Twist of Fate: Chapter 8
by Lisette
Legalese: See Chapter 1 for disclaimers and ratings.
"My turn?" Buffy parroted back, giving a small shrug as she settled on the green armchair. "But there's not much to tell," she countered, the lie slipping easily from her lips. "I work out a lot and-"
"I thought we had a deal," Jarod quickly interrupted, his small smile working to lighten the bite of his words. As his eyes narrowed on the petite blonde, he saw a small flush work up the girl's slender neck, staining her cheeks pink. And then, just as quickly the blush was replaced by a scowl as different emotions played over her features - indecision being the most evident.
"We do," Buffy agreed haltingly, shrugging her shoulders in acquiescence. "But it's not a pretty story," she warned, her voice light. Sighing, she finally looked up and met his gaze directly, obviously having made her decision. "I'm the Chosen One," she stated, as if that simple statement would explain everything. When it obviously didn't, she sighed tiredly and stretched out as if in for a long talk. "The vampires always understand," she muttered, her words causing Jarod's expression to cloud.
"Vampires? As in Brahm Stoker's novel, Dracula?" he asked, his innocence showing once again.
"Uh..." Buffy returned, her smile faltering. "I can see that this is going to take awhile," she sighed, running a hand through her long blonde hair. Forcing herself to focus, Buffy tried her best to remember the thick novel her sophomore lit teacher had forced them to read, only to realize that like most things learned in high school, the material had evidently been quickly forgotten. "More like 'Interview With A Vampire' type of vampire," she finally responded, the movie ringing much clearer than a stuffy British book. "Like of the soulless, blood-sucking demon variety," she quickly added.
At the familiar phrase, Jarod quickly sat forward, his hand reaching for the tender puncture wounds on his neck. "You mean... she-"
"Yep, Harmony's a vampire," Buffy agreed nonchalantly. "Happened at graduation," she explained in a way that really did nothing to explain. Seeing this, Buffy went back to her original track. "Okay, let's try this again. Everything bad that you've ever dreamt of? All of the bad things that go bump in the night and that were just supposed to be stories? Not so much stories," she countered, her tone eerily flippant in light of the heavy subject. "Vampires are real. Demons are real. And I'm the one who fights them."
"I don't understand," Jarod countered, unsure whether he really didn't understand, or whether he didn't want to. This went beyond anything he had ever been taught at the Centre and in all honesty, he wasn't sure if he really wanted that little bit of innocence lost. After this conversation, he knew that he would never again be able to look out into the night in the same, carefree way he had always done so in the past. What this girl was talking about was something that science held no bounds on.
"I didn't either, or at least at first I didn't want to," Buffy admitted sympathetically, finally softening as she recognized the look in his dark eyes. "I mean, I was normal. Completely, everyday normal," she continued, her eyes drifting back to memories of days long past, a small smile lifting her lips. "I lived in LA, had a boyfriend, was on the cheerleading squad, and was as ditzy and clueless as the majority of teenage girls are supposed to be at that age. I was young and happy and... oblivious to what fate had in store for me."
"So what happened?"
"I grew up. Fast," Buffy murmured, her eyes turning hard. "When I was fifteen I was called and became the Chosen One."
"The Chosen One," Jarod murmured, remembering the phrase from earlier and pushing it aside for the moment. "You say you were called. Called how?" Jarod asked, trying to understand what could have happened to this girl to so obviously turn her life upside down.
"When the girl before me died," Buffy explained, watching as Jarod recoiled in shock at her blunt words. Sighing once again, Buffy quickly pushed ahead. "There has always been a Slayer - one girl chosen in every generation to fight the evil. When one dies, the next one is called to take her place," she said, spelling out her destiny as simply as she could. "When the last Slayer died, I was called. Wham bam, no thank you Ma'am," she smirked, obviously trying to keep Jarod from looking at her with such horror-filled eyes - and failing miserably.
"It's not as bad as it seems," she quickly added, shrugging her small shoulders. "After coming out here from LA with my Mom, I met my friends. I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for them," she admitted, her smile growing fond. "Together we stop all of nasties from ending the world."
At her description, Jarod felt a small smile lift his lips. "The Mayor?" he guessed, finally connecting the redhead's earlier puzzling statement. "He was a... nasty?"
