Chapter Three: Imitations of Mortality
Or How to Survive a Sucking Chest Wound.

_ _ _ _ _



Buffy, Willow, and Xander walked down the street. Buffy was studying the slip of paper Jason
had given her, occasionally glancing up at the buildings, trying to find the one written on the paper. Xander
and Willow were following her; both of them quiet, with solemn looks on their faces.

"You think he knows anything about Faith?" Willow asked. Buffy glanced back at her.

"Maybe. He knows a lot of things he's not telling us I think," Buffy replied. She stopped and
looked up at the warehouse in front of them. "This is the place."

"Hmm, this guy is definitely slumming it huh. I don't think anyone's used this building for awhile,"
Xander said. Willow nodded. Buffy shrugged and walked around the side of the building, looking for an
entrance. Xander and Willow followed her closely.

The threesome eventually found a partially open access door. They opened it slowly and walked
in, taking a look around the large building. The first thing Xander noticed was the car.

"Oh cool," he said, looking at the '67 Mustang. Willow tapped him on the shoulder, and pointed in
the direction she and Buffy were looking.

Jason was on the gym mats that were laid out off to one side, dressed only in a pair of black sweat
pants. He was unleashing a withering attack on the punching bag. The sounds of his fists and feet slamming
into the bag filled the building. His face and upper body was dripping with sweat; his hair was soaked in it.

This wasn't what got their attention though. His upper body, while obviously well defined and in
good shape, was covered in scars. Some of them were old and white, other looked pink and fairly new.
There were slashes and what looked like bullet holes all over his back and chest. A thin, obviously old scar
ran all the way around the bottom of his throat. His back was worse than the front; there being almost no
unscarred flesh there at all.

"Holy Goddess what happened to him?" Willow asked in a whisper. The sound carried surprising
well throughout the building. And Jason suddenly stopped, turning to look at the three standing by the door.

"You three going to stand there all day or come in?" he asked, picking a towel up off the mats, and
wiping him self off with it.

"They are probably going to stay there all day," Chelle said. The three finally noticed her sitting at
the desk, watching the TV. She was dressed in a long flannel shirt that almost reached her knees. They
couldn't tell if she was wearing anything under it. The glass monocle was still hanging around her throat.

Buffy shook her head, then stepped forward, walking toward Jason, Willow and Xander following
her. Jason watched her approach as he pulled a black T-shirt on.

"Do you know anything about Faith vanishing?" she asked when she reached him. Jason blinked, a
look of surprise on his face.

"The other Slayer? What do you mean vanish?" he asked, wiping sweat off his forehead with the
towel.

"She vanished out of the hospital. No one saw anything," Willow said. Jason turned to look at her,
and then shook his head.

"From what I've heard, she caused you a lot of problems. If she's up and running around again,
maybe you'd like to start that training Buffy," Jason said, turning and walking toward the living area.

"I don't trust you," Buffy said quietly. Jason stopped, and turned around and looked at her.

"Why not?" he asked. Chelle laughed softly.

"Oh this ought to be interesting," Chelle said, then stood up and walked over to the fridge. Willow
glanced at Xander, and elbowed him in the ribs when she saw him watching Chelle walk. Buffy ignored all
this, and answered Jason's question.

"You come in here, act like you're gods gift to Slayers, and only tell me half the story about
something that could get me and my friends killed. I hate it when people play 'cryptic guy' with me," Buffy
said.

Jason listened to all this silently, a thoughtful look on his face. He coughed once, and then replied.

"You're right, I have been a little arrogant, and I haven't told you everything. I will tell you the rest
of the story, when you need to hear it. You have to believe me however, I am here to help you, and I can
teach you a lot. Don't trust me if you want, but don't discount what I can teach you out of hand," Jason said
quietly.

With that, he turned and walked over to the kitchen area, pausing to poke Chelle, who was
rummaging through the fridge, in the ribs softy. Chelle stood up straight, turned, and punched Jason in the
shoulder before turning back to the fridge.

"Alright then. When do we start?" Buffy asked. Jason filled a glass with water from the sink, and
then turned back to her.

"Right now would be good. Go take a seat on the mat, I'll be there in a minute," he said before
taking a long drink from the glass. Buffy nodded and walked over to the mat, sitting on it cross-legged.
Jason finished his glass of water and walked behind the kitchen area. Xander leaned against the wall,
watching Jason and Buffy. Willow walked over to the kitchen area and started talking to Chelle.

Jason came back out from behind the kitchen and walked over to the mat, sitting down in front of
Buffy.

