Disclaimer: I just thought that I would throw in a reminder that I (sadly) do not own Buffy, True Blood, or the Southern Vampires Mysteries.
Buffy felt numb. She pulled away and saw Vi's pale, anxious face. All she could focus on was the pale part, though, and the numbness quickly gave way to fury.
Killing innocent humans and turning them definitely rated as slay-worthy offenses. And when the victim was one of her friends? The Sheriff had just made the biggest mistake of his soon-to-be-over undead life.
"It's not what you think," Vi began, trying to calm the rage she saw building in Buffy's eyes. It was useless, however. She might as well have been speaking to a wall; an angry, stake-wielding wall.
Before she could try to explain further – and more importantly, before Buffy could act on her wrath – they were interrupted by an explosion of gunfire.
Buffy gave a start at the sound. Gunfire? She hated guns. And since when did vamps start packing?
Luckily, she and Vi were still standing on the inside of the open back door. The two of them immediately took cover there, ducking as bullets ricocheted off the walls.
Pam and Chow also dodged the incoming spray of bullets, opting to take shelter on the opposite wall of the alley behind a dumpster.
Eric, however, did not join either pair. He was furious that the half-breeds would attack in such a manner. Gunshots were sure to bring unwanted attention, if they hadn't already. Luckily, the music in Fangtasia was loud and the walls were thick. Though there were probably people outside on the streets, humans weren't exactly known to run toward gunfire when they heard it. Still, all it took was one frightened human; the police were sure to arrive sooner or later. Without a moment's hesitation, Eric flew into the air.
"No way," Buffy breathed in awe despite herself. And was she a little jealous?
She peeked around the door. From the looks on the hybrids' faces, they were just as surprised as she was. The Sheriff was pulling out all the stops, apparently. He landed behind the hybrids and began attacking them.
Chaos broke out as the hybrids tried to fend off this unexpected assault, causing their steady gunfire to falter. Never one to pass up a perfectly good diversion, Buffy began to rush toward them. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the Asian vamp and –what was her name, Pam? – move in a blur toward the action.
Before Buffy could take more than a few steps, however, she found that Vi had placed a restraining hand on her. She looked at her friend questioningly.
"They saved me, Buffy. I swear," Vi said fervently, willing her friend to believe her. "I'll explain everything once this fight is over. Just promise me you won't try to kill them. Please."
Buffy narrowed her eyes and studied the vampire before her. Despite her anger, she could see that it was stillVi; the girl whom she fought side by side with in the Hellmouth, whom she trusted with her life and who was now asking Buffy to trust her. Though her friend was now a vampire, Buffy was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt.
"Fine," she said in a clipped voice. "I'll wait until I hear your explanation before I stake their sorry, lying, manipulative asses."
She trusted Vi, but that didn't mean that she wasn't still seriously pissed off at her.
Vi nodded. It was the best she was going to get, all things considered. Then she grinned, unable to resist the opportunity to take a dig at her friend. She had missed Buffy, and it was good to see her care about something again, about her, even if it was in rampage mode. Besides, a little Slayer rage could be to their benefit right now.
"Then let's go kick some hybrid ass, slowpoke," she said, purposefully emphasizing the last word right before she used her vampiric speed to race toward the fighting.
Buffy scowled as she set off at a sprint. Bringing up the rear was a new concept for her, one that she wasn't loving. Deep down, though, she was glad to see that her faith in Vi was well-founded; she was still the same smart ass. Buffy threw herself into the fray with abandon.
"You know, you really picked the wrong time to attack," she said casually to the four hybrids she was facing off with. "Cuz I'm all about displacing the aggression right now." Then she bared her teeth in a predatory grin and attacked.
The Fangtasia vamps were using their speed to their advantage, making it extremely difficult for the hybrids to use their guns, especially in the close quarters of the alley. Most had pulled out silver knives for hand-to-hand fighting; not all, however.
One hybrid raised his gun and tried to take a shot at Eric. He missed, and the bullet ricocheted off the wall, hitting Chow in the gut. He made a hissing noise of pain, clutching his stomach as the smell of sizzling flesh filled the alley.
"Chow!" Vi cried out as she sped over to the gun-toting vamp and knocked the weapon out of his hand.
