Jean-Claude answered endless phone calls from Masters of Cities all over the country. They all wanted to know the same thing, what happened to the Council. The Sire Lines were gone and countless vampires turned to ash along with the human servants and weres who were part of a Triumvirate. They asked for permission to enter his city. He didn't know what to do. What had Buffy gotten him into?
Where was she? He went to her house but no one answered the door. He made inquiries but no one knew where her or her mates had gone. Jean-Claude tried to enter the house to look around but found himself blasted across the street. He had no choice but to wait. To add to his lists of concerns, he hadn't heard from his petite either. Jean-Claude knew she was alright, even though there was a whisper of a new Namir-Raj in town.
His petite would talk to him in her own time, she couldn't be forced. Jean-Claude felt a humming in the air followed by a warmth that rushed through his body. He couldn't help but smile - Buffy was here. Jason opened the door for her, she caressed his cheek when she walked by him. He looked as if he were about to run in circles like a happy puppy. A smile split his face, adoration in his eyes for the tiny blonde.
Asher and Damian followed her as well as a new vampire. One Jean-Claude remembered from his time with Belle Morte, his name was Warrick. What is he doing with Buffy? She turned and gave Warrick a smile that a proud mother gave a small child. The knightly vampire bowed his head to her, his broadsword ever present at his side. He pushed Jason gently out of the way to take up the position of guarding the door.
"Hello, Jean-Claude," Buffy chirped. "How's it shaking?" The dark-haired vampire raised an eyebrow but waited for her to start talking. She looked at him then pouted, then smiled. He couldn't help but smile back.
She is so tiny sitting there looking like a fairy. It is difficult to imagine the enormous power housed in such a fragile looking body.
"I understand that you need to set up a switchboard to handle all your calls." Buffy casually said. "I want to talk to you about that and a few other things as well."
"Why, I can't allow them in my city? It is impossible, I don't want war with them but I can't do this even for you." His midnight blue eyes darkened with his impassioned answer.
"Oh, but I think I can change you mind once you hear what I have to say." Her voice was low and sultry. It was not a voice that any man would have an easy time saying no to.
"What could you possibly have to say that would change all of this? I thought you weren't going to govern us?"
"I'm not Jean-Claude, but I'm not going to allow anyone outside of your cadre to become enslaved either. Did you enjoy your time with the Council, Jean-Claude? I won't allow anyone else to live that way either."
"I have no slaves, no human servants, no revenants, what do you speak of?"
"The wolves, Jean-Claude." Buffy whispered, her eyes held him in thrall.
"No, Sacre Ble, you would kill us, we are defenseless in our coffins. How would we feed? It is impossible. You can't be a Master without having an animal to call."
"Ah, but it's a brave new world, Jean-Claude," Asher smiled at his old lover.
"Mon Chardonette, you know this cannot be done. We could be murdered."
"Do you really think that I would ask you to give you a large part of your way of life, Jean-Claude? That I destroyed the Council and their ways to leave all the vampires defenseless?" Buffy sighed. She thought the Master of the City knew her a little better than that.
"Then how could this work, I do not understand."
"If you give up your animal to call, willingly then your soul won't leave your body ever again. You wouldn't be bound to your coffin anymore. Only the very young would still need them and require longer amounts of sleep. Your sleep needs would be dependent on your age and strength like any normal person. You could guard yourselves."
"That is impossible, no one can change the need for the coffin or bind our souls. Not even you, petite sorcière."
"After everything you have seen you really want to talk about what is and isn't possible?" Buffy raised an eyebrow waiting for a response.
Jean-Claude's shoulders slumped as he heaved a heavy sigh. "How would we feed without any power over the animals?"
She clapped her hands like a little girl gifting him with a beautiful smile. "You are a businessman Jean-Claude, can't you figure out how to negotiate for what you want? Wolves aren't the only weres around ya know. I've heard wererat is quite nummy. Hey, aren't there lots of people who get a real high from your bite? Then aren't there even others who get off on the pain? Grow up fang face." He looked at her standing with her hands on her hips. She was offering him a gift her never even imagined he could ask for it was so unattainable before now, before Buffy. The very idea of being able to be awake during the day and no longer to be a prisoner to his coffin.
