fic: Bargaining (crossover with Night World)
This is part of what will almost certainly be a longer work, and possibly a larger universe, crossing over L.J. Smith's Night World novels with bandom. Frankly, I'm astonished someone hasn't done it before now. This one's for sharpest_rose, who likes those two things as much as I do.
William Beckett suffers from pink fuzzies. Bert sees colors. Tiny angry Pete is tiny and angry. Lord Thierry just wonders if he's taken up with a bunch of total fucking nutbars.
Bargaining
by gale
SUMMARY: Bill Beckett suffers from pink fuzzies. Bert sees colors. Tiny angry Pete is tiny and angry. Lord Thierry just wonders if he's taken up with a bunch of total fucking nutbars. [Night World crossover]
"Why are you even here?"
"I'm joining up." Bill shrugged and tossed his head a little. "What? I can't change my mind? I thought Daybreakers were all for shit like that."
"You're not serious," Pete said flatly. "You're not gonna let him in. Lord Thierry--"
"Let him speak." Thierry's voice was quiet. Not judgmental, either, which wasn't good.
"Thank you." Bill wrinkled his nose. "It's very simple. Either I stay on the side I'm on now, which is doing fucking great now that Hunter Redfern's gone, or I become a damned Daybreaker and throw away all my dreams of living in a perfect world where humans are cattle."
"Yeah, exactly," Pete said. "So why are you going with the latter?"
"Pete--"
"No, I want to hear this. He bit me, the least he can do is offer an explanation why we should let a known murderer--"
"We're all known murderers," Thierry said, still quiet.
"Yeah, and we didn't all murder me!"
"They're waking up dragons," Bill said tightly. "Do you get that? The best, the best chance we had to be on top was Hunter Redfern, and he's dead now. The shapeshifters had their chance, and so did the witches, but it's not going to be us. It's going to be everyone." He bared his teeth in what Pete supposed was a grin. "I don't share well. You know that."
Pete balled up his fist. "You fucking asshole--"
"You have a light around your head," Bert said from behind them. "You all do. God, that's so weird."
Pete and Thierry turned. Bill glared and crossed his arms over his chest. "Oh, good," he muttered, "lost witches. Are you running a sanctuary or a carnival?"
"You're in my house," Thierry said, still quiet. "You're not going to talk about people like that." He turned to Bert. "What do you see?" he asked, not unkindly.
"Just--you know, lights around your head. And stuff." Bert waved a hand. "All your heads. A lot of people have them. You have Lady Hannah," that to Thierry, "and you have that redheaded kid--" That, to Pete.
"Patrick," Pete said automatically, and stopped. He turned to look at Thierry. They both looked at Bill.
Bill kept glaring. "Not. One. Word."
"Oh, fuck that," Pete breathed. "You're shitting me. King Badass himself, William Beckett--"
"Fuck you--"
"--has a soulmate--"
"Yes!" Bill screamed. "And I didn't ask for it, and I wish it would stop, but it's not, so I'm going to have to become a fucking Daybreaker, AREN'T I."
"Which means it's a human," Thierry said. He never raised his voice, Pete realized, surprised. "If it was another made vampire, or a lamia--"
"It's complicated," Bill muttered. "No, he's not human. But he--he has friends. And he can't just leave them--" He crossed his arms over his chest again, all arrogance restored. "And I meant what I said. I'd rather live in a magical land where they're all right and I can't own cops than have to deal with the sad eyes because his friends are dead."
"It's not a magical land," Thierry said. "It might not even be a land. We might not win."
And that, Pete thought, was the part no one wanted to look at too hard. Books and movies always talked about how love would save everything, but it didn't. It just made it so that you had more to lose if you didn't come out on top. Shit, the Midnighters had dragons.
"We will," Pete said, more to himself than anyone else. He shook his head. "That. Yeah, I'm in. It's fine with me."
"Yeah," Bill said, "because it's really up to you."
"You're gonna have to lose the mid-nineteenth century gentleman look, though," Pete said. He didn't even try to hide the grin. "Everyone knows William Beckett, king of the Dandies. They're not gonna know Bill, who wears teeny shirts and jeans--"
"Fuck off," Bill yelped, "I'm not wearing jeans."
"--with short, punky hair--"
"Thierry, please tell the crazy man you count as one of your lieutenants that I'm not cutting my hair--"
"Enough!" And wow, maybe that was some crazy ancient vampire power, because Thierry held up his hand and both of them immediately shut up. If it was, Pete couldn't wait 'til he got old enough for it to kick in for him, too. "I can appreciate how odd the situation is for you, Peter, and I'm sorry. But I'm not going to turn anyone away just because someone doesn't get along with them. That's part of what we're fighting for, remember?"
"I know." Pete scrubbed at his face with his hands. "Fine. I'm--I'll go. Leave you two to," he made a vague hand gesture, "whatever."
"You can help me," Bert said. "I was going to go check on Cash."
Pete tried to connect the name with the face. A bunch of kids had come in in the last week or so. Some of the seers were freaking out; apparently high rates of discovery and turnover were a sign that something was coming. "Yeah," he said, deliberately turning his back on Bill. "Anything to get out of here."
