"Should I be laughing at what a typical evil vampire name that is or become overwhelmed with a sense of dread?" Xander asked without humor.
"I think a bit of both would suit," Giles replied.
"Lothos," Willow said shivering. "That just sounds evil."
"He is evil," Buffy said from behind them. "Sure he looks a little like Rutger Hauer but don't let that fool you."
The three of them turned, startled by her sudden appearance.
"Who?" Giles questioned.
"Blade Runner," Xander threw in.
"Oh yeah," Willow replied. "And that one other bad movie about vampires..."
"I thought you were heading for the hills," Xander said, dropping the line of conversation.
"I thought about it," she admitted, avoiding his eyes. She turned her gaze to Giles, all business.
"He's everything you'll read about and more," she said bluntly. "He doesn't play around."
"So you've encountered him before?" Giles asked.
"You could call it that," Buffy said quietly. Her hand moved slowly to touch the scar on her face, a move that didn't go unnoticed by Xander. He stared at her with eyes full of knowledge. He now had his answer of what had scared her so badly last night in the graveyard with Theresa. This Lothos had hurt her badly and she didn't want to be anywhere near something like it again. He knew the feeling. He looked at Giles and Willow to see that they hadn't picked up on the moment. He was glad. He didn't think that they would have understood.
"He has power," she said. "It's like hypnosis. He makes you do whatever he wants."
"Yes I've read that older vampires do acquire that particular ability," Giles said.
"He's got it in spades," Buffy replied bitterly.
She took a seat at the table and started to fill Giles in on her run in with the vampire god. Xander listened intently and noted that most of what she had to say were just mere technical aspects. How strong he was, how loyal his minions seemed to be. She spoke of how they first met in a small club in the bad part of town. He was just looking for a small massacre to stake his claim on the city. He succeeded in killing half of the club's patrons but she managed to save the other half. Lothos was furious at her interference and vowed to make her suffer. She didn't say exactly how he meant to do this, of course she wouldn't have. She told them about more run-ins, about how brutal he could be yet he never tried to kill her. He just killed all the innocents surrounding her knowing that it was the best way to get through. Giles, Willow, and Xander all looked at each other thinking the same thing. It was a pattern that they'd dealt with before.
"It was like his objective was to make me think I was useless," she mumbled.
She paused briefly, and like the night before he noticed that the facade of stone she kept around her was a bit thinner and she just looked tired. Xander made no move to comfort her, neither did Giles or Willow. It was a common known fact amongst them not to touch her.
She told them of being captured by his minions, she even mentioned Theresa, and how he first used his hypnosis on her. She said it was like watching yourself on TV, that you could see and hear everything going on around but you couldn't do anything about it. Willow and Xander both looked at each other when she said that, they both knew what that was like. She didn't know how many days he'd kept her. But she escaped eventually, never going into detail how, and returned home to find a message from the police saying that Merrick was dead. Another message was from the council telling her that they were sorry to hear of a colleague's death and to head to California and contact a Rupert Giles and they would deal with her from there.
"Lothos must have followed me here," She finished. "Or he was just drawn to the hellmouth like everything else seems to be."
"Well, thank you Buffy," Giles said warmly. "This will be most helpful."
She nodded and rose from her chair saying that she was going to get some water. Giles then poured over some books and Willow dove into the database trying to find out everything they could about their new threat. Xander helped for a moment, then went after Buffy when she didn't come back after five minutes. He found her sitting out in the hallway with her knees tucked under her chin. He approached her slowly, not wanting to startle or aggravate her. He paused in front of her and she looked up to him. She scowled only for a second, then let her facial features drop into no expression at all. She still looked tired to him but he knew there was nothing he could do at the moment to help her with it. Instead he spoke.
"I know," he said softly.
She looked at him, brow arched in curiosity. "Playing that game again huh?"
He nodded. "I know he was the one who gave you that," he said pointing at the scar.
Her hand shot to it immediately, an involuntary reaction of her own body. She ran her fingers lightly over the scar tissue on her cheek, closing her eyes and wincing at the memories. She looked away from him. Xander stared at her strangely, expecting that at any moment she would revert back to her old self again, and give him a stony glare telling him to mind his own business. He moved to sit next to her when she didn't.
