Title: Shadows
Author: Lore
Rating: PG13
Summary: A short fight between Richie and a mysterious teenager aids
him out of the darkness.
Category: Crossover with Buffy
Notes: This has a companion piece called 'Light'
E-mail: lilith93@hotmail.com





Richie panted over the body of his latest foe. The woman had tried to
run he hadn't let her. In the end even her begging for mercy hadn't
saved her. He heaved himself up over the body, touching his chest as he did so. There was blood on his hands now. Innocent blood.

He stared at the corpse. It was dressed in the finest fashions. Her
shoes were high heeled. Those had not been of any help to her when
they fought.
She'd seemed so unprepared, surprised even. Not entirely untrained,
but still young. A bit over his own age and now she was dead. The
hazards of the Game.

He picked the body over his shoulder, throwing it in the trunk of his
car. A wallet fell out of her pocket. He picked it up. Who knows, she
seemed rich enough. And it wasn't as if she still needed the money.
There were pictures inside of the thing. A man, children, he dropped
the wallet on the floor.

Where was that head? He ignored the wallet, the money, the pictures,
the proof of his crime. Her dark red hair had hidden her head in the
darkness. He'd just picked it up when he heard something. He turned
around, dropping the head and grabbing his sword, ignoring the loud
crash as the skull hit the stone.

A young girl appeared from the shadows. A light etched out of the
darkness. She had golden blond hair that surrounded her face as an
angelic aura. It was oddly in contradiction with her no nonsense
outfit. A black leather vest over a pair of stretch pants.

The girl looked at him in revulsion when she noticed the head. She
didn't even seem surprised by the sword in his hand and grabbed
something, he couldn't quite catch from where. It was a long piece of
wood. She attacked him and at first Richie just defended himself. She
was only mortal, no true threat to him. That appeared to be a mistake.

She hit him in het gut and kicked his feet out from under him. The
stake appearing over his heart. The fool, what did she think he was, a
vampire?
The girl hesitated and he rolled out of the way, getting right up
again. This time he was the first to attack, her wooden weapon was no
defense against his rapier. He forced her up against the wall, his
sword against her throat.

"You have no idea what you're messing with." He hissed in her ear, his
lips touching her warm hot skin. The Quickening coursed through her.

She kicked him in the groin, making him squirm in pain.

"Some kind of demon?" she stated in a clear bubbly voice.

Richie managed to chuckle in between taking deep breaths.
"Hardly." he wanted to say, but he didn't, letting her come to her own
conclusions. A cut she'd given him on his head started healing and she
seemed surprised at the sight.
"You have no idea." Was all he'd say. She snorted.

The immortal straightened himself up, holding his sword defensively as
if against an armed challenger. She got out of the way and grabbed
hold of a metal bar. He greeted her and the fight started again. Both
were equally matched, he had the experience, the training, she held
the natural finesse and instincts he could only dream about.

But in the end it was the immortal that won. He stood over her, his
sword ready to land in her throat. Her eyes turned to him. Not
innocent, like he'd thought at first, but hurt like his own.
Worry, and a slight bit of fear shivered inside those eyes, yet she
didn't blink or fear, she just accepted. His sword was up in the air.
Why didn't she get up and fight? This just didn't feel right, killing
her like this, a mortal.

He looked in those big blue eyes and saw those of the woman he'd just
murdered. Whichever way he turned it, that had been murder. He stood
still, his sword down, she used the moment and kicked him to the
ground. She stood over him, he could feel something hit him in the
chest, he felt blood sip from his lips, hit the wall and died.

He was almost surprised to find his head still attached when he came
too. His chest hurt, severely. He pulled something out of it, a stake.
It hurt.
The young immortal groaned as he saw her. Her mouth fell open in
shock. She really hadn't expected him to come back.

He held his chest while getting up, supporting himself on the hard
stone of the basketball court.

"You're not going to kill me again, are you?" She gasped, he ignored her and grabbed for his sword.

"Stay out of my way girl, it'll only get you hurt."

He gazed around, looking for the head. It was still lying there, the
skull obviously cracked. She just stood still, as if she were waiting
for the moment to attack. Richie grumped and returned to his rental.

Damn! It stank of the corpse inside. He wouldn't be able to just return it. Not like this. Thank god he hadn't rented it under his real name.
Maybe he should just get a new bike. Why care that he didn't have the
money?

"Don't worry kid, I'm leaving. Don't get involved."
He started the car and left, leaving a befuddled teenager behind.

Companion Piece: Light