Keri Wilson
Title: Wherever We May Roam (BTVS/X-men crossover)
(rating PG, or a very mild PG-13)
Part 1 of 1
Rogue and Gambit property of Marvel Comics, Spike, Buffy, and Dawn
are property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, etc.
Alternate Universe. As in Xtreme X-men, Gambit and Rogue took a leave
of absence from the team while their powers slowly returned after a
battle where they both almost died, and also to get time alone
together to really discover each other (Yes, that way too ;). They
have been traveling around the country having interesting adventures.
Alternate post Chosen universe. Spike survives and he and Buffy are
finally officially a couple- Buffy having declared her love for Spike
right before she saved him. Buffy and Spike decided to split off from
the rest of the Sunnydale refugees- most having never truly accepted
Spike, but Dawn demands to go with
them. (Putting a slight cramp on some of the activities Buffy and
Spike want to indulge in ;) The encounter takes place in between the
former Sunnydale and Los Angeles.
I "blame" James Marsters for inspiring this fic with his enthusiastic
positive response when asked at Dragon Con 2003 if he'd like to play
Gambit in a X-men movie. ;)
Title comes from a John Lennon song from 1980 titled "Clean Up Time"
The full line is: "However Far We Travel, Wherever We May Roam, the
Center of Our Circle Will Always Be Our Home."
Southern California
May 21, 2003 10 PM
"Remy ah swear if you tell me again that restaurant is just up the
road a couple o' more blocks I'll scream. We've been driving on these
bikes at least 30 miles since yah started saying that. I'm hungry
enough now I could eat both o' our bikes and still be starvin'"
Remy sighed as he took his turn filling up the gas tank on his bike.
Rogue was pissed off now and probably nothing he could say would help
other than: "There's the restaurant right over there and I'll pay for
both our meals". He'd been silently praying to Saint Christopher that
the restaurant would be right around the next bend for the last 10 miles.
Especially since they hadn't eaten since starting out this morning and he
was getting pretty hungry as well.
The problem started about 50 miles back the road, when they had to
make an unexpected detour around some town called Sunnydale. All the
cops would say was there had been a major localized earthquake and
the roads were impassable.
Rogue might be able to fly up briefly to see if she could spot the
restaurant but he hated to ask and it might be risky with her being
tired and hungry. Remy started to feel guilty. He wondered if the
small grocery store had chocolate fudge frozen yogurt- Rogue's favorite
flavor. And hey he wouldn't turn it down either. Oh well groveling time,
with a little Cajun charm thrown in for good measure.
"I'm really sorry, chere, detour threw me off. I t'ought we were back
on route. Guess have t' admit I'm lost. You wanna see if we can get
some food t' hold us in little hole in a wall grocery here?"
It was Rogue's turn to sigh, if she didn't feel so crabby from being
hungry she might have smiled at Remy actually admitting to being
lost. That whole male ego thing- never admit you're lost... She
smiled lopsidedly in spite of feeling kind of bitchy. "If they have
chocolate fudge yogurt or ice-cream I'll forgive you" She threw back
to him as she sashayed toward the dinky gas station grocery.
Remy admired that rear view as he turned his bike around. She had the
most beautiful body he'd ever laid eyes on, or hands on- for that
matter, he smirked. He'd noticed that the first time they met, long
before he'd fallen in love with her.
The road had been so quiet as they drove the past few miles Remy had
relaxed and taken off his sunglasses. He often wore even at night,
to hide his glowing red on black eyes that clearly marked him as a
mutant. Those eyes had since the day he was born- earned him his
first nickname: Le Diable Blanc- the white devil. People feared the
child with the glowing eyes on the streets of New Orleans, in those
days mutancy was unknown to the public, and he was assumed to be some
sort of demonic child.
He had lived a hard and lonely life until his adoptive father Jean-
Luc LeBeau had taken him in at 8 years old. After that he'd at least
felt loved and wanted by his father and eventually by his much older
stepbrother. Henri's wife Merci and Tante Mattie had enthusiastically
embraced their new family member.
Tante Mattie had been like a mother to him, made him go to church,
taught him to respect women, the value of learning... Merci had
taught him how to charm the ladies, not by direct actions, but by
watching her work a room. She could have every man in a room hanging
onto her every word in nothing flat.
