Twenty-One
SUNSET
Faith sat with Buffy on the floor, and
held her, and kissed her hair.
She looked up at Giles.
“You leaving her too?” Faith said.
“Of course not,” Giles said. “I would
never leave Buffy...I would never leave either of you. And Willow didn’t want
Xander or me to know about this, and while I don’t think that was the right
decision on her part, it was still her decision. There was nothing else you
could have done.”
He crouched down beside Buffy, and took
her hand.
“I’ll take them back to my house, and
I’ll find a way to convince them to stay with me until this business is
finished,” he said. “I’ll look after them, Buffy.”
“Thank you,” Buffy whispered, and hugged
him.
“You’re welcome,” Giles said.
Angel watched them...watched the three of
them together, sitting on the floor, and holding each other. They didn’t even
seem aware of him anymore.
He knew he didn’t belong with them
anymore. He wasn’t part of what they had...he knew he had no right to it
anymore.
“I screwed it up, Giles,” Angel heard
Buffy whisper. “I screwed it all up.”
“No,” Giles said. “You saved the world.
You saved your friends. You protected us all, as best you could. No one could
have done more, Buffy.”
“You believe it, honey,” Faith said, and
kissed Buffy’s cheek. “You listen when your Watcher talks, okay?”
“I’m your Watcher too, Faith,” Giles
said.
“Hey, I’m all ears, G-Man,” Faith said.
“I’ll call later, after they’re settled
in and I’ve had a chance to talk to them,” Giles said. “Maybe...I can convince
him to change his mind.”
“He won’t,” Buffy said. “I’ve lost him.
Lost them both.”
“It’s not easy,” Giles said. “I wish I
could make it easier for you. I wish I could take some of the burden on myself.
But I can’t. So you need to hold on. You need to hold on and be strong, all
right?”
“She’s got me,” Faith said. “She’ll
always have me.”
“Good,” Giles said. “All right, I’ll call you once I have them settled in.”
He stood up, and walked back to his room.
“Honey,” Faith said. “Come back to bed,
okay? I don’t want you out here like this anymore. Let me take care of you.”
Buffy nodded, and let Faith stand her up.
They walked back to their bedroom together, without even glancing at Angel.
Angel was alone in the hallway.
He let his senses reach out. He heard
Giles packing his things. He heard the furnace making that grinding noise it
sometimes made. He heard Faith whisper, “I love you.” He heard Buffy whisper
back, “I love you so much, baby.”
He stood in the hallway, alone. He knew
he wasn’t part of Buffy’s life, anymore. He knew he didn’t belong there. He
knew he didn’t belong anywhere.
He knew he was nothing...
He was a reflection. All that he was, he knew, was the effect he’d had on other people. He didn’t exist, on his own...he had no identity other than what he created in the people around him. He was a reflection, and Buffy, Faith, Willow, Xander and Giles were his mirrors.
He saw chaos, when he looked at them; he saw destruction. He saw a pestilence.
Giles came out of the spare room wearing a coat and carrying his suitcase and his leather satchel. He stopped in front of Angel.
“I don’t forgive you,” Giles said. “I never will.”
“Yeah,” Angel said.
“But Buffy needs your help,” Giles said. “Will you help her?”
“She’s got Faith,” Angel said.
“Yes. But they’re young. They’ll need our help to come through this. Will you help? Will you keep Buffy safe while I’m gone? And Faith too?”
“Yeah,” Angel said.
Giles nodded, and walked down the stairs, and didn’t look back.
Angel was alone again.
He heard the front door open and close. A moment after that he heard Giles driving away.
He heard Buffy weeping in her bedroom. He heard Faith whisper, “Sshhh, honey. Sshhh. I love you. I love you. You’re my girl.”
He heard Buffy whisper, “I’m your girl.”
He walked down the stairs, and tried to center himself.
Darla’s scent came to him. Suddenly, she was walking beside him.
“Pathetic,” she said. “You’re better and more important than the lot of them put together. And you let them treat you this way. You let that...that ignorant child spit in your face.”
“You’re just gonna keep on bothering me, aren’t you?” Angel said, and kept walking. “What is it now? More speeches about how big and great and evil you are? Already said no to the deal. What else is there to talk about?”
“Maybe I just like being with you,” Darla said.
He didn’t look at her. At the bottom of the stairs she blocked his path.
“When you were with me, and happy?” she
said. “You would have sliced that little
fool to ribbons and strung him up like a side of beef. By the time you finally
allowed him to die he would have been intimately
acquainted with the look, smell, taste and texture of his own insides.
Instead you stand there, enduring their abuse, wearing your fucking sackcloth,
covering yourself in ashes.”
“You done?” Angel said, and walked
through her, heading for the cellar.
“I’m just getting started, my angel,” Darla said, and disappeared.
Faith laid with Buffy on the bed, and
held her in her arms.
“You’re my girl,” Faith said. “I love
you.”
“I love you too,” Buffy said.
“I’ll always love you, Buffy,” Faith
said. “I’ll never leave you. You understand that? That I’ll always stick with
you, no matter what?”
Buffy nodded.
“It wasn’t your fault, honey,” Faith
said. “It was no one’s fault. Will told us not to tell, because she knew what
would happen.”
Buffy nodded. Faith kissed her forehead.
They were quiet, for awhile.
“I want you to take over,” Buffy said. “I
can’t...I can’t do this anymore.”
“What?” Faith said. “What are you talking
about?”
Buffy looked up at her, with tears in her
eyes.
“I can’t do it, baby,” Buffy said. “I
can’t, I can’t. I can’t...be the leader anymore, and have to make all the
decisions, and...be strong all the time. I can’t.”
“Bullshit,” Faith said. “Of course you
can do it. It’s what you do.”
“You said that, if...if I didn’t want to anymore, you’d step up. That you’d take the weight. Will you? Will you do this for me?”
Faith looked at her. She hesitated.
“Okay,” Faith said.
Buffy nodded, and curled up against
Faith’s breasts.
“Make love to me, baby?” Buffy whispered.
“I need you.”
“Okay,” Faith said.
“I love you,” Buffy whispered, an hour or
so later, as they laid naked on the bed together, and Faith held her in her
arms.
“I love you too,” Faith said, and kissed
her. “My girl feelin’ better now?”
Buffy nodded, and managed a smile.
“You always take care of me,” Buffy said.
“That’s because you’re my girl, honey,”
Faith said. “I always take good care of my girl.”
“So what’s the plan now, boss?” Buffy
said.
