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buffyfic-digest         Saturday, May 23 1998         Volume 02 : Number 199



In this issue:

       BUFFYFIC: How to Reforge A Broken Blade  (part 1/?)
       BUFFYFIC: Choices
       BUFFYFIC: Charlotte Sometimes (Part 22)
       BUFFYFIC: How to Reforge A Broken Blade (part 2/?)

See the end of the digest for information on (un)subscribing to the buffyfic
or buffyfic-digest mailing lists and on how to retrieve back issues.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Fri, 22 May 1998 20:37:04 -0400
From: "R. Smith" <[e-mail]>
Subject: BUFFYFIC: How to Reforge A Broken Blade  (part 1/?)

SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT=20
This story contains extensive references to any and all episodes up to
and including Becoming II. BE WARNED: if you haven=92t seen those
episodes, READ NO FURTHER!
THIS=20
SPACE=20
IS=20
FOR=20
YOUR
PROTECTION




TITLE: How to Reforge A Broken Blade  (part 1/?)
AUTHOR: R. Smith   ([e-mail])
Rated: R for language and violence
Synopsis: What happens to Buffy after she leaves Sunnydale
Comments: Bring =91em on
Disclaimer:  The Buffy the Vampire Slayer universe, all characters and
concepts are property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, etc., etc., blah,
blah blah.

Chapter 1

    Buffy stepped off of the bus, and looked at the sign in the terminal
window.  =93Welcome to Dayton, Ohio -- Birthplace of Aviation,=94 it said=
.=20
She gathered her meager belongings, and headed for the door, hoping to
find a cab, a hotel, and a meal, in that order.  She=92d been on one bus
or another for almost a week, and she was tired, travel-worn and very
sick of bus station food.
    Right outside the terminal, she spotted the Dayton Mariott. It wasn=92t
much of a hotel in comparison to those you=92d find in California, but it
would have a bed, shower and restaurant, and that was enough for Buffy.
    She walked over to the hotel, and up to the desk.
    =93I=92d like a room,=94 she said to the mannequin-like desk clerk.
    =93How long will you be staying with us, miss?=94 replied the clerk,
looking her over.
    =93I=92m not sure,=94 said Buffy, still too raw inside to think about th=
e
future, =93At least a couple of days.=94
    =93That=92ll be fine,=94 said the clerk, =93that will be $126, and we=92=
ll settle
the rest when you check out.=94
    Buffy pulled out her wallet and handed him her Visa card.  She did a
little mental arithmetic and determined that at this rate, she could
stay in hotels for about a month before she maxxed out her card.  After
that, her cash would go pretty quickly. She was going to need to do
something soon, or she wasn=92t going to last very long on her own.

**********

    The room was white; the tables , the equipment , the technicians=92
clothes, everything was the same sterile white. It radiated cleanliness
to the Nth degree. No speck of dust, no matter how small, would dare to
desecrate the purity of the room. Even the noises in the room were
somehow muted. The hum of computers, the murmur of people talking, even
the air-conditioning units that kept the environment pure, all combined
to create only a minor background noise.
    One of the myriad consoles  chirped loudly, causing every head in the
room to turn toward the technician manning it.
    =93Sir, we have a positive contact,=94 he said, his voice clear of the
room=92s sound-dulling effect.
    =93Where is she?=94 replied a man in a white suit without looking up fro=
m a
pile of papers on his desk.
    =93Dayton, Ohio,=94 said the technician, =93The credit card paid off.  S=
he=92s
checked into a hotel for an indefinite period.=94
    =93Do we have an agent in or near Dayton?=94 the man asked.
    =93Yes, sir,=94 the technician said, paging through data on his computer=
,
=93There=92s a minor Nether Vortex in one of Dayton=92s suburbs, nothing
major, but it draws Satanists and Black Druids, and lets a demon through
now and then, so we=92ve had someone in place since 1939. The current one
hasn=92t had any trouble since he took over, but he=92s fully trained and
well equipped.=94
    =93Does he have any power?=94
    After a moment, the technician replied, =93Yes, sir, he=92s a Blademaste=
r,
and he=92s acquired a pair of the Crusader Blades.=94
    =93Damn,=94 said the man, finally looking up from his work, =93Has there=
 been
_any_ activity at all in the area?=94
    The tech paged through more data, and finally said, =93There=92s a very
small Satanic cult forming in Cincinnati, but they=92re too far from
Dayton to be an issue for the Slayer or our agent. Also, there=92s been
some druidic magic performed in Dayton itself, trying to reach through
the Vortex, we think. They=92ve had no success so far.=94
    =93That=92ll change with the Slayer in town. The dark Powers won=92t be =
able
to stand having her and our agent in the same area. The mystical
=91irritation=92 will likely cause a reaction almost immediately. Activat=
e
our agent, inform him of the situation, give him the girl=92s particulars
and have him make contact. He is to do what he can to get her back on
course, but he=92s not to push her. We can=92t have another incident like=
 we
had in 1911. The world needs the Slayer, whole in mind and body. We
can=92t afford to break her spirit, and from all reports, she=92s close t=
o
the edge. At least we know where she=92s at. There was some worry that
she=92d been pulled into Hell with Angelus.=94
    He turned back to the reports in front of him, while the technicians
began compiling and sending information to their agent in Dayton.

