Buffy headed home at a fast pace. Having spent the past couple of hours rescuing folks from the fire at Mercy General, she felt grimy. All she wanted to do was have a long, hot shower and fall into bed. She was expected to be up for Saturday morning pancakes and some mom-daughter bonding time.
What a crappy night. They had zilch to show for their efforts. Nada. Okay, so saving the patients at the hospital was important , but that did not help with the progress making on the prophecy. The Bad Guys definitely won this round making off with their soon-to-be-sacrificed prisoner. No catching any breaks around here. Nope.
Tonight pretty much sucked all around. First, she was subjected to all of the drama that went along with Angel and Cordelia’s official first date. Talk about cruel and unusual punishment. That was just wrong. Evil. Kind of seemed like their first, second, third, and more-times-than-she-wanted-to-count dates had already been spent cozying up in their bedroom. Not that she was bitter. Much. Well, if she was, it was totally justified.
Deciding to take a shortcut through Old Sunnydale Cemetery, she pushed on the old iron gate just enough to squeeze inside. Its hinges squeaked in woeful complaint, much like her thoughts screeching in her head. Was it so wrong to feel just a smidge gleeful that the perfect night Angel organized for Cordelia had gone sideways? Too bad, so sad. Boo Bloody Hoo, as Spike would say, she smirked only to realize she was letting her nemesis creep into her thoughts.
That was another thing on her list of crappy things about tonight. Spike. He stuck to her like glue for hours. Patrolling. Constantly teasing. Never shutting up. God, he was worse than she ever thought Cordelia would be patrolling with Angel. Bad karma, that’s what it was, she decided. Her admittedly slightly selfish plan coming back to bite her on the ass. Yup!
Maybe she had set herself up for it all, but how could she ever have guessed that Angel would fall for Cordelia Chase? She was . . .she was . . .Cordelia Chase. That was enough of a deterrent. It was mind-boggling. Just wrong. Those two were now stuck together like superglue usually at the lips. As much as she hated to admit it to herself Angel was totally, deeply, madly suckered by whatever it was that seemed to give him a whole new personality transplant, kept Xander in his mooning, lovesick state, and even seemed to make the new Watcher all stuttery whenever within Cordelia’s sphere. Not to forget the fact that it was Giles who invited her to come back to Scoobiage in the first place.
Buffy tried to see past the obvious charm of her beauty, which she readily conceded had to make men susceptible to her feminine wiles. All she could see when she closed her eyes to think about it was Queen C making out with her boyfriend. There was no use whining about it now. Not only was there too much water over the bridge, it had pretty much washed away in the flood of her tears. She was done crying about it. Angel was definitely off the market, and had turned into some kind of obsessive control-freak when it came to protecting Cordelia.
Figuring that Angelus had always been kinda obsessive, too, Buffy guessed that it might just be a vampire thing. Or maybe it was just that Cordelia was in trouble and Angel was just being over-protective. Thinking about it gave her a headache, and she did not really want to think about the two of them because it never failed that her thoughts turned to the skillful touch of Angel’s hands, the soft, increasingly passionate kisses they used to share, and the way he made love to her on that other rain-soaked night.
With a heavy sigh, she wondered what things would be like if Angel had known about his soul when he got back to Sunnydale. Would she have still pushed him away? He was still a vampire, still obsessive, and obviously had more things on his mind than just following her lead. It felt confusing, even upsetting, and Buffy did not like the constant ache in her heart, because as unfair as it all was, she recognized that felt more like envy than love.
All of the deep thinking, and heart-achy vibes kept Buffy distracted. She was deep into the heart of Old Sunnydale Cemetery when she came to a sudden stop, hearing voices ahead, and the sounds of a struggle. Instantly alert, she zeroed in on them, her vision still keen in the dark. A group of six vampires surrounded a smaller male figure pushing him around like they were playing a game of keep away.
Despite his small stature, he was not a child. Pleading for mercy, he stuttered his way through a hasty story. “N-no, no, please, you got the wrong demon. I don’t even live around here. Just visiting the Hellmouth. I’m a tourist.”
A vampire with wavy sandy brown hair, wearing a leather jacket over casual clothes, had an East Coast accent. “Nice try, wiseass. You’re the thief who stole our stuff. Tell us where you hid the books.”
“D-do I look like a bookworm?”
