Nyssa al Ghul, Ra's youngest daughter and his most fearsome soldier, was sitting across the table from Bruce Wayne with a smug smirk on her face. There were two other men there, one was human, the other a vampire. But it was the woman who was eyeing her like prey that had Nyssa's hackles rising.
The Slayer.
Nyssa had heard of course, about the legends of Vampire Slayers that had roamed the earth. Nearly two hundred years ago in France, she had been sure she'd met one but had never been able to verify the truth of her assumptions.
But now, there was no denying the woman before her was the Slayer.
The Chosen One.
"I've heard of your kind." Nyssa said in amusement as she smirked at Faith, who was watching with a bored expression on her face. Faith walked towards the chair across from her, and Nyssa watched as Bruce Wayne pulled out the chair for his wife, as she sat down with a nod of thanks.
"Really? All good things, I hope?"
"Slayers. A Chosen One. One girl in all the world..."
"With the strength to defeat the forces of darkness...blah...blah...blah...yeah, I've heard that garbage too."
Nyssa lifted an eyebrow in confusion, but noticed the vampire smirking behind the Slayer whilst her husband's expression remained cold.
"You must know," Nyssa taunted, "that neither a Slayer nor a Vampire, are powerful enough to take on the Demon's Head."
Faith threw her head back and laughed, causing Nyssa's lips to turn down in anger.
"You dare laugh at the Demon's Head?"
"Oh you cute, ignorant little thing," Faith bantered back, "you really have no clue, do you?"
"What are you talking about?"
"About what a Slayer really is?"
Faith almost cackled at the clearly confused look on the other woman's face.
"I know all about Slayers."
"Really?"
"Yes."
"Then you know there's more than one?"
Nyssa blanched. "That's a lie."
"Nope. Not even a little bit. Want to try again?"
Warrior took in Slayer, and tried to find any sign that she was bluffing, but it was clear that Faith Wayne was telling the truth.
"That's not possible."
"Yeah, you'd think that but you'd be wrong. What other false information do you have on my kind?"
"That Slayers are imbued with superhuman strength, speed and agility."
"That's it?"
Nyssa didn't reply and Faith's grin turned predatory.
"Seems to me that your info is kinda outdated, huh? Imagine that."
When Nyssa didn't reply, Faith just stared at her and then suddenly Nyssa gasped as she felt Faith's mind enter hers.
"What?!" She whispered in horror.
"Hey bitch. You and me are going to play a little game. It's called Truth or Dare. See, the gist of this is I dare you to try and keep me out and we will see how many truths I can discover before I destroy your mind. Or...you can tell me what I want to know and I'll leave your brain intact for now. Which is it gonna be?"
Nyssa just stared in fear as dark eyes considered her but eventually she replied verbally, "I don't believe you."
That apparently, was the wrong thing to say because Faith didn't waste any time going after what she wanted and when she was done, Nyssa al Ghul was hunched down on her chair with tears falling down her face, body shaking and expression ashen.
"Ra's is in Starling City, at Malcolm Merlyn's Penthouse at Merlyn Global. The bulk of his warriors are currently at the old warehouse district along the river here in Gotham."
"How many?" Bruce asked.
"Two hundred. There's another twenty with Ra's."
"So what do we do?"
"If we go after the ones at the warehouses, it will alert Ra's and he will disappear into the ether. If we go after Ra's directly, it will alert his forces but perhaps not soon enough to help him."
"I'm sure you have a way to fix that, Beautiful?"
"Maybe?"
Bruce chuckled as he eyed the other woman with open disdain.
"Is Merlyn still getting you intel?"
"No." Nyssa growled. "This was part of the plan that was set before Malcolm was captured. We stepped up our time table when we realized he was no longer one of us."
"D'Hoffryn, you there?"
The portal opened and the blue demon emerged, causing Nyssa to gasp in recognition.
"The Lord of Vengeance Demon's?"
"Hello to you too, Nyssa al Ghul. It has been a few hundred years, yes?"