“We look for Spike,” Faith said. “It’s
still real early, I figure we can cover the whole town pretty good in Angel’s
car.”
“Y’know, I never would have thought of
that. I was all ready for us to just go out and like, walk everywhere.”
“We can cover more ground with a car.
Anyway hopefully the thing won’t be a shitbox like Giles’ car.”
“Angel’s car is the coolest car ever.
It’s all like, this big black super-fast convertible? Angel thinks he’s Burt
Reynolds when he drives it,” Buffy said, and sat up. “You’re gonna love it.”
Faith sat up with her, and wrapped her
arms around her in a bear hug.
“Aren’t we getting up?” Buffy said.
“Yup,” Faith said.
Buffy nodded, and tried to get up again.
Faith didn’t let her go.
“Um, as much as I’m always horny for you,
baby?” Buffy said. “You do want us to go looking for Spike, right?”
“Yup,” Faith said, and smiled.
“Well, I don’t think he’s hiding in this
room? So we’re gonna need to get out of the bed to look for him.”
“Yup.”
Faith still wouldn’t let Buffy move.
“Um...” Buffy said. “You’re not letting
me up.”
“Nope,” Faith said.
“So what are you doing exactly? Are you
being horny? But you haven’t done any pervo stuff to me yet.”
“You’re in a Faith cage.”
“I’m in a Faith cage?”
“Yup.”
“What’s a Faith cage?”
“Faith cages are unbreakable,” Faith
said, and kissed Buffy’s cheek, and held her tight. “You can’t escape from a
Faith cage. You just gotta do your time, finish out your sentence.”
“What’s my sentence?” Buffy said.
“You have to believe things are gonna get
better. I’m not letting you out of the cage until you believe that.”
Buffy caressed Faith’s hand.
“I think...I might be in this cage a long
time,” Buffy said.
“We’re gonna get them back, Buffy,” Faith
said.
“How do you know? You sound...really
sure.”
“Something you’re forgetting. Xander’s
forgetting too. Those wolf vamps want Willow. It’s got nothing to do with
Willow being with us, they want her no matter where she is. She’s safe with
Giles for now because the sun’s up. Once it gets dark? We’re gonna have to
start watching her. Whether Xander likes it or not, he’s gonna have to deal
with us until this thing is over. So yeah, you’ll be seeing Will and Xander
again. You’ll be seeing them again tonight.”
“But after this thing is over they could
just leave again.”
“You have to believe, honey. You have to
believe things are gonna get better. You just...you just have to have faith.”
Buffy turned around in Faith’s arms, and
smiled.
“Yeah,” Buffy said, and kissed her.
Angel laid on the cot in the cellar,
looking up at the ceiling, and finishing a Rolling Rock. Xander hadn’t taken the
case of Rolling Rock with him. So Angel stole one. For old time’s sake.
Faith’s scent came to him. Peaches. With
a hint of muskiness.
A moment later she walked down the thin
old wooden stairs. She was quiet, but the stairs still creaked a little.
“Hey,” she said.
“Hey,” he said, and looked at her. She
was wearing the same red leather coat he’d seen her in when he first arrived at
the house, and a wakizashi in a scabbard hooked to her belt.
She approached his cot. Empty beer
bottles littered the floor all around it. Angel added the bottle of Rolling
Rock to the pile.
“Little early for that, isn’t it?” Faith
said.
“I can drink you under the table,
Lehane,” Angel said, and went back to looking up at the ceiling.
“Not if we’re drinking champagne.”
Angel nearly smiled.
“So I hear,” Angel said. “No matter how
much I block my ears.”
Faith raised her eyebrow.
“Shit,” she said, and sat down on the
edge of his cot, and blushed, and smiled despite herself.
Angel got up, and sat next to her.
So how you doin’?” Faith said.
“Surviving,” Angel said. “You?”
“Hangin’ in. Lately it seems like every
day’s throwin’ me a new curve. I’m still kind of like, acclimating, I guess.
Figuring it out as I go.”
“Yeah. I know how you feel.”
“I was pissed at you last night. That’s
why I said that stuff I said.”
Faith looked at him. His dark eyes looked black in the shadowy cellar.
“When I said I didn’t trust you, it felt like a cheap shot,” Faith said. “I’m not sayin’ like, I trust you a hundred percent? I mean, you did all that stuff. But... when I said it last night...I just said it ’cuz I was pissed off.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Angel said. “You
don’t know me. Got no reason to trust me. Especially after what I did.”
“I was pissed that you said Will would be
dead weight in a fight. Will’s strong. She can handle this. I didn’t like you
being all like, she’s not important.”
“That’s not what I think. I know Willow
can handle herself...handle the things we face. Just because she can’t throw a
punch that doesn’t mean she isn’t strong. I misspoke before. I didn’t mean it
like...like she should just stay home. I just meant, going up against Spike and
maybe a bunch more vampires with him, Willow’s better off hanging back. I know
she wouldn’t panic, I know she’d do her best to protect Buffy. But it’s not a
good situation for her to be in.”
“Spike’s tough, isn’t he?”
“Yeah.”
“Tougher than you?”
“Only if you count his ability to annoy
people as a power.”
“You and him, you’ve thrown down before?”
“Sure,” Angel said, and nearly smiled.
“Good times.”
“So?” Faith said. “What happened?”
“Kicked his ass every time.”
“Every time? How many times did you guys
fight?”
“Fought a lot. He’s a pain in the ass.
British too.”
“You don’t like British people?”
“Irish thing. Long story. Some Brits are
okay. Giles is okay.”
“Buffy said if it was you she was up
against instead of Angelus last spring, you would’ve won.”
“It’ll never be me. I would never hurt
Buffy...when I have my soul.”
“But when you don’t,” Faith said. “When
you don’t...”
“If I lose my soul again, you have to
kill me,” Angel said. “Don’t bother trying to re-ensoul me. The only reason
that worked last time was I didn’t know Willow could do it. I killed Jenny
Calendar because she was trying to re-ensoul me. If I had known then that
Willow could do it I would’ve killed her too.”
“Not you,” Faith said. “Angelus.”
“Angelus isn’t a separate person. He’s
me. If I lose my soul again the first thing I’ll do is try to stop Willow. You
have to kill me before that happens.”
He looked at her again. His dark eyes hit
her like two hammers.
She made herself look back.
“Promise me you will,” he said.
“Me? What about Buffy?” Faith said.
“She might hesitate. You won’t. Promise
me if I ever lose my soul again, you’ll kill me. Willow, Buffy...they might
want to try to re-ensoul me again. That’ll just buy me time to do more damage.
