Chapter 35-Formalities

-Buffy-

It's too quiet here. That's how I know whatever is coming is bad. If all the bad guys are getting the hell out of Dodge, well do I really need to say it? Angel and I are both going pretty stir crazy. We patrol but we always come up with no joy. Angel spends a lot of time at the hospital. Cordy is still in her coma but the doctors can't find a medical reason for it. According to them, she should be awake and walking around. Of course we can't tell them she gets visions and that it was a vision that caused her to lapse into a coma. I think Wes told them she had a seizure.

Our big "break" came one night after Lorne closed up Caritas. He called the hotel and said he was going to be stopping by. He had some new information.

Lorne breezed in the hotel lobby wearing a neon yellow suit. I've often wanted to ask him if he has his suits custom made or if there is actually a store that sells neon yellow suits.

"Hello, Kiddies. I'll get straight to it since Angelcakes over there doesn't look to be in a patient mood. I read a guy tonight, a Polgara demon and he slaughtered Madonna's Like a Virgin, let me tell you."

"Get. To. It. Lorne." Angel says.

Lorne shoots him a look. "Alright, someone is cranky. Anyway, there's an audition of sorts tomorrow night for some new big bad. It looks like they are looking for Generals to command their armies. Polgara is thinking about showing up. I've got you an address right here." Lorne pulls a cocktail napkin out of his suit pocket. "It's an abandoned warehouse down in the garment district."

"You think this is our big bad?" I ask.

Lorne shrugs. "I don't know Sweetlips, but generally there's only one at a time and Cordy did say ours was gathering an army."

Angel nods. "Good, then I'll be there tomorrow night to try out for a position as General."

"Angel, are you sure that's a wise idea?" Wes says. "After all, you've been working in LA for a number of years now; you're not exactly an unknown. I wager there will be several dozen demons there that you have run into from time to time."

"He's right, Angel." I say.

"What do you suggest then, Wes? We let these auditions go off without a hitch? We storm them and find out exactly nothing? Maybe we should just sit outside in the car and watch who goes in and out."

"I rather thought Buffy would go in there." Wes says.

"Excellent idea," Giles says.

"No." Angel says.

"This is sort of me we're talking about. Someone could ask my opinion you know." I say.

"Buffy, I'm not going to send you in there to get hurt." Angel says.

"Excuse me? But it's okay for you to go in there to get hurt? Have you forgotten I'm stronger then you, Angel? Don't get me wrong, I love the whole thing where you treat me like a girl, but sometimes you have to remember I'm the Slayer too and I'm a vampire." I cross my arms over my chest and level a stare at him.

"She also has an advantage in that very few of the demons here are going to know who she is." Wes says.

"Tara and I can do a spell. It will dampen the whole slayer sense thing that any of the demons might get off her. When we're through with her, she'll read like a regular vamp to anyone who might be able to sense those things." Willow offers.

"I will not send Buffy in there, not knowing what she's walking into. She's a slayer and a vampire but she's not invincible. She's got to have backup. It's the only way I'll agree to this." Angel says.

"Angel, I can't walk in there with a human or with you. They'll know something is up." I say.

"Then you can't go, Buffy. This isn't a fresh riser we're talking about. This is an Oracle, turned vampire. You can't walk in there alone not knowing what's going on."

"Ok, so what if you guys camped out somewhere close by and I had a safe word. If I get in over my head I start screaming and you can go all Wild Bunch." I suggest.

Angel looks at me. I'm not really sure if I confused him with the pop culture reference or if he's just considering my idea. It's hard to tell with him sometimes. I swear if we ever get a peacetime, I'm going to sit him down and make him do nothing but watch TV for two weeks.

"Gunn, can you and Xander go stake out the warehouse and the area around it in the morning?" Angel asks.

"Sure thing." Gunn responds.

"I want a spot that will be very close to the warehouse and still concealed from any guards or demons coming and going. Willow, will you be able to do a dampening spell for us too? So nothing can smell, or sense us nearby?" Angel says.

"Yeah that should be hard at all. I'll just use a concealing spell for us." Willow says.

