Quidditch. How could such a sport help him so much in this particular area? The hybrid boy was jumping over kicks and ducking punches from a Slayer on nearly pure instincts. It seemed as though his eternal quest for the Golden Snitch had truly made his reflexes something exceptional before his odd rebirth.
To make things harder though, Giles was sitting on the Summers back steps and asking him questions about his life at Hogwarts. Four years of struggles were being written down for future stuffed shirts to read and analyze. But he didn't have time to think on that, he needed to keep Faith from smacking him with her full Slayer strength and probably unhinging his jaw. He felt like a science project, a feeling he was beginning to really hate, and hoped the questions would end soon.
"Shouldn't you be researching the Gentlemen, Mr. Giles," Harry asked as he brought an arm up to block a high kick from the brown haired beauty in front of him and nearly felt his arm snap. Grimacing he stepped to the side to allow her next round house kick to sweep past him. "I mean, I can fill in any gaps you want too but first, evil demons need to be killed," he managed to get out before Faith's open palm caught him in the ribs and sent him flying back.
The two were in the backyard, and Faith would go patrolling that night, meaning they would stop at five, and then he would be learning from Spike. They had managed to deduce earlier that Spike could cause physical pain to demons, or anything his chip figured was a demon. While the vampire couldn't hurt Faith, Giles, or Mrs. Summers, he could pound Harry into the ground with ease.
Climbing to his feet Harry tasted something coppery in his mouth and swallowed, feeling the blood run down his throat and decided he must have bit his cheek. "Okay, that hurt," he muttered before ducking underneath another kick. 'Three more hours, Harry, just three more,' he thought to himself as he attempted to fend off the wild vampire slayer in front of him.
"Yes, yes, you're most likely correct," the older man said standing and wiping his glasses. "Now I know I might not be your Watcher, Faith," the ex-Watcher was saying looking at the curvy teenager, "but these exercises will most likely assist you after having been in a coma for so long." Seeing the angered glare directed at him from said slayer he didn't even flinch. "Plus you are training a boy who alone has done some miraculous things and I would think passing that knowledge along would be a good thing."
Using the distraction from Giles as his opening, Harry jumped forward, wrapping his arms around Faith's shoulders and his legs around her waist. His human teeth hit the side of her neck and he smirked. "You're dead, I win," he said happily before bouncing back. He could already feel his ribs and arm healing and was ready to go again.
"Don't know what more you want me to teach him, Rupert," the bleached vampire's voice said from the open kitchen door where he hid in the shadows of the house. "He already knows what I knew to take down a slayer. Wait for the opportune moment and then go for it. Every combatant leaves openings, and every slayer has a death wish, you just have to wait for both to come together long enough to sink your fangs into their neck."
Faith's brown eyes rolled at the vampire's speech before turning to look at Harry carefully. "I don't know about a death wish, I like being a slayer, but what I do know is a poor body when I see one. Didn't those army guys feed you," she asked Harry with a calculating look. "We're going to have to fatten you up so you'll gain some muscle. You'll probably need blood too to keep yourself at your peak. I think I saw some ice cream sandwiches in the freezer, let's grab one and then we'll keep going, alright?"
Harry nodded and followed the older girl into the house, his eyes trailing on her swinging hips nearly putting him into a trance. He wasn't sure if it was the human or demon in him yelling at him to take her and make her his. Her strength, speed, and endurance mixed with his abilities would create quite the powerful offspring. Realizing his thoughts he shook his head and tried to push them away as they left the back yard and went inside.
That night as the Buffy and Faith went through the town on patrol, Harry and Joyce were asleep as Spike watched television and began cursing as a showing of Dracula came on. Willow lay in her bed fast asleep in her dorm room while Xander and Anya lay in post intimate bliss in his basement apartment. The dark skinned Olivia lay in Giles' bed sleeping as the watcher sat in his dining room flipping through dusty tomes hoping to find anything about the Gentlemen from Buffy's dream.
