This is the ninth Part of Luna's Point of View of the latest scheme from Luna and Maggie.

If you're trying to keep track, the first part was Newfound Depths by Luna,

The Second was Unusual Depths by Maggie.

The Third was Newfound Desires by Luna.

The Fourth was Unusual Desires by Maggie.

The fifth was Newfound Strength by Luna.

The sixth was Unusual Strength by Maggie.

The seventh was Newfound Determination by Luna.

The eighth was Unusual Determination by Maggie.

The ninth was Newfound Dangers by Luna

The tenth was Unusual Dangers by Maggie

The eleventh was Newfound Realities by Luna

The twelfth was Unusual Realities by Maggie

The thirteenth was Newfound Existence by Luna

The fourteenth was Unusual Existence by Maggie

The fifteenth was Newfound Enemies by Luna

The sixteenth was Unusual Enemies by Maggie

Now comes Newfound Adversaries from this corner?notice a theme? LOL.

I hope you enjoy reading this as much as we are enjoying writing it!

Love ya,

Luna

Disclaimer: Laurell K. Hamilton and the Berkley Publishing Group do not authorize this author. All characters that you recognize belong to Laurell K. Hamilton Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, the WB, and UPN own all rights to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and do not authorize this author.  Except for the ones created by the people in this group. This is solely for entertainment purposes.

Rating: R to be safe for strong language and minor violence

Author's Note:  A special thanks must go to my beta and friend Maggie, without whom I would be hopelessly lost and constantly behind.  I'd also like to thank everyone who has read and reviewed thus far.  It's been a hoot to write this I hope that you continue to enjoy our meager efforts to amuse and entertain you!

Newfound Adversaries

There was darkness so thick that for a moment I thought I was blind.  A piteous whimper escaped me before I\'d even had a chance to stop it.  I looked left and right all to no avail.  I could feel the tears building in my eyes.  I didn't want to be without my sight.

Slowly the landscape lightened.  It was still dark, but not the deep inky blackness that had been present before.  My eyes took in the surrounding forest setting.  There was a lake not too far from where I stood.  A gentle wind caressed my face and created small waves on the water.  You could hear them lapping at the shore.  A nearly full moon hung in the sky above.

I turned in a circle and felt the ripple of cloth against my thighs.  Looking down I noticed I was wearing an empire waist short dress.  It was done in a deep rich burgundy.  I took a couple of steps towards the lake and peered down at myself in the wavy surface.  Most of my hair was piled up on my head, though when I leaned forward to get a better look the soft strands fell over my shoulders and dipped into the water.  All in all it wasn't a bad look for me.

Straightening up I looked around once more trying to figure out where I was.  I could feel my brows pull together and the corners of my mouth turn down.  The sound of a cleared throat turned me sharply around, and face to face with Jean-Claude.

I flew into his waiting arms.  Forgotten were all the times this same man had crushed my love and trust in him.  At that moment he was my papa again, the only person that was willing to give me a friendly ear, and willing to believe me when I said I wasn't crazy.  He was one man, or in this case vampire, that had helped guide me into knowing and becoming a true alpha.

My tears fell into that glorious midnight colored hair.  His long pale fingers stroked my back in reassuring circles as I babbled and cried on him.  Finally the tears abated and I was able to pull myself together.  It wasn't easy but I managed to do it.

Jean-Claude plucked a length of hair off my shoulder and let it run through his fingers.  His deep sapphire blue eyes studied me.  My head drifted to the side as I studied him in turn.  He looked much the same as he always did.  He'll always be eternally young, eternally handsome.  It was enough to make me envious, if I forgot about the whole soul issue.

"This look suits you," he said in his softly accented voice.

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.  I looked down at myself then back up at him.  "That's only because I look like I *could* be one of your children."

"This is true," he deadpanned.  His gaze scanned me once more and I shivered under that heated look.  He made a tsking sound.  "There is something missing, non?"

I could feel the frown marring my features.  I looked down at myself again and back up at him. "No," I said and heard the petulant note to my words.

"What about this," he asked as he produced a black velvet fur trimmed cape.

My eyes widened.  "Oh papa it's lovely!"  My fingers ran over the downy softness of the fur, brushed the back of my hand against satiny feel of velvet.  My blue/green eyes met his sapphire orbs.  "Is it for me," I asked with childlike anticipation.

