1.1 DISCLAIMER: Roswell ain't mine, Angel ain't mine, Buffy ain't mine…
CATEGORY: Buffy/Roswell crossover
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hey guyz! I'm back with another crappy chapter. Forgive me if it sucks, but I have bad writer's block. Sorry for the wait! Anyway…read, review, have a merry ol' time. Drink some beer, it'll make the part look better…
1.2
1.3 CHAPTER TEN
They ran into the lobby, cheering and congratulating themselves on a victory well won. Rath and Faith, and Michael and Maria were attached to each other by the lips.
"You got out!" Cordelia exclaimed, "How come you're so clean?"
"Isabel," Gunn said.
"I gotta get those powers," Cordelia muttered.
"So, you didn't have any difficulty?" Giles asked.
"Of course we did," Gunn answered, "It's Wolfram and Hart."
"They sent us, like, thirty vampires and thirty demons to fight," said Maria, after she came up for air and detached herself for Michael's lips. She went straight back to kissing.
"And you're still alive to tell the tale?" Xander asked in disbelief, "You're not even hurt!"
"It was nothing," Isabel said nonchalantly, "They were just…too slimy," she said shuddering, "Michael, next time explode away from me."
"Whatever," he mumbled around Maria's lips.
"God! Can you stop sucking face for just a minute!" Buffy cried, disgusted by the display.
"No need to be jealous, B," Rath said with a smirk.
"Ugh, whatever. I'm going upstairs. You aliens are too horny and too traumatizing."
"See ya," answered Michael, Maria, Rath and Faith, together. She waved her hand in acknowledgment. The others also went to different places in the hotel. Spike, Dawn and Kyle headed over to the Playstation 2 they set up in the game room, or what they turned into the game room. Max and Liz went out in the garden to stargaze, and eye-gaze, as they were known for. Zan and Ava were on the other side of the garden, making out. Cordelia, Isabel, Anya, Willow, Tara and Buffy headed up to the bedrooms, specifically the one that held the antisocial misfit otherwise known as Fred, to introduce her to the world of fashion. Michael and Maria ducked behind the counter to continue their make out session, while Rath lay on top of Faith on the couch.
Suddenly, the front door burst open. The two couples were too engrossed in what they were doing to notice the two figures walk in.
"Oh, Jim! I can't wait to see their faces when…" she trailed off when she noticed the two bodies on the couch, the top body was one she recognized very well.
"Michael Guerin! Get the hell off my daughter!" she screeched, launching into attack of the newspapers. She somehow conveniently had one handy whenever she caught Michael.
Rath jumped up from the couch, quick to get away from Amy Deluca. Faith sat up surprised by the sudden loss of Rath lovin'. Amy looked from Faith to Rath and back again. Michael and Maria were still oblivious behind the counter.
"You're cheating on my daughter?!" she screamed, "How dare you hurt my baby like that!" She continued beating him over the head with the newspaper, "You dirty, horrible delinquent!"
"Hey, what's your problem, lady?" Rath cried, trying to duck the blows. He finally came to a dead end at the counter, "Who the hell are you?"
"Michael Guerin, you have a lot of nerve!" she shouted over the slapping noises the paper made.
"Amy! Amy," Jim Valenti finally said, coming out of his stupor, "Calm down."
"Calm down? I just caught this two-timing…dog cheating on my daughter and you tell me to calm down?" she screamed, hitting Jim once in the head. Michael and Maria heard that scream and jumped out from behind the counter. Amy had turned her head so she didn't see them pop up.
"Ms. Deluca?" Michael asked, shocked.
"What, you rat?" she yelled, turning around, "you have a lot of ex…"
She trailed off when she noticed there were two Michaels standing in front of her.
"Oh God, there's two of them," she said, before promptly fainting. Jim caught her before she hit the floor.
"Well, that went well," Maria mumbled as she watched Valenti carry her mother over to the couch. They finally noticed the audience behind them. The others had come to see what the commotion was. Zan and Ava had amused smiles on their faces.
"Wow, Rath. You got beat up by a chick," Zan said, laughing. Rath glared at him.
"Man, she hits hard," he complained, rubbing his head.
"Man, I know how you feel," Michael said, rubbing his own head at the memory. Delucas and newspapers were a deadly combination.
"Will somebody please explain what's going on here?" Jim said from his position next to Amy. Maria came to kneel next to him at the couch.
"Remember the dupes from last year?" Max asked. At Valenti's nod, he continued, "Meet Rath, Zan and Ava. Oh, and Alex is alive."
"Hey sheriff," Alex said with a small wave. Amy, who had just woken up, screamed.
"Oh God! I'm seeing ghosts," she said, clinging to Valenti, "I must be going crazy. First two Michaels and now Alex is alive…"
"Mom, you're not crazy," Maria reassured her, while rubbing her back. Amy pushed Valenti away and sat up, facing the whole room. There were at least ten new faces staring back at her, not to mention three familiar, but different faces.
"Mom, this is Michael's twin brother, Rath. And those are Max and Tess' twins, Zan and Ava. They're from New York."
"And Alex?"
"Well…"
"It's a long story," Alex said quickly.
"But…you died."
"Uh…"
"So, Mom," Maria interrupted, nervously, "What are you doing here?"
"Oh! Me and Jim got married yesterday, in Vegas," she said excitedly, showing off her ring. Alex forgotten.
"You what?!" Kyle screeched.
"And you didn't even invite us?" Maria asked, hurt.
"Well, we were gonna wait, honey but…"
"It doesn't matter," Maria interrupted, "This is so great!"
"I'm so glad you're not mad, honey!" Amy cried, hugging her daughter, jumping and squealing.
"Son?" Valenti asked, gingerly approaching Kyle.
"No, it's okay…it's great, dad," Kyle said, "I'm happy for you."
The others stood in the background, not sure what to do.
"So, Maria," Amy said, finally letting her go, "who're your friends?"
"Oh, this is Buffy, Dawn, Xander, Willow, Anya, Tara, Spike, Angel, Cordelia, Wesley, Gunn, Giles, Faith, Rath, Zan and Ava," Maria listed off in one breath, pointing to each in turn, "Guys, this is my mom and Kyle's dad."
"Hi," they chorused.
"Hey guys," Amy said, then sheepishly added, "Sorry…Rath, for beating you with a newspaper."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," he replied.
'Hey, I never got an apology,' Michael complained in Maria's head.
'Be glad she didn't catch us behind the counter,' she replied.
The crowd began to disperse. The group began to pair off and head to their different rooms.
"Alex Whitman, where the hell have you been?" Amy asked, not forgetting about the little zombie. She rushed over and gathered him in her arms.
"Uh…Ms. Deluca…air?" he choked. She let him go immediately.
"Well, what happened? Your parents are so depressed. Half of Roswell was crying for a week."
"Uh…"
"He came to New York to…run an errand for Brody at the UFO Center, but somebody knocked him out and stole his car," Rath answered smoothly, "I found him and took him home with me. He didn't remember much about himself, so I let him stay with me, Zan and Ava until he got his memory back."
"Yeah," Alex put in.
"So, last month I went to New York, with Max and Izzy, to visit Rath and there he was," Michael continued, "I had just about the same reaction as you did, Ms. Deluca," he added, "It would figure the only person he remembered was Isabel."
"So, we all came back here so he could see Maria and Liz," Rath said.
"We were all he needed to get his full memory back," Maria finished the story. They stared at Amy intently, to see if she bought it. She slowly began nodding her head. She bought it.
"Well, it's good to have you back, Alex," she said, finally, hugging him again. She then went over to Rath and kissed him on the cheek, "you sweet boy." Rath blushed and ducked his head, unaccustomed to maternal figures. "It must be in the genes."