Buffy heard the genuine concern in Vi's voice and briefly wondered at it before she turned her attention back to the two hybrids before her, one on each side. She shook her head at them disapprovingly.
"Silver bullets? Seriously? As if guns weren't bad enough? Aren't you supposed to have honor among thieves or something? A Vampire Code, maybe?" she asked.
Both hybrids lunged for her. She ducked under the arm of one, quickly staking him. Then she delivered a powerful back kick to the other vamp, sending him flying back in the wall. Before she could stake this one, however, a flash of silver about 20 feet directly in front of her caught her eye.
After taking care of the hybrid that had inadvertently shot Chow, Vi had immediately rushed over to her maker, making sure he was okay. Distracted, she didn't notice when another vamp used the opportunity to hurl a silver throwing star at her.
Buffy saw, however. Acting purely on instinct, she ran up behind Vi and pushed her out of harm's way while twisting her own body to avoid getting hit. She couldn't totally get out of the way, though, and the star hit her in the upper arm. The blade dug deeply, firmly imbedding itself in her flesh.
With a grimace, Buffy pulled it out and whipped it back at the vampire in one smooth motion. It caught him in the forehead, and Buffy quickly staked him as he stumbled back from the force of the impact.
"Buffy! What the hell are you doing? I can't die, not from that!" Vi exclaimed angrily, appearing at her friend's side. She firmly ignored the tug in her gut at the sight and smell of her friend's flowing blood.
"Getting hit wasn't exactly part of my plan, but you're welcome," Buffy retorted. "And you are so not getting out of this whole situation by getting injured. I like my anger to be full of righteousness and free of guilt." She gave a smirk before jumping back into the fray.
Vi couldn't help but roll her eyes at this. At that exact moment, she knew that they would get through this. She enthusiastically threw all her concentration back to the task at hand.
Eric, who was fighting close by, raised his eyebrows at the entire exchange. At first, he, Pam, and Chow had all eyed the Slayer warily when she first joined the battle, unsure if she was going to try to stake them too if she got the chance. Eric was particularly watchful, as he knew most of her anger was directed at him.
To his satisfaction, the Slayer only had eyes for the half-breeds. To his delight, she was stunning to watch as she cut through Serafina's vampires. He took back every pre-conceived notion of Slayers being savage killing machines. She moved with an exquisite grace that showed her control and skill as much as it did her fire and passion. It was difficult to believe that she was human at all, Slayer or not. Of course, from the first moment that he had first seen her, he had known that this Buffy Summers was something… unique; however, he had obviously underestimated how much.
The battle had become a free-for-all. In the tight quarters of the alley, individuals were lost in a flurry of arms, legs, and flashing silver. Still, Buffy managed to catch glimpses of the Fangtasia vampires. She had to admit, albeit grudgingly, they were excellent fighters.
Chow moved in short, sharp movements, debilitating his enemies with lethal efficiency. Pam- well, Buffy never thought someone could fight delicately with a heaping of disdain and still be any good, but the blonde vampire was proving her wrong. Though extremely dangerous, Pam was fighting as if the entire situation was distasteful to her, and it probably was. And then there was Vi. Buffy was proud to note that the former Potential definitely hadn't lost her edge. Even though she was still a fledgling, Vi was no novice.
Buffy's gaze finally flickered over to the Sheriff. It was easy to find him in the melee, at least. He stood a full head and shoulders over most of the others, his golden hair flying about as he tore into the hybrids.
His movements were big and arrogant, like he was; but it worked for him. His arms swung out like pendulums, moving so quickly that hybrid ash swirled in their wake. Buffy watched as he beheaded a vampire with his bare hands. So not an easy thing to do, no matter how the movies made it seem. Factor in the reality that the supernaturally strong hybrids weren't just going to stand there and let themselves be decapitated, and… wow. He was totally rockin' the Norse god vibe. If she didn't have a strong yen to kill him herself, she would've admitted that she was glad he was on her side.
