Fic: Love and Loyalties 10/11
Apr. 11th, 2012 04:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
crys_lochVampire Stories, story 4
BtVS / Buffy/Willow/Xander
NC- 17
Summery: Cordelia? There are many questions that arise. Some truths are revealed. And everyone has choices to make.
Love and Loyalties, part 10.
Disclaimers and warnings are listed in part 1 and still apply.
Night. Buffy, Willow and Xander bounded out of their home eager for it: restless and hungry. The pizza delivery car turned out to be a pickup truck. Xander was charged with emptying it of any contents and evidence and moving it somewhere far off. Buffy and Willow watched him speed off up the hill and to another side of town. They started quickly down the hill to Railroad Ave. and the crowds of people hanging out around the edges of the night life. A light rain made the pavement shimmer under the street lights. The moist air amplified the scent of the sea, grass, moss and evergreens. The constant drops and drips on the cars and awnings were like the dim rat-a-tat of a far off snare drum. The streaking visual overlay blurred the lines of the city. The rain ran off their hair and soaked their shirts, the wet clothing sticking to them. It was still amazing, these times when this city submitted willingly to the nature around and within it. And they could feel so much more of it now.
The people were bundled into coats but that was the only concession to the rain. They still walked casually along the sidewalks to the restaurants, gathered in front of the clubs; in their own way as well weathered as the old buildings from sea fairing days that still surrounded them. Buffy and Willow stood out tonight though. Their thin shirts were soaked through; revealing and clingy. They didn’t shiver in the cold air as they stood still at the corner in front of a tattoo parlor and waited for the light to cross. A couple of young women joined them at the corner. Buffy could feel them staring at her from behind. She scanned her surroundings and nudged Willow with her elbow. At Willow’s nod, they turned suddenly and pulled the two women into the alley beside the tattoo parlor. They each fed quickly, desperate to take the edge of the hunger. Xander’s stunt earlier had left them craving for the night. They returned to the corner and waited again a little more relaxed than before.
They crossed the street to the center of Railroad and stood at a loss for a moment of what to do next. They decided to split up. Willow watched as Buffy took off down towards the bus stop at the end of Railroad. She turned and followed her own usual path to the water’s edge. She was anxious to see the rain beating on the waves. She had fed for the night. Any desire for more she would leave to the coin flip as she always does now. She was less certain of her desire to feel, to connect to that power in those dark depths of the bay. The Salish Sea. The oceans of this world. Even now, if she opened herself, she could feel little flashes of it on her and around her in the rain, like static electricity. She soon found herself on the walkway beside the water. It was usually dark here but the city lights bounced off the cloud cover and cast a faint glow over everything. Puddles shimmered, boulders gleamed and the beach was dark and soaked.
Willow slipped down the low bank and crossed carefully over the slick, unstable rocks to the water’s edge. There was only a slight breeze tonight. The rain wasn’t a prelude to a storm, just the accumulation of clouds between the ocean and the mountains. The waves were calm and inviting, the rhythm tugging her memory of the promised pulse of power. She stared out and watched the rain splash over the surface. The sounds of ships in the nearby harbor echoed distortedly across the low clouds. Willow knelt down and ran one hand through the water, pushing a bobbing clam shell across the surface. She thought about what Xander said. Why did she still need to connect to this larger power? Did she need to feel greater than herself? Fix things? She couldn’t change what happened. Would she if she could?
Willow felt the spark, the pull in her hand. Her eyes snapped out to the horizon and she chuckled to herself wondering what she expected to see. She lowered her other hand into the water and opened to the connection. She could feel the waves along her spine as well as on her skin. It called to her. She finally understood it called her away. Xander was right. She needed to choose.
‘You’re back.’ The voice in her mind stated as if her return was never in question.
‘Not for this,’ Willow’s inner voice surrendered and she released the recently stored magic with the pull of a spent wave. ‘I don’t need this. I don’t need to do anything with this. It will only take me away from them. I don’t need to be better than them. I don’t need to be better than myself. I love them. I trust they love me.’
He, She, It, this… she could feel It smile. ‘You are kin to the first one and so much like the one who created her.’ It’s thoughts proclaimed approvingly. ‘Come back when you want to speak some more then.’
The presence left Willow’s mind and the spark and tie to the power in the water’s depths withdrew from her touch. “Well sure, we can talk, but only for as long as you want apparently,” she muttered. As before, the whole thing left her confused. At least this time, it did not leave her angry and desperate for more. This time, she chose. Willow stood up and crossed carefully back up the beach and to the walkway. This choice changed everything. All Willow wanted to do now was get back to town and hopefully find Buffy and Xander.
