Story Title: Tonight and the Rest of My Life
Author: La Vie Boheme96
Chapter Title: "Where I Fall"
Author's Note: Much to my surprise, I have recently received a smattering of new reviews and e-mails in regards to this story, each asking that Tonight and the Rest of My Life not be left to languish here unfinished. I'm tempted to finally complete it because of those requests, the fact that I am free to let my creative mind flourish this summer, and in the wake of the series finale of Buffy. And so it's with hope in my heart that I add another chapter to this saga, and that those of you who contacted me continue to graciously bear with me. Thank you, and enjoy. :-)
***
"Pull over here," Buffy commanded.
James obliged, bringing his brand-new, doubtlessly ill-fated BMW up against the crumbling curb of the dark, deserted sidewalk.
"This is where we'll start looking," the Slayer said, nodding in the direction of the sprawling Shady Hill Cemetery up ahead. She unbuckled her seatbelt and climbed out of the car, closing the door very softly. This was primarily to avoid drawing unwanted attention to herself and her companion, but also because it seemed risky to do otherwise in the case of such a magnificent vehicle. James too shut the driver's side door gently behind him, but whereas Buffy was concerned with their own safety, he was worried about scaring away potential jewel thieves. He pulled his suit jacket open to be certain that his gun was accessible in its shoulder holster. Buffy's sharp eye caught this motion.
"That won't do you much good around here," she said, shaking her head. She plucked a sharp, wooden stake out of her coat and offered it to him. "Know how to use one of these?"
"I think I can manage," James drawled, accepting the stake.
"Don't be so sure. That's what I though, too; in the movies it only looks easy. It took me about two weeks of non-stop slayage to finally get the hang of it. And you gotta get 'em in the heart--the first time. Catch one in the shoulder and all you'll have is a really pissed-off vamp with a hole in its shirt."
James grinned and twirled the stake in his hand. "Yes," he said, "I believe I've seen 'Dracula.'"
Buffy bristled at the mention of the name.
"Me, too," she said, barely audible.
"So tell us why you've decided that this would be a good place to begin searching?" said James as he and Buffy passed through the rotting gates of the gloomy cemetery.
"Vamps nest here sometimes," she explained. She warily surveyed their surroundings.
"What brings you to think a simple vampire would be clever enough to make good use of the Karlotte diamond?"
"Don't ask questions, Jim," Buffy replied, surging with confidence. "Granted, I've met my share of vampires with lone kernels of candy corn for brains, but they're nothing like the goons you're used to taking down. They're hunters.smarter than I care to let on."
"Yes, of course. I'm now aware, Buffy, that our lives are very different. I really don't think I can stand another lecture."
"No lecturing here," Buffy said with a shrug of her shoulders. "I'm just looking."
"As am I."
"Well, don't let your guard down."
When she saw the exhausted look James gave her, she frowned and quickly added, "Yeah, I know you know." She cleared her throat. "Do you wanna split up?" she asked hopefully.
"Marvelous idea," James said, stopping between two rows of tombstones, letting his piercing gaze sweep the landscape. "I'll take the east, yes?"
"Uh, sure," said Buffy, looking both to her left and to her right. "The east. You know, whichever way that is. We'll meet at that mausoleum over there either after a half-hour or when one of us finds something. Whatever comes first. Sound good?"
Once more he glimpsed the stake in his hand, and sighed. "If that's what you wish, then yes. I suppose I can trust your judgment."
"You can. And if I told you to be careful, would you give me another weird look?"
James only smiled at her, and walked away towards the eastern quarter of the cemetery.
Buffy stared after him, somewhat discouraged. Just when she thought that the two of them had finally mended their differences and learned to effectively work together, she still got the impression that he believed her incapable of doing her own job. Well, maybe he didn't think her incapable.it was more a classic case of, "anything you can do, I can do better." Yes, James certainly appeared to be under the assumption that he could outdo the Chosen One when it came to slaying demons and otherworldly creatures. Buffy would show him that that was completely impossible.
//Yeah, I'll show him what's what,// she thought, grinning to herself.