Yet progress was slow. At the outset, the hybrids had outnumbered them almost five to one, and although they weren't as quick as the Fangtasia vamps – because really, who was? – they were still fast and just as strong. Their numbers had been cut in half, but it hadn't been as easy as it should have been. The main obstacle was the fact that the Fangtasia vamps had been caught off-guard by the attack and possessed no weapons to kill the hybrids, only bare hands.
At first, it didn't even occur to Buffy that this would be a problem. After all, they were vampires – not exactly high on the helpless scale. Now, however, she could see how this significantly slowed them down. She quickly pulled out two of the extra stakes she had brought with her.
"Vi!" she called out, throwing a stake to her friend.
The redhead caught it deftly with one hand and spun around, immediately putting it to good use as she found her mark.
Buffy paused, debating to whom she should give the other stake. Pam was the closest, so, although she was loathe to do it purely on principle, she called out to the vampire as she tossed the stake to her. Pam's eyes widened with surprise as she caught the weapon.
"Oh, don't die of shock," Buffy snapped crankily. "It's a stake, not an olive branch."
Pam gave a small smile that was equal parts thanks and amusement before turning back to the hybrids with relish.
Soon there were only five or six hybrids left as the air became thick with vamp dust. As the only one that had to breathe, Buffy was chagrined to find herself coughing.
One hybrid saw this and took advantage. Buffy found herself knocked to the ground. Jumping to her feet, she faced her attacker. It was a female vamp with long, ash-blonde hair. The two quickly engaged in a fierce volley of kicks and punches. Based on the way the vamp fought, it was clear to Buffy that this hybrid was a Master vampire. Serafina, she guessed. They were pretty evenly matched, especially with Buffy's injured arm.
"I've always wanted to kill a Slayer," Serafina sneered as she launched into a series of kicks. "Even if you are whoring yourself out to these arrogant vampires."
This was the wrong thing to say. Buffy looked at her in outrage. "There hasn't been" punch "nor will there ever be" kick "any whoring of any kind" kick "with these vampires!" she seethed.
She sent Serafina sprawling to the ground with one final punch. Before she could make the kill, however, she found herself dodging a knife thrust from another hybrid who was intent on protecting his Master.
After trading a few blows, Buffy managed to disarm and stake him; that's when she heard a faint click. She whirled around to see Serafina pointing a gun at her. There was about 10 feet between them, too far to knock the gun out of the vampire's hand in time and yet too close to dodge any bullets. She gripped her stake in frustration.
Serafina noticed this and gave a triumphant smile. "You know what they say, don't you? Never bring a stake to a gunfight," she taunted, right before she pulled the trigger of her .500 Smith and Wesson in rapid succession.
Buffy had little time to react; she threw herself to the side, all the while knowing that it would be too late. She braced herself for the expected pain.
To her surprise, however, the only pain she felt was when her momentum was seriously disrupted by what could only be described as a Mack truck slamming into her, causing Buffy to gasp at the impact. At the same time, she felt a huge splash of something liquid-y hit her in the face, neck, chest, even the back of her throat. She half-swallowed, half-coughed reflexively. Blood. She didn't have too much time to think about it, though, as said Mack truck continued to send them both reeling backward until her head smacked against the pavement with incredible force.
"Ow," Buffy groaned, furiously trying to blink away the stars that had appeared. When that didn't work, she squeezed her eyes shut.
After a moment or two when the dazed feeling had mostly passed, she cracked open her eyes. She immediately noted that it was black as night, as in unnaturally so. Not a single source of light whatsoever. And why was it so hard to breathe?
Suddenly, a weight partially lifted and she could breathe again. Buffy looked up to see that the Mack truck was actually the Sheriff. The black she saw was his T-shirt; his much larger body had been completely covering hers. And dear god, he was heavy.
He had saved her. To make matters worse, she became aware that his hand was cradling her head, presumably to help absorb some of the impact of the fall. Buffy half wished she had just taken the bullet herself. Then she saw the two gaping, bloody exit wounds on his chest. Hmm… maybe not, especially when she saw that the holes were a few inches above where her head would've been.
Buffy had watched enough CSI with Willow to know about gunshot wounds and forward spatter; she had been right next to the bullets' path as they burst from the Sheriff's chest, and as a result, she got covered in his fast moving blood. And she swallowed some of it. So gross.