"Exactly," Buffy agreed with a hint of a smile. "Giles, who you met earlier, is my Watcher... a group of stuffy British guys who are supposed to help the Slayer know what's coming and train her for it. Although, I've recently told them that they can bite me until the next Slayer is called - not literally, of course," she quickly amended as Jarod unconsciously lifted a hand to his tender neck.
"Yet your Giles-"
"Is different," Buffy interrupted firmly, her eyes glittering. "Neither of us work for the Watcher's Council anymore, and if anything, Giles has become like a father to me," she admitted, her smile warming at the thought of her watcher.
Smiling weakly, Jarod slowly nodded his head in understanding. He could relate to what she said. After all, Sydney was the only father that he had ever known. And while the older Belgium had tried to be impartial and detached, he knew that deep down the man cared for him very much. He was part of the reason Jarod could never really cut ties with the Centre - one of the reasons that he always left clues for the Centre to track him with. He couldn't say goodbye to Sydney forever... not yet. "And your friends?" he finally asked, really beginning to understand this girl.
"The Scoobies," she corrected, watching as his face lit up in a childish grin of delight.
"In reference to the children's cartoon, Scooby-Doo?" he asked, his smile genuine this time.
"Well, yeah," Buffy laughed, amused by his eagerness. "I take it that it was a childhood favorite of yours?"
"Oh no," Jarod countered quickly, obviously now in full swing. "I was never allowed to watch television while growing up. I just discovered Scooby-Doo while working at a children's AIDS clinic in Vermont a few weeks back. The most amusing show!" he crowed, his eyes twinkling as he began to bounce eagerly on the bed. "Although I never understood why they always got 'the munchies' nor why Shaggy seemed so..." he trailed off, obviously searching for a word.
"Stoned?" Buffy supplied, smirking at Jarod's confusion.
"Stoned," Jarod repeated, testing the unfamiliar word. "I don't understand."
"Obviously," she laughed, reminding herself that it wasn't his fault that he had grown up locked up in some institution. As that realization hit, Buffy quickly sobered.
Seeing this, Jarod sobered in turn, his earlier mirth forgotten as he turned back to her story. In his eyes, everything seemed so unfair. It was obvious that this job was something that Buffy had never asked for - something that she had never wanted. And even if she had fought it at one point, something had made her keep going - to finally accept it. Yet it didn't take a genius to figure out where this line of work would eventually lead her, no matter how good or careful she was.
"What's wrong?" Buffy asked, watching as Jarod's face slowly tightened, a small frown pulling at his lips.
"It's just that... well... you can't do this forever," he murmured, his eyes skipping away from hers.
"You're right," Buffy agreed, her own mortality hanging heavily around her. "And I won't," she countered softly, his eyes slowly meeting hers once again. "Someday, maybe soon, I'm going to die," she murmured, "and then the next Slayer will be called and someone else will take my place."
"And you're okay with this?" Jarod asked, incredulous at her nonchalance.
"Well I don't want to die, if that's what your asking," Buffy quickly countered, the smile once more returning to her full lips. "Then again, been there, died already - momentarily," she added with a smirk, "and besides, it comes with the job."
Sighing, Jarod slowly leaned back on the bed until he was resting back on his elbows, his eyes taking in the small girl that sat before him. He knew that looks could be deceiving, and that was especially evident in this case, for within that small shell he knew there was great power and even more strength.
Yet the only thing the 'girl' could focus on for the moment was how uncomfortable she was beginning to feel under Jarod's direct gaze. It was as if he was no longer looking at her, but beyond her and into something deep inside. "So... ah.." she murmured, her voice a little too quick as Jarod's eyes returned to her once again. "I guess that means I'm the Slayer and you're the Pretender. Titles for us both."
"So it seems," Jarod allowed, a lazy smile pulling at his lips.
"And while I think that I've more than proven the fact that I'm a Slayer, what with saving your life earlier tonight and dusting a vampire before you," she continued, her eyes twinkling, "you have yet to do anything to prove this ability of yours."
"But-"
"And don't think you can use Strip Tease and Wonder Boy back there as proof," she countered, her smile growing. "All that proves in my mind is that you have bad taste in who you associate with."