You have to kill me.”
Faith looked away from him, and shook her
head.
“My life is completely fucked in the
head,” she said. “I’m hanging with a vampire. And our small talk? Are we
talkin’ ball games? Are we talkin’ cars? Nope. We’re having a heart-to-heart
about how you want me to solemnly swear to kill you sometime. Plus, I’m just
gonna say it again? You’re a vampire.”
“Kinda ridiculous, huh?” Angel said.
“Yeah,” Faith said, and laid back on the
cot, and looked up at the ceiling. “I remember when vampires were just like,
these guys in movies. Like y’know, Freddy and Jason.”
“Who are Freddy and Jason? Are they
vampires?”
“You’re old, dude,” Faith said,
and grinned. “Freddy and Jason are these movie bad guys. Not vampires. Just
kinda like...well I don’t know, mutant freak guys I guess. Point is they’re
fake. Always thought vamps were fake too. Now I’m hanging out with one.”
“Life’s full of surprises,” Angel said.
“Will you do it? If I lose my soul. Will you promise to kill me, no matter what
Buffy or Willow say?”
“Yeah,” Faith said.
Angel looked out into the darkness. Faith
looked up at the ceiling.
“You guys heading out after Spike?” Angel
said.
“Yeah,” Faith said. “We need your car.
It’ll be easier if we got wheels.”
“Uh...yeah...okay,” Angel said. “Can you
drive stick?”
Faith raised her eyebrow.
“Pretty sure I remember how,” she said.
As Buffy buckled her scabbard on her belt
and headed downstairs carrying a duffel bag, Angel was following Faith into the
living room.
“You have to be careful when you
downshift,” Angel was saying. “It’s kinda finicky downshifting.”
“Told me already,” Faith said.
“And remember not to ride the clutch.”
“Uh-huh.”
“It’s got maybe a quarter tank of gas? If
you need to fill it you gotta get premium unleaded. Regular’s bad for the
engine.”
“Uh-huh.”
“And you should give the engine a minute
to warm up before--”
“I’m gonna stake you in a minute,” Faith
said.
“Hey,” Buffy said, as she came into the
living room. “We all set?”
“Our boy’s all nervous,” Faith said.
“Thinks we’re gonna crash his ride.”
“Didn’t say you were gonna crash it,”
Angel said. “It’s just...finicky. You have to treat it right.”
“Don’t you worry your pretty little head,
GQ,” Faith said. “We’ll bring it back without a scratch. Uh...steering wheel’s
not over on the right, is it?”
“No,” Angel said. “I hate that crap.”
“Then relax,” Faith said. “I’ll take good
care of your wheels, promise.”
“Who said you were driving?” Buffy said.
“I did, girlfriend,” Faith said, and raised
her eyebrow. “I’m the boss.”
“Shit.”
“You owe me after making me drive the
Gilesmobile. You call him?”
“Yeah, he said he’ll ask Will to
backtrack Spike’s number for us. And I told him to expect us tonight.”
“Cool,” Faith said, and turned to Angel.
“Okay guy, me and Buffy will be back before sunset. We’ll call and check in
during the day too. When we get home two of us have to head right back out to
Giles’ place, so we can watch Will for the night. If maybe Xander’s calmed down
a bit the other one can go with him to pick up some stuff from that military
base. You good here ’til we get back?”
“Uh...well...it would be good if one of
you...showed me how to work the VCR,” Angel mumbled.
“Is he pulling my leg?” Faith said, and
glanced at Buffy.
“Nope,” Buffy said, and grabbed the VCR
remote from the coffee table, and stood next to him, pointing out all the
buttons. “Okay, look. This button here? Turns on the TV. If you wanna just
watch TV these buttons change the channels up and down. If you wanna watch a
tape, just put the tape in...um, you know how to put a tape in, right? You just
like, slide it in?” Angel nodded. Buffy wasn’t sure if he really knew how to
put a tape in or if he was just trying to hold onto some of his dignity, but
she just kept going. “The VCR turns on when you put a tape in. All you gotta do
is press this button here, it switches back and forth between the TV and the
VCR, then press the play button here. These two buttons are fast forward and
rewind...”
“What are fast forward and rewind?” Angel
said.
“You’re losing coolness points by the
second here, GQ,” Faith said.
“We didn’t have gadgets in the eighteenth
century,” Angel said.
“So what did people do all day?”
“Read the Bible and drank. A war every
once in awhile.”
“Don’t forget bangin’ the maid.”
Angel frowned at her, and went back to
looking at the VCR remote.
“Fast forward speeds the movie up if you
want to skip over a part,” Buffy said. “Rewind takes you backwards if you want
to see a part again. This button here? Pause? It like, freezes the movie in
case you need to take a break and you don’t wanna miss anything. Just press it
again to make it start playing again.”
“Okay,” Angel said. “This is kinda
complicated. It’s got a lot of buttons.”
“I’ll set up a movie for you,” Buffy said.
“I got Titanic...”
“No,” Angel said, emphatically.
“Damn B, you tryin’ to neuter the guy?
There’s some Clint Eastwood movies Xander left here,” Faith said. “Better not
even try to tell me you don’t like Clint, Angel. Your coolness is hangin’ by a
thread here as it is.”
“Who’s Clint Eastwood?” Angel said.
Faith sighed and shook her head, and went
to the entertainment center and pulled down some videotapes. She looked them
over, then pulled one from its box and inserted it into the VCR.
“The Outlaw Josey Wales,” Faith
said. “You can start with my favorite.”
“What’s it about?” Angel said.
“Cowboy movie, awesome gun fights,” Faith
said. “It’s about honor, and revenge. Doin’ right by your friends and never
backin’ down. Plus sayin’ cool shit while you do it. And not for nothin, if you
don’t like Clint? You’re gay.”
Buffy laughed. Angel frowned again.
“Well...that’s kinda harsh,” Angel said.
“Explains about me though,” Buffy said.
“You’re gonna like Clint eventually,
girlfriend,” Faith said. “I’m chippin’ away, I’m gonna like, mold you. You’re
gonna be my Eliza Doolittle.”
“Who?” Buffy said.
“Man, I’ve got so much work to do
here,” Faith said, and shook her head again. “C’mon, my fair lady, I’ll explain
in the car. While I’m driving.”
Willow and Xander sat on Giles’ couch,
and Giles sat across from them in the squeaky recliner. They drank tea. There
was a plate of dry, crumbly tea cookies on the coffee table, that no one had
touched.
“Thanks again, Giles,” Xander said. “This
really helps us out.”
