Author's Notes: Can't really think of anything to say, except that if you have ignored the author's notes from the previous chapters (as I tend to do) then you won't know yet that Anya, Riley and Tara aren't featured in the story. The reason for this is that I haven't been able to work out their characters well enough yet (plus I despise Riley). The 5th season story arc isn't happening, but Dawn exists.
Distribution: This is the first time I've ever mentioned distribution in any of my fics, but I'm assuming that nobody would take any of them without ASKING first. It's just tacky otherwise.
Dedicated to Pippa, for her immense coolness; Emma, for her excessive-but-still-funny sarcasm; and Lynne, for her cuteness.
"Are you sure you're ready for this?"
Buffy and Silence were in the back of the Magic Box; the training room. After much pestering from Silence, Buffy had finally agreed to allow him to test his combat skills.
"Because I've got a whole lotta tension to relieve, and trust me when I say it's best not to be on the receiving end."
Silence, unsurprisingly, grinned.
"I say bring it on."
"Ookay, but don't tell me I didn't warn-"
Buffy was caught short when Silence dove at her, knocking her to the floor with a lightning fast sweep. She felt her breathe being expelled violently. But instead of getting mad, she was actually rather amused. It seemed she had misjudged the guy. Maybe now there was an opponent of nearer her level to spar with. (Excluding Spike, who just bugged her)
Instead of responding with a witty comment, Buffy did a scissors-kick, knocking Silence backwards. He slammed into the wall.
He got back up to his feet slowly, look a little shaken. He gave her a weak smile.
"Looks like pain resistance ain't one of the traits I kept. But..."
He was a blur, and was suddenly standing two feet away from her.
"...I'm guessing speed was."
He walked over to her, and they began fighting hand to hand. Buffy threw a punch that ought to have knocked him flying again, but Silence's arm was instantly there, blocking.
They were both so engrossed in the fighting that neither of them noticed the rest of the gang had gathered at the door, and were watching them in stunned awe. Dawn in particular seemed to be impressed.
Silence did a roundhouse kick, his trenchcoat swirling with the move. Buffy was too slow to decept and was knocked back. They were both silently noting the others strengths and weaknesses. That was only around as powerful as you'd expect from a normal vamp. But it was sure fast as hell. Buffy was impressed by Silence's reflexes, they were better than almost all the other opponents she'd ever fought.
The rest of the gang were just staring at this point – even fights between Buffy and Faith were never this intense. Giles saw Buffy use several moves he knew she hadn't learnt from him.
Suddenly, Silence knelt down on the ground. His hands tensed out in front of him. Buffy began to advance - assuming he was too exhausted to go on – when,
Silence, trenchcoat swirling, did a back-flip which caught Buffy under her chin, knocking her up into the air.
She landed on the training mat on the other side of the room.
15 feet away.
Silence stood up. There was a stunned silence. Broken by Xander.
"Guess you've been eating your spinach, huh?"
* * *
Angelus was positively ecstatic as he sped along the highway towards Sunnydale. After being trapped, restrained with a soul for so long, he was beginning to believe he'd never be free again.
Looks like soulboy has weaker willpower than we all thought.
Angelus was calculating his game plan during the journey.
It wasn't too complicated – do none of the things he had done last time around.
Instead of actively seeking the Slayer out, he would hide, watch her, study her style, and inevitably find a weakness. Angelus wasn't the impatient sort, and he had eternity. He would identify the chinks in her armour. Then, when the time was right, he would let his presence be known to her. He would finish the long overdrawn fight between them. He would do what he had yearned, and dreamed of doing ever since his souled counterpart had met her.
He would kill her.
* * *
"So....do you gotta girlfriend back in....say, where are you from again?"
"Uh, technically when I'm not on a mission, I don't exist."
"Oh."
Ever since Dawn had seen Silence pull off that way cool move - effectively kicking her sister's ass - she had accepted the fact she might kinda sorta maybe have a crush on him. But he might like her back, right? After all, he had called her hot!
"So...that means you're single then, right?" she persisted. Silence just smiled.
Dawn took this as a good sign.
"So, let me get this straight," Buffy decided it was a good time to interrupt. "Until we defeat whatever evil is coming our way, you're basically stuck here?"
Silence nodded.
"And after we've killed it, you go back to..." Buffy made a vague gesture with her arm. "...Wherever?" Silence fidgeted slightly.
"Well, not exactly. The PTB are all-powerful, as you know. But when us worker ants go on a certain amount of missions, we begin to remember things from our past times on earth." He paused. Buffy realised she'd never seen him look so serious.
"And this is a bad thing...how?" she prompted. He sighed.
"Anything can happen while we're here. It's been known for us guys to fall in love." He said quietly. "And if we remember that, then it makes us-"
"-Miserable." Finished Giles. "No good to the Powers to help fight on earth."
"Yeah. And it ain't only that. Sometimes the PTB require us to be ruthless to get the job done. It's not pretty. And if we have all these memories of doin' all this stuff, well....it gets to you. Anyway. The PTB only allow us to go on missions a certain number of times. After that they just leave us on our current assignment. We can't go back. And I think this time is my last one."
"And you just live out your life as a human? No powers, nothing? " asked Willow gently.
Silence smiled. "Hey, it isn't as bad as it sounds."
"This is tragic and all," interjected Xander. "But what happens until this evil shows up? Do you just wait here?"
"Why do you ask? You got a problem with my presence?" challenged Silence.
"Hey man, I've got no problem. It's cool to have someone else do the jokes for once."
Silence grinned. "I could never live up to the standards you've set, but thanks all the same."
The tension in the room broken, everyone felt free to ask Silence all the plaguing questions they'd contained until now.
"So, are you on a name to name basis with the Powers?" asked Buffy.
"Well, uh, I mean," Silence stammered.
"-What do they look like anyway?" Dawn piped up.
"Know any hot female messengers?" Xander asked eagerly.
"I have always wondered, that is to say..." Giles started.
None of them noticed Angelus's grinning face looking in from outside. He silently mouthed a single word.
"Soon."