DISCLAIMER: Mutant blah Joss blah Enemy. Grr. Argh.

FEEDBACK: Oh please.

Dedication: This is for Emilie. Not only am I reading, I'm now obsessing.

Apology: I sincerely apologize to Emilie and Karen if I've skewed their
Wishverse any (I hope I haven't). I can't believe my first BtVSfic is a
Wishverse one, but you guys really got Nancy under my skin. Please
consider this homage.

Devon frowned as Nancy stalked into the library. Already Oz had tensed,
not that anyone but his closest friend could tell. Devon was sure Nancy
would never notice what she did to Oz.

"What's this stupid plan you want to waste our time with?" Nan dumped her
bag on the table where it spilled out a wooden stake. She dropped into the
chair at the end of the table and tilted it back on its two rear legs.

"Nancy," Oz said in greeting, but she ignored him.

"All hail the princess." Devon was so sick of her.

"I haven't got all day." She spared a glare at Devon. "Remember we have
to go to the cemetery and stake that pansy-assed nerd." There had been a
funeral service that morning for a boy from Oz's 3rd period computer
science class.

"His name was Mike," Oz said. They should at least honor the dead with
their names, if they hadn't been able to save them.

"We have time to take care of Mike," Devon said, glancing at Oz.

Abruptly Nancy slammed her chair back onto all four legs. She lunged
forward. "No, we don't! We don't have time for anything anymore!" She
grabbed the errant stake and stuffed it back into her bag. "We don't have
time for your 'We have a plan' act or your 'We can make a difference'
delusion!" she spat. "The vampires are taking over, and two kids and a
half-grown runt werewolf can't do anything about it."

Devon's easy-going face firmed into an angry snarl. "We're too small a
force to go off half-cocked. You're such a psycho you're going to get us
all turned."

"Hey, guys - " Oz tried to interject, but Nancy steamed ahead.

"We're going to be turned anyway, you fucker!" she yelled. "At least I'll
go down fighting, not sniveling about my lost future as a rock star!"

"Guys - " Oz tried again.

"Not now, bitch." Devon's eyes never moved from Nancy's. He saw the way
her eyes flared with jealousy when he used the pet name.

"Shut up, Oz." Nancy's eyes stayed locked on Devon's.

Oz stood uncomfortably. "Um - "

"Get out!" Nancy hissed.

Oz glanced helplessly at Devon, then looked at Nancy, who was clearly in
one of her moods. "I'll go raid the vending machine." He eased past them.
"Maybe they stock triage equipment now," he murmured, almost to himself.

When the door shut behind Oz, Devon smiled a tight little grin. "It's
about time we had this out, princess. Don't you think?"

"Past time, choir boy!"

Devon abruptly lunged across the table and grabbed Nancy by the collar.
He'd moved so fast he took her by surprise, and she only blinked as he held
her, dragged halfway across the big oak table. "What do you have to be so
angry about?" Devon asked in a murmur. The softness was strange, but it
was the seriousness that unnerved her. So Devon was going to drop the flip
act with her.

"I came home and found my parents dead on the porch, *remember*?" She
shook her hair out of her face. She tried to pluck his hands apart, but
his wrists were like steel cables.


"There are worse things," Devon muttered grimly. "You're just a spoiled
brat. Look around you." He had a death grip on her jean jacket and she
couldn't squirm free.

"I *am* looking around me!" She started kicking, trying to find leverage,
but only knocked over the chair. "My parents are dead, my friends are
dead, shit, even my *teachers* are dead!" She hit at Devon's stomach, but
he didn't even flinch.

"Me, me, me," Devon mocked. "You're right, princess, the Hellmouth was put
in Sunnydale to ruin *your* life. Everyone else whose lives are destroyed,
that's just atmosphere for *your* persecution."

"I could have grown up in Canada! I could have been on the honor roll!"
She tried for his eyes and Devon hauled her all the way across the table.
She'd had no idea he was that strong. She refused to have any respect for
him, not even grudging respect. Devon flipped her on her back and knelt on
top of her, pinning her arms over her head. How had he jumped up on the
table so quickly?

"Go ahead and rape me in the library, Devon. That's real class. What will
Oz say?"

"I don't know *what* he sees you. I sure as hell wouldn't touch you if you
were the last girl on earth. But you listen to me." He held her wrists
with one hand -- God, that was so humiliating -- and grabbed her hair with
his other hand as he leaned in so close she could see a mole on his left
eyelid. "He likes you. And I know you're going to break his heart."
Nan's mouth turned mulish, and Devon jerked on her head for punctuation.
"And when you do, I'm going to kill you."

Nancy smiled with all the bravado she could muster. *Shit, and I thought I
was crazy.* "You can try, pretty boy." Her eyes narrowed. "Even if I do
break his heart, he deserves it. Do you know what he did to me?!" she hissed.