**********

    The clerk handed back her card and her room key.
    =93There you are, miss. Enjoy your stay.=94
    Buffy made her way up the elevator, down two halls and into her room.
She took a shower, which made her feel a hundred times better, and, as
she dried her hair, she picked up the phone to give Willow a call.  She
had the number about half dialed before she remembered that she was in
Ohio, and had left Sunnydale without even telling Willow good-bye.
    *I have no one now,* she thought bleakly, *How am I going to make it
without them all?*
    She=92d never really thought about just how much she relied on her
friends to get her through her days, with the horrors she regularly
faced as the Slayer.  She=92d been sure that with them to help her, she=92=
d
actually live a long and productive life.  She=92d convinced herself, whe=
n
she actually thought about being the Slayer, that it was the fact that
they were so often alone that caused Slayers to die young.  Now, she=92d
given that protection up.  She was truly alone for the first time since
she=92d found out what she was.
    Tears began slowly trickling down her cheeks as she sat there, phone in
hand, feeling more alone than she=92d ever felt in her young life.
    After a very long time, she hung up the phone, crawled under the
covers, and fell into an exhausted sleep.

**********

    The next morning, she awoke confused, trying to figure out where she
was, and how she=92d gotten there. As memory flooded back, her heart
nearly broke again from her sense of loss.  Finally, she got herself
under control, had another shower and decided to see the city she=92d
ended up in.
    After a breakfast that would have made a strong man groan, she took a
walk.
    Dayton was a small, dirty town surrounded on all sides by miles and
miles of suburbs. The downtown area was a mere six square blocks in
size, full of run-down looking office buildings and parking lots.  It
had obviously once been a thriving town, but from what she could see, it
was slowly fading away.
    She spent the day riding busses to all the outlying areas, getting the
lay of the land.  It didn=92t take her long to realize that there wasn=92=
t
much in Dayton to interest anyone.
    *Good,* she thought, *It=92s unlikely any monsters have taken up
residence here.*
    The city had three malls, if you could call them that, since the
largest was still small be California standards, and not too much else.=20
It pretty much fit the picture Buffy had of the mid-west, even if Dayton
was a little grimier than she=92d have imagined.
    She did find a little coffee house called The Daily Grind that wasn=92t
too far from her hotel and made a passable cappuccino, but other than
that, her exploration had done little to lighten her spirits.
    Without even knowing it, however, she=92d made a mental note of every
single graveyard she passed, paying special attention to the ones big
enough to warrant mausoleums, and looking for signs of vampires in the
area.  She was glad to notice nothing out of the ordinary all day.
    *One day down,* she thought morosely, *A lifetime left to go.*
    By the time she got back to her hotel, it was pretty late.  She=92d
decided to stay in Dayton awhile, and planned to find a place that
wasn=92t costing her $60 a day. She=92d worry about how a sixteen year ol=
d
girl was going to get work without a parent to sign for her later.=20
    Face set with a grim little smile, she went to bed.