James set upon the paved road that wove through the graveyard, staying close to the edge in case a car might come bearing a man, or a woman, or a family wishing to visit the tomb of a deceased loved one. Even at that hour such a thing was not entirely improbable. James stopped briefly and glanced at his wristwatch, the one he admired for its ability to do so much more than just tell time. It was almost eleven o'clock; he would rendezvous with Buffy at the mausoleum she had indicated at about 11:25. Or, if he got bored, 11:20.
As he walked, James paused periodically to examine the headstones of the dearly departed. Morbid? Perhaps. But every moment he spent in Sunnydale he grew ever more curious about the town, and he decided he would investigate anything that would provide him with additional information. One thing he discovered was that much of the dead had passed at a very young age. They had likely been students in either high school or college. Sixteen years old, eighteen, twenty-one.maybe some of the deaths had been the result of natural causes, but such abundance could only lead James to speculate that the murder rate in Sunnydale was indeed, as Buffy had told him, stratospheric. It was a pity, and the infamously glacial secret agent was moved... if just barely.
James looked up from the grave marker of a fifteen-year-old girl who had died not even two weeks ago and saw a massive stone crypt whose door stood slightly ajar. He thought he heard sounds coming from inside, sounds that were unmistakably those made by people excitedly chattering. He smirked, silently approached the crypt at its western wall, and listened. The voices were loud and raucous, but James could not at all understand what they were saying.
//Goodness, how I hate to be left in the dark,// he thought, still smiling. //I suppose I'll just have to interrupt their little party, then.//
Buffy, who had as of that moment had found exactly the equivalent of nothing, stood at the bottom of the hill watching James' tall, catlike form slink through the darkness towards the crypt.
//Just look at him,// Buffy thought resentfully. //I wonder what he's up to now?// It bothered her to think that he might actually find something before she did.
James felt ridiculous with a stake clutched in his hand as he soundlessly approached the opened door of the crypt. He wished there was another, less obvious way to enter the tomb, but he would have to simply make do with his only option. It did not really matter, because whatever people--or demons-- that lay in wait behind the door suspected not a thing and continued to jabber on and on like auctioneers about God only knew what. James slipped his hand between the crypt's granite wall the steel door, and pulled the latter open more so.
//Uh-oh.he's got something.// Buffy continued to observe his shadow's movements against the backdrop of the dark night sky. She quickly corrected herself, however, when she saw what looked like a hand shoot out of the crypt, grab James' necktie, and pull him inside.
//Or... rather... something's got him.// With that, she sprinted up the hill as fast as its steepness would allow her.
There were four of them.maybe five. Concentrating solely on staying alive, he could not be absolutely sure. They were terribly strong. He did not think he had ever come across anything with such shocking, brutal strength... surely no human he encountered had inflicted such pain with a single punch. He punched back just as hard in the direction from which the blow had come, and was pleased when he struck cold, bloodless skin. The vampire stumbled backward out the door, opening it yet more and permitting blessed moonlight to pour into the dank crypt. Now that their hearts were in plain sight, there was no hope for them.
Knife-like claws ripped through his suit and into his shoulder. He replied by using all his energy to drive jagged wood into dead flesh and tissue, and that particular vampire would not cause him trouble again. As for the other two... no, three....
Buffy saw the vamp stagger out of the crypt as if punched or kicked and wondered if maybe James was doing all right. The creature was about to reenter the crypt when he spotted Buffy, naturally the greater and more delicious prize, running at breakneck speed up the hill.
"I don't presume that you fellows could tell me anything about the Karlotte diamond?" panted James, always a gentleman, burying his foot in the chest of an oncoming vampire. When another threw a punch at him, he caught the thing by the wrist, which he promptly broke.
"Now, now, was that really necessary?" he teased, grinning tiredly. "All you had to say was no." He dusted the vampire just as the other was recovering.
The creature that had tried--and failed, miserably--to attack Buffy was also dust in a matter of seconds. She noticed another dash out of the crypt. Their eyes met.
//He knows something,// Buffy thought.
The vampire ran for its life in the opposite direction. The Slayer chased it a few yards beyond the crypt, but gave up, deciding that the worthless piece of Hellmouth trash did not rank about James' safety on her priority list at the moment.
She ran back to the entrance of the crypt, where James stood searching frantically around him for the vampire that got away. He looked a mess, but aside from the blood that reddened his shoulder, he appeared to be unhurt.