"You're not telling me to fuck off," he said in slight bewilderment. "This is a first."
"Fuck off," she said lightly.
He laughed mildly and they sat in silence for moment, a habit they seemed to have formed without realizing it. He was sure to keep his distance from her, worried that a slight brush of contact would ignite the old fire within her.
"I know what's it's like," he said, his own voice sounding strange to his ears. He was never one to offer information about himself, at least not voluntarily. Yet as he sat next to her knowing the few small things she never would have told him on her own, he felt and odd compulsion to relate.
"What?"
"Being tortured," he said. "I've... Had some experience with it."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
He pulled on the collar of his shirt to reveal the modest sized, white mouth shaped scar on his neck. She'd seen it before two days ago but hadn't gotten that good of a look. She couldn't see in the moonlight how deep it was. He pulled on his shirt a little more to reveal just how many more mouth-shaped marks there were. She gasped in spite of her self. She definitely hadn't seen just how many there actually were. From the base of his neck and well across the length of his shoulder lay a row of savage looking teeth marks. She looked at to him, but his head was turned the other way.
"In the beginning of junior year a real cold hearted son of a bitch named Angelus rolled into town," he offered. "Giles had warned us about him. Told us he was legendary. He said that he greatly derived pleasure from mind games and torture. We ran into him a few times and he developed this kind of fascination with Faith, much to the dismay of my jealous heart. He actually flirted with her when they fought, left her flowers and dead animals as presents. He knew I was her boyfriend. I think he loved that he drove me crazy more than Faith. I vowed I'd kill him, or least be there when Faith did. He laughed, that guy was nothing but sneers and bravado, and said that he was tiring of my presence. He told me he was going to kill me. So this one night, Faith and I are on patrol down by the docks because we'd heard through this demon-snitching bartender that he had a place by the ocean. He sprung a little trap. At the time I thought it was for Faith, he had sent a good sized group of vamps after the two of us and they all ganged up on her. I fought, as many as I could, but there were too many you know? Anyway, they pick her up and toss her into the water and then they turn on me..."
Buffy waited patiently for him to continue slightly intrigued by his need to share. She was pretty sure he'd been as closed off as she knew she was.
"They all grab me and there I am thinking that my time was up. That I'd been lucky all the time I'd known Faith and helped her fight and now the luck had run out. Instead they just held me there. I could hear Faith splashing around in the water but there was no where for her to get out. She was screaming at them, saying every swear word ever invented. And then Angelus walks out clapping his hands like he'd just seen a Broadway show. He was smiling at me and I knew that the trap was for me. He told me that the best way to deal with slayers was to go after the ones they cared about. He said it made them weak. I was the perfect candidate for him to destroy Faith's sense of caring. He kept me for three days before she got me out..."
He sighed heavily and fought a few tears that threatened to spill. Buffy wasn't sure what to do about it, offering comfort was something she'd ever been sure of, so she sat still and waited for him to finish.
"He bit me over and over again, but never killing me. Taking just enough to where I was almost dead then letting me recover so he could do it again. He let his whole gang feed on me..."
A pause.
"I was so happy when she cut that bastard's head off..."
He turned to face her and she was surprised to see him look so fragile. She'd seen him only in two modes, pissed off and stoic. Now here he was looking like he was going to cry and she didn't have the slightest clue what to do about it. She thought that something had to be done about all this mushy bullshit they had going on.
"We'll get this Lothos guy Buffy," he said sternly. "We'll make him pay for what he did to you."
"Still going with that we theme huh?" She replied.
"You're going to keep arguing with me about it?"
"Not right now," she said. "Xander?"
"Yeah?"
"Why are you being nice to me?"
"Because..." He paused. He couldn't tell her about Faith telling him too but thought that it wouldn't have made much sense to her. Instead he came up with his own reasons.
"Because I'm just like you," he said. "I know what it's like to have been hurt to way you have. I know what it's like to shut other people out because you think they couldn't possibly understand. I know it's like to fight the same fight night after night and never get anywhere. And as much as I hate to admit it, we're a lot alike Buffy. You've had pain and I've had pain. We're big on the pain thing here."
She chuckled softly and he smiled at her.
"Hey, do you realize that this is the first conversation we've had where we didn't yell at each other?"