Amy Deluca-Valenti went over to her new husband and began to pull him out the door.
"We'll see you soon," she called over her shoulder, "We're staying at the Hilton if you need us."
Valenti turned and mouthed 'Details later' to the Pod Squad before walking out with his wife. There was a collective sigh when they left.
"Good story," Alex finally said, patting Michael and Rath on the back.
"It's a gift," they said in unison, with a shrug.
They all sat around discussing what happened the day before. Michael had a sketch pad in front of him. He drew as the others talked around him. The person was taking shape before him on the page.
"Did you see Khivar while you were in there?" Wesley asked, "Or any of the protectors?"
"We wouldn't know if we saw Khivar," Rath said, sounding mildly annoyed. Michael didn't even bother to look up from his drawing.
"Well, this doesn't help at all," Wesley grumbled.
"There was this new guy with Tess and Lonnie, though," Rath said, "I don't know who he is."
"What did he look like?" Max asked.
"Like this," Michael said, holding up his now finished sketch of the man. He waved his hand over it to make it color. "He looks familiar, but I can't place him," he added, "What about you?"
They all studied the picture. The man had long, brown hair that reached his shoulders. His gray eyes were piercing and cold. His jaw was hard set. He looked to be in his late forties, with a strong physique.
"I don't recognize him," Max said, after staring at it.
"Me either," said Zan. Ava shook her head. The Scooby Gang and Angel's employees also denied ever seeing the man in the picture.
"What about you, Izzy?" Michael asked.
"Sort of, but its kind of vague," she said, "I don't know who it is."
"Well, he's either Khivar, a protector or a Wolfram and Hart associate," Angel deduced.
"Yeah, big help, Peaches," said Spike.
"Isn't he a little too young to be Khivar?" Kyle asked, "I mean, they've been down here for over fifty years."
"Yeah, me and Michael thought of that," Rath said, "We think that time probably moves slower there."
"It doesn't make sense to have saviors you won't live to see," Michael added, "if we were to go back to fight after sixty years, all the people who knew about us would be dead. It would be extremely pointless."
"Where's Larek when you need him?" Alex mused, "Maybe they should have invented some kind of intergalactic cell phone when they sent you down."
"Yeah," Michael said, nodding. Suddenly, he got an idea, "Yeah! Alex, you're a genius. Maria, come here."
"What are you talking about, I don't think we have long distance that far out," Cordelia said, confused.
"I had a dream the other day," he said, excitedly, "My mother was communicating with someone on Pylea."
"And?" Isabel asked, not seeing the point.
"And, I figured out what that thing with the ball thing does," he said, grabbing Maria's hands, "Okay, we have to do that thing I showed you."
"Okay, let's do it."
"Are you sure you can do it?" Max asked, "What if you get the wrong person?"
"Well, we'll see when it happens," Maria said.
They closed their eyes and raised their joint hands in the air. The familiar blue ball appeared between them. They opened their eyes and stepped back. The ball spun on its axis between them. Michael tried to reproduce the actions he saw his mother do in the dream. He put his hands on the sides and stretched it until it created a circle two feet in diameter. He poked the center and thought of Larek.
"Who calls me now?" a voice said from within the circle. The others gasped as an image took form in the center of the circle. A man that looked much like Brody stared at them.
"Larek?" Max asked.
"Max?" he asked, shocked, "How are you contacting me?"
"I figured out the communications circle thing," Michael said.
"I realize that," Larek said, "but how? No one has ever accomplished communication from Earth to Antar without possession."
Michael shrugged.
"What did you call me for?"
"Okay," Rath said, "A, how much time has passed on Antar since we left?"
"Ten years and nine months," Larek answered, "One day on Antar, Carnath, Pylea and all the other planets in the system is five days on Earth."
"Okay, do you know what Khivar looks like?"
"Yes," he said. Michael sighed. Finally, somebody who knows something.
"I thought you were going to detain Tess," Isabel said after a while.
"By the time I got back, she was gone," he explained, "I have a team searching for her."
"Don't bother, she's on Earth," Max said.
"Oh," said Larek.
"Do you know who this guy is?" Michael asked, suddenly, holding up his picture. Larek studied it.
"Yes. It is Khivar."
"Finally, something useful!"
"Look, we must end the link," Larek said, "I cannot hold it much longer, it takes too much energy."
"I feel fine," Michael said.
"You are probably stronger than I," Larek said, "Though, it should be harder on you since you are the one that initiated contact. I must let go now."
"Okay," Michael said, "How do you turn it off?"
"Return the circle to a ball state and then allow it to reenter your body," Larek answered.
"Okay," Michael said, "Bye."
Michael raised his hands to the sides of the circle and brought his palms together, forming the blue ball that it was previously. Michael and Maria then joined hands and the ball raised above their heads. The ball lowered until it reentered their bodies. They glowed like before and then went back to normal. They stepped away from each other.
"How do you feel?" Max asked.
"Fine," they answered in unison.
"How does it work?" Isabel asked.
"Not the slightest clue," they answered.
"How long are you gonna be doing that?" Dawn asked. They shrugged.
"Michael, how come you didn't tell us about this other dream?" Max asked. Michael shrugged.
"Didn't seem important."
"Well, what happened in it?" Isabel asked.
"Why do you want to know?"
"I, uh, it's just that we always wanted to find a family out there, and you get to see bits and pieces of that life. I want to know about your life back then."
"It's okay, Izzy. I understand," they said.
"So, what happened?" Rath asked.
"Um, not much happened," Michael started, alone this time, "I found out my mother's name was Sharyan," he said, sort of wistfully, remembering the scene, "She was freaking out, as what seems to be usual. She wanted to get me off the planet before the war got too bad, so she called her friend on Pylea, Zuni. While she was calling, my uncle…Kyden…came…That's it!"
"What are you talking about, what's it?" Max asked.
"The man, it's Kyden. That bastard!" Michael raged.
"Okay, what?" Isabel asked, "Who's Kyden?"
"Her brother," he said, "My uncle. Khivar. He betrayed his own sister! What a backside!"
"This is better than Passions," Spike whispered to Dawn. She nodded, not taking her eyes off the scene in front of her.
"Wait, are you sure?" Isabel asked.
"Yeah, I'm sure," Michael said, "Here, look, I'll draw him."
Michael thought of Kyden and waved his hand over a blank sketch pad page. He handed it to Isabel. She studied the boy with gray eyes and dark brown hair. She had to admit he was pretty cute. She compared it with the other picture Michael drew. It was the same person! Sure, the first one was a little older than the second was, but still, it was the same person. The others gathered around her to inspect the pictures. This was a shocking new piece to the puzzle.
"How old is he in this picture?" Isabel asked.
"Eighteen," Michael answered. He had his head buried in his hands. Isabel was sorry to see him like that, but she was too stunned to comfort. She was grateful that Maria was there for him.
"How old was your mom?"
"Twenty five."
The room was silent for a while, until Max spoke up.
"Did you see anyone else in your visions?"
"Why?"
"Well, they seem to be important," he explained, "Every time you have one, it makes something clearer. I think you have them for a reason."
Michael nodded in understanding.
"So, what significance was that painful dream I got last night?" Rath asked.
"I really don't know," Max answered, "Was this guy in it?"
"Nope."
"It just goes to show that life sucks and then you die," Michael said, cynically.
"Michael, don't talk like that," Isabel said.
"Why? It's true," he said, "You live two lives, you get betrayed like, what, about seven or eight times in your forty years of existence? Excuse me if I don't make balloon animals and sing 'Happy happy joy joy'."
He turned and walked away, leaving the others staring at his retreating form.
"Yep, way better than Passions," Dawn commented.