"You know her?" Faith inquired.
"Of course." D'Hoffyrn sighed. "I suppose you wish for me to banish her to purgatory as well?"
Faith eyed the woman carefully, but then asked, "What is Malcolm Merlyn's endgame and how do we destroy the pits?"
Nyssa growled, but then she replied waspishly, "Merlyn wishes to succeed my Father. The pits can only be destroyed by a power greater than itself."
"Seriously?" Faith bit out, "That's not the least bit cryptic and useless."
Bruce cracked a half grin while Faith tilted her head and then said simply, "Mind bringing the sister here for a little chat?"
D'Hoffryn bowed and snapped his fingers, opening a new portal and then Talia was transported into the room—her appearance not quite as put together as the last time Faith had seen her, but it was probably just as well. When her eyes locked with her sister's, both women growled at each other in recognition.
"Look at that, Honey? It appears that they don't like each other!" Faith quipped tartly, as she sat back and grinned, while Bruce's smirk widened.
"How?" Nyssa turned to Faith and sneered.
"Oh, your big bad sister and I had a run in when she kidnapped me. Didn't really work out like she'd planned and there seems to be a lot of that happening today, too."
Faith then asked D'Hoffryn to bind Nyssa, much like he'd done with Talia (and Malcolm) and the warrior glared and hissed as the necklace burned into her flesh.
"Thanks!"
The blue demon just bowed his head, and took a step back—his eyes filled with growing amusement.
"Now!" Faith clapped her hands in glee and then rubbed them together, "Which one of you is going to help us bring down Ra's? Before you both speak at once, understand that you are both bound to D'Hoffryn...so the choices are: prison, vengeance demon, dead." When both women stared at Faith in horror, Bruce cleared his throat and asked warily, "Beautiful, are you sure?"
Faith huffed and turned to her husband with a glare. "What do you think is going to happen if this one," pointing to Nyssa, "goes back to her Dad? Cause my guess is they will try and find a way around the binding spell."
Faith then silently shared her suspicions with D'Hoffryn, and the demon chuckled and nodded.
"Very clever, Slayer. I didn't think you'd consider that little loophole, but you are right."
Bruce gave his wife a curious look, but decided to leave the questions for later.
"Looks like I don't need both of you. In fact, I probably don't need either one of you but I'm feeling generous today. So? Who's going to give me what I want?"
Both women glared at each other, but Faith had to admit that their loyalty to their Father wasn't too surprising.
"Fine. Talia, thanks for coming but you can return and live out the rest of your days in prison."
D'Hoffryn went to snap his fingers, but the woman put up her hand and yelled, "Wait!"
"Talia!" Nyssa hissed, "what are you doing?"
"Saving my own skin, Sister. It's not as if you and Father were concerned with my well-being these past three years whilst I wallowed in prison."
"You failed your mission, Sister! Should you be offered respite for your piss poor planning?"
"My plan was sound!" Talia crowed. "I had no idea that this one," gesturing to Faith, "was the Slayer, but I have seen what she is capable of and I know that Father will not emerge victorious this time. I don't plan to be stuck in that hell-hole for the rest of my life."
"Well, that was quick." Faith grinned, before turning to D'Hoffryn. "This one can go with the others for now. There is no way off that rock, right?"
"None." D'Hoffryn lamented with a sigh.
"And the pit there?"
"Unfortunately, the pit remains and will continue to do so unless destroyed."
Faith pursed her lips in thought as she considered several variables until something clicked.
"Ley lines." She whispered in realization.
"What?" Bruce asked confused, but Faith was eyeing the Lord of Vengeance Demon's critically.
"The pits lay along Ley Lines." Faith began to pace and Bruce noticed his wife's eyes dart back and forth, much like they'd had before she'd realized Richard was her Father. Bruce knew the second Faith had discovered the same weighty kind of truth, because her eyes widened and her face paled.
She then turned quickly to D'Hoffryn and gestured to the daughters of Ra's and asked, "Remove them please for a moment. I need to speak with you in private."
