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Title: Mother's Milk
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
fenderlove
Rating: PG-13ish for mentions of violence.
Summary: Set in an AU S2, just after "What's My Line? Part Two," Anne is forced to deal with the collateral damage of William performing the Ritual of Restoration on Drusilla.
Notes: This ficlet is set after my other ficlets in this series- Apron Strings and Knitting Needles.
Mother's Milk
There are moments, for a mother, when the feelings towards her child land somewhere between heart-wrenching fear and furiousness. Anne recalled when William was a toddler. She had warned him not to play on the stairs in their London townhouse, but he was precocious and did what came naturally to a curious child. This ultimately led to William falling and receiving a rather deep cut to his leg. It had frightened Anne more than anything else she had ever experienced. A distant part of her mind had been terribly angry that William had disobeyed her, but that was entirely forgotten the moment she saw her son's tear-streaked face as he reached his little arms up for her, needing the comfort and reassurance only his mother could offer. Anne remembered holding William, wiping away his tears, bandaging up his wound, making him forget about the pain with biscuits and a storybook.
Anne suddenly found herself right back in that frame of mind as she stared down at William, now fully grown and a vampire but rendered just as helpless as a child, as he lay unconscious. One side of his face was horribly burned. After returning to the factory, she had tenderly washed any dirt from his injuries and placed him on his bed. He had not shown any signs of waking since he was first pulled from underneath the broken organ in the church as it burned down around them. Anne was so worried about her poor sweet William, but at the same time she wanted to thrash him for being so headstrong and reckless. Mostly, she just wanted him to wake up.
How had everything gone so horribly wrong?
William had wanted so desperately to make Drusilla well again, to make her strong enough to hunt for herself. He had driven himself to exhaustion locating the manuscript with the Restoration Ritual, having it stolen, finding the key to decoding the spell, and paying off informants and assassins to get the Slayer out of the way while preparing to kidnap Angelus. It appeared as though everything would go according to plan until that moronic barkeep had brought the Slayer right to them just as the ritual was being completed.
The events that followed were a blur of frenzy and fire as William struggled to carry Dru as he and Anne tried to make a hasty retreat. Anne felt something fly past her head, and whatever it was slammed into the back of her son's skull, sending him crashing into a church organ, the heavy pipes and rigging collapsing on top of him. Amidst the rising flames, Anne struggled to move the debris, making silent prayers that William had not been staked by any of the falling wood.
Somewhere in the confusion, Drusilla had managed to drag herself from beneath the wreckage, holding her head and swaying unsteadily, "Where is my William? He has to capture the selkie in the flowerbeds so we can have it for tea..."
Anne turned and backhanded the girl viciously, "Stop your nonsense, and help me!"
Drusilla's head snapped back when she was struck, but she stood her ground, growling. Her vampiric brow and fangs descended, and she hissed, "I'm going to tell!"
Hurling a few of the beams out of the way as the blaze drew closer, Anne retorted, "I swear, you are going to have more to cry about than a bruised cheek if you do not help me find William."
Pouting, Drusilla crouched down and began moving crushed pipes and other materials away while Anne took off her leather duster and began using it to try to smother some of the flames that had crept onto the pile of rubble. Finally, Drusilla let out a small shout when she uncovered William, the skin of his face half-charred from the smoke and what flames had managed to reach him. When Anne looked at his prone form, she knew something else was wrong as his still body seemed oddly contorted.
"It's your fault!" Drusilla screamed at Anne as she grabbed William's wrist and began to drag him away from the fire. "My knight's broken, and all the king's men will never make him better again! They'll only make him worse!"
Anne backed away from the wall of fire that was trying to encircle them, searching for an accessible exit, "My fault? If it wasn't for you, we wouldn't be here."
"That's right!" Drusilla lifted William and cradled him protectively in her arms. "I made him! And he made you! And you made me sick!"
"I didn't-"
"You sent me to Charles Bridge, and the mob was there waiting!" Drusilla's eyes got a wicked glint as she mused, "Wonder what William will say when he wakes up? I'll tell!"
Anne tried to grab her son's body from the contemptible temptress's arms, but the girl held on tightly. The fire was lapping at their shoes, and none of them had time for a fight.