"Alright, let's begin," he said. "Close your eyes, and listen to the sound of my voice."

"You aren't going to try and hypnotize me are you?" Buffy asked. Jason laughed.

"You know, I've learned to do a lot of different things, but I never learned how to hypnotize
someone. No, this is an exercise to help you find your center, your Chi," Jason said, a slight smile on his
face.

"Uhm, and why would I want to do that?" Buffy asked.

"Because, if I can teach you to find your Chi, I can teach you to use your Chi, and then I can teach
you how to do something like this," Jason said. With that, he held his fist up. It started glowing softly, and
her turned slightly, moving to the edge of the mat, and punched the concrete floor, hard. There was a loud
cracking sound, and a nearly foot long crack appeared in the floor. Jason lifted his hand, which was
completely unmarked.

"Someone has been eating his Wheaties," Xander said in awe. Buffy stared at Jason, her jaw
dropped.

"Okay, I want to learn that," she said.

_ _ _ _ _

Over near the kitchen area, Chelle and Willow were watching Jason and Buffy. Chelle was eating
a sandwich she had put together. They sat there in silence for a few moments, before Willow spoke up.

"Are you a witch?" Willow asked. Chelle shrugged and took another bite of he sandwich.

"No, not really," Chelle mumbled as she chewed. Willow blinked.

"But you did something to those vampires last night, you made them trip. How?" Willow asked.
Chelle finished off the last of the sandwich before she spoke.

"Coincidental Magick. I manipulated reality to greatly increase the chance that those vampires
would fall on their faces," Chelle said nonchalantly.

"Excuse me?" Willow asked, a look of stunned confusion on her face.

"I manipulated reality," Chelle said.

"Oh. That sounds... uhm... interesting," Willow said. "How did you do that?"

"It involves complicated metaphysics. Basically, I'm a mage and I have the ability to bend reality
to my will," Chelle said.

"Bend reality? What do you mean? How is that different from being a witch?" Willow asked in
rapid succession.

"Whoa, slow down kid. Those are complicated question you are asking," Chelle said, raising a
hand. She took a deep breath, and then spoke again.

"You see there are two different ways of doing magic," Chelle started. "The first is called hedge
magic. It operates inside the basic rules of reality. In other words, it has rules, it has boundaries, and as long
as you abide by those rules, the magic works." Willow nodded, fascinated.

"The second type of magic is called True Magic," Chelle continued. "It operates not by following
the rules of static reality, but rather by changing the rules so you get the desired effect. In that way, there
are no real boundaries, no real rules, because you make up the rules as you go along. And if you don't like
the rules you made, well, you can go back and change them."

"Wow. You'd be like a god," Willow said quietly. Chelle nodded.

"Yes, in theory, you would be. However, it isn't that easy. You see reality doesn't like to be
screwed around with too much. When you try to stretch reality too far, it snaps back, and creates this
wonderful thing called Paradox," Chelle said.

"Paradox?" Willow asked.

"Paradox is basically reality slapping you in the face for pushing it too far. It can manifest in a
number of different ways, ranging from minor annoyances to fatal incidents. It can get messy," Chelle said.

"How do you avoid it?" Willow asked.

"By being subtle," Chelle said. "Paradox only incurs when you start doing things that are
considered impossible by static reality. Fireballs leaping from your fingertips, flying through the air, that
sort of thing. That's called vulgar magic,"

"However, if you use magic to manipulate possibilities, you can avoid Paradox. If ceiling in an old
house just happens to collapse, if pile of old rags just happens to catch on fire, or if someone's gun just
happens to jam, it's a coincidence. That's called coincidental magic. It is very hard to do, but it keeps you
from getting smacked around by reality," Chelle said.

Willow looked at Chelle silently for a few minutes. She raised a hand to her forehead.

"I think I have a headache," Willow said. Chelle laughed.

"I never was a very good teacher," she said.

_ _ _ _ _

The next month passed rather quickly. Everyone moved into a new routine. Buffy spent three or
four hours a day at Jason's, training. Half the time she spent meditating, learning how to focus and use her
inner Chi. The other half of the time she sparred with him, learning various fighting techniques. Jason often
praised her on how quickly she learned things.

At night, Buffy patrolled, sometimes with Jason, sometimes without him. There was no sign of
Callista or her pack in that time. Or of Faith for that matter. When Buffy questioned why they hadn't heard
anything from Callista, Jason explained it to her.

"The Kindred can afford to be patient. They think nothing of starting a plan that takes decades to
come to an end," Jason had said.

