One week later
sunday 6 pm
"Giles, there's an awful lot of nothing going on out there,"
Buffy said. "Still."
"Well, typically the more organized troublemakers are the
vampires," Giles replied. "Not to bring up a sore subject, but
the two vampires who would normally fight it out for title of
Master Vampire in Sunnydale are now gone. The rest of the
vampires probably have been fighting amongst themselves since
then."
"I'm lost," Buffy gave him a puzzled look.
"Trying to establish a new leader," Oz explained. "Territorial
fights, and so on."
"Oh," Buffy said. "And you get that how?"
"The territorial mindset of the vampires isn't too different from
the behavior of wolves."
"Okay, so when the new Master is established, _then_ we can
expect a big bad plan?"
"Most likely," Giles nodded. "Until then, I doubt you will see
any organized group activity."
"I guess that's good," she replied. "So I'll see you guys later
after patrol."
She was glad that Giles had agreed she could patrol on her own.
Strange as it seemed to the others, she didn't mind being out on
her own. True, she had to keep her mind on the possible dangers,
but she could also take the occasional spare moment to turn
things over in her head.
Since her dream, as she had chosen to accept it , she'd felt the
weight of all the pain that had been holding her down slowly
begin to lift off her shoulders. She still missed Angel, but it
wasn't a suicidal feeling anymore. She was able to breathe easier
and think clearer.
When she chose to think about it, such as tonight, she identified
a new ache that had appeared in the past two weeks. She missed
Xander, he had become her best friend in the past month. *Doesn't
matter,* she told herself now. *He lied, and he kept things from
me. Do I really want someone like that in my life?*
"Oh, hi," she turned to face the male vampire that she'd sensed
stalking her for the last five minutes. "I was wondering when
you'd catch up," she said, brandishing her stake.
"You didn't see me though," the other male vampire dropped from
the tree behind her, and grabbed her around the waist, shoving
her against a tree. He pinned her, holding her wrists, and
grinned at her. "Bet you'll taste so good," he said. She saw five
more vampires approaching over his shoulder. "Not tonight," she
replied. She pulled her knee up and made contact with the
vampire's groin, removing his advantage for the moment as he
doubled over in pain.
She stepped away to get a good idea of the odds, and noticed five
more vampires had appeared. "I get it, it's an ambush," she
shrugged. "I'm in the mood for a challenge. You wouldn't believe
the week I've had. I've got more than enough pent-up anger to
take out on you guys."
She waited for one or more of them to make the first move,
knowing her best chance right now was defense. *Maybe I can pick
them off a few at a time. Maybe.*
Two of them charged her, one from the right, and one from the
left. She had just enough time to pull a vial of holy water out
of her back jeans pocket. With one hand she threw the holy water
on the vampire to the right of her, with the other she staked the
vampire to the left. Then, she turned her stake on the one she'd
disabled.
"Ten to one, I like those odds better," she said. "Come on, so
far it's not even hard yet."
In response to this, five more vampires appeared out of the
shadows. Buffy's mind was screaming panic, but she tried to keep
this fear masked from the vampires. Giles had taught her that
demons could smell fear on humans, just as some animals could.
"Fifteen to one; I can do that, too," she said bravely.
She blinked with surprise when five vampires in a row exploded in
a cloud of dust, at two second intervals. She saw the remaining
demons glance behind them, and realized the identity of her
unexpected helper. *Xander.* He was standing off in the shadows,
crossbow in hand. *Wonder if he's been following me all night?*
She wasn't given time to contemplate the question. Three of the
vampires turned on Xander, leaving seven to attack her. Attack
they did, without warning. She was tackled by one, and knocked to
the ground. As he pinned her to the ground, she saw a way out. A
vampire standing near her head had a knife sheathed to his ankle.
She bit her captor on the arm, drawing blood, and causing him to
roar in anger. The action succeeded in making him release her
wrist, however, and she grabbed the knife from the ankle sheath
of the nearby vamp. She knifed her would-be captor in the chest,
and he roared again. She shoved him off her, and jumped to her
feet.
"Buffy!" She looked over at Xander, and he threw her two stakes.
She turned and staked the two nearest demons quickly. She saw
that Xander had staked the three who had attacked him, and he had
moved in to help her.
