ForevaXena's FanFic . . .

Survivor

by J Falconer

Disclaimer: Xena, Gabrielle etc belong to MCA/Universal and Ren Pics, and anyone else who has an interest in Xena Warrior Princess, not me.

Copyright © 2000: The characters in here belong to me. All rights reserved. No part or whole of this work may be copied or used in any shape, form, or manner whatsoever without the author's express written consent. If you want to use them, all you have to do is ask … nicely.

Violence disclaimer: Little bits and pieces, but nothing that’s really in yer face yucko.

Love/Sex warning: This story depicts a love/sexual relationship between two consenting adult women. If you are under 18 years of age or if this type of story is illegal in the state or country in which you live - move along, move along, nothing for you here ...

PART ONE

TWELVE YEARS LATER

“Hey, watch it ya dumb bitch! Women!”

The drunken young boy turned to glare at me, still staggering, as I made my way down Darlinghurst Road through King’s Cross. His friends stood behind him, grinning, equally underage, smirking as their brave comrade put a woman in her place.

I gave my best smile, luminous blue eyes boring into him, and flashed my fangs. The expression on his face did not change, so I decided it would be best if I gave him a quick demonstration on stranger danger.

With contemptuous ease, I lunged forward to grab him by the shirt. My reflexes I knew to be well beyond the comprehension of humans. To me it looked like an almost leisurely movement, but to him it would be faster than the blinking of an eye. Combine that with a six-foot, muscular frame, and I knew it would scare the pants off him.

“Now, now,” I said smoothly. “Is that any way to treat a lady?” I easily lifted him off his feet so we could actually see eye to eye. I noted with disgust his dirty, pimply skin, covered with an almost unbearable blast of cheap aftershave.

He didn’t say anything, just sort of gaped at me like a landed fish, and I began to laugh internally at him. His friends, the big strong men that they were, backed away slightly. He was on his own.

“Are you going to apologize?” I asked politely, smiling. I was starved; it took all of my self control to be even this patient with him.

He nodded, almost frantic.

“Good,” I said complacently. “Don’t do it again.” Thank goodness that had gone so well, and I could go back to the more serious pursuit of hunting for a bite to eat.

Again, he nodded so hard I thought his filthy neck was in danger of dropping off.

With no particular gentleness, I put him back on his feet and watched him scurry away like the dung beetle he was. If there’s one thing I hate about young men is that they are so arrogant and self absorbed. I enjoy putting them back in their place as much as I can.

I wanted to scent the cool night air, so I pulled a deep breath into my lungs. I could smell the masses of humanity all around me, the soft smell of young girls’ perfume, the stench of the exhaust of all the cars crawling down the streets, the vomit, the beer and the cleanliness of the city air.

It was my favorite time. I had always loved this, even when I was alive.

As usual, I was out scouting the world looking for someone to nibble on. I had toyed with the idea of draining that stupid boy to the last drop, but quickly discarded the idea. The amount of alcohol in his bloodstream would make him taste rather odd, plus probably make me a little drunk and quite frankly I didn’t feel like it. Not to mention the small problem of the group he was with.

Looking around, I checked the fringe dwellers of the crowd, looking for the lone unaccompanied person that would be my next snack.

It was not long before I spotted her.

She was leaning behind one of the buildings, puking her guts out.

With a soft smile of satisfaction, I smoothly made my way over to her.

The darkness was no barrier to my keen eyesight. I saw the puddle in front of her, the tears staining her smooth pale skin, her long blonde hair in real danger of falling into her waste. Her mini skirt had ridden up her creamy thighs, and I could smell the stale, sugary odor of the spirits she’d consumed and so recently parted with.

Quietly, I knelt down behind her, and with one hand lifted the hair off the back of her neck and with the other hand, gently massaged her back as her stomach expelled it’s non existent contents again.

She realized she was not alone, and shifted to stare at me with bloodshot green eyes. They would have been quite beautiful if they had been clear. Struck, I leaned forward to quietly gaze at her more closely. I remembered those eyes, but could not place them.

“Thanks.” Her voice was soft and gentle, with no trace of slurring.