"So we might have to wait ten years for her to make a move?" Buffy asked. Jason had shaken his
head.

"Not likely. The Sabbat has been planning to take over this area for at least fifty years. If Callista
is here, that means they are getting pretty close. She's taking her time, building up her forces," Jason said.

"So, when she does make a move, it's not going to be on her own?" Buffy asked.

"Now you understand why I wanted to train you," Jason had replied.

So Buffy had continued to learn from Jason. After awhile, Jason had decided that she needed to
learn how to use firearms. Buffy had asked why.

"It's simple. The Callista and her pack can and will bring guns to a party. All the fighting skills I
can teach you won't mean anything if you have ten pissed off ghouls firing shotguns at you," Jason had
replied.

"What's a ghoul?" Buffy had asked. Jason shook his head.

"Ghouls are servants of the Kindred," Jason said. "They are usually just normal humans that are
fed a steady diet of a Kindred's blood. That gives them some of the Kindred's power, and almost
completely stops their aging."

"People actually do that?" Buffy asked.

"Oh yeah. Kindred blood is supposed to be very addictive, especially the rush of power it gives
you." Jason replied. "They tend to be very loyal to their masters, and most of them look just like normal
human, which makes them useful."

"Most of them?" Buffy asked, slightly worried.

"Well, some members of the Sabbat use their flesh-crafting skills to mutilate ghouls and turn them
into a kind of living war machine," Jason said. "They are called szlachta, and are general real mean and real
insane. You don't want to tangle with them if you can avoid it. Hence, the training with the gun. They can't
get close enough to hurt you if you blow their head off."

Buffy had agreed that made sense, so Jason had taken her to a wooded area outside of town. He set
up some targets, handed her a 9mm pistol, showed her the proper firing stance, and told her to take a shot.
She did, and missed by a wide margin. Jason shook his head and told her to try again.

Two hours and fifty bullets later, Buffy had managed to hit the target twenty-three times.

"Okay, guns aren't your forte. But we'll keep working on it," Jason said.

That was the state of affairs a month later, as Buffy, Xander, Willow, Jason, and Chelle sat at a
table in the Bronze on a Friday night. Xander was watching the dance floor, as was Buffy. Willow was
staring up at the stage, where Oz was playing with his band. Chelle was dripping water on the back of
Jason's neck, who was laying his head on the table and seemed to be asleep.

"Is it just me, or has it been way to quiet around here lately," Xander said.

"Bite your tongue Xander. Last time someone said that we met the Play-Do girl," Buffy said.

"You know, Callista would really get ticked if you called her that to her face," Jason said without
lifting his head. "When we finally run into her, you ought to use it."

"I spend hours coming up with clever puns. I can probably do better," Buffy said.

"I want to know why you haven't gone looking for her Jason," Xander said. Jason lifted his head
just enough to look at Xander with one eye.

"I have this thing about getting ripped apart in a vampire's lair," he said, before laying his head
back down. "I like to avoid it."

Xander shrugged. Buffy shook her head and stood up.

"I'm going to go dance. Who wants to come?" she said.

_ _ _ _ _

Callista stood in the center of the abandoned church, arms crossed over her chest. She looked at
another vampire, a short, rat-faced man, with a look of disappointment on her face. The rat-faced vampire
looked back up at her nervously.

"What exactly happened to those guns, Tomas?" Callista asked, her voice cold and threatening.

"We don't really know, mistress. The car carrying them just sort of... vanished," Tomas said in a
frightened voice. Callista wrapped a hand around his throat, her fingers stretching into sharp claws.

"You don't know? Have no clue?" she asked. Tomas swallowed reflexively.

"There is a rumor the Children of Megami attacked the car," Tomas said in a small voice. Callista
snarled, digging her claws into Tomas' throat briefly before shoving him away.

"Those fucking goddess worshipers are starting to be a pain in the ass," she grumbled darkly. She
turned, pointing one of her claws at a pair of vampires standing in the shadows.

"Michael, Gabriel. Go down to Los Angeles. Tell Mohammed that I am greatly disappointed in his
ability to protect our shipments. Remind him that I speak for the Archbishop here. Let him know that if you
two visit him again, he'll find himself staked out in the sun!" Callista snarled.

The two vampires hidden in the shadows bowed slightly, and stepped back, seeming to melt into
the shadows and vanish. Callista smiled slightly, then gestured to another vampire, a tall, lanky man
dressed as a priest.

"Father Paul. I want you to take two of the szlachta and kill the Slayer and the Stormbringer. We
are getting too close to the siege and they need to be eliminated," she said.

