Disclaimer: "The aliens! It was the aliens that made me do it! They told me it was mine! Mwahahaha!"
Okay, I'm done. Go read the story now....shoo!
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Chapter 3
"Congratulations, you're a super hero. You get to fight for your life and possibly be eaten alive at a very young age. The public will never know about you and if they ever did they'd more likely freak than thank you. Welcome to your new life" Faith snorted as she walked up the sidewalk to Elspeth's house once again. "Like that's gonna go over well."
The problem, Faith decided, was that she wasn't very nice. She could get on better with the girls who were more likely to deck her after being told this than the ones that would break down and cry. The ones like Elspeth Harsgrove. The woman was a college professor for god's sake. She had a life. She wasn't like some teenager or kid who could think of it all as a grand adventure. She's also, Faith acknowledged, a lot more likely to call the cops on the crazy woman telling her she has to go hunt vampires.
The slayer knocked on the door, her posture unconsciously dropping into a defiant slouch, still muttering to herself. I might just have to call in the big guns here. She had called Willow last night while on the roof and the redhead had babbled on for what seemed for hours, spouting theories about why Elspeth was a slayer, what had happened to her and god only knows what else. Faith finally just held the phone away from her ear and let the witch talk, interjecting an occasional grunt. Maybe I should have paid a little more attention. She was jolted out of her reverie as the door opened.
"Hello again," Elspeth greeted her, staring up from her chair.
"Hey," Faith nodded and then figured she should be polite, "Thanks for seeing me."
"No problem." Elspeth rolled around and headed toward the family room. "Come on in."
Faith sauntered in, eying the place. It was pretty nice. A far cry from the tiny, cramped trailer Faith had shared with her mother and whatever boyfriend of the week she'd been hosting. The slayer shoved back the stab of reflexive terror as memories tried to crowd forward, focusing instead on the house before her. There was a steep stair way almost directly across from the door with a lift for Elspeth's chair folded up against the wall. The foyer led directly into the living room and Faith could see through to the kitchen over the bar. The place had been modified a bit to accommodate a wheelchair, but not by much.
"Take a seat," Elspeth motioned to the lone couch that was positioned against one wall and the single, comfy looking Lay-Z-Boy. Across from them was a flat-screen T. V. mounted to the wall with an entertainment center below it. The room was done in soft creams with tones of green and brown to accent. There were photographs on the wall, nature scenes with the odd black and white mixed in. There was an almost conspicuous lack of family photos.
Since Rift had immediately thrown himself onto the Lay-Z-Boy upon entering the room and was now eying her from his curled up position, Faith decided the couch was her best option. The moments seemed to stretch out as she dropped herself onto it, taking the time to shove her hair back and then finally turn to face the other woman who was sitting across from her, silently waiting. Might as well just jump in feet first, Faith shrugged and opened her mouth.
"Do you want something to drink?" Elspeth shot out before Faith could speak. "I've got Coke, iced-tea and juice, apple I think."
"Uh, a Coke'd be fine, thanks." Faith shifted on the couch. She hated situations like these. She didn't know how to act when people were polite and friendly. It made her feel all weird inside.
Elspeth wheeled out to the kitchen and came back into the living room after rummaging around in the fridge for a moment. She passed Faith a can of Coke and then rolled herself over to her former spot next to Rift's chair, reaching out to absentmindedly stroke his head. The two had obviously been together a long time. "Thanks," Faith gestured with the can and popped the top, taking a sip. "So I suppose I should just tell you why the hell I'm here. You should know that recruitment isn't usually my thing, I'm a field agent. If this were a normal meeting you'd be getting one of the guys in suits that do this all the time. Unfortunately for both of us, they're all busy right now. So you get stuck with me, sorry."
"So the IWC is trying to recruit me," Elspeth's chin went up, ignoring the rest of the slayer's statement.
"Yeah...wait, you know about the IWC?" Faith stared at the other woman in confusion. There had been no mention of contact in the file that she'd read. Maybe this would be easier than she'd thought.