I captured her eyes, willing her to want to come with me. I’d always had a strong personality when I was alive, and now with the brighter eyes I had inherited on my death, I’d been able to make humans do what I wanted them to do.

Well it worked on her, and as I stood, I took her with me and pulled her in close. Bingo, I thought with satisfaction as her arms slipped around me and she buried her face in my chest, leaning up to give me a quick, soft kiss on my neck.

The words were so quiet I almost missed them. “You’re so beautiful.”

I was glad she couldn’t see my face as I led her down a dark side street. Obviously she thought she was going to get laid. She was quite right – but it was going to be her coffin and not my bed.

We stood in the shadows of the side street, and I pulled her around so she was in my arms. I extended my fangs, knowing she could not see them in the darkness, though I could make out every valley and curve of her face and body. Stroking her cheek, I leaned in close, kissing an ear (I was careful to avoid her pukey mouth), and then gently whispering, “What’s your name?”

She leaned into me, running her hands over my body, causing the skin to prickle, my hair to stand on end, the most delicious sensation to my ever cold body. Still the luminous green eyes struck a cord in me that I couldn’t place.

I was hungry, oh so hungry.

“My name?” Her voice was a whisper as she sank into my blue eyes, and she began to breath heavily, skin flushed. “My name. My name is Bronwyn Hunter.”

Good Lord.

Oh my God.

Hell’s bells.

Bloody hell.

The floodgates to memory opened and once again, a young girl sat despondently by the side of the road, waiting for an adult to bring her home.

I remembered her all right.

I remembered her like it was yesterday.

Goddammit!

“Bronwyn Hunter,” I said quietly. “My name is Crow.”

I saw her eyes widen, as the spark of recognition that had flared in her eyes as I’d pulled her to her feet and she’d seen me flared into a bright flame.

“Crow.” The word was soft and drawn out, and a million emotions came out in that single word. Longing, trust and an aching desire for something.

“You remember me?”

“I remember.”

It had been quite a stupid question on my part, really; of course she’d remember me. My white skin, black hair and blue eyes, combined with my six feet of height would be difficult to forget quickly.

“An angel.”

I almost missed the words, and smiled ruefully to myself. I was no angel – I was a cold-blooded killer who enjoyed doing what she did far too much for moral comfort.

That forcibly reminded me. I was starved and had to eat. Well, I most certainly couldn’t snack on her, could I? I was a killer, that was certain, but I wasn’t that brutal. I enjoyed doing what I did, but I didn’t just kill people for the sheer hell of it.

“Please excuse me for one moment,” I said, and slipped out of her grasp.

Faster than the eye could follow, I ran out of the alleyway, careful not to look behind at her, looking for the evening’s nourishment.

I found him almost straight away, puking his guts up in a private stretch of bushes. I tapped him on the shoulders, and when he looked up at me, bleary eyed, runner of saliva hanging out of one corner of his mouth, I noted with satisfaction that it was the boy who had tried to push me around.

“You bitch!” he snarled, suddenly trying to prove his courage, and drunkenly staggered to his feet to take a swing at me. I sighed – I really didn’t have time for this.

I easily caught him and pulled him in close.

“You’re a bitter little thing, aren’t you?” I whispered and held his arms by his sides as I leaned in a pushed my drooling fangs through his pulsing jugular vein.

Immediately, I felt the heady hotness of the blood as it filled my mouth, and jetted down my throat, a raw flood of vampiric power that would satisfy me like nothing else.

The liquid hit my throat, and fire spread through my veins, and slowly my arms relaxed their grip as his struggles became weaker.

His body almost drained, I dropped him to the ground and nipped a wrist with my sharp fangs, allowing my blood to dribble on his neck, closing the wounds.

There would be an autopsy, of that I was certain, but at first glance people would suspect he collapsed from alcohol poisoning. He would be in hospital for a few days as his body, in a coma, would replenish some of it’s blood supply, and then he would die and I would remain undiscovered for another evening.

I was careful to throw him back into his vomit, as the alcohol he’d consumed began to leech into my system.

Oh my God. That was really the last thing I needed.