* * *
The pickup truck smelled of cheap cigars, pizza and that green tree thing people hung from the rear view mirror that was supposed to help cover the stench of stale smoke. Xander had emptied the contents of the truck cab into their building’s old furnace. He was pleased with the ancient monstrosity: how much room there was in the burning chamber, the size of the door and how well it had worked. All that was left was to dump this truck somewhere. It was a fun experiment but he did admit Willow was right. They couldn’t order dinner in like that. Xander sped past the older, smaller houses that sat above them on the hill. The inner city, garden neighborhood lifestyle: each of the homes in some constant state of renovation. He continued under the freeway and past the shopping strips and cluster of hotels. He wasn’t used to driving in the rain. The long pause between the swipes of the wiper blades, the blurred spread of light across his vision, the muted lines on the road: he was not finding this part fun at all and the fact that he only had one eye now made it all the harder. Xander turned on the radio for a distraction and turned it off again when he heard it was set to a country music station. He started looking for a good place to dump this truck.
The road had narrowed and signs for large housing developments started to peek out from the tree lined darkness. He had just passed a stretch of forest area and was seriously wondering why this city insisted on keeping so much wild area within it but reasoned it would make a good place to dump the truck. Then he saw it. Brightly lit and standing at the entrance of a wide driveway was a sign for the Lakeway Country Club. Xander smiled and turned in. He followed the main drive and turned into one of the parking areas away from the buildings. It was empty and there was no one around, so Xander simply parked the truck and left it there. He noticed there was some event happening ahead inside the main building. The parking area closer to the building was near full and he could hear music. Why not? He was aggravated, now wet from standing out in the rain and still hungry. Xander walked toward the party.
Xander approached from the side and walked slowly down the paved walkway that led to the main building. His shirt and jeans were almost soaked through now. There wasn’t anyone milling about outside in this weather. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do yet. Before he could start looking for a side door or the servant’s entrance or something, an older man in a heavy overcoat stepped outside. The man started pacing the walkway at the entrance with his head down and his hands in his pockets. Xander stopped near the side of the building and waited. The man looked up finally and noticed Xander there. Noticed the soaked inappropriate clothing and the eye patch. Noticed this young vagrant did not belong there. Xander smiled and slicked his wet hair back and out of his eye, then he turned and disappeared around the side of the building. The man chased Xander around the side of the building, intent and indignant. Xander easily caught him, vampire visage marking him as ‘other’ even more. Indignant tirade turned to terror but it didn’t matter. Neither got a chance to be voiced. Xander hid the man’s body behind some bushes next to the building. Whistling in the rain and with a bounce in his step, he searched for a side door.
Breaking the lock and getting in was easy but he still wasn’t sure why he wanted to crash the event. He should have left right away. He definitely shouldn’t make a scene now. If only it didn’t promise to be so much fun. Xander started down the darkened corridor to where he could hear music and the low sedate murmur of conversation. He entered into a foyer and noticed the main reception was through the double doors just ahead. Almost everyone was in the main room. There was only a small group talking in the far corner of the foyer. Xander ignored them and started walking to the doors. He was surprised when before he could get near the reception, someone broke off from the group in the corner and intercepted him. Xander smiled when he saw it was Alec Rollins that had headed him off.
“You look good,” Xander complimented Alec’s obviously expensive suit and shoes.
“Can’t say the same for you,” Alec admonished, keeping his voice low.
Xander shrugged. “I’m fine.”
“How did you know I would be here?” Alec accused hurriedly. He looked around the foyer to see how many people were around at the moment.
“I didn’t,” Xander flatly stated. “I don’t care either.” He started to move around Alec so he could continue toward the main room. Another older gentleman approached the two vampires and Xander stopped. Xander heard the heartbeat and knew the newcomer was human. One of the people Alec was talking to in the corner earlier.
“Is everything alright here, Alec?” the old man huffed. He directed his attention to Alec, barely giving Xander a look past a reproving first glance.
“Yes, Richard,” Alec assured him. “Just a new member of my team I hope. A real go getter.”
“Ah,” Richard nodded his head and smiled. “The exuberance of youth. You don’t see enough of that these days for business.”
“We’ll just be a minute,” Alec politely insisted.
“Of course.” Richard nodded to the both of them and then wandered over to the double doors and entered the reception room.
When Xander made a move to follow Richard, Alec put his hand out to gently and politely stop him. “Wait. My offer hasn’t changed.”
“My answer hasn’t changed,” Xander quickly responded with a smile. He stood still and decided to hear what Alec would say or do. This was becoming kinda fun as well.
“Alexander Corazon, that’s your name, right? I did a little research,” Alec started, a little unnerved when Xander’s smile never faltered. “You proved yourself, I’ll give you that. I want you to be my right hand man. We can do a lot more great things together than apart. And no one wants a war.”
