"So that was it?" Nadja asked. "We freaked out about you being shipped back to Scotland and they told you they're bringing a Watcher here?"
Beth nodded, taking another sip of her apple juice. She liked the little cartons they sold at the grocery store in packs of eight. They were convenient and why had no one introduced her to such magnificent signs of human technology before?
"Wow. So we overreacted then," Nadja decided.
She shrugged. "I like to think I reacted with just the right amount of concern and hesitation. I know how to keep my head cool during a rough situation."
Nadja leveled her with a disbelieving look. "So what happens now?"
"I continue training as normal," Beth informed her. "My dad says I can join him on patrol now that I can kick some supernatural ass like the badass I've always been."
Nadja rolled her eyes. "I'm glad to see that all this newfound strength and power isn't going to your head."
"Oh, never," she assured with a lopsided grin. "One-hundred percent modesty here."
"We should probably tell Zack," Nadja thought aloud. "He's been worried you're gonna disappear or something. Something like that would just about break his heart." She rolled her eyes, muttering something under her breath.
"Probably. If he's stressing too much, he'll get an ulcer," Beth joked.
"Oh, if that's true, I think maybe we can wait a few more days. Maybe he'll get some fake IDs and bus tickets to Tijuana if we wait long enough."
She laughed. "You're a menace, Nadja. You know that?"
Nadja grinned, but she shrugged halfheartedly. "I try."
"I'm honestly curious as to whom they're going to send as my Watcher," she mentioned, switching topics. "My mum has to talk to the head of the council first and argue him into a corner so he has no choice but to bend to her will."
"Is that how your mother gets things done?" Nadja asked.
She nodded. "You should see her with my dad. He doesn't even try to hold his ground."
"You know, I think your parents are so romantic," Nadja sighed with a small smile playing on her lips. "Sworn enemies who meet in battle and fall in love. That's so trashy romance novel."
She snorted. "You make it sound so storybook."
"Like it's not? A ruthless, bloodthirsty vampire who fell in love with a slayer, despite his nature. And a duty-bound slayer, pure of heart, who found herself dreaming of a monster." Another sigh. "Like I said, romantic."
"He confessed his love for her when he had her chained up in his lair."
Nadja blinked. "Lair?"
"Cave, crypt, literal hole in the ground. Lair just sounds cool. My parents past relationship is strewn with problems, many of which are so bad they won't even tell me. I mean, I thought the shrine was pretty bad, but my mom always taunts him about that, so if there's things I'm not allowed to know, just imagine the possibilities."
Nadja made a face. "I don't think I want to, actually."
"But you do have a point," she conceded. "My parents hated each other. And when I say hated, I mean hated. Slayer Killer hating Vampire Slayer and vice versa. The odds were stacked against them to the tipping point. And yet, here I am, constantly being nauseated by their sickly-sweet displays of affection and casual groping. I was also birthed, which is just another set of inconceivable circumstances."
"Your entire life is just an inconceivable circumstance," Nadja decided. "But what is it that they say, love is blind? Love knows no boundaries?"
"Love has a sick sense of humor?" she offered with a grin.
"Probably," Nadja snorted. "But I guess it works its way out somehow. Your parents fell in love despite the circumstances, and we all got you, so it all worked out in the end."
"Yeah," she sighed. "I suppose it did."
-.-
By this time, Beth was pretty sure she wasn't hearing things. She'd walk past the door to the basement, hear a growly noise, investigate, and then come up with nothing but a faulty boiler. That was a stupid answer, but the only one she currently had. Frankly, she was tired of it. Besides, she was a slayer now. A powerful, don't-make-me-hurt-you slayer. Monsters beware, Beth was on the prowl.
She had to approach it differently this time. Which is why at 2 am in the morning (on a Saturday no less), she was breaking into the school. She was sure her mom had done it plenty of times and would thus have no qualms about her daughter repeating such activity. Like mother like daughter, right? Then again, wasn't a B&E more of her father's style anyway, just this one featured less blood thus far? It was irrelevant, and she hardly considered it a B&E when all she did was find a classroom window that hadn't been locked. Not a lot of breaking for this entering.
She climbed over the windowsill and into the Chemistry Lab, thanking the juniors for setting smelly things on fire this week. She crept between the desks, propping open the door with a stray book before sneaking down the hall to the basement door. She didn't hear anything besides her own breathing. She maintained her human visage, wanting to maintain at least some sort of surprises.
"Okay, I'd wager an' say the creepin' is overdoin' it just a little."