Buffy watched the vampire nudge their victim toward one of his brethren. “You look like a thieving weasel. Talk some sense into him,” he growled, apparently too angry over his stolen books to trust himself.
“We might let you live,” promised the next vampire trying the good cop approach.
Somehow, Buffy doubted the little demon was dumb enough to believe that big fat lie. It was not really her business, she supposed, saving a demon from a bunch of vampires, but this was definitely her territory and those vampire were a threat. A rush of adrenalin hit as she imagined the satisfaction of staking them in their cold, unfeeling hearts. Yeah, and that had nothing to do with her feelings about Angel. Nope. No at all.
Taking a running start, she hopped up onto the top of an above ground stone coffin, one of the oldest of its kind in the cemetery, dark with blackened mold, and crumbling along its edges. “Six of you against one little guy? Doesn’t seem fair.” The shocked looks on their faces gave her a buzz.
One vampire, not bothering to hide his fangs, sauntered closer. “You lost, sweet thing? Maybe I should walk you home.”
Before Buffy could say something in return, the first vampire snapped, “Stop. That’s the Slayer, you idiot. She’s carrying a stake.”
“That’s her? Tiny little thing.”
Slightly annoyed, Buffy knew that her size worked to her advantage. She moved fast, and was far stronger than they would guess. While they were all distracted, Buffy took a moment to visualize her strategy. Six of them, one of her, and one little demon guy who might get in the way, whose neck she was not quite certain was worth saving.
He looked as confused as the other vampires. “I-I thought the Slayer was a brunette.”
“This is the other one. There are two,” explained Mister Know-it-All Vamp.
That was a fact Buffy doubted was widely known even among most vampire clans. Why was he on the up and up?
Executing a flip off the crypt, she landed in a crouched position low to the ground, stake in hand. She rose slowly to her full five-foot four inches. Even more annoyed now, she pointed out, “Well, I’m the original,” just as she whirled around executing a swift kick to Flirtatious Vamp’s midsection sending him flying into a headstone. A bone cracked in his arm as he landed hard causing a shout of pain.
The others tensed up instantly getting ready for a fight. They made calculated moves to get into fighting position, disciplined enough not to rush her, or to flee the instant she proved she was not just a pretty blonde out for a late-night stroll. Buffy guessed these vampires had been hunting together for a while and were not just a bunch of fledglings who had shown up at the Hellmouth looking for a good time. Despite having the superior numbers on their side, she was still confident that she could take them out.
“Guess you Slayers come in all kinds of tasty flavors,” their leader leered as she turned to face him. “Lehane and I got a score to settle. Been a while since she left the city.”
Her planned attack stalled when he mentioned the name. A little slack-jawed over the realization, Buffy asked, “You know Faith?” Yes, well, obviously, he did, but she wanted answers. Details. The 411 on the hows and whys. Faith rarely gave up any of the good stuff about her pre-Sunnydale days.
The fact that he called her Lehane might have clued her in on his feelings even if he did not scoff at the sound of her name. “Faithless bitch is more like it.”
Most of Faith’s past was a big ol’ mystery to Buffy. Giles was even closed-mouthed on the subject. She knew some general info about her Watcher’s death, and could see for herself that Faith was edgy and undisciplined, but she had no details really on who she was as a person or what her life was like back in Boston.
“Aw, did she break your heart?” Buffy asked while edging into position noting that four of the other five also shifted defensively. As much as she wanted to probe him for more information, she really wanted to get home to that hot shower, too.
“We screwed around,” he answered making certain she understood that things were not that emotional, “back before the fangs, and before she turned into one of you.”
Ooh! The guy she was about to dust was Faith’s ex. Sorta. This was why it was better to stake first and skip the questions. Now she had gone and made it all complicated. Buffy decided that she would try to dust him last giving herself time to decide if she should tell Faith about this or not.
Buffy threw a punch planning to knock him off balance, but he managed to dodge out of the way and grinned as if he liked the challenge of taking on a Slayer. A quick jab got him in the gut. He countered with a backslap that connected hard against her cheek, and then reached for her throat. She jumped back a step then whirled toward one of the other vampires who tried to circle behind her. Knocking him down to his knees, she bashed his face with a fist, breaking his nose, and sending him reeling into the ground. She took aim at his heart, but a third vampire rushed straight at them yanking Buffy off her feet.