“We don’t want a war,” Xander readily agreed. “I also don’t want to join your organization.”
“Alex, can I call you Alex?” Alec pressed on. “I’m already in position to take over major underworld operations. I’m offering you a key place right away. You would have wealth, power and more than that. Look at yourself. Look at me. Look around.” Alec gestured with his arm. “I’m offering you respect. The respect of all the most influential people in this city.”
Xander considered it a moment. A blindingly hot moment. The desire for respect he always held locked safe in a deep corner of his mind blazed through his thoughts. His demon stirred and touched the dark aura that shadows the night and calls to them all. It reminded him of all the slights and old hurts that fuel his rages now. He could finally have respect. He could show them, control them, make them pay. Even Buffy and Willow would finally be impressed. The demon’s urging went too far. Xander’s personal memories reasserted themselves in his mind and the temptation for vengeance, the connection to the void in the night faded. He remembered their recent reminiscences and the underlying truths they revealed. He thought about the life they shared now.
Xander stood up straight and looked Alec in the eyes. “I have respect. I have the love and respect of the only people that matter. After everything we’ve been through, I’ve earned it.”
“So your answer is no,” Alec confirmed. He was disappointed. He was so sure he had negotiated this correctly. On to plan B. “Then I propose a truce. And as a sign of good will, perhaps you would be so good as to not make trouble for me here tonight.” He punctuated the request with a big, friendly smile; the winning smile he used to close deals.
Xander shrugged. A truce sounded good. That they be left alone was all he wanted. “Sure. But I get a pass on the dead guy already in the bushes.” He turned and left out the side door, not giving Alec Rollins much more thought. Just another wanna be master vamp and up here it turned out that wasn’t saying much. Xander dealt with them as a human, he could certainly deal with them as a vampire. He decided to run full speed back to the inner city. He wanted to feel the rain pelt his skin and watch the dully lit and damp world blur by him. He ran from the memory and thoughts of the strange urge that had erupted before. Playful destruction was fine but never before had his anger been focused to a need to control and as he thought back, crossing the line into being controlled by that call he could feel every night. He was more grateful now than ever for the free will Buffy’s blood gave to him. He ran to the center of the city, hoping to find Willow and Buffy.
* * *
Buffy found herself following a man from the bus stop. He was a large man: blue slacks, black shoes, cap on his head and black jacket wrapped around him tight to protect him from the rain. He stepped off the bus and started walking slowly down the street with his head down. Buffy thought maybe he was just coming off of work. She picked him at random. Maybe because he so quickly broke off from the group and ambled off alone. She followed a distance behind and he gave no indication of noticing her. At first she was curious where he was going. Now, she was tired of walking slowly behind on the empty sidewalk. It was making her sad. She caught up to him and pulled him into the secluded doorway of a closed business. She left his body sitting there when she was done.
It was strange: the heat of the man’s life force running through her contrasting with the cold rain running over her skin. It was exhilarating. The kill. Even a slow, stalking hunt and a simple kill, it satisfied. Not quite the way slaying had quenched that base need. There wasn’t that righteous component any longer. That surge from deep in the core of something greater to the core of herself. There was still a need for and satisfaction in the hunt. The man had led her up another hill to an unfamiliar part of the city. It was still an older part of town. Forgotten in all the recent renovations, the low office buildings had ‘for rent’ signs in the windows, chipped paint and missing bricks in their façade. Buffy continued up the hill and crossed an empty street into the residential area. It wasn’t any better. Old houses, once Victorian splendors, barely held on. Their porches leaned and as Buffy stopped and looked on at one, she noticed a window stuck open a crack and clear plastic hung inside trying desperately to keep out the rain. ‘These homes were too close to the city for this,’ Buffy considered. Soon the wave would hit here and all these people would be forced out. The houses would be fixed up and resold to the next occupants. She kept on in her explorations. The hunger abated, it only left time to kill.
Tucked in among the houses was a small collection of trees followed by a vacant lot surrounded by a fence. Buffy wandered in. She smiled. A cemetery. Of course she would find a cemetery. She took notice of the age and condition of the chipped and weathered granite headstones. Looked at some of the dates: the late 1800’s, WWI, WWII. There was nothing recent for a slayer here. Buffy leaned against some prominent family’s very prominent monolith. The hunting, the fighting, the killing: it wasn’t the same. She stared out at the cemetery and realized she didn’t need it to be. She missed the challenge of beating something bigger and badder than herself against all odds. She missed that rush. She didn’t miss the calling. The duty to a purpose greater than herself. Whatever magical feedback drug it gave in return. Being turned, she kicked it cold turkey. Buffy smiled and shook her head. Her inner monologue was getting strange. It was fun, like old times, to fight that slayer and the vampire. Though, it wasn’t her choice or desire to fight either of them. It was a stupid vampire who looked to her for a fight. And the slayer… she killed to keep their secret. It was to protect Willow and Xander and their life here. She would always do that. That duty never changed. Buffy wondered again why she couldn’t feed on the slayer. Willow, with her magical abilities, could pull the slayer force from them. She couldn’t even stomach drinking the blood. Guess she really was cut off from the calling. Buffy started walking back through the cemetery and towards the street. She never needed to hunt in one of these places again. Would never be buried in one again. She was free. And felt free. The only ties she felt bound to now were to Willow and Xander. So she headed back down the hill and to the center of town to look for them.