Eric was staring down at her, a little stunned himself. In a rare display, he was at a loss for words. He didn't react at all when Buffy growled, "Get off of me, now, before I redefine flying for you."
Buffy knew she was being a little ungrateful, seeing as he had just taken two bullets for her that were probably silver and hurt like hell. She forced herself to take another deep breath, or as much as she could with his considerable weight still on her, willing herself to not overreact. This wasn't his fault, and when she staked him, she wanted it to be for the right reasons.
To her immense relief, he complied and stood after extracting his hand from under her head.
As Buffy got to her feet as quickly as the spinning, slightly blurry alley allowed her to, she saw that all the hybrids were dust, except for Serafina, who was being subdued by Pam. Her focus was on Mr. Hero himself, though; he was standing just a few feet in front of her, looking at her the way a child would look at a puppy he found under the Christmas tree. It was freaking her out a little. And she must've hit her head really hard, because she felt weird.
Suddenly, Buffy's breathing was halted again as Vi caught her up in a bone-crushing hug.
"Geez, Vi! When did you get so strong? I know you're a vamp and all, but seriously?" she gasped.
Vi quickly released her. "Sorry, Buffy, I was just- oh!" she squeaked, her eyes wide as saucers as her friend's appearance finally registered.
"What? What is it?" Buffy frowned.
"Uh, you're covered in blood," Vi said as calmly as she could. She could tell by the scent that it was Eric's. What she didn't know was whether Buffy had swallowed any.
"Ugh! I almost forgot about that, though I don't know how, because eww," Buffy said, scrunching up her nose in disgust, oblivious to what this could possibly mean. She tried to wipe her face and neck as best she could, though she left huge smudges across her cheek and collarbone. "Better?"
Vi nodded mutely, shooting a furtive glance over to Eric.
"Later," he said curtly in response.
Eric knew that he would have to tell the Slayer about blood bonds. He wasn't a fool, though. She needed to hear the truth about Violet first. He didn't know if she had even ingested his blood. He wasn't feeling any of her emotions yet; then again, she was the Slayer, so it could affect her more slowly or not at all. Even if she did swallow some, it would've been a small amount, most likely making the bond temporary. But still, the possibilities…
When Eric first saw the Slayer as he exited Fangtasia, he thought it was a turn of bad luck. Now, however, he realized that it couldn't have worked out better than if he had actually planned it. Though the wound on her arm had stopped bleeding some time ago, the scent of her blood still lingered, and it was intoxicating, almost to the point of distraction. First things first, though. He grabbed the stake that was still in Vi's hand before turning his attention to Serafina.
The Master vamp was still struggling. She hissed as Eric came near. "You think you've won, but for every one of us that's fallen, ten more will rise up. We will strike when you least-"
Never breaking stride, Eric walked up and staked Serafina without ceremony.
"Well, that was anticlimactic," Pam commented as she dusted herself off.
"Thank god," Buffy muttered to no one in particular. "I hate monologuing."
Eric ignored both of them and began giving out directions. "Chow, check the perimeter and make sure there are no other surprises, then take care of that wound. Pam, handle any questions inside the bar. Put the glamour on whomever you must."
"And miss the fireworks here?" Pam said. At Eric's look, she sighed. "Fine. All this half-breed dust is getting in my hair, anyway."
Pam and Chow left, swiftly setting about their tasks.
Normally, Buffy would have been pissed at the lack of control over the situation, but she stayed silent because the weirdness she had been feeling suddenly intensified. It was like all her Slayer senses were heightened, almost to the point of being painful. And she felt jittery; well, jittery and tingly all at the same time, and not necessarily in a bad way, just a socially awkward one.
A very unpleasant realization dawned on her; she was buzzed, literally and figuratively. And it was familiar to her. She felt the same way after drinking Dracula's blood, though this was much, much more intense; the Sheriff must be extremely old and powerful.
Buffy noticed that Vi was looking at her with the strangest look on her face; she must have noticed something was off. The Slayer in Buffy took over, determined not to let on to the others that their blood had any effect on her. She already promised that she wouldn't stake them until she had heard Vi out and the edge to her fury had been blunted by the fight with the hybrids; there was no need to lose all credibility.
