Title: Blood Footprints


Author: eena_angel2001


Rating: R


Category: BTVS/WWE


Pairing: W/Richard


Disclaimer: Don't own any of them.


Spoilers: S7 for BTVS, NIC for AB


Summary: Even monsters have hearts . . .




~*~


She came out of darkness, naked as the day she was born.




Long white hair, eyes a colour green that I had never seen on


a human before. It made me wonder if she was what she said she was,


because she couldn't just be some girl like she claimed. No ordinary


girl could have such a presence as hers. No ordinary girl could make


the beast inside me rear up and want out, to revel in blood and


flesh, to hunt freely as it was meant to. No ordinary girl could


evoke such a response out an Ulfric.




She was no where near being ordinary.




She walks around Anita's place, inspecting this and that,


smiling at the people as she passes them by. Why Anita harbours this


girl is beyond me. Anita hates unexpected visitors even more than I


do, and yet she tolerates this girl. Actually, more than tolerates


her. Anita seems to like her, which in itself is very suspicious.


Anita rarely likes anyone. Especially not mysterious young things


who come off too sweet to be real. And yet, here we are. The girl


was given free reign of Anita's house, even when there was another


one of those shifter meetings Anita was prone to calling every now


and then. I think we're supposed to be discussing the impending


arrival of Belle Morte and her entourage. I don't think we were


getting very far.




She walks by me, stopping to favour me with that half-smile


of hers before moving on. Catching a whiff of her scent, I have to


grip the arms of my chair in an attempt to restrain myself. She was


just too enticing, and I'm not the only one who thought so. Several


of my wolves watch her in the same way as I do, but they know better


to act on it. I've made myself pretty clear on the matter of the


mysterious white lady. If anyone was getting that girl into bed, it


would be me.




Now, it's not like me to be so callous, or so presumptuous.


I would never dream to lay a claim on anyone, not even Anita, the


supposed on and off again love of my life. But her, I had set down


the law with my pack, I made a claim I had no right to make. I


wonder if she even knows how deep she is in this world. She plans to


leave in a little while, or so I'm told. She has a home to go back


to, something in Ohio I think. She's crazy to think that she'll ever


leave this city. If I don't stop her, Jean-Claude will.




Whoever this Mr. Giles person is, he's not too bright if he


sent this girl to do his talking for him. She's come to claim all


the activated Slayers in our midst and play nice with all the Master


Vampires she comes across. She's not the only one either, there's


another one of these Neo-Watchers in New York and one in Chicago.


They're all over the place, all over the world, spreading their good


deeds all over the globe.




Okay, that sounded entirely more sarcastic than I intended it


to be. But really, what were these people thinking? They sent her,


and others like her, right into the lion's den. She was twenty-one,


twenty-two tops, barely old enough to even drink legally in this


lovely country of ours. Her eyes were too bright, her smile too


large, and her spirit too cheerful for someone who was going to spend


her life in the company of monsters.




And she's so optimistic. She doesn't even see the way we all


lick our chops as she wanders around. Anita surely does, and she's


constantly hovering around the girl. Wants to protect the little


girl from all us monsters. I wonder when Anita forgot that she was


one of us monsters.




But certainly, even Anita can't think that we're just going


to let this little vixen walk out of this city whenever the mood


strikes her. She's just too delicious. Jean-Claude was smitten with


the little girl, only Anita's presence keeping him in check. And


even that control was slipping every moment the vampire spent in her


company. This "ordinary "girl drew more monsters to her than anyone


I had ever seen in my life.




And I can't quite explain why that was. There was something


there, no doubt, something just underneath her skin. She smelled


like sugar and spice, like any good girl should, but the blood in her


veins, that's was called all of us. You should see her face when she


blushes, when all that blood underneath the skin becomes heated and


stains her cheeks such a scarlet colour. I could smell her blood in


times like that, I could almost taste it on the tip of my tongue.




I didn't like not having any control, which is exactly the


situation I'm in. I can school myself into pretending like she


doesn't have that affect on me, but it came with a heavy price.


Beating back my beast every time she walked by, denying the wolf in


me was taking its toll. Dreams of blood and sex filled my nights and


sometimes it felt like the wolf was creeping into my waking world. I


growled at a misbehaving student the other day. Really growled, as


in I let my beast speak its irritation. The poor kid nearly peed his


pants and shut up for the rest of the week.




