Chapter Nine: Reunion
Or Small Talk and a Glass of Wine
_ _ _ _ _
"Would you stop pacing, you're driving me friggin' nuts," Jason said in a relaxed tone of voice. He and Buffy had been escorted to an upstairs room inside The Heart of Shadows, the "underground" club frequented by supernatural creatures of every type. The room was empty except for a long table and four wooden chairs. A single round light fixture on the ceiling provided the only light in the room, which wasn't very much. It was very dim, the corners of the room were covered in shadows.
Jason was seated in one of the wooden chairs, leaning back, feet on the table, balancing his chair on two legs. Buffy was pacing steadily on the other side of the table, a grim expression on her face. She did not seem to even notice Jason's comment. He frowned and tried again.
"Hello? Ground Control to Major Buffy. Stop pacing or I'll tie your shoelaces together," he said. Buffy didn't say anything, or even slowed down her pacing. She just reached across the table and gave Jason's feet a little push. Jason let out an indignant squawk and fell backwards, his head hitting the floor with a heavy sounding 'thunk'.
"I am not in the mood. She's going to get away!" Buffy spat out angrily as Jason stood up, rubbing the back of his head. He opened his mouth to say something, thought about it for a second, then shrugged and went on.
"Look, I am sure you'll run into Faith again soon enough," he said. "If I were you, I'd worry more about why the owner of this joint wants to talk to us. If half the things I've heard about this guy is true, he is not a nice person. Or someone you'd want to tangle with." Buffy stopped her pacing and looked at him.
"What do you know about the owner? Ever met him before?" she asked. Jason shook his head.
"Met him? No," he started. "But I've heard a few rumors. Not so keen stuff."
"Like what?" Buffy asked insistently. Jason sighed.
"Well, according to what I have heard, he is either a demon or a very ancient Kindred of immense power," Jason started again. "No one knows what he is exactly. Just that he's extremely powerful, ruthless, and on some kind of unholy crusade. Like I said, nothing too keen."
Buffy opened her mouth and started to say something else when familiar voice interrupted her.
"Oh I don't know about that. He seems like a pretty keen guy to me." Buffy whirled around quickly to see someone standing in the doorway. Someone she hadn't really expecting to see just yet.
"Miss me B?" Faith asked.
_ _ _ _ _
The loud music that filled the club pretty much covered most of the noise upstairs. None of the people and creatures dancing on the dance floor noticed anything. The only person who did notice anything odd was Richard Gaimen, who was still sitting by himself on the balcony. He just happened to be sitting directly under the room Buffy, Jason, and Faith were in. He did not hear anything over the music, but watched with interest as plaster dust drifted onto his table in a fine powder from the ceiling above him.
"How odd," he commented, then frowned as some of the plaster dust fell into his beer.
_ _ _ _ _
The fight had been short and rather vicious. The table and chairs in the room had all been shattered into splinters. Faith stood near the door, blood dripping from her nose and several bruises rapidly showing up on her face. Buffy stood on the other side of the room, not looking much better. A cut above her eyebrow dripped a thin line of blood down the side of her face. Jason stood between them, rather pissed. He had a 9mm pistol in each hand, one pointed at each Slayer.
"Okay, if you kids are done playing, remember where you are," Jason said angrily. "You keep fighting here and you'll both die. The owner would have to kill you to protect the rep of this place. So kindly cut it the fuck out!"
"This your new beefstick B? He's got a set on him," Faith said wryly, wiping the blood off her face. Buffy started forward angrily and Jason raised the gun pointing at her.
"Buffy, I won't kill you, but if you take another step I'll put a bullet in your damn leg. Now calm the fuck down!" Jason shouted at her. He then turned his attention to Faith.
"Now Buffy I like, you I could care less about. Try and start something again and your brains will be splattered across the wall," he said. He looked at both of them briefly before speaking again. "Now I am going to put the guns away, and you two are going to sit down in opposite corners of the room, and we are going to wait until this owner guy shows up and explains this little side-show."
Buffy and Faith glared at each other, then at Jason, who simply gave them a cold look. Buffy sighed and stepped back, leaning against the wall next to a corner and kicked some broken furniture out of her way with her foot. She then slid down the wall and sat cross-legged on the floor, obviously not happy. Faith just shrugged and moved over to opposite corner and plopped down, leaning back against the wall.
Jason sighed and slid his guns into their holsters under his jacket. He then reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a half-empty pack of cigarettes, fishing one out and lighting it with his silver-plated Zippo. He took a long drag off it while he placed the pack back into his pocket. He then glanced at Faith, then Buffy, as he exhaled a lung-full of smoke.
"You two are just too much. I can sympathize though. I've done the mindless rage bit myself. Still, you should just both get over it," he stated matter-of-factly. Both girls stood up quickly, and angry retort on their lips that was cut off as the door to the room opened.
Raven walked into the room, dressed in black as usual, a silk dress shirt, leather pants and boots. He was not wearing his usual trench coat, and did not have his cane or sunglasses with him. His hair was tied back with a white silk ribbon, which matched the color as his skin. His dark blue eyes looked around the room, starting with the broken furniture, then moving to Jason, then to Buffy, and finally to Faith.
