Title:
What the Shell?
Author: Jonathan
Chapter: 4
Rating:
PG-13/Teen
Category: Buffy/Xander, Faith/Casey
Spoilers: Up
until mid season 4 of Buffy. After Oz left but before Tara. In TMNT,
general knowledge. Characters are drawn from cartoon series, movies,
or maybe comics.
Summery: The turtles were contacted by Casey
about a new problem. They're back with the Scoobs in toe. It's
Manhtattan Half Shellverse style.
Disclaimer: Buffy is owned by
Whedon, Fox, UPN. TMNT is owned by Eastman, Laird, Mirage
Studios
Author Notes: Personally, I never thought I'd return to
this. But when a friend suggested I come back to this series, I
actually thought it wasn't a bad idea. We talked, and the idea
wasn't a bad one.
Oh, and this concludes the Half Shellverse
Trilogy.
Sadly, Cobra's fic, Undercover Reporter, which was set
in this universe isn't canon. He never finished it and when I
thought I wouldn't come back, it didn't matter. Undercover
Reporter was a good fic in its own right. A good read too.
Previous
installments can be found here:
/Series-69
--
Faith LeHane watched as Xander disappeared into his room from the kitchen. He was shortly followed by Buffy. She was currently at the sink with Casey and the two were having a nice moment alone. April was already on route back to the sewers with Donnatello, Splinter, and Leatherhead.
"So this is an interesting turn of events." Casey said as he approached his girlfriend. He gave her a smile, trying to lighten the moment. "It didn't go that bad, huh, Babe?"
She smirked slightly as she felt his arms graze hers. "Only because Splinter interrupted B's attack."
"Splinter was only pointing out what was necessary. We did just lose half the team."
"I get it, I do." The Slayer returned. She glanced at the door, "I bet she's on her way to complain to Xander how much she hates having to work with me."
He gave her a look, "Do you blame her?"
Faith glanced at the floor a moment. "No." The brunette looked at him again, "No, I don't."
Casey told her, "This could be the moment that turns it around for you."
She scoffed, "Right." Faith shook her head, "I bet she'll lead the Faith's reformed parade."
He smirked, "She could also honor Leatherhead."
"Not true." Faith clarified. "That Leatherhead isn't exactly the same Leatherhead, now is he?"
Jones countered, "Depends if you buy his clone story."
"You should spend some time in Sunnydale." Faith added.
"Is that an invitation?" Casey smiled. He approached her and lent forward. He kissed her forehead. Jones slipped his hand to caress her cheek, allowing her long dark tendrils to flow smoothly down his hand.
"Oh, I'm sorry."
The two stopped. Casey turned to see the source and spotted Leatherhead standing in the doorway. "Hey."
He nodded, "I can come back later." The alligator replied and headed for the door.
"No, it's cool." Faith said after the pleading eyes Casey were directed at her. She smiled slightly and pointed her head to their visitor.
"Right." Leatherhead said as he approached them. His size towering them. "I…wanted…well….wanted to talk to you about something."
She nodded, "Spill."
The alligator looked at Casey, "May I ask how long you two been together?"
Faith looked at Casey who replied, "About a month."
He nodded, "That's not what I hoped." Leatherhead turned to Faith. "When I first met everyone here, I smelt a slight difference when I came to you."
"You smelt us?" Casey asked.
He shrugged, "It's an alligator thing." Leatherhead turned to the female. "It smelt like you actually gave birth."
Her eyes shot up, "Birth?"
He nodded, "It smelt like you were with child." He knelt down so that he can looked her into the eyes, "What happened before the coma?"
She looked at Casey and then back at Leatherhead, "B and I were in a fight. She…" Faith gently rubbed her chest, "…stabbed me here."
Leatherhead pointed out, "I'm bettng that your child was taken without you aware."
Faith looked at Casey and then Leatherhead, "I mean…I thought something…but I dunno." She thought for a moment, "But being a slayer, my body heals itself allot faster then normal."
"So Faith was pregnant?" Casey asked. He looked at the alligator, "Where's the kid now? How sure are we that she was pregnant?" Casey turned to his girlfriend. "Who's the father?"
"Hey Faith!"
Faith said silently, "Xander…"
She shook her head.
"Are you going to tell him?" Leatherhead asked.
Faith said, "No." She looked at her boyfriend, "I dunno even if it's true."
"What are you going to do?" Casey asked.
"I don't know."
--
Xander Harris placed a leather case on his bed. He sat down beside the case and rolled up his sleeves. Going back to the case, Xander lifted one kama and looked at it. The sheen of the metal reflected upon the light that came from the chandelier above him.
He sighed a moment later and took a strap that sat within the casing. Xander wrapped it around his forearm and got it into the position he needed. Placing the kama on the newly formed band, he arranged that with a flick of the wrist, the weapon would shoot straight up and find its resting spot upon Xander's palm.
When satisfied with one arm, he went to do the same procedure on his left one.
"You ready to do this?"
He looked up from his bed and saw Buffy coming into the room. He tightened his left wrist, "Just about."
She walked over to him and sat down. "What are you doing?"
Xander grinned, "Donny made this for me." He opened his arm to her so she can see the kama resting on his forearm. "When I flick my wrist like this…" He did the motion quickly, "…the kama shoots up and allows me to grab the weapon with ease."
"Cool." Buffy said with a smile. She tossed some hair behind her right ear. Buffy was about to say something when they head, "So tell me about who were talking to."
He nodded, "Alright…" He ran a hand down the back of his head slightly. Xander glanced at the door, "Hey, Faith!"
Buffy gave him a look, "We don't need her here, Xander."
Xander let out a breath, "We need her, Buffy. I know you don't like her." He shrugged, "Hell, I don't like working with her at this point. But this isn't an everyday slay. We can't just slay them down and be done with them." He smirked, "This isn't Sunnydale."
"I know this isn't Sunnydale, Xander. But why does that matter?" She sighed and gazed at him with her eyes starting to moisten, "We're trying to find out what happened to people we love…people we might never see again." Tears started to appear from her eyes, "I don't trust her, Xander." She shook her head, "And with half our friends gone…"
Xander didn't need to wait for her to finish the statement. He pulled her into his arms and held her. "I get it." He ran his hand down through her hair. "I get it, Buff."
He continued to hold her as he felt the tears starting to soak through the front of his shirt. "It's ok." He kissed the top of her head and held her still.
A few moments passed.
Buffy didn't want to move. The way Xander held her felt so right. She was safe and warm. A sensation that she hasn't felt in a while.
Xander pulled himself away from her. His right thumb dried the tears that stained her face away. "I know, Buffy. I know that you don't like this."
He flashed her a smile, "What you have to remember is that Faith actually spent some time here in Manhattan. If Master Splinter, a person who I respect and honor with all my heart, is willing to give her a second chance, I think we should too."
"I already gave her chances though, Xander. I welcomed her to my home. I helped her. I tried to be her friend. I… What does she do? She throws it back in my face. She tries to kill you. She betrayed us…she…"
Before she could continue, they were interrupted with a comment.
"I was a mess back then, B."
Her head snapped around as Faith entered the room.
"Faith…"
She held her hand up, "Just let me say this, alright?"
Buffy was about to respond when Xander gave her a look. She nodded in agreement.
She went to the desk that sat by the far wall and grabbed the chair. She went in front of her two former friends and swung the chair around with the back of it facing forward. Sitting down, she grabbed hold of the top and ran her fingers down the smooth frame. "I admit. Back in the Dale, I hurt you. I hurt you all. When I first came, met the fam, saw how all you Scoobs acted…what I'm trying to say is I freaked. I wasn't used to all that.
"Both my mom and watcher died. My dad went to jail never saw him again. I was alone. And then it felt like everyone abandoned me. That's why I joined the Mayor. He was the only one who really showed compassion. Well enough compassion that my mind thought it needed. And then when I was in the coma, I kept having dreams where B killed me." She shook her head, "When I woke up, I had to bale
"Then I hit Manhattan. Ran into Casey one night, together charged a gang of vamps, ended up in the ER and decided to go out one night."
Buffy looked at Xander for any sign of understanding and 3when he nodded she turned to Faith. She tossed some hair behind her ear, "Faith, I'm sorry about what happened. And I get that you freaked."
She soon felt Xander right arm wrap around her shoulders which only made her comfortable. She knew how he felt about this situation. And she knew how much he respected Splinter. Xander was right about giving the number of chances to Angel.
Giving a soft smile, she admitted, "Alright, Faith. If you want to help, Xander and I can use it. Splinter is right. Whoever created the trap must think that they succeeded. That's why it's only us doing the questioning."
Faith nodded, "I'm down with that." She glanced at Xander, "So who are we dealing with again?"
--
"It's gone."
"What is?" Donatello asked as he and April entered his sensei's room.
In front of them sat three shelves. Among the objects were the remnants of the mutagen metal, the scepter that allowed them to travel to ancient Japan, Mikey's Turtle Costume head as well as Raphael's vigilante helmet.
Problem though was there was an empty space. It was left barren.
"Are you alright, Splinter?" April asked her friend.
He shook his head, "Whatever has been planned is truly moving forward."
"What's missing?" Donny asked.
Splinter looked at his son and said simply…
"Shredder's helmet."
--
TBC