She really didn't mean to shriek. Honestly, slayers didn't do that. But she had been so focused on being quiet herself, she forgot to listen for others not following her example. She whipped around, coming face to face with a man, looking to be in his early- to mid-twenties. He had that sort of face that reminded her of all those suave Hollywood men girls swooned over, her own mother no exception. He had thick, wavy brown hair and that scruff on this chin that made him look rugged. She thought it made him look homeless, paired with the loose hanging plaid shirt and dirty jeans he was wearing. He wore some shit-eating grin Spike probably knew by heart.
Vampire? Oh yeah.
"So, girlie, you been lookin' for me?" he asked with a twisted grin. The western twang in his voice was palpable. God, don't be a cowboy and say "yee-haw" or something like that, she thought desperately.
"If you're the origin of the growly noises in that basement," she pointed at the door, "then yes. I have."
"Little slayer here to take out the nasty monster man?" the vampire asked tauntingly. "Take yer best shot, girlie." Despite his words, his tone lacked conviction. He sounded positively bored. Vampires weren't supposed to meet a slayer and sound bored. Frightened was best, but even eager showed signs of better sanity.
"Depends," she responded, "you actually gonna hit back?"
The vampire tipped his head back and let out a bark of laughter. He met her hard gaze with a grin that looked more enthusiastic. "I like you, girlie. Name's Charlie."
She frowned. A friendly vampire? "I don't need an introduction to kill you," she informed him, trying to sound as threatening as possible. The vampire, Charlie, only rolled his eyes. He pulled out a stack of worn cards from his pocket, shuffling them in his hands as he leaned casually against the wall. She couldn't really catch sight of the cards, but they looked old. Vintage maybe or an imitation.
"No, but introductions are nice. Maybe give me a name to scream out in vengeance as I slowly crumble to dust an' become one with the earth from which I came? How's that?"
She blinked. "Er, okay, I guess?"
"Then you got a name, girlie?" he asked.
"Beth. Everyone calls me Beth."
"An' what do you call yerself?"
"The same?" she hedged. "What else would I call myself?"
He grinned. "Lots of things. I hardly think of mahself as Charlie. Charlie was a good boy. Me? Not so much."
"You're a vampire. You're not supposed to be good," she told him, a hint of condescension in his tone.
He snorted, increasing the speed of his card shuffling. "What's good? You damn humans sure ain't got that market cornered. I may not be a saint, but I ain't no devil. I met the devil an' he was a gentleman."
"No, but you are a demon, one that eats people," she said, something he surely didn't need a reminder about. "That's pretty bad."
He snorted. "I'm not slaughtering my own species, but a different one. Much like you do with cows. Ain't that the same? 'Sides, I don't kill a soul. Gets attention I don't want. Maybe charm 'em a bit, make 'em a bit woozy, but dead ain't in the picture."
"You don't kill people?" she asked in disbelief, hands on her hips. First off, she couldn't believe she was having this philosophical conversation with a vampire regarding the concept of good v. evil. And now he was telling her he didn't kill his victims to maintain a low profile? What sort of fumes had she inhaled in the chem lab?
He nodded. "Thrall s'all good for that. Just give 'em eyes an' them girlies don't mind a little neck sucking."
"That doesn't make any sense," she told him rudely. "Vampires kill their food."
"Why would I kill 'em? 'Sides, if I kill 'em, they don't make any more blood. Once less to feed me if dead. An' why kill the cow for the milk?"
Despite the morbid nature of the conversation, he did have a solid point. He wasn't human anymore and it's not like vampires asked to need blood to survive, so it was something if he actually didn't kill people. Which was probably a lie because hello, what vampire didn't?
"No one asks to be food," she reminded him hotly.
He snorted. "Yeah, an' tell that to the chicken."
"Whatever. Look, why are you living in the basement? It's not like you're using the school for feeding grounds. I've yet to hear of any neck-biting cases here. Unless your thrall makes them forget in which case—"
"I don't eat where I sleep," he interrupted irritably. "The basement's a nice little hidey-hole for me, away from the curious eyes of the town an' the likes of you: slayers."
"My mum."
He chuckled. "Even more excitin'. A slayer's daughter a slayer. Who knew it was genetic? An' here I thought it was magic."
"Look, do you have a reason for showing yourself to me, besides being a pain in my ass?" she asked.
H smiled. "I was hopin' to strike a deal with you. You look a lot more understanding that your there 'mum.'"
She frowned, suspicious that a vampire would willingly go to a slayer for a deal. Because even if she looked nice, vampires didn't just trust slayers. "What do you need?" she inquired. He wasn't a danger as of yet, so she thought she'd give him a try. At least for a little while.
"I need safety. Sanctuary, if you may," he answered. "I'm no danger to these here people. Slayers don't know that. Hell, slayers don't think that. Ruins their little semblance of balance they have."
"Then why come to me?" she questioned. "I'm a slayer or did that small factoid slip your mind?"
"Yer different," he offered. "Somethin' about you ain't like the rest. Can't say I've met too many slayers in my time—wouldn't be alive if I did, but I can tell."
She made a sour expression. Most vampires didn't have a great understanding of halflings, especially not of their own kind considering they weren't supposed to exist, so it wasn't surprising that Charlie couldn't pin why he felt she'd listen. That didn't mean she had to like it though.
"I jus' want a deal," he continued, looking at her soulfully, a weird expression to see on a vampire. Most of the time it was "argh! Kill!"
"You want immunity from my mother and me because what? You don't eat people?" she snorted. "That's real funny, you know."
"Firs' off, I don't eat people. Vampires don't eat people. They drink their blood. Ain't no eatin' 'bout it," he corrected. "Second, that's not want I want. I want immunity because I want to make a deal. Make mahself useful. Money in exchange for information. I know a lot 'bout this here town. You want to take out the vampire clans? I can make that happen."
"You would purposefully sell out your own kind for safety?" she asked in disbelief. There was no way this guy was for real; he'd have to be a real strange one to think this would even work.
He shrugged. "They owe me nuthin' an' I owe them nuthin'. Ain't no lost love between us. 'Sides, ain't like they like me."
"So, you'd sell them out because you can get money out of it? That's you price?" she thought about it for a moment. He wanted to play mole simply because he had no allegiances, and he didn't kill people—or so he claimed. But he'd have to be stupid to think something like this would work. So did that mean it was for real? On one hand, she didn't see why he couldn't be a snitch; it would be a great way for her to help her parents if she could provide insider's information on the vampire clans around town, seeing as they were harder to pin down then Jell-O.
"How do I know you're not actually killing people?" she asked. Was she crazy for considering this? "I can't just take your word for it."
He shrugged. "I know it can't be easy jus' trustin' me on a whim, but I ain't no fool. I know you slayers got skills I ain't never seen and I look out for mahself, you know. I wouldn't do anything to jeopardize the safety I got. Killing people would make our agreement void. 'Sides, any one of you slayers saw me takin' someone down, I wouldn't be lookin' out for mahself then, would I?"
"Very self-involved then," she noted. "You're saying I should trust you to not kill people because doing so would put your life in danger?"
He finally put his deck of cards back into his pocket. He grinned. "Exactly."
She narrowed her eyes as she considered all the information. He could be of use and honestly, even if she did see him kill someone down the line, at least in the meantime any information he gave to her would be helpful. Her mom would freak though if she found out about it. Buffy would never willingly trust a vampire like this, especially one who claimed to not kill his victims.
"Deal then," she decided. He stuck out his hand, much to her confusion. "You want to shake on it?"
"Ain't it traditional to shake on it?" he asked.
She took a hesitant step forward. And then another. Eventually, she was no longer fifteen feet from him, but five. She grabbed his hand—which was incredibly chilly, by the way—and shook it.
"Fine. But one dead body, and you're gonna be deader than dead," she warned.
He chuckled. "Din't expect anything' less from you, I s'pose. You look like the kind anyway. Don't take no shit."
"Damn straight," Beth nodded.
"Now, run along. You'd have to be just 'bout insane to be at school on a Saturday."
-.-
"I have something I have to tell you," Beth began as she sat down next to Nadja on the grass.
Nadja looked up from her plastic container housing her spring salad. "Does it have anything to do with your being a slayer and possibly going back to Scotland?" Nadja asked as she made a face.
"No," she responded. "Well, maybe. I mean, yes, but no. Partially."
"Can you just tell me then?" Nadja asked with a sigh. "I don't like the possible somethings going through my head. All of them are bad."
"I met a vampire."
Nadja stared at her. "Well, now that you're a slayer, I would think so. Was it a quick and easy kill?"
"No, no killing," she replied with a wave of her hand.
"What?" Nadja asked. "Isn't that in your job description? It is literally in the title. You are a Vampire Slayer. Slayer of Vampires. You slay vampires."
"Well, not this one. We talked."
"Talked?" Nadja balked. "No talky, only killy."
"Look. I think he'll be useful. He's an insider into the world of demons and monsters. My dad was kind of like that for my mum years before, but now that he's all human, demons trust him about as far as they can throw them. Although, if I think about it, that'd be pretty far, so never mind. But you get what I mean."
Nadja blinked slowly. "I think I get that you've gone crazy."
At that moment, Zack bounded over across the lawn, sitting down across from Beth and next to Nadja. "Good afternoon ladies. Since Holden's out sick, Sam's doing a makeup test, and I figured it was time to let Tim bother someone else for once, I thought I'd have lunch with you today."
"Beth made friends with a vampire," Nadja told him, her expression neutral.
"I didn't make friends with him," she hastily added when she saw Zack's rather stunned expression. "It's an alliance, nothing more. He's my mole."
"Your mole?" he finally said. "For what?"
"Insider information to the demon world. They're not exactly open and friendly towards the people who want them dead," she explained. "In exchange for money, he'll get me all I need to know to take down the demon and vampire clans here in Bellevue."
"And did we conveniently forget about the eating of people?" he asked. "I feel like that's pretty darn important."
"I hate to say it, but I agree with Zack," Nadja said. "Though, let's be honest, who wouldn't at this point?"
She rolled her eyes. "He doesn't eat people. His methods of obtaining food are, I will admit, a bit questionable in morals, but nobody gets hurt. Badly."
"Do your parents know?" he asked.
She laughed. "Gods no! Could you imagine my mother's reaction if she found out I aligned myself with a vampire, all of things?"
"Like mother like daughter, I suppose," he muttered, kicking at the grass by his shoe. Nadja shot him a dirty look and elbowed him in the side.
"I don't like him," she snapped. "I'm not stupid, you know. He definitely looks out for numero uno. As long as this arrangement benefits him, he's of no great consequence."
"And you believe he'll continue not to kill?" Nadja asked, sounding disbelieving.
"Truthfully? Yeah. It was too outlandish of a claim to make for me to think he wasn't being honest about it. I know that seems a bit odd, but I got that vibe from him, you know? And as a slayer, it's good to trust your gut," she stated, her words met with blank looks. She huffed, trying to explain herself better. "Look, I know I can't really trust him and he's the last person on earth I'd choose to watch my back, but I know he likes to reap the benefits. His greatest motivation is not dying."
"But he's a vampire," he enunciated. "You can't trust a vampire. Ever. Not even a little. One wrong twitch and they're fangs deep in your neck."
Beth turned towards Nadja with a pleading look. Nadja in turn glanced at Zack, who was fixing her with a hard stare.
Nadja sighed in exasperation. "I don't think we'll change your mind, will we? I guess it's not incredibly far-fetched to think that a vampire would do whatever it took to continue its existence," she decided. "Besides, not all sociopaths are CEOs and murder people for funsies, so I guess he's the vampire-equivalent of a sociopath. He's only looking out for himself."
"See?" Beth said. "You get it!"
"And I still say this is incredibly stupid and he should be dust in the wind," Zack stated grumpily. "You can't just buddy-up with vampires for information and hope they stop killing people."
"Sounds like he wants to keep a low profile," Nadja begrudgingly stated. "Besides, what's the best way to stay safe? Group yourself up with the strongest player. Seems like this vampire is a lot smarter than his counterparts."
"Just don't wind up dead," he muttered, looking put-out.
"I told you, I know better than to assume he's here to help me," Beth placated. "But if he has information I can use, I'm going to get it. No one's getting hurt, at least not yet. He kills one person and he's as good a dust to me."
"And what about your mom? You said you wouldn't tell her," Nadja asked. "You can't very well offer him protection from the slayers if your mom doesn't know."
"I'm working on it. My mum would never understand and probably think that I am following in her footsteps, which I most definitely am not," she stated, throwing a look at Zack. "But so far, he's lived. I think he was more concerned about me. See, I had been hearing some strange noises coming from our school basement—"
"He lives in our school?" Nadja shrieked.
"Yes," she sighed, "and isn't it just funny that we've yet to have a vampire accident here?"
Nadja's panicked expression gave way to a thoughtful look and she considered the implications. "Would draw too much attention?" she hypothesized.
"Yes, because that's exactly what vampires are so concerned with," Beth said sarcastically.
"Fine, maybe he was being honest. Maybe he's a no-kill vampire. Why kill the cow for the milk, after all, right?"
Beth's lip twitched. "I think that's what he said too."
Nadja frowned. "Great. Now I'm thinking like him."
"I promise everything will work out," she assured. "I can handle myself, alright? I know how to deal with vampires. I live with one, remember?"
"No, correction, you live with an ex-vampire. Extreme emphasis on the ex part," Zack reminded her.
"Vampire for over a century, need I remind you?" she cut in.
"But even you said that you don't know everything that happened between your mother and father once they began working together," Nadja argued. "I think you should at least tell your parents; see what they say about this. They would have the most experience in this sort of area, seeing as they did it once."
She huffed. "They wouldn't get it."
"They did it!" Nadja cried. "How could they not get it?"
"I can handle this," she assured once more. The words did little to placate her friends, but one look at her resolute expression promised that there was little they could do to change her mind, besides outright going to her parents. Beth knew they wouldn't though. Zack was too intimidated by her father and Nadja would never betray Beth like that. Satisfied that she had essentially won the argument, she sat back to eat her lunch. Zack and Nadja exchanged worried looks but said nothing further. For now, the conversation was closed.