"He got away," Buffy told him, referencing the vamp.
James' face fell in disappointment. "Damn," he huffed, his chest heaving with each deep breath he took.
"Are you all right? How many were there?"
"Well, I'm not certain, but I managed to kill three," James said, ignoring her first question.
"You mean... you staked them?" Buffy said, unable to hide her surprise.
The British agent coughed. "Yes," he said, smiling at Buffy. He tossed her the stake, which she instinctively caught. "It took you two weeks to learn how to do that?"
Buffy's blood boiled. She was impressed with his fighting prowess, yes, but not even the promise of a normal life would bring her to give him the satisfaction of knowing that. She also hid her anger, for even that would clue him in to the fact that he was really getting to her.
"We should get your shoulder patched up," she said through her teeth.
James only seemed to just notice that his left shoulder was torn and bleeding, which irked Buffy yet more. "Hmm!" he said, turning his head to scrutinize the injury. "It does sting a bit," he told Buffy, which was an understatement. In reality the wound felt like it was on fire.
"Can you drive?" Buffy asked.
"Even if I can't, the car will take us where we need to go."
"Which is where?"
"It's your town, Buffy. Tell me."
Buffy had earlier on had a thought, and now braced herself for what she was about to suggest.
"I think," she said very slowly,"that you should come to my house. And stay there. Until all this is over."
James regarded her with the utmost surprise.
"It makes sense," Buffy continued, each word catching in her throat. "If I need you at any time during the day, I'll know where to find you. We'll save ourselves a lot of time and grief. And gas, for that matter. What do you say to that?"
"Well... I would have to drive to a hotel in the next town to pick up my things, but.if you have no objections," James said, caught more off guard by this proposition than by the existence of vampires.
"Jim, would I be asking you if I had any objections?" Buffy said as if being tortured.
James began walking towards the gates of the cemetery, and Buffy followed, her footsteps plodding into the grass as she turned her decision over and over in her mind.
"I suppose," he said, "that it would be for the best."
"I'm glad you think so. Because I'm gonna kick myself tonight and every night for the rest of my life."
Author: La Vie Boheme96
Chapter Title: "Where I Fall"
Author's Note: Much to my surprise, I have recently received a smattering of new reviews and e-mails in regards to this story, each asking that Tonight and the Rest of My Life not be left to languish here unfinished. I'm tempted to finally complete it because of those requests, the fact that I am free to let my creative mind flourish this summer, and in the wake of the series finale of Buffy. And so it's with hope in my heart that I add another chapter to this saga, and that those of you who contacted me continue to graciously bear with me. Thank you, and enjoy. :-)
***
"Pull over here," Buffy commanded.
James obliged, bringing his brand-new, doubtlessly ill-fated BMW up against the crumbling curb of the dark, deserted sidewalk.
"This is where we'll start looking," the Slayer said, nodding in the direction of the sprawling Shady Hill Cemetery up ahead. She unbuckled her seatbelt and climbed out of the car, closing the door very softly. This was primarily to avoid drawing unwanted attention to herself and her companion, but also because it seemed risky to do otherwise in the case of such a magnificent vehicle. James too shut the driver's side door gently behind him, but whereas Buffy was concerned with their own safety, he was worried about scaring away potential jewel thieves. He pulled his suit jacket open to be certain that his gun was accessible in its shoulder holster. Buffy's sharp eye caught this motion.
"That won't do you much good around here," she said, shaking her head. She plucked a sharp, wooden stake out of her coat and offered it to him. "Know how to use one of these?"
"I think I can manage," James drawled, accepting the stake.
"Don't be so sure. That's what I though, too; in the movies it only looks easy. It took me about two weeks of non-stop slayage to finally get the hang of it. And you gotta get 'em in the heart--the first time. Catch one in the shoulder and all you'll have is a really pissed-off vamp with a hole in its shirt."
James grinned and twirled the stake in his hand. "Yes," he said, "I believe I've seen 'Dracula.'"
Buffy bristled at the mention of the name.
"Me, too," she said, barely audible.
"So tell us why you've decided that this would be a good place to begin searching?" said James as he and Buffy passed through the rotting gates of the gloomy cemetery.