"I give it another five minutes," she offered.
He laughed. They sat in silence once again.
"I think a bit of both would suit," Giles replied.
"Lothos," Willow said shivering. "That just sounds evil."
"He is evil," Buffy said from behind them. "Sure he looks a little like Rutger Hauer but don't let that fool you."
The three of them turned, startled by her sudden appearance.
"Who?" Giles questioned.
"Blade Runner," Xander threw in.
"Oh yeah," Willow replied. "And that one other bad movie about vampires..."
"I thought you were heading for the hills," Xander said, dropping the line of conversation.
"I thought about it," she admitted, avoiding his eyes. She turned her gaze to Giles, all business.
"He's everything you'll read about and more," she said bluntly. "He doesn't play around."
"So you've encountered him before?" Giles asked.
"You could call it that," Buffy said quietly. Her hand moved slowly to touch the scar on her face, a move that didn't go unnoticed by Xander. He stared at her with eyes full of knowledge. He now had his answer of what had scared her so badly last night in the graveyard with Theresa. This Lothos had hurt her badly and she didn't want to be anywhere near something like it again. He knew the feeling. He looked at Giles and Willow to see that they hadn't picked up on the moment. He was glad. He didn't think that they would have understood.
"He has power," she said. "It's like hypnosis. He makes you do whatever he wants."
"Yes I've read that older vampires do acquire that particular ability," Giles said.
"He's got it in spades," Buffy replied bitterly.
She took a seat at the table and started to fill Giles in on her run in with the vampire god. Xander listened intently and noted that most of what she had to say were just mere technical aspects. How strong he was, how loyal his minions seemed to be. She spoke of how they first met in a small club in the bad part of town. He was just looking for a small massacre to stake his claim on the city. He succeeded in killing half of the club's patrons but she managed to save the other half. Lothos was furious at her interference and vowed to make her suffer. She didn't say exactly how he meant to do this, of course she wouldn't have. She told them about more run-ins, about how brutal he could be yet he never tried to kill her. He just killed all the innocents surrounding her knowing that it was the best way to get through. Giles, Willow, and Xander all looked at each other thinking the same thing. It was a pattern that they'd dealt with before.
"It was like his objective was to make me think I was useless," she mumbled.
She paused briefly, and like the night before he noticed that the facade of stone she kept around her was a bit thinner and she just looked tired. Xander made no move to comfort her, neither did Giles or Willow. It was a common known fact amongst them not to touch her.
She told them of being captured by his minions, she even mentioned Theresa, and how he first used his hypnosis on her. She said it was like watching yourself on TV, that you could see and hear everything going on around but you couldn't do anything about it. Willow and Xander both looked at each other when she said that, they both knew what that was like. She didn't know how many days he'd kept her. But she escaped eventually, never going into detail how, and returned home to find a message from the police saying that Merrick was dead. Another message was from the council telling her that they were sorry to hear of a colleague's death and to head to California and contact a Rupert Giles and they would deal with her from there.
"Lothos must have followed me here," She finished. "Or he was just drawn to the hellmouth like everything else seems to be."
"Well, thank you Buffy," Giles said warmly. "This will be most helpful."
She nodded and rose from her chair saying that she was going to get some water. Giles then poured over some books and Willow dove into the database trying to find out everything they could about their new threat. Xander helped for a moment, then went after Buffy when she didn't come back after five minutes. He found her sitting out in the hallway with her knees tucked under her chin. He approached her slowly, not wanting to startle or aggravate her. He paused in front of her and she looked up to him. She scowled only for a second, then let her facial features drop into no expression at all. She still looked tired to him but he knew there was nothing he could do at the moment to help her with it. Instead he spoke.
"I know," he said softly.
She looked at him, brow arched in curiosity. "Playing that game again huh?"
He nodded. "I know he was the one who gave you that," he said pointing at the scar.
Her hand shot to it immediately, an involuntary reaction of her own body. She ran her fingers lightly over the scar tissue on her cheek, closing her eyes and wincing at the memories. She looked away from him. Xander stared at her strangely, expecting that at any moment she would revert back to her old self again, and give him a stony glare telling him to mind his own business. He moved to sit next to her when she didn't.
"You're not telling me to fuck off," he said in slight bewilderment. "This is a first."