What I needed now, though, was to get back to Bronwyn, and take her home, like I had done twelve years ago.

For a normally graceful vampire, I was certainly staggering back to the young, blonde woman I had left down a darkened street in the worst part of town.

When I hit the street, I looked around anxiously, unable to see any sign of her. I was alarmed. What had become of her?

I forced patience into myself, and looked around closely, allowing my keen eyesight to pierce the darkness. The ultra keen eyesight that a drunk normally has was with me now, and it was short work to see the collapsed body by the side of the pathway.

My eyebrows shot skyward as I rushed over to her. She would have been alone for no more than about two minutes.

As I unsteadily leant over her fallen body, I reached out a hand to touch her soft, smooth neck. My keen fingertips found a pulse, and I heaved a deep sigh of relief as I turned her over.

Her beautiful green eyes fluttered open, and her red lips curved into a smile as she saw me.

“Crow.” The word was a sigh. “Are we going home?”

I nodded, cursing my inability to co ordinate my movements. It would not be long before I was drunk as a skunk. “Let’s get you home.”

Amazingly, she helped me help her get to her feet, and her arms boldly slipped around my waist as I supported her.

“You’re beautiful.” The words were slightly louder this time, and I glanced down at her. She was staring at me adoringly, with a healthy dose of lust thrown in for good measure.

“Uh huh.”

“And you’re strong.”

“Really?”

“I love you.”

I stopped and smiled at her in genuine amusement. “No, I don’t think so. You just want to fuck me stupid.”

Her face darkened in a flush of embarrassment and her eyes skittered away from mine. I realized that she’d been trying to do her schoolgirl’s attempt at a seduction of an older woman, and carefully cupped her face in my hands, forcing her to meet my eyes again.

“Forget it.” I willed her to forget what she’d just said. She blinked, bleary eyed, and her face began to return to its normal coloring. “Let’s go.”

We both supported each other as I led my way back to my car. I still had the bike, but I knew what the Harley riders were like in this area, so I only rode it into the city when I wanted to tease them.

It took some doing but I managed to get her hands off her body and me into the car.

“Where do you live?” I could remember the answer, but I wanted to hear her say it.

“7 Georges Road.” The voice was exhausted and followed by a bone-cracking yawn. “Where do you live?”

I could not refuse those puppy like emerald eyes. Besides, she was almost unconscious and would never remember the answer I gave, so I told her.

“Wow,” was her only comment.

I’d been dead for quite some time, and with the tricks of robbery I’d picked up from Sembur, I’d managed to amass quite a large amount of money so I could buy a nice, big, private house, complete with healthy security system, so I could sleep the days away with some peace of mind.