"No," she said, a feeling of hopelessness overcoming her as she
realized that ten more vampires had joined the attack. "Fifteen
again, which is where you came in. Isn't there an end to them?"
"Buffy, concentrate," Xander said. "We can do this, just stay
alive." He turned his back to her, and she realized at least this
way neither of them could be the victim of a surprise attack.
They faced the vampires who were beginning to surround them.
Xander had located the arrows he'd used earlier, and he destroyed
five more in the space of ten seconds. Buffy still had two
stakes, and she took a deep breath, willing herself to keep calm.
*Ten to go* She decided to take the offensive, and charged at
those vampires nearest her. She staked one, and then punched
another in the face. He counter-punched, but she blocked it, and
punched him again in the stomach. Another vampire moved in, and
she kicked out at him, making contact with his chest and sending
him flying. As she did so, she noticed that Xander had staked two
demons, and did not appear to be in need of her help at the
moment. *Guess all those nights patrolling with me paid off for
him. He's not so bad in the slaying department himself now*
She turned her attention back to the vampire she was beating
senseless, and decided to end it. She staked him, and taunted the
other four who had held back, "Who feels like going to hell
next?"
Three of the four walked slowly toward her, moving apart to
surround her. She turned in place, trying to keep her eyes on all
at once. Two of them moved closer, and she staked one of them,
and turned to the other. He backhanded her, knocking her off her
feet momentarily. She struggled to her feet, and he grabbed the
hand that still had a stake in it.
*I lost the other somewhere* She looked around for it, but was
brought back to the present by the pain as he squeezed her wrist,
finding a pressure point. She dropped the stake, and he kicked it
away. She punched him in the face with the other hand, and he
stumbled backward.
She realized her weaponless state wouldn't help, but had an idea.
She ran to a picnic bench nearby, and overturned it. She kicked
one of the legs off of the base of the bench, and examined it.
*That's gotta be sharp enough* she hoped. She turned to see that
the two demons had followed her. One got too close, though, not
realizing her intent. "Thank you!" she staked him quickly. She
turned, and then frowned as she saw the other vampire was no
longer there. "What the--shit!" she finished as he grabbed her
from behind, around the waist. He effectively pinned her arms to
her waist, and she struggled to get free. One of the vampires,
who had held back during the fight, approached then.
"You!" Buffy recognized him as being the same one who had beaten
her up a month earlier.
"Hello, Slayer," he said with a smile. "You were much more fun
tonight than you were last time. But unfortunately the fun ends
now. At least for you."
Buffy looked over to see that more vampires must have appeared,
because by her count there should have only been four left. But
there were seven. Five of those were keeping Xander busy, so he
couldn't come to her assistance. The other two had her trapped.
"I can't decide though," the vampire continued, "whether I want
to rip your heart out and watch you die, or change you."
"Go to hell," Buffy said.
"No, I like it here better," he replied, moving closer until he
was three inches from her. He pried the stake from her hand and
threw it out of sight. He jumped back, then, seeing her try to
kick him. "Now, now," he said, "You'll just make this harder on
yourself. Tell you what, why don't you tell me what you'd prefer?
A horrible death? Or living forever as a vampire?"
Buffy laughed, "They're both the same thing, you idiot. Except
for in the long run vampires get two horrible deaths, but that's
beside the point."
"Funny," the vampire said sarcastically. "I'm tired of talking, I
want to feed. Can't have you disrupting the moment, though..."
"Forgot about me then, I guess," she heard Xander's voice behind
her, and the vampire behind her disappeared. She felt Xander's
steadying hands on her shoulders so she wouldn't lose her
balance, and then he moved in front of her to confront the last
vampire. "Shouldn't have messed with the Slayer," Xander said.
"Guess nobody told you she has friends who don't take too kindly
to an ambush on her." Then he threw his stake, piercing the
vampire in the heart. As the vampire vanished in a cloud of dust,
he turned back to Buffy.
"You okay?" he asked.
She nodded, unable to speak due to the shock of what had just
happened. She finally decided what she wanted to ask first, "How
did you do that?"
"I learned from an expert," Xander shrugged. "I couldn't help
picking up on some demon-killing tactics in the last two years. I
never had a reason to figure out I wasn't so useless after all,
until these last couple weeks. Well, I know you don't really want
me around, so I'll get out of your way now."
Before Buffy could reply, he had walked away.