"Alright, but if you even get in a little bit of trouble, you scream and keep screaming until you see us." Angel says. It's very Teutonic, I know but I get these little shivers when he uses that authority voice.

"Yes, Sir." I manage to say without even a giggle.

*

Angel and I spent all day training and preparing. He's stressing majorly over this, as if it's the first time I've handled anything by myself. There's something he's not telling me about this Oracle but trying to push Angel is like trying to move a mountain. If he doesn't want to talk, even torture, literally, won't make him talk.
Xander and Gunn have staked out a spot for Angel and company to wait in case I need them. I don't expect to, not that I don't think I can be beaten, I mean really I've died twice already, but I don't plan to scream. I'm not going to get Angel and everyone else here killed. Of course, I'm not telling him that.

I pull my hair back into a sleek ponytail. I put on black leather pants and a red spaghetti strap tank. I slide my feet into my favorite black boots with a thick chunky heel. I'm as ready to face the jury as I'm ever going to be. Angel sneaks up behind me and pulls me into his embrace, ok so he doesn't have to pull very hard. I lay my head over his heart. He buries his nose in my hair. We stand there very still, not breathing, not talking, just basking in each other. He takes a deep breath of me and I feel a shudder go through him.

"Hey, I'm going to be okay, you know." I whisper.

"You better be. You are my everything. I don't want to spend forever without you." His voice is low and rumbly, choked with unshed tears.

"You won't." I promise. To tell the truth, it's beginning to freak me out that Angel is so freaked. "It's some demons and some vamps. I've faced worse."

He just nods and takes another deep breath of me.

"Angel, what's the deal with this Oracle? Why has she got you so worried?" I don't actually expect him to tell me, but a girl's got to try.

He shakes his head. "She's got a lot of power. There's no way to know if she kept it when she vamped or not. I just want you to be careful. If you need us, scream. Willow is a powerful witch. She has been working on things all day to use just in case it's needed."

Willow is a powerful witch, more so with Tara by her side. She can't fold time though. I don't mention this to Angel. He's worried enough as it is.

"Promise me something," I ask softly.

"Anything." He agrees quickly.

"When this is all over, I hear the whole story about the Oracles, every single detail."

*

I walk up to the warehouse door. I've watched half a dozen demons of varying species enter through here. Angel and the rest of the gang are stationed less then 100 feet away in another abandoned warehouse on the second floor. I can't see them in the shadows. Willow warned me that I wouldn't be able to with her concealment spell. My slayer senses and vamp senses combined are going into overdrive this close to so many different kinds of demons. I bang on the door three times, just like the other demons have done.
The big steel door is slid open by a huge muscular demon with reddish skin. He looks me up and down and then snickers. "Honey, I think you're a little bit lost."

I grab him by the wrist and twist his arm around far enough that I feel the bones straining to the point of popping and cracking. I push him up against the door frame and walk past without a word. There are at least 30 demons of varying sizes, colors and species gathered against one wall. I take my place on the edge of the crowd. I keep an ear out for any whisperings about slayer, but so far there are none.
Silence falls over the room as a bright yellow Miquot demon walks into the room. He stands in front of the crowd, head bowed, pausing for I don't know dramatic irony maybe?

"I'm General Dulek. I am responsible for picking the commanders for Her Immortalness' army."

Great, why do they always have to come up with these impossible titles? I mean they can't just call themselves Joan, or Sheila or anything normal. Dulek points to a fyral demon and something else I can't identify. They move out in front of the crowd.

"You will fight to the death. I will determine whether the winner is worthy of being a commander for Her Immortalness. Some of you will be required to fight more then once."

The crowd forms a large circle around the two demons. At any second I expect them to break out into rousing shouts of "Fight fight!" like in high school. I stand back and calmly watch all of it. I wonder if Angel and the others realize what's going on over here. I hope not. Logically Angel knows I can hold my own in a fight. I know from experience logic means nothing when the person you love is in a fight to the death. I watch fight after fight. I also watch Dulek. He is absorbed in watching the fighters. A couple of vamps drag off the body of the loser. Dulek singles out a Vahrall demon. His eyes land on me. Damn, he had to pick the big guy didn't he? Not like he could have chosen vamp boy over there. I place a hand at the back of my waistband to assure myself the stake is there and walk into the center of the circle.