"The cost of the furniture is coming out of your fee," he said quietly to Faith. She smirked and gave a little shrug. Raven turned away from her to look at Buffy, who was staring at him with a look of amazement on her face. Raven smiled warmly.
"Ah, you must be Miss Summers," Raven said politely. "I have heard so much about you. I must say, you are much prettier in person. May I call you Elisabeth?" Buffy blinked before answering.
"Uhm, Buffy's fine," she said distractedly. "Who are you? I've seen you somewhere before."
"My name is Raven, and I own this little club. As for seeing me before, I do not think we have met," Raven replied smoothly. Buffy stared at him in confusion for a moment, then remembered.
"The dream. I saw you in that dream. You tried to save Rebecca in that battle." Buffy began before trailing off softly. The expression of utter amazement on Raven's face looked somewhat out of place, but was quickly gone. He took a deep breath then spoke again, his tone still smooth and calm.
"You had a dream about that battle did you? I won't even ask how that happened, because I already have a good idea. Mother loves to play games." he said before trailing off himself. He and Buffy stared at each other silently for a few moments until Jason gave a polite cough.
"You know, all this mystical dream stuff is fine and dandy, but let's get to the point shall we?" Jason asked. "Who are you Mr. Gothic and what do you want with us?"
Raven tore his gaze away from Buffy and turned to look at Jason. Jason looked right back at him, nonplussed. They stared at each other for a few moments, neither one of them wanting to be the first one to look away. Finally Raven smiled slightly and let out a little laugh.
"You have to be Mr. Redtree. I see your reputation as a hard man is well earned," Raven said, still smiling.
"Yeah, that's just peachy. Now answer the damn question," Jason said, highly annoyed. Raven laughed again.
"Very well. However, I suggest we go to another room, one with furniture perhaps?" Raven said, stepping to the side and gesturing gentlemanly to the door. Buffy and Jason walked past him and into the hallway, not taking their eyes off of him. Once they were out of the room Faith stood up and walked over to Raven.
"When am I getting paid?" she asked. Raven looked her up and down, then smiled again.
"After this meeting, you and I will have a private talk. I'll give you your money then. Now come along please Faith, this does concern you as well," Raven said, then walked out into the hall. Faith looked out after him, obviously annoyed.
"Ah what the hell," she said, and followed after him.
_ _ _ _ _
"I'm worried about Buffy," Willow said quietly as she stared out of her bedroom window. She was watching the stars in the sky with a rather worried expression on her face. Xander and Chelle were in the room with her, both sitting on her bed. Chelle was deeply involved in pretending to read a magazine she had picked up off of Willow's desk. Xander watched her briefly before turning to reply to Willow.
"Buff-ster's fine. I'm sure she and Jason will kill Callista real quick and be back before you know it," he said. Willow frowned.
"You're probably right, but I just can't shake this worried feeling," Willow sighed and slumped down on the bed next to Xander.
"I'd be more worried about us," Xander said. "We are all out of super people. I feel kind of defenseless." The room was quiet for a moment, until Xander let out a yelp as Chelle smacked him upside the head with her rolled- up magazine.
"I'm not exactly a helpless little kitten Xander," Chelle said, slightly annoyed. Xander made a great show of rubbing the spot she had smacked as if it had actually hurt. Willow watched the two of them silently for a moment, then turned her head, giggling softly. Xander glared at Willow briefly then turned back to Chelle.
"Okay, I guess you have a point. Just don't throw me across the room again with your mojo, okay?" Xander smiled as he spoke. Chelle just stared at him, a look of mock anger in her eyes, until she finally smiled and shook her head.
"This is so much fun," she said softly, still smiling, and opened her magazine again. The room was quiet again for a little while. Then Willow coughed and spoke up again.
"Chelle, what was that with Jason when he left?" she asked softly. Chelle stiffened, then shook her head.
"Nothing," Chelle said softly. Willow shook her head and moved over to the bed, sitting next to Chelle.
"Hey, we're friends now, right?" Willow asked quietly. Chelle sighed and tossed the magazine to the floor. She then sat up, looked at Xander and Willow and nodded.
"Yeah, we're friends," she said quietly.
"Something has been bugging you since they left, and it has something to do with that kiss I think," Willow stated. Chelle sighed and didn't say anything for a moment, then started talking rapidly.
"It's just that Jason still sees me as a little kid and he has this whole issue with relationships because everyone he's ever been with has died horribly and he thinks that if we get into something beyond friendship I'll end up getting killed and it's driving me fucking nuts! He thinks I can't take care of myself!" Chelle said, all in one breath. Xander and Willow stared at her in amazement for a moment.
"Uhm. okay," Xander said, then looked at Willow pleadingly. Willow blinked, then turned her attention back to Chelle.
"You mean everyone he's been with has died badly?" Willow asked. Chelle nodded.
"Yeah. His last girlfriend was this girl he met in Maine. She was a werewolf I think. I only met her a couple of times. He used to bring her with him when he's visit me in San Francisco, to check up on me." Chelle trailed off. Willow listened silently to this, then spoke up.
"I think we are missing some back story here," she said quietly. "Why don't you start at the beginning" Chelle sighed and nodded.