The night was quiet, or as quiet as it could possibly get in Los Angeles anyway. Somewhere, within a small yellow apartment, the sound of giggling could be heard. Cordelia had invited all the girls in their diverse group over to her apartment for a girls' night. She hadn't had one since she was in Sunnydale, because let's face it; Angel, Wesley and Gunn were not good girlfriend material.
Ice-cream containers littered the once spotless floor. Dennis was conveniently absent, not that you could see him anyway. Cordelia, Willow, Buffy, Dawn, Tara, Anya, Liz, Maria, Isabel and Ava lay around gossiping and bad talking the guys.
"So, Faith, your turn," Maria said from the floor, "What's the deal with Rath?"
"What's the deal with Michael?" she countered, "He's a guy, 'nuff said."
"Come on," she urged, "He's a Czech. There's got to be something weird and/or juicy to tell."
"Not really."
"Fine," Cordelia said, "Then, how'd you meet? Tell us something."
"Okay, fine," she acquiesced, "It was about five years ago, just before I became a Slayer…"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Her feet pounded on the cold damp streets of New York. It was unusually quiet out at 4:00am as she sped down the dark alley. Her heart pounded in her ears as she plowed through the asphalt and garbage. She spared a glance back at her attackers. Three men with screwed up faces and yellow eyes were gaining on her with ease. They didn't even seem to be trying. She turned back around just in time to see the garbage can lying in the street before she fell face first into the cold concrete. She scrambled up to be face to face with a vampire.
"You going somewhere, sweetie?" he sneered, grabbing her arm. She struggled against his iron grip in a futile attempt to pull away.
"Struggle baby," another one behind her whispered in her ear menacingly, "It's more fun that way."
She immediately stilled, casting frightened glances between the three…things that had attacked her and her friends, Natalie and Cole, well, the people she just met outside the club anyway. They had all tried to get into the Club with really fake looking fake IDs. They all got kicked out and decided to hang together at Cole's place instead. Who needs clubs? They had come up behind them quickly, leaving no room to scream, to run. Two of them held Cole back as the other sank his teeth into Natalie's neck. The other two did the same to Cole. Faith just stood there like an imbecile staring at them. It was when Natalie finally collapsed that her legs decided to obey her brain and start running. Now, it was too late. She was going to die right here in this alley. Damn legs.
"Get the hell away from me!" she said in the toughest voice she could muster. The vampires had the nerve to laugh.
"Sure we will, baby," he said, "right after dinner."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"So what happened next?" Isabel asked, digging into her chunky monkey and tobasco sundae with fudge and jalepenos.
"I'm getting there," Faith said to the impatient alien, "Now I lost my spot. Where was I? Oh yeah, so everything was so completely not five by five…"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A manhole cover opened and a brown, spiky head popped out of the hole. The boy climbed swiftly out of the sewer, as if he'd had a lot of practice. He looked around and spotted them in the corner.
"Hey! What's goin' down out here?" he shouted. Two of the vampires turned away from their prey, spotting the boy. He cringed at the faces and prepared to run.
"Well, well. What have we here?" one of them said, licking his bloody chops.
"Looks like seconds."
In a flash, they were at the boy's side, restraining his arms.
"Going somewhere?"
They dragged him away and slammed him against the wall next to the girl.
"Let go of me!" he squeaked, struggling against them.
"Quiet, pip-squeak," the leader said, "You're disturbing the main course."
"No! Help! Rath! Ava! Lon…"
The vampires cut him off by hitting over the head, effectively shutting him up.
"Hey, Zan, you won't believe what I just found…" Rath called as he expertly jumped out of the sewer. He stopped dead in his tracks on seeing his best friend and some chick trapped against a wall by three really ugly looking dudes.
"I think we've hit the jackpot, fellas," a vampire sneered, "more food," he walked up to Rath and sniffed, "fresh too."
Rath glared at him, "Escape from the ugly farm?" he asked coolly. The vampire grabbed him by the neck and slammed him against the wall. A low growl escaped his throat.
"For that crack, you'll watch your friends die," he snarled in his face. Rath swiped the air in front of him with his hand in disgust.
"Ever hear of toothpaste?" he asked, sarcastically, "No, of course not. Though, I think it might be too late for that. Some bleach ought to help."
"Rath!" Zan hissed, "Ix-nay on the aunting-tay."
"You better listen to your friend, kid."
"Why? You don't listen to your brain," Rath continued, "Oh, oops, you don't have one."
"Rath!"
"What Zan? Don't give 'em the satisfaction."
The vampire growled and rammed Rath into the wall again. He kept his eyes trained on Rath's intense face. He addressed the others without turning.
"Drain 'em," he growled. Zan's eyes widened in fear as the vampire holding the girl leaned down and sank his teeth into her neck. A split second later, his own neck was being assaulted. He began to feel weak. He glanced over at Rath. A look of pure rage was etched upon his face. His vampire was still holding him up about two feet from the ground by his upper arms, laughing at the show.
Zan saw Rath raise his right hand to the vampire's chest and concentrate. His hand began to glow yellow. The vampire didn't even have time to scream in pain and shock before he was disintegrated into a silent pile of dust. Rath landed on the ground with a cat-like grace not fit for his age. He came up behind the other two vampires and put his hands on their backs. He concentrated on heating them up. Zan and the girl dropped to the ground, unconscious.
Rath kneeled next to his best friend and cradled his head in his lap. He shook him.
"Zan? Zan, wake the hell up!" he yelled in his ear, "Wake up! I ain't draggin' your lazy butt all the way home!" He shook him again. "Get up, Zanther!"
Zan groaned and his eyes fluttered. His head flopped to the side and he passed out again. Rath sighed and dropped his head. He made his way over to the girl.
"Hey girl! Wake up!" he said, nudging her. There was even less response than with Zan, but he knew she was alive. He gave up on trying to wake them and went to get Zan. He dragged him over to the manhole and began to climb down with him, a task that was cut short when he dropped him. He cursed under his breath and went back for the girl. She was lighter than Zan, so it was slightly easier to get her down into the sewer. He rested her near Zan and then went back up to close the grate.
Suddenly, he heard footsteps coming closer echoing across the sewer. He quickly looked for a hiding place. Considering that this was a sewer, there weren't very many possibilities, especially for a twelve-year-old boy with two unconscious bodies on his hands. He would have to defend them with his powers if need be.
"Why do I gotta look for 'em. I ain't their mom," the person (a girl) was grumbling, "One day, I oughta blast Lonnie, then she'll see who's queen around here."
Rath recognized the voice. It was Ava!
"Ava?" he called, somewhat tentatively. The person stopped.
"Rath! Where the hell are you?" she said.
"Down here!"
"Yeah big help," she said, "Where's Zan?"
"He's knocked out."
"Okay, I'm coming."
Rath sighed in relief and slumped on the sewer wall. He took the time to study this new girl. She had long, dark brown hair. She had pouty lips, covered in black lipstick to match her black leather outfit. The dark clothes emphasized her pale skin.
"Who's this?" asked Ava, startling him as she stooped down. He looked up sharply.
"I dunno, some girl. We got attacked in the alley by weird…vampire guys."
"Weird vampire guys," Ava stated, not believing him.
"Either that or there's some damn ugly humans out there biting people's necks in alleys," he said dryly, "C'mon, help me carry 'em home."
"Home?" she asked in disbelief, "We're taking the human with us? What are we gonna tell her?"
"We can't just leave her here."
"But…"
"Come on, are you gonna help or not?"
"Fine," she acquiesced. She grabbed the girl by the shoulders and started to drag her in the direction of their part of the sewer. Rath did the same with Zan.
*****************************************************
"So, Rath actually saved your life?" Maria asked.
"I thought he was a clone of Michael," Liz said, to herself.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Maria asked.
"Well, Michael wouldn't just…save a stranger. Not like Max…"
"Max isn't perfect," Maria replied.
