"I don't think it matters."