"Okay. I met Jason seven years ago, when I was fourteen," she started. Xander blinked in surprise.
"You're only twenty-one? Thought you were older than that," Xander said. Chelle ignored him and went on.
"Anyway, I was kind of a runaway," she went on. "I had Awakened a few months before, and some bad stuff went down. My parents had been killed, and I was running. I didn't have a clue as to what was going on, just that there were these two creepy men that had killed mom and dad and wanted me for some reason. I found out later that they were Nephandi, demon worshipers, and they wanted to make me one of them." She stopped and took a deep breath before she continued.
"Well, I found myself in San Francisco after running for three months or so," Chelle continued. "I was scared and thought I was crazy, after all the stuff I had seen. The Nephandi, they kept following me, and had finally had me corned in this alley. I was screaming my head off for help, but no one seemed to hear me, even though I was still fairly close to the street. I thought I was going to die."
Chelle stopped then, pulling her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. She remained silent for a moment, then a thin smile broke out on her face.
"They were getting ready to kill me, or cut me," she went on, "When Jason showed up, out of nowhere. He tackled one of them and started beating his head against the concrete. The other one stabbed Jason in the back with this knife then turned back to me. I guess the Nephandi was kind of surprised when Jason got back up and started beating his head in with a length of pipe he found."
"Ow," Xander mumbled. Chelle nodded absentmindedly, then went on.
"After that, I was pretty panicked," she said. "In fact, I passed out. When I woke up, I was stretched out in the back seat of Jason's car. I was still scared, but he talked to me for awhile, told me he had been following those guys for a couple of months. He hadn't known what they were chasing until he saw them try to get me, so he dove in and fought them off. He knew what I was, and knew he couldn't take care of me, so he took me to this cabal of mages he knew. They call themselves The Circle. He left me with them so they could train me. But he checked in with me every couple of months, either by visiting or on the phone."
Chelle went silent again. Willow opened her mouth to say something when there was a soft knock on the door. Everyone turned and looked at the door, slightly confused for a second.
"It must be Oz. He said he's stop by," Willow said. Xander shrugs and got up, going over to the door to open it.
"Hey Oz man, you missed most of an interesting story." Xander trailed off as he opened the door, expecting Oz to be there. Only it wasn't Oz. It was Michael and Gabriel. Xander blinked and started to say something when Gabriel's fist connected solidly with his chin and sent him to the floor, unconscious. The twin vampires then surged into the room.
Willow let out a small scream when Xander hit the floor. Chelle made a leaping dive toward Willow's desk, where she had left her flintlock pistol. She was met by a swift kick to her stomach from Michael that not only knocked all the air out of her lungs, but also cracked several of her ribs. She went flying backwards, and her head cracked against the wall soundly and she joined Xander in being unconscious.
Willow stared at all this in horror as the twins turned to look at her. The both smiled identical smiles at her.
_ _ _ _ _
Buffy and Jason stepped into what Raven had called his office and looked around in interest. Part of the room looked like a standard office. A laptop computer sat on top of a large mahogany desk. Behind the desk was a comfortable looking leather desk chair, and behind that a large bank of television monitors, eight across, reaching from the ceiling to the floor. They all showed different areas inside the club, in color. If anyone had asked Buffy, she would have assumed they covered the whole club.
On the far side of the room however, there was a massive antique four- post bed. It looked to be made of mahogany as well; the posts of the bed were exquisitely carved renderings of people, arms above their head, that Buffy didn't recognize. There were thick, black silk curtains hanging all around the bed. It looked to be impossible for any light to make it's way to the bed proper while the curtains were closed.
One entire wall of the room, on the other side of the bed, appeared to be a large window, over looking the entire club. Buffy had sworn she hadn't noticed any windows like that when she had entered the club. It would have been impossible to miss.
Jason was studying the only other object in the room. It was a large, perfect circle, made of silver, embedded in the wall. The diameter of the circle was at least six feet, and it looked almost like a door, except that it didn't go anywhere. It was just there, in the wall. Buffy moved over next to Jason and stared at the circle for a moment, then reached out to touch it. Her hand was only a few inches away when she was stopped by an iron grip on her wrist. She looked up to see Jason holding her wrist, a wary expression on his face.
"I wouldn't touch that Buffy," Jason said quietly. "If it's what I think it is, touching it would probably be a bad idea." Buffy blinked and stepped back.
"What is it then?" Buffy asked. Jason started to respond, but was cut off.
"What it is doesn't matter," Raven said as he walked into the office, Faith right behind him. "Just suffice it to say that the magical defenses on it would not treat you kindly if you were to touch it, Ms. Summers." He then turned and moves to the desk, sitting behind it. He gestured for the others to sit across from him. They all looked at him for a moment. Then Faith shrugged and sat down in one of the chairs, leaning back and propping her feet up on Raven's desk. Buffy and Jason sat down cautiously, Jason sitting between Buffy and Faith.
"I guess you are all wondering what this is all about," Raven began.
"Well duh," Buffy mumbled under her breath. Raven continued on as if he had not heard her.
" I know at least some of you are aware of the impending Sabbat attack on the city?" he asked. Buffy and Jason nodded; Faith just looked confused.