**********

    He=92d been working at the pell for almost an hour when he heard his
computer chime. He finished his combination, ending with the sword
buried in his imaginary opponent=92s neck.  Sweat covered him, and the
light reflected off of myriad old scars, some of them quite nasty.
Almost none of them were the clean, straight scars that come from
blades, and there were no bullet scars either. Instead, he looked like
he=92d been mauled by animals, and not just once or twice, but often.
    He grabbed a towel, and walked over to his computer. One message waited
for him, quite large, encoded, and bearing the address
[e-mail]. He sat down heavily, and quickly set his computer to
decoding the message. For them to send him something over the internet,
it must be too important to wait on a shower.
    A little time later, after he=92d read through the file twice, he printe=
d
off the attached photo.
    *So young,* he thought, *Too damn young for this kind of
responsibility. It=92s no wonder she bolted.* =20
    He was surprised that she=92d stayed as long as she had, after reading o=
f
all that she=92d been through in the past couple of years.  He sat a long
time, memorizing her face.  Had he ever been that young?  He couldn=92t
remember, he=92d been through too much, himself.=20
    =93Get her back on track,=94 the message had said, but he wasn=92t sure =
that
he could do that to her. She wasn=92t the guardian of some pretty much
podunk town, she was the Slayer, and they wanted her back on the
Hellmouth, fighting evil nightly.  It wasn=92t fair.
    Then he thought about what would happen if she walked away. Too many
people would suffer if the Slayer stopped doing her job.  That would
mean that _they_ would go to plan B.
    When a Slayer dies, another steps up to take her place. If this Slayer
wasn=92t going to perform, she=92d be =93retired=94 and they would just u=
se the
next one.=20
    The Slayer had walked away once before, before modern means of tracking
a person=92s movements, and there=92d been no operational Slayer for almo=
st
14 years. It had been a nightmare for everyone, since the Slayer was the
best of those who fought evil.
    He=92d have to do it.
    *Damn me,* he thought, *Damn me for not knowing of a way to get her out
of this.*
    He read the file again, committing what he needed to memory, and then
he deleted it. He dropped to photo into the shredder by his desk and
went to get a shower. He had days of surveillance to look forward to,
days of waiting for the time to be right. He couldn=92t just walk up to
her on the street and say, =93Hi! You need to go back to California and
fight vampires some more.=94 He knew how that would turn out, and he
didn=92t want his nose broken again. This was going to require stealth an=
d
trickery. *Oh, boy,* he thought, *My favorite tactics.*
    Sometimes life didn=92t suck. This, however, wasn=92t one of those times.

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 22 May 1998 22:04:53 -0400
From: [e-mail]
Subject: BUFFYFIC: Choices

Title:  Choices
Author:  Northlight
e-mail:  [e-mail]
Spoilers: Becoming, part 2
Summary:  What Buffy's thinking during her confrontation with her mom
before she left to stop Angelus.  This isn't the best thing that I've
ever written, but I just had to write it.  Joyce was so damned *stupid*
in this episode that it amazed me.  ::Deep breath... Calm... Deep
breath...::
Content:  Some swearing.  Nothing big.
Disclaimer:  They don't belong to me.

:::I've saved this entire city in one fell swoop before.  Thousands of
lives in a heartbeat.  Something to consider:::
Uncanny X-Men #351

Choices

    "If you leave now, don't even think about coming back!"

    Those words hurt me more than I would ever have believed.  I've died
before.  I've lost people that I should have protected.  The man I love
turned into a demon that delights in torturing me.  Those words are
right up there on the pain scale.

    Why is that?  Why do those words hurt me more than I could have
imagined?

    It takes me a moment to understand what I felt as my mother flung those
words at me.

    It's betrayal.

    I finally told mom what it is that I do, though it was by no choice of
my own.  I told her of my destiny, my curse, my duty.  I spilled the
pain in my heart out to her when she confronted me in the kitchen.  What
I said was true, I don't want to be doing this.  I let out my anguish
expecting her to understand.

    God, it hurt when she didn't.

    She didn't even seem upset or shocked when I told her about my being a
Slayer-- just angry that I wasn't about to put off saving the world to
spell things out to her.  The woman who I thought would love me no
matter what I may have done, betrayed my belief in her.