Then there was Belladonna Boudreaux, his first love. The marriage had
been a mistake, but with years and distance, and more maturity on
both their parts, they'd evolved a sort of friendship and mutual
respect. He wished her the same happiness and sense of family he'd
found with Rogue- hopefully minus the several years of heartbreaks
it'd taken the two of them to finally come together.
Remy had been so lost in thought he jumped when a really ugly
minivan, with all the windows not only very darkly tinted, but every
one but the front windshield and driver's side painted over black,
pulled into the gas station. Remy quickly turned his head away and
looked for his sunglasses. He hoped Rogue would hurry up with
whatever she decided to get. Whoever was in that van obviously didn't
want anyone seeing in it, or them. This could be a very dangerous
situation, and with only nominal levels of their powers, something
he'd rather not tangle with. He covertly watched who got out from the
corner of his eye.
He relaxed slightly when the first person out of the minivan was a
small woman about 5' 3'', pretty, with long blonde hair. She was
probably about Rogue's age. Next out was a slightly taller girl,
also pretty, but definitely a teenager, with long light brown hair.
Remy immediately tensed up though, when the third occupant emerged. A
man who looked to be maybe around his age, with short hair slicked
back and dyed a bright blond, wearing a black duster. The man appeared
shorter than him, but gave off a vibe that said "I'm dangerous, don't cross me".
A second too late Remy realized that the blond man had noticed what
he was doing. The woman and girl continued toward the grocery,
but the man began to walk toward him, giving off a menacing attitude. Remy
turned around and faced the approaching man with an easy smile and
open relaxed posture, but inside he tensed for a fight. When the
blonde haired woman realized the man had not followed them she turned
around and called out questioningly-
"Spike?"
"It's okay luv, just going to ask mister curious here a few
questions."
Remy quickly ran through his options, the man was clearly British,
definitely a fighter- going around with a name like Spike was a
definite clue! But something about his manner of moving made Remy
sure the man was not just a human tough guy- too smooth. A mutant
with heightened agility perhaps? Hmm play up the Cajun dialect, put
the guy off guard thinking you're kind of ignorant, curious but
friendly? Might work.
"Hey mon ami, you know where abouts de closest eatin' place be?"
Both the woman and the man were now staring at him oddly; the woman
said "Huh?" She'd clearly not understood his accent. The man stopped,
no longer radiating hostility, but slight confusion. He gave a slight
shake of the head in the negative and then he said "Er, no, just traveling
through ourselves."
Rogue picked that moment to come out the door, one arm laden with an
armload of snacks and two cups. Remy watched her tense up as she
assessed the situation. When she realized a fight wasn't imminent she
relaxed, pasted a smile on her face to match Remy's and slowly walked
back to her bike. When she passed by the blond man she gave him a
flirtatious wink that she knew was guaranteed to throw almost any man off.
It worked on this man too, he relaxed and grinned at
her. Rogue handed Remy one of the cups.
"They had chocolate shakes shugah, so yoah half forgiven." Rogue
teased.
The blonde woman apparently comprehended Rogue's dialect slightly
better because she smiled and asked, "They have chocolate shakes?"
"Yeah, but not mah favorite chocolate fudge yogurt"
"Oh I guess they wouldn't have my favorite either then, chocolate
chip cookie dough ice cream"
"Nah, they're pretty sparse on stuff, just the basics, chocolate,
vanilla, strawberry ice cream. Nothin' in real food neither, just
snacks."
The man Remy assumed was called Spike shrugged, deeming them no real
threat and turned toward the store. He called out to the
woman, "Going to see if the bit has bought out the store and see if I
can find something, pet. You want to keep talking to your new friends
here you can."
Buffy Summers rolled her eyes and after a brief glance after Spike,
she turned back to these strange talking people, curious in spite of
herself. Plus there was something sort of different about them. She
tensed for a moment, could they be vamps or demons? They didn't
quite give off that vibe. Her Slayer sense seemed more uncertain
than threatened.
"Hi, my names Buffy. What's yours?"
Buffy thought the woman had strange hair- well maybe next to Spike
not quite as strange. She had a white streak in her hair right at the
front, and the rest was sort of reddish brown. The man seemed more
normal, in looks except he was wearing sunglasses way after dark.