"I know he isn't," Liz explained, "I'm just saying that Michael wouldn't put himself in danger to save someone else."
She took a bite of her vanilla ice cream. Maria slammed down her spoon.
"That shows how much you know, Liz," she said, offended, "Michael has put himself in danger before."
"Yeah, to find a way home."
"Ooh, I smell a fight," Anya whispered to Ava. Ava nodded. "I'll go get some popcorn."
She was about to get up when a large bowl of warm, butter flavored popcorn floated into her lap. She smiled to the air.
"Thanks Dennis," she said, then turned to Ava, "I wish I had a ghost. I shall have to tell Xander to get one. Maybe I'll tell him it is my birthday or some other mortal holiday," she said before turning back to the impending battle in the middle of the floor.
"Yeah, well, believe it or not, the world still revolves while you're ogling Max!" Maria said to her best friend, "Or did you forget when he went to save Max from the FBI, or when he used his powers in front of a government agent to save the world, not to mention got shot trying to protect me and Laurie," she said, passionately. "Have you forgotten Las Cruces already?" she asked. Liz just looked down at her feet. "Well, if you think so little of him, then he should add another to his list of betrayals. You know what he thinks of you?" she asked, not expecting an answer. "He thinks of you as a sister. And that's a lot to ask of him."
She glared at Liz's ashamed form before storming out of the room. Liz plopped down on the abandoned couch with her head in her hands. The other girls stared in silence between Liz and the direction Maria had just disappeared in. The happy mood of the slumber party was killed by the careless outburst. After they came out of the shock, they noticed the lone sound of crunching. They turned to the source. The crunching stopped.
"What?" Anya asked, putting down the popcorn, "I thought it was a good show."
Meanwhile, back at the hotel, the guys were just lazing around in the lobby. Rath, Michael, Kyle and Alex were playing poker, with Pringles, in the middle of the room. Gunn, Spike, Max and Zan were playing All four's on the left side of the room, deep in concentration. Spike was whipping them badly.
"I am so bored!" Rath exclaimed, dropping his cards.
"Why? You and Michael are winning," Kyle said, gesturing to the 3 large piles of Pringles in front of the clones.
"Yeah," Alex said, "You sure you're not using any Czech skills? I mean, besides the uncrackable poker faces."
"No," Michael said, "That's why it's so boring. Too easy."
"You got Maria's ability to clean out any poker game, didn't you?" Alex asked. Michael smirked.
"Scared Whitman?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. He put four more Pringles to the pool. Alex looked from him, to Rath, to his cards.
"I fold."
"Me too," Kyle said, "What do you have?"
Rath smirked triumphantly, "A whole lotta nothin'," he answered, triumphantly putting down his hand of a 7 of diamonds, 5 of spades, King of clubs, queen of hearts and a 2 of hearts.
"Aw, man!" Kyle said in disbelief, "What do you have, Guerin?"
"Two pair," he answered, showing them his very low valued hand. He smirked at their disbelieving faces and grabbed his pile of Pringles.
(A.N.: I would make some more poker complaints/comments, but I don't have a clue how to play the game.)
Kyle shook his head and started muttering under his breath about hustling aliens.
Maria returned to the living room half an hour later. The girls were just sitting there, uncomfortably. Liz was still sitting on the sofa, a bowl of melted vanilla ice cream in her hands, looking like she just lost her best friend. She was, of course, overreacting, as is Liz's way. Isabel, Cordelia, Buffy, Willow and Tara were all reading magazines in silence. The only ones who didn't seem to have a problem were Anya, Ava and Faith.
"Hey, guys," Maria said as she sat down next to Liz.
"Better now?" Faith asked.
"Yeah, continue with the story."
"Okay. So then me and Rath dragged Faith and Zan to the crib and Lonnie had a cow. You'd swear she was dumping bulldozers…"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"What the hell is that human doing here?" she screamed at Ava as she dragged the girl over to the makeshift house. Ava cringed at the gruff, unfeeling tone of Lonnie's voice. Lonnie was so not her favorite person.
"What does it look like? She's knocked out," Rath retorted as he dragged Zan over to lie next to her.
"I can see that," she said, coldly, "Why is she here? You coulda just left her. We do not need this right now. She could be a enemy or somethin' and you just bring her down in our place. Why?"
"I couldn't just leave her there, ya know," he said, looking down on her, "Some of us have a conscience."
"Yeah, yeah, whateva. When she turns us in to the FBI don't come ta me."
"Why would I come to you? You'd be with us."
Lonnie growled at him and stalked away.
"She's gonna off you one of these days," Ava told Rath.
"Not if I don't off her first."
"Like you got the balls to off somebody," Zan said in a strained voice. Ava broke out in a wide grin and hugged Zan. Rath just patted his knee.
"Welcome back, buddy," he said, "Why the hell didn't you wake up when I had to drag you halfway up the sewer!"
"I'm da man, I don't gotta walk," he joked. A low moan interrupted their familiar banter. All eyes turned to the awakening brunette.
"I'm gonna kill whoever ran me over," she grumbled opening her eyes. Her vision was blurry. She blinked to clear it and began to make out figures, more importantly, the strange boy staring down at her. Then, the memories of a few hours ago began to come back to her. In nervous fright, she pushed the boy off her.
"Get the hell off me!" she screamed, "Who the hell are you, what do you want from me!"
"You don't need to know, and I was just helping you. Next time I'll leave you there to rot," Rath answered, calmly getting to his feet. Faith sat up quickly and took in her surroundings. She could tell she was in the sewer somewhere with a bunch of strange kids. She looked at the other people in the room. There were two blonde chicks. One looked extremely pissed off and the other looked slightly friendly. Next to the friendly looking blonde was the boy that tried to save her last night. He obviously didn't do a good job on his own. She then turned to the other boy, standing next to her with an annoying smirk on his face.
"I could take care of myself, you know," she said, getting to her feet. Rath caught her as her legs gave out.
"Sure ya can," he said, laying her back down.
"Well, she's obviously fine now, so get her the hell out of my sewer!" Lonnie yelled.
"Shut up, Lonnie! God!" Zan yelled back.
"Fine! Lick her feet and serve her, why don't ya! See if I care!" she said, stalking off.
"What the hell is her problem?" Faith asked.
"Princess complex," Rath answered, "So, what's ya name?"
"Faith. How 'bout you?"
"I'm Rath. This is Zan and Ava. Lonnie just left the buildin'."
"Cool nicknames."
"Yeah, whatever."
"How old are you?"
"What's with the twenty questions?" Zan asked.
"Rude much? Yo, I wasn't talkin' to you," Faith retorted.
"Well, I'm da man, and I'm talkin' to you!"
"Ooh. I'm shakin'. By the way, your voice changin' any time soon?"
Zan glared at her and was going to make another retort when Ava cut him off.
"We're twelve, what about you?"
"Fifteen, cool hair."
"Thanks. Nice outfit."
"Thanks. So, anyway. I'll just stay here until I get better, and then I'll be out of your hair."
"No prob," Rath replied.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"So I ended up staying there for about six months," Faith finished.
"Cool," said Maria, "How'd Lonnie like that one?"
"If looks could kill…"
"Ice princess glare, huh?" Maria asked, "We get our own share of that."
Isabel glared at her, then broke into a grin.
"So, what do we do now?" she asked. They all shrugged.
"Makeover?" Cordelia suggested.
"Who?"
"Umm…"
With that idea shot to hell, they decided to watch movies for the rest of the night, and thus continued the girl bonding.
A figure sat outside Cordelia's window watching the bonding in the little yellow apartment. It watched the smiling faces and grinned evilly. Soon, they would be dead. Soon, they would wish they were never born. The figure turned and walked away without being noticed by those inside. Soon.