Landing hard on her back, she was momentarily stunned as the air whooshed out of her lungs. She blinked and watched the heavier vampire bare his fangs and lunge straight for her neck. A moment before he could bite, she recovered enough to move the hand holding her stake into position. The vampire’s momentum carried him downward too fast to avoid it. Buffy caught the ‘oh shit’ look on his face just before he turned to ash.
The dust burst around her causing Buffy to blink reflexively avoiding en eyeful of ashes as she leapt to her feet again. Broken Arm Guy clutched his arm to his chest and tried a wheelhouse kick as she emerged from the cloud of dust, but missed by a mile. Leaping forward, she got him with one quick jab.
“Two down, four to go,” she quipped dashing forward and using a headstone to come at one from a higher vantage point. A second vampire crossed over to help out. Her foot connected with his chest. He flew back into the other vampire, both of them reeling off-balance onto the ground. Landing steadily on her feet, she quickly turned around to face them, and to reassess her options.
Faith’s ex started walking toward her, deliberately taking his time about it, anticipating her possible moves. “So, which one were you?” Buffy asked as if she had tons of info about Faith’s former boy toys. Hopefully, the suggestion that he was just one forgettable guy hardly worth mentioning stabbed at that vampire ego. If she could throw him off balance, the others would follow suit.
“The one that got away,” he joked just before throwing a punch in her direction. Raising her arm, she blocked it. Just as he blocked hers. Punches, kicks, and jabs followed, but they kept on countering each other’s moves.
Buffy had the added distraction of the other two jumping in now and then with attacks of their own, her body constantly in motion to fend off their strength. Barely avoiding being grabbed, she dodged the sweeping arms of one vampire to back into another, dislodging him as he tried to wrestle her to the ground. “I’m not that kinda girl,” she used a basic knee to the groin defense to shake him loose. He clutched his aching privates with both hands as he doubled over, and was instantly staked for it.
Their numbers were rapidly diminishing. Despite the immediate danger she presented, the little demon and his secret stash of books was still enough to distract them. “Get him out of here,” the leader ordered his underling. “Do what you need to do to make him talk. I’ll deal with the Slayer.”
“You got it, Bax.” Still holding onto the demon by the collar, he jerked him back to his feet and dragged him away from the fight. “Boss wants those books, knows you’ve got ‘em, You’re gonna tell me everything.”
The kicking and screaming demon was not exactly fond of the idea. “Hey, Slayer! A little help?” he called out to her. “Got something you might want. We can deal.”
Whatever he had, these vampires were unwilling to let him go in order to gain a better advantage against her. Buffy decided it might be worth the effort. “Demon or not, I do like a good deal.”
Apparently, Bax—whatever kind of name that was— did not like her butting into his business. “We’re here for him, not you, Slayer. Back off.”
“Too bad about that deal I just made,” she smirked.
“Make a new one. With me,” Bax pressed a hand to his chest and tried to look sexy. He had a long way to go to seduce anyone just with that smile, and she was afraid he was out of time to brush up on the vampire skills.
“Nah! I like the one where I get to. . .,” she trailed off long enough to swing her arm to the right plunging her stake into the chest of the vampire who tried and failed to sneak up on her, “do this!”
The sexy tone disappeared pretty quick replaced by something dark and dangerous. “I’m going to make you regret killing my crew.”
Buffy knew he would try. Cutting off her response, the shadows spoke, “Doubt that.”
Faith appeared from behind a tall monument to stake the brawny vampire holding the demon off the ground. He was too surprised to do anything about it. As he exploded into a cloud of ash, the demon fell from his crumbling grasp landing awkwardly and grabbing his leg. Instead of crying out in pain, he started laughing hysterically with a donkey-like eee-aww filling the gaps between his words. “I’m saved! Hah! You’re done for now, you fanged bastard. It’s the other one!”
Pointing toward the noisy guy, Faith sent Buffy a funny look before clarifying her feelings about being his savior. “The one who doesn’t give a shit about you, demon. Trouble, B?”
“Trouble that seems to know you. Who’s the creep?” Buffy nodded toward Bax. She had expected Faith would have some kind of emotional reaction, but her face was stoic, calm despite the surprise of seeing him.
“Doesn’t matter, really,” Faith shrugged as she approached. “He’s gonna be dust in a minute.”