Devon's fist tightened in her hair. "Yeah. He cared about you." He
knocked her head back into the table like he couldn't quite help himself.
*I will not look scared*, Nancy swore to herself. *Cocksucker. Wait till
I get off this table.*

"Do you know what his father did to him?"

Nancy stopped breathing. She could hear her own heartbeat. "You lying
bastard!" she yelled. She was struggling again, wilder than before.

"Why would I lie?" Devon said calmly. The calm was infuriating.

Devon knew it and was glad telling her hurt her. He was glad being calm
hurt her. He was glad he could use his voice to hurt her. He had that
invincible feeling he got when he was on stage. "Why do you think he lives
in that house by himself?" Nancy was pissed that Devon seemed to know so
much more about Oz than she did. She'd never been able to figure out where
his parents were, although she'd tried to ask. "His father's in prison.
His mother's a heroin addict in the Tenderloin." Nancy looked blank so he
added, "In San Francisco."

"That's not true! Social services would never let him live alone - "

"Oz is a lot smarter than Family Services, princess." Devon's voice became
so soft it was like a lover's caress on her cheek. "I only tolerate you
because he likes you. You're more dangerous than a vampire -- they only
suck the blood out of your veins. You're going to suck everything good
right out of his heart, because you're too much of a coward to give
anything back to anyone." Devon smiled at her. "I don't care what you do
with yourself. But the first time you hurt him, I *will* kill you." He
punctuated the "will" with another knock of her head back against the
table, this time hard enough for her vision to flash black around the
edges. "Do we understand each other?"


Nancy glared up at Devon.

A crash from the hallway brought them both to full alert. "Uh, guys - "
came Oz's voice.

Devon jumped back off the table, pulling Nancy up with him. They both
grabbed for stakes from her bag. Devon was first to the door, but she was
right behind him. *I could stake him now,* she thought. Devon flung upon
the door and they both slid out into the hallway, weapons raised.

Oz was back against the wall of lockers. Several of them hung open, and
the glass case over the fire extinguisher had been broken. Oz's shoulder
was bleeding.

A red-headed vampire swiveled her head to look at them over her shoulder.
She was wearing black leather pants and corset over a ruffled blood-red shirt.

*I'd look good in leather,* Nancy thought to herself.

The vampire looked back at Oz. "I'm not interested in your friends, just
you. Puppy doesn't have the energy to play anymore. You smell good." She
walked up to Oz, turned his head with one hand, and nuzzled his throat.
She leaned her hips into his and looked back over her shoulder again at the
other White Hats. She grinned at whatever she saw. She was standing
*very* close to Oz. "C'mon, puppy, I''ll take better care of you than they
do." Her green eyes laughed delightedly at Nancy. "I know how to
appreciate you."

Nancy lunged forward and Devon grabbed her arm, spinning her around. She
was about to light into him when he grabbed her hair, hauled her back
against his chest, and made her look at Oz. The vampire had jerked Oz in
front of her, holding his arms behind him and her fangs at his throat.
Nancy hadn't even seen. In a minute, she realized they looked like mirror
images... the vampire was holding Oz, and Devon was holding her. *Am I a
fucking hostage?* "You're going to get him killed," Devon hissed in her
ear. Nancy shivered. Devon's voice should *not* have that effect on her.
And Christ, he was talking about *Oz*.

The vampire laughed out loud. "It's so touching!" She licked some of Oz's
blood off his shoulder. "Maybe I should kill them so you won't try to run
away. Your home is with me now, puppy."

Oz twisted and somehow had a stake in his hand. "Go!" he yelled
frantically. He couldn't spare a look behind him to see if they obeyed him.

Devon still hadn't let go of Nancy. He threw her forward and came after
her. Totally out of control, Nancy collided into the vampire's legs and
sent her sprawling. The vampire got to her feet and found Devon
practically on top of her, stake upraised. She grabbed him by the arm and
threw him over her shoulder, just like people did in kung fu movies.

"Unh." Nancy heard Devon's grunt as he slid across the floor. The
preternaturally strong vampire fled down the hall.

Nancy would have gone after her, but Oz's hand on her arm stopped her. He
was lying beside her, and he looked like he was in shock. His face was
practically translucent. His eyes looked huge. *Stupid moron,* she
thought to herself. *It's over now. Lose the calf look.* Nancy started
to push herself to her feet but froze in shock when Oz's hand cupped the
back of her head. He leaned up and brushed his lips against hers with the
lightest pressure imaginable. "Thank you," he whispered. "I can't believe
you risked yourself for me."

Nancy inhaled.

Devon glared back at Nancy over the top of Oz's head. "Shit."

End