Drusilla spat, "You're a horrible mummy! That's why he loves me! He'll never forgive you for hurting me, and we'll go far, far away and never have to see you again!"
Fueled by rage and the fear that her son might abandon her if he found out she had been responsible for the incident in Prague, Anne made one last attempt to pull William to her. Wrapping her arms around him, she tugged, and, while doing so, planted her shoe firmly against Drusilla's stomach and pushed. The kick sent Drusilla tumbling into the blaze, her waif-like form lost amongst the smoke and towering flames. Her screams echoed in the church until they died away entirely. Anne did not glance back as she raced to escape. She had surprised even herself at how fast and far she could run with William's lifeless body clutched to her.
Once safe in the confines of the factory, Anne had watched over her son for hours, searching for any clues to how severe his condition might be. As she placed him on the bed to assess the burns that littered the left side of his body, Anne kissed the undamaged side of his face and held his hand. She bathed him and treated his injuries with burn ointments. Even though she wasn't sure if a vampire would benefit from modern medical remedies, Anne felt as though she had to try something to help William and to keep herself occupied from thinking about the worst possible outcomes of his situation. Then, she waited.
The day after the ritual, William began to stir. His hands trembled, fingers spasming, as he regained consciousness. What began as moans quickly turned into ragged cries as the pain settled over him. His blue eyes were open yet unseeing and unfocused.
"It's all right, darling," Anne whispered as she ran her hand over William's hair.
William's voice was rough as he whimpered softly, "... Mama?"
Anne took his hand and rubbed his knuckles with the pad of her thumb, "I'm here. You're safe."
"It hurts!" he tried to touch his face, but his mother managed to still him. He shook his head, rambling as though his mind were in a fog, "What happened? I don't remember... The Slayer showed up... Something hit me... Where's Drusilla?"
"Ssh, my love," Anne attempted to calm him. "You need to rest."
Suddenly, William's eyes widened, "What happened to my legs?!"
His mother glanced at the sheet covering the lower half of his body, "You have some burns on your left leg, William, but everything will heal."
"No!" William sounded extremely panicked, "Where are they? I can't move! I can't- I can't feel anything!" He reached down and began patting his thighs, "My hands can feel, but I... I need to get up!"
Trying to twist his body, William struggled to sit up but, finding he couldn't under his own power, relied on Anne to help him. He jerked the bed sheet away and began running his hands over his legs. Being able to see that he still, in fact, had legs was reassuring to William for all of a moment before he realized the lower half of his body was completely immobile. Unashamedly, he placed one hand over his crotch and, upon not feeling the touch, began to sob pitifully.
"It's like I've been cut in two," he cried as Anne wrapped her arms around his shoulders.
"My poor boy, you're going to get better, you'll see. In a few days, everything will be as it should be," Anne said, letting him lay down and pulling the sheet back over his nude form.
William sobbed, "Drusilla! I need to see her!"
Anne stiffened somewhat, "William, things were very confused in the church. The fire spread very quickly, and..." However, seeing the way her son was blinking up at her with those trusting eyes made her suddenly have regret at what she had done, but she had to tell him none-the-less, "Drusilla's gone, sweetheart."
Listening to his anguished screams at the loss of his beloved dark princess was physically painful to Anne. She knew what it was like to lose one's companion, and she felt ashamed that she assumed her son's attachment to the girl was so fleeting. William tried to thrash, grabbing the pillows, the only objects he could get his hands on, and hurling them unsatisfactorily across the room. His hands smacked against the mattress over and over until he had tired himself out. Tears continued to roll down his face as he turned his head towards his mother.
"I can't believe she's gone. What am I going to do without her?" he spoke sadly.
Hoping to accelerate the healing process, Anne bit into her own wrist and held it up to William's mouth. At first, he seemed to shy away from her blood, but eventually, he latched on, feeding from her for the first time in over a century. She knew, however, William would need more than fairy stories and sweets to mend his broken body and the pain in his heart.
"Everything's going to be all right, William," Anne reassured, holding his head up with her free hand so that he could drink more comfortably. "Mother's here."