Vi felt a knot forming in the pit of her stomach. Buffy was uncharacteristically subdued, which gave her the confirmation she needed; the Slayer had ingested the blood of one extremely old and powerful vampire. Who knew what effect this would have? And how the hell was she going to tell Buffy this?
Before she could even make an attempt, Eric stepped in. "Perhaps we should take this inside?" he suggested.
Buffy snorted in derision as she crossed her arms, trying to maintain her composure despite the fact that her entire body was humming.
"Because that worked out so well last time. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice… Well, there's lots of shame to go around," she said pointedly. Then she cocked her head to the side as she heard something in the distance. "Police sirens," she announced to Eric and Vi's surprise. "Looks like the boys in blue are way more competent here than they were in Sunnydale."
Eric eyed her speculatively. He couldn't hear the sirens, though he didn't doubt they were coming. His blood had enhanced her hearing beyond even his own capabilities. He wondered what other abilities of hers it affected.
Then he looked all of them over with a speculative eye. Violet looked acceptable with just a few scratches that were already healing. The Slayer was a different story, though. She was covered in blood, both his and her own. The two holes in his shirt wouldn't do, either. Without saying another word, he walked through the backdoor to the Fangtasia.
Buffy let out a sigh of relief at his absence even as a wave of euphoria and power washed over her. Unfortunately, the Sheriff came back within seconds in a new shirt. He was also holding out a wet washcloth and clean T-shirt for her.
"Take it," he ordered. "Before the police arrive."
Reluctantly, Buffy complied. She took the washcloth, taking as much blood off as she could. By the time she was finished, the cloth was saturated with it. The sirens were getting closer, so she quickly pulled the shirt over her bloodied tank top. It was big, almost skimming her knees, but it covered up all obvious injuries. When Buffy looked down, she saw the words 'Fangtasia, The Bar with Bite' in big blood-red letters across her chest.
"You've got to be kidding me," she hissed. "Now I'm free advertising?"
"It's all I had," Eric shrugged, though there was a smirk lurking beneath his blank façade. "Now if you'll excuse me."
He briskly made his way to the front of Fangtasia. As he walked away, his smirk turned into a full-fledged grin. He could feel the Slayer's annoyance and disbelief; a blood bond had been formed. It felt… different; but then, he had already established that she was unique.
Buffy couldn't believe her luck. She was getting a moment alone with Vi; she could let go of her rigid controland hear the unadulterated truth. Then she frowned. The Sheriff must've been pretty confident in what she was going to hear.
The two girls watched him walk away until he rounded the corner and was out of sight. Vi wanted to delay the inevitable conversation just a second longer. At first, Buffy wanted to wait until he was out of earshot; then she was distracted by the Sheriff's conversation with the cops that she could now listen in on, courtesy of her new vamped up hearing.
"We're sorry to bother you, Mr. Northman, but…"
Mr. Northman? Buffy snorted in derision. The vampire has lived for how many years and the best alias he could come up with was Northman? Maybe she would just start introducing herself as Buffy Californiagirl. She rolled her eyes before turning to Vi, forcing the other sights/sounds/smells out of her mind.
"Start with the explaining," she ordered. "What did you mean, they saved you?"
Vi took a deep breath. "I was attacked by hybrids who wanted to leave a little message for Eric. Chow came out, staked them, and then tried to help me. It was too late, though. I was dying. He offered me the chance to become a vampire, and I took it," she replied.
Buffy opened and closed her mouth a few times, but no sounds came out. She wasn't expecting that.
Vi frowned. "Buffy," she said quickly. "It isn't bad. I still have my soul, and I don't have to kill anyone to survive."
"Then why didn't you tell me?" Buffy demanded.
"I was going to, but I only woke up a few days ago. I didn't have an opportunity since then, because someone has been with me 24/7," Vi explained. Then, to avoid any further misunderstanding, she added, "To protect me."
Buffy took a moment to absorb all the information. "So Chow's your maker?" she asked, wanting to get it all straight. At Vi's nod, she continued on. "And Chow works for the Sheriff, which means…"
"That I answer to both of them," Vi confirmed.
This meant Buffy's hands were tied. And life's colossal joke on her just got funnier.