"JC, what do you say, will it be daylight for $200? You know if the weres get together with you guys kinda like city leaders, you could really protect yourself from outsiders wanting to cause problems. Just a suggestion, think I might talk to Rafie about it. He's such a sweety. Maybe he could give some seminars on leadership. I know some people who could use a few lessons."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Any childe that I sire or have sired would have this gift, I just have to willingly give up my animal to call, oui?"
"Yep, you would have to do it in front of Richard formally since he is the resident Ulfric. You can be all humble and everything. The weres will know about it through their leaders who learn about from me. Joy, I get to talk to The All American Wolf and Psycho Barbie. Negotiations are up to you for feedings, the leopards should be okay with it if you are up to seeing Anita." Buffy waggled her eyebrows up and down at him.
"I accept your bargain. Is that all I need to do."
"Well, after we have St. Louis squared away I want you to invite the Masters of New York, Houston, LA and Miami. Those cities will give me a jumping off point to work from to cover all the states. I can cover the Midwest in about a week after we are done here, so how about we say two weeks from tomorrow you invite them here to meet with me."
Jean-Claude looked at her as she calmly planned to change the rest of the preternatural world as if she was ordering pizza. "What if they don't want to willingly give up their animal to call, little sorceress?"
"Well then it gets interesting, you see the offer is a one shot deal. They loose their power one way or the other. It's called freewill Jean-Claude. The Powers write the rules not me." She shrugged her shoulders not even offering an excuse or an apology.
"You mean I would have lost both as well as all vampires in my city?" His eyes widened in shock at the realization of what he came so close to losing.
"Yep." Buffy blew a large bubble with gum he didn't even know that she was chewing. "It's a test Jean-Claude, to see who has the right to lead. If you choose the option that protects your people at a personal loss of power to yourself, you keep your leadership. Very sneaky those Powers." Her green eyes sparkled with barely contained laughter.
"I would have lost everything, my power, my city, my life. I thought you were supposed to protect us, I thought we were friends." He cursed in French under his breath as he paced his office. His hands punctuated his words as he a spoke or cursed as the case may be.
Buffy snorted causing the vampire to stop pacing and glare at her. "I protect innocents Jean-Claude, all of them, not just individuals, no matter what I feel for them. If your own power was more important than anything else, you aren't fit to lead." She spat, her eyes went hard and her words held the conviction of her feelings.
"Are you saying if one of your mates were to harm an innocent, you would pass judgment on them?" He snapped at her scoffingly.
"When I was seventeen, I killed the man I loved to save the world. He was my first lover Jean-Claude. Don't ever doubt what I will do to protect this world." The air around them was thick and heavy and the ground shook. "I think you have the ability to become a great leader if you would quit with the games. This isn't court so cut it out already. I'm off to talk to the wonder twins and Raffie, ciao." She waited for warrick to make sure the hallway was safe for her to pass.
"I will be with you in a moment, cher." Asher kissed her goodbye as Buffy waved then left followed by Damian. He turned back to Jean-Claude to study him closely for several moments. "She is magnificent isn't she? I have never felt more loved in my life. Jean-Claude, we plan to stay in St. Louis. She like it here. Buffy thinks that we should mend our friendship, she talks to me about forgiving those we love for harming us is important. I want to try for her and for myself, if you want." Asher turned to leave when his former lover didn't respond.
"Mon Chardonette, please, I would like that very much. Tell her merci." Jean-Claude smiled, a true smile as he watched Asher's golden form leave his office. He couldn't remember feeling this much hope in the longest time.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Buffy pulled up to Richard's house then asked her mates and Warrick to wait for her outside. She knocked and Jamil answered the door. He bowed his head then let her in the house. She saw Shang-Da, Sylvie, Robert and Stephen all sitting or standing around the living room. The last person surprised her since she thought he would be dancing at Guilty Pleasures. He looked scared and unhappy, as if he were about to cry any minute. Buffy looked closer at Stephen's aura. It was torn from being forcefully separated from Gregory. She looked at Jamil who wouldn't meet her eye. She searched the room for Richard but he wasn't in the room.