Both were taller than normal though, especially the woman. She looked
close to Spike's height, the man maybe a bit taller than Angel, but
built like Spike. Something about both of them said they'd had
training as fighters. Buffy realized it was the way they stood, like
her, relaxed but ready to fight if necessary.
"Ah'm Rogue and this is Gambit"
Had to be fake names, like Spike, no one would name their kids such
weird names. I still can't get a feel for what they are though. She
took a couple of steps closer and realized even behind the glasses
there was something very odd about this Gambit guy's eyes. She saw
a distinct glow reflected on the rim of the glasses. She said softly
but firmly, "What are you?" She looked directly at Gambit.
Gambit gave Rogue a quick glance, and she nodded. He lowered his
sunglasses. Buffy gasped and stepped back shocked. This guy's eyes
were way freaky, no white, just glowing red on back.
"We're mutant humans. I was born with dese eyes, like Rogue here had
her white streak."
Buffy guessed that was not all there was to it, but she also sensed
no threats from them. She decided to see how they'd react when she
told them what she was. "I'm the Slayer."
Rogue tensed right back up, but also felt confused. "The Slayer?"
Rogue thoughts raced with alarm, As in someone who kills? What does
she kill and why? Is she one of those humans who rabidly hates
mutants and murders them?
Remy tensed as well, but the term somehow seemed to touch something
he was struggling to remember, something from the Guild's past. Then
it came to him.
About 100 years ago there'd been a girl from the Ducenoux thief clan.
She hadn't been like the 5 other daughters of that generation. She
was eventually outcast from her clan; she was wandering New Orleans
at night, and would come home covered in dust. The family assumed she
had shamed herself and taken a lover. But after she was outcast
stories began to circulate around New Orleans about her fighting
vampires and other demons.
Remy had assumed when he'd first heard the story from Tante Mattie,
when he was still a child, it had just been one of her scary stories
she told him as he went to sleep. Then as he was preparing for his
tests to become a full-fledged member of the Thieves Guild of New
Orleans, he'd seen the tale in Guild records with the girl's full
name, parents and when she was born and died.
By that time he'd discovered a bit about what he was, this word
called mutant. He had wondered if the girl had been a mutant as well.
They'd called her Eugenie, the Vampire Slayer, and made reference to
some ancient power that mysteriously only called upon young girls,
but only one at a time, giving them an overwhelming urge to go out
and slay vampires and other dark beings until they were killed.
Then the next girl would be called, sometimes in the same
place. Other times, if the level of demonic infestation were low
enough when the Slayer was killed, the strange power would move onto
another place and call another girl. They're been no Slayer in
New Orleans since Eugenie had died in 1908. She was a slayer two years.
A demon pack infected her with their deadly poison before
she killed them all. She was dead less than a week later.
"So de legend is true?"
"You've heard of the Slayer?"
"Had one in New Orleans once, story got passed down t'rough de
generations."
Buffy nodded. "So you know what I am."
Just at that moment Dawn came up to her sister breaking the
tension. "Spikes all growly that they don't have any Whetabix, and
the only meat they've got is beef jerky. What's beef jerky, and why
do they call it that? Oh I got us both chocolate ice cream cones.
They are so cheesy, just three flavors of ice cream, no yogurt, or
sherbet, not even 31 flavors or whatever it is..."
Rogue and Gambit grinned at each other and said quietly in
unison, "Jubilee".
Rogue continued in a whisper, "Ah didn't realize all teenage girls
from southern California sounded like her." Rogue had definitely
pegged both the woman and the girl as southern Californian natives,
just like Jubilee.
Gambit smirked, "been here a few times, and yep they do sound like
her, at least teenagers do."
"Been here a couple of times, but didn't hang out with people much,
so ah hadn't heard enough to know."
"What's the story on this Slayer thing, Remy?"
"Long story, tell you later what I know. She's not a threat to us
though. No more than we are to her."
The teenage girl was still talking to Buffy in that endless stream of
words. Rogue put away the snacks she'd bought into her bike pack and
got on her bike. Gambit had already started his bike back up. Once he
looked over at her Rogue smirked and waved back and forth one
purchase she hadn't yet shown him- a roadmap of Southern California.