CATEGORY: Buffy/Roswell crossover
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hey guyz! I'm back with another crappy chapter. Forgive me if it sucks, but I have bad writer's block. Sorry for the wait! Anyway…read, review, have a merry ol' time. Drink some beer, it'll make the part look better…
1.2
1.3 CHAPTER TEN
They ran into the lobby, cheering and congratulating themselves on a victory well won. Rath and Faith, and Michael and Maria were attached to each other by the lips.
"You got out!" Cordelia exclaimed, "How come you're so clean?"
"Isabel," Gunn said.
"I gotta get those powers," Cordelia muttered.
"So, you didn't have any difficulty?" Giles asked.
"Of course we did," Gunn answered, "It's Wolfram and Hart."
"They sent us, like, thirty vampires and thirty demons to fight," said Maria, after she came up for air and detached herself for Michael's lips. She went straight back to kissing.
"And you're still alive to tell the tale?" Xander asked in disbelief, "You're not even hurt!"
"It was nothing," Isabel said nonchalantly, "They were just…too slimy," she said shuddering, "Michael, next time explode away from me."
"Whatever," he mumbled around Maria's lips.
"God! Can you stop sucking face for just a minute!" Buffy cried, disgusted by the display.
"No need to be jealous, B," Rath said with a smirk.
"Ugh, whatever. I'm going upstairs. You aliens are too horny and too traumatizing."
"See ya," answered Michael, Maria, Rath and Faith, together. She waved her hand in acknowledgment. The others also went to different places in the hotel. Spike, Dawn and Kyle headed over to the Playstation 2 they set up in the game room, or what they turned into the game room. Max and Liz went out in the garden to stargaze, and eye-gaze, as they were known for. Zan and Ava were on the other side of the garden, making out. Cordelia, Isabel, Anya, Willow, Tara and Buffy headed up to the bedrooms, specifically the one that held the antisocial misfit otherwise known as Fred, to introduce her to the world of fashion. Michael and Maria ducked behind the counter to continue their make out session, while Rath lay on top of Faith on the couch.
Suddenly, the front door burst open. The two couples were too engrossed in what they were doing to notice the two figures walk in.
"Oh, Jim! I can't wait to see their faces when…" she trailed off when she noticed the two bodies on the couch, the top body was one she recognized very well.
"Michael Guerin! Get the hell off my daughter!" she screeched, launching into attack of the newspapers. She somehow conveniently had one handy whenever she caught Michael.
Rath jumped up from the couch, quick to get away from Amy Deluca. Faith sat up surprised by the sudden loss of Rath lovin'. Amy looked from Faith to Rath and back again. Michael and Maria were still oblivious behind the counter.
"You're cheating on my daughter?!" she screamed, "How dare you hurt my baby like that!" She continued beating him over the head with the newspaper, "You dirty, horrible delinquent!"
"Hey, what's your problem, lady?" Rath cried, trying to duck the blows. He finally came to a dead end at the counter, "Who the hell are you?"
"Michael Guerin, you have a lot of nerve!" she shouted over the slapping noises the paper made.
"Amy! Amy," Jim Valenti finally said, coming out of his stupor, "Calm down."
"Calm down? I just caught this two-timing…dog cheating on my daughter and you tell me to calm down?" she screamed, hitting Jim once in the head. Michael and Maria heard that scream and jumped out from behind the counter. Amy had turned her head so she didn't see them pop up.
"Ms. Deluca?" Michael asked, shocked.
"What, you rat?" she yelled, turning around, "you have a lot of ex…"
She trailed off when she noticed there were two Michaels standing in front of her.
"Oh God, there's two of them," she said, before promptly fainting. Jim caught her before she hit the floor.
"Well, that went well," Maria mumbled as she watched Valenti carry her mother over to the couch. They finally noticed the audience behind them. The others had come to see what the commotion was. Zan and Ava had amused smiles on their faces.
"Wow, Rath. You got beat up by a chick," Zan said, laughing. Rath glared at him.
"Man, she hits hard," he complained, rubbing his head.
"Man, I know how you feel," Michael said, rubbing his own head at the memory. Delucas and newspapers were a deadly combination.
"Will somebody please explain what's going on here?" Jim said from his position next to Amy. Maria came to kneel next to him at the couch.
"Remember the dupes from last year?" Max asked. At Valenti's nod, he continued, "Meet Rath, Zan and Ava. Oh, and Alex is alive."
"Hey sheriff," Alex said with a small wave. Amy, who had just woken up, screamed.
"Oh God! I'm seeing ghosts," she said, clinging to Valenti, "I must be going crazy. First two Michaels and now Alex is alive…"
"Mom, you're not crazy," Maria reassured her, while rubbing her back. Amy pushed Valenti away and sat up, facing the whole room. There were at least ten new faces staring back at her, not to mention three familiar, but different faces.
"Mom, this is Michael's twin brother, Rath. And those are Max and Tess' twins, Zan and Ava. They're from New York."
"And Alex?"
"Well…"
"It's a long story," Alex said quickly.
"But…you died."
"Uh…"
"So, Mom," Maria interrupted, nervously, "What are you doing here?"
"Oh! Me and Jim got married yesterday, in Vegas," she said excitedly, showing off her ring. Alex forgotten.
"You what?!" Kyle screeched.
"And you didn't even invite us?" Maria asked, hurt.
"Well, we were gonna wait, honey but…"
"It doesn't matter," Maria interrupted, "This is so great!"
"I'm so glad you're not mad, honey!" Amy cried, hugging her daughter, jumping and squealing.
"Son?" Valenti asked, gingerly approaching Kyle.
"No, it's okay…it's great, dad," Kyle said, "I'm happy for you."
The others stood in the background, not sure what to do.
"So, Maria," Amy said, finally letting her go, "who're your friends?"
"Oh, this is Buffy, Dawn, Xander, Willow, Anya, Tara, Spike, Angel, Cordelia, Wesley, Gunn, Giles, Faith, Rath, Zan and Ava," Maria listed off in one breath, pointing to each in turn, "Guys, this is my mom and Kyle's dad."
"Hi," they chorused.
"Hey guys," Amy said, then sheepishly added, "Sorry…Rath, for beating you with a newspaper."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," he replied.
'Hey, I never got an apology,' Michael complained in Maria's head.
'Be glad she didn't catch us behind the counter,' she replied.
The crowd began to disperse. The group began to pair off and head to their different rooms.
"Alex Whitman, where the hell have you been?" Amy asked, not forgetting about the little zombie. She rushed over and gathered him in her arms.
"Uh…Ms. Deluca…air?" he choked. She let him go immediately.
"Well, what happened? Your parents are so depressed. Half of Roswell was crying for a week."
"Uh…"
"He came to New York to…run an errand for Brody at the UFO Center, but somebody knocked him out and stole his car," Rath answered smoothly, "I found him and took him home with me. He didn't remember much about himself, so I let him stay with me, Zan and Ava until he got his memory back."
"Yeah," Alex put in.
"So, last month I went to New York, with Max and Izzy, to visit Rath and there he was," Michael continued, "I had just about the same reaction as you did, Ms. Deluca," he added, "It would figure the only person he remembered was Isabel."
"So, we all came back here so he could see Maria and Liz," Rath said.
"We were all he needed to get his full memory back," Maria finished the story. They stared at Amy intently, to see if she bought it. She slowly began nodding her head. She bought it.
"Well, it's good to have you back, Alex," she said, finally, hugging him again. She then went over to Rath and kissed him on the cheek, "you sweet boy." Rath blushed and ducked his head, unaccustomed to maternal figures. "It must be in the genes."
Amy Deluca-Valenti went over to her new husband and began to pull him out the door.
