Title: Baby Doll
Author Restive Nature
Disclaimers: I do not own any of the characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Angel the Series. They belong to the almighty Joss and I just play with them for my own amusement before putting them away neatly.
Spoilers: Buffy Season Three "Amends"
Summary: A teenage girl with mysterious ties to Angel helps him with his Christmas Amends.
Chapter Eight
Tarot Cards
Angel couldn’t really answer her question. He was too close to the problem. She was only human. She had her soul all along. She’d never had it removed, then ceremoniously shoved back into the realm claimed by a demon, twice. It wasn’t a pleasant thought, let alone thing to live through. And her unwitting opening to feeding Dru was a foregone conclusion in his mind. Dru would be fed one way or another. So he did what he was good at, he avoided the subject.
"So, did Dru ever seem to tire of her game?" he asked quietly. He knew that Spike, once he’d decided to do something was immovable to the end. But Dru, in her insanity and the drive of her demon, often changed her mind. She was a creature of whim and it was nearly impossible for her to focus on one thing for a long duration of time.
"She did," Dylan confirmed. "A number of times actually."
"So how did you keep her from killing you then?"
"Well, I came up with a plan," she shrugged, her tone making it seem that it was the most obvious thing for her to do.
"What kind of a plan?"
"I figured eventually that I’d need some kind of hook, to keep Dru interested in leaving me as a human," Dylan explained.
"So what was the hook?" Angel was interested. He’d never bothered as Angelus to find out precisely why Dru and even Spike wouldn’t risk her. He’d always figured that Dru was being crazy and Spike was indulging her. It was interesting that there might be more to it.
"Visions," she replied succinctly.
"You have visions?" he was honestly surprised. "Real visions? Like Dru’s?" She was laughing by then.
"No, not real visions," she shook her head. "I faked it. It was kind of a gut reaction. I’d heard Dru talking about finally turning me and I came up with it in the spur of the moment. Although…" she trailed off.
"Although what?"
*****
"So it’s about time then?" Spike grinned evilly. He and Dru were sitting at the long dining table, discussing Dru’s favorite topic, her baby doll. They’d already schemed over his favorite topic, the Slayer. More precisely, how he was going to get rid of her. He’d already ordered in the Order of Taraka to distract her. Faithful Dalton was working on the translation that he was sure held Dru’s cure. All in all, things were going well.
He’d figured out how to handle Dylan. It was easy for the minions to stake out the alleyway by gas stations and grocery stores. Easier still to remember to pick up a victim’s bags and bring them back to the factory. Eventually they would have something that appealed to the chit. And she wasn’t very picky. And aside from that, he mostly ignored her. Dru allowed her free rein when they were home. And then chained her up when on very rare occasions that Dru felt like going out. And even better now, Dru had been toying with the idea of turning the girl. Another faithful minion with a bonus. Dru would actually like this one. The girl could be a powerful ally, if properly trained. The idea amused Spike and he was in a magnanimous mood when she finally appeared that evening.
Dylan had taken to patterning her life after the Vampires. She slept during the day when they did and stayed up most evenings to keep Dru company. She’d been informed that evening that Dru was staying home and the Vampiress had unchained her. So after attending to her immediate needs of bathroom and then food, she gravitated to where her only friend seemed to be. But she’d stopped short when she heard Dru musing about turning her. When the pair quieted, she schooled her features into innocence and moved around the corner. She took in the sight before her. Dru had been playing with her tarot cards again. She’d read Dylan a few times, but could never seem to see anything clearly about the girl’s future.
An idea popped into Dylan’s mind. She approached carefully, gauging the pair’s mood. She’d learned to read Spike a little better through proximity. Dru was always happy to see her. She took her mothering role as seriously as she was able. And on rare occasions, Spike actually took the time to explain the way of his world to her. This cemented his role as her father in Dru’s mind. Without a word, she took a seat beside Dru and stared at the tarot cards.
"Does my baby want to play?" Dru asked sweetly. Dylan nodded slowly. Dru slid the cards toward her and Dylan took them gently. She didn’t want to offend Dru by wrecking on of her possessions. The game here was survival, not ‘how quick can you ensure a painful death’.
"You read?" Spike snorted. He knew that many humans were fascinated by mysticism, but he’d never found someone competently able to predict the future. Not like his Black Goddess could. He was amused at her presumption to play at being like his lover.
"I used to," Dylan admitted. That much was true. When she was fourteen, she’d gone through a whole phase where she’d embraced mysticism. She’d checked her daily horoscope tenaciously, read the tarot and figured out star charts. Until she’d realized that it was all generalization. So the key here, were specifics. She hoped though that she remembered enough to make it believable. So with that in mind, she began to shuffle through the deck. She held it out for Spike to cut and with a smirk, he did so. She then set the two halves of the deck before Dru. Dru smilingly touched each pile, then handed them back to Dylan.
With care, she began to lie out the cards. She was mostly familiar with the Celtic cross pattern. So that was what she used. She could see from the corner of her eye that Spike was barely controlling his laughter. He was the one she needed to convince. Dru was right there with her, waiting for the cards to speak to her as they always did.
"Well pet?" Spike drawled. "What do we see then?"