    I can't believe that she wanted me to choose between her and saving the
world from being sucked into Hell!  What did she expect me to do?!

    Believe me, I would have told her everything that she wanted to know if
I'd been able to.  But I couldn't!  Why the hell couldn't she grasp
that!  Did she think that I was joking about all of this?  Did she think
so damned little of me?

    Mom or the world.  Bet I'm the only girl whose ever had to make that
particular choice.

    I wish that there had been a choice.  But there wasn't.  I couldn't
stand by, chatting with mom, as the world went to Hell.  So I pushed her
aside to go and save the world from the grasp of evil once again.

    And that's when she said *it*.

    "If you leave now, don't even think about coming back!"

    Like it's really that simple!

    But apparently, she thought that it was.  My need to save the world
versus her parental authority.

    Is she fucking stupid!?

    Not nice, I know.  But what else am I suppose to think?

    Damn it!  Why am I always faced with this kind of crap!?  I wonder if
any of the other Slayers had to put up with this.  They probably didn't,
because if they did, I doubt that they'd have gotten anything done.

    She just looked at me, waiting for my answer.

    Mom.

    The world.

    I left.

    And as I did, I knew that no matter what happened, I wasn't going to be
back.


The End

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 23 May 1998 17:38:50 -0700
From: LadySun <[e-mail]>
Subject: BUFFYFIC: Charlotte Sometimes (Part 22)

Charlotte Sometimes (Part 22)

    The mourning had not been on for more than two weeks. 16 days to be
exact. When she had begun to get the most alone feelings.
    Mother refused to talk to anyone, and knows the towns talking. 'Poor
Isabelle, as though her soul was ripped right out with her husbands
death.'
    Drusilla knew otherwise, her mother, ever the attention seeker was
looking for some more. It made her sick to think of such disgrace, but
what could she do?
    Lydia was such a strong child, she could live through the ordeal... It
wouldn't do any permanent damage to her life, she'd barely known her
father. He had missed her childhood on the pretext of providing for the
family...
    Many of the out of state family had already left, gone back to their
towns and villages to continue on with life. All that remained was her
uncle, or fathers brother. His wife was no more than a year dead, and
Dru supposed he was looking for a little bit of company rather than go
back to his own lonely house, with the weight of two deceased loved ones
on him.
    And anyways, that's what she was trying to do as she walked down the
dirt path to the small clearing in the woods.
    Continue on..

~

    Oh, how he loved the way she wore ebony, coal, raven.
    It brought a smile to his pale lips to know that for the remainder of
her mortal life she'd spend it draped in blackness.

    He'd left her alone for the past few days.
    She needed space.
    Or perhaps he did.
    He couldn't continue seeing her so often. It made him far to anxious,
far to eager  to take her soul, and taste the pounding beat he had
memorized, and remembered night after day in his lonely house.

    But here he was again, stalking the young girl through the woods yet
again.
    And wondering what wonderful tension, and how long it could continue...

~

    Tears were gathering in her eyes, and that's when the most doubtful
thing happened.

    Her stomach made the craziest agitated feeling. And she was sure that
if she took one breath, one step, one blink she would fall into the
blackness that was flooding her mind, and body, her heart stopped, and
she stopped, hands flying to her stomach as though to keep it in her
body.
    A whimper escaped her delicate lips as she saw the oddest vision of
him, her Angel. Her Angelus.
    "Angel?" her throat's shattering whisper came and listening to her own
voice echoing through the woods, she saw him.
            In her mind - watching her with intent, thinking, she saw
something devious but couldn't make it out. And when his body appeared
before her eyes, and the void in her head disappeared she found it
mattered not.

~

    His eyes widened as he rushed towards her, worry flooding his system,
and he looked around her. Looked her up and down. She wasn't hurt was
she? How? Had someone hurt her? The thought of anyone harming what was
his sent a violent chill through his dead body, and looked up to
realize, she was smiling...
    What was this child? It'd happened last time too, and she'd called him
Angel, but this was different. Surely she didn't see him, he wasn't...
she couldn't have known he was there unless....
    But he smiled at her, and nodded, and made all the movements of a
courteous gentlemen, rather than that of a violent killer
    She was a paradox. And she was his.