"We'll see you soon," she called over her shoulder, "We're staying at the Hilton if you need us."
Valenti turned and mouthed 'Details later' to the Pod Squad before walking out with his wife. There was a collective sigh when they left.
"Good story," Alex finally said, patting Michael and Rath on the back.
"It's a gift," they said in unison, with a shrug.
They all sat around discussing what happened the day before. Michael had a sketch pad in front of him. He drew as the others talked around him. The person was taking shape before him on the page.
"Did you see Khivar while you were in there?" Wesley asked, "Or any of the protectors?"
"We wouldn't know if we saw Khivar," Rath said, sounding mildly annoyed. Michael didn't even bother to look up from his drawing.
"Well, this doesn't help at all," Wesley grumbled.
"There was this new guy with Tess and Lonnie, though," Rath said, "I don't know who he is."
"What did he look like?" Max asked.
"Like this," Michael said, holding up his now finished sketch of the man. He waved his hand over it to make it color. "He looks familiar, but I can't place him," he added, "What about you?"
They all studied the picture. The man had long, brown hair that reached his shoulders. His gray eyes were piercing and cold. His jaw was hard set. He looked to be in his late forties, with a strong physique.
"I don't recognize him," Max said, after staring at it.
"Me either," said Zan. Ava shook her head. The Scooby Gang and Angel's employees also denied ever seeing the man in the picture.
"What about you, Izzy?" Michael asked.
"Sort of, but its kind of vague," she said, "I don't know who it is."
"Well, he's either Khivar, a protector or a Wolfram and Hart associate," Angel deduced.
"Yeah, big help, Peaches," said Spike.
"Isn't he a little too young to be Khivar?" Kyle asked, "I mean, they've been down here for over fifty years."
"Yeah, me and Michael thought of that," Rath said, "We think that time probably moves slower there."
"It doesn't make sense to have saviors you won't live to see," Michael added, "if we were to go back to fight after sixty years, all the people who knew about us would be dead. It would be extremely pointless."
"Where's Larek when you need him?" Alex mused, "Maybe they should have invented some kind of intergalactic cell phone when they sent you down."
"Yeah," Michael said, nodding. Suddenly, he got an idea, "Yeah! Alex, you're a genius. Maria, come here."
"What are you talking about, I don't think we have long distance that far out," Cordelia said, confused.
"I had a dream the other day," he said, excitedly, "My mother was communicating with someone on Pylea."
"And?" Isabel asked, not seeing the point.
"And, I figured out what that thing with the ball thing does," he said, grabbing Maria's hands, "Okay, we have to do that thing I showed you."
"Okay, let's do it."
"Are you sure you can do it?" Max asked, "What if you get the wrong person?"
"Well, we'll see when it happens," Maria said.
They closed their eyes and raised their joint hands in the air. The familiar blue ball appeared between them. They opened their eyes and stepped back. The ball spun on its axis between them. Michael tried to reproduce the actions he saw his mother do in the dream. He put his hands on the sides and stretched it until it created a circle two feet in diameter. He poked the center and thought of Larek.
"Who calls me now?" a voice said from within the circle. The others gasped as an image took form in the center of the circle. A man that looked much like Brody stared at them.
"Larek?" Max asked.
"Max?" he asked, shocked, "How are you contacting me?"
"I figured out the communications circle thing," Michael said.
"I realize that," Larek said, "but how? No one has ever accomplished communication from Earth to Antar without possession."
Michael shrugged.
"What did you call me for?"
"Okay," Rath said, "A, how much time has passed on Antar since we left?"
"Ten years and nine months," Larek answered, "One day on Antar, Carnath, Pylea and all the other planets in the system is five days on Earth."
"Okay, do you know what Khivar looks like?"
"Yes," he said. Michael sighed. Finally, somebody who knows something.
"I thought you were going to detain Tess," Isabel said after a while.
"By the time I got back, she was gone," he explained, "I have a team searching for her."
"Don't bother, she's on Earth," Max said.
"Oh," said Larek.
"Do you know who this guy is?" Michael asked, suddenly, holding up his picture. Larek studied it.
"Yes. It is Khivar."
"Finally, something useful!"
"Look, we must end the link," Larek said, "I cannot hold it much longer, it takes too much energy."
"I feel fine," Michael said.
"You are probably stronger than I," Larek said, "Though, it should be harder on you since you are the one that initiated contact. I must let go now."
"Okay," Michael said, "How do you turn it off?"
"Return the circle to a ball state and then allow it to reenter your body," Larek answered.
"Okay," Michael said, "Bye."
Michael raised his hands to the sides of the circle and brought his palms together, forming the blue ball that it was previously. Michael and Maria then joined hands and the ball raised above their heads. The ball lowered until it reentered their bodies. They glowed like before and then went back to normal. They stepped away from each other.
"How do you feel?" Max asked.
"Fine," they answered in unison.
"How does it work?" Isabel asked.
"Not the slightest clue," they answered.
"How long are you gonna be doing that?" Dawn asked. They shrugged.
"Michael, how come you didn't tell us about this other dream?" Max asked. Michael shrugged.
"Didn't seem important."
"Well, what happened in it?" Isabel asked.
"Why do you want to know?"
"I, uh, it's just that we always wanted to find a family out there, and you get to see bits and pieces of that life. I want to know about your life back then."
"It's okay, Izzy. I understand," they said.
"So, what happened?" Rath asked.
"Um, not much happened," Michael started, alone this time, "I found out my mother's name was Sharyan," he said, sort of wistfully, remembering the scene, "She was freaking out, as what seems to be usual. She wanted to get me off the planet before the war got too bad, so she called her friend on Pylea, Zuni. While she was calling, my uncle…Kyden…came…That's it!"
"What are you talking about, what's it?" Max asked.
"The man, it's Kyden. That bastard!" Michael raged.
"Okay, what?" Isabel asked, "Who's Kyden?"
"Her brother," he said, "My uncle. Khivar. He betrayed his own sister! What a backside!"
"This is better than Passions," Spike whispered to Dawn. She nodded, not taking her eyes off the scene in front of her.
"Wait, are you sure?" Isabel asked.
"Yeah, I'm sure," Michael said, "Here, look, I'll draw him."
Michael thought of Kyden and waved his hand over a blank sketch pad page. He handed it to Isabel. She studied the boy with gray eyes and dark brown hair. She had to admit he was pretty cute. She compared it with the other picture Michael drew. It was the same person! Sure, the first one was a little older than the second was, but still, it was the same person. The others gathered around her to inspect the pictures. This was a shocking new piece to the puzzle.
"How old is he in this picture?" Isabel asked.
"Eighteen," Michael answered. He had his head buried in his hands. Isabel was sorry to see him like that, but she was too stunned to comfort. She was grateful that Maria was there for him.
"How old was your mom?"
"Twenty five."
The room was silent for a while, until Max spoke up.
"Did you see anyone else in your visions?"
"Why?"
"Well, they seem to be important," he explained, "Every time you have one, it makes something clearer. I think you have them for a reason."
Michael nodded in understanding.
"So, what significance was that painful dream I got last night?" Rath asked.
"I really don't know," Max answered, "Was this guy in it?"
"Nope."
"It just goes to show that life sucks and then you die," Michael said, cynically.
"Michael, don't talk like that," Isabel said.
"Why? It's true," he said, "You live two lives, you get betrayed like, what, about seven or eight times in your forty years of existence? Excuse me if I don't make balloon animals and sing 'Happy happy joy joy'."
He turned and walked away, leaving the others staring at his retreating form.
"Yep, way better than Passions," Dawn commented.