"Vamps nest here sometimes," she explained. She warily surveyed their surroundings.
"What brings you to think a simple vampire would be clever enough to make good use of the Karlotte diamond?"
"Don't ask questions, Jim," Buffy replied, surging with confidence. "Granted, I've met my share of vampires with lone kernels of candy corn for brains, but they're nothing like the goons you're used to taking down. They're hunters.smarter than I care to let on."
"Yes, of course. I'm now aware, Buffy, that our lives are very different. I really don't think I can stand another lecture."
"No lecturing here," Buffy said with a shrug of her shoulders. "I'm just looking."
"As am I."
"Well, don't let your guard down."
When she saw the exhausted look James gave her, she frowned and quickly added, "Yeah, I know you know." She cleared her throat. "Do you wanna split up?" she asked hopefully.
"Marvelous idea," James said, stopping between two rows of tombstones, letting his piercing gaze sweep the landscape. "I'll take the east, yes?"
"Uh, sure," said Buffy, looking both to her left and to her right. "The east. You know, whichever way that is. We'll meet at that mausoleum over there either after a half-hour or when one of us finds something. Whatever comes first. Sound good?"
Once more he glimpsed the stake in his hand, and sighed. "If that's what you wish, then yes. I suppose I can trust your judgment."
"You can. And if I told you to be careful, would you give me another weird look?"
James only smiled at her, and walked away towards the eastern quarter of the cemetery.
Buffy stared after him, somewhat discouraged. Just when she thought that the two of them had finally mended their differences and learned to effectively work together, she still got the impression that he believed her incapable of doing her own job. Well, maybe he didn't think her incapable.it was more a classic case of, "anything you can do, I can do better." Yes, James certainly appeared to be under the assumption that he could outdo the Chosen One when it came to slaying demons and otherworldly creatures. Buffy would show him that that was completely impossible.
//Yeah, I'll show him what's what,// she thought, grinning to herself.
James set upon the paved road that wove through the graveyard, staying close to the edge in case a car might come bearing a man, or a woman, or a family wishing to visit the tomb of a deceased loved one. Even at that hour such a thing was not entirely improbable. James stopped briefly and glanced at his wristwatch, the one he admired for its ability to do so much more than just tell time. It was almost eleven o'clock; he would rendezvous with Buffy at the mausoleum she had indicated at about 11:25. Or, if he got bored, 11:20.
As he walked, James paused periodically to examine the headstones of the dearly departed. Morbid? Perhaps. But every moment he spent in Sunnydale he grew ever more curious about the town, and he decided he would investigate anything that would provide him with additional information. One thing he discovered was that much of the dead had passed at a very young age. They had likely been students in either high school or college. Sixteen years old, eighteen, twenty-one.maybe some of the deaths had been the result of natural causes, but such abundance could only lead James to speculate that the murder rate in Sunnydale was indeed, as Buffy had told him, stratospheric. It was a pity, and the infamously glacial secret agent was moved... if just barely.
James looked up from the grave marker of a fifteen-year-old girl who had died not even two weeks ago and saw a massive stone crypt whose door stood slightly ajar. He thought he heard sounds coming from inside, sounds that were unmistakably those made by people excitedly chattering. He smirked, silently approached the crypt at its western wall, and listened. The voices were loud and raucous, but James could not at all understand what they were saying.
//Goodness, how I hate to be left in the dark,// he thought, still smiling. //I suppose I'll just have to interrupt their little party, then.//
Buffy, who had as of that moment had found exactly the equivalent of nothing, stood at the bottom of the hill watching James' tall, catlike form slink through the darkness towards the crypt.
//Just look at him,// Buffy thought resentfully. //I wonder what he's up to now?// It bothered her to think that he might actually find something before she did.
James felt ridiculous with a stake clutched in his hand as he soundlessly approached the opened door of the crypt. He wished there was another, less obvious way to enter the tomb, but he would have to simply make do with his only option. It did not really matter, because whatever people--or demons-- that lay in wait behind the door suspected not a thing and continued to jabber on and on like auctioneers about God only knew what. James slipped his hand between the crypt's granite wall the steel door, and pulled the latter open more so.