~

    It made her laugh. There was nothing to fear! No-one lurking in the
darkness.. It was Angelus. The thought of him here with her stilled her
body and she held her laughter as he caught up to her.

    "What would you be doing out here?"
    "Well now, I could ask the same thing of you Drusilla, is it wise for
you to be walking about without the protection of day?"

    She brushed off the thought, she was perfectly safe with a consort or
without, but on the pretext of being ladylike she responding with "I'm
perfectly safe now aren't I? Or are you here to hurt me?"

*

    They ended up walking in silence. Ten minutes easily turned into
eternity with his arm wrapped around her small waist, protecting her
from hidden evils.
    She could sense him, more so than she could even see him, and Drusilla
found herself pondering love. Might this be love?
         All the things she thought were wrought, meaningless, didn't exist
now were her world, flooded in the sensation of another feeling
something other than duty towards her.

    His voice was soft, so beautiful. And she wondered if she'd heard him,
or her mind was playing tricks with her, but as he waited for her answer
she knew he had asked.
    "How am I holding up?" she asked him back, idly. Thinking.
    "It's hard" She sighed. How can you describe that? Such a loss? No
words can describe that kind of horror, to wake up to such a vision.
"He'd want me to move on. To not stay forever in mourning..." She looked
down the path at the trees giving them a small clearing "I'm trying to
continue"
         As soon as those words left her mouth she regretted them. What was
she to him? She'd been nothing but trouble, and now. Practically saying
she was sick of mourning?
But he was smiling, looking down at her with sympathetic eyes.
    He sighed too, gently letting go of her wrist to take her hand in his
own.
    So cold her mind told her. So soft.
    "Yes"     He agreed with her. "It's difficult."
    She looked up at him with questioning eyes. "It is?"
    His gaze was cast downwards as the soft humming of his voice tried to
project the words, and when she heard, was sure of what she'd heard. Her
eyes went wide.
    "Both my parents were murdered"
     She looked at him for a second, his head bobbing up as though to see
what she would say. If she would gauche at him.

~

    She could have been in shock. She certainly looked that way, like she
was suddenly under a spell he'd induced.
    But so quickly as he had begun to apologize for his words, her slim
body flew into his arms.
    He held her for a moment not sure what to say let alone do when he felt
her body's racked sobs, her body shivering under his.
    "I was so alone" She whispered in-between sobs. "But you... you
understand."
    He couldn't keep the smile from his lips as he held her defenseless
body. As she cried in his arms feeling so utterly safe, so overwhelmed
that somebody understood her pain.
    "I'm so sorry" she sniffled, still clinging to him. And he wondered for
a moment if she was sorry for him, to him, or what not.
    "Yes" He smiled, though his voice was filled with sympathy for the
scared princess in his arms. He stroked her hair lightly.

~

    It'd seemed like eternity there in his arms until he took his arm from
her back and gently tipped her head up to look at him.

    His soft smile melted her wounded heart, as they stood there starring
at each other, the moon reflecting off the other making the image
sublime.
    So slowly she barely noticed he moved closer to her. So close - until
their lips touch each other kindly dancing.

~

     She went to push him away. They couldn't do this. Not now, not yet. Oh
god, think of what mother would say should she ever find out, and not
more than 2 weeks after her father death?!
    But his hand pushed around her, holding her slime waist to him, and as
his body gently pushed against hers she didn't care. All worries, all
sorrows flew from her body as Angelus held her there in the moonlight.






- --

_-_ LadySun

SD - Http://home.earthlink.net/~kbleyle/SD/index.html

    Daylight licked me into shape, I must have been asleep for
days. And moving lips to breathe her name, I opened up my eyes
And found myself alone alone, Alone above a raging sea
That stole the only girl I loved, And drowned her deep inside
of me (The Cure)

_ - _Spikette _ Dru's Dolly - Mercenary_ - _
  _ - _ Head Dominatrix in the Evil _ - _
_ - _   Plan For World Domination, _ - _
  _ - _ With Chains and Stuff _ - _

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 23 May 1998 20:43:48 -0400
From: "R. Smith" <[e-mail]>
Subject: BUFFYFIC: How to Reforge A Broken Blade (part 2/?)

SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT=20
This story contains extensive references to any and all episodes up to
and including Becoming II. BE WARNED: if you haven=92t seen those
episodes, READ NO FURTHER!
THIS=20
SPACE=20
IS=20
FOR=20
YOUR
PROTECTION

    See part one for disclaimers and notes. Comments to [e-mail]
=09

    Buffy spent the next couple of days pounding the pavement. No-one would
hire a sixteen year old, as she feared, but what was worse was that
no-one would rent to one, either. It was extremely discouraging, and as
the days passed, she became more and more depressed.
    Added to her depression was the fact that she felt like she was being
watched almost constantly. It was nothing she could put her finger on,
and whenever she scanned the crowd, she didn=92t see anyone paying specia=
l
attention to her. However, years of being constantly on guard had honed
her survival instincts to the point where she was sure that _someone_
was watching her, she just couldn=92t catch them at it.
    She was walking back to her hotel from The Daily Grind after another
pointless day of job hunting when she suddenly _knew_  that someone was
following her. She spun around, fists at the ready, to find three guys
strolling down the sidewalk behind her.
    They looked at her and chuckled, the lead one glancing behind her.
Buffy threw a glance over her shoulder and saw maybe six more coming out
of the shadows on all sides of her.
    *Nine is too many,* she thought to herself, *Even if they are just
humans.*
    =93You guys have no idea how bad an idea this is,=94 she said, trying to
sound more confident than she really was, =93Since I don=92t have any rea=
l
cash on me, this is going to be a LOT more effort than it=92s worth for
you.=94
    =93Ooo, a tough guy.=94 said the obvious leader with a grin, =93Well,
sweetness, that might be true if it was money we were after.
Unfortunately, what we want is you. If you come along quietly, we won=92t
hurt you, but if you try to fight... well, the boys don=92t go in for
that, and you=92ll probably not like the result.=94 He gave a nod to one =
of
the guys behind her, and Buffy heard feet moving closer.
    *TOO MANY!* Buffy thought to herself, fear beginning to grow in the pit
of her stomach, until finally the potion of her mind that was the Slayer
kicked in.
    *Can=92t be nice to them,* she thought to herself, *There are too many
for that. I=92ve got to hit hard, hit fast, and leave at least some of
them laying on the ground.*
    That in mind, she snapped a kick straight back into the nearest thug=92s
knee, feeling a satisfying snap as the joint bent the wrong way. The
thug screamed and dropped, clutching his ruined leg, and the rest of
them, seeing that this wasn=92t going to be easy, after all, charged.
    Buffy was a whirlwind of fists and feet, moving and dodging so quickly
that her opponents couldn=92t get a hand on her. She wasn=92t trying to
soften them up for the kill, like she would have if they=92d been
vampires. She was trying to _hurt_ them, to do as much damage as
possible with each blow. Otherwise, she was doomed.
    At some point in the fight, the bad guys got desperate enough to pull
out weapons, mostly clubs, but a few knives as well. Buffy concentrated
on the knife fighters. She figured that if she could take a punch from a
vampire, she could take a hit from a club.
    She had disabled four of them, using every dirty trick Giles had ever
showed them, when one of them finally got behind her. There was a bright
flash of light, followed by a sharp pain, and the next thing she knew,
she was on the ground.
    *This is it,* she thought dazedly as the remaining thugs moved in for
the kill, *It=92s not going to be vampires or demons or weird slime
creatures from the dawn of time. I=92m going to get killed by human
monsters.*

