Chapter Six
Broots'
Residence,
Dover, Delaware.
Broots trudged wearily into his house, thankful that another day at The Centre was over, especially considering whom he was now having to deal with. After hanging up his coat and throwing his bag under the side table, he walked into the living room to find his daughter playing Scrabble with her babysitter.
She sensed his presence immediately and jumped out of her chair to greet him. "Daddy!"
"Hi sweetpea," he replied warmly, leaning down and placing a kiss on her forehead, "sorry I'm so late."
"Don't worry daddy," she told him easily, knowing he didn't have much choice in how long he worked, "Emily kept me company."
Broots turned to the lady in question and smiled widely at her, his eyes brightening slightly at the sight of her. "Thanks for looking after her for me Em."
"It was my pleasure Ru," she replied, blushing slightly at the way he was looking at her, "you know that."
Debbie could see the way her dad and Emily looked at each other and knew there was something going on, but didn't say anything. Her dad needed someone in his life and while she would prefer it to be Miss Parker, she was realistic enough to know that wasn't going to happen. Miss Parker liked her dad, she knew that for certain, but their relationship was more like what she'd seen in brothers and sisters at school.
She did like Emily and always enjoyed it whenever she looked after her when her dad rang to say he was working late, so she wasn't upset about the development, just that she hadn't been told yet.
She suddenly yawned and realised just how late it was. She normally didn't stay up late, but she could never really sleep properly until she knew her dad was back. Emily knew that and allowed her to stay up, but only on the understanding that she went to bed once he got back.
"Debbie, you need to get yourself ready for bed," Emily reminded her, expecting an argument but found herself surprised when Debbie nodded her head tiredly.
"Okay," she mumbled, exhaustion creeping up on her quickly. She went on tiptoes and kissed Broots on the cheek. "Night daddy."
"Night pumpkin."
They watched her go upstairs and waited for her bedroom door to close before saying anything.
"Any progress?" Emily asked as she drew closer to him, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"Some," he answered as his hands instinctively went to her waist. "Having Brian around isn't going to make anything easier you know."
"He doesn't know that you're…" she trailed off, wary of speaking aloud despite knowing that the house was clear of listening devices.
He shook his head. "No, there's no way I'd be alive if he did. His arrival does have one advantage."
"And that is?" she asked.
"The others are too preoccupied with him to notice what I'm doing. Add to that the idea we've, well I've cooked up, there should be enough distractions to bring our plan forward."
"I remember what you've said about your brother," she said worriedly, "I can't see there being many ways of keeping him out of the way apart from killing him."
"There isn't," he agreed with a sigh.
"And you're okay with that?"
"Of course not," he confessed, the plotting of his brother's death weighing heavily on him, "but as you said, there aren't many other options if any. There is an executive order out on him, so I'm not doing anything outside of my remit. Anyway, I doubt I'll be the one that pulls the trigger, he's gotten under Miss Parker's skin and that's a dangerous place to be, unless you're a certain Pretender of course."
"Jealous?" she teased.
"No, any feeling I have for Miss Parker are purely platonic, despite what I allow other to think. I have my eye on someone else actually."
"Anyone I know?" she asked coyly.
"Yes actually," he replied, kissing her softly.
"Speaking of Jarod," she said pulling away from him slightly, "with everything that's going on, will he be okay?" she asked, worried that he might get caught in the crossfire.
"Don't worry," he soothed, sounding nothing like the person he portrayed at The Centre, "if everything goes to plan he'll get the freedom he's been wanting all his life and the Centre will go down for good."
Emily checked her watch and winced slightly at the lateness of the hour. "I better get going," she said with a sigh, wanting to spend a little more time with him, "Dad's going to start worrying about me."
"That isn't something I want to happen, I've seen your father when he's angry and I don't want that anger pointed at me."
"Be careful Ru," she warned, indicating what he was doing at The Centre, "you know the Company won't help you if the proverbial hits the fan."
"I knew that when I started this Em, but I've come too far to stop now." He escorted her to the door and handed her a large manila envelope from the drawer of the side table. "Give these to your mother next time you see her with my regards."
"I will." She leaned in and kissed him briefly but passionately on the lips. "I'll see you soon," she said softly before grabbing her coat and reluctantly leaving.
"Not soon enough," he replied with a sigh.
Sunnydale
High School Library,
Sunnydale, California.
"Does he know what he's doing?" Buffy asked Xander, watching the professional and efficient manner in which Jarod was assessing the still unconscious girl's injuries.
"He's a Pretender Buff," he replied as though it were obvious, "of course he knows what he's doing."
"You could do that as well?"
"Yep."
"Cool."
"I thought so."
It had been half an hour since their guest had decided to join them, and she still hadn't come to. After dealing with the vamps that had decided to follow her down, both Jarod and Xander had gone over to check on her condition.
"We need to get her to a hospital," Jarod said with urgency as he began assessing her injuries.
"That's not wise or necessary Dad."