"Well, I guess you had no choice, right? It was either that or die," Buffy finally managed to say. "I mean, it's not like you wanted it, right?"
It was meant as a joke, but Vi flinched involuntarily.
"Right," she replied, a little too slowly.
This caught Buffy's attention, and a crazy thought popped into her head. "Did you want to become a vampire?" she asked, watching her friend's reaction. "Before it happened?"
"Well, no. Not exactly," Vi hedged, unwilling to lie when asked so directly but hesitant to answer with a simple 'yes'. It didn't even come close to revealing the truth of the situation.
This confession was too much for Buffy. She had been worried sick about Vi, and the whole time her friend had wanted to become a vampire. And then there were the other Potentials. Did she waste precious time here when she should've been looking for them instead? Or was there a mass-vampire pact among the girls? Buffy felt overwhelmed, and her emotions burst to the surface in a rush of angry words.
"How could you? Even if these vamps do keep their souls, they're still the undead! Why on earth would you ever want to become one? You, of all people, should know better!" she exclaimed furiously.
Instead of apologizing, like she expected, Vi got angry. Really angry.
"Don't you dare judge me, Buffy! I didn't come here to become a vampire, but I would be lying if I said the thought didn't cross my mind!" She felt her fangs extend, but she didn't care. "Maybe wanting to become a vampire was bad judgment, maybe it wasn't. But wanting something isn't a crime."
"Vi, I-" Buffy tried to say, but Vi wasn't through venting.
"And do you know why I thought about it? Do you have any idea how difficult it was? How gut-wrenchingly painful it was to suddenly not be a Slayer?" she ranted as she began to pace back and forth. "To know that all these baddies were out there and not be able to do a damn thing about it because I was just an ordinary girl again?"
Buffy staggered back as if struck. She felt the wall against her back and leaned on it for support. When the Potentials-turned-Slayers-turned-Potentials left, she knew she was being a little selfish in letting them go. She was too caught up in her own grief to care. Yet if Buffy had stopped to think about it, she would've realized how difficult it must've been for them.
She'd always complained about the burden of being the Slayer - it was a burden where many sacrifices were made – but she also remembered the terror of the Cruciamentum.
Buffy felt all her self-righteous anger leave her. She had set out to try to save her girls, never thinking how she might've played a part in their disappearance. She slid down the wall, defeated.
"Uncle, mercy, white flag is a-waving," she said weakly as she held her hands up in surrender. "I- I'm so sorry, Vi. I had no idea."
A look of contriteness washed over Vi's face. She immediately sat down next to Buffy and leaned into her, half in comfort and half in apology. "You were entitled to be wrapped up in your own grief. You lost everything," she said softly. "Shit happens, Buffy, and in the life of a Slayer, it happens a lot. You can either roll with it or let it consume you."
Buffy leaned into Vi for a moment, too, before turning to look at her friend. "Since when did you become Insight Girl?" she asked wryly.
"'Become'? Please, I was born that way," Vi scoffed playfully, glad to know that things were okay between them again. "It's not my fault it took you this long to recognize it."
This elicited a small laugh from Buffy. Then she sighed, closing her eyes as she leaned against the wall. "All the other girls are missing, too," she said quietly.
"What?" Vi exclaimed. "How is that possible?"
"I thought that maybe the hybrids were behind it, as revenge. But… that's not what happened here," Buffy explained. "It still could be them, obviously, and you were just a fluke. But… I'm not going to find out by staying in Shreveport."
Vi fell silent for a moment. Then she said in a quiet voice, "I wish I could help." Her eyes were filled with regret. She was too new to this whole vampire lifestyle, though, and she needed to stay by her maker and get full mastery over her hunger.
Buffy gave her a sad smile. "I know you can't. You have a new life, er, unlife, here."
The vampire caught the Slayer up in a fierce hug. "That doesn't mean you're not still a part of it," Vi declared. Then she raised an eyebrow. "And as a friend and sister Slayer it's my duty to tell you that you look terrible."
Buffy stared in shock at her friend's words. "Hey," she protested. "What do you expect? We just took on a cadre of gun-happy vamps. Not all of us are immortal here, Miss Fangtastic."