"Fuck off," she said lightly.
He laughed mildly and they sat in silence for moment, a habit they seemed to have formed without realizing it. He was sure to keep his distance from her, worried that a slight brush of contact would ignite the old fire within her.
"I know what's it's like," he said, his own voice sounding strange to his ears. He was never one to offer information about himself, at least not voluntarily. Yet as he sat next to her knowing the few small things she never would have told him on her own, he felt and odd compulsion to relate.
"What?"
"Being tortured," he said. "I've... Had some experience with it."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
He pulled on the collar of his shirt to reveal the modest sized, white mouth shaped scar on his neck. She'd seen it before two days ago but hadn't gotten that good of a look. She couldn't see in the moonlight how deep it was. He pulled on his shirt a little more to reveal just how many more mouth-shaped marks there were. She gasped in spite of her self. She definitely hadn't seen just how many there actually were. From the base of his neck and well across the length of his shoulder lay a row of savage looking teeth marks. She looked at to him, but his head was turned the other way.
"In the beginning of junior year a real cold hearted son of a bitch named Angelus rolled into town," he offered. "Giles had warned us about him. Told us he was legendary. He said that he greatly derived pleasure from mind games and torture. We ran into him a few times and he developed this kind of fascination with Faith, much to the dismay of my jealous heart. He actually flirted with her when they fought, left her flowers and dead animals as presents. He knew I was her boyfriend. I think he loved that he drove me crazy more than Faith. I vowed I'd kill him, or least be there when Faith did. He laughed, that guy was nothing but sneers and bravado, and said that he was tiring of my presence. He told me he was going to kill me. So this one night, Faith and I are on patrol down by the docks because we'd heard through this demon-snitching bartender that he had a place by the ocean. He sprung a little trap. At the time I thought it was for Faith, he had sent a good sized group of vamps after the two of us and they all ganged up on her. I fought, as many as I could, but there were too many you know? Anyway, they pick her up and toss her into the water and then they turn on me..."
Buffy waited patiently for him to continue slightly intrigued by his need to share. She was pretty sure he'd been as closed off as she knew she was.
"They all grab me and there I am thinking that my time was up. That I'd been lucky all the time I'd known Faith and helped her fight and now the luck had run out. Instead they just held me there. I could hear Faith splashing around in the water but there was no where for her to get out. She was screaming at them, saying every swear word ever invented. And then Angelus walks out clapping his hands like he'd just seen a Broadway show. He was smiling at me and I knew that the trap was for me. He told me that the best way to deal with slayers was to go after the ones they cared about. He said it made them weak. I was the perfect candidate for him to destroy Faith's sense of caring. He kept me for three days before she got me out..."
He sighed heavily and fought a few tears that threatened to spill. Buffy wasn't sure what to do about it, offering comfort was something she'd ever been sure of, so she sat still and waited for him to finish.
"He bit me over and over again, but never killing me. Taking just enough to where I was almost dead then letting me recover so he could do it again. He let his whole gang feed on me..."
A pause.
"I was so happy when she cut that bastard's head off..."
He turned to face her and she was surprised to see him look so fragile. She'd seen him only in two modes, pissed off and stoic. Now here he was looking like he was going to cry and she didn't have the slightest clue what to do about it. She thought that something had to be done about all this mushy bullshit they had going on.
"We'll get this Lothos guy Buffy," he said sternly. "We'll make him pay for what he did to you."
"Still going with that we theme huh?" She replied.
"You're going to keep arguing with me about it?"
"Not right now," she said. "Xander?"
"Yeah?"
"Why are you being nice to me?"
"Because..." He paused. He couldn't tell her about Faith telling him too but thought that it wouldn't have made much sense to her. Instead he came up with his own reasons.
"Because I'm just like you," he said. "I know what it's like to have been hurt to way you have. I know what it's like to shut other people out because you think they couldn't possibly understand. I know it's like to fight the same fight night after night and never get anywhere. And as much as I hate to admit it, we're a lot alike Buffy. You've had pain and I've had pain. We're big on the pain thing here."
She chuckled softly and he smiled at her.
"Hey, do you realize that this is the first conversation we've had where we didn't yell at each other?"
"I give it another five minutes," she offered.
He laughed. They sat in silence once again.