Ignoring the irate shouts from Talia, D'Hoffryn did as asked as he eyed the Slayer with something akin to respect.
"What is it you wish to ask?"
"The pits, they are located along Ley Lines convergences, aren't they?"
The demon smiled and nodded.
"The runes in the cavern, where you showed us the one that had been destroyed? Did the runes act as a protective barrier, or a concealment barrier?"
D'Hoffryn chuckled deeply. "Well done, Slayer! The runes acted as a protective barrier. If one pit is destroyed, all are destroyed but the runes inside the cavern prevented the destruction of the pit here in Gotham from subsuming the other pits."
Faith's breath caught as she said emotively, "My Father destroyed the pit, didn't he? That is why the metal was there, wasn't it?"
Bruce's breath caught while both Micah and Angel's eyes widened in shock.
"It was and he did. As I'm sure that you're now aware, Strega was an Old One with the gifts of Prophecy, Divination, Telepathy and Telekinesis. These gifts were passed to you at your birth, but not in their entirety and not in their original form. When Strega was killed by Danthalzar, only then— could your heritage be given in full. When you made the decision to enjoin with Miss Summers, the essence of your powers transferred in some degree to her. But, you are not the Chosen One. You are the Old One. The pits are the last remnants of the Old One's dominion here on this plane. They can't be destroyed by the blood of the Old One's. The child is correct however, that the pits can be destroyed by a power greater than itself."
"Love?"
Faith glanced over at Bruce, and her heart swelled as his face softened with love and adoration, but D'Hoffryn shook his head in the negative.
"No. There was only one like power greater than the Old Ones. One power that was used to bring forth a warrior to destroy the Old Ones."
"The Shadow Demon." Angel said softly, and D'Hoffryn nodded.
"Yes."
"Buffy." Faith whispered stunned, and the Lord of Vengeance bowed his head in the affirmative.
"To destroy the essence of the pits, the true essence of the Shadow Demon is the only thing that can destroy the pits for good."
"But how are we going to do that?" Faith pleaded, but D'Hoffryn didn't reply. His red eyes gleaming as he considered the young Slayer carefully.
"I'm afraid I've said all I can." He then waved his hand and the two sister's reappeared. "What would you have me do with these?"
Faith glared over at the two women and sighed. "Send Nyssa to purgatory for now."
D'Hoffryn snapped his fingers and the portal opened, taking the younger sister away. Faith then turned to Talia and said icily, "Tell us everything you know about Ra's. If I like what I hear, I might be willing to consider amending your punishment. If not, or if you betray us?"
"I get it." Talia interrupted caustically.
"Good." Faith grinned, hoping that what she was about to suggest would see Ra's defeated once and for all.
Hours later at Wayne Manor, Buffy was pacing throughout the home as she checked and rechecked the perimeters several times in succession. Everyone, expect for Oliver—was down in the caverns and Willow had managed to erect protective spells to keep everyone safe until they got the all clear from Bruce and Faith.
As Buffy made her way towards the back of the Manor, she was stopped by Oliver who had come back from the kitchens.
"Heard anything yet?"
"No. But we know Faith and Bruce are fine. It's us we need to worry about."
Oliver nodded as he readjusted his bow across his chest, and his quiver—which was filled with arrows.
"Nice weapon. I meant to tell you before."
"Thanks. I guess it'd be a dumb question to ask if you know how to use one of these."
"Not really. I have a cross-bow that I favor, and while I'm fairly good with any weapon...I'm not as comfortable with shooting a bow as I am holding a sword. It's probably because a wooden arrow wouldn't necessarily be strong enough to penetrate a vamp at great distance, and you can't capitate a vamp with a bow and arrow. A cross-bow is a better short range weapon."
"I get that." Oliver hummed thoughtfully. "This action readiness doesn't seem to phase you at all."
"Nope. Used to it and it would take a lot more than a few baddies to fluster me."