**********
End of 22
sunday 6 pm
"Giles, there's an awful lot of nothing going on out there,"
Buffy said. "Still."
"Well, typically the more organized troublemakers are the
vampires," Giles replied. "Not to bring up a sore subject, but
the two vampires who would normally fight it out for title of
Master Vampire in Sunnydale are now gone. The rest of the
vampires probably have been fighting amongst themselves since
then."
"I'm lost," Buffy gave him a puzzled look.
"Trying to establish a new leader," Oz explained. "Territorial
fights, and so on."
"Oh," Buffy said. "And you get that how?"
"The territorial mindset of the vampires isn't too different from
the behavior of wolves."
"Okay, so when the new Master is established, _then_ we can
expect a big bad plan?"
"Most likely," Giles nodded. "Until then, I doubt you will see
any organized group activity."
"I guess that's good," she replied. "So I'll see you guys later
after patrol."
She was glad that Giles had agreed she could patrol on her own.
Strange as it seemed to the others, she didn't mind being out on
her own. True, she had to keep her mind on the possible dangers,
but she could also take the occasional spare moment to turn
things over in her head.
Since her dream, as she had chosen to accept it , she'd felt the
weight of all the pain that had been holding her down slowly
begin to lift off her shoulders. She still missed Angel, but it
wasn't a suicidal feeling anymore. She was able to breathe easier
and think clearer.
When she chose to think about it, such as tonight, she identified
a new ache that had appeared in the past two weeks. She missed
Xander, he had become her best friend in the past month. *Doesn't
matter,* she told herself now. *He lied, and he kept things from
me. Do I really want someone like that in my life?*
"Oh, hi," she turned to face the male vampire that she'd sensed
stalking her for the last five minutes. "I was wondering when
you'd catch up," she said, brandishing her stake.
"You didn't see me though," the other male vampire dropped from
the tree behind her, and grabbed her around the waist, shoving
her against a tree. He pinned her, holding her wrists, and
grinned at her. "Bet you'll taste so good," he said. She saw five
more vampires approaching over his shoulder. "Not tonight," she
replied. She pulled her knee up and made contact with the
vampire's groin, removing his advantage for the moment as he
doubled over in pain.
She stepped away to get a good idea of the odds, and noticed five
more vampires had appeared. "I get it, it's an ambush," she
shrugged. "I'm in the mood for a challenge. You wouldn't believe
the week I've had. I've got more than enough pent-up anger to
take out on you guys."
She waited for one or more of them to make the first move,
knowing her best chance right now was defense. *Maybe I can pick
them off a few at a time. Maybe.*
Two of them charged her, one from the right, and one from the
left. She had just enough time to pull a vial of holy water out
of her back jeans pocket. With one hand she threw the holy water
on the vampire to the right of her, with the other she staked the
vampire to the left. Then, she turned her stake on the one she'd
disabled.
"Ten to one, I like those odds better," she said. "Come on, so
far it's not even hard yet."
In response to this, five more vampires appeared out of the
shadows. Buffy's mind was screaming panic, but she tried to keep
this fear masked from the vampires. Giles had taught her that
demons could smell fear on humans, just as some animals could.
"Fifteen to one; I can do that, too," she said bravely.
She blinked with surprise when five vampires in a row exploded in
a cloud of dust, at two second intervals. She saw the remaining
demons glance behind them, and realized the identity of her
unexpected helper. *Xander.* He was standing off in the shadows,
crossbow in hand. *Wonder if he's been following me all night?*
She wasn't given time to contemplate the question. Three of the
vampires turned on Xander, leaving seven to attack her. Attack
they did, without warning. She was tackled by one, and knocked to
the ground. As he pinned her to the ground, she saw a way out. A
vampire standing near her head had a knife sheathed to his ankle.
She bit her captor on the arm, drawing blood, and causing him to
roar in anger. The action succeeded in making him release her
wrist, however, and she grabbed the knife from the ankle sheath
of the nearby vamp. She knifed her would-be captor in the chest,
and he roared again. She shoved him off her, and jumped to her
feet.
"Buffy!" She looked over at Xander, and he threw her two stakes.
She turned and staked the two nearest demons quickly. She saw
that Xander had staked the three who had attacked him, and he had
moved in to help her.