The night was quiet, or as quiet as it could possibly get in Los Angeles anyway. Somewhere, within a small yellow apartment, the sound of giggling could be heard. Cordelia had invited all the girls in their diverse group over to her apartment for a girls' night. She hadn't had one since she was in Sunnydale, because let's face it; Angel, Wesley and Gunn were not good girlfriend material.
Ice-cream containers littered the once spotless floor. Dennis was conveniently absent, not that you could see him anyway. Cordelia, Willow, Buffy, Dawn, Tara, Anya, Liz, Maria, Isabel and Ava lay around gossiping and bad talking the guys.
"So, Faith, your turn," Maria said from the floor, "What's the deal with Rath?"
"What's the deal with Michael?" she countered, "He's a guy, 'nuff said."
"Come on," she urged, "He's a Czech. There's got to be something weird and/or juicy to tell."
"Not really."
"Fine," Cordelia said, "Then, how'd you meet? Tell us something."
"Okay, fine," she acquiesced, "It was about five years ago, just before I became a Slayer…"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Her feet pounded on the cold damp streets of New York. It was unusually quiet out at 4:00am as she sped down the dark alley. Her heart pounded in her ears as she plowed through the asphalt and garbage. She spared a glance back at her attackers. Three men with screwed up faces and yellow eyes were gaining on her with ease. They didn't even seem to be trying. She turned back around just in time to see the garbage can lying in the street before she fell face first into the cold concrete. She scrambled up to be face to face with a vampire.
"You going somewhere, sweetie?" he sneered, grabbing her arm. She struggled against his iron grip in a futile attempt to pull away.
"Struggle baby," another one behind her whispered in her ear menacingly, "It's more fun that way."
She immediately stilled, casting frightened glances between the three…things that had attacked her and her friends, Natalie and Cole, well, the people she just met outside the club anyway. They had all tried to get into the Club with really fake looking fake IDs. They all got kicked out and decided to hang together at Cole's place instead. Who needs clubs? They had come up behind them quickly, leaving no room to scream, to run. Two of them held Cole back as the other sank his teeth into Natalie's neck. The other two did the same to Cole. Faith just stood there like an imbecile staring at them. It was when Natalie finally collapsed that her legs decided to obey her brain and start running. Now, it was too late. She was going to die right here in this alley. Damn legs.
"Get the hell away from me!" she said in the toughest voice she could muster. The vampires had the nerve to laugh.
"Sure we will, baby," he said, "right after dinner."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"So what happened next?" Isabel asked, digging into her chunky monkey and tobasco sundae with fudge and jalepenos.
"I'm getting there," Faith said to the impatient alien, "Now I lost my spot. Where was I? Oh yeah, so everything was so completely not five by five…"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A manhole cover opened and a brown, spiky head popped out of the hole. The boy climbed swiftly out of the sewer, as if he'd had a lot of practice. He looked around and spotted them in the corner.
"Hey! What's goin' down out here?" he shouted. Two of the vampires turned away from their prey, spotting the boy. He cringed at the faces and prepared to run.
"Well, well. What have we here?" one of them said, licking his bloody chops.
"Looks like seconds."
In a flash, they were at the boy's side, restraining his arms.
"Going somewhere?"
They dragged him away and slammed him against the wall next to the girl.
"Let go of me!" he squeaked, struggling against them.
"Quiet, pip-squeak," the leader said, "You're disturbing the main course."
"No! Help! Rath! Ava! Lon…"
The vampires cut him off by hitting over the head, effectively shutting him up.
"Hey, Zan, you won't believe what I just found…" Rath called as he expertly jumped out of the sewer. He stopped dead in his tracks on seeing his best friend and some chick trapped against a wall by three really ugly looking dudes.
"I think we've hit the jackpot, fellas," a vampire sneered, "more food," he walked up to Rath and sniffed, "fresh too."
Rath glared at him, "Escape from the ugly farm?" he asked coolly. The vampire grabbed him by the neck and slammed him against the wall. A low growl escaped his throat.
"For that crack, you'll watch your friends die," he snarled in his face. Rath swiped the air in front of him with his hand in disgust.
"Ever hear of toothpaste?" he asked, sarcastically, "No, of course not. Though, I think it might be too late for that. Some bleach ought to help."
"Rath!" Zan hissed, "Ix-nay on the aunting-tay."
"You better listen to your friend, kid."
"Why? You don't listen to your brain," Rath continued, "Oh, oops, you don't have one."
"Rath!"
"What Zan? Don't give 'em the satisfaction."
The vampire growled and rammed Rath into the wall again. He kept his eyes trained on Rath's intense face. He addressed the others without turning.
"Drain 'em," he growled. Zan's eyes widened in fear as the vampire holding the girl leaned down and sank his teeth into her neck. A split second later, his own neck was being assaulted. He began to feel weak. He glanced over at Rath. A look of pure rage was etched upon his face. His vampire was still holding him up about two feet from the ground by his upper arms, laughing at the show.
Zan saw Rath raise his right hand to the vampire's chest and concentrate. His hand began to glow yellow. The vampire didn't even have time to scream in pain and shock before he was disintegrated into a silent pile of dust. Rath landed on the ground with a cat-like grace not fit for his age. He came up behind the other two vampires and put his hands on their backs. He concentrated on heating them up. Zan and the girl dropped to the ground, unconscious.
Rath kneeled next to his best friend and cradled his head in his lap. He shook him.
"Zan? Zan, wake the hell up!" he yelled in his ear, "Wake up! I ain't draggin' your lazy butt all the way home!" He shook him again. "Get up, Zanther!"
Zan groaned and his eyes fluttered. His head flopped to the side and he passed out again. Rath sighed and dropped his head. He made his way over to the girl.
"Hey girl! Wake up!" he said, nudging her. There was even less response than with Zan, but he knew she was alive. He gave up on trying to wake them and went to get Zan. He dragged him over to the manhole and began to climb down with him, a task that was cut short when he dropped him. He cursed under his breath and went back for the girl. She was lighter than Zan, so it was slightly easier to get her down into the sewer. He rested her near Zan and then went back up to close the grate.
Suddenly, he heard footsteps coming closer echoing across the sewer. He quickly looked for a hiding place. Considering that this was a sewer, there weren't very many possibilities, especially for a twelve-year-old boy with two unconscious bodies on his hands. He would have to defend them with his powers if need be.
"Why do I gotta look for 'em. I ain't their mom," the person (a girl) was grumbling, "One day, I oughta blast Lonnie, then she'll see who's queen around here."
Rath recognized the voice. It was Ava!
"Ava?" he called, somewhat tentatively. The person stopped.
"Rath! Where the hell are you?" she said.
"Down here!"
"Yeah big help," she said, "Where's Zan?"
"He's knocked out."
"Okay, I'm coming."
Rath sighed in relief and slumped on the sewer wall. He took the time to study this new girl. She had long, dark brown hair. She had pouty lips, covered in black lipstick to match her black leather outfit. The dark clothes emphasized her pale skin.
"Who's this?" asked Ava, startling him as she stooped down. He looked up sharply.
"I dunno, some girl. We got attacked in the alley by weird…vampire guys."
"Weird vampire guys," Ava stated, not believing him.
"Either that or there's some damn ugly humans out there biting people's necks in alleys," he said dryly, "C'mon, help me carry 'em home."
"Home?" she asked in disbelief, "We're taking the human with us? What are we gonna tell her?"
"We can't just leave her here."
"But…"
"Come on, are you gonna help or not?"
"Fine," she acquiesced. She grabbed the girl by the shoulders and started to drag her in the direction of their part of the sewer. Rath did the same with Zan.
*****************************************************
"So, Rath actually saved your life?" Maria asked.
"I thought he was a clone of Michael," Liz said, to herself.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Maria asked.
"Well, Michael wouldn't just…save a stranger. Not like Max…"
"Max isn't perfect," Maria replied.