//Uh-oh.he's got something.// Buffy continued to observe his shadow's movements against the backdrop of the dark night sky. She quickly corrected herself, however, when she saw what looked like a hand shoot out of the crypt, grab James' necktie, and pull him inside.
//Or... rather... something's got him.// With that, she sprinted up the hill as fast as its steepness would allow her.
There were four of them.maybe five. Concentrating solely on staying alive, he could not be absolutely sure. They were terribly strong. He did not think he had ever come across anything with such shocking, brutal strength... surely no human he encountered had inflicted such pain with a single punch. He punched back just as hard in the direction from which the blow had come, and was pleased when he struck cold, bloodless skin. The vampire stumbled backward out the door, opening it yet more and permitting blessed moonlight to pour into the dank crypt. Now that their hearts were in plain sight, there was no hope for them.
Knife-like claws ripped through his suit and into his shoulder. He replied by using all his energy to drive jagged wood into dead flesh and tissue, and that particular vampire would not cause him trouble again. As for the other two... no, three....
Buffy saw the vamp stagger out of the crypt as if punched or kicked and wondered if maybe James was doing all right. The creature was about to reenter the crypt when he spotted Buffy, naturally the greater and more delicious prize, running at breakneck speed up the hill.
"I don't presume that you fellows could tell me anything about the Karlotte diamond?" panted James, always a gentleman, burying his foot in the chest of an oncoming vampire. When another threw a punch at him, he caught the thing by the wrist, which he promptly broke.
"Now, now, was that really necessary?" he teased, grinning tiredly. "All you had to say was no." He dusted the vampire just as the other was recovering.
The creature that had tried--and failed, miserably--to attack Buffy was also dust in a matter of seconds. She noticed another dash out of the crypt. Their eyes met.
//He knows something,// Buffy thought.
The vampire ran for its life in the opposite direction. The Slayer chased it a few yards beyond the crypt, but gave up, deciding that the worthless piece of Hellmouth trash did not rank about James' safety on her priority list at the moment.
She ran back to the entrance of the crypt, where James stood searching frantically around him for the vampire that got away. He looked a mess, but aside from the blood that reddened his shoulder, he appeared to be unhurt.
"He got away," Buffy told him, referencing the vamp.
James' face fell in disappointment. "Damn," he huffed, his chest heaving with each deep breath he took.
"Are you all right? How many were there?"
"Well, I'm not certain, but I managed to kill three," James said, ignoring her first question.
"You mean... you staked them?" Buffy said, unable to hide her surprise.
The British agent coughed. "Yes," he said, smiling at Buffy. He tossed her the stake, which she instinctively caught. "It took you two weeks to learn how to do that?"
Buffy's blood boiled. She was impressed with his fighting prowess, yes, but not even the promise of a normal life would bring her to give him the satisfaction of knowing that. She also hid her anger, for even that would clue him in to the fact that he was really getting to her.
"We should get your shoulder patched up," she said through her teeth.
James only seemed to just notice that his left shoulder was torn and bleeding, which irked Buffy yet more. "Hmm!" he said, turning his head to scrutinize the injury. "It does sting a bit," he told Buffy, which was an understatement. In reality the wound felt like it was on fire.
"Can you drive?" Buffy asked.
"Even if I can't, the car will take us where we need to go."
"Which is where?"
"It's your town, Buffy. Tell me."
Buffy had earlier on had a thought, and now braced herself for what she was about to suggest.
"I think," she said very slowly,"that you should come to my house. And stay there. Until all this is over."
James regarded her with the utmost surprise.
"It makes sense," Buffy continued, each word catching in her throat. "If I need you at any time during the day, I'll know where to find you. We'll save ourselves a lot of time and grief. And gas, for that matter. What do you say to that?"
"Well... I would have to drive to a hotel in the next town to pick up my things, but.if you have no objections," James said, caught more off guard by this proposition than by the existence of vampires.
"Jim, would I be asking you if I had any objections?" Buffy said as if being tortured.
James began walking towards the gates of the cemetery, and Buffy followed, her footsteps plodding into the grass as she turned her decision over and over in her mind.
"I suppose," he said, "that it would be for the best."
"I'm glad you think so. Because I'm gonna kick myself tonight and every night for the rest of my life."