"Well," Raven went on, "Seeing as I control a large part of this city and want things to remain that way, I would like your help in fighting this attack off." The three of them stared at him briefly before responding.
"Uhm, what?" Buffy stated.
"Yeah, I thought the anarchs were in control here," Jason said. Faith just sat there, still with no idea what everyone was talking about. Raven smiled slightly and leaned forward.
"Let's just say that I don't like to advertise my presence too often," Raven said. He leaned back in his chair once more, still smiling.
"This is neat," Buffy started, a hard expression on her face, "but why should we help you? I don't work for vampires."
"No you just fuck them," Faith quipped. Jason sat up quickly, one arm out to keep Buffy from jumping at Faith and killing her.
"This isn't helping," Jason said as Buffy sat back down, fuming. Raven watched this little interplay silently, then continued.
"The Sabbat have tried to take this city before," he went on. "About thirty-five years ago. Before I cam here. They failed miserably. I would like to keep them from succeeding this time. Two Slayers, and a hunter of your talent would make this all a lot easier."
"I said I don't work for vampires," Buffy said. "I kill them." And with that, she leapt out of her chair and across Raven's desk. She had pulled a small stake from somewhere and had it pointed at Raven's heart. She was a nanosecond away from ramming into his heart when she blacked out. When she came to she was looking down and saw Jason standing in front of Raven's desk, pointing a pistol at him. Raven was still sitting behind his desk, not seeming to have moved. Faith was sitting in her chair, staring up at Buffy with a highly amused look on her face. Buffy was confused for a moment, then realized that she was lying flat against the ceiling. As soon as this realization hit her, she fell, and landed on the floor with a heavy thud.
Buffy stood up slowly, doing her best to ignore Faith laughter as she moved next to Jason, who was still pointing his gun at Raven. Raven just sat there, a neutral expression on his face.
"I am not your enemy Buffy," he said. "So I would appreciate it if you did not attack me again."
"What the hell happened?" Buffy asked shakily. Jason sighed.
"You jumped at him, and all of a sudden you went flying back," Jason said as he slowly lowered his gun. He did not put it away.
"Buffy, Jason," Raven started speaking again. " I appreciate the fact that you do not trust me. However, the Sabbat are going to attack this city soon, and when that happens, a lot of innocent people are going to get killed in the crossfire. I am sure for that reason alone you will stay and fight. But trying to fight the invasion by yourself will do nothing except get you killed. All I ask is that you work with me on this. I have resources in place to help stop this. Having your help will make things a little easier, and probably keep a few more people alive."
Buffy looked to Jason, who seemed to be lost in thought. She was conflicted herself. A lot of what Raven had just said did make sense. Buffy really hadn't intended to fight the invasion, but she supposed that in order to find Callista, she was more than likely to get caught up in it anyway. It was hard to ignore innocent people in danger as well. But she didn't know anything about Raven other than he was a vampire, and as a rule, vampires weren't really to be trusted.
"Listen, let us think about it, okay?" Jason said suddenly, shaking Buffy out of her thoughts. She looked up at Raven, who sighed softly.
"Very well," he said. "Please do not take too much time thinking about it however. Things will come to a head soon." With that, he made a small gesture with his hand and the office door opened. Buffy and Jason both glanced at the door, then at Raven, then slowly left the office, not taking their eyes off the vampire. Once they exited, the door closed on its own and Raven and Faith were left alone.
"So, as much fun as it was watching you make Buffy fly around like that, I'd like my money now," Faith said. Raven nodded and reached under the desk, bringing a small gym bag out from under the desk and setting it on top of it.
"Here it is, Faith." Raven said quietly. Faith smiled and reached across the desk to grab the bag. Raven gripped her wrist right before she could grab it.
"I think you should stay," Raven said. "I could use your help around here." Faith looked at him, then down at the hand holding her wrist. Even with all of her Slayer strength, she couldn't seem to move her hand. In fact, she didn't seem to want to. She looked up at Raven's eyes.
"Why should I?" she asked.
"Where else would you go?" he replied. "Here I can offer you a place in life, money, a job, companionship. A purpose. Isn't that why you threw in with the Mayor? I can tell you now that I could be just as good to you as he was."
"Want me to be your private assassin?" she asked. Raven let out a small laugh.
"No, I already have those who fill that function," he said. "You would be more like. an assistant"
"Sounds fun," she said sarcastically. Raven sighed.
"Stay for a couple of weeks, and see if you like it," he asked. With that he let go of her wrist and stood up, walking over to a small wet bar on the other side of the office. Faith picked up the bag and sat back down, looking inside it. It was full of twenty-dollar bills.
"Everything there?" Raven asked. Faith looked up to see him standing next to her, a wine glass in his right hand. It was filled with a dark red liquid.
"A glass of wine?" he offered the glass to her. Faith shrugged and took it, lifting it to her lips and draining it quickly. She wasn't much of a wine drinker, rarely having tasted it, but this seemed to be very good. It was very sweet, but seemed to have an oddly familiar taste to it, something she couldn't recognize but had tasted before. She let out a small gasp as she finished it, handing the glass back to Raven and wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.
"Maybe I will stay for awhile," she said. "Until I find something else."
"You don't know how happy that makes me," Raven said with a smile.
To Be Continued.
Or Small Talk and a Glass of Wine
_ _ _ _ _
"Would you stop pacing, you're driving me friggin' nuts," Jason said in a relaxed tone of voice. He and Buffy had been escorted to an upstairs room inside The Heart of Shadows, the "underground" club frequented by supernatural creatures of every type. The room was empty except for a long table and four wooden chairs. A single round light fixture on the ceiling provided the only light in the room, which wasn't very much. It was very dim, the corners of the room were covered in shadows.
Jason was seated in one of the wooden chairs, leaning back, feet on the table, balancing his chair on two legs. Buffy was pacing steadily on the other side of the table, a grim expression on her face. She did not seem to even notice Jason's comment. He frowned and tried again.
"Hello? Ground Control to Major Buffy. Stop pacing or I'll tie your shoelaces together," he said. Buffy didn't say anything, or even slowed down her pacing. She just reached across the table and gave Jason's feet a little push. Jason let out an indignant squawk and fell backwards, his head hitting the floor with a heavy sounding 'thunk'.
"I am not in the mood. She's going to get away!" Buffy spat out angrily as Jason stood up, rubbing the back of his head. He opened his mouth to say something, thought about it for a second, then shrugged and went on.
"Look, I am sure you'll run into Faith again soon enough," he said. "If I were you, I'd worry more about why the owner of this joint wants to talk to us. If half the things I've heard about this guy is true, he is not a nice person. Or someone you'd want to tangle with." Buffy stopped her pacing and looked at him.
"What do you know about the owner? Ever met him before?" she asked. Jason shook his head.
"Met him? No," he started. "But I've heard a few rumors. Not so keen stuff."
"Like what?" Buffy asked insistently. Jason sighed.
"Well, according to what I have heard, he is either a demon or a very ancient Kindred of immense power," Jason started again. "No one knows what he is exactly. Just that he's extremely powerful, ruthless, and on some kind of unholy crusade. Like I said, nothing too keen."
Buffy opened her mouth and started to say something else when familiar voice interrupted her.
"Oh I don't know about that. He seems like a pretty keen guy to me." Buffy whirled around quickly to see someone standing in the doorway. Someone she hadn't really expecting to see just yet.
"Miss me B?" Faith asked.
_ _ _ _ _
The loud music that filled the club pretty much covered most of the noise upstairs. None of the people and creatures dancing on the dance floor noticed anything. The only person who did notice anything odd was Richard Gaimen, who was still sitting by himself on the balcony. He just happened to be sitting directly under the room Buffy, Jason, and Faith were in. He did not hear anything over the music, but watched with interest as plaster dust drifted onto his table in a fine powder from the ceiling above him.
"How odd," he commented, then frowned as some of the plaster dust fell into his beer.
_ _ _ _ _
The fight had been short and rather vicious. The table and chairs in the room had all been shattered into splinters. Faith stood near the door, blood dripping from her nose and several bruises rapidly showing up on her face. Buffy stood on the other side of the room, not looking much better. A cut above her eyebrow dripped a thin line of blood down the side of her face. Jason stood between them, rather pissed. He had a 9mm pistol in each hand, one pointed at each Slayer.
"Okay, if you kids are done playing, remember where you are," Jason said angrily. "You keep fighting here and you'll both die. The owner would have to kill you to protect the rep of this place. So kindly cut it the fuck out!"
"This your new beefstick B? He's got a set on him," Faith said wryly, wiping the blood off her face. Buffy started forward angrily and Jason raised the gun pointing at her.
"Buffy, I won't kill you, but if you take another step I'll put a bullet in your damn leg. Now calm the fuck down!" Jason shouted at her. He then turned his attention to Faith.
"Now Buffy I like, you I could care less about. Try and start something again and your brains will be splattered across the wall," he said. He looked at both of them briefly before speaking again. "Now I am going to put the guns away, and you two are going to sit down in opposite corners of the room, and we are going to wait until this owner guy shows up and explains this little side-show."
Buffy and Faith glared at each other, then at Jason, who simply gave them a cold look. Buffy sighed and stepped back, leaning against the wall next to a corner and kicked some broken furniture out of her way with her foot. She then slid down the wall and sat cross-legged on the floor, obviously not happy. Faith just shrugged and moved over to opposite corner and plopped down, leaning back against the wall.
Jason sighed and slid his guns into their holsters under his jacket. He then reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a half-empty pack of cigarettes, fishing one out and lighting it with his silver-plated Zippo. He took a long drag off it while he placed the pack back into his pocket. He then glanced at Faith, then Buffy, as he exhaled a lung-full of smoke.
"You two are just too much. I can sympathize though. I've done the mindless rage bit myself. Still, you should just both get over it," he stated matter-of-factly. Both girls stood up quickly, and angry retort on their lips that was cut off as the door to the room opened.
Raven walked into the room, dressed in black as usual, a silk dress shirt, leather pants and boots. He was not wearing his usual trench coat, and did not have his cane or sunglasses with him. His hair was tied back with a white silk ribbon, which matched the color as his skin. His dark blue eyes looked around the room, starting with the broken furniture, then moving to Jason, then to Buffy, and finally to Faith.