She'd taken a good look at it before she'd come back out.
This time she'd take the lead and he'd follow her. They were only a
couple of turns off the route Gambit had been trying to get them on.
Gambit threw up his hands and mouthed, "OK" as Rogue started up her
bike.
Spike walked out of the grocery with a pack of cigarettes, and a
small box of hot wings he'd finally found. He even managed to persuade,
without threats, much less going into vamp face, the manager to let
him heat up in their microwave. He supposed it'd have to do until
they reached some place that had a butcher shop where he could get,
he sighed, pigs blood. Better than rat at least. God that was the
most repulsive blood he'd ever survived on!
How Rat boy, Spike grinned at his current insulting nickname for
Angel, apparently got a taste for it he didn't know. Spike shuddered
at the thought of spending 80 plus years eating rats. Seven weeks in
the school basement had permanently repulsed him towards eating rat.
Morally he couldn't go after humans anymore. The thought of that made
him feel even sicker than he did thinking of rats.
He was still Spike, the vampire, but since the soul it had felt more
and more like a persona, one he put on for battle. He was conscious
of being William, and a lot of times now it felt more real than being
Spike. It helped, that while Buffy worried about his vulnerability
when he was more William than Spike, she also would open up herself,
by her own admission, more than she had to anyone else. Not even
Angel had seen as much of the "true Buffy Summers".
It still stunned him to have his dream come true; Buffy loved him,
with all her heart. He'd lost some of the shame and deep embarrassment
over being an overly sentimental man. Unlike Cecily, Buffy loved that
part of him, every bit as much as she loved the fierce warrior who would
leap into battle at her side.
Spike watched the strange couple on the motorcycles drive off to the
east, then he walked over to Buffy and Dawn and groused, "Only thing
worth eating were these Hot Wings, and had to bloody beg to microwave
them"
Dawn grinned at him "What, not going for the beef jerky?"
"Too much like eating rat."
"Eww!" Both Buffy and Dawn chorused
Spike grinned and put his arms around Buffy. She learned back against
him "Um nice..."
Dawn smirked and mock scolded them as she opened the van doors, "Get
a room you two."
"In good time, lil' bit, in good time."
It felt good to not just have Buffy love him, but Dawn like him
again. She treated him like family. It'd been a long time since he'd
felt that. No matter that they didn't currently have one, being
around these two Summers women, felt like home.
Title: Wherever We May Roam (BTVS/X-men crossover)
(rating PG, or a very mild PG-13)
Part 1 of 1
Rogue and Gambit property of Marvel Comics, Spike, Buffy, and Dawn
are property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, etc.
Alternate Universe. As in Xtreme X-men, Gambit and Rogue took a leave
of absence from the team while their powers slowly returned after a
battle where they both almost died, and also to get time alone
together to really discover each other (Yes, that way too ;). They
have been traveling around the country having interesting adventures.
Alternate post Chosen universe. Spike survives and he and Buffy are
finally officially a couple- Buffy having declared her love for Spike
right before she saved him. Buffy and Spike decided to split off from
the rest of the Sunnydale refugees- most having never truly accepted
Spike, but Dawn demands to go with
them. (Putting a slight cramp on some of the activities Buffy and
Spike want to indulge in ;) The encounter takes place in between the
former Sunnydale and Los Angeles.
I "blame" James Marsters for inspiring this fic with his enthusiastic
positive response when asked at Dragon Con 2003 if he'd like to play
Gambit in a X-men movie. ;)
Title comes from a John Lennon song from 1980 titled "Clean Up Time"
The full line is: "However Far We Travel, Wherever We May Roam, the
Center of Our Circle Will Always Be Our Home."
Southern California
May 21, 2003 10 PM
"Remy ah swear if you tell me again that restaurant is just up the
road a couple o' more blocks I'll scream. We've been driving on these
bikes at least 30 miles since yah started saying that. I'm hungry
enough now I could eat both o' our bikes and still be starvin'"
Remy sighed as he took his turn filling up the gas tank on his bike.
Rogue was pissed off now and probably nothing he could say would help
other than: "There's the restaurant right over there and I'll pay for
both our meals". He'd been silently praying to Saint Christopher that
the restaurant would be right around the next bend for the last 10 miles.