"I know he isn't," Liz explained, "I'm just saying that Michael wouldn't put himself in danger to save someone else."
She took a bite of her vanilla ice cream. Maria slammed down her spoon.
"That shows how much you know, Liz," she said, offended, "Michael has put himself in danger before."
"Yeah, to find a way home."
"Ooh, I smell a fight," Anya whispered to Ava. Ava nodded. "I'll go get some popcorn."
She was about to get up when a large bowl of warm, butter flavored popcorn floated into her lap. She smiled to the air.
"Thanks Dennis," she said, then turned to Ava, "I wish I had a ghost. I shall have to tell Xander to get one. Maybe I'll tell him it is my birthday or some other mortal holiday," she said before turning back to the impending battle in the middle of the floor.
"Yeah, well, believe it or not, the world still revolves while you're ogling Max!" Maria said to her best friend, "Or did you forget when he went to save Max from the FBI, or when he used his powers in front of a government agent to save the world, not to mention got shot trying to protect me and Laurie," she said, passionately. "Have you forgotten Las Cruces already?" she asked. Liz just looked down at her feet. "Well, if you think so little of him, then he should add another to his list of betrayals. You know what he thinks of you?" she asked, not expecting an answer. "He thinks of you as a sister. And that's a lot to ask of him."
She glared at Liz's ashamed form before storming out of the room. Liz plopped down on the abandoned couch with her head in her hands. The other girls stared in silence between Liz and the direction Maria had just disappeared in. The happy mood of the slumber party was killed by the careless outburst. After they came out of the shock, they noticed the lone sound of crunching. They turned to the source. The crunching stopped.
"What?" Anya asked, putting down the popcorn, "I thought it was a good show."
Meanwhile, back at the hotel, the guys were just lazing around in the lobby. Rath, Michael, Kyle and Alex were playing poker, with Pringles, in the middle of the room. Gunn, Spike, Max and Zan were playing All four's on the left side of the room, deep in concentration. Spike was whipping them badly.
"I am so bored!" Rath exclaimed, dropping his cards.
"Why? You and Michael are winning," Kyle said, gesturing to the 3 large piles of Pringles in front of the clones.
"Yeah," Alex said, "You sure you're not using any Czech skills? I mean, besides the uncrackable poker faces."
"No," Michael said, "That's why it's so boring. Too easy."
"You got Maria's ability to clean out any poker game, didn't you?" Alex asked. Michael smirked.
"Scared Whitman?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. He put four more Pringles to the pool. Alex looked from him, to Rath, to his cards.
"I fold."
"Me too," Kyle said, "What do you have?"
Rath smirked triumphantly, "A whole lotta nothin'," he answered, triumphantly putting down his hand of a 7 of diamonds, 5 of spades, King of clubs, queen of hearts and a 2 of hearts.
"Aw, man!" Kyle said in disbelief, "What do you have, Guerin?"
"Two pair," he answered, showing them his very low valued hand. He smirked at their disbelieving faces and grabbed his pile of Pringles.
(A.N.: I would make some more poker complaints/comments, but I don't have a clue how to play the game.)
Kyle shook his head and started muttering under his breath about hustling aliens.
Maria returned to the living room half an hour later. The girls were just sitting there, uncomfortably. Liz was still sitting on the sofa, a bowl of melted vanilla ice cream in her hands, looking like she just lost her best friend. She was, of course, overreacting, as is Liz's way. Isabel, Cordelia, Buffy, Willow and Tara were all reading magazines in silence. The only ones who didn't seem to have a problem were Anya, Ava and Faith.
"Hey, guys," Maria said as she sat down next to Liz.
"Better now?" Faith asked.
"Yeah, continue with the story."
"Okay. So then me and Rath dragged Faith and Zan to the crib and Lonnie had a cow. You'd swear she was dumping bulldozers…"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"What the hell is that human doing here?" she screamed at Ava as she dragged the girl over to the makeshift house. Ava cringed at the gruff, unfeeling tone of Lonnie's voice. Lonnie was so not her favorite person.
"What does it look like? She's knocked out," Rath retorted as he dragged Zan over to lie next to her.
"I can see that," she said, coldly, "Why is she here? You coulda just left her. We do not need this right now. She could be a enemy or somethin' and you just bring her down in our place. Why?"
"I couldn't just leave her there, ya know," he said, looking down on her, "Some of us have a conscience."
"Yeah, yeah, whateva. When she turns us in to the FBI don't come ta me."
"Why would I come to you? You'd be with us."
Lonnie growled at him and stalked away.
"She's gonna off you one of these days," Ava told Rath.
"Not if I don't off her first."
"Like you got the balls to off somebody," Zan said in a strained voice. Ava broke out in a wide grin and hugged Zan. Rath just patted his knee.
"Welcome back, buddy," he said, "Why the hell didn't you wake up when I had to drag you halfway up the sewer!"
"I'm da man, I don't gotta walk," he joked. A low moan interrupted their familiar banter. All eyes turned to the awakening brunette.
"I'm gonna kill whoever ran me over," she grumbled opening her eyes. Her vision was blurry. She blinked to clear it and began to make out figures, more importantly, the strange boy staring down at her. Then, the memories of a few hours ago began to come back to her. In nervous fright, she pushed the boy off her.
"Get the hell off me!" she screamed, "Who the hell are you, what do you want from me!"
"You don't need to know, and I was just helping you. Next time I'll leave you there to rot," Rath answered, calmly getting to his feet. Faith sat up quickly and took in her surroundings. She could tell she was in the sewer somewhere with a bunch of strange kids. She looked at the other people in the room. There were two blonde chicks. One looked extremely pissed off and the other looked slightly friendly. Next to the friendly looking blonde was the boy that tried to save her last night. He obviously didn't do a good job on his own. She then turned to the other boy, standing next to her with an annoying smirk on his face.
"I could take care of myself, you know," she said, getting to her feet. Rath caught her as her legs gave out.
"Sure ya can," he said, laying her back down.
"Well, she's obviously fine now, so get her the hell out of my sewer!" Lonnie yelled.
"Shut up, Lonnie! God!" Zan yelled back.
"Fine! Lick her feet and serve her, why don't ya! See if I care!" she said, stalking off.
"What the hell is her problem?" Faith asked.
"Princess complex," Rath answered, "So, what's ya name?"
"Faith. How 'bout you?"
"I'm Rath. This is Zan and Ava. Lonnie just left the buildin'."
"Cool nicknames."
"Yeah, whatever."
"How old are you?"
"What's with the twenty questions?" Zan asked.
"Rude much? Yo, I wasn't talkin' to you," Faith retorted.
"Well, I'm da man, and I'm talkin' to you!"
"Ooh. I'm shakin'. By the way, your voice changin' any time soon?"
Zan glared at her and was going to make another retort when Ava cut him off.
"We're twelve, what about you?"
"Fifteen, cool hair."
"Thanks. Nice outfit."
"Thanks. So, anyway. I'll just stay here until I get better, and then I'll be out of your hair."
"No prob," Rath replied.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"So I ended up staying there for about six months," Faith finished.
"Cool," said Maria, "How'd Lonnie like that one?"
"If looks could kill…"
"Ice princess glare, huh?" Maria asked, "We get our own share of that."
Isabel glared at her, then broke into a grin.
"So, what do we do now?" she asked. They all shrugged.
"Makeover?" Cordelia suggested.
"Who?"
"Umm…"
With that idea shot to hell, they decided to watch movies for the rest of the night, and thus continued the girl bonding.
A figure sat outside Cordelia's window watching the bonding in the little yellow apartment. It watched the smiling faces and grinned evilly. Soon, they would be dead. Soon, they would wish they were never born. The figure turned and walked away without being noticed by those inside. Soon.