"I'm associating with you right now," Jarod quickly countered, deciding that he liked this girl. She was witty, spunky, and spoke in ways that made his mind spin to catch up. Almost like a new language for him to learn.
"Huh," Buffy grunted, her eyes narrowing briefly. "Then I guess that there's hope for you after all. Now how can you prove to me that you're really this grand genius with the ability to become anyone you want to be?" she asked, repeating his earlier description of himself with a few additions.
"I could do a simulation," Jarod suggested, his voice catching slightly as he stared at her, his gaze intense once more.
"Oookay," Buffy murmured, shifting uncomfortably in her ugly green chair. "How does that work?"
"Well who do you want me to become?"
"I don't know. My mom always wanted me to become a doctor or..." she trailed off as her eyes slowly narrowed on him. "Who do you want to become?" she asked, throwing his question back at him.
"You," was his quick response, watching as her green eyes widened before an incredulous smile lifted her lips.
"Me?" she laughed, absently brushing a wisp of blonde from her forehead. "Why would you want to become me? Trust me, not a whole lot of fun," she insisted even as her curiosity got the better of her. "What does a simulation of me entail, exactly?"
"I become you and find out what makes you, you... why you keep going when you know what your future is. Why don't you run away?" he asked, his voice becoming deeper as he once more stared at her like he wasn't just looking at her, but through her - into her where no one else had gone before. At least not since Angel had left.
Despite herself, Buffy found her body leaning slightly forward, her eyes narrowing as Jarod slowly sat up, the two unconsciously drawing together. "Because I tried that already," she murmured, her mind drifting back to last summer when she had left Sunnydale in hopes of escaping herself and the memories that would haunt her to the end of her days - no matter how close or far away those days were. But all of that time spent running was wasted. "Running away solves nothing," she murmured, her gaze once more turning hard as her eyes locked on the Pretender's. "It's my-"
"Destiny," Jarod finished for her, already knowing what she was going to say as he opened himself up to the girl before him.
Surprised, Buffy could only look at the man before her as he quickly stood and moved across the room. Speechless, she watched as he drew a matching chair before her, settling his long frame into it as he took both of her hands into his large ones, drawing her forward until their foreheads bumped against each other.
"You can't run away because you've tried that before and it only hurt the ones that you love," Jarod continued, completely caught up in the pretend. "It's guilt and duty that makes you stay, because if you're not there to stop the evil, then no one is and innocent people get hurt - maybe even those that you love. You've tried before and you've lost those that you love before. You can't live with that guilt and so you stay and you fight, for all of those who are unable to fight for themselves..." he trailed off as he slowly came out of his self-induced trance, an uncomfortable thickness forming in his chest from all of the feelings that he knew this girl had felt at one point or another in her short life. He could feel the bitterness of all that she had lost, the pain and pressure from what the world expected of her, and the stifling waves of loss that surrounded her every movement. Startled, he tore his eyes away from the haunted look in Buffy's eyes, watching as a single tear traced a salty path down her tanned cheek. Sighing, he gently reached up and brushed the tear away. "Way off the mark?" he asked with a tentative smile.
"Completely," Buffy joked, her laugh catching in her throat as she turned her eyes away. It was eerie how this man that she had only known a few hours seemed to understand her better than she understood herself. Attempting a smile, she turned back to the Pretender. "You know, I don't understand why they'd want you back anyway. You obviously don't know what you're doing," she murmured, a small smile playing at her lips.
"Buffy-" Xander's voice cut in, interrupting her words.
Startled, Buffy quickly scooted back in her chair as Xander stepped into the room. Embarrassed for some reason, she couldn't help the blush that burned in her cheeks as her friend took in their close proximity.
"Am I, uh, interrupting something?" he asked, his eyes sliding suspiciously over the Pretender's lean form as the man slowly stood and began collecting his stuff.
"Interrupting?" Buffy chirped, too loudly she realized, as she caught Jarod's amused grin. "What would you be-"
"Forget I asked," Xander cut in, rolling his eyes as he jerked his thumb towards the open door. "Your car is warmed up and ready to go - Giles even had me gas it up so you wouldn't have to stop until you're very clear of here."
"Thank you," Jarod murmured sincerely, watching as the teen fidgeted in the doorway before glancing back into the dark night.
"Don't worry about it," he said, shrugging away the man's thanks as he turned back. "But uh... you should probably get going."