Anita sees this, she can probably feel it. The marks are


stronger than ever, and even though I'm doing my best to ignore them


and her for most of the time, I know she can still sense me through


them. She can tell when my minds drifts to this little white-haired


girl in her home, and she doesn't like it one bit. Would it not


raise too many eyebrows, I'm sure Anita would shut the girl up in her


house and not let her out until her departure time left. As it was,


Anita was trying to hurry the whole trip along. The Executioner


took an entire week off work to help her locate all the new Slayers


in the city. She wanted her out of St. Louis and fast, before the


girl could fall into any trouble.




It was already too late for that.




I got up out of my seat, eyes locked on the lithe form making


its way to Anita's kitchen. A quick glance to right showed that


Anita was more than a little preoccupied with smacking Caleb over the


head. The overly enthusiastic were leopard has just made another


pass at Sylvie and Gwen, which was causing more than a little


ruckus. Anita stood swatting at the laughing leopard while Micah


busied himself apologizing profusely for his wayward pard member. I


slipped away from the room without anyone noticing, except for my


ever attentive bodyguards, who knew well enough to stay put and keep


their mouths shut.




She stood at the kitchen counter, pouring herself some


juice. She looked up at my entrance, that sweet smile gracing her


features once more.




"Are they fighting again?" she asked, her tone still very


cheerful. I only nodded, not having to say anything when a loud


string of curses cut through the air. Her mouth formed a tiny `o' of


shock as she listened to Sylvie rail against Caleb. I couldn't only


shake my head in resignation. When was that boy going to learn?




"Wow. Are all your guys' meetings this much fun?"




I smirked and shrugged my shoulders. She turned her


attention back to her juice, raising the jug in my direction. I


shook my head at her silent offer and she turned to return the


pitcher to the fridge. She seemed very at home in Anita's house, not


even blinking when all kinds of shifters or vampires wandered in and


out. It was like she was used to it, which again added to the case


of her not being an `ordinary' girl.




"So, Mr. Wolf-Man, what can I do for you?"




"What makes you think that I want anything from you?"




"Because you're always watching me," she answered flippantly,


not noticing my obvious shock. "Actually, almost everyone here is


always watching me. But you the most, Jean-Claude being second .


And that seems to be the main reason why Anita's designated herself


my shadow. So tell me Ulfric, what can I do for you?"




"You notice much more than you let on."




She shrugged easily, walking around the counter and pulling


out a chair before seating herself at the kitchen table. I followed,


a quick look behind me letting me know that everyone else was still


very distracted by the Caleb incident.




"It pays to notice things, especially considering what I do


for a living," she continued, pausing to take a small sip of her


juice. "We aren't called Watchers for nothing you know."




"Apparently not."




"You know, you guys aren't as sly as you think. Most of your


wolves get all growl-y when I walk by. It's kind of nerve-wracking


if you really want to know. Even Angel doesn't growl as much as you


lot, and he goes through these horribly grumpy periods like ever


three months. So, you going to tell me what you want yet?"




"What do you think?"




"I think it involves some naughty things that would normally


make me blush. I wouldn't mind it, if you really wanted to know."




That raised my eyebrows quite a bit.




"But I'm thinking that you want something more than that.


I'm thinking you're going into this possessive kind of mindset that


I'm not equipped to handle. You guys here, you're more than a little


scary, I'll give you that. But I can't get bogged down here. I have


to go to Denver next. There are at least four girls there that I


need to find and I'm going to find them."




"What if we don't let you leave?"




"Who's `we'? And why on earth do you think you could stop


me?"




"Willow, you don't know who you're dealing with here-"




"I've dealt with worse-"




"No you haven't. I believe you when you say you've dealt


with worse evil, but you haven't dealt with us before. We're not


good, we're not bad, we're just monsters. We're that grey area


that's just so dangerous to get lost in."




She looked me directly in the eye, green orbs hard set.




"I don't plan on getting lost."




"Most don't."




"If this is some sort weird St. Louis dating ritual? Because


I know what you want, but this conversation is not getting you any


closer to your goal."




I couldn't help but smile at that.




"Isn't it?"




"You're too cryptic. Anita never said you were this


cryptic. Are you feeling okay?"




"You know I'm not letting you out of this city that easily,


right?"




"I think you're putting too much faith in your ability. I'm


not what you think Richard."




"I don't doubt that."




"This is going in circles."




"You noticed that too huh?"




"I'm leaving in three days."




"We'll see."




"That's it. No sex for you."




Just the way she said it was too cute. I couldn't help but


laugh, the first actual laugh I've had in a long time. I winked at


this marvellous white-haired girl in front of me.




"We'll see."




~*~