(For the record, I consider this a shared universe, though I reserve the right to write the PxP version sometime in the near future. Other than that, have at it. Just, you know, linking me would be nice if you *do* write something.)
William Beckett suffers from pink fuzzies. Bert sees colors. Tiny angry Pete is tiny and angry. Lord Thierry just wonders if he's taken up with a bunch of total fucking nutbars.
Bargaining
by gale
SUMMARY: Bill Beckett suffers from pink fuzzies. Bert sees colors. Tiny angry Pete is tiny and angry. Lord Thierry just wonders if he's taken up with a bunch of total fucking nutbars. [Night World crossover]
"Why are you even here?"
"I'm joining up." Bill shrugged and tossed his head a little. "What? I can't change my mind? I thought Daybreakers were all for shit like that."
"You're not serious," Pete said flatly. "You're not gonna let him in. Lord Thierry--"
"Let him speak." Thierry's voice was quiet. Not judgmental, either, which wasn't good.
"Thank you." Bill wrinkled his nose. "It's very simple. Either I stay on the side I'm on now, which is doing fucking great now that Hunter Redfern's gone, or I become a damned Daybreaker and throw away all my dreams of living in a perfect world where humans are cattle."
"Yeah, exactly," Pete said. "So why are you going with the latter?"
"Pete--"
"No, I want to hear this. He bit me, the least he can do is offer an explanation why we should let a known murderer--"
"We're all known murderers," Thierry said, still quiet.
"Yeah, and we didn't all murder me!"
"They're waking up dragons," Bill said tightly. "Do you get that? The best, the best chance we had to be on top was Hunter Redfern, and he's dead now. The shapeshifters had their chance, and so did the witches, but it's not going to be us. It's going to be everyone." He bared his teeth in what Pete supposed was a grin. "I don't share well. You know that."
Pete balled up his fist. "You fucking asshole--"
"You have a light around your head," Bert said from behind them. "You all do. God, that's so weird."
Pete and Thierry turned. Bill glared and crossed his arms over his chest. "Oh, good," he muttered, "lost witches. Are you running a sanctuary or a carnival?"
"You're in my house," Thierry said, still quiet. "You're not going to talk about people like that." He turned to Bert. "What do you see?" he asked, not unkindly.
"Just--you know, lights around your head. And stuff." Bert waved a hand. "All your heads. A lot of people have them. You have Lady Hannah," that to Thierry, "and you have that redheaded kid--" That, to Pete.
"Patrick," Pete said automatically, and stopped. He turned to look at Thierry. They both looked at Bill.
Bill kept glaring. "Not. One. Word."
"Oh, fuck that," Pete breathed. "You're shitting me. King Badass himself, William Beckett--"
"Fuck you--"
"--has a soulmate--"
"Yes!" Bill screamed. "And I didn't ask for it, and I wish it would stop, but it's not, so I'm going to have to become a fucking Daybreaker, AREN'T I."
"Which means it's a human," Thierry said. He never raised his voice, Pete realized, surprised. "If it was another made vampire, or a lamia--"
"It's complicated," Bill muttered. "No, he's not human. But he--he has friends. And he can't just leave them--" He crossed his arms over his chest again, all arrogance restored. "And I meant what I said. I'd rather live in a magical land where they're all right and I can't own cops than have to deal with the sad eyes because his friends are dead."
"It's not a magical land," Thierry said. "It might not even be a land. We might not win."
And that, Pete thought, was the part no one wanted to look at too hard. Books and movies always talked about how love would save everything, but it didn't. It just made it so that you had more to lose if you didn't come out on top. Shit, the Midnighters had dragons.
"We will," Pete said, more to himself than anyone else. He shook his head. "That. Yeah, I'm in. It's fine with me."
"Yeah," Bill said, "because it's really up to you."
"You're gonna have to lose the mid-nineteenth century gentleman look, though," Pete said. He didn't even try to hide the grin. "Everyone knows William Beckett, king of the Dandies. They're not gonna know Bill, who wears teeny shirts and jeans--"
"Fuck off," Bill yelped, "I'm not wearing jeans."
"--with short, punky hair--"
"Thierry, please tell the crazy man you count as one of your lieutenants that I'm not cutting my hair--"
"Enough!" And wow, maybe that was some crazy ancient vampire power, because Thierry held up his hand and both of them immediately shut up. If it was, Pete couldn't wait 'til he got old enough for it to kick in for him, too. "I can appreciate how odd the situation is for you, Peter, and I'm sorry. But I'm not going to turn anyone away just because someone doesn't get along with them. That's part of what we're fighting for, remember?"
"I know." Pete scrubbed at his face with his hands. "Fine. I'm--I'll go. Leave you two to," he made a vague hand gesture, "whatever."
"You can help me," Bert said. "I was going to go check on Cash."
Pete tried to connect the name with the face. A bunch of kids had come in in the last week or so. Some of the seers were freaking out; apparently high rates of discovery and turnover were a sign that something was coming. "Yeah," he said, deliberately turning his back on Bill. "Anything to get out of here."
(For the record, I consider this a shared universe, though I reserve the right to write the PxP version sometime in the near future. Other than that, have at it. Just, you know, linking me would be nice if you *do* write something.)