Especially since they hadn't eaten since starting out this morning and he
was getting pretty hungry as well.
The problem started about 50 miles back the road, when they had to
make an unexpected detour around some town called Sunnydale. All the
cops would say was there had been a major localized earthquake and
the roads were impassable.
Rogue might be able to fly up briefly to see if she could spot the
restaurant but he hated to ask and it might be risky with her being
tired and hungry. Remy started to feel guilty. He wondered if the
small grocery store had chocolate fudge frozen yogurt- Rogue's favorite
flavor. And hey he wouldn't turn it down either. Oh well groveling time,
with a little Cajun charm thrown in for good measure.
"I'm really sorry, chere, detour threw me off. I t'ought we were back
on route. Guess have t' admit I'm lost. You wanna see if we can get
some food t' hold us in little hole in a wall grocery here?"
It was Rogue's turn to sigh, if she didn't feel so crabby from being
hungry she might have smiled at Remy actually admitting to being
lost. That whole male ego thing- never admit you're lost... She
smiled lopsidedly in spite of feeling kind of bitchy. "If they have
chocolate fudge yogurt or ice-cream I'll forgive you" She threw back
to him as she sashayed toward the dinky gas station grocery.
Remy admired that rear view as he turned his bike around. She had the
most beautiful body he'd ever laid eyes on, or hands on- for that
matter, he smirked. He'd noticed that the first time they met, long
before he'd fallen in love with her.
The road had been so quiet as they drove the past few miles Remy had
relaxed and taken off his sunglasses. He often wore even at night,
to hide his glowing red on black eyes that clearly marked him as a
mutant. Those eyes had since the day he was born- earned him his
first nickname: Le Diable Blanc- the white devil. People feared the
child with the glowing eyes on the streets of New Orleans, in those
days mutancy was unknown to the public, and he was assumed to be some
sort of demonic child.
He had lived a hard and lonely life until his adoptive father Jean-
Luc LeBeau had taken him in at 8 years old. After that he'd at least
felt loved and wanted by his father and eventually by his much older
stepbrother. Henri's wife Merci and Tante Mattie had enthusiastically
embraced their new family member.
Tante Mattie had been like a mother to him, made him go to church,
taught him to respect women, the value of learning... Merci had
taught him how to charm the ladies, not by direct actions, but by
watching her work a room. She could have every man in a room hanging
onto her every word in nothing flat.
Then there was Belladonna Boudreaux, his first love. The marriage had
been a mistake, but with years and distance, and more maturity on
both their parts, they'd evolved a sort of friendship and mutual
respect. He wished her the same happiness and sense of family he'd
found with Rogue- hopefully minus the several years of heartbreaks
it'd taken the two of them to finally come together.
Remy had been so lost in thought he jumped when a really ugly
minivan, with all the windows not only very darkly tinted, but every
one but the front windshield and driver's side painted over black,
pulled into the gas station. Remy quickly turned his head away and
looked for his sunglasses. He hoped Rogue would hurry up with
whatever she decided to get. Whoever was in that van obviously didn't
want anyone seeing in it, or them. This could be a very dangerous
situation, and with only nominal levels of their powers, something
he'd rather not tangle with. He covertly watched who got out from the
corner of his eye.
He relaxed slightly when the first person out of the minivan was a
small woman about 5' 3'', pretty, with long blonde hair. She was
probably about Rogue's age. Next out was a slightly taller girl,
also pretty, but definitely a teenager, with long light brown hair.
Remy immediately tensed up though, when the third occupant emerged. A
man who looked to be maybe around his age, with short hair slicked
back and dyed a bright blond, wearing a black duster. The man appeared
shorter than him, but gave off a vibe that said "I'm dangerous, don't cross me".
A second too late Remy realized that the blond man had noticed what
he was doing. The woman and girl continued toward the grocery,
but the man began to walk toward him, giving off a menacing attitude. Remy
turned around and faced the approaching man with an easy smile and
open relaxed posture, but inside he tensed for a fight. When the
blonde haired woman realized the man had not followed them she turned
around and called out questioningly-
"Spike?"
"It's okay luv, just going to ask mister curious here a few
questions."