Willow looked down at her tea cup, and
didn’t say anything.
“Of course,” Giles said. “You’re always
welcome to stay here. Is the room all right?”
“Yeah, it’s fine,” Xander said. “And it’s
a big help. I didn’t really...uh... think this whole thing through when we left
Buffy’s. Would’ve been a bummer having to sneak Will into my room in the
basement of my parents’ place.”
“I’m sorry there isn’t a television,”
Giles said. “There’s the television here in the parlor though. And my record
player.”
“Trust me, this is a palace compared to
my basement,” Xander said.
Giles watched Willow. She hadn’t looked
at him, or Xander, since she arrived. She hadn’t talked either. She was still
looking down at her tea cup.
“Is there anything you need, Willow?”
Giles said. “Is the room okay?”
“I’m fine,” Willow muttered, without
looking up. “Thank you, Giles.”
“House has internet access, so Will’s
happy,” Xander said.
“Yeah,” Willow said. “I just lost two of
my friends. Hey, let’s, y’know, have a big fucking party.”
Xander put his hand arm around her.
Willow’s body was neither rigid nor yielding. She moved when he pulled her
toward him. She stopped moving when he stopped moving her. She was like a
rudderless boat, moving with the currents.
“Willow...” Giles said. “I know this
situation is--”
“I’m sorry, Giles,” Willow said. “I’m
not...I’m not angry with you. I’m just...it’s been a rough day.”
Usually, Willow’s voice was lighter than
air and bright as sunshine; it would flit around a room like a bumblebee on a
summer day, trailing laughter in its wake. Now her voice was leaden; it was
grounded. It was low and flat and unvarying, as if it was missing something. As
if something had gone out of it.
Giles picked up the plate of cookies, and
held it out to her, and smiled that winsome smile he had, the one that showed
off his dimples.
“Cookie?” he said.
“They’re all like, crumbly,” Willow said.
“They’re like, these sad crumbly British cookies.”
She took one, and ate a bit of it.
“They don’t taste like anything either,”
Willow said. “How come you get these? How come you don’t get like, Oreos? Oreos
with double stuff.”
“These make people appreciate my tea
more,” Giles said.
“You should get Oreos with double stuff.”
“I’ll get some. I think you two are going
to be here for awhile.”
“It’s great of you to offer, but we don’t
want to impose,” Xander said.
“Those vampires are still after me,
Xander,” Willow said, looking at him for the first time. “Did you think they
were just gonna stop because you decided to be mean to Buffy? If we’re not
staying with Buffy and Faith we’re gonna have to stay here. We can’t go home,
our parents would freak if those vampires showed up, they wouldn’t know what to
do. They’d call the cops and then the cops would come and get killed too. We
have to stay here until this thing is over.”
“Maybe now that we’re away from Buffy
they won’t be looking for you anymore,” Xander said.
“It has nothing to do with Buffy,” Willow
said. “You heard what the vampires said, they want me. If it wasn’t for Faith
I’d be gone and you’d be dead. If it wasn’t for Faith I would’ve been dead in
that alley two months ago.”
Xander’s face turned red.
“And don’t act like you don’t know it,”
Willow said. “Yeah, I came with you, because I, I can’t lose you? But don’t
you, don’t you act like...”
Tears streamed down Willow’s cheeks.
“Don’t you act like this is all Buffy’s
fault,” Willow said. “She never like, forced us to help. Remember when we
started out? She was always telling us to stay home, always telling us it was
too dangerous. But we kept insisting on coming along. Because she was our
friend. And now...and now...”
“She called, Willow,” Giles said.
“She did?” Willow said, and snapped her
head up like a terrier on a scent, and wiped her tears away.
“What did she want?” Xander said.
“To make sure you two were all right,”
Giles said.
“That’s it?”
“And to tell me what Angel found. Willow,
would you mind tracing a phone number on your computer for me? It seems that
Spike--”
“Fucking figures,” Xander muttered.
“We’ve been gone what, like four hours and she’s already--”
“Buffy’s not asking, Xander,” Giles said.
“I am.”
“What about Spike?” Willow said.
“Angel tracked down one of the vampires
who delivered the Key,” Giles said. “The vampire never saw the man he’s working
for, he only talked to him on the phone. He gave Angel the number. He said the
man he works for is a vampire, and he has an English accent, and that he’s
rumored to have killed two Slayers in his time.”
“Spike,” Willow said.
“Well, we have no direct proof, but he’s
the only person we know of who fits the bill,” Giles said. “Supposedly he got
hold of the Key and set up the deal to sell it to those priests; the vampires
delivering it were his flunkies.”
“Yup, that sounds like Spike. He’s always
looking for a way to make some money.”
“And hopefully he can shed some light on
the Vigil of Saint Vigeous.”
“Plus Buffy has the Key. If he comes
after it...Giles, we need to find Spike before he finds us.”
“Just what Buffy and I were thinking.
Buffy and Faith are looking for Spike now. Can you trace the number?”
“Not with that old dinosaur of a computer
you have,” Willow said, and smiled for the first time, and leaped off
the couch. “But my handy-dandy laptop can. I’m gonna have to unplug your
computer and steal your internet connection for awhile. Aren’t you happy I made
you get a T1 line now?”
“Yes, Willow, I just want to dance for
joy,” Giles said. “It’s marvelous, having a whole world of ridiculous twaddle
at my fingertips.”
“Okay, wait a minute,” Xander said, and
stood up. “Just...slow down, okay? Will, I thought...I thought we decided we
were done with this stuff?”
“I didn’t decide anything,” Willow said.
“You decided, remember? You didn’t let me be part of the decision. It was
either come with you or you were gonna dump me.”
“Will...” Xander said, and put his arms
around her waist. “I just...don’t want you to get hurt.”
“Are you worried I’ll get carpal tunnel
syndrome?” Willow said. She kept her arms straight down at her sides. Her
posture was stiff. “’Cuz other than that I don’t see how typing on my laptop’s
gonna hurt me.”
“You know what I mean,” Xander said.
“I’m doing this,” Willow said, and pulled
away from him. “Giles, what’s that number?”
“God damn, this thing’s a blast to drive!” Faith
said, as she whizzed down Sunnydale’s back roads in Angel’s car at extremely
unsafe speeds. She had the top down and her arm around Buffy and a big smile on
her face. Buffy had taken her shoes off, and she was hanging her feet out the
window and wiggling her hips to the music coming from the hip hop station.
“Yup, Angel knows cars,” Buffy said. “And
like, I don’t know cars? But this one is big and black and shiny and
fast and it’s a convertible.”
“And you look real good in it,” Faith
said. “C’mere and gimme a kiss.”
Buffy kissed her, and rested her head in
Faith’s lap.
“You’re my pretty girl, huh honey?” Faith
said. Buffy smiled, and nodded.
“So when am I gonna get to drive, boss?”
Buffy said, and ran her fingers up and down Faith’s knees.
“When you pry the keys from my cold, dead
fingers,” Faith said. “Guy owns a car like this can’t be all bad.”
“Is he still gay if he doesn’t like
Clint?”
“Hell yeah. This car makes up for a lot of sins but any guy who
doesn’t like Clint just ain’t a guy. So where we headed next, beautiful?”
“How come you always call me beautiful?”
Faith looked down at her. “This a trick
question?”
“No, seriously. You always call me
beautiful and...I don’t know, I’m just wondering why.”
“Because you’re the most beautiful woman
in the world, Buffy,” Faith said, and took Buffy’s hand, and kissed it.
“You...really think that?” Buffy said.
“Seriously?”
“I got a philosophy. Wanna hear it?”
“Um, okay.”
Faith looked down at Buffy, and Buffy
stared up into her eyes. The sun was bright in the sky, and Faith’s eyes
reflected it back at her...Faith’s eyes were golden in the sunlight.
“Becca’s always right,” Faith said.
Buffy smiled.
“Yeah?” Buffy said. “Well it’s easy to
remember.”
“And it’s true, too,” Faith said. “And
Becca, one of the big things about her was, she never talked just to talk. She
said something, she meant it, you took it to the bank, y’know? She never blew
smoke. So I don’t either. I don’t talk just to talk. I mean the things I say.
And when I say you’re the most beautiful woman in the world? I mean it, Buffy.
I mean it.”
“I love you,” Buffy whispered.
“I love you too, beautiful,” Faith
whispered back, and leaned her head down, and gently kissed her.
Buffy curled up in Faith’s lap, and
hugged her.
“How you doin’ honey?” Faith said. “You
doin’ okay?”
“I’m with my baby,” Buffy said. “I’m
okay.”
“Just gotta have faith,” Faith said.
“We’re gonna see Will tonight. We’ll talk to Xander too, find out if maybe he’s
calmed down some. But even if he won’t budge? Remember what I said, Buffy.
Willow’s not gonna let him run her whole life. She’s too strong for that. We’re
gonna get her back. Okay, beautiful?”
“Okay. You should have worn a skirt.”
“So you could be a bad girl and distract
me?” Faith said, and raised her eyebrow. “Sorry hon, I’m the boss. Boss says
we’re working right now.”
“You’re such a mean boss,” Buffy said,
and kissed Faith over her jeans, in between her legs. “You won’t let me have
any fun.”
“I think someone’s looking for a
spanking,” Faith said. “So where next?”
“We tried Spike’s old crypts, plus the
factory he was hiding out at last time he and Dru were here. We’ll hit Willy’s
place next, see if anyone’s heard anything. They do this potato and egg
sandwich that Spike really likes? He went there for lunch sometimes. Willy’s
got a sewer access that all the vamps use.”
“Potato and egg sandwiches? Guy’s a vamp.
What’s he want food for?”
“He’s a weird vamp. He likes food, he
likes beer, he likes music. He likes parties, hanging out with people.”
“He sure won’t like hanging out with me
once this boot goes up his ass.”
“I’m gonna drive on the way back from the
bar,” Buffy said. “I’m so gonna drive.”
Faith raised her eyebrow again.
“Them’s fightin’ words, pardner,” Faith
said.
She leaned down and kissed Buffy again,
and sped up; the car shot down the road, and the wind whipped their hair
around. Buffy stretched her legs and hung her feet out the window again, and
turned up the volume on the radio.
And they moved their hips to the music,
and snapped their fingers, and sang together, and laughed together...as the sun
shined down above them, and the world rushed by all around them, and they raced
toward what awaited them...
“We
got somethin’ in this territory called the Missourah boat ride,” Angel said, with a big grin on his face.
Angel hadn’t seen a Western since the
time he had watched a John Wayne marathon on an old black and white television
set in a woman named Shelly Baker’s kitchen in Nevada in 1961, and he hadn’t
realized how much fun they could be. He’d dismissed the John Wayne movies then
as naive, simplistic morality plays with two-dimensional characters moving
about in a child’s idea of the world. But this movie was different. Angel
thought Josey Wales was a cowboy he could get behind.
There had been a dangerous moment when
he’d tried to pause the movie so he could get a glass of blood, and he had hit
the wrong button and suddenly Telemundo had come on. It had been touch and go
for a few seconds after that, but he managed to get the movie back. He’d had to
start over from the beginning, as he’d apparently rewound the movie by mistake
somehow, but he didn’t mind because he had only been ten minutes into it and it
had a hell of a good beginning and it was fun watching it again. And it gave
him a chance to grab himself a tall, frosty glass of blood and some beers. He
was settled in on the couch now, and he had his blood and his beer, and the
sound of gunfire was music to his ears.
A scent came to him. It smelled like
spices...
It was coming closer. He heard footsteps,
moving through the front yard.
“You a bounty hunter?” Josey Wales said,
standing tall as a redwood in a shadowy corner of the saloon. His voice was a
low, raspy rumble, like distant thunder on the plains.
“A man’s gotta do somethin’ for a livin'
these days,” the little weasel of a bounty hunter replied, as Josey’s cobra
stare nailed him in place.
The footsteps had reached the porch now.
Angel knew this was going to be one of
the really good parts...
“Dyin’ ain’t much of a livin’, boy,” Josey said.
The doorbell rang.
Angel tried to pause the movie. The
screen suddenly turned black, and the word “input” was displayed in the upper
right corner.
“Balls,” Angel muttered, and got up and
answered the door.
When he opened the door, peeking out from
behind it so the sun couldn’t reach him, a girl he had never seen before was
standing on the porch.
“Oh...uh...hi,” the girl said.
“Hello,” Angel said.
The girl flinched a little, when Angel looked into her eyes.
“Can I...help you?” Angel said.
“Um...yeah um...” the girl said, looking down at the porch. “Sorry, um...I was looking for...the S-Summers house? I mean...Buffy Summers.”
“This is Buffy’s house,” Angel said. “She’s not here right now, but...uh... are you a friend of hers?”
The girl looked up, and smiled. She had wide, full lips, and a beautiful smile. But she looked away again, the second Angel looked into her big blue eyes.