Richard walked out of his bedroom. His once lush sable brown hair was shorn from his head in a military style haircut. His eyes held a hard wild look with amber seeping in around the edges. He stopped when he saw Buffy then advanced further into the room leaking power. Stephen whimpered then moved towards Buffy. Richard growled then lashed out with a wave of power straight at the docile wolf.
"Oh, Dick, exactly what are you doing?" Buffy calmly asked. Her toe tapped while she waited for an answer.
"I'm taking your advice, I'm leading my pack, so but out. The traitors were tortured then executed as an example to those who betray their pack. The pack will only have one leader - me."
"Uh, huh, I told you leading your pack meant torturing the guilty and leading your pack meant injuring the weak that you are supposed to protect? Do I have this all correct? I'm supposed to just butt out now that you have decided to play the big bad wolf?"
"Yes, damn you," he growled, as his eyes turned amber.
"You are worse than Marcus or Raina ever were. You pretend to care for people and have all these morals, but when it comes to hard choices the only thing you know how to do is be a bully. You aren't fit to lead." Buffy's eyes turned royal blue as her power poured into the room in waves.
"That isn't for you to decide, you hold judgment over vampires, not us. We have our own laws that you aren't a part of, now leave my house."
"Rrnt, wrong again. I'm not supposed to interfere in your leadership unless the situation is out of control. Well guess what DICK; you just tilted the pinball machine." Buffy closed her eyes. "Mother, help me choose wisely." She looked at Richard, her eyes glowing brightly as her hand shot out. A fine amber mist floated out of him then circled the room finally stopping in front of Jamil then crashed into his body.
She turned her back on Richard, who crumbled to the floor, to walk over to Jamil. "I need to speak to you about something very important to the pack. Do you mind if I comfort Stephen first?" Jamil regally bowed his head. She knelt down to the blond wolf to gather him into her arms so she could send soothing pulses to him. He buried his face in her neck; she hugged him then pushed him towards his new Ulfric. Stephen crawled over to Jamil who let his power leak out slowly to the other members of the pack in the room. The pack moved closer to receive his acceptance and assurance. Richard slowly joined the others which Jamil allowed. After a few minutes, he nodded to Shang-Da to remove the former Ulfric to his bedroom. Shang-Da returned to take up his stance of protecting the Ulfric.
Buffy took a deep breath which was equal parts glad and sad at the turn of events. Richard wasn't cut out to be a leader, he actually cut out to be a were but there wasn't much she could do about that. "Jean-Claude has agreed to give up his power to call. He will negotiate for feeding privileges with any leaders who are willing. In exchange, the vampires souls will be bound and they will no longer need their coffins. They retain their other powers and weaknesses. I suggested a possible joint group of leaders of weres and vampires who could handle any threats to the city and themselves jointly. Any internal problems would of course not be brought into this just anything a single group couldn't handle kinda like a militia. Their will be formal meeting tomorrow at the Circus for him to release the power at 8:00. Is all of this okay with you?" Buffy looked into Jamil's large brown eyes. She say him weigh her words as the well-being of the pack lay in the balance.
"I still say you would make a good lupa. That is fine; we will call a special Lupanar for the pack to let them know what has happened."
Buffy turned to leave but stopped in front of the pack Vargamor. "Robert, you can call the munin tomorrow. I have it on good authority it will come to you. Maybe it will help Richard learn how to start healing. Jamil, you are an honorable man, but you shouldn't have ever let him become Ulfric. He didn't know how, there were just too many lives at stake to chance it." Buffy stated sadly. "Can I take Stephen back to be with Gregory now?"
Jamil nodded his head. "Yes, no one will ever keep them apart again."
Stephen followed Buffy as she climbed into the car; Damian was in the driver seat. She crawled into Asher's arms then started to cry. Stephen pressed close to her side with a soft whimper in his voice.
"Lady Buffy, are you all right? Did someone harm you? I will go and take care of them for you." warrick's watched his friend as his heart broke along with her obvious heartbreak.
"No Warrick, I'll be okay. It's just hard sometimes. I tried to make him understand that if he couldn't he a leader that he needed to step down. He tortured then executed the traitors, because he said I told him to. I've killed lots of monsters in my life but I've never tortured them and not to make people weaker than me fear me. That's not a leader that's a tyrant. He couldn't even feel what he was doing to Stephen. You could taste his sadness and despair in the air. Richard isn't the Ulfric anymore." Buffy's voice hitched with emotion over the events of the last half hour.