"What would it take?" Oliver asked, as he fell into step with Buffy as they continued on with their perimeter checks.
"Earthquakes."
"Huh?"
"Yeah."
"I don't get it? Don't earthquakes happen a lot in California?"
"Yes, but in Sunnydale earthquakes had special meanings."
"Like what?"
"Portents of the apocalypse."
"Seriously?"
"The most seriousest."
"That's not a word." Oliver chuckled and Buffy grinned.
"I like to make words up. Funny little euphemisms to explain the weirdness that is my life."
"Like?" Oliver asked, intrigued.
"You really want to know?"
"Most definitely."
"Fine." Buffy huffed with a small grin as she cupped her chin and pretended to give it all due consideration.
Finally she clarified with:
"Carbon-dated. Refers to someone's out of date sense of style. Then there's Ubersuck..."
"Ubersuck?"
"Uh-Huh. Then there's Dateville and The Wacky. The first kinda describes that weird early stage in a relationship when you're getting to know someone but not really sure you want to see where it goes, and the second is how stupid people get when they fall head over heels for someone."
Oliver grinned, clearly entertained as he rolled his hand to encourage Buffy to continue, which she did.
"Sitch, slayage, pointy...all have different meanings depending on reference. Wiggins was a favorite in high school and college, as was edge girl. Xander likes to affectionately refer to them as Buffyisms."
Oliver couldn't help but shake his head at how ridiculously adorable this was.
"Keeps this light, you know? When all you deal in is darkness some days, it really helps not to take things too seriously. Bringing in the funny. Kinda reminds me when I went all cavegirl."
"What?"
"Yeah, freshman year of college. There was this guy, Parker. Total douche. I had a massive crush on him and slept with the guy, but found out later he was a compete player. Anyway, a local bar owner decided to go wiggins with the revenge and brews this Black Frost beer that caused some of the more pompous students to de-evolve into Neanderthals. Unfortunately for me, I ended up hanging with those guys and well..."
"Neanderthal Buffy?"
"Uh-huh...Xander decided to work as a bartender when he got a fake ID so he could be closer to Willow and I while we were at school. Anyway, he discovered what happened, the bar went up in flames and somehow trapped Willow inside with Parker. I saved them both, even in my less than Buffy state. When Parker tried to apologize for being a douche, I clobbered him over the head with a staff of wood."
Oliver broke out into guffaws as he was grinning widely, just picturing the scenario.
"That's too funny."
"There were some moments like that where weird stuff happened and we just got caught in the crossfire. Halloween was always one of those days. Slayerfest, turning invisible..."
Oliver stopped and stared at Buffy incredulously. "You turned invisible?"
"Yes and it's a long, not so interesting story. Although, it was kinda cool being invisible for a while."
"I'll bet."
"Anyway, everyone has weirdness in their lives just some have more than others."
"True enough." Oliver agreed as they swept through the front of the house and Buffy senses went on high alert.
"What?"
"Someone's outside. Spidey senses tingling."
Sending out her powers, Buffy could feel several someone's...
Human.
Dark.
"League Recon team." She clarified. "About six of them, forming a perimeter about half a mile out."
"What do you want to do?"
Picking up her cell phone, she called Bruce who picked up on the first ring.
"Buffy?"
"We have guests. Six of them scouting the perimeter of the grounds. My guess is there looking for a way into your underground caverns. Is there access other than the waterfall?"
"No."
"Got it. Everything good there?"
"It's fine. We will be staying here at Wolfram and Hart for a while and I'll have Faith call and explain in a bit. You sure you're okay?"
"We're fine. Talk at you soon."
Hanging up, Buffy turned to Oliver and said, "I'm going down to the Batcave and through the waterfall. I'm going to come in behind them and take them out. You stay here."
Oliver gripped her arm, shaking his head.
"You can't go alone."
"Queen, this is what I do. There's only six of them. It's not even a fair fight. Bring Merlyn up here and babysit him...make him help you patrol. Or if you want, access the roof through the library. One of you can take the south edge and the other the north. I'll be coming in from the East."