                    **********

    He followed her carefully for several days. It wasn=92t easy, she had a
sixth sense about such things and twice, she almost caught him. It was
kind of sad, watching her try to find work in a world that didn=92t credi=
t
her with the necessary maturity to live on her own. She was also
checking on apartments, and there again, she was having no luck.
    *She must be getting desperate, living in a hotel.* he thought,
*Something=92s gotta break soon.*
    He was following her  home after another night at the coffee house,
when the sword in his dufflebag twitched.
    *Not now,* he thought, *I=92m busy.*
    Of course, that=92s when the dark forces liked to operate, it seemed.=20
Whenever he had something better to do, he had to drop everything and
kill some foul-smelling demon.
    He dropped the bag, and pulled his sword out of it, glancing around for
the threat it had detected.
    The sword was beautiful, 3 1/2 feet of polished steel with a phrase in
Latin down its fuller. It was obviously a well-used antique, although it
still looked quite deadly.=20
    There was a moment of  =91connection=92 as the sword filled his hand. He
was overcome for a moment by the spirit of the sword as it tried to take
control.=20
    When he finally regained himself, he saw that a group of punks had
surrounded the girl. He was too far away to hear the verbal exchange,
but the body language definitely said that something unpleasant was
about to happen.
    Then she exploded into action, kicking and punching in all directions.=20
    She was poetry in motion, and for a few moments he could only stand and
watch her. His style of combat had never been that graceful, that full
of life. For days, he=92d been watching a hopeless, beaten-down teenage
girl. He=92d begun to suspect that they were wrong about her, and the
Slayer was elsewhere. In battle, however, she came fully alive, shaking
off the weight of all her troubles.=20
    He forgot that he should probably help her. He forgot that one of those
guys was most likely a demon. She was so good that he started to relax,
since it looked like she was going to beat them on her own. Then one of
them hit her from behind with a two by four. She went down in a heap,
but stayed there only a moment before she was trying to get shakily back
to her feet.
    He shook himself out of his daze and sprinted forward, hoping he could
get there before it was too late.

                    **********

    =93If that=92s the best you can do,=94 Buffy said as she somehow found h=
er
feet, =93Then I have nothing to worry about.=94
    A foot lashed out, sweeping her feet out from under her and putting her
back on the ground.
    =93Start worrying,=94 said the leader, =93Kill her boys, I got close eno=
ugh
to get a sniff, and she=92s not what we need.=94
    Buffy tried to focus, to get herself together to fight them off. A big
part of her wanted to give up, however. It was too hard to be her
anymore. She settled into a dejected heap, and waited for the blow that
would end her suffering.
    =93Sorry boys,=94 growled a voice that was suddenly in their midst, =93N=
o
party tonight. You=92ve gotta know that this one is not for the likes of
you.=94
    The speech was accompanied by a strange whistling and a sharp scream.
    Buffy opened her eyes to see a man, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt,
moving past one of the thugs who was holding a bleeding stump where his
arm used to be.
    The newcomer was older, probably in his mid thirties, a little heavy
set, but obviously at home swinging a sword. He moved to her side, his
sword-tip weaving back and forth, ready to lick out at any thug foolish
enough to get too close to her.
    =93Can you walk?=94 he asked her, never taking his eyes off of their
opponents.
    =93I th-think so,=94 she said a little vaguely. =93Give me a sec.=94
    =93We don=92t have a sec,=94 he replied, =93I don=92t think I can take a=
ll these
guys by myself, and in a second their gonna come to the same
conclusion.=94
    As if to prove him right the leader took that moment to yell, =93GET HIM=
!
He can=92t kill you all.=94
    The rest of the gang looked at each other, then moved forward.
    =93Time=92s up,=94 said the swordsman, =93now we have to fight. Do what =
you
can, but stay close to me. I=92ll try to open us a hole. If I say run,
follow me. Okay?=94
    Buffy got to her feet, and turned to face the thugs coming up from
behind.=20
    =93You just take care of the ones that come that way, and I=92ll watch y=
our
back.=94 she said grimly. Somehow, she finally got her eyes to focus, jus=
t
in time to block a swing. The battle was rejoined.
    They fought for their lives, her with bare hands and him with bared
steel, and they knew it. Buffy kicked one guy under the chin, hearing a
sickening crunch, as the swordsman slid his blade into another one=92s
guts. In moments, all of the gang members except the leader were on the
ground, dead, dying, or crippled.
    =93This is not over,=94 hissed the leader, =93My master will have his re=
venge
on you for this.=94 And he turned and ran.
    =93May God guide my hand against the Darkness,=94 whispered the swordsma=
n.
Then, with a heave, he flung the sword at the thug=92s retreating back.
    The sword spun lazily through the air, ending up piercing the thug in
the spine. The thug let out an inhuman shriek, and crumpled to the
ground.
    Buffy looked on in disbelief, then whispered, =93You didn=92t have to ki=
ll
him. He was running away...=94
    =93Hmm...,=94 replied the swordsman, =93I could let him go and try to ra=
pe
some other, less capable girl, not to mention bringing down his
=91master=92s=92 revenge on our heads. And that=92s if he were just a hum=
an
monster.  However, if you come with me, I think you=92ll see that he=92s
something worse than that.=94
    He led her over to the corpse. The smell hit them before they could get
a good look at it. When they finally got  there, the sword was lying in
a pile of quickly decomposing goo.
    =93What in the Hell was that?=94 asked Buffy.
    =93A demon,=94 he replied, =93Probably a shapeshifter. Lucky for us it w=
asn=92t
anything more aggressive. You weren=92t in any shape to fight a combat
demon, and I couldn=92t have fought it _and_ kept you covered at the same
time.=94
    =93Look,=94 snapped Buffy, =93I can take care of myself just fine. I=92v=
e
fought...=94
    =93Vampires,=94 he cut in, =93Yeah, I know. But that was before you walk=
ed
away from your responsibilities. Did you think the Powers That Be would
just let that happen with no side effects?=94 He chuckled, =93You=92ve gi=
ven
up your edge, and from what I heard, late-starter that you are, you
didn=92t have that much of one to begin with.=94
    He knew that he was telling her a bald-faced lie. What she had couldn=92=
t
be taken away, except by death. Her edge was dulled by her own lack of
focus, nothing more. In truth, he=92d never seen anyone fight as well as
she had, and she wasn=92t at anything like 100%.
    =93Who are you, and how do you know so much about me?=94 Buffy demanded
sharply.
    =93Not here,=94 he said, picking up his sword and shaking the slime from
it. =93There=92re gonna be a lot of questions asked here shortly, and I
don=92t want to be here answering them any more than you do.=94
    He led her through the residential area, quickly putting several
streets between the battlefield and themselves. After several quiet
minutes, Buffy couldn=92t stand it any longer.
    =93Okay, we should be safe enough for story -time now.=94 she said. =93H=
ow
about you spill.=94
    =93Name=92s Rick, and I=92m just a guy who kills demons for a hobby,=94 =
he
said, =93And as for how I know about you, well, I can=92t really say.
Sometimes I just get letters, or email, or small packages from some
mysterious group that knows a lot more about this kind of shit,=94 he
gestured at the foul-smelling pile, =93 than I do. They pointed me in you=
r
direction, told me to keep an eye on you. Seems like a good thing that I
did.=94
    =93I didn=92t ask for your help. I don=92t need it, and I don=92t want i=
t.
Mysterious group! What is that?=94 she said as she choked back tears.
    She felt like her so called =91destiny=92 was sitting on her chest,
suffocating the life out of her.=20
     =93 I=92m so sick of being driven.=94 she told him, =93 And now you tel=
l me
there=92s some secret organization that runs the whole evil-fighting
world? _And_ they=92re keeping tabs on me? Haven=92t I made my feelings
clear? I DON=92T WANT TO DO THIS ANYMORE! I=92ve given up everything to b=
e
the Slayer -- EVERYTHING! I don=92t have anything left. I don=92t want to=
 be
the Slayer, anymore. I just want to be a girl. I want to worry about
clothes, and boys, and my grades. I want to grow up, get married, and
have babies. I do not want to die in the dark while some fanged ugly
eats my liver -- or worse. I want a normal life...just a normal life.=94=20
    She started crying then, soft sobs that sounded like they=92d never end.
He stood there a minute, trying to figure out what to do. It had been a
long time since he=92d been around anyone who cried. Finally, he pulled
her into his arms. She stiffened a moment, the let all her grief and
anger pour out on his shoulder.
    =93I understand,=94 he whispered into her hair, =93More than you realize=
. I
was young once, with all the same dreams. It does get easier, really.=94
    She burrowed deeper into his shoulder, taking comfort from his
solidity.=20
It was so hard, being alone, and it was so easy to find comfort in a
kindred soul.=20
    =93It=92s gonna be okay,=94 he said, awkwardly stroking her hair, =93You=
=92ll get
through this.=94
    They stood that way for a very long time.



more to come...

------------------------------

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