"Yes mistress. They will be dead by sunrise," Father Paul said in a quiet, serene voice.

_ _ _ _ _

It was late at night, and the Bronze was almost empty. Willow and Oz were sitting on one of the
couches, leaning close, talking quietly. Chelle was telling Xander a story about a friend of hers at the bar.
Buffy and Jason were sitting at a table. Jason still had his head laid down on the tabletop.

"Tell me about her," Buffy said quietly.

"About who?" Jason asked, his voice muffled.

"Callista," Buffy said. Jason sighed deeply and sat up.

"What is there to tell? She's Kindred, of the Clan Tzimisce. She's evil, vindictive, and totally loyal
to the Sabbat," he said, sitting up straight and fishing a crumpled pack of cigarettes from his jacket pocket.

"There is more to it than that isn't there? You have some history with her," Buffy said. Jason
sighed, lighting a cigarette with his Zippo.

"That is one of those things I will tell you when you need to know it," he said. With that, he stood
and walked to the door, stepping outside before Buffy could say anything else.

Jason walked down the sidewalk silently, occasionally taking a drag off his cigarette. He stared
down at the sidewalk as he walked, a dark look on his face.

"I'm going to have to tell her the whole story eventually," he said to himself quietly.

"You know, talking to ones self is a sign of possession my son," a serene voice said. Jason whirled
in the direction of the voice, one hand moving under his jacket. Standing off to the side was the priest
vampire.

"Father Paul. Callista must be serious if she brought you up here," Jason said.

"My mistress is always serious, my child. She bade me to kill you, and I must do as she asks,"
Father Paul said, his voice still calm.

"Easier said than done, Father," Jason replied. Father Paul smiled and raised the shotgun he had
been hiding in the shadows. He pointed it at Jason's chest and fired. Jason staggered back, blood flying into
the air as the shell hit him.

Jason fell to one knee, raising a hand to the wound in his chest. He coughed, blood bubbling and
sputtering from his mouth. Father Paul smiled, and made a gesture. Two monstrosities stepped out of the
shadows. They were both tall and covered in what looked to be bone armor growing out of their skin. They
had long, razor sharp claws, and jagged, yellow teeth that were made for ripping.

"Szlachta ghouls," Jason gasped, more blood escaping from his mouth. "Callista must be
desperate."

"My mistress is never desperate," Father Paul said, raising the shotgun again.

"That's a surprise," a voice said. Buffy stepped out of the shadows and kicked the shotgun out of
Father Paul's hands, following it with a kick to his face that sent him staggering. Father Paul fell back
against the wall, hands protecting his now broken nose.

Buffy turned and ducked just in time to avoid the claws of one of the szlachta. She spun, and
kicked upwards, catching the ghoul in the chin with a sharp kick. The ghoul snarled in pain as Buffy
stepped back into a fighting stance.

"Buffy, move!" Chelle yelled as she came running up the sidewalk, her flintlock pistol pointed at
the ghouls. Buffy stepped to the side as Chelle fired the ancient pistol. A gout of white flame exploded
from the gun's barrel, incasing one of the szlachta in living fire. The ghoul screamed and fell to the ground,
and was incinerated almost instantly. Father Paul yelled something at the remaining ghoul and ran. The
remaining ghoul screamed and followed.

Buffy turned and looked at Jason, and quickly moved over to him. Jason smiled at her briefly,
before he fell back to the concrete. He gave one last gasp before he stopped breathing.

"Jason! Hold on!" Buffy yelled. She went to touch him when Chelle placed a hand on her
shoulder, stopping her. Buffy whirled, facing her.

"We have to get him to a hospital!" she said loudly. Chelle shook her head.

"Just wait a minute," Chelle said calmly. Buffy's eyes widened in shock.

"He's dead... we have to get some help..." Buffy started to say, when she heard a gasp come from
Jason's direction. Buffy turned slowly, looking at Jason.

Jason was lying there on the concrete, breathing steadily. The wounds in his chest were closing
rapidly. After a moment, Jason sat up slowly, wiping the blood from his mouth. Under the shredded
remains of his T-shirt, his skin was raw and red, but was closed and no longer bleeding. Buffy looked at
him in complete shock.

"Damn. I liked this shirt," he said, a sardonic smile on his face.

"You were dead," Buffy said in disbelief. Jason sighed, then coughed once, spitting some blood
onto the sidewalk. He looked up at Buffy.

"I guess it's time to tell you the rest of the story," Jason said.

End of Chapter Three