Remy quickly ran through his options, the man was clearly British,
definitely a fighter- going around with a name like Spike was a
definite clue! But something about his manner of moving made Remy
sure the man was not just a human tough guy- too smooth. A mutant
with heightened agility perhaps? Hmm play up the Cajun dialect, put
the guy off guard thinking you're kind of ignorant, curious but
friendly? Might work.
"Hey mon ami, you know where abouts de closest eatin' place be?"
Both the woman and the man were now staring at him oddly; the woman
said "Huh?" She'd clearly not understood his accent. The man stopped,
no longer radiating hostility, but slight confusion. He gave a slight
shake of the head in the negative and then he said "Er, no, just traveling
through ourselves."
Rogue picked that moment to come out the door, one arm laden with an
armload of snacks and two cups. Remy watched her tense up as she
assessed the situation. When she realized a fight wasn't imminent she
relaxed, pasted a smile on her face to match Remy's and slowly walked
back to her bike. When she passed by the blond man she gave him a
flirtatious wink that she knew was guaranteed to throw almost any man off.
It worked on this man too, he relaxed and grinned at
her. Rogue handed Remy one of the cups.
"They had chocolate shakes shugah, so yoah half forgiven." Rogue
teased.
The blonde woman apparently comprehended Rogue's dialect slightly
better because she smiled and asked, "They have chocolate shakes?"
"Yeah, but not mah favorite chocolate fudge yogurt"
"Oh I guess they wouldn't have my favorite either then, chocolate
chip cookie dough ice cream"
"Nah, they're pretty sparse on stuff, just the basics, chocolate,
vanilla, strawberry ice cream. Nothin' in real food neither, just
snacks."
The man Remy assumed was called Spike shrugged, deeming them no real
threat and turned toward the store. He called out to the
woman, "Going to see if the bit has bought out the store and see if I
can find something, pet. You want to keep talking to your new friends
here you can."
Buffy Summers rolled her eyes and after a brief glance after Spike,
she turned back to these strange talking people, curious in spite of
herself. Plus there was something sort of different about them. She
tensed for a moment, could they be vamps or demons? They didn't
quite give off that vibe. Her Slayer sense seemed more uncertain
than threatened.
"Hi, my names Buffy. What's yours?"
Buffy thought the woman had strange hair- well maybe next to Spike
not quite as strange. She had a white streak in her hair right at the
front, and the rest was sort of reddish brown. The man seemed more
normal, in looks except he was wearing sunglasses way after dark.
Both were taller than normal though, especially the woman. She looked
close to Spike's height, the man maybe a bit taller than Angel, but
built like Spike. Something about both of them said they'd had
training as fighters. Buffy realized it was the way they stood, like
her, relaxed but ready to fight if necessary.
"Ah'm Rogue and this is Gambit"
Had to be fake names, like Spike, no one would name their kids such
weird names. I still can't get a feel for what they are though. She
took a couple of steps closer and realized even behind the glasses
there was something very odd about this Gambit guy's eyes. She saw
a distinct glow reflected on the rim of the glasses. She said softly
but firmly, "What are you?" She looked directly at Gambit.
Gambit gave Rogue a quick glance, and she nodded. He lowered his
sunglasses. Buffy gasped and stepped back shocked. This guy's eyes
were way freaky, no white, just glowing red on back.
"We're mutant humans. I was born with dese eyes, like Rogue here had
her white streak."
Buffy guessed that was not all there was to it, but she also sensed
no threats from them. She decided to see how they'd react when she
told them what she was. "I'm the Slayer."
Rogue tensed right back up, but also felt confused. "The Slayer?"
Rogue thoughts raced with alarm, As in someone who kills? What does
she kill and why? Is she one of those humans who rabidly hates
mutants and murders them?
Remy tensed as well, but the term somehow seemed to touch something
he was struggling to remember, something from the Guild's past. Then
it came to him.
About 100 years ago there'd been a girl from the Ducenoux thief clan.
She hadn't been like the 5 other daughters of that generation. She
was eventually outcast from her clan; she was wandering New Orleans
at night, and would come home covered in dust. The family assumed she
had shamed herself and taken a lover. But after she was outcast
stories began to circulate around New Orleans about her fighting
vampires and other demons.