Author:
fenderloveRating: PG-13ish for mentions of violence.
Summary: Set in an AU S2, just after "What's My Line? Part Two," Anne is forced to deal with the collateral damage of William performing the Ritual of Restoration on Drusilla.
Notes: This ficlet is set after my other ficlets in this series- Apron Strings and Knitting Needles.
Mother's Milk
There are moments, for a mother, when the feelings towards her child land somewhere between heart-wrenching fear and furiousness. Anne recalled when William was a toddler. She had warned him not to play on the stairs in their London townhouse, but he was precocious and did what came naturally to a curious child. This ultimately led to William falling and receiving a rather deep cut to his leg. It had frightened Anne more than anything else she had ever experienced. A distant part of her mind had been terribly angry that William had disobeyed her, but that was entirely forgotten the moment she saw her son's tear-streaked face as he reached his little arms up for her, needing the comfort and reassurance only his mother could offer. Anne remembered holding William, wiping away his tears, bandaging up his wound, making him forget about the pain with biscuits and a storybook.
Anne suddenly found herself right back in that frame of mind as she stared down at William, now fully grown and a vampire but rendered just as helpless as a child, as he lay unconscious. One side of his face was horribly burned. After returning to the factory, she had tenderly washed any dirt from his injuries and placed him on his bed. He had not shown any signs of waking since he was first pulled from underneath the broken organ in the church as it burned down around them. Anne was so worried about her poor sweet William, but at the same time she wanted to thrash him for being so headstrong and reckless. Mostly, she just wanted him to wake up.
How had everything gone so horribly wrong?
William had wanted so desperately to make Drusilla well again, to make her strong enough to hunt for herself. He had driven himself to exhaustion locating the manuscript with the Restoration Ritual, having it stolen, finding the key to decoding the spell, and paying off informants and assassins to get the Slayer out of the way while preparing to kidnap Angelus. It appeared as though everything would go according to plan until that moronic barkeep had brought the Slayer right to them just as the ritual was being completed.
The events that followed were a blur of frenzy and fire as William struggled to carry Dru as he and Anne tried to make a hasty retreat. Anne felt something fly past her head, and whatever it was slammed into the back of her son's skull, sending him crashing into a church organ, the heavy pipes and rigging collapsing on top of him. Amidst the rising flames, Anne struggled to move the debris, making silent prayers that William had not been staked by any of the falling wood.
Somewhere in the confusion, Drusilla had managed to drag herself from beneath the wreckage, holding her head and swaying unsteadily, "Where is my William? He has to capture the selkie in the flowerbeds so we can have it for tea..."
Anne turned and backhanded the girl viciously, "Stop your nonsense, and help me!"
Drusilla's head snapped back when she was struck, but she stood her ground, growling. Her vampiric brow and fangs descended, and she hissed, "I'm going to tell!"
Hurling a few of the beams out of the way as the blaze drew closer, Anne retorted, "I swear, you are going to have more to cry about than a bruised cheek if you do not help me find William."
Pouting, Drusilla crouched down and began moving crushed pipes and other materials away while Anne took off her leather duster and began using it to try to smother some of the flames that had crept onto the pile of rubble. Finally, Drusilla let out a small shout when she uncovered William, the skin of his face half-charred from the smoke and what flames had managed to reach him. When Anne looked at his prone form, she knew something else was wrong as his still body seemed oddly contorted.
"It's your fault!" Drusilla screamed at Anne as she grabbed William's wrist and began to drag him away from the fire. "My knight's broken, and all the king's men will never make him better again! They'll only make him worse!"
Anne backed away from the wall of fire that was trying to encircle them, searching for an accessible exit, "My fault? If it wasn't for you, we wouldn't be here."
"That's right!" Drusilla lifted William and cradled him protectively in her arms. "I made him! And he made you! And you made me sick!"
"I didn't-"
"You sent me to Charles Bridge, and the mob was there waiting!" Drusilla's eyes got a wicked glint as she mused, "Wonder what William will say when he wakes up? I'll tell!"
Anne tried to grab her son's body from the contemptible temptress's arms, but the girl held on tightly. The fire was lapping at their shoes, and none of them had time for a fight.