* * *
Buffy, Xander and Willow just missed each other at the Horseshoe Café. They checked for each other at different times in Rumors and The Hungry Ghost. They wandered in and out of the central downtown area of Railroad and Holly, but didn’t find each other until later in the night outside the crowded nightlife in the Maritime Park further down W. Holly St. Low clouds, light rain, and still the park’s fountain was cheerfully spurting water up to the sky in an effort not to be outdone. The three were just kissing their hellos, holding hands, reconnecting when they were interrupted.
“I thought if I had you followed, I could take care of this tonight,” Alec Rollins announced as he strolled up and stopped just before Xander, Buffy and Willow. The five vampires following him spread out and circled the three of them in a way that felt all too familiar.
“I thought we had a truce? Just how pissed are you about that guy in the bushes?” Xander calmly asked.
“Xander, what’s going on?” Willow and Buffy managed to ask at the same time.
Xander gestured to the main vampire in charge, still in the suit from before, now covered in an expensive wool overcoat completing the look. “Meet Alec… something. He’s the one I was telling you about Will. The one who wants to be a master vamp.”
“Alec Rollins!” Alec corrected indignantly. “And this isn’t about some guy in the bushes.”
“Then you have a funny definition of truce,” Xander calmly reasoned back. “All I did was turn down your job offer. You really can’t take no for an answer, huh?”
“He made you a job offer?” Buffy laughed.
“Yeah, sorry, I didn’t get a chance to tell ya about it,” Xander turned and started talking to Buffy, ignoring Alec for the moment. “He tried again earlier tonight,” he told both Willow and Buffy.
“Don’t play me for a fool. Reyes is gone. You killed him,” Alec accused. That got Xander to turn around and pay attention. “I thought when you found me, you had killed Reyes to prove you deserved a more prominent position in my organization. I agreed and offered you just that. When you turned me down, I knew you were either showing your intent to attempt to take over yourself or warning me you are a threat. Either way, the ruse of a truce is over. I will end this tonight.”
Xander threw his hands up in the air. “I didn’t even know you would be there. And I didn’t kill Reyes.”
“I did.” Buffy smiled as all eyes turned to her. “No master plan. He called me out.” She walked up towards Alec and stopped when a couple of his minions started towards her. “I don’t know who you are. And I don’t really care. So what now?”
There was a tense few moments of silence. Buffy walked back to Willow and Xander. They looked around at the vampires that surrounded them. They looked at each other and smiled. Finally, Alec’s voice rang out. “Take ‘em.”
He had a well trained crew. They had to admit that. All five attacked at once. Buffy, Willow and Xander were used to this; skilled at just this fight and just these odds. There was the strangeness of not having weapons. There was the odd balance of Xander holding his own. It seemed the three of them were overwhelmed at first. Then Buffy smashed both knees of one of the minions. The blows sent him to the ground and took him out of the fight for a while. Xander saw the move. He punched the minion attacking him in the chest repeatedly until the ribs were shards imbedded into the heart and lungs. It didn’t kill him but it had to hurt and made it impossible to fight. Willow stunned one with an uppercut to the chin with her elbow and then took him down with a kick to his knee. While he lay there, the first weapon came into play. A branch shot up from the ground and zipped into the minion’s heart before anyone even noticed. He turned to dust. Alec’s crew was stunned and looked around for the new threat. Buffy and Xander knew what happened and took advantage of their distraction. They kept incapacitating the minions and Willow kept the branches flying. Soon, it was Buffy, Willow and Xander staring at a frightened and stunned Alec. Xander smiled. “Take him.” Willow launched a short, thick twig into his heart. He turned to dust looking around, expensive overcoat flapping and dissipating into the ether.
Buffy, Willow and Xander looked at each other and laughed. “That was just like old times,” Buffy remarked excitedly. “Only, the remake version. And now I have the strangest desire for popcorn and a movie.”
“Home?” Willow suggested.
“Home.” Buffy and Xander agreed together.
* * *