Vi peered at her friend closely. "Buffy," she said gravely, looking her in the eyes, deadly serious. "You're wearing sneakers."
"Which is a valid shoe choice for patrolling in this weather," Buffy countered defensively. At Vi's look of amusement, she scowled. "Oh, fine. So my fashion sense went the way of the Hellmouth, along with all my worldly yet stylish goods. I was a little too busy wallowing these past few months to think about how style-deficient I've become."
They both stopped talking as they heard footsteps approaching.
"Buffy, this isn't between you and them, not really," Vi whispered. "It's between you and me. I should've told you sooner. And he isn't a bad Sheriff, from what Chow tells me."
"Hmph," was her only reply.
Soon they saw Eric rounding the corner. They both immediately rose to their feet. As Buffy stood, the effect of the vamp blood took hold again. She leaned against the wall a little more than she intended. She felt it give a little under her weight.
What the-? she thought in confusion.
Eric studied them as he drew closer. In reality, he had finished with the police some time ago. He could feel the Slayer's anger, quickly followed by intense sorrow; he could also hear the conversation in the alleyway and decided it best not to interrupt until now. He wasn't going to pretend he hadn't heard, though.
"So, are we even now?" he asked, looking at Buffy with a small smile. "Is all forgiven?"
"Not even close," she shot back.
Vi rolled her eyes. "Buffy…"
Buffy pursed her lips. "Maybe you saved Vi, and for that I am thankful, but that doesn't excuse the lying and the manipulation," she said, looking pointedly at Eric.
"You lied to her?" Vi blurted out. She quickly pressed her lips together at the look she received from Eric.
Buffy saw it, too, and bristled. "Don't you look at her like that," she frowned. "I don't care if she's your minion, fledgling, whatever. And yes, Vi, they lied to me. I came to Fangtasia last night looking for you and they denied ever seeing you."
Eric looked at the Slayer, debating how much to tell her. "There are certain rules when one is brought over, one of them being cutting all contact with your prior life as a human. A vampire doesn't belong in that world anymore; it will only bring trouble."
"And it has nothing to do with the fact that you want to cover your tracks when you kill an innocent person," Buffy said sarcastically.
Both Eric and Vi said something, but Buffy wasn't listening. Her head was starting to pound. She felt another wave of unadulterated power begin to ooze from her every pore. As stealthily as possible, she rapped her knuckles against the brick wall behind her back as a sort of test. To her amazement, she felt the brick crumbling into dust. She was freakin' Supergirl, and it wasn't a good thing. Buffy was seasoned enough to know how dangerous this could be.
She had no control over herself or her abilities. As much as Buffy wanted to stay and rake the Sheriff over the coals, she needed to get out of there before she inadvertently hurt someone. That and… well, the blood intensified a lot of things, including the hunger that followed a good slay – both kinds.
"Look, I don't want to hear any more. You saved Vi and you saved me. That almost balances out the lies and manipulation. Almost. But being the generous person that I am, I'm willing to call it even," she said as she began backpedaling. "But don't think I won't keep track of what's going on here, or with Vi."
Eric cleared his throat, barely suppressing the smile at the surge of feelings. "Before you leave, we need to discuss something. What do you know about blood bonds?"
"I am not pricking my finger and chanting with you, so don't even ask," Buffy said distractedly, only half hearing the question due to the full body tingling sensation that had taken hold. "And again, I'm making with the exit. You can explain all about your freaky blood ritual to me tomorrow."
"Buffy-" Vi began, but Buffy cut her off.
"Tomorrow," she replied a little more sharply than she intended. "I'll be back tomorrow; before I leave for good."
She had it all planned out in her mind. She would seek out Alastair Davies tomorrow, since it was the only lead she had. Then she would go, possibly to New York.
Eric said nothing, although he did not like hearing this. He could do nothing, however. If he pushed the Slayer any further, it could have deadly consequences. For once, the power was not in his hands. He didn't like it. Yet in some ways, it was for the best. He needed to feed to help heal his injuries and he doubted she was going to offer any of her blood. Besides, this was far from over.
Buffy strode out of the alley before either of them could stop her; not that they could, with the way she was feeling.