She ran her hand through her long blonde hair, and fingered the pendant she wore on a silver chain around her neck. The pendant was a perfect white sphere; it looked like a crystal. It shimmered in the sunlight.
“Well...no, but...” she said. “But I was w-wondering if she’s seen...”
The girl reminded Angel of a butterfly. She was a rare, beautiful, fragile thing, but if you made any sudden movements, she might fly away...
The girl’s scent was wonderful; exotic, spicy...like ginger.
“I was wondering if she’s s-seen Faith,”
the girl said. “Faith Lehane? She’s a friend of mine and...I know Buffy knows
her? And...um...I’ve been trying to reach Faith but sh-she’s not around?
Um...do you know Faith?”
“Yeah,” Angel said. “She’s been staying
here. She’s out with Buffy right now. They should be back by four or so.”
“Oh,” the girl said, and looked down at
the porch again, and blushed. “Okay. S-sorry to bother you. Can you
just...m-m-maybe tell Faith I stopped by?”
“Might be kinda hard,” Angel said, and
smiled. “Since I don’t know your name.”
The girl giggled.
“Um...yeah, I’m kinda like a spaz
sometimes?” she said. “Sorry. I’m Tara. But you can just like call me Spaz Girl
if you want.”
“Tara’s prettier,” Angel said. “I’m...”
A car came up the street, still a couple
of blocks away but headed in their direction, and driving slow. It had
blacked-out windows.
Angel let his senses reach out...
“You’re...? Hey!” Tara said, as
Angel grabbed her arm, yanked her into the house and slammed the door.
Angel put his finger to his lips, and
dragged Tara away from the door. He marched her into the living room, and
shielded her body with his, as he craned his neck to peek through the curtained
window while trying to avoid the sunlight. The car had passed the house now,
and it was speeding away up the street.
“W-w-what are you doing?!” Tara
shouted. “Let go of me!”
Angel opened both of the living room
windows just a crack, so he could catch any scents if vampires came near the
house again. He held onto Tara as he did; he couldn’t risk her leaving now.
“Let go of me!” Tara shouted again. “Let go!”
She was afraid; he smelled it. He let go
of her arm.
Her face was red. Her breathing was fast,
and her hands shook a little.
“W-what are you...like s-some kind of
psycho or something?” she said. “Because...because I’m friends with Faith, and
she can...she’s really strong and she can kick your ass if you...if you try
to...”
“I’m sorry I scared you,” Angel said.
“But you were followed here.”
“What? Followed?”
“Uh...you wanna sit down? You want like,
something to drink?”
“What do you mean I was followed? Who’s
following me? Why did you drag me in here? Where’s Faith?”
Angel considered his options. The problem
was, he didn’t know exactly how much Tara knew...if she was Faith’s friend,
Faith might have told her she was a Slayer...or she might not. Angel didn’t
know Faith very well yet but one thing he did know, one thing he had sensed
about Faith right from the start, was that she didn’t have many friends...and he
didn’t want to cost her this one.
“You’re right about Faith being strong,”
Angel said. “Did she tell you why she’s strong? Do you know about this town,
and what goes on here? About the things that come out after dark?”
“I know about vampires if that’s what you
mean,” Tara said. “And just so you know? Faith kicks vampires’ asses. So...so
sh-she can sure as hell kick yours if you try to hurt me.”
“I’m not gonna hurt you. I just needed to
make sure you knew what the score is here before I tell you what’s going on.
You were followed by a car with blacked-out windows, I saw it up the street
driving slow when we were talking at the door. A car with blacked-out windows
means vampires.”
“Why...would vampires follow me?” Tara
said, looking at the windows.
“They might have just been watching the
house,” Angel said. “Faith and Buffy are Slayers. They don’t just kick
vampires’ asses, they save the world too. Right now the world is in trouble.
There’s a new group of vampires in town, there are hundreds of them and they’re
stronger than the regular variety. They’re trying to end the world and Buffy
and Faith took something from them, a magic Key they were gonna use, to stop
them from doing it. The vampires want it back. I think they’ll move against us
soon. That’s why I’m here. I’m helping Buffy and Faith. My name’s Angel. I’m
sorry I scared you. But I need you to stay here until Buffy and Faith get back.
If you go out there those vampires might hurt you.”
“Angel,” Tara said. “Nice name.”
Tara looked up into his eyes, without
flinching this time. Her face was still red, and her hands were still shaking,
and Angel knew she was still scared, and trying to hide it. He knew it took an
effort for Tara to meet his eyes.
“Do you want something to drink?” Angel
said.
Tara looked around the room for the first
time. She noticed Angel’s glass of blood on the coffee table, and two bottles
of beer. She noticed the TV set, with the word “input” on the screen. She
noticed the Clint Eastwood videotapes on the coffee table; the box for The
Outlaw Josey Wales was on top of the pile.
“Clint Eastwood,” Tara said.
“Yeah,” Angel said. “I’m watching one of
his movies right now. Uh, well I’m trying to. I don’t, uh, know how to work the
VCR too well.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
Tara set her shoulder bag down on the
coffee table, and picked up The Outlaw Josey Wales. “Box is empty. Are
you watching this one now?”
“Yeah. Faith said I’d like it.” There
were some interesting smells coming from Tara’s shoulder bag; it smelled like a
bunch of different herbs intermingling together. Angel recognized them.
Separately, they were innocuous; cooking herbs. Together, they were magic
ingredients. He focused in on the pendant Tara wore around her neck again. It
was warmer than the temperature of the room.
“It’s her favorite,” Tara said. You like
it?”
“Yeah,” Angel said.
“You don’t know how to work the VCR.
Seriously?”
“Yeah. I was in the middle of the movie
when you rang the bell. I tried to pause it, but, uh...it sorta got away from
me. And it was at a really good part too.”
“What part?”
“Clint was facing down a bounty hunter
guy.”
“Dyin’ ain’t much of a livin’, boy?”
Angel smiled. “Yeah. You’ve seen it?”
“Faith made me watch all Clint Eastwood’s
movies with her. She would always like, do her Clint impressions while the movies
were going? She’s kinda like a big goof. So you’re sure you’re not like some
Hannibal Lecter guy who’s gonna eat my skin or something gross like that,
right?”
“No idea who that is? But no.”
“Just checking. What are you drinking?
What’s this red stuff? Daiquiri?”
“No. Uh...you probably wouldn’t like it.”
“How about you grab me like a Diet Coke
and I’ll fix the VCR.”
“When I come back will you still be
here?” Angel said.
“Maybe,” Tara said. “Maybe not. Only one
way to find out.”