I smiled gently and nosed the car out into the traffic.

~~~

“Bronwyn.” I leaned over gently and nudged her snoring figure.

My eyebrows shot skyward as I heard a muffled, “Fuck off!”

I grinned and nudged her harder. The alcohol in my system had given me a major headache, and my stomach was uneasy with its meal of blood.

“C’mon now.” My voice was soft as I gripped her shoulder harder. “You’re home.”

“Home.” The muffled voice was apprehensive. “Home.”

“Yes, home.”

“Okay.”

She struggled to sit upright from her position against the door, and she shook her head, trying to clear out some of the bleariness. She gave that up as a sorry task as hear headache began to kick into high gear, and she rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands.

“Mum’s going to kill me.” The mumble made me smile. I had often had that thought as a teenager, but it’d never been caused by a bender like she’d just had.

“Face the music Hunter.” I leaned forward and stared right into her eyes. “Take responsibility for your actions.”

That was the one piece of advice my father had tried to give me, and it fit here. The fact that I never appeared to be able to follow it myself had nothing to do with anything.

She glared at me, not saying a word, and climbed out of the car. Like a good and concerned date, I watched her as she walked up the front walk to the front door. As she fumbled in her handbag for the keys, the porch light came on, and the front door opened. Her mother, dressed in a contraceptive dressing gown, gray hair standing on end, glared angrily out at her hung over daughter, arms crossed.

“Well?” Mrs Hunter demanded.

I couldn’t see Bronwyn’s face, but I could feel her struggling to find something to say.

“Hi mum,” she began lamely. I smacked my forehead and rolled my eyes. That was the one thing you should never say to your mother. It left you open for a vicious tongue-lashing.

“What did I say to you?” The woman’s voice was cold and hard. Certainly nothing like the younger woman I had met twelve years ago. Through my alcohol induced haze, I wondered what had happened to them.

Bronwyn, I could see by her expressive back, was still struggling to say something. Hopefully whatever she dug up next would be smarter than her last comment.

“You told me that if I walked out the door I wasn’t coming back.” Bronwyn’s shoulders sank and her head drooped in dejection.

Immediately my guard began to rise, and I knew what was coming next. I hoped Bronwyn could talk herself through the front door.

“Slut! Nice to see you remembered something I had to say! Now go and stay with your whore or pimp, whichever you rolled up with this time!”

With that, the door slammed shut and I winced as I saw Bronwyn’s shoulders begin to hitch.

Oh my God, I thought, knowing what had to come next. Well, I couldn’t just leave her there, could I? She was a pretty young thing, and while clearly not the best daughter ever to walk the face of the earth, not the worst either. Perhaps all her mother needed was to calm down again before they talked this through like rational people. In the meantime she would need a place to stay.

I sucked a deep lungful of air and blew it out as I growled and slapped the steering wheel. “Fuck!”

Not really wanting to, I climbed out of my car and went directly up behind Bronwyn. As my hand reached out and gently touched her shoulder, she whirled and threw herself into my arms, tears raining down on my chest.

I sighed inwardly as I held her and patted her back.

“C’mon.” My voice was soft, and she looked up at me as we went back to my car. After we were most of the way down the path to the front gate, the light came on, the front door flew open and a large, heavy object came sailing out the door, followed close behind by its friend.

Gaping, I turned to see the strong figure of her father slam the front door shut.

Stumbling, Bronwyn went back up the path to the bags her parents had packed and thoughtfully deposited out into the front yard.

There were great sobs coming from the small frame as she collapsed on the ground, trying to find the handles of the suitcases. Again, I quietly came up behind her and took them from her grasp. “C’mon.”

Both heavy suitcases slung under one arm, I helped her to her feet and guided her back to my car. “You can stay with me for a couple of days until you find somewhere to live.”

Her arms encircled my neck for a quick hug as we went back to my car. “Thanks Crow.”

Wonderful.

I could guarantee that I wouldn’t be thanking myself before dawn.

It only took a couple of minutes at the speed I was driving for us to get back to my place. Dawn was sneaking up on us, and I had to get her into bed before the sun forced me into mine. I’d have to worry about the whole situation later. I didn’t doubt for one second that she would be gone fairly quickly to stay with one of her friends and I could go back to my comfortable solitary existence.

I slowly drove the car into the garage, and the doors rattled down behind us as the lights went on and I hopped out of the car. Bronwyn was fast asleep again, tears trickling from under her closed eyelids. I had a feeling she thought she was having a nightmare, but as the reality would come home all too soon, I thought it best to play along with her unconscious and get her settled.

I opened the car door and she fell out into my waiting arms, and then stared up at me with red eyes.

“Crow. Where are we?”

“We’re back at my place, just like I said. Can you stand?”

“Uh.” She got out of the car, promptly tripped over her own feet and landed on me again. “I guess not. You’ll have to carry me.” Abruptly, she giggled, and I raised an eyebrow at her.

“Okay.” I scooped her up into my arms, and she giggled again.

“You’re the beautiful Princess come to carry me away from my evil stepmother.”

“She’s your real mother and I don’t think so.” A soft snore greeted my words, and I knew she had passed out again, hopefully for the last time. In the painful brightness of predawn, I raced with her upstairs and put her on the king sized bed of the master bedroom. Pausing for a moment to pull her shoes off her feet, I cursed under my breath that I couldn’t do more as I abandoned her and raced downstairs to my basement hideaway.

There was just enough time for me to slam the door shut and lock myself in, before the sleep of the vampire came over me and I collapsed where I stood.

PART TWO

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