Once again, I do not own any of the characters.  The Faith section is going to be beginning in the next chapter.  Hope you enjoy this one!  Oh, and thank you to everyone who has reviewed this fic so far.  I really appreciate it!

Choices

"Whister!" Blade called out as he entered the warehouse.  Buffy followed him, an uneasy feeling suddenly overtaking her.  The air here was different, wrong.  Blade stopped suddenly, causing her to run into him.

He did not even glance at her as he walked a few steps to his right.  A dead human body lain against a stack of shelves, drying blood all around.  Blade roughly grabbed his head and forced it down, grimacing at the tattoo on the back of his neck.

"What is that?" Buffy whispered as she stared at the dead human.

"He's marked," Blade explained without looking at her.  "That mark means he's owned by a vampire.  He's doing their work."

Buffy stared at the body in repulsion, anger rising in her.  Just the thought that a human would work for those monsters sickened her.  Blade stalked away and she followed him immediately, kicking the body as she passed.  And to think, I protect people like him.  I put my life on the line every single frickin' day for bastards like him.

Blade stopped once again, but this time she was ready for it.  She froze as his entire body tensed.  She looked passed him and ice filled her veins as she saw the bloody sheet covering a body.  By the way he had tensed, she knew that there was someone he knew underneath it.  She stood there as he walked slowly to the body, not wanting to intrude on something personal.  She knew what it was like to lose someone. 

She looked away as he pulled the sheet off, just catching a glimpse of the extremely bloody and beaten body of an older man.  She averted her attention to other things, using her senses to make sure that no one else was in the building.  She closed her eyes, slowly sweeping through the building.

They were alone.  No vampires, no demons.  Just her, the barely alive man, and him.  Her forehead wrinkled as she tried to place his exact "feel" but she couldn't.  He was not human, that was for sure, but he was not a vampire either.

As she thought about him, she caught glimpses of the conversation.  She tried not to listen, but every now and then pieces of the conversation would float over.

"…took her."

"You're the key….blood…"

"…..chosen one….."

"…..shit."

"...finish me…"

"It's ….far gone…"

"No."

"Now walk…."

A gunshot rang through the warehouse, causing Buffy to jump in the loudness of the sound.  Her eyes shot open just in time to see the gun fall from the man's hand.  He had killed himself, probably to keep from becoming a vampire.  She lowered her eyes momentarily in respect for the dead before slowly walking towards Blade.

He had already grabbed something from a small table and was quickly leaving the room, not outwardly acknowledging that his friend was dead.  Buffy almost had to run to keep up with his fast pace, but she said nothing.

She followed him into a small room, barren of decorations.  Only the slightly rumpled bed showed that someone had stayed there recently.  A vcr and tv sat on one side of the room.  Blade casually tossed his coat onto the bed – reminds me of Spike's duster, Buffy thought almost wistfully – and put the tape in.  He slowly took off his sunglasses as the tape began.

Buffy stared at the screen, watching as the face of man come onscreen.  "By the time you watch this, your friend Whistler should be dead.  If it makes any difference to you, he put up quite a fight.  You can find us at the Edgewood Towers."

The tape suddenly zoomed out, showing others holding a young black woman, who struggled incessantly against their holds.  The man smirked as he walked over to her, glancing at her for a moment before the tape went blank.  Buffy glanced over at Blade, trying to study his stoic face.  He showed no emotions, but Buffy could once again feel the anger and hate radiating off the man, almost involuntarily stepping back. 

"What are you going to do?" she asked quietly, her voice loud in the silent room.  He stood there for a moment, not answering her at first.  Then, quietly but forcefully he said,

"Going after her."

Buffy stood in indecision for a moment.  "But they'll be expecting you.  You're walking into a trap."

"I know," he said, spinning to stare down at her.  "I don't have a choice, though, do I?  They'll kill her if I don't come.  That's not something I want hanging over my head."

"Why you?  Why now?" she asked.  "What is so important that they need you right now?"

"What are you the key to?"

The last question was so quiet that at first it seemed that he had not heard her.  He stared past her, his face blank of emotions.  But he could not fool Buffy.  After all, she had fooled herself for almost a year with the same expression.  She knew he was hiding how much it hurt, how much it upset him that he had just lost a friend and could lost another.  She could relate to him there.

"They want me because I'm one of the few that fights against them.  I'm one of the few that can hurt them."

Buffy glanced at him in impatience.  "You didn't answer my last question.  What are you the key to?"

Silence greeted her answer as he struggled with himself, mastering his emotions.  "What does it matter?  I have to go."

"And why are you so interesting?  This isn't your problem," he almost yelled, glaring at the girl.  "I don't know why I asked you to come with me anymore.  Go home, go relax at home.  Forget about this.  This isn't your fight."

"No," Buffy said, her voice tight.  "That's where you're wrong.  They are my problem, my fight.  I've been fighting them for eight fuckin' years – don't you DARE tell me that this isn't my fight.  I'm the Slayer; I was chosen to fight them.  And I'm not leaving now.  You asked me to come because you obviously saw something in me that you couldn't understand.  Now, explain to me what is going on.  But even if you don't, I'm going with you."

Blade's eyes hardened.  "I'm not letting you get involved with something you don't understand."

She rolled her eyes, her voice filled with exasperation.  "Let me?  Let me?  Nobody lets me do things or tell me to do things – I do what I want, when I want, and how I want.  I think with my heart, act impulsively, think on my feet.  That's what makes me the longest living slayer in over a century.  Now, tell me what is going on because I'm going to help."

Blade stared at the girl, incredulous that a girl so young was talking to him as if she was his elder.  How dare she?  She was just a girl – she couldn't realize how dangerous it was out there.

But a nagging in the back of his head pushed that thought away.  She doesn't fear them at all – even surrounded and outnumbered she shows no fear.  And there's pain she's hiding.  I can see it in her eyes, even though she tries to hide it.  I want to send her away but I can't.  She could be an asset.

"Fine.  You can come with me," he said curtly.  "But you have to watch out for yourself.  I have more important things to worry about than watching out for you."

She sighed, knowing that was the best she was going to get out of him.  "Fine.  Let's get ready.  You don't want to be late for your own party, do ya?"