"The cost of the furniture is coming out of your fee," he said quietly to Faith. She smirked and gave a little shrug. Raven turned away from her to look at Buffy, who was staring at him with a look of amazement on her face. Raven smiled warmly.
"Ah, you must be Miss Summers," Raven said politely. "I have heard so much about you. I must say, you are much prettier in person. May I call you Elisabeth?" Buffy blinked before answering.
"Uhm, Buffy's fine," she said distractedly. "Who are you? I've seen you somewhere before."
"My name is Raven, and I own this little club. As for seeing me before, I do not think we have met," Raven replied smoothly. Buffy stared at him in confusion for a moment, then remembered.
"The dream. I saw you in that dream. You tried to save Rebecca in that battle." Buffy began before trailing off softly. The expression of utter amazement on Raven's face looked somewhat out of place, but was quickly gone. He took a deep breath then spoke again, his tone still smooth and calm.
"You had a dream about that battle did you? I won't even ask how that happened, because I already have a good idea. Mother loves to play games." he said before trailing off himself. He and Buffy stared at each other silently for a few moments until Jason gave a polite cough.
"You know, all this mystical dream stuff is fine and dandy, but let's get to the point shall we?" Jason asked. "Who are you Mr. Gothic and what do you want with us?"
Raven tore his gaze away from Buffy and turned to look at Jason. Jason looked right back at him, nonplussed. They stared at each other for a few moments, neither one of them wanting to be the first one to look away. Finally Raven smiled slightly and let out a little laugh.
"You have to be Mr. Redtree. I see your reputation as a hard man is well earned," Raven said, still smiling.
"Yeah, that's just peachy. Now answer the damn question," Jason said, highly annoyed. Raven laughed again.
"Very well. However, I suggest we go to another room, one with furniture perhaps?" Raven said, stepping to the side and gesturing gentlemanly to the door. Buffy and Jason walked past him and into the hallway, not taking their eyes off of him. Once they were out of the room Faith stood up and walked over to Raven.
"When am I getting paid?" she asked. Raven looked her up and down, then smiled again.
"After this meeting, you and I will have a private talk. I'll give you your money then. Now come along please Faith, this does concern you as well," Raven said, then walked out into the hall. Faith looked out after him, obviously annoyed.
"Ah what the hell," she said, and followed after him.
_ _ _ _ _
"I'm worried about Buffy," Willow said quietly as she stared out of her bedroom window. She was watching the stars in the sky with a rather worried expression on her face. Xander and Chelle were in the room with her, both sitting on her bed. Chelle was deeply involved in pretending to read a magazine she had picked up off of Willow's desk. Xander watched her briefly before turning to reply to Willow.
"Buff-ster's fine. I'm sure she and Jason will kill Callista real quick and be back before you know it," he said. Willow frowned.
"You're probably right, but I just can't shake this worried feeling," Willow sighed and slumped down on the bed next to Xander.
"I'd be more worried about us," Xander said. "We are all out of super people. I feel kind of defenseless." The room was quiet for a moment, until Xander let out a yelp as Chelle smacked him upside the head with her rolled- up magazine.
"I'm not exactly a helpless little kitten Xander," Chelle said, slightly annoyed. Xander made a great show of rubbing the spot she had smacked as if it had actually hurt. Willow watched the two of them silently for a moment, then turned her head, giggling softly. Xander glared at Willow briefly then turned back to Chelle.
"Okay, I guess you have a point. Just don't throw me across the room again with your mojo, okay?" Xander smiled as he spoke. Chelle just stared at him, a look of mock anger in her eyes, until she finally smiled and shook her head.
"This is so much fun," she said softly, still smiling, and opened her magazine again. The room was quiet again for a little while. Then Willow coughed and spoke up again.
"Chelle, what was that with Jason when he left?" she asked softly. Chelle stiffened, then shook her head.
"Nothing," Chelle said softly. Willow shook her head and moved over to the bed, sitting next to Chelle.
"Hey, we're friends now, right?" Willow asked quietly. Chelle sighed and tossed the magazine to the floor. She then sat up, looked at Xander and Willow and nodded.
"Yeah, we're friends," she said quietly.
"Something has been bugging you since they left, and it has something to do with that kiss I think," Willow stated. Chelle sighed and didn't say anything for a moment, then started talking rapidly.
"It's just that Jason still sees me as a little kid and he has this whole issue with relationships because everyone he's ever been with has died horribly and he thinks that if we get into something beyond friendship I'll end up getting killed and it's driving me fucking nuts! He thinks I can't take care of myself!" Chelle said, all in one breath. Xander and Willow stared at her in amazement for a moment.
"Uhm. okay," Xander said, then looked at Willow pleadingly. Willow blinked, then turned her attention back to Chelle.
"You mean everyone he's been with has died badly?" Willow asked. Chelle nodded.
"Yeah. His last girlfriend was this girl he met in Maine. She was a werewolf I think. I only met her a couple of times. He used to bring her with him when he's visit me in San Francisco, to check up on me." Chelle trailed off. Willow listened silently to this, then spoke up.
"I think we are missing some back story here," she said quietly. "Why don't you start at the beginning" Chelle sighed and nodded.
"Okay. I met Jason seven years ago, when I was fourteen," she started. Xander blinked in surprise.