Angel had been reading people for more
than two centuries. He thought he was a good judge of character. He knew he
needed to make a decision now.
He could force Tara to stay until Buffy
and Faith came back, but he didn’t want to do that. Or he could trust her not
to run, but if she did he wouldn’t be able to chase her in the sun; Buffy and
Faith had his car and Giles’ car was gone too. If she ran she could die and he
wouldn’t be able to prevent it...
He made a decision.
“Tara,” Angel said. “If you run out that
door, those vampires might find you and kill you. And I won’t be able to help
you if you run...I won’t be able to follow you out there. I can only protect
you in the house. And if you run out there, and get kidnapped, or killed? Faith
will kick my ass. Worse than that, she’ll lose a friend. And she doesn’t have
that many.”
“Why can you only protect me in the
house?” Tara said.
“Because the sun’s out,” Angel said. “And
I’m a vampire.”
Xander leaned in the doorway of Giles’
study, and watched Willow.
The study was crammed full of books and
papers and candles and crystals and various magic trinkets that Xander didn’t
recognize. The room smelled like incense, and it was dark; the only light came
from a desk lamp. The lamp was solid silver carved in the shape of a gryphon
and it looked right at home.
Xander thought all the room needed was a
gypsy looking down into a crystal ball. Instead it had Willow, sitting at
Giles’ desk and looking down into her laptop. She was sipping tea, and
frowning.
Willow could shut out the world; Xander could
tell she didn’t know he was there. She licked her lips, the way she always did
when she concentrated. She stared down at her laptop as if she was trying to
bore a hole through it. Her forehead had that little wrinkle it sometimes got
between her eyebrows.
“How’s it going, cowgirl?” Xander said.
“Bad,” Willow said, without looking up.
“The number’s a cell phone.”
“So?”
“Can’t trace a cell phone. I can only
trace landlines. I can backtrack a cell number, tell you who the account
belongs to, but I can’t locate the phone itself.”
“Maybe the account will help? Give us an
address?”
“Spike doesn’t have addresses. The
account belongs to a girl who died a
month ago. Spike must’ve killed her and took the phone.”
Xander walked into the dark little room,
and stood behind Willow. He rested his hands on her shoulders, and started
massaging them. She stiffened at his touch. Her shoulders were rigid as a plank
of wood.
“So now what?” Xander said.
“I don’t know,” Willow said. “Isn’t that
your call? You make all the decisions for us, right? So, y’know, you tell me.”
“I don’t make all the decisions for us,”
Xander said.
“Sure,” Willow said, and took his hands
off her shoulders, closed her laptop, picked up her cup of tea, and walked away from him.
She sat on the couch, and looked down at
the floor. She fidgeted with her hair, twisting it into little loops.
“Why am I getting the feeling you’re a
little miffed at me?” Xander said.
“A little miffed?” Willow said. She
looked up at him. “You think that’s what I am? You think I’m a little miffed?”
“So let’s talk. We’ve been here all day
and we haven’t said a word to each other. I’ve been watching PBS for God’s
sake. I’ve been eating those tea cookies. The most fun I’ve had is building a
new bookcase for Giles.”
“You built a bookcase? Since when can you
build a bookcase?”
“You know that carpentry elective I’m
taking? I guess I’m getting kinda good at it. Giles bought all the pre-cut wood
and the tools and stuff for the bookcase awhile ago but he didn’t know how to
put it all together. It’s easy.”
“That’s...really cool,” Willow said, and
smiled a little. “You like it? You like doing carpentry?”
“Yeah. I think that’s what I’m gonna do
after high school. I don’t think I’m gonna go to college. I’m gonna be a
carpenter. That cool with you? You can handle being with a guy who’s not all
down with the book learnin’?”
Willow suddenly stopped smiling.
“I don’t know,” Willow said. “Carpentry
can be dangerous, right? I mean, you use like, saws, and drills and stuff. You
could hurt yourself. Cut off a finger.”
“Uh...I’ll be careful,” Xander said.
“Maybe I should tell you never to do
carpentry again. Maybe I should tell you that if you ever do it again then you
and I are finished.”
Xander sat down beside her, and took her
hand.
She wasn’t looking at him. He held her
hand, but she wasn’t holding his. Her hand, her whole body, was rigid, but
languid at the same time; lifeless. She sat with him, but she wasn’t there.
“Not like I’m gonna have to use my
carpentry skills to fight monsters and save the world, Will,” Xander said.
“Uh...okay, I guess maybe someone could ask me to build an ark? But I’m not so
good at measuring in cubits. The metric system’s confusing enough. Bottom line
is, Buffy isn’t gonna be asking me to--”
“This isn’t about Buffy,” Willow said.
She looked at him. She looked right into his eyes. “So stop pretending it is.”
“Hey, guys,” Buffy said, as she strolled
into the Alibi Room with Faith.
Every head turned. Buffy took in the
room: there wasn’t much of a crowd yet. Three demons sat at the bar, and two
vampires, a male and a female, played pool in the back. The place still looked
like a cave. Questionable stains still covered the floor. The jukebox was still
smashed in from the last time she had visited. Willy was behind the bar.
His hand was bandaged. Buffy smiled at
him, and showed him her teeth.
“Hey, Willy,” she said. “Miss me?”
Faith closed the door, leaned against it,
and gave the crowd a quick once-over. She’d never seen a demon before, but they
didn’t worry her. These demons were bigger and meaner-looking than vampires but
their scents told her they were scared. More than that, they were prey. Faith
sensed it, she felt it in her stomach, in her bones; their presence raised her
hackles. She wanted to wade into all three of them right then, tearing through
their flesh with her fingernails and feeling their bones shattering beneath her
fists, smelling their blood, laughing and killing and reveling in it; reveling
in her power. But she controlled herself.
Killing the demons would have been good.
But watching Buffy kill them would be even better. So Faith stood by the door,
and watched.
“That’s my girlfriend, Faith,” Buffy
said, and smiled back at her. “She’s a Slayer too. She’s just gonna watch for
now. She’s kinda like, auditing the class.”
“What the hell do you want, kid?” Willy
said. “You just get off on comin’ in here and bothering my customers?”
“B,” Faith said, and motioned her head
toward the back. Buffy nodded. She felt the male vampire approaching her before
she turned and saw him.
“Willy,” Buffy said. “Why, why are you so stupid? I don’t get off
on bothering your customers.”
The male vampire swaggered up to Buffy.
He was big and barrel-chested, with long, silver-white hair and blue eyes that
were so wide-set they made him look nearly reptilian. He sneered, revealing his
long, canine teeth.