The vampire gave Buffy his full name, “Baxter Winslow,” as if that might make her a bit more sympathetic. Sure, he mattered, but not to her. The question was whether or not he mattered to Faith. Bax sounded confident that she would not attack him, and would probably put a stop to any efforts on her part. “What makes you think you can take me out now when you couldn’t before?”
With the vampire’s attention riveted on Faith, it allowed Buffy to slowly slide to a more advantageous position. She held off attacking despite the urgency building up inside her. Her curiosity was killing her, too.
“Things change,” Faith answered simply. There was none of that hothead emotion in her voice, just distance, as she coldly told him, “You’re just another pair of fangs, Bax. You shoulda stayed in Boston. What are you doing in Sunnydale?”
“Job. Town’s mayor needed a few rare items. I knew where to find them.”
Buffy didn’t need Faith to interpret that remark. Unsurprisingly, she scoffed, “Where to steal them. Some things don’t change even with the pointy hardware.”
“Big coincidence finding you here, Lehane.”
“Coincidence, my ass. If Wilkins sent for you, then it means you’re a gift for me. Gotta burn all the bridges, he says. Wants me to make a fresh start.”
Buffy’s stomach churned at the reminder that the mayor seemed to think of himself as Faith’s sugar daddy. Looking out for her, giving her presents, ordering her around. She was still icked out about Faith’s undercover scenario at City Hall schmoozing the mayor and trying to get intel on whatever underhanded things he’s got going on that may or may not have some connection with the Prophecy. Based on what little she understood about Faith’s relationship with this Bax guy, and the mayor’s involvement, she doubted that these vampires were in Nicolau Cibran’s pocket.
Just to verify, she asked, “So you’re not here to worship demons at the Hellmouth?”
Bax jerked around, startled by the question. “What kind of vampire does that, crazy bitch?”
Annoyed again, Buffy narrowed her gaze and adjusted her grip on Mr Pointy. “So, I’m taking that as a no. Faith?”
“Yeah, B?”
“Gonna dust your friend now.”
“No friend of mine. Not anymore. Rather do it myself, though.”
Alone now, surrounded by two Slayers, Bax lost his confidence. His cocky grin vanished. “You screwing with me?” He hedged away from the two of them, but they had managed to crowd him against the back of a crypt. “Faith likes to screw around, don’t you baby?”
“I’m a Slayer. I don’t screw vampires.”
Bitterly, he reminded her, “That’s what you said the last time I laid eyes on you.”
Buffy cringed because she instantly put herself in Faith’s shoes, and wondered what she would do the next time Spike got handsy or mouthed off at her during one of their usual scraps. Disturbed, she decided to leave Faith to it. “I made a deal with that little demon. He owes us. Bye, Bax. I’d say it was nice knowing you. . .”
Pushing thoughts of Spike out of her head, Buffy went after the demon who she tracked down on the edge of the cemetery. He had been trying to get away. Almost as soon as she caught up with him, Faith appeared behind her, apparently finished with the task of dusting Baxter Winslow. Buffy flashed on the image of her fight with Angelus, and how it felt to plunge that sword through Angel’s chest sending him to Acathla’s hell dimension.
Keeping her voice steady, she asked, “Done and dusted?”
“Yeah. Bridge burned. Moving on.”
Buffy sensed it was not the time for ask for the details, not with demon dude staring at the two of them. Turning her attention to him, she ordered, “Tell me about these books. I’ll take ‘em.”
Rolling his eyes, he scoffed, “Hey, I said I would make a deal. I didn’t say it would be free.”
This guy was trying to welch out on her. She balled up her fist and whomped him hard on the shoulder. “Ow! Ooh! What are you, nuts? Going around punching people?”
Buffy pulled off its hat to reveal two horns growing out of its forehead and a shock of ratty hair. “People?” she said skeptically not really thinking the word applied.
“So what, I’m a demon. That makes it okay?” He waved his arms around trembling in fear when she threatened him with the pointy end of her stake. “Hold it, whoa! Stake me now, and you never find out what I got for ya, huh? Think about it. Demon seeks Slayers, highly unusual?”
“You were looking for us?”
“Well, her.” He nodded toward Faith. “Bax said the Slayer was a brunette. Thought you’d want to make me an offer. His crew found me first.”
Faith’s jaw tightened up at the mention of her ex’s name. “Talk fast.”
“How would you like to get your hands on the Books of Ascension?”