"You're only twenty-one? Thought you were older than that," Xander said. Chelle ignored him and went on.
"Anyway, I was kind of a runaway," she went on. "I had Awakened a few months before, and some bad stuff went down. My parents had been killed, and I was running. I didn't have a clue as to what was going on, just that there were these two creepy men that had killed mom and dad and wanted me for some reason. I found out later that they were Nephandi, demon worshipers, and they wanted to make me one of them." She stopped and took a deep breath before she continued.
"Well, I found myself in San Francisco after running for three months or so," Chelle continued. "I was scared and thought I was crazy, after all the stuff I had seen. The Nephandi, they kept following me, and had finally had me corned in this alley. I was screaming my head off for help, but no one seemed to hear me, even though I was still fairly close to the street. I thought I was going to die."
Chelle stopped then, pulling her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. She remained silent for a moment, then a thin smile broke out on her face.
"They were getting ready to kill me, or cut me," she went on, "When Jason showed up, out of nowhere. He tackled one of them and started beating his head against the concrete. The other one stabbed Jason in the back with this knife then turned back to me. I guess the Nephandi was kind of surprised when Jason got back up and started beating his head in with a length of pipe he found."
"Ow," Xander mumbled. Chelle nodded absentmindedly, then went on.
"After that, I was pretty panicked," she said. "In fact, I passed out. When I woke up, I was stretched out in the back seat of Jason's car. I was still scared, but he talked to me for awhile, told me he had been following those guys for a couple of months. He hadn't known what they were chasing until he saw them try to get me, so he dove in and fought them off. He knew what I was, and knew he couldn't take care of me, so he took me to this cabal of mages he knew. They call themselves The Circle. He left me with them so they could train me. But he checked in with me every couple of months, either by visiting or on the phone."
Chelle went silent again. Willow opened her mouth to say something when there was a soft knock on the door. Everyone turned and looked at the door, slightly confused for a second.
"It must be Oz. He said he's stop by," Willow said. Xander shrugs and got up, going over to the door to open it.
"Hey Oz man, you missed most of an interesting story." Xander trailed off as he opened the door, expecting Oz to be there. Only it wasn't Oz. It was Michael and Gabriel. Xander blinked and started to say something when Gabriel's fist connected solidly with his chin and sent him to the floor, unconscious. The twin vampires then surged into the room.
Willow let out a small scream when Xander hit the floor. Chelle made a leaping dive toward Willow's desk, where she had left her flintlock pistol. She was met by a swift kick to her stomach from Michael that not only knocked all the air out of her lungs, but also cracked several of her ribs. She went flying backwards, and her head cracked against the wall soundly and she joined Xander in being unconscious.
Willow stared at all this in horror as the twins turned to look at her. The both smiled identical smiles at her.
_ _ _ _ _
Buffy and Jason stepped into what Raven had called his office and looked around in interest. Part of the room looked like a standard office. A laptop computer sat on top of a large mahogany desk. Behind the desk was a comfortable looking leather desk chair, and behind that a large bank of television monitors, eight across, reaching from the ceiling to the floor. They all showed different areas inside the club, in color. If anyone had asked Buffy, she would have assumed they covered the whole club.
On the far side of the room however, there was a massive antique four- post bed. It looked to be made of mahogany as well; the posts of the bed were exquisitely carved renderings of people, arms above their head, that Buffy didn't recognize. There were thick, black silk curtains hanging all around the bed. It looked to be impossible for any light to make it's way to the bed proper while the curtains were closed.
One entire wall of the room, on the other side of the bed, appeared to be a large window, over looking the entire club. Buffy had sworn she hadn't noticed any windows like that when she had entered the club. It would have been impossible to miss.
Jason was studying the only other object in the room. It was a large, perfect circle, made of silver, embedded in the wall. The diameter of the circle was at least six feet, and it looked almost like a door, except that it didn't go anywhere. It was just there, in the wall. Buffy moved over next to Jason and stared at the circle for a moment, then reached out to touch it. Her hand was only a few inches away when she was stopped by an iron grip on her wrist. She looked up to see Jason holding her wrist, a wary expression on his face.
"I wouldn't touch that Buffy," Jason said quietly. "If it's what I think it is, touching it would probably be a bad idea." Buffy blinked and stepped back.
"What is it then?" Buffy asked. Jason started to respond, but was cut off.
"What it is doesn't matter," Raven said as he walked into the office, Faith right behind him. "Just suffice it to say that the magical defenses on it would not treat you kindly if you were to touch it, Ms. Summers." He then turned and moves to the desk, sitting behind it. He gestured for the others to sit across from him. They all looked at him for a moment. Then Faith shrugged and sat down in one of the chairs, leaning back and propping her feet up on Raven's desk. Buffy and Jason sat down cautiously, Jason sitting between Buffy and Faith.
"I guess you are all wondering what this is all about," Raven began.
"Well duh," Buffy mumbled under her breath. Raven continued on as if he had not heard her.
" I know at least some of you are aware of the impending Sabbat attack on the city?" he asked. Buffy and Jason nodded; Faith just looked confused.