Dylan read the cards over. It was dark. She did remember what the booklet that had come with her pack of cards said. But again, it was in general terms. She closed her eyes. What could she use, what was likely to happen? So she motioned to the cards.
"Do you see the Fallen Tower?" They nodded. "Things will be changing. There is setback… abandonment. But at the same time…"
"What pet?" Dru whispered. She could hear the whispering, but it was all directed at Dylan. She knew, she was sure that Dylan could hear as well as she herself could.
"Well, see the Ace of Wands? There is a new creation at the same time. It won’t happen to the same person. But it’s confusing me." Here was where she needed the details. "I see…" she searched her mind hastily. What was devastating? "I see flame. I see the profaning of all things holy. There is darkness where there should be light."
"Well of course," Spike snorted. "We are Vampires luv," he pointed out snottily, but Dru hushed him.
"What else Baby Doll?" she encouraged.
"See here, the two of Swords, reversed," Dylan went on. "and here the ten of Wands, also reversed. There is duality of nature. Someone, a friend, will show his duplicity, treachery and disloyalty."
"Disloyalty to us?" Dru asked seriously. Dylan shook her head.
"Treachery everywhere," she offered. Vampires were rarely loyal by choice. There were intricate matters of bloodline, but if a Vampire were to see an opportunity for power, they were quick to grab it. "He will be disloyal to his friends and his foes, then to his foes and his friends." There, that sounded really predicty. Again, Spike snorted.
"This is good," Dru enthused, thoroughly entranced. The girl had more power than she’d first believed.
"Anything else?" Spike snarled sarcastically. Dylan nodded slowly. She gestured to the last cards.
"The devil," she spoke softly. Her eyes became slightly unfocused She was shocked when a brief vision flashed before her eyes. She was encased in inky blackness. In her mind, her hands pushed forward, but encountered nothing but cold stone. She gasped in pain, glancing down, taking in the sword jammed into her chest. But she was not herself, she was stone. Her eyes cleared and she saw Dru looking on in concern.
"The devil," she began again, "combined with the Fool, reversed. There is bondage. A sword set in stone. But it will prove to be his downfall. It shows unexpected failure. And he will be unable to decide his next course of action." She stared at the cards, wondering where the vision had come from. That had never happened to her before. She’d never seen the future before and was wary now. Perhaps she was just getting a little too into the game.
"So when is all this supposed to happen?" Spike grinned. He had to give the girl her due. She put on a good show. But of course, by locking her down on dates, he’d prove to Dru what a little fake she was. And then Dru would be only too happy to turn her.
Dylan perused the cards again. She gestured to the first. "The change will be within the week. The setback will be then." She moved her hand to the next prediction, considering. "The treachery will be after the new year. Two months from now. It is immutable and will happen then. The downfall will be a long time coming. But the Ace indicates a season. I would say Spring."
"You’re certain?" Spike spoke seriously for the moment.
"I am," she managed to keep her façade calm. It spaced things out enough that she hoped to hang on. If she could just make it through this next week, maybe she would survive. She knew Dru was intrigued enough to wait and see if she truly had prophetic abilities. Spike seemed inclined to play a cat and mouse game with her. So, in this next week, she needed to find a way to escape. Or else, when the week was over, she’d be dead.
"You do realize that if you’re correct, you’d be quite the asset to have around here?" Spike grinned. The game was getting more interesting. Dylan simply nodded. "Of course, we’d have to turn you."
Dylan gulped. Here was the crunch of it. "But there’s no guarantee that I’d be able to do this if I were a Vampire."
"True," Spike agreed. "But my lovely Princess here had visions before she was turned. And look at how wonderfully she turned out."
"No Spike," Dru interrupted her hand at her brow. "Baby Doll is right. My power is not her power. Her strength lies in her dreams. She would not dream. She would cease to care." They were all quiet after her strange announcement.
"All right then pet," Spike shrugged. "I’ll leave it up to you." And with that, took his leave of them.
*****
"That’s amazing," Angel breathed. "You really saw that?"
"It’s the way the cards fell," Dylan explained. "Those cards of Dru’s were eerily correct. I mean, I embellished the first part. But the little vision thing, I never expected that."
"The first prediction, that was Spike, wasn’t it?" he wondered. She nodded.
"A few nights after that, he did the ritual to bring Dru back, and was caught in that fire," Dylan recalled. "Their roles were reversed. She was the strong one and he was the weak. And because she was the strong one, she began to slowly abandon his care to others, because she couldn’t handle it."
"And the other predictions," Angel sighed. "They were about me, weren’t they?"
She nodded again. "When did you do that reading?"
"November nineteenth, I think," she shrugged. "Why?"
"Because Angelus returned on January nineteenth," he informed her softly. Her eyes widened. Angel shook his head quickly as if to dislodge the reminder of bad times. "And of course, the last vision was Acathla." He didn’t need the confirmation she gave. They sat quietly, drinking their tea. "So, how is it that when Spike and Dru captured me, that I never saw you?"
"Oh, Spike locked me up in another room," Dylan smiled. "He was afraid that I’d set you free."
"Would you have?" he smiled, already knowing the answer. She grinned back at him.
"Not until you’d first promised to get me the hell out of there as well!" she laughed. Her laughter broke the somber mood they’d unwittingly cast over themselves. After all, it was all in the past.
Chapter Nine
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