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Riley Finn walked glumly along the street, shoulders hunched, hands thrust deeply into his pockets, his feet kicking at any rocks and sticks he encountered along the way.

The week had started out fine; just like any other week; then things had gone—well, he couldn’t exactly say ‘bad’ from there, but not quite as they should have! And he knew exactly where the blame lay for his current predicament. Her. That bitch—and that damned peroxided menace as well.

His steps became more hesitant as he approached his destination; not that he didn’t want to go home—of course he did. He just didn’t want to see the look of disappointment on her face; he knew she was going to be disappointed in him, he had no doubts about that!

Steeling himself, he squared his shoulders, fixed a happy grin on his face and walked in.

“Hon, I’m back.”

He looked around. Where was she? A chill of fear tingled its way down his spine. What if she had left? What if she didn’t want him anymore? He knew he wasn’t everything she had wanted him to be; he knew he had been a major let down, but he was going to make it up to her! Really he was. If only she would give him another chance, he knew he could get it right next time. He just needed that chance. His eyes closed as he attempted to fight off the tears that began to prickle and sting.

With his eyes closed he did not see the blonde vision that swept into the room, her face lighting up at the sight of him.

“Pookey Bear! You’re home.” She threw herself at him, her strong arms encasing his massive body in a tight embrace. “Tell me, tell me all about it my little snookums!”

She planted wet kisses all over his face and he wanted to stay like this forever, basking in the glow of her adoration. He did not want to have to tell her he had failed; didn’t want to see the light of love and adulation die in her eyes, to be replaced with the almost ever present regret and disappointment.

“I..ah…,” he began “well, you see…”

“No! No, don’t tell me you failed! You know that isn’t what I want to hear.” Her eyes flashed gold for a moment, before melting back to their usual beseeching blue. “You were supposed to kill her.” She stamped one dainty foot petulantly. “You know how happy that would make me, so why didn’t you do it?”

“I tried, honestly; I looked everywhere but I couldn’t find her.” Riley pleaded desperately with her, “And then, I was hungry and so I came home. I will kill her though, I promise, I just need… please?” He fixed her with what he hoped was a look of complete adoration. She was his world, his Sire and he needed her. Without her he was nothing. “Please?” he begged. Suddenly he remembered the one thing that was sure to gain her forgiveness. Reaching inside his jacket Riley pulled out his token, moving it so that the light danced across its surface drawing her attention. Riley’s mouth began to water as he watched, hoping for a sign that she would relent, would give him what he so desired, what he needed so desperately. With a sigh of exasperation Harmony relented. He really was so cute, her little Pookey Bear, and he was only a couple of days old; she was sure that one day soon he would learn the stealth required to successfully hunt his own food. He had also bought her that cute little crystal unicorn that she’d had her eye on.

With a little squeal of excitement Harmony snatched the unicorn from Riley’s hand before gently placing it on a small shelf that held a dozen others. Stepping back, Harmony admired her little family for a few minutes, moving them each in turn so that they all looked their best before sighing and turning back to watch Riley.

He was fidgeting with his shirt hem while he looked at her with large pleading eyes. Harmony giggled; he looked just like a big ole goofy puppy when he did that! He was her childe, and she guessed that did make him her responsibility. “Alright, just a little.” She tilted her head to the side and drew her long golden hair out of the way, exposing her neck to her starving offspring and offering him the gift of Sire’s blood that he so desperately longed for.

Riley reached out and grabbed her quickly in case she changed her mind, his mouth watering at the thought of what was on offer. He lowered his head and plunged his fangs into her delicate flesh, waiting for the glorious rush of powerful blood—the blood of his sire!

A slight trickle was his only reward; damn he had missed the vein—again. After removing his fangs he took careful aim this time before once more plunging them deep into the soft flesh. This time one fang managed to pierce the vein and his mouth filled with the sweet taste for which he had longed. After a too-brief amount of time she shoved him off and he landed hard, butt first on the cold hard floor of their crypt.

“That’s enough. Now get out there and kill me that slayer!”