"Non, it's for Ma petite," he said his drowning deep eyes sparkled with amusement.

"Not funny papa!"  I folded my arms over my stomach and stomped a booted foot.  That drew my attention.  I couldn't help the laugh that trickled out of my throat.  "Docs, Jean-Claude?  If I didn't know better I'd think you were losing your touch."

He gave a negligent shrug as he wrapped the cape around my shoulders.  "You would have been most upset if I'd put you in slippers."

"You got that right," I stated.  My hands stilled his.  "Jean-Claude, what's going on?"

The vampire gave me a perplexed look.  "What do you mean?"

I waved my hand around and then at us.  "What's going on," there was a hint of fear now in my voice, and I hated it.

Jean-Claude pulled his hands free; the back of one hand caressed my cheek.  "You were in such pain," he said softly as if he were talking to himself more than to me.  "I had to make sure that you were," he paused as if searching for the right word.  "Well," he finished.

The mention of my pain brought reality rushing back.  It reminded me that not everything was sunshine and roses with the man in front of me.  We had our own set of issues to work out.  In that moment he went from being my papa to being the Master of the City.

The vampire sighed as if he understood what had happened.  "We are all concerned about you Luna."

It was the use of my name more than anything else that sent icy tingles down my spine.  My eyes narrowed.  "Who is we, Jean-Claude?"

That mask of indifference fell over his features.  It was that mask that I hated most.  It was almost enough for me to unleash Pain upon him, almost.  I wanted to meet his eyes and stare him down until he told me what I wanted to know.  However I had given up a great deal of my power not only to do the spell but also to give Maggie her extra power boost.  I was afraid for the first time in a long time to meet his eyes.

I let my body language do the talking for me.  The silence stretched between us like a suffocating blanket.  I shook my head.  If he wasn't going to answer then I was damn well going to get the hell out of this dream.  As I reached up to shred the landscape his voice stopped me.

"Maggie," he said simply.

I rounded on him.  My eyes narrowed and my nostrils flared.  "What have you done," I demanded.

His eyes flicked to me then down to his hand as if unconcerned.  "Nothing," he waited a beat.  I wasn't fool enough to believe that was all he had to say.  Sure enough he didn't disappoint.  "Yet."  This time his eyes met and held mine.  We had a battle of wills.

"You will NOT hurt her!  Do you understand me," I hissed, a breath away from imagining a hefty stake and a double bladed axe.

"You have brought this upon yourself.  You, and you alone are to blame for what is happening," he thundered.

"What is that supposed to mean?"  It felt as if a minefield I was unable to navigate now surrounded me.  Talking to Jean-Claude was often like that.

"It means ma petite chaton, that any harm that comes about is because you couldn't leave well enough alone," he snapped.  If his words were blades they would have cut me to ribbons.

"I've done nothing but give her the strength she needs to flourish.  To be our third," I defended.

"Oh and who is your third," his voice was deceptively calm.

In that moment I knew I had said too much.  There was too much at stake not only here and now, but also with Maggie and Noah.  I wasn't going to endanger them.  They had no way of knowing that Jean-Claude was on the hunt for something.  You never wanted this particular vampire to be hunting, especially if you wanted it kept secret.

Reaching up I scratched my eyebrow.  "Funny thing about magic," I drawled, knowing I had his undivided attention.  "You never know what's going to happen until something does."  I watched his face from behind a curtain of my dark hair.  From behind the mask you'd never know what he was thinking; the very lack of emotion let me know just how well my words found their mark.  I would have crowed in delight if there weren't so much riding on this.

Our eyes locked, and I could feel the power closing in on me.  I knew in some deep recess of my mind that he would win this little contest, but hopefully it never registered on my face.  "Jean-Claude," I said softly the feeling of his power starting to choke me.  "If anything happens to Maggie.  I'll tell Anita..." I don't know which secret he would lest like to have aired so I left it open. It was an empty threat.  Hopefully he wouldn't realize that.

With those final words I reached up and shred the dream.  In my head I could hear him screaming my name.  My chilling laugh was the only answer to his cries.