"Well you're only the world leader in antiquities and historical research," Elspeth said somewhat sarcastically, popping Faith's small bubble of hope.
"Oh that," Faith flipped a hand and settled back down, "Yeah, yeah. High muckity-mucks of the tweed world, that's us."
"I've always wanted to know," Elspeth asked, curious about the other woman's dismissive attitude of her own employer, "What does IWC stand for? I keep asking and no one can tell me."
"Heh," the dark-haired slayer rasped and sipped at her Coke, "That's as good a place to start as any. It stands for International Watchers Council."
"International Watchers Council," Elspeth mused, her nose crinkling a bit. "What does Watchers stand for?"
Straight to the point, Faith sighed, "Okay, here's where my not being a normal recruiter is gonna make this hard. So I'm gonna ask that you let me get this shit out and not interrupt and go away screaming, 'cause I can promise you proof at the end, 'kay?"
"Alright," Elspeth was intrigued despite herself. The main reason she'd gotten into history was because she loved a good story and this one seemed like it might be a good one.
"Right," Faith cast about for where to start and finally figured that that overused line was probably the best after all. "The world didn't begin like the story books say..."
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Faith mentally braced herself for the screaming to begin as she ended the story of how the new Council had come to be. And damn, that thing's a lot longer and more fucking complicated than I thought it was. She'd omitted a few things, of course. Didn't go into details about her own screw-ups too much, choosing instead to focus on Buffy and her exploits. No need to give the girl anymore reason to go calling the cops on me.
"I'd like that proof you offered at the beginning, please," Elspeth blinked a few times and then spoke.
"That's it?" Faith had to ask. "No screaming or...or throwing shit at me...just proof?"
"Yes," Elspeth cocked her head, letting the other woman think she was perfectly calm and confident. Because if she's right, and I hardly think the IWC would have made it this far by letting their agents run around acting crazy...if she's right? If she's right, I'm going to need all the calm I can get.
"'Kay, give me a sec'," Faith stood up and reached into her pants' pocket, coming up with a Blackberry. She punched something into the keypad. "We need to go over to the front door. They'll be coming up that way."
"They...," Elspeth shook her head and rolled after Faith, "They who?"
"Them," Faith opened the door wide open, allowing Elspeth to see a nondescript brown van to pull up in front of her house. The side of it read "Mike's Plumbing!" in large, white letters and had a picture of a plunger on either side of the sentence. The side door rolled open and a medium sized blond girl dressed in jeans and a t-shirt jumped out.
In her right hand she held the end of a chain, which she jerked sharply as she got out, pulling a large black man out of the van behind her. The chain in her hand went to a metal collar that had crosses engraved in it and encircled his neck. His hands were also bound with iron manacles and there was a ball gag shoved in his mouth. Giving him no time to settle, the girl strode rapidly forward, practically dragging him behind.
"What is she do...?" Elspeth began.
"What, you want your neighbors to see us draggin' a chained up dude into your house?" Faith asked her.
"Not re...that's not the point!" Elspeth protested.
"Here," the girl thrust her end of the chain into Faith's hands, eying Elspeth curiously. "One vamp, bagged and tagged. As ordered. You need anything else?"
"Nah," Faith shook her head, "You guys go out and have fun, I got this."
"Cool," with one last curious glance at Elspeth, which was returned with an icy stare, the girl left.
"What is this, Faith?" Elspeth spoke the other woman's name for the first time.
"This is your proof," Faith smirked. "Watch."
As Faith spoke, the man was staring at her with wide, scared eyes, imploring her to do something. Elspeth wanted to protest, to say something that would make Faith let the poor guy go. Maybe call the police. But at the same time she was becoming aware of a sick, cramping feeling in her belly. It felt as if every muscle in her body was clenching up, screwing tighter and tighter. She had a horrible urge to reach out and snap the man's neck, to beat him senseless, to rend and tear him apart and at the same time she had never been more scared in her life.
"The feeling is natural," Elspeth looked up to see Faith looking at her with oddly sympathetic eyes, the first real emotion she'd seen in the other woman's dark eyes. "We all get it. It's what warns us something bad is around. The girls call it their "Spidey Sense". I call it the shit that keeps me alive. We'll train you how to recognize it, to use it. But first, the demonstration."
It can't be real...It can't be real...It can't be...
"Lesson the first," Faith began, "This is a vampire. Vampires don't always appear like the nasty bloodsuckers they are. But," the slayer reached down to her waist and pulled out a small glass vial of clear liquid. Then she took a sip and shook it, "You're basic Holy Water," and splashed it on the man's face.
His panicked eyes widened, he screamed as well as he could and hunched over. Elspeth's mouth opened and closed a bit as his face began to smoke and peel. He threw back is head and his entire face morphed and changed. No longer was he helpless and vulnerable, but now brutal and full of rage. He tried to leap at Elspeth but was brought up short as Faith cruelly yanked back on the chain.
Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! I don't want to know...
"Lesson the second," Faith walked into the house, dragging the still smoking...thing behind her. Suddenly she was pulled up short as the man stopped, blocked by some invisible forcefield from entering Elspeth's home. "Vampires cannot enter a home uninvited. This is also true for some demons, but not all. Best bet, never ask anyone into your home again. As long as you don't say it, it ain't real. Public buildings don't count for shit though. Go ahead and invite him in, the neighbors might start getting curious."
I don't care...just leave...
"Right...come on in," Elspeth got out, she was drifting as if in a dream, and rolled backward into the hall. Rift came up beside her, almost growling low in his throat. Elspeth looked at him in surprise. Helper dogs were trained extensively not to bark or show aggression.
The man...no, vampire was pulled along by Faith through the house and into the backyard. Elspeth stayed numbly on the porch as Faith positioned the vampire on the back lawn. "Lesson the third, vamps go poof when they die and ash is bad on carpet. Now watch." Then Faith reached out pressed her finger to the manacles on the vampire's hands, releasing him.
"You beat me, you're free," the slayer told him calmly.
This shouldn't be happening. How'd these people get in my home...my backyard? Why did she bring him here? I don't want to see this...I don't want to here it. Don't tell me these things...don't show them to me...Something inside her was crumpling and dying.
There was a moment's hesitation and then both opponents leaped forward. It wasn't pretty, it wasn't flashy, and it in no way looked like any of the fights Elspeth had ever seen in any T.V. show or movie. The fight was quiet, shockingly fast and extremely vicious. Faith was rocked back on her heels as the vampire slugged her in the face.
There was a wet crunching sound and blood flew onto the grass. Then the slayer grinned, licked her bloody lip and met his next blow with an open palm, stopping him and sending him flying with his own momentum. She stayed with him, straddling his torso and slamming down with the small wooden stake she had plucked from her boot. It went in with a sound like a wet melon cracking open and then Faith's opponent stiffened and turned to dust beneath her, blowing away in the wind and dropping her to the ground. She got up quietly and stood staring at Elspeth with dark eyes, blood dripping from the corner of her mouth..
So now we see, Faith brought her eyes up to look at the other woman from across the length of the yard, waiting for her response. She felt her own eyes widen a bit and then narrow. There was an almost dead look in the crippled slayer's eyes, a stark contrast from the challenging, snapping green that had been there before. The dark-haired slayer felt a rush of recognition. I ought to know it, I've seen it often enough in the mirror. Guess I'm just a little sad to see it on her.
"What do you expect me to do with that?" Elspeth's voice was cold and shook a little."You come here and tell me I'm supposed to be some kind of...some kind of superhero or something? That I might have been destined to save the world at one point in time...Fucking look at me!"
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Author's Note:
Yo, what's up?! Alright, I'll stop trying to be hip and stuff. Anyway, I want to thank all the people that have been reading this story and Empowered and reviewing and stuff. I've been trying to respond to everyone's reviews but I don't always get it done and I'm sorry. So here's a general shout out to everyone, "YOU'RE WONDERFUL! THANK YOU!"
Later,
WD