"Right," Jarod agreed, slinging his duffel over his shoulder and hefting the heavy DSA player from the table. As he headed towards the door he paused briefly before the small blonde. "Thank you," he murmured, watching as Buffy imitated her friend's careless shrug.
"Just doing my job," she replied casually, feeling Xander step up behind her in a familiar wave of protectiveness.
"I know," he replied solemnly, his eyes holding hers for the briefest of moments before he turned and headed towards the open door. "Good luck, Buffy. Maybe we'll meet again some day," he added before disappearing into the dark night.
Sighing, Buffy watched him go as Xander stepped around her, watching the open door in silence for a few still moments.
"So... what did I interrupt?" he asked, breaking the peaceful silence as he winked exaggeratedly at his friend.
Shaking away her heavy thoughts, Buffy managed a weak grin at her friend as she started for the door. "I already told you, nothing."
"Uh huh..." Xander murmured, preparing himself for the blow he knew would follow. "Were you guys having sex?"
"Xander!"
"Ouch!"
Cursing beneath her breath, Miss Parker sent the deserted hospital parking lot a scathing glare as she angrily adjusted her short skirt with one hand while she reached for the door with the other. "Broots, call and have the jet ready," she hissed over her shoulder, wanting nothing more than to get away from this accursed town. Not only did she have her prey sitting right before her, obviously in no condition to try any more of his tricks to escape her once again, but it was all foiled by a teenager who had the gall to insult her. If her father ever... no, if Brigette ever heard of how a girl managed to unarm them all and get away with the prize...well, she certainly wouldn't be living that down anytime soon. "Broots," she hissed again, showing her extreme impatience as she hazarded a glare to end all glares over her shoulder, frowning as the computer technician attempted to balance the large sweeper between Sydney and himself. Sighing, she pinched the bridge of her nose as she turned away. "When I catch Jarod-"
"This time it's hardly Jarod's doing," Sydney interrupted her quiet rant, fumbling to open the car door to help ease the groggy sweeper within. "The girl-"
"Never existed, as far as I'm concerned," Parker warned, her eyes glittering dangerously as she slid her lean frame into the passenger seat, tucking her legs trimly behind the console as Broots scurried for the driver's side door. Sighing as she felt yet another migraine coming on, Miss Parker wearily turned and watched as her brother finished his hushed conversation, tucking his small phone away. "Lyle, let's go," she called out, her voice brooking no argument.
"Go on without me," Lyle replied, stepping beside the window and grinning innocently at his sister. "I think I'm going to stick around here for a little while longer, take in the sights."
Suspicion glittering in her eyes, Parker shook her head curtly. "Why bother? You know it's useless to stay here in this shithole. Jarod is probably fleeing the city limits as we speak. We can try and track him from the air."
"I have some other... business, to take care of. I'll meet you back at the Centre," he replied, rocking back on his heels as he flashed her his most charming smile once again. Which only caused her frown to deepen as she scowled at him.
Torn between the ever-present suspicion for her brother and the fierce desire to put as much space between herself and this nightmare as possible, Miss Parker eyed her brother for a moment, eyes narrowed dangerously. It was a contest, of sorts, that never seemed to have a clear victor between the siblings. But then the match was decided for them as Sam groaned loudly from behind her.
"Miss Parker?" Broots questioned timidly, hazarding a glance at Sydney, who merely cocked his head in return.
"Fine," Miss Parker murmured, conceding momentary defeat as she scowled at everyone present. "Let's go," she ordered, hating the weariness that crept into those two words as she leaned back into the soft leather of the seats. Sometimes she really hated the person that Jarod made her become... that the Centre's objectives made her become.
"Have a nice trip!" Lyle called out, for no other reason than to see his sister scowl once more as the car pulled away into the quiet night. Smiling thoughtfully, he watched their taillights dwindle and then disappear as he reached for his phone once again. Pushing one button, he held the small device to his ear as the line began to ring. "Have you found a match?" he asked, even before the other party could utter a greeting. "Good," he murmured, nodding as a small smile lifted his lips. "Have a team of sweepers come down from LA immediately and meet me at the hospital here in Sunnydale," he ordered as he slowly began back towards the brightly lit area of the large hospital. "We have a new project underfoot."