Drusilla spat, "You're a horrible mummy! That's why he loves me! He'll never forgive you for hurting me, and we'll go far, far away and never have to see you again!"
Fueled by rage and the fear that her son might abandon her if he found out she had been responsible for the incident in Prague, Anne made one last attempt to pull William to her. Wrapping her arms around him, she tugged, and, while doing so, planted her shoe firmly against Drusilla's stomach and pushed. The kick sent Drusilla tumbling into the blaze, her waif-like form lost amongst the smoke and towering flames. Her screams echoed in the church until they died away entirely. Anne did not glance back as she raced to escape. She had surprised even herself at how fast and far she could run with William's lifeless body clutched to her.
Once safe in the confines of the factory, Anne had watched over her son for hours, searching for any clues to how severe his condition might be. As she placed him on the bed to assess the burns that littered the left side of his body, Anne kissed the undamaged side of his face and held his hand. She bathed him and treated his injuries with burn ointments. Even though she wasn't sure if a vampire would benefit from modern medical remedies, Anne felt as though she had to try something to help William and to keep herself occupied from thinking about the worst possible outcomes of his situation. Then, she waited.
The day after the ritual, William began to stir. His hands trembled, fingers spasming, as he regained consciousness. What began as moans quickly turned into ragged cries as the pain settled over him. His blue eyes were open yet unseeing and unfocused.
"It's all right, darling," Anne whispered as she ran her hand over William's hair.
William's voice was rough as he whimpered softly, "... Mama?"
Anne took his hand and rubbed his knuckles with the pad of her thumb, "I'm here. You're safe."
"It hurts!" he tried to touch his face, but his mother managed to still him. He shook his head, rambling as though his mind were in a fog, "What happened? I don't remember... The Slayer showed up... Something hit me... Where's Drusilla?"
"Ssh, my love," Anne attempted to calm him. "You need to rest."
Suddenly, William's eyes widened, "What happened to my legs?!"
His mother glanced at the sheet covering the lower half of his body, "You have some burns on your left leg, William, but everything will heal."
"No!" William sounded extremely panicked, "Where are they? I can't move! I can't- I can't feel anything!" He reached down and began patting his thighs, "My hands can feel, but I... I need to get up!"
Trying to twist his body, William struggled to sit up but, finding he couldn't under his own power, relied on Anne to help him. He jerked the bed sheet away and began running his hands over his legs. Being able to see that he still, in fact, had legs was reassuring to William for all of a moment before he realized the lower half of his body was completely immobile. Unashamedly, he placed one hand over his crotch and, upon not feeling the touch, began to sob pitifully.
"It's like I've been cut in two," he cried as Anne wrapped her arms around his shoulders.
"My poor boy, you're going to get better, you'll see. In a few days, everything will be as it should be," Anne said, letting him lay down and pulling the sheet back over his nude form.
William sobbed, "Drusilla! I need to see her!"
Anne stiffened somewhat, "William, things were very confused in the church. The fire spread very quickly, and..." However, seeing the way her son was blinking up at her with those trusting eyes made her suddenly have regret at what she had done, but she had to tell him none-the-less, "Drusilla's gone, sweetheart."
Listening to his anguished screams at the loss of his beloved dark princess was physically painful to Anne. She knew what it was like to lose one's companion, and she felt ashamed that she assumed her son's attachment to the girl was so fleeting. William tried to thrash, grabbing the pillows, the only objects he could get his hands on, and hurling them unsatisfactorily across the room. His hands smacked against the mattress over and over until he had tired himself out. Tears continued to roll down his face as he turned his head towards his mother.
"I can't believe she's gone. What am I going to do without her?" he spoke sadly.
Hoping to accelerate the healing process, Anne bit into her own wrist and held it up to William's mouth. At first, he seemed to shy away from her blood, but eventually, he latched on, feeding from her for the first time in over a century. She knew, however, William would need more than fairy stories and sweets to mend his broken body and the pain in his heart.
"Everything's going to be all right, William," Anne reassured, holding his head up with her free hand so that he could drink more comfortably. "Mother's here."