I jerked up right in the bed.  My breathing was rapid and shallow.  My heart raced.  I sat there in the middle of the bed only vaguely aware of the partially open door and the sound of voices beyond.  My breathing slowly returned to normal; my heartbeat never slowed.  That worried me more than I was willing to admit, even to myself.

"If we can't get her heart rate down, she's going to have a heart attack and possibly die," Fred was explaining.

"What do we do," Angel asked.  Somehow that surprised me.  I figured he'd be overjoyed to be rid of me.  After all I'd been nothing but trouble since we met.

"I don't know," Fred said.  "Give me a couple days..."

"She may not bleedin' well have days," Spike interrupted.

"Always so impatient Spike," I murmured.

The door was thrown open and in peered a questioning Angel.  "You're awake."

"Brilliant deduction Angelus," I snapped.  I regretted it instantly.  It wasn't fair to take out my anger with Jean-Claude out on him.  Angel had done nothing to warrant the attack.  I closed my eyes so I wouldn't have to see that slightly wounded look on his face.  It was look that Conor had too often worn in our last few days together.

I was SO not going there.  I slumped over on the bed clutching my knees to my chest.  Just thinking of Conor after all this time still hurt.  The bed shifted as someone sat next to me.  The feeling of a cool hand let me know it was a vampire.  I turned my head to see who it was.

"Who's Jean-Claude," Spike asked.  His crystalline blue eyes bored into mine.

For a moment my mind froze.  I couldn't have heard him right.  I had to still be dreaming.  'Please let me still be dreaming,' I thought fervently. "Why," I asked breathlessly.  Hoping the rising panic I was feeling didn't show on my face.  It was bad enough to deal with the vampires in this reality let alone the one I was going to have to face when I got home.

"That's what you said shortly after you passed out," Angel responded.

Squeezing my eyes shut I silently cursed the French fop for his interfering.  "Someone from home," I said tiredly.

"Who is he," Fred asked from behind Angel.

"Someone I shouldn't have just pissed off."

"How could you brass off someone who isn't even here," Spike asked bewildered.

I ran my hands over my face.  "It's complicated."

"Make it simple," Angel suggested.

Simple he says.  As if anything in my life has EVER been simple!  I took a deep breath.  "Okay reader's digest version.  I psychically tied myself to Jean-Claude, a vampire a very powerful one at that, and now because of whatever happened in the gym earlier he's found a way to gain back some of the control he used to have.  I said some things that I shouldn't have and he's threatening someone I hold very dear."

When I looked at their stunned face I couldn't help but roll my eyes.  "I told you it was complicated," I snapped.

Someone rapped on the door and approached Fred and Angel warily.  He held a single sheet of paper in his hand.  Nervously he handed it over to the shy Texan.  She took it with a smile of thanks and the gentleman rushed out of the room.  Fred's brows drew together.  She looked at me then at Angel.

I had the feeling that whatever was on that piece of paper involved me.  "Just tell us what it say, honey," my voice strangely calm.

"Ar-Are you sure you want to know," she asked haltingly.

"I'm sure," I assured her.

The petite brunette nibbled her lower lip.  I could hear Spike growl next to me.  Turning to him I shot him a look cold enough to put ice to shame.  He stilled but didn't look happy about it.  Fred was already nervous.  We didn't need Spike throwing a monkey wrench in the works.

We watched in a strained silence as she read then reread the paper in her hands.  Whatever was on there she didn't like.  I gathered that if she didn't like it I was assured to hate it.  After a moment she finally spoke.

"Luna, your heart rate isn't the only thing that is accelerated.  It seems that your body is producing more blood.  We're still trying to figure out why, but so far we're coming up empty."

To say I was stunned would have been the understatement of the century!  What did that mean for me though in the here and now?   There was only one way to find out.  "So what does that mean exactly," before she said anything I interrupted.  "I understand that I'm producing more blood and that my hearts accelerated, but does one have anything to do with the other?"

Fred's voice was all business.  "Well it would seem that your heart is trying to pump all the excess blood in your body.  We're not quite sure which happened first though.  Whether the blood started reproducing or the heart started its acceleration."