“Well,
well, well,” he said, in
one of those big, bellowing, fake-sounding voices that radio announcers have.
“If it isn’t the Slay--”
Buffy drew her sword and sliced his head
off in one seamless motion that was too quick to be seen, and pulled up a seat
at the bar.
“I do kinda like killing them though,”
Buffy said, and sheathed it again.
“You’re like a kid with a new toy with
that damn thing,” Willy said, as he frowned at the cloud of dust that had left
a twenty dollar bar tab in its wake. “Don’t be jealous, Willy,” Buffy said, and
frowned at the demon sitting a couple of stools away from her.
“You look like Mothra,” Buffy said to the
demon, who looked like a fat turtle. He even had some sort of armor plating on
his back that looked like a shell.
“Gamera,” Faith said. “Gamera was the
turtle-looking dude.”
“Gamera, right, my bad,” Buffy said.
“Uh...I’m Brad,” the demon said, and held
out his hand, which was more like a clawed tentacle.
“Buffy, Slayer,” Buffy said, and shook
his hand. “So I’m gonna kill everyone in here, including you, unless someone
tells me where Spike is.”
“Uh...actually the three of us just got
in from Boise,” Brad said. “Who’s Spike?”
“Hold that thought, Brad,” Buffy said,
and looked toward the pool table in the back. The female vampire was still
there, watching her, and growling.
“Gonna make a move, honey?” Buffy
said. “Why don’t you come over here and
buy me a drink.”
“You fucking
bitch,” the vampire snarled, and stalked toward her. “You think I’m afraid
of you?”
“Yup,” Buffy said. She turned around on
her stool, and leaned back with her elbows on the bar, and showed the vampire
her teeth.
The vampire stood in front of her now,
baring her fangs. She was wearing too much eyeliner, badly applied, along with
black eyeshadow, black lipstick, and a lot of powder on her face, and her long,
unkempt hair was dyed jet black to go with it. Her eyes were bloodshot and her
cheeks were puffy. She looked like a mime who had just lost a bar fight. She
had a big gold hoop nose ring that hung down to her lips and looked like it
might interfere with biting people, but Buffy knew the girl wouldn’t have to
worry about that for much longer.
“Well
I’m not!” the vampire
screeched, and slashed at her with her claws.
“Okay,” Buffy said, as she grabbed the
vampire’s arm, spun her around and twisted the arm up behind her back. She
grabbed the vampire by the hair with her other hand and smashed her face into
the bar. The vampire screamed.
“Now are you afraid of me?” Buffy said.
“Fuck...you, bitch!” the vampire
muttered into the bar, as Buffy held her in place, completely immobilized.
“I bet the vampire girls are a lot nicer
in Boise, huh guys?” Buffy said. The vampire thrashed around, trying to get up.
Buffy put more pressure on her wrist. The vampire screamed again.
“Actually they’re all pretty much like
that,” Brad said. “We don’t see a lot of nose rings in Idaho though.”
Buffy reached around and yanked the ring
out of the vampire’s nose, and looked at it. The vampire screamed again as
blood spurted from the hole.
“Jesus, all over the bar,” Willy said.
“Shut up, Willy,” Buffy said. She shook
her head at the nose ring, and tossed it away. “Not even real.”
“You fucking bitch!” the vampire screamed.
“What was that?” Buffy said, and grabbed
the vampire by the hair again with her other hand and smashed her face into the
bar, sending a tremor through it that caused all the demons’ drinks to spill.
“Whoa!” one of the demons said.
“Bitch!” the vampire screamed again, but her
voice was shaky now.
“Still not hearing you,” Buffy said, and
smashed the vampire’s face into the bar again. Someone’s glass fell to the
floor and smashed into pieces. Buffy heard the vampire’s nose break. One of the
demons chuckled.
“Anything else you wanna say?” Buffy
said. “Or do I get to talk now?”
The vampire whimpered underneath Buffy’s
hand, but she didn’t say anything else, and she stopped struggling.
Buffy stood up, pulled the vampire up by
her hair and flung her to the floor. The vampire was on her knees in front of
her. Buffy still held her wrist up over her head in a wrist lock, and she held
her hair in her hand like a leash.
The vampire’s face was covered with
blood, and she had tears in her eyes. She tried slashing at Buffy again with
her free hand. Buffy avoided it, and kneed her in the nose. The vampire
screamed again, and more blood spurted from it.
The vampire looked dazed now. She swayed
in front of Buffy, on her knees, and looked at the floor. Buffy sat back down
on the bar stool.
“You all done with your little tantrum,
honey?” Buffy said, softly, as she held the vampire by her hair. “I think
you’re all done.”
Faith watched Buffy; she watched her from
her head down to her toes. Faith couldn’t take her eyes off her.
Buffy released the vampire’s arm, and
drew her sword again. The vampire whimpered, when she saw it. Buffy gently
tapped it against the top of the vampire’s head.
Buffy looked at Faith. She didn’t smile;
she just looked at her, as she held the vampire down on her knees by the hair,
and tapped her head with her sword.
Faith felt herself getting wet.
After a few seconds, Faith blinked. Buffy
looked back at the vampire.
“Name?” Buffy said.
“Raven,” the vampire whispered.
“‘Raven’? You read Anne Rice, don’t you?”
One of the demons chuckled again. Buffy
glanced at him. He was a fat, diseased-looking blob in a heavy brown overcoat
and his gray, mottled skin hung from his face and his hands in strips.
“Laugh it up,” Buffy said. “You’re next.”
The demon stopped chuckling.
“Sorry,” the demon to his left said. This
one had bright red skin with short spikes extending from it like a porcupine,
and he wore a Dodgers baseball cap. “We, uh, don’t want any trouble.” Over by
the door, Faith snorted.
Buffy looked back down at Raven. She
still held her by the hair. Raven was prostrate before her, looking down at the
floor.
“I’m Buffy,” Buffy said. “Have you seen
Spike around? I bet you have. All the vamps around here know each other. Plus
you’re like, totally his type.”
“Don’t...know any Spike,” Raven
whispered.
“You’re not a very good liar, Raven. Even
if you haven’t seen him you’d at least know who he is, all the vamps in
Sunnydale know who Spike is. He’s like a celebrity to you people. Killed two
Slayers, right? Gets him a lot of free drinks in places like this. Now you’ve
got me thinking that you’ve definitely seen him.”
Raven shook her head.
“I’ll ask just once more,” Buffy said. “Then I’m gonna start hur