"Well," Raven went on, "Seeing as I control a large part of this city and want things to remain that way, I would like your help in fighting this attack off." The three of them stared at him briefly before responding.
"Uhm, what?" Buffy stated.
"Yeah, I thought the anarchs were in control here," Jason said. Faith just sat there, still with no idea what everyone was talking about. Raven smiled slightly and leaned forward.
"Let's just say that I don't like to advertise my presence too often," Raven said. He leaned back in his chair once more, still smiling.
"This is neat," Buffy started, a hard expression on her face, "but why should we help you? I don't work for vampires."
"No you just fuck them," Faith quipped. Jason sat up quickly, one arm out to keep Buffy from jumping at Faith and killing her.
"This isn't helping," Jason said as Buffy sat back down, fuming. Raven watched this little interplay silently, then continued.
"The Sabbat have tried to take this city before," he went on. "About thirty-five years ago. Before I cam here. They failed miserably. I would like to keep them from succeeding this time. Two Slayers, and a hunter of your talent would make this all a lot easier."
"I said I don't work for vampires," Buffy said. "I kill them." And with that, she leapt out of her chair and across Raven's desk. She had pulled a small stake from somewhere and had it pointed at Raven's heart. She was a nanosecond away from ramming into his heart when she blacked out. When she came to she was looking down and saw Jason standing in front of Raven's desk, pointing a pistol at him. Raven was still sitting behind his desk, not seeming to have moved. Faith was sitting in her chair, staring up at Buffy with a highly amused look on her face. Buffy was confused for a moment, then realized that she was lying flat against the ceiling. As soon as this realization hit her, she fell, and landed on the floor with a heavy thud.
Buffy stood up slowly, doing her best to ignore Faith laughter as she moved next to Jason, who was still pointing his gun at Raven. Raven just sat there, a neutral expression on his face.
"I am not your enemy Buffy," he said. "So I would appreciate it if you did not attack me again."
"What the hell happened?" Buffy asked shakily. Jason sighed.
"You jumped at him, and all of a sudden you went flying back," Jason said as he slowly lowered his gun. He did not put it away.
"Buffy, Jason," Raven started speaking again. " I appreciate the fact that you do not trust me. However, the Sabbat are going to attack this city soon, and when that happens, a lot of innocent people are going to get killed in the crossfire. I am sure for that reason alone you will stay and fight. But trying to fight the invasion by yourself will do nothing except get you killed. All I ask is that you work with me on this. I have resources in place to help stop this. Having your help will make things a little easier, and probably keep a few more people alive."
Buffy looked to Jason, who seemed to be lost in thought. She was conflicted herself. A lot of what Raven had just said did make sense. Buffy really hadn't intended to fight the invasion, but she supposed that in order to find Callista, she was more than likely to get caught up in it anyway. It was hard to ignore innocent people in danger as well. But she didn't know anything about Raven other than he was a vampire, and as a rule, vampires weren't really to be trusted.
"Listen, let us think about it, okay?" Jason said suddenly, shaking Buffy out of her thoughts. She looked up at Raven, who sighed softly.
"Very well," he said. "Please do not take too much time thinking about it however. Things will come to a head soon." With that, he made a small gesture with his hand and the office door opened. Buffy and Jason both glanced at the door, then at Raven, then slowly left the office, not taking their eyes off the vampire. Once they exited, the door closed on its own and Raven and Faith were left alone.
"So, as much fun as it was watching you make Buffy fly around like that, I'd like my money now," Faith said. Raven nodded and reached under the desk, bringing a small gym bag out from under the desk and setting it on top of it.
"Here it is, Faith." Raven said quietly. Faith smiled and reached across the desk to grab the bag. Raven gripped her wrist right before she could grab it.
"I think you should stay," Raven said. "I could use your help around here." Faith looked at him, then down at the hand holding her wrist. Even with all of her Slayer strength, she couldn't seem to move her hand. In fact, she didn't seem to want to. She looked up at Raven's eyes.
"Why should I?" she asked.
"Where else would you go?" he replied. "Here I can offer you a place in life, money, a job, companionship. A purpose. Isn't that why you threw in with the Mayor? I can tell you now that I could be just as good to you as he was."
"Want me to be your private assassin?" she asked. Raven let out a small laugh.
"No, I already have those who fill that function," he said. "You would be more like. an assistant"
"Sounds fun," she said sarcastically. Raven sighed.
"Stay for a couple of weeks, and see if you like it," he asked. With that he let go of her wrist and stood up, walking over to a small wet bar on the other side of the office. Faith picked up the bag and sat back down, looking inside it. It was full of twenty-dollar bills.
"Everything there?" Raven asked. Faith looked up to see him standing next to her, a wine glass in his right hand. It was filled with a dark red liquid.
"A glass of wine?" he offered the glass to her. Faith shrugged and took it, lifting it to her lips and draining it quickly. She wasn't much of a wine drinker, rarely having tasted it, but this seemed to be very good. It was very sweet, but seemed to have an oddly familiar taste to it, something she couldn't recognize but had tasted before. She let out a small gasp as she finished it, handing the glass back to Raven and wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.
"Maybe I will stay for awhile," she said. "Until I find something else."
"You don't know how happy that makes me," Raven said with a smile.
To Be Continued.