I thought back to when I was stranded in the gym.  My heart had been beating furiously then.  I knew that I could consciously control the amount of blood in my body. The way the little Texan explained it though I was quite sure that we weren't talking a pint or two.  "How much excess are we talking about," my voice quivered and I hated that.  I hated feeling this out of control, this exposed, this vulnerable.

She wouldn't quite meet my eyes and I knew the answer was bad.  How much worse could it frigging get?  Wait!  Don't answer that!  I wasn't sure I could handle the answer.

"The normal human body," she held up a hand.  "I realize that you're not human but bear with me.  The normal body holds nine to twelve pints of blood."  I nodded.  Maggie had made sure that I had a basic understanding of physiology.  "Right now your body has eighteen and if this is an indication," she waved the paper at us.  "It's only going to go up."

I buried my face in my hands and sighed.  Life was never ordinary when I was around.  Jesus!  Why couldn't I have a nice normal life?  Maybe I had pissed someone off in a previous life.  That was the only answer I could come up with.  I didn't really have a whole lot of options.  The blood was going to have to come out the only question remained was how.

Sighing again I turned to the other occupants of the room.  "I'm open to suggestions."

Angel had his arms folded across his chest.  He appeared deep in thought.  Though to me, it looked an awful lot like brooding.  Spike appeared speechless. His blue eyes wide his mouth hanging open in shock.  Too bad vampires in this dimension had no reflection it would have made for a quite comical picture.  Fred and I stared at each other and shared a look.

"Well it's going to have to come out," I said to no one in particular.

"That it is," Fred replied.  "Okay, since no one seems to have better idea.  How about we go down to the lab and start drawing blood?"

"Works for me," I said as I crawled off the bed. A thought struck me.  "You might want to find out what my blood does to vampires."

"Why," Angel asked sharply.

"Because Angelus my body is accustomed to keeping a certain balance, and if that thing, whatever the fuck it was did something to mess with that balance this may become a reoccurring condition.  If that's the case I don't want to be constantly in the lab.  Besides wouldn't want the blood to go to waste."

"What thing?  What are you talking about," the brunette vampire barked.  It seemed Angel had stopped listening after hearing about the assault.

Both hands went up to rub my forehead.  I had forgotten, in the wake of all the new information, that I had never actually gotten around to telling Spike and Angel what had attacked me.  One hand covered my eyes and I took a deep breath.  "Listen, there was," I stopped.  My other hand waved in the air.  "Something was in that gym with me.  Something very not human, something very evil."

"Tell me what happened," Angel demanded.  I was too tired to spend hours arguing with him so I did.  I made sure to leave nothing out save what had happened in the dream.  He didn't look satisfied but I had told him everything he'd needed to know.  Spike seemed to take it all in stride and moved on.

"So what?  If it's a reoccurring thing we help you out.  What happens when we don't accept,' Spike asked.

It hadn't occurred to me that Spike, or any vampire for that matter, would turn down willingly offered blood.  I shrugged one shoulder.  "Then I guess I open a vein and let the drain have it."

Angel was beside me in two quick strides.  He grabbed my upper arm in a vice like grip.  "I don't think so," he said, his voice dangerously low.

I wrenched my arm out of his grasp.  "I don't care what you think Angelus," I hissed.  "I'm not going to slice myself open and bleed to death if that's what you're worried about."

"Wha's got your knickers in a twist," Spike asked.

My eyes rolled before I thought to stop them.  "Nothing Spike, nothing at all."

The hostility in the room was escalating and I wasn't sure if I wanted to ease the tension at all.  I was infected with something and they were debating on whether or not I could do ritual blood letting.  The cynical part of me said they were only upset because they weren't the ones that got to make me bleed while the other more rational part said they were only concerned for my welfare.

I stared at the two men and they both glared at me.  The urge to flip them off was strong and I almost gave in.  I'm not sure how I controlled the impulse but I did.  "Fred, honey, why don't you lead the way.  I'm not too fond of roaming aimlessly again."

The petite woman gave a musical laugh.  "Yeah, this place can be pretty confusing if you're not used to it."

We headed towards the door.  On a whim I turned around.  "Oh and Angelus," I waited until he met my eyes.  "I'm going to need a vehicle and the company credit card.  I'm not going to be wearing Spike's clothes the entire time I'm here."  I gave the stunned pair a dazzling smile and sailed out of the room trailing Fred.