"Mon Dieu, you killed him. Did he attack you, Mon Cher?" Asher exclaimed, searching her for injuries.
"No, I pulled the power from him. He isn't an alpha anymore. He's not a sub; he is a high beta, no more. Richard couldn't handle the wolf, his morals, anger and the power he had combined. I had no choice, if I could have I would have cured him but that isn't my call to make. He is better off away from all this but he will have to learn to live with the consequences of his actions. The power chose Jamil; he should have been the Ulfric all along." Buffy snuggled into Asher's arms then closed her eyes. "How much further to the Wicked Witch of the North's house?" She grumbled causing Asher and Damian to laugh. It sent shivers down her spine forcing a sensual purr from her lips.
Every man in the car shifted in their seats. "Buffy quit being naught," Damian scolded from the driver's seat.
"Oh please, don't make her stop," Stephen whimpered and would have begged on all fours if there were enough room in the car.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
They were still laughing when they pulled up to Anita's house. "Okay babes you are both definitely going to have to come in with me for this one. Wouldn't want to put a smack down on Queen Z, no matter how tempting." Buffy reluctantly got out of the car followed by her mates, Warrick and Stephen.
warrick knocked on the door, his hand on his broadsword, ever ready to protect Buffy. Zane answered it. His hair was dyed a pale blue and his shorts were split up the side all the way to the waist. They resembled flags more than shorts. After letting them in, he turned around to show the backside didn't have any pockets or material, just pure Zane. Buffy giggled, smiling at Damian and Asher then wiggled her eyebrows. She looked around to see Cherry, Caleb, Nathaniel and Gregory. Stephen yelped then rushed over to his twin. The two blondes hugged and licked each other after reassuring each other that they were in fact back together, they curled together on the floor. Buffy noticed some new people lounging around the room.
Anita chose that moment to enter from her bedroom. "Oh great, as if my life wasn't shitty enough. What do you want, Buffy?"
"I came to let you know what's going on and to invite you to a meeting tomorrow at 8:00 at the Circus." Buffy explained to Anita about Jean-Claude and the vampires. "The Ulfric must formally accept the release of his pack, then any were that want to negotiate can. He seemed open to it and also creating a city leaders group."
"You have got to be kidding me. What do you do put a spell on Richard to make him agree to that?" Anita laughed at her own joke.
"I said the Ulfric, Anita. Richard is no longer Ulfric, Jamil is."
"You bitch, what did you do?" She drew her gun and fired in one smooth move.
Buffy simply waved her hand turning the bullets into doves, one landed on her shoulder. Everyone in the room went stock-still. Anita started drawing on her necromancy, remembering that Buffy died at three times before. An evil smile crossed her face as the whites of her eyes turned coal black. She tapped into her voodoo heritage causing the beat of ancient drums to fill the air.
"Damnit, don't you ever learn Anita? You can't shoot people who piss you off. I warned you that you were headed to a dark place if you didn't change. Look inside and see what looks back. You leave me no choice; you aren't responsible enough to handle the powers that you were gifted with. Until you learn some control, I bind you Anita so you can do no harm to yourself or to others."
Buffy looked at the dove on her shoulder as if they were communicating. It flew to Anita's shoulder then suddenly turned into a crow. She felt her powers being drawn from her into the bird. It was painful as if someone cut deeply into her spirit. The crow cae'd once then disappeared. Anita fell to her knees. She looked deep inside at her own aura. There was no sign of her necromancy, only dark angry reds and blacks. What she saw terrified her, but it terrified her even more to be without any power at all. Her inner beast was still there. It was lethargic almost as if it was heavily sedated.
"What did you do?" Anita whispered while her hand rubbed her chest trying to sooth the deep ache.
"I bound your powers; you were ready to use dark powers on someone for no reasons. Not to protect but in anger. You do not even know if what I did was justified. You are like a vigilante, Anita, no regard for anything but your own reaction to a situation. Richard tortured and executed the traitors. He punished Stephen because he wanted to be with Gregory who is a part of your pard. He was never meant to lead and should never have been allowed to take the role. It takes more than power, it takes compassion, understanding, empathy, sacrifice and ruthlessness but only when needed. The big part knowing when each one is needed and how to wield them."
"Did Jamil and Richard fight?" Anita couldn't bear to think that Richard was dead or injured.
"No, I pulled the power from Richard and it chose the rightful Ulfric. Too many lives were at stake, I would do it again if I had to. Hopefully, Richard will be a little happier now. He is a beta but the power he held was too much for him. It couldn't balance out against with his ideas, bitterness and personnel issues with you so he used it all as a weapon." Buffy stepped in front of a short man with brown curly hair and tiger green eyes. "You must be the Nimir-Raj of the other pard. Are yall going to merge the two pards? I guess you've already heard, I'm Buffy Summers and these are my mates Asher and Damian." Her hand swept towards the loves of life. "The cutie with the sword is warrick." Buffy winked at the knightly vampire causing him to blush.
"My name is Micah Callahan. It hasn't been decided yet we are still negotiating." He smiled then looked at Anita.
Buffy liked him and thought she saw some sparkage with Anita. Could do her some good, he kinda reminds me of Oz.
"Listen we still need to go talk with Rafael so we will see you later. Anita, I am still willing to help you learn control if you want but its up to you." Buffy turned and left without waiting for a reply.
Buffy arrived at Rafael's in a much better mood. She always looked forward to see the wererat king. "Rafie, let's run away to Cancun and sip Pina Coladas on the beach." She kissed his cheek as he picked her up to swing her around.
"Benita and your mates would hunt us down. My wife, she swing a mean butcher's knife."
She laughed. "We have a lot to talk about, my friend." Buffy explained everything to Rafael. He agreed to negotiate with the vampires; no many knew that his clutch was the largest group of weres in the city. "Make him work for it, Rafie. I think it will be good for everyone if the grown up play well with each other. I see you as the best person to lead the were, of course Jean-Claude will lead the vampires. Hopefully, you all can come up with a plan to work together. Some type of alert system for when you need help. You'll figure it all out. St. Louis really needs to be the example for everyone else to be measured against."
"May all the saints watch over you, querida?" He kissed her forehead.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Jean-Claude, Rafael, Jamil, Anita, Buffy, Damian and Asher all sat or stood in Jean-Claude's office. The respective bodyguards waited outside. No mention of Richard was made by anyone. Jamil stood facing Jean-Claude while Buffy stood slightly back but between them. She placed a hand on each of their bared hearts.
"Jean-Claude, do you release your right to call of your own free will?"
"Oui." He nodded his head looking directly into Jamil's eyes then at Buffy.
"Jamil, as a representative of all wolves do you accept this gift in the manner it is given."
"For my pack, I accept."
Buffy's hands glowed amber like a weres eye. Jean-Claude felt a pull over his heart as if something was sucked out of him. Jamil felt something jump into his body. It was as if there were too many people in his skin. He threw back his head and howled. The air was thick with the smell of fur, forest and power.
"I will leave you to discuss your business deals." Buffy left the room.
She greeted each of the weres by name on the way out. Jean-Claude eve heard her greeting the vampires as well. Ones he knew she hadn't met through him.
"How does she do that? Come into a city and in tow months know everyone by name?" Anita grumbled, crossing her hands over her chest.
"She asked Anita and she listened when they talk to her. She visits my clutch frequently. Your pack as well, Jamil, as well as the pard. She knows all their history, their pain and their joys. Buffy takes all that sorrow on her shoulders. That's who you don't trust, who you tried to kill." Rafael answered as amber leaked into his eyes showing his anger.
Jean-Claude looked at Anita in shock. "What did you do ma petite?"
"I shot her, well at her. She turned them into doves. She stripped Richard of his power and because I tried to defend him she bound mine." Anita growled still upset at the turn of events of yesterday.
"You lie, Anita, I can smell it on you." Jamil growled in a low whisper.
Anita looked at him in shock. She wasn't used to Jamil being so outspoken or defying her. She glared at him trying to make him hack down, her eyes hard and dark. Jamil stared back at her as if she were insignificant, a nobody.
"Richard forced Buffy to do what she did there was no other way. The pack was in danger, she saved his life. You stupid selfish woman, he would have been challenged at the next Lupanar. A challenge to the death, you remember those don't you, Anita? Richard was out of control, he almost killed Sylvie when she told him that torture wasn't part of pack law for treason. Robert had to call the munin to heal her because Richard refused her his throat!" Jamil's quiet voice rang in their ears.
Anita grew pale then stumbled back. She would have fell if Jean-Claude didn't grab her and place her on the couch. "I had no idea that it was that bad. Why didn't anyone tell me? I could have helped," She asked with hurt evident in her voice.
"You didn't ask you didn't try to find out what was happening. Most of all it wasn't your business, you are no longer lupa. You didn't become anyone's friend Anita, you just became their queen and you liked it that way." Jamil looked at her with sad eyes. He looked at Jean-Claude then Rafael. "I will negotiate with you to feed your people. Several of my pack enjoy the bite and don't want to lose it. We can talk payment at a later time. There are several that you already know here who are waiting and I have brought five more. Since you won't be hindered by the day, why don't we continue this tomorrow afternoon? We have all seen and heard enough plus I would like to share this gift with my pack." Jamil bowed his head, his braids clicked together. He regally walked out as the king he was.
Rafael watched all this not having said a word. Jean-Claude still sat with Anita on the couch rubbing her back soothingly. Her pushed away from the wall was leaning against to stand in front of Anita. "So, chiqieta, you caused a lot of trouble, eh? What are you going to do about it? How are you going to survive without your powers? You have an inner beast so can you infect others? Are you going to be a true Nimir-Ra or hand off your pard? Only come in to protect them when something needs to be shot, like Buffy, si? Jean-Claude, I will meet with you tomorrow as well."
"Damnit, how did I suddenly become the bad guy here? I haven't done anything different; I'm the same as I've always been. Now people I've protected, who helped me, who I thought were my friends have all turned against me! All because of her, some blonde Barbie who comes in to play Mother Teresa with a wand and I'm out." Anita screamed at the top of her lungs.
Jean-Claude looked at her as she now paced his office. He was always attracted to her fire, her anger and her passion. Now he was concerned for her. It was as if, she were consumed with nothing but anger, which was all aimed at Buffy. "Anita, please sit down." She stopped pacing to look at him. He called her Anita; she knew that she didn't like this already. "Ma petite, I understand what you are feeling but please be careful. Buffy, is very powerful. If you continue this way, she may feel you are a threat to your pard. She took your powers but she didn't remove you as Nimir-Ra, nest pa. I know you care for your pard and want to protect them. Take some time to learn how to do that, let people help you - Me, Rafeal, even Buffy. She put out her hand to you all you have to do is take it, it's your decision. You have the power here, not her. The pard is in your hands, you can help them heal and grow strong or remain as they are."
Anita looked into his midnight blue eyes then moved to his side. She laid her head on his chest as he wrapped his arms around her. "I don't know id I can do this, Jean-Claude. I'm not good at the mushy stuff and sharing my feelings."
He knew that she wasn't just referring to her pard, but their relationship as well. Jean-Claude hugged her before tipping her head back to give her a deep passionate kiss. "Ma petite, you can show you care with a touch, a look, a simple offer to listen. You don't have to pour your heart out or make flowery declarations." She is so complex, ma petite, a hurt little girl inside and a tough angry woman outside. He realized long ago to always respect the outside but never forget the inside whenever she allowed her to peak out. Jean-Claude decided to talk to Buffy about ways to help Anita. He vowed to protect her anyway that he could, he couldn't lose her, he loved her too much.
Anita kissed his cheek. "I've missed you, missed talking to you. No matter how angry you make me, you always made me laugh."
He pulled her back into his arms. "I am always here, come back to me, ma petite." Jean-Claude's voice went low causing her to shiver delightfully.
"Stop that! I'm going to go. I'll be at the meeting with Micah; he's the Nimir Raj of the other pard trying to merge with us. We should discuss the idea of city leaders, it is a good one. I think I will go and talk to Buffy afterwards. I have some questions for her about how to go about all of this." She reluctantly drew away then left the office.