"Why the hell not?" he demanded.
"Because going by Giles' comment as she arrived, she's the new Slayer on the block."
"Yes, she is," Giles interjected, wiping his glasses. "Her name is Faith Lehane and as far as I am aware, she was born and bred in Boston. The Council detected her Calling a couple of days after Kendra's death and Linda Gi… Beckett was sent to find her a couple of days later. By all accounts, she had taken to her status as Slayer rather well and was making quite a dent in the Boston demon population. Of course, Linda neglected to mention that Boston has a relatively small demon presence, but that's Linda all over."
Xander, Willow and Buffy exchanged looks at the way Giles talked about Faith's Watcher, all realising that there was some animosity between the two
"She's still severely injured Mr. Giles, Xander, and I do not feel right in keeping her away from the place where she can be given the best treatment," Jarod told them firmly, his experience of being a doctor coming through in his mannerisms and speech.
"Slayer's heal at an increased rate, far faster than normal," Giles explained, trying to convey the situation. "By morning she will not be anywhere near as injured as she is now and will no doubt be completely healed in the next few days. Most people in Sunnydale turn a blind eye to the abnormal, but they would find it extremely difficult to ignore what they'd see as a medical miracle."
Jarod's eyes became unfocused and for a moment Giles looked concerned, but Xander's shake of his head indicated that he was fine. "It's a Pretender thing. He's going through all the possible scenarios of what would happen if we took her to the hospital."
"Do you get a similar expression?" Giles enquired, having never seen it on Xander's face before.
"I tend to close my eyes first," Xander replied in way of explanation. "That's why I was always in trouble for sleeping in class; instead of being asleep I was running sims in my head. Dad's never really had to hide his abilities the way I have, as it was The Centre that taught him how to harness them in the first place."
Jarod's eyes regained their focus and he looked from his son to Giles a couple of times before speaking. "She still has several injuries that I'd feel better if I treated, but I agree that taking her to the hospital might not be the best idea."
While Willow and Jarod treated Faith, Willow wanting to improve her triage skills, Xander and Buffy were left with the task of finding out what the deal was between Giles and Linda.
"You don't like her very much do you?" Buffy asked Giles. On seeing his confusion, she elaborated. "Linda I mean, you don't like her."
"Quite the contrary actually," he replied, his tone turning sad, "she doesn't like me. It took me a while to realise it, but I found that the divorce really made it hit home."
"Wait, divorced? You guys were married?" Buffy asked in complete shock, never once thinking that Giles had gotten within a mile of walking down the aisle, as he just didn't seem the type.
"Yes," he replied simply.
"That's it? That's all you're gonna tell us? I don't think so!" she exclaimed.
Seeing that this could get very bad very fast, Xander decided to interject on Giles' behalf, especially considering the look the older man was sending Buffy's way. "Buffy, don't jump down my throat about this, unless you want to of course, but Giles has no obligation to explain the ins and outs of his relationship with Linda."
"Of course he does!" she yelled indignantly.
"Why?" he asked simply.
It was then that Buffy realised that there wasn't a single reason why he should; she just didn't like the thought of people keeping things from her, especially people she cared about. "Well, uh, he just does!"
"Why didn't you say so before? That clears it right up for me," Xander replied sarcastically. "While I agree that it would be nice to hear all the juicy details, we won't unless Giles decides otherwise."
"Thank you Xander," Giles said while pinching the bridge of his nose, "I think."
"It's not fair," Buffy whined, "I never get to find out anything!"
Xander just looked at her like she said Pauly Shore just won Best Actor at the Oscars. "Last night you found out I was created in a laboratory by a clandestine organization, that I'm one of the smartest people on the planet and Jarod over there is my biological father. Doesn't that count as finding something out?"
"You haven't told me who your biological mother is," she replied, trying to find some way of winning the argument.
"You're right, I haven't."
"Well?"
"Well what?"
"Who is she?"
"I'm not going to tell you."
"Why not?" she asked impatiently.
"Because I think she has a right to know first, don't you?"
"How could she not know," she asked confused, "I haven't gone through it myself, but I'm guessing that labour isn't something that's easy to forget."
"I should bloody hope you haven't," Giles muttered under his breath, although not low enough to escape Buffy's enhanced hearing, which caused her to send a withering glare his way.
"I was created in a lab Buff," he reminded her once again, hating to keep bringing up what was still a painful thing to acknowledge, "I was literally a test tube baby, there was no labour. She has no idea that her DNA was used to create me, and until she does I'm not telling anyone else."
Further conversation was cut off by a groan coming from the raven haired Slayer.
"Ohh… did anyone catch the licence of the truck that hit me?" she asked groggily.
"Miss, are you alright?" Jarod asked, wanting to know if he had missed any injuries.
"Do I look like I'm alright?" she asked angrily, wincing as she did. She was starting to be more lucid and started to realise that she wasn't in a hospital, but what looked like a library.
"Actually you look half left," Willow replied, hoping to lighten the mood slightly but realising immediately that she needed to work on her punning skills.
