D M Evans

Disclaimer - Not mine. Joss owns 'em and oh Sleepy Hollow and Kykuit Mansion are real places

Rating -R

Time Line - Post Not Fade Away

Summary - Angel sends Faith and Connor off on a mission

feedback - yes please

Author's Note - this was written for the 'use someone else's first line' story challenge. This first line came from Makd.

My Angel is re-building Angel Investigations in New York City. I'm sure B would slap me one ifshe heard me call him that. She might not be ready to have him or Spike back in her life but she still guards them jealously.

I think she gets that I'm not interested in Angel that way though. He's like the big protective brother that I never had. I'm just glad the Slayers made it to L.A. to save his bacon. We got Angel and everyone else all out, slew the demons and saved the world....again. Okay, so maybe large hunks of L.A. might never be the same and it'll take Gunn most of the year just to learn to walk again but he's alive. Angel packed them all up lock, stock and that barrel full of monkeys, too, and moved them to New York City. No one who's ever been to the Big Apple would doubt there's demons there but they don't all stay in the five boroughs. Oh no, there's always exciting road trips all over the place.

Like this gig, I guess the place used to be North Tarrytown but they changed the name to Sleepy Hollow for reasons even a high school drop out like me could figure out. Angel got contacted after a few guards were found dead in Kykuit house, however the hell you say that. I've seen this place in movies before. Rockefeller owned it, as I found out, getting a tour video dvd of the place. Looks like vampires moved in after they closed it up for the season.

Angel would have come with me to clear the nest but there was some big Russian ballet doing a one-night show in the city and he was in orgasmic rapture over the whole thing. I told him to go enjoy himself and I took Junior with me. It's not like I couldn't handle a few vamps on my own and with Connor along this would be a cake walk.

Okay, so I didn't take into account all the priceless shit inside the mansion, stuff that our client probably wouldn't want us to destroy. That made things trickier. I watched Connor vault over a vampire as it charged him. He backhanded the stake home but slammed into a table doing it. A porcelain eagle took flight.

"No!" I yelped.

Connor caught the bird and put it down gently. "What's the big deal?"

"It's a, Meissen. It's like older than your dad," I said, remembering the video tour. Those things were worth way more than me and Connor put together. I took off down the hall after a few more of the bloodsuckers.

"Really?" Connor followed on my heels.

The battle boiled over into the gardens. It was a crisp November evening that reminded me of home but not in an unpleasant way like thoughts of my childhood usually were. I sheered off the head of one of the vampires with a whirling garden ornament that was probably silver or something knowing this place. It was a totally cool maneuver. I looked around to see if Connor had noticed it only to see he was busy.

Connor was wrestling with the last vampire, who was about two seconds from tossing scrawny boy in the reflecting pool. I staked him at a run and crashed through his dust right into Connor. We both nearly fell in. The kid's got balance, I'll give him that. We were nose to nose one moment and the next I was all but inhaling him. Hey, what can I say, nothing's changed since I was first Called. Slaying still makes me hungry and horny.

I dragged him away from the water's edge, tearing at his clothes at the same time. The poor thing probably didn't know what was happening to him. Then again from the hardness poking into my hip, he wasn't totally clueless. It's not like he's a virgin or anything, no matter how Angel acts sometimes, all over-protective until everyone is nuts. Three cheers for Depo-shots though since I want no part of anything Connor might father this time.

Usually I like to be on top but the wind was blowing and it probably just a little above freezing. It was nice and warm under Connor, who let's face it, doesn't make a big shield against the environment. If I didn't know just how strong he was I'd be afraid of snapping him like a doll, he's so damn skinny. The sky was amazingly clear. I could see stars. I had lived almost all my life in big cities. I'm not sure I had ever seen stars like this, like jewels on black velvet. It was beautiful. The harvest moon hung fat and orange like a pumpkin above us.

But he wasn't half bad at the sweaty good fun stuff, and it was sweaty, too, in spite of the chill. I didn't mind sweat, kinda let's you know he's putting his all into it. That's the way it ought to be. I licked the sweat off his collar bone, which stood out like a bird's wing. When it was over, I didn't let him go. We cuddled for a little while but finally he started shivering a little as the wind started roaring through the trees. I let him go. "Just don't expect this to happen every time we go on patrol," I cautioned.

He nodded, pulling on his clothes. Good thing since his parts were practically climbing into his belly from the cold. "Probably for the best. We didn't exactly check to make sure we'd gotten them all."

"I was pretty sure we had," I replied, though he did have a good point. I didn't know for sure.

We finished dressing, made sure all the vampires really were dust, and made the long drive back home, going over the Tappan Zee bridge - what was up with the stupid bridge names in this state? - and down Route 9. Too bad we couldn't just take the Metro-North train here but there was no way to get from the station to the mansion. Parking in the city is a bitch, even with the proper tags. Connor grumped that I wouldn't let him drive but I figured at best he's had a year behind the wheel and only thinks someone actually trained him to drive. Nosiree, I'll do the driving. I'm no good either but I trust my brand of no good more than I do his.

Angel was up when we got home. He and the wheel-chaired bound Gunn were boring Spike with all the details of Swan Lake, oblivious to the fact Spike was totally out of touch with reality at this point, legs sprawled, cigarette seconds away from frying his fingers. Connor, sensing the danger of what appeared to be an innocent conversation, hared off, yelling something about needing to clean the weapons. Damn, why didn't I think of that?

"Faith, have a good night?" Angel asked, brightly. It creeped me out. I wasn't used to seeing him so happy. It looked wrong.

"Good guys won," I said, looking for an escape path before I had to hear about twig girls in tutus for the next three hours.

"You missed a really good show," Angel said, looking ready to start over from the beginning and regale me with the details.

"Tell her all about it." Spike was out of his chair and on me so fast I didn't know what was happening. He propelled me practically on top of Angel and fled. Vampires, you just can't trust them.

I saw Angel's eyes slot and remembered what B told me about their gross abilities to sniff stuff out. He knew damn well slaying wasn't the only thing I had done tonight. "Enjoy the ballet, Angel?"

"Yes." He smirked at me. "Enjoy my son?"

"Yes. Way I see it, I have two options, I could jump in the shower or we can trade details on how our nights were. Your choice," I grinned at him.

He pointed at the second floor. "Go."

I didn't have to be told twice. I headed for my room. Connor poked his head out his room.

"Is it safe to come out?" he asked.

"I'd hide if I were you. He let me go but his audience ran away. Besides, you don't know if he'll want to have a good boys don't do things with bad girls like me speech or not," I said and Connor shuddered.

"I'll just go put on some of my music. That usually scares him off."

"You like Linkin Park and Simple Plan, they tend to have daddy issues. I don't blame him for being scared." I chucked his shoulder, and he summoned up one of his father's sneers for me. "I'm about to hit the bath. I think there might be room for two. Wanna play?"

Yeah, like he'd say no. Slaying probably made him hungry and horny, too. Better tell Angel to double the food budget. Wonder if the bed could be reinforced. I don't think it'll keep up with us for long. Guess we'll find out.