Remy had assumed when he'd first heard the story from Tante Mattie,
when he was still a child, it had just been one of her scary stories
she told him as he went to sleep. Then as he was preparing for his
tests to become a full-fledged member of the Thieves Guild of New
Orleans, he'd seen the tale in Guild records with the girl's full
name, parents and when she was born and died.
By that time he'd discovered a bit about what he was, this word
called mutant. He had wondered if the girl had been a mutant as well.
They'd called her Eugenie, the Vampire Slayer, and made reference to
some ancient power that mysteriously only called upon young girls,
but only one at a time, giving them an overwhelming urge to go out
and slay vampires and other dark beings until they were killed.
Then the next girl would be called, sometimes in the same
place. Other times, if the level of demonic infestation were low
enough when the Slayer was killed, the strange power would move onto
another place and call another girl. They're been no Slayer in
New Orleans since Eugenie had died in 1908. She was a slayer two years.
A demon pack infected her with their deadly poison before
she killed them all. She was dead less than a week later.
"So de legend is true?"
"You've heard of the Slayer?"
"Had one in New Orleans once, story got passed down t'rough de
generations."
Buffy nodded. "So you know what I am."
Just at that moment Dawn came up to her sister breaking the
tension. "Spikes all growly that they don't have any Whetabix, and
the only meat they've got is beef jerky. What's beef jerky, and why
do they call it that? Oh I got us both chocolate ice cream cones.
They are so cheesy, just three flavors of ice cream, no yogurt, or
sherbet, not even 31 flavors or whatever it is..."
Rogue and Gambit grinned at each other and said quietly in
unison, "Jubilee".
Rogue continued in a whisper, "Ah didn't realize all teenage girls
from southern California sounded like her." Rogue had definitely
pegged both the woman and the girl as southern Californian natives,
just like Jubilee.
Gambit smirked, "been here a few times, and yep they do sound like
her, at least teenagers do."
"Been here a couple of times, but didn't hang out with people much,
so ah hadn't heard enough to know."
"What's the story on this Slayer thing, Remy?"
"Long story, tell you later what I know. She's not a threat to us
though. No more than we are to her."
The teenage girl was still talking to Buffy in that endless stream of
words. Rogue put away the snacks she'd bought into her bike pack and
got on her bike. Gambit had already started his bike back up. Once he
looked over at her Rogue smirked and waved back and forth one
purchase she hadn't yet shown him- a roadmap of Southern California.
She'd taken a good look at it before she'd come back out.
This time she'd take the lead and he'd follow her. They were only a
couple of turns off the route Gambit had been trying to get them on.
Gambit threw up his hands and mouthed, "OK" as Rogue started up her
bike.
Spike walked out of the grocery with a pack of cigarettes, and a
small box of hot wings he'd finally found. He even managed to persuade,
without threats, much less going into vamp face, the manager to let
him heat up in their microwave. He supposed it'd have to do until
they reached some place that had a butcher shop where he could get,
he sighed, pigs blood. Better than rat at least. God that was the
most repulsive blood he'd ever survived on!
How Rat boy, Spike grinned at his current insulting nickname for
Angel, apparently got a taste for it he didn't know. Spike shuddered
at the thought of spending 80 plus years eating rats. Seven weeks in
the school basement had permanently repulsed him towards eating rat.
Morally he couldn't go after humans anymore. The thought of that made
him feel even sicker than he did thinking of rats.
He was still Spike, the vampire, but since the soul it had felt more
and more like a persona, one he put on for battle. He was conscious
of being William, and a lot of times now it felt more real than being
Spike. It helped, that while Buffy worried about his vulnerability
when he was more William than Spike, she also would open up herself,
by her own admission, more than she had to anyone else. Not even
Angel had seen as much of the "true Buffy Summers".
It still stunned him to have his dream come true; Buffy loved him,
with all her heart. He'd lost some of the shame and deep embarrassment
over being an overly sentimental man. Unlike Cecily, Buffy loved that
part of him, every bit as much as she loved the fierce warrior who would
leap into battle at her side.
Spike watched the strange couple on the motorcycles drive off to the
east, then he walked over to Buffy and Dawn and groused, "Only thing
worth eating were these Hot Wings, and had to bloody beg to microwave
them"
Dawn grinned at him "What, not going for the beef jerky?"
"Too much like eating rat."
"Eww!" