Darla came in, taking in the neatly orgnized apartment. "Nice
place."
"So what brings you here, Darla?" Buffy's tone was curious,
instead of the more expected aggressive one.
"I'm just wondering how a demon could be mistaken for the Slayer."
Buffy pursed her lips together, and speculated, based on something
Adam had mentioned. "I might be the third of my kind to be mistaken for
the Slayer. The strength, healing, and natural fighting ability all seem
to be a natural part of my kind. Except a Slayer is also supposed to be
able to sense vampires, and I never could."
"How curious. So the real Slayer is locked away in prison." Darla
gave Buffy a speculative look. "You have given up slaying, right?"
"Not completely." Buffy grinned widely, then continued, "It's
hard to give up the fighting. Turns out my people live to fight, but
mostly with each other." She sat down on the new couch, and gestured at a
chair for Darla. "I think I can restrain myself, if that's what you were
worried about. So tell me, how did you end up working as an assistant to
a lawyer? Sounds a little bit beneath you."
"Fantastic benefits. And they paid to relocate me out of hell."
*****
"Goodnight." Buffy leaned on the door, slowly pushing it closed.
Her mind whirled slightly, trying to understand what she was doing. Being
friendly with Darla? She's evil, Buffy. Get a clue, she's just trying to
use you to get at Angel.
Buffy flopped into a chair. Angel. How could she ever face him
again? Oh, hi Angel! Guess who's not dead? And not human, either. You
can't forget all the demony goodness that is Buffy. At least we'll have
forever to... stay apart so neither of us can be happy. That's good for
your soul.
This wasn't the right time to be thinking about Angel. She knew
what time it really was, and reached for the phone accordingly.
*****
She was nearly asleep, curled around the warm body. It took more
than one ring rouse her, blindly reaching for the phone that should be
next to the bed, hoping to find it before it woke anyone else up. She
rubbed her eyes with one hand, holding the phone to her ear with the other
and sleepily answered. "It's really late. I mean, hello?"
//"Dawn? It's Buffy."//
Her heart started pounding in her chest like it was about to
explode. She stared at the fixed smiling expression on the bot next to
her, speaking in a near whisper. "You're not Buffy. Buffy's dead." She
set the phone down, ignoring the voice that tried to reassure her, and ran
out of Buffy's room to pound on the witches' door, not waiting for an
answer as she ran inside.
"Willow, Willow! Wake up, she's on the phone!"
Willow woke up to a frantic Dawn shaking her about a phone call.
She reluctantly got out of bed, going to the phone on her writing desk.
"Hello, who is this?"
*****
"Hi Willow. Don't freak out, okay? It's me, Buffy." Buffy
twisted the phone cord around her finger nervously. She barely recognized
the cold voice that used to be her best friend, when Willow finally
responded.
//"Buffy's dead. You're just the demon that killed her."//
They knew. Somehow, they already knew. Giles probably had a book
somewhere that told them all about demons who didn't die. "Will, please.
It's not like that. I know... I know I'm different now, but that doesn't
mean we can't still be friends."
//"Don't come back to Sunnydale. You're not the only one who
knows how to kill demons."// There was a click on the phone as it went
dead.
Buffy slowly returned the handle to its base. That could have
gone better.
*****
A plain manila envelope was left on the doorstep of the Hyperion
hotel the next morning. Bringing it in with the mail, Cordelia left it
for Angel to see when he woke up. The only address on it was his name in
large letters.
*****
Willow called an emergency Scooby meeting for the next day,
including Dawn and Spike and even the bot. Not that she trusted Spike,
but enemy or ally, it was better to keep him in eyesight.
They went over plans and defenses for hours, covering every
possibility they could think of, until after the sun had set. Nearly the
entire evening, Dawn sat curled up in Tara's arms, trying to tune out the
discussion.
Giles reached up to take off his glasses, and then dropped his
hand back on the table. "Willow, for the first time, I understand why
Buffy was unable to deal with Angelus. I... I'm not sure I can do what
needs to be done this time."
"I can." For the first time since Buffy's arrival in Sunnydale,
Xander reminded his friends of Jesse. "I had to do it before. It's not
her, Giles. I can do it." He carefully looked away from Dawn's accusing
eyes.
Giles was saved from making a response when the phone rang.
*****
"Giles, it's Angel. I have news about Buffy, and it's not good."
He flipped though the photographs again. All of them were of the same
living room, and two women, apparently having a peaceful conversation.
//"Yes, we have some news ourselves. She called last night, and
spoke to Willow."//
Angel flipped to the last photograph, of Buffy sitting alone,
holding a phone to her ear. "I have pictures from what I can only assume
was last night, of Buffy in an apartment, probably here in L.A., meeting
with Darla, then calling someone."
//"Dear Lord. Are you sure it's Darla?"//
He looked at the middle of the sequence again, when Darla had
walked to the window and looked right at the camera. "Completely. They
must be working with Wolfram & Hart. Someone wants us to know about
this."
*****
Giles set the phone down as if it was as fragile as he currently
felt. "It's gone from worse to worst. Buffy has joined Darla. Angel has
snaps of them together."
"Darla's not the dangerous one. She was brought back human, and
Dru turned her." Spike sounded confident as he tried to reassure the
entire group.
"Darla works with the law firm that Angel has been fighting for
the last two years. We're not dealing with just vampires."
*****
Joan spent the next day shopping, wasting some of her new found
wealth. More than once, she got the sensation of being watched, but no
matter how fast she spun around, there was no one there. It was eerie,
pretending to be this girl named Joan. She hadn't asked if it was the
name of a real girl, or one the firm made up for her. Either one would
have been creepy to know.
Out of morbid fascination, she drove by the Hyperion on her way
back to the apartment. Then it was past. There was no compelling urge to
pull over and go see him. For the first time, she knew they were never
meant to be together. It hurt, but she finally accepted it.
Going into the apartment, she wasn't terribly surprised to find
Darla already there. She put down her bags, trying to sound as cheerful
as she didn't feel, "Back so soon?"
Darla held out a folder with a few select photos in it. "These
were taken last night, and delivered to Angel today." Buffy flipped
though the pictures, looking up in surprise as she walked to the window,
trying to match the angle up. They showed Darla entering, sitting down,
and then leaving. Nothing to indicate the length of the visit.
"I thought I felt someone watching me today."
"You're just jumpy. The apartment is being watched, but that's
it."
"You knew."
Darla shook her head. "Not until today." Her eyes narrowed. "I
don't want what they want. They want to bring you and Angel back
together, so you can lose his soul again."
Buffy tossed the pictures onto the table. "I thought you hated
his soul. After all, you took it away from him long before I ever did.
What do you want?"
"I want him miserable. He left me, and he killed me. Most of
all, I don't want my Angelus working for someone else." Darla sauntered
over to Buffy, trailing her fingertips up Buffy's arm. "He knows you're
back. So here's my idea. You and I work together to make sure he's never
happy enough to lose his soul." Darla stared into Buffy's eyes as she
slowly wrapped her arms around the entranced blonde's neck. "And what
could make him more miserable than to see us together?"
*****
A second envelope was found on the second morning. When Cordelia
brought it in, she woke Angel up. This time it was a videotape.
*****
Buffy stood under the hot water until it ran freezing cold, her
skin as numb as her insides. She could remember the entire night, but not
why she'd allowed Darla to...
She shut off the water, and stared at herself in the mirror.
"You're a demon. You deserve this. It's not your world anymore." She
watched the water dripping on the floor, and walked out of the bathroom.
An hour later she found herself in her new car, and headed to Sunnydale.
She had just enough time to get there before sunset.
The observer across the street had a brief phone conversation that
resulted in the tracking device attached to the car being activated.
There was a long delay, then a second conversation as the car headed out
of the city.
In Lilah's office, she hung up the phone after getting the update.
"She ran to Sunnydale, as we predicted." Darla simply looked smug as
Lilah continued. "It must have killed Angel to watch that."
Darla glared and rubbed her shoulder. "She almost killed me. I
have bite marks. Me!" She looked thoughtful for a moment. "I wonder if
I could talk her into a second time."
"If this doesn't work, you will."
*****
It was later than she'd expected by the time the Welcome to
Sunnydale sign appeared. Not that it mattered. Slayer or not, she could
handle vampires. For a moment, she felt sick as she remembered
handling... no, block it out.
She rolled to a stop in front of the house. 1630 Revello Drive.
She could feel her heart pounding as went up the walk to the door. She
stood there in front of the door, trying to summon up the courage to
knock, when it suddenly opened. Staring her right in the face was... her
own face.
"Hello! I know you, you're me." The other girl smiled, "We're
still very pretty."
Out of sight from Buffy, a familiar voice came closer, "Botty,
honey, who's at the..." Tara stepped into view, cutting off abruptly as
she saw both Buffys.
"Tara, hi."
Tara went pale, and grabbed a wooden stake sitting next to the
door. She held it up and yelled a single word that Buffy didn't
recognize, the stake leaping from her hand faster than Buffy could react
to. There was an agonizing pain as it buried itself in her chest. The
only thing she had time to do was to look up in shock as she collapsed.
-- End Chapter Three
$Revision: 1.8 $
$Date: 2003/02/09 22:36:17 $
place."
"So what brings you here, Darla?" Buffy's tone was curious,
instead of the more expected aggressive one.
"I'm just wondering how a demon could be mistaken for the Slayer."
Buffy pursed her lips together, and speculated, based on something
Adam had mentioned. "I might be the third of my kind to be mistaken for
the Slayer. The strength, healing, and natural fighting ability all seem
to be a natural part of my kind. Except a Slayer is also supposed to be
able to sense vampires, and I never could."
"How curious. So the real Slayer is locked away in prison." Darla
gave Buffy a speculative look. "You have given up slaying, right?"
"Not completely." Buffy grinned widely, then continued, "It's
hard to give up the fighting. Turns out my people live to fight, but
mostly with each other." She sat down on the new couch, and gestured at a
chair for Darla. "I think I can restrain myself, if that's what you were
worried about. So tell me, how did you end up working as an assistant to
a lawyer? Sounds a little bit beneath you."
"Fantastic benefits. And they paid to relocate me out of hell."
*****
"Goodnight." Buffy leaned on the door, slowly pushing it closed.
Her mind whirled slightly, trying to understand what she was doing. Being
friendly with Darla? She's evil, Buffy. Get a clue, she's just trying to
use you to get at Angel.
Buffy flopped into a chair. Angel. How could she ever face him
again? Oh, hi Angel! Guess who's not dead? And not human, either. You
can't forget all the demony goodness that is Buffy. At least we'll have
forever to... stay apart so neither of us can be happy. That's good for
your soul.
This wasn't the right time to be thinking about Angel. She knew
what time it really was, and reached for the phone accordingly.
*****
She was nearly asleep, curled around the warm body. It took more
than one ring rouse her, blindly reaching for the phone that should be
next to the bed, hoping to find it before it woke anyone else up. She
rubbed her eyes with one hand, holding the phone to her ear with the other
and sleepily answered. "It's really late. I mean, hello?"
//"Dawn? It's Buffy."//
Her heart started pounding in her chest like it was about to
explode. She stared at the fixed smiling expression on the bot next to
her, speaking in a near whisper. "You're not Buffy. Buffy's dead." She
set the phone down, ignoring the voice that tried to reassure her, and ran
out of Buffy's room to pound on the witches' door, not waiting for an
answer as she ran inside.
"Willow, Willow! Wake up, she's on the phone!"
Willow woke up to a frantic Dawn shaking her about a phone call.
She reluctantly got out of bed, going to the phone on her writing desk.
"Hello, who is this?"
*****
"Hi Willow. Don't freak out, okay? It's me, Buffy." Buffy
twisted the phone cord around her finger nervously. She barely recognized
the cold voice that used to be her best friend, when Willow finally
responded.
//"Buffy's dead. You're just the demon that killed her."//
They knew. Somehow, they already knew. Giles probably had a book
somewhere that told them all about demons who didn't die. "Will, please.
It's not like that. I know... I know I'm different now, but that doesn't
mean we can't still be friends."
//"Don't come back to Sunnydale. You're not the only one who
knows how to kill demons."// There was a click on the phone as it went
dead.
Buffy slowly returned the handle to its base. That could have
gone better.
*****
A plain manila envelope was left on the doorstep of the Hyperion
hotel the next morning. Bringing it in with the mail, Cordelia left it
for Angel to see when he woke up. The only address on it was his name in
large letters.
*****
Willow called an emergency Scooby meeting for the next day,
including Dawn and Spike and even the bot. Not that she trusted Spike,
but enemy or ally, it was better to keep him in eyesight.
They went over plans and defenses for hours, covering every
possibility they could think of, until after the sun had set. Nearly the
entire evening, Dawn sat curled up in Tara's arms, trying to tune out the
discussion.
Giles reached up to take off his glasses, and then dropped his
hand back on the table. "Willow, for the first time, I understand why
Buffy was unable to deal with Angelus. I... I'm not sure I can do what
needs to be done this time."
"I can." For the first time since Buffy's arrival in Sunnydale,
Xander reminded his friends of Jesse. "I had to do it before. It's not
her, Giles. I can do it." He carefully looked away from Dawn's accusing
eyes.
Giles was saved from making a response when the phone rang.
*****
"Giles, it's Angel. I have news about Buffy, and it's not good."
He flipped though the photographs again. All of them were of the same
living room, and two women, apparently having a peaceful conversation.
//"Yes, we have some news ourselves. She called last night, and
spoke to Willow."//
Angel flipped to the last photograph, of Buffy sitting alone,
holding a phone to her ear. "I have pictures from what I can only assume
was last night, of Buffy in an apartment, probably here in L.A., meeting
with Darla, then calling someone."
//"Dear Lord. Are you sure it's Darla?"//
He looked at the middle of the sequence again, when Darla had
walked to the window and looked right at the camera. "Completely. They
must be working with Wolfram & Hart. Someone wants us to know about
this."
*****
Giles set the phone down as if it was as fragile as he currently
felt. "It's gone from worse to worst. Buffy has joined Darla. Angel has
snaps of them together."
"Darla's not the dangerous one. She was brought back human, and
Dru turned her." Spike sounded confident as he tried to reassure the
entire group.
"Darla works with the law firm that Angel has been fighting for
the last two years. We're not dealing with just vampires."
*****
Joan spent the next day shopping, wasting some of her new found
wealth. More than once, she got the sensation of being watched, but no
matter how fast she spun around, there was no one there. It was eerie,
pretending to be this girl named Joan. She hadn't asked if it was the
name of a real girl, or one the firm made up for her. Either one would
have been creepy to know.
Out of morbid fascination, she drove by the Hyperion on her way
back to the apartment. Then it was past. There was no compelling urge to
pull over and go see him. For the first time, she knew they were never
meant to be together. It hurt, but she finally accepted it.
Going into the apartment, she wasn't terribly surprised to find
Darla already there. She put down her bags, trying to sound as cheerful
as she didn't feel, "Back so soon?"
Darla held out a folder with a few select photos in it. "These
were taken last night, and delivered to Angel today." Buffy flipped
though the pictures, looking up in surprise as she walked to the window,
trying to match the angle up. They showed Darla entering, sitting down,
and then leaving. Nothing to indicate the length of the visit.
"I thought I felt someone watching me today."
"You're just jumpy. The apartment is being watched, but that's
it."
"You knew."
Darla shook her head. "Not until today." Her eyes narrowed. "I
don't want what they want. They want to bring you and Angel back
together, so you can lose his soul again."
Buffy tossed the pictures onto the table. "I thought you hated
his soul. After all, you took it away from him long before I ever did.
What do you want?"
"I want him miserable. He left me, and he killed me. Most of
all, I don't want my Angelus working for someone else." Darla sauntered
over to Buffy, trailing her fingertips up Buffy's arm. "He knows you're
back. So here's my idea. You and I work together to make sure he's never
happy enough to lose his soul." Darla stared into Buffy's eyes as she
slowly wrapped her arms around the entranced blonde's neck. "And what
could make him more miserable than to see us together?"
*****
A second envelope was found on the second morning. When Cordelia
brought it in, she woke Angel up. This time it was a videotape.
*****
Buffy stood under the hot water until it ran freezing cold, her
skin as numb as her insides. She could remember the entire night, but not
why she'd allowed Darla to...
She shut off the water, and stared at herself in the mirror.
"You're a demon. You deserve this. It's not your world anymore." She
watched the water dripping on the floor, and walked out of the bathroom.
An hour later she found herself in her new car, and headed to Sunnydale.
She had just enough time to get there before sunset.
The observer across the street had a brief phone conversation that
resulted in the tracking device attached to the car being activated.
There was a long delay, then a second conversation as the car headed out
of the city.
In Lilah's office, she hung up the phone after getting the update.
"She ran to Sunnydale, as we predicted." Darla simply looked smug as
Lilah continued. "It must have killed Angel to watch that."
Darla glared and rubbed her shoulder. "She almost killed me. I
have bite marks. Me!" She looked thoughtful for a moment. "I wonder if
I could talk her into a second time."
"If this doesn't work, you will."
*****
It was later than she'd expected by the time the Welcome to
Sunnydale sign appeared. Not that it mattered. Slayer or not, she could
handle vampires. For a moment, she felt sick as she remembered
handling... no, block it out.
She rolled to a stop in front of the house. 1630 Revello Drive.
She could feel her heart pounding as went up the walk to the door. She
stood there in front of the door, trying to summon up the courage to
knock, when it suddenly opened. Staring her right in the face was... her
own face.
"Hello! I know you, you're me." The other girl smiled, "We're
still very pretty."
Out of sight from Buffy, a familiar voice came closer, "Botty,
honey, who's at the..." Tara stepped into view, cutting off abruptly as
she saw both Buffys.
"Tara, hi."
Tara went pale, and grabbed a wooden stake sitting next to the
door. She held it up and yelled a single word that Buffy didn't
recognize, the stake leaping from her hand faster than Buffy could react
to. There was an agonizing pain as it buried itself in her chest. The
only thing she had time to do was to look up in shock as she collapsed.
-- End Chapter Three
$Revision: 1.8 $
$Date: 2003/02/09 22:36:17 $