"Does anyone else on your team know how to shoot?"
"Kennedy. She's fairly good."
"Send them both up then."
"Fine." Buffy turned to head towards the music room, but Oliver's voice halted her footsteps.
"Be careful."
"Always am." She replied, as she disappeared around the corner.
Five minutes later, Malcolm and Kennedy were walking into the library, each with a set of weaponry.
"Do you know where the roof access is Kennedy?"
The girl nodded and gestured for them to follow her.
"How many?" Malcolm asked.
"Buffy thinks at least six."
The older man nodded as the roof door opened slowly, and Kennedy peered through making sure the coast was clear. Once she was satisfied, all three of them crawled onto the roof and set up their spots on each side of the Manor.
It was dark now, and Oliver could just make out the tree line on the northern edge of the property line. His eyes were well adjusted to night vision, spending many a night on Lian Yu hunting and fighting for his life, having the high ground was a luxury he'd not often had back then.
It was about ten minutes later, he saw movement on the Eastern border and sure enough, Buffy managed to take out two of the league members without even breaking a sweat. He then heard Merlyn's bow cock back and the whiz of an arrow being let go. Kennedy too, had managed to take down an intruder, and Oliver noticed two more coming in from the north. He managed to take out the first one, and then he saw the glint of a blade and heard metal clash as it became clear that Buffy had engaged the second one. Scanning the tree line, he couldn't make out much of anything, and then after a few moments there was quiet.
Oliver continued to scout for any signs of movement, but there was nothing and he felt his heart racing in dread as he desperately searched for any signs of blonde hair, but came up empty.
He glanced over his shoulder and whispered out, "Do either of you see Buffy?"
Two shakes of the head, let Oliver know that neither one had noticed the Slayer.
Oliver debated on whether to give up his post and go out in search for Buffy, but instinctively knew that his first responsibility was to protect his family underneath the Manor. His Mother, Sister and best friend were down there and as much as he figured Kennedy was capable—without her Slayer powers it was unlikely she could take out Merlyn in one-on-one combat.
The trio continued to cover the perimeter for another twenty minutes when Oliver heard a voice below.
"Everything okay?"
Looking down, his body sagged with relief at the smiling blonde staring up at him.
"We're good. Did we get them all?"
"Yeah. There was another group of four near the base of the waterfall when I came out. They're all tied up and I phoned a friend and had them taken away."
"Phoned a friend?" Oliver snickered. "Another Buffyism?"
Oliver watched stunned as Buffy vaulted herself from the ground, up onto the roof like the sixty feet was nothing.
"Yep." She turned to face Kennedy and Malcolm, who was staring at her incredulously.
"Did you just?"
"Yep."
Walking towards the roof access, Buffy fell in step with Kennedy who started to pepper her with questions while Merlyn came over to Oliver and whispered lowly, "The rise has to be at least sixty feet or better."
"I know."
"I'm beginning to wonder if all the information I've ever known about Slayers is inaccurate."
"My guess is probably but the good news is if your information is outdated than so is Ra's."
Malcolm blanched, as he'd not considered that angle at all.
"Who do you think went after Bruce and Faith?" Oliver asked as they walked back into the library.
"It was Nyssa."
Stopping suddenly, Buffy turned around and cocked her head at both men, her eyes narrowing at the older one dangerously.
"You're sure?"
Malcolm nodded again. "Nyssa would've been sent here to Gotham. Before I came here, there was a tentative plan in place. Nyssa and Ra's don't know about your existence. If they did, they would've regrouped by now."
"So where is Ra's?"
"Starling City."
Oliver blanched and then said angrily, "Why didn't you tell us that?"
"What does it matter? Everyone is here?"
"Laurel isn't!" Oliver bit back, and Buffy's eyes widened in horror. "If Ra's suspects you've defected, and he can't get to Tommy or Thea?"
"He's going to go after Tommy's fiancée." Oliver finished pained.
"Shit."