Glancing at Faith, who was equally unimpressed, Buffy admitted to being clueless about the books, “Never heard of ’em.”
“Books of Ascension. Very powerful works and I’m not talking about the prose,” he gave them a waggle of his eyebrows. “They deal with some, ah, dark stuff. The Mayor of this town would hate for somebody to get ahold before he, ah, well you know.”
Buffy realized he had some insight into Mayor Wilkins. “Don’t know. Before he what?”
Not quite ready to give up the news for free, the demon shook his head. “Hey, hey, read ’em and weep. That’s all I got to say. Tomorrow, I get the books. Meet me here and if the price is right, well, I give the books to you.”
“Not really looking to trade with a demon.”
“And if this were still a barter economy, that would be a problem.” Leaning in, he made it clear. “I want cash, princess, five large for the whole set.”
Faith sneered at him. “So you can buy, I’m guessing here, some skin care products.”
“Plane ticket. Sayonara Slayer Central. I am getting out of the Hellmouth, and the grand ol’ U. S. of A. before the crap hits the fan. It’s down to the wire, girls. So, five G’s, what do you say?”
Grabbing him by the collar, Faith lifted him onto his tiptoes forcing him to put pressure on his injured leg, whining and whimpering in response. “I think ‘Die Fiend’ sums it up, wouldn’t you say?”
Buffy wasn’t exactly sympathetic, but she knew they were not going to get these Books of Ascension out of him tonight. “Oh, let him go.” Tucking her stake away, she added, “I don’t think he falls into the deadly threat to humanity category.”
“A demon’s a demon.”
A little surprised that Faith was not pressing for details about the books’ whereabouts, considering that her side job was gathering the 411 on Wilkins, Buffy pointed out that it should be an obvious decision. “I’d like to know more about these Books of Ascension. Anything that would pin the Mayor down would be great.”
The demon fully agreed, “Yeah, great!”
Finally coming to an agreement, Buffy and Faith watched the demon limp away. “Money won’t be a problem. Giles can probably tap into the Council funds. They buy resources all of the time.”
“I just don’t trust that little dweeb,” Faith sneered at the now distant figure watching him until he disappeared around the end of a large crypt. “Who’s to say he’s even gonna show up tomorrow night?”
Buffy shrugged. “Too much other stuff to worry about. At least you know that you’re not the only one to suspect Mayor Wilkins is up to something.”
“The whole ‘become invulnerable’ plan on his schedule might have given that away,” she laughed softly shaking her head. “Ever think of giving this up and moving to Tahiti?”
“Sun, sea, and sand,” Buffy sighed deeply. “Nah! Sounds kinda boring.”
“Yeah.”
They walked to the edge of the cemetery following the rusty iron fence to its closest exit and paused before heading in opposite directions. Faith’s plans to head to the Bronze for the last hour were a bust. It would be closed by the time she made it across town. Buffy knew she would still have some distance to go to get back to the mansion, so she made an offer that felt a little awkward even as she said it. “You could stay over at my place. Mom’s making pancakes for breakfast.”
Faith made a face. Too much domestication for her. She laughed and declined the offer giving Buffy an odd feeling that mother-daughter breakfasts were something Faith did not have much experience with. Oh, the questions just kept piling up, and she was more curious than ever to know more. Knowing she was not going to get any answers, Buffy kept her burning curiosity to herself.
“Staking Bax has me all worked up,” Faith bounced on the balls of her feet as if she was about to take off running. “Gotta work off some of this energy before I hit the sack.”
Guessing that meant one last patrol on the way back to the mansion, Buffy nodded and suggested that they wait until morning to talk to Giles and Wesley about the demon and his offer to sell them the Books of Ascension.
“Sounds like a plan. Later, B.”
“G’night, Faith.”
Buffy watched as Faith dashed off seemingly unaffected by dusting her former friend, or lover, casual sex buddy, or whatever category Bax actually fit into. Had Mayor Wilkins really set it up? Brought him here under the false pretenses just to give Faith the chance to burn bridges? Experience told her that moving on was not that simple, but maybe it had a lot to do with your attitude.
The past was the past, and there was no bringing it back again, no matter how much you wanted to turn back the clock in the blink of an eye. Not happening. When it came to her relationship with Angel, well, it was kind of like that bridge, too, a pile of ashes. Maybe, just maybe, it was all for the best if she put unrealistic hopes behind her and just moved on.