Taking off his glasses to rub his eyes he shifted his pile of books before landing on one that seemed to call to him. Putting his glasses back on, he nearly had a heart attack at seeing the Pergamum Codex, the book of prophecies pertaining to Slayers. Pulling it closer he flipped it open and began to scan its pages. For some unknown reason one prophesy in particular caught his eyes. "The Seed and the Master," he read carefully before looking down at the Latin text in curious wonder. Grabbing a pen and pad of paper he began to write down what he could make out on the worn parchment page.
Three limbs of the tree will meet the Great Devourer and live. To them the Devourer will bestow his greatest gifts; Murder, Resurrection, and Stealth. These gifts shall be curses upon the tree according to their kind.
The first limb will snap without fruit or leaf and become devoured in its murderous pride.
Serpent's tongue shall wither the second limb turned branch and give rise to He whom flees the devourer's maw.
The third limb will be choked by the second, but bare a new seed. One marked by devourer through the serpent's tongue.
The seed is the Seed to be transformed in flames and brimstone, and from the Old a New is born.
Protected by the Dark the Seed is Light and Power.
The Seed will gather the devourer's gifts and master them to become the Master.
But first the seed must find the Seed and Master to devour both in a sanctuary swallowed by the Mouth of Hell, only then will seed be Seed and the master be Master.
"Well that's just unhelpful," Giles sighed pushing the pad of paper away. Sighing irritably he decided to call it a night and head for bed. He would have plenty of time to figure out who the Gentlemen were tomorrow anyway. Smirking at the thought of the woman in his bed he nearly chuckled as he ascended the steps to him room, ready to make a beautiful night even better for him and his guest.
Faith woke up the next morning with a smile on her face. She had slain several vampires the night before and hadn't seen any sign of Buffy the entire time. Then she had come home to eat pizza and watch some late night horror movie with Spike about hosted by Elvira before climbing upstairs to the blond slayers room and stripping naked to climb under the sheets. The thought of tainting little miss perfects bed with her naked body was too thrilling to let simply go by.
Throwing on a robe she went into the bathroom to shower and cut the water on. After it got the right temperature she climbed in and just let the water drain away all her aches and pains before a knock came at the door. Opening her mouth to answer she nearly screamed when nothing came out. Ripping back the shower curtain she wound up giving a certain teenage demon a hell of a show, again, as he pushed the bathroom door open.
Jerking the curtain back around herself she tried to yell at him but no noise came out. Harry was likewise opening his mouth to apologize but no words passed his lips. He finally got the hint though as he was pegged in the head by a bottle of shampoo and went scurrying out of the bathroom. Silent grumbles filled Faith's head as she locked the bathroom door and got back into the shower. She supposed it was nearly time for a Scooby meeting.
Outside the bathroom Harry was gasping for breath and trying to cover a bulge in his pajama bottoms. Biting his lip he rushed to his room and closed the door with an audible snap before getting dressed, hoping his embarrassing situation would go away on its own. A knock on his door later and he was face to face with Joyce, who was looking at him with worry.
Soon white noise filled the house to make up for the lack of speaking going on. Breakfast was awkward and uncomfortable as Faith came downstairs fully dressed. Her brown eyes locked with Harry's green and he blushed looking down at the table. 'You want her, you know you do, stop fighting and take her,' a voice seemed to fill his head at random moments with Faith was around. 'Prove your dominance, and make her your mate.'
'That isn't how things work,' Harry thought back and tried to shove the voice away. 'She has to choose to be with me, and why would she? I'm just a kid and she's a woman. A very attractive woman at that with wonderful soft curves… and I'm just Harry.'
'You still have no idea what you are,' the voice said before seemingly deciding to give up. A quick lift to Giles' flat was given to the two by Joyce while Spike slept on his cot in the basement, unaware of what was going on. That was nearly a disaster as Faith came face to face with the entire Scooby Gang for the first time since she had woken up. Giles and Buffy had to physically stop Xander and Willow from going for axes and crossbows.
Unable to speak though, the meeting was pretty much a bust and it was decided that Faith and Harry would patrol their neighborhood with Spike while Buffy covered the main town to keep the peace. Little did the group know that under UC Sunnydale similar orders were being given to a squad of commandos to do. Shrugging the groups parted ways with Harry and Faith walking back to 1630 Revello Drive and taking in all the chaos of a city without a voice.
Banks were closed but people were still selling everything they could to make a buck at mind shattering prices. Ten dollars for white boards to write on and fifteen for markers, liquor was seemingly in mass supply and fraternity houses were having silent screaming orgy parties for any sorority girls they could get to come. Oh yes, it truly did seem as though all of Hell had broken loose, with the government covering it up as mass laryngitis from improper flu vaccinations.
That night once again everyone was sound asleep by two thirty in the morning, and that's when they came. Black penny loafers floated off the ground as tall gangly demons in black suits and white undershirts made their way into the town. Demons in straight-jackets were bursting in motion as they seemed to dance across the streets and lawns. As for the Gentlemen themselves, they moved with a grace that obviously came with their name.
No movement was wasted and no sound was uttered by the bald creatures with skin too small to fit over their skulls. The space around their eyes was black and their lips had been removed to give them an everlasting creepy smile. They didn't blink because they had no eye lids and moved through the town as silent as ghosts as they searched for their prey.
They split off into pairs, with one member of each pair holding a doctor's leather bag, filled with scalpels and jars. Two of them went into the residential neighborhoods and another two went into the college campus. The two on campus passed quickly into the co-ed dormitories and began to float down the hall in silence, passing by some rooms without a glance while studying others before deciding to go on.
Finally they found a room they seemed to like and knocked. As a young brown haired man opened the door he silently screamed at the images of terror before him. He tried to shut the door but it was shoved open by two of the straight-jacket wearing demons who grabbed him and shoved him onto the bed before holding him down. His terrified pleadings went unheard as the Gentlemen stood on either side of his bed and smiled at each other.
The shorter of the two reached into his bag and pulled out a scalpel before passing it on to his taller comrade who took it gently and looked it over happily. He never even bothered to look at his screaming victims face as he placed the sharpened blade upon the man's bare chest and began to cut away the flesh and muscle to get to the ribs. They had done this far too often to feel any sort of pity for the boy even as they violently tore his ribs open to get at his still beating heart.
Across town a silent Olivia, still awake after another night of sex with Giles, got up and put a shaggy blue robe on. Deciding to make herself a cup of tea she headed down the stairs and filled the kettle. As the kettle went on the stove she decided to peek out the window at the mid October night sky. However instead of spotting the moon as she had hoped she came face to face with the horrifying demons. The Gentleman merely smiled and waved to her politely before continuing on its way, leaving a terrified woman crouching on the ground under the window and hugging her knees in terror.
The next morning found Harry, Faith, Anya, Xander, Willow, Buffy and Giles in a small lecture hall at the university. The lights were off as music played in the background. Anya had even brought popcorn which made Harry hungry as he sat behind her smelling the stale butter. Faith was sitting on the far side of Buffy and Willow from Xander while Giles stood at the front next to a projector.
Placing the first slide on the machine he had to be directed to turn it around before any of them could read what it said. "Who are the Gentlemen?" The next slide came up with a picture of a 'Gentlemen', and said "They are Fairy Tale monsters." The next slide went up quickly, "What do they want?" Harry snickered as Willow began to point at her chest and Xander mouthed the word 'Boobies', while holding his hands out from his own chest. At that point the fifteen year old lost it and fell to the ground in a fit of silent giggles.
An upset Willow pointed at the projection screen as Giles put up the new slide showing three hearts and the word "Hearts." The next slide showed two gentlemen standing on top of a hill overlooking a poorly drawn town. "They come to a town," and the next slide, "and steal people's voices so they can't scream," it said while showing the Gentlemen stealing voices from poorly drawn people. By this time Harry managed to get himself back up off the ground with only slight sniffs of amusement.
"Then," the next picture said. And that was it, causing Harry to roll his eyes all amusement forgotten. What a waste of resources just to build up suspense. Finally he changed pictures showing a person in bed covered in blood and a Gentleman standing over him holding a large knife. Anya offered Harry some popcorn so he grabbed a handful and began chewing it as the next slide showed the Gentleman holding a heart in his hand.
Xander held up his hand asking for a moment as he wrote on his board and held it up so everyone could see him asking how to kill the things. In answer Buffy held her fist over her pelvis and began to pump it up and down, causing Harry to begin choking on his popcorn as he tried to laugh. Luckily he began coughing and hacking as Xander seemed to think Faith would be the one going out and masturbating demons to death. Buffy finally pulled out her stake so everyone knew what she was talking about as Anya and Harry were in the background with the older blond giving the boy the Heimlich maneuver.
"In the tales no sword can kill them," Giles' next slide said as it showed a happy Gentleman skewered with several swords. "But the princess screamed and they all died," the new projection said showing an ugly drawing of a girl with an open mouth and wavy lines coming out as Gentlemen's bodies were piled up to the side. Willow excitedly held up a CD and began making a dramatic death scene, only for Giles to shake his head and show the next slide. "Only a real human voice will do it."
"How do I get my voice back," Buffy's white board said as she held it up, but Giles could only shrug. Putting, thankfully, the last slide up to show two very ugly and boxy girls with stakes in their hands, it read "Buffy and Faith will patrol tonight and see what they can find." Both girls jumped to their feet and began yelling at the aged man and pointing at the pictures to their bodies to show their displeasure. Meanwhile behind them all, Anya finally helped Harry dislodge the popcorn kernel wedged in his throat and they both sighed in relief that they missed the rest of Giles' horrible drawings.
On the walk back home Harry felt like strutting like a peacock as most men glared at him in jealousy as he was escorted by Faith. He was becoming a lot more used to his senses and could both smell and taste the lust rolling off of them, the same as he could when he was near Xander and just about any of the girls that made up the Scoobies. That boy was sort of a pig, unable to tell if he wanted Buffy, Willow, Faith, or his girlfriend Anya. He wouldn't doubt the guy wanted all four, but Faith was his.
He shook his head to try once again to rid himself of the thought. He felt like a dog needing to mark his territory, but that was wrong wasn't it? He was human with some demon qualities, he wasn't a beast. Women had free will just as much as men did and he would respect that, even if every cell in his body seemed to try and resist his own… resistance. He was resistance-y Harry… and he had hung out in Giles' apartment for far too long if he was picking up on Buffy-isms. Next he might have the wiggins or something.
He wouldn't let Faith and Buffy go out alone tonight though. Especially not Faith, she smelled like cigarettes, sweat, and musky scent he couldn't quite place and he wanted to keep smelling it. Nope, tonight he would wait for Joyce to fall asleep and Spike to start watching TV and then he would slip out under the cover of darkness.
He would make sure Faith was alright and bring her home, and make sure Buffy was alright too since it might worry Joyce, and she had been kind to him for the most part. He just didn't have the same animalistic urge to protect the blond slayer as much as the dark haired one. With a smile firmly in place he let the curvy woman at his side take him home.
Author's Note: I'm sorry, it's short, I know, but the serious lack of dialogue for this section makes it incredibly hard to make longer. I also needed to cut it short for another reason. In "Hush", the episode this story is currently in, sort of marks the real beginning for Buffy and Riley's relationship. Personally I don't care for Riley, but he's a big part of seasons 4 and 5, so he'll be included.
The question is should Buffy and Riley get together? I have almost all the pairings down except for that. It will be Harry/Faith, Willow/Tara, Xander/Anya. Now I do plan on adding Angel TS into this, which would bring back Angel, Cordelia, Wesley, Fred, and Gunn, as well as the WR&H. This will mean lots of Big Bads all crossing each other. As well as bring back Darla and Drusilla. Personally I was thinking of making it Buffy/Angel, Spike/Cordelia, Wesley/Fred/Gunn love triangle. With possibly Dawn/Connor later on.
I hope you guys liked my prophecy, took me several drafts to finally get only that piece of it finished. Which reminds me, for this story, there will be no Horcruxes. P.S. No one will die. You think with all these movers and shakers like Voldemort, The First, the Initiative, Glory, Wolfram and Hart, and Jasmine, that three nerds are going to be a blip on the radar? No, so no Tara dying from a gunshot, which was lame.