"… Whatever, I'm outta here."
Faith attempted to get up, but found herself being pushed back down onto the table. Between the injuries she'd suffered at the hands of those vamps and at the demon bar, not to mention the obvious concussion she had received landing so heavily, she was unable to fight back and reluctantly relented, if only to ensure that she didn't injure herself more.
"Not yet Faith," Xander said softly but firmly, knowing that she shouldn't be moving around yet, even if she was a Slayer.
"Who are you and how the hell do you know who I am?" she asked angrily, although Xander detected a hint of panic and fear in her voice. Seeing so many people looking down at her made her feel a little closed in and that was not something she enjoyed so she tried again to get up, only to have Buffy stop her this time. Knowing that there was no way of getting away, she lied back down but glared contemptuously at them all.
"Wow, a hostile little thing, aren't ya?" Xander replied lightly. Seeing her about to make another remark, he cut in. "Before you get your panties in a bunch, my name's Xander and the stuffy looking guy here in tweed is Rupert Giles…"
"Buffy Summers Watcher," she finished, recognising him from a photo Linda had shown her, "I know. Linda told me all about you."
"I'm sure none of it placed me in a favourable light," he commented dryly, knowing there was a greater chance of Tim Henman winning Wimbledon than there was of Linda saying something complimentary about him.
"Naval lint got a better rep than you in her eyes."
Giles noticed the past tense she used, and the flash of pain that crossed her face when talking about Linda, and knew that something had happened. "Faith, what happened to Linda?" he asked, his voice hitching slightly.
"What do you mean?" she asked, unable to hide the pain she felt, both physically and emotionally.
"You spoke about her in the past tense. What happened?" he pleaded.
"Kakistos happened," she told him, her tone now devoid of all emotion.
"Good lord, Kakistos?" he gasped.
"Giles, who's this kissing toast guy?" Buffy asked, realising that whatever could get a 'good lord' out of him couldn't be good.
Seeing that Giles was still in a slight state of shock, Xander decided to answer for him. "Kakistos is believed to be the oldest 'living' vampire in history; he makes the Master a child in comparison. He is so old that he can no longer shift from human to vamp, his hands have turned into hooves and his skin has become thicker. It's believed he has a higher resistance to holy water and crosses and normal stakes don't seem to penetrate his hide."
"Doesn't sound like someone I'd like to face any time soon."
"He isn't," Faith agreed, her tone still monotonous. "We found out he was in Boston, so I decided to go and beat on him some then stake him. Turned out I got the beating instead, I barely got two shots in. When I woke up I was chained to a wall, Linda chained up beside me. He releases her, forces her to stand no more than five feet away from me before he ripped her apart. I watched the life fade from here eyes and could do nothing as he tossed her aside like yesterday's trash. He beat on me some more and when I came too again I was in an alley. I went to my crib, got my shit together and made my way here. Linda always said that no matter what she thought of you, if anything happened to her you were the one I had to come find, you and Buffy."
Giles indicated that the other move back so it was just himself and Faith. Seeing her wariness, he slowly reached out and takes her hand in his, squeezing gently. "I'm very sorry for your loss Faith. While our relationship was… strained, I had at one time loved Linda dearly, and would never wish anything like what happened on her."
"Thank you," she replied softly, unable to ignore the sincerity of his words or the pain in his eyes.
"If you are willing, I would be honoured to be your Watcher. The Council may well send a rep… someone to assist you, but until such time if there is anything I can do, please do not hesitate to ask."
Once again, Faith was unable to hear anything but sincerity in his voice and knew that he meant what he said. "Um… thanks G, I'll do that." She wasn't comfortable with people wanting to help her, unless there was something in it for them, but she could tell that he wasn't expecting anything in return and that unnerved her.
"I take it that this Kakistos has followed you," Xander asked.
"I wasn't sure, but it was his right hand man that lead the beat down I just took so I'd say so."
"Well in that case we better start thinking of a way of killing the bastard; no one gets to hurt my friends without repercussions."
"Who said I was your friend?"
"I think I just did," Xander replied, pretending to be confused. "I guess you could say I'm pretty good judge of character, a family trait, and I know that I would be happy to consider you a friend."
"How are we going to kill a vampire that can resist stakes to the heart and was able to overpower a Slayer?" Willow asked, worried about how they would survive.
Xander looked at his dad and smiled, a matching one appearing on Jarod's face. "I'm sure we'll think of something."
Mr.
Swallow's Residence,
Blue Cove, Delaware.
Mr. Swallow stood in front of a videophone, the silhouette of his boss visible on the screen. "Report."
"Everything is going as planned sir," he informed him formally.
"Excellent, see that it stays that way. The Senior Partners are taking special interest in this Mr. Swallow and they do not take failure lightly."
"Understood sir," he replied, knowing exactly what would happen to him if he didn't succeed.
"How many times have I told you not to call me sir, call me Hamilton."