“But the sun will be up in four hours.” His voice trembled with fear at the thought of being caught out in those deadly rays.

“Well you better get a move on then, hadn’t you?” Her foot stamped hard against the concrete in emphasis. She lowered herself until she was kneeling beside him and planted teasing kisses along his jaw, softening her tone, she murmured, “You want to make Mommy happy don’t you?” Harmony wriggled her way onto his lap, smiling as she felt his reaction to her nearness. “And Mommy would be very, very happy if you killed the Slayer”

His eyes lit with delight at the promise her body was offering. Riley struggled to his feet. “Yes, yes of course. I will, I promise.”

With that he left the crypt, once more heading out into the night in search of the Slayer. If he could only track her down he knew he could kill her. She would welcome him into her arms when he fed her his sob story about how sorry he was. He knew she had been pissed at him, after the bleached wonder had taken her to witness his night time activities, but if he layered it on thick with the puppy dog eyes and the whole ‘I was wrong’ crap he should be able to get her to forgive him; after all it worked on his Sire, and once he had her in his arms…

Now all he had to do was find her! He had looked earlier, searched the graveyards and checked out the house and the Bronze, but had not found her or any of her friends. Maybe her Watcher’s apartment? Yeah, that’s where he would try next!

Rounding the corner of Giles’ street, he ran head first into one of the Slayer’s little friends. “Xander. How are you? Have you seen Buffy anywhere?” He fixed the boy with his typical goofy smile, his eyes flitting across the young man’s body as he began to form a plan.

“Riley, my man! Ah, no, Buff’s not been around so much the last few days. Did you guys have a fight? Cause she seemed pretty upset the last time I saw her.”

“Yeah, kinda.” Riley looked sheepishly at the ground while digging his toe against the pavement. “That’s why I was looking for her, I really need to apologise. If you see her could you let her know I’m looking for her?” Riley watched Xander through his lashes, waiting to see if he had picked up on the changes in him.

Xander frowned as he noticed Riley giving him a strange look. “Sure thing. Look, if you’re not doing anything right now, why don’t we head to the Bronze? We could have a game of pool. You never know, the Buffster might show there later.”

Xander fixed the soldier with a hopeful smile; gee he looked up to this guy, he was so pleased when Buffy had started to date him. At last a guy in their group and not a kooky supernatural weirdo like Angel, or Oz. And not a pain in the ass like Spike; though why Spike had taken to showing up everywhere and trying to hang around with their group he didn’t know.That guy just gave him the major wiggins. Vampires—he hated them, with a passion! And why Buffy—whose job it was to kill the evil bloodsuckers—seemed to spend an awful lot of time socialising with them in one form or another, he would just never understand.

Riley’s eyes lit up. “Yeah sure, sounds like fun.” He slung an arm around Xander's shoulder as the two young men turned together in the direction of the town’s only decent nightclub.

As they passed into the less well-lit streets between the Watcher’s home and their destination the former soldier struck, grabbing Xander from behind and dragging him into the shadows. Pressing his body against Xander’s, he eyed him hungrily. “So Xander how about we try something different before we reach the Bronze?”

Xander’s eyes grew wide as he took in his situation. He was in a dark alley with his best friend’s boyfriend, who was pressed up close to him, very close to him “Ummm… Riley, man—I don’t… um… go in for that sort of thing.”

“And what sort of thing would that be?” Riley asked casually as he studied Xander’s neck intently. Now, if he angled Xander's head that way, and then tilted his head this way, he should hit the vein first time.

Xander began to fidget. “Well you know Ahn’s my girl and she keeps me very happy.” Xander gulped as Riley ran a finger across his neck. “Really, really happy in fact and we….” Xander stoped with a small high pitched squeal as Riley’s face shifted and the ex-soldier sank his fangs into his neck.

“Damn missed it,” Riley lisped through his fangs. “Hang on give me a minute I’ll get it this time.” Lunging once more, Riley growled in frustration as a small trickle of blood hit his tongue. “Okay, third time’s the charm.”

tbc