"No," she said, a feeling of hopelessness overcoming her as she
realized that ten more vampires had joined the attack. "Fifteen
again, which is where you came in. Isn't there an end to them?"
"Buffy, concentrate," Xander said. "We can do this, just stay
alive." He turned his back to her, and she realized at least this
way neither of them could be the victim of a surprise attack.
They faced the vampires who were beginning to surround them.
Xander had located the arrows he'd used earlier, and he destroyed
five more in the space of ten seconds. Buffy still had two
stakes, and she took a deep breath, willing herself to keep calm.
*Ten to go* She decided to take the offensive, and charged at
those vampires nearest her. She staked one, and then punched
another in the face. He counter-punched, but she blocked it, and
punched him again in the stomach. Another vampire moved in, and
she kicked out at him, making contact with his chest and sending
him flying. As she did so, she noticed that Xander had staked two
demons, and did not appear to be in need of her help at the
moment. *Guess all those nights patrolling with me paid off for
him. He's not so bad in the slaying department himself now*
She turned her attention back to the vampire she was beating
senseless, and decided to end it. She staked him, and taunted the
other four who had held back, "Who feels like going to hell
next?"
Three of the four walked slowly toward her, moving apart to
surround her. She turned in place, trying to keep her eyes on all
at once. Two of them moved closer, and she staked one of them,
and turned to the other. He backhanded her, knocking her off her
feet momentarily. She struggled to her feet, and he grabbed the
hand that still had a stake in it.
*I lost the other somewhere* She looked around for it, but was
brought back to the present by the pain as he squeezed her wrist,
finding a pressure point. She dropped the stake, and he kicked it
away. She punched him in the face with the other hand, and he
stumbled backward.
She realized her weaponless state wouldn't help, but had an idea.
She ran to a picnic bench nearby, and overturned it. She kicked
one of the legs off of the base of the bench, and examined it.
*That's gotta be sharp enough* she hoped. She turned to see that
the two demons had followed her. One got too close, though, not
realizing her intent. "Thank you!" she staked him quickly. She
turned, and then frowned as she saw the other vampire was no
longer there. "What the--shit!" she finished as he grabbed her
from behind, around the waist. He effectively pinned her arms to
her waist, and she struggled to get free. One of the vampires,
who had held back during the fight, approached then.
"You!" Buffy recognized him as being the same one who had beaten
her up a month earlier.
"Hello, Slayer," he said with a smile. "You were much more fun
tonight than you were last time. But unfortunately the fun ends
now. At least for you."
Buffy looked over to see that more vampires must have appeared,
because by her count there should have only been four left. But
there were seven. Five of those were keeping Xander busy, so he
couldn't come to her assistance. The other two had her trapped.
"I can't decide though," the vampire continued, "whether I want
to rip your heart out and watch you die, or change you."
"Go to hell," Buffy said.
"No, I like it here better," he replied, moving closer until he
was three inches from her. He pried the stake from her hand and
threw it out of sight. He jumped back, then, seeing her try to
kick him. "Now, now," he said, "You'll just make this harder on
yourself. Tell you what, why don't you tell me what you'd prefer?
A horrible death? Or living forever as a vampire?"
Buffy laughed, "They're both the same thing, you idiot. Except
for in the long run vampires get two horrible deaths, but that's
beside the point."
"Funny," the vampire said sarcastically. "I'm tired of talking, I
want to feed. Can't have you disrupting the moment, though..."
"Forgot about me then, I guess," she heard Xander's voice behind
her, and the vampire behind her disappeared. She felt Xander's
steadying hands on her shoulders so she wouldn't lose her
balance, and then he moved in front of her to confront the last
vampire. "Shouldn't have messed with the Slayer," Xander said.
"Guess nobody told you she has friends who don't take too kindly
to an ambush on her." Then he threw his stake, piercing the
vampire in the heart. As the vampire vanished in a cloud of dust,
he turned back to Buffy.
"You okay?" he asked.
She nodded, unable to speak due to the shock of what had just
happened. She finally decided what she wanted to ask first, "How
did you do that?"
"I learned from an expert," Xander shrugged. "I couldn't help
picking up on some demon-killing tactics in the last two years. I
never had a reason to figure out I wasn't so useless after all,
until these last couple weeks. Well, I know you don't really want
me around, so I'll get out of your way now."
Before Buffy could reply, he had walked away.
**********
End of 22