My signal that the fight has started is a massive uppercut that knocks me on my ass. Great Buffy, nice way to impress these guys. I roll to my side just in time to avoid a bone crushing stomp that would have decimated my collarbone. I kick up, catching the Vahrall in the groin with a snap kick. I am pleased to see he does have a groin and it does do some damage. He doesn't slow down long, but it's long enough to give me a chance to get my bearings back. I rush him with a combination of punches, jabs, hooks and uppercuts. He doesn't stumble back, much, but he doesn't have a chance to advance on me either. I'd forgotten how strong these guys were. I take a step back to avoid the Vahrall's taloned hands. It's not quite a big enough step. One talon glances across my face. I feel blood run down my cheek. I launch a half spinning in to out crescent kick. The Vahrall tries to duck it but he's not fast enough. With lightening fast, God I love vampire reflexes, I catch the guy by the horns and twist as he's hitting the floor. I'm rewarded with the loud crack of his neck snapping. The room goes instantly silent. I really don't think they bet on the tiny blonde. I make a show of dusting my hands off on my pants. I stare Dulek right in the eye and turn around to rejoin the crowd.

My next fight is a Mofo demon, or maybe it's Mojo. I'm not really sure. It's a big ugly thing, I know that. He completely pisses me off by breaking my nose. It's not that it's never been broken before. It has. It's just that this time I can't actually see myself in the mirror to make sure I get straight. I'm going to have to trust Angel to do it. I let my vamp face show for the first time. "Ok, can we lay off the face? My boyfriend is really not going to like it."
He growls at me.

"Not one for conversation? I understand. It's hard to talk when I'm totally kicking your ass." I say as I turn his roundhouse kick into a spin that drives him into the ground. He lands with a thud but gets up fairly quickly for something so large. He's not quick enough. I smack him in the temple with a flying snap kick. His neck snaps and he slumps on the ground. I crack my knuckles. "So who's next?"

*

I've fought five times. I have more aches, bruises and cuts then I can catalogue. My nose is broken. I'm fairly certain I've cracked three ribs and broken at least one. I'm not so sure one of the broken ones didn't puncture a lung. It's a good thing I don't actually need it. I look around the room. Out of the 30 that we started with, there are 5 left. Me, a polgara demon, something red and spiky, Something that looks like a cross between a Fyral demon and road kill, and a really old Khakistos looking vamp. The vamp is tossing a piece of rebar around in his hands in a way that reminds me of Spike.

"For our last little, match, let's have the vampires face off. I really don't need two vampire commanders anyway." Dulek says with a grin.

Shit, this is going to hurt.

He's fast, really, really fast. I barely block the rebar before it cracks into my skull. I shove downward on the piece of metal, but it doesn't slow ugly boy down. Dodge, duck, feint, I hate fights like this. I hate being put on the run. I get in a hard jab to his stomach but I also catch the rebar in the shoulder. No one told me we could bring nifty weapons. I think longingly of the big shiny broadsword sitting in the weapons cabinet at home. My longingly thinking distracts me and I dip to the right just in time to avoid the rebar headed for my head. It drives straight through my shoulder, just below the collarbone and comes out my back underneath the shoulder blade. The pain drives me to my knees. Tears burst behind my eyes. I can hear Angel's voice screaming in my head "Get your ass up Buffy!"

Ugly boy chuckles. "That's gotta hurt. No one would blame you for giving up little girl. I'd even spare you, but that's not the rules."

I push myself up off the concrete. "Fight's not won yet." I have to struggle to keep the pain out of my voice. The only thing keeping me going is knowing Angel will blame himself if I die.

"Merely a formality little girl." Ugly boy says.

I hit him in the chin with a spinning double roundhouse kick. He's stunned just long enough for to snatch the stake from my waistband and shove it through his heart. I sit back on my heels, trying to forget that fact that there is a three foot piece of rebar through my shoulder. "You're right, merely a formality." I say to his dust. Dulek applauds in that very slow sarcastic way.

"Our next meeting will be here, a week from now. Same time. I expect each of you to be here. You'll meet your officers then."