2675, a few more seconds later
"Miros," Spike reminds me in a half-growl, "is Nabald's vampire contact on Mars. We were supposed to meet with him later. Remember, pet?"
I say nothing but observe the others present.
Everyone in the room has risen to his or her feet, but each seems curiously unfazed by Spike's actions toward Miros. In fact, Sage, the young female witch, and Richard, the half-Torakal demon are not even bothering to hide their full-blown smiles. Bandel has his mouth covered with his hand, and Ayledan's shoulders are shaking in silent laughter.
Spike relaxes his grip a bit, and Miros groans hesitantly but doesn't struggle. "What's so bleeding funny?"
I cross my arms, waiting impatiently for a reply from Aydelan. She clears her throat and coughs lightly before explaining, "Miros works for us. He's actually a plant inside the Nabald faction. He keeps us up to date on Nabald's activities."
"And you trust him why?" I am incredulous. "He's a vampire."
"Yes, well, he's an ex-Watcher turned vamp," Sage continues for Ayledan, her tinkling voice soft. "He. . . "
Without turning his head from Miros, Spike interrupts, "Um, the Watcher thing doesn't cut it. Doesn't explain his choice to be on your side."
"Well, what made *you* fight with the forces of good?" Ayledan challenges.
Spike's voice is laden with emotion, and he glances quickly at me. "Love."
"Well, can you imagine the same from the vampire in front of you? I was a homeless, abandoned little baby on the street when Miros found me. He raised me. . . took care of me. . . trained me. . . until the Watcher's Council came for me."
Miros's voice sounds foreign from beneath Spike's loosened grip, and he has a muddled British accent. "One night a few hundred years ago, I was out doing field training and ran across several vampires who took turns feeding from me. One young vamp took pity on me as I lay dying and turned me. My fellow trainees found me alone and dead and took me back to the Council. They buried me with the intent to send a group of Watchers to slay me the next night. The party that was sent to kill me included my best friend, Krista. She cast the spell to imbue me with a soul. She set me free, and the Council was never the wiser until Bandel here came across me. Even now, the rest of the Council doesn't know about me."
My lips turn down uncertainly. "Surely, they're aware of your existence."
Miros nods. "They know that I help Ayledan. But they don't know who I truly am. Miros obviously isn't my real name but an alias."
Clearly still as skeptical as I am, Spike shoots forth another question, "So, how do we know we can trust you? And what have you told the Council about us?"
Bandel chooses that moment to assert his thoughts, "We have told them nothing. Realize that our little group has been aware of your existence for a few years now. Miros has been working with me since I began training Ayledan. His relationship with Nabald was set years before we met him. He'd infiltrated, and we just used the information. Although Nabald remains unaware of your fight against the demons prior to your relationship with him, we were well aware that you have taken on perhaps numerous missions to stop the world from ending. . . even after the Council wanted you dead."
"So, how come you never tried to contact us before?" I uncross and re-cross my arms, shifting my weight in thought. "I mean, you must have considered it."
Bandel's smile widens. "Well, you see, we had no reason to get in touch with you before. As a group, we felt that you were better left alone to work in ways that we could not."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, as two knowledgeable, strong demons and individuals, you have the ability to go places and do things in the demon world that we would have no chance of doing since our group is mostly human. You have accomplished things in months that would have taken us years to do with such thoroughness."
Spike finally lets Miros completely loose and returns to my side. He touches my arm briefly, and I know he's relishing my shiver. "So, we've been like your uninvited allies, then, mate?"
Bandel chuckles. "Yes, I suppose you have."
"Tell me one thing that we did that you wouldn't have known if you hadn't been aware of us," Spike presses insistently.
Richard lifts a hand to signal us. "Oh! The time last year when we were called out by the Council to hunt down a particular nest of vampires who was sneaking into medical treatment centers and feeding off the dying. Miros and Sage went out to scout out the place where the nest was located. That way, if they ran into any vamps who became suspicious, Miros could pretend Sage was his hostage."
They are telling us the truth.
"And let me tell you, that was the *most* fun I've ever had," Sage pipes up, rolling her wide brown eyes to emphasize her sarcasm. "Slogging through underground tunnels for hours wearing big rubber boots is not my cup of tea."
Richard's tail is swishing in a lively fashion in response to his excitement at telling the tale. "And then, when they reached the nest, they witnessed the most amazing thing! Both you guys fighting a hoard of vamps all by yourselves. Except you both had light brown hair then."
"We got the whole thing on magi-vid, too, thanks to yours truly. So, the rest of the group got to see it later."
"Why didn't you help us?" I am slightly puzzled by their decision to remain anonymous especially given how grueling that particular fight was.
Miros explains softly, "Well, we didn't know who you were at first, so we didn't interfere. We did a lot of research. . . in the field and in the records before we figured it out finally. Then, like Bandel said, we decided the best course of action was to leave you be to do what you were doing best."
"Why now?" I wonder aloud.
Miros inserts, "What do you mean?"
I clarify my question, "Why did you choose now to contact us?"
"Because," Ayledan returns, "we need your help. We want to take out Nabald's group before we move on to Joyger's. And with Nabald about to attack the learning institute, we have further reason to focus on him first."
"What about the Neyon and G'ticus demons?"
"Done, gone, dead. No worries there."
Everyone is gathering around the table where Bandel is unfolding a sheaf of papers. I feel my old slayer instinct waking. "Okay, what's the plan so far?"
TBC. . . 2675. . . back to Earth! Oh, and for those who wanted fearless Buffy. . . your request couldn't have come at a better time. . . keep reading! Wow! Thanks again for all the fabulous reviews! I realize this is way AU, so I'm glad you're enjoying it!
"Miros," Spike reminds me in a half-growl, "is Nabald's vampire contact on Mars. We were supposed to meet with him later. Remember, pet?"
I say nothing but observe the others present.
Everyone in the room has risen to his or her feet, but each seems curiously unfazed by Spike's actions toward Miros. In fact, Sage, the young female witch, and Richard, the half-Torakal demon are not even bothering to hide their full-blown smiles. Bandel has his mouth covered with his hand, and Ayledan's shoulders are shaking in silent laughter.
Spike relaxes his grip a bit, and Miros groans hesitantly but doesn't struggle. "What's so bleeding funny?"
I cross my arms, waiting impatiently for a reply from Aydelan. She clears her throat and coughs lightly before explaining, "Miros works for us. He's actually a plant inside the Nabald faction. He keeps us up to date on Nabald's activities."
"And you trust him why?" I am incredulous. "He's a vampire."
"Yes, well, he's an ex-Watcher turned vamp," Sage continues for Ayledan, her tinkling voice soft. "He. . . "
Without turning his head from Miros, Spike interrupts, "Um, the Watcher thing doesn't cut it. Doesn't explain his choice to be on your side."
"Well, what made *you* fight with the forces of good?" Ayledan challenges.
Spike's voice is laden with emotion, and he glances quickly at me. "Love."
"Well, can you imagine the same from the vampire in front of you? I was a homeless, abandoned little baby on the street when Miros found me. He raised me. . . took care of me. . . trained me. . . until the Watcher's Council came for me."
Miros's voice sounds foreign from beneath Spike's loosened grip, and he has a muddled British accent. "One night a few hundred years ago, I was out doing field training and ran across several vampires who took turns feeding from me. One young vamp took pity on me as I lay dying and turned me. My fellow trainees found me alone and dead and took me back to the Council. They buried me with the intent to send a group of Watchers to slay me the next night. The party that was sent to kill me included my best friend, Krista. She cast the spell to imbue me with a soul. She set me free, and the Council was never the wiser until Bandel here came across me. Even now, the rest of the Council doesn't know about me."
My lips turn down uncertainly. "Surely, they're aware of your existence."
Miros nods. "They know that I help Ayledan. But they don't know who I truly am. Miros obviously isn't my real name but an alias."
Clearly still as skeptical as I am, Spike shoots forth another question, "So, how do we know we can trust you? And what have you told the Council about us?"
Bandel chooses that moment to assert his thoughts, "We have told them nothing. Realize that our little group has been aware of your existence for a few years now. Miros has been working with me since I began training Ayledan. His relationship with Nabald was set years before we met him. He'd infiltrated, and we just used the information. Although Nabald remains unaware of your fight against the demons prior to your relationship with him, we were well aware that you have taken on perhaps numerous missions to stop the world from ending. . . even after the Council wanted you dead."
"So, how come you never tried to contact us before?" I uncross and re-cross my arms, shifting my weight in thought. "I mean, you must have considered it."
Bandel's smile widens. "Well, you see, we had no reason to get in touch with you before. As a group, we felt that you were better left alone to work in ways that we could not."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, as two knowledgeable, strong demons and individuals, you have the ability to go places and do things in the demon world that we would have no chance of doing since our group is mostly human. You have accomplished things in months that would have taken us years to do with such thoroughness."
Spike finally lets Miros completely loose and returns to my side. He touches my arm briefly, and I know he's relishing my shiver. "So, we've been like your uninvited allies, then, mate?"
Bandel chuckles. "Yes, I suppose you have."
"Tell me one thing that we did that you wouldn't have known if you hadn't been aware of us," Spike presses insistently.
Richard lifts a hand to signal us. "Oh! The time last year when we were called out by the Council to hunt down a particular nest of vampires who was sneaking into medical treatment centers and feeding off the dying. Miros and Sage went out to scout out the place where the nest was located. That way, if they ran into any vamps who became suspicious, Miros could pretend Sage was his hostage."
They are telling us the truth.
"And let me tell you, that was the *most* fun I've ever had," Sage pipes up, rolling her wide brown eyes to emphasize her sarcasm. "Slogging through underground tunnels for hours wearing big rubber boots is not my cup of tea."
Richard's tail is swishing in a lively fashion in response to his excitement at telling the tale. "And then, when they reached the nest, they witnessed the most amazing thing! Both you guys fighting a hoard of vamps all by yourselves. Except you both had light brown hair then."
"We got the whole thing on magi-vid, too, thanks to yours truly. So, the rest of the group got to see it later."
"Why didn't you help us?" I am slightly puzzled by their decision to remain anonymous especially given how grueling that particular fight was.
Miros explains softly, "Well, we didn't know who you were at first, so we didn't interfere. We did a lot of research. . . in the field and in the records before we figured it out finally. Then, like Bandel said, we decided the best course of action was to leave you be to do what you were doing best."
"Why now?" I wonder aloud.
Miros inserts, "What do you mean?"
I clarify my question, "Why did you choose now to contact us?"
"Because," Ayledan returns, "we need your help. We want to take out Nabald's group before we move on to Joyger's. And with Nabald about to attack the learning institute, we have further reason to focus on him first."
"What about the Neyon and G'ticus demons?"
"Done, gone, dead. No worries there."
Everyone is gathering around the table where Bandel is unfolding a sheaf of papers. I feel my old slayer instinct waking. "Okay, what's the plan so far?"
TBC. . . 2675. . . back to Earth! Oh, and for those who wanted fearless Buffy. . . your request couldn't have come at a better time. . . keep reading! Wow! Thanks again for all the fabulous reviews! I realize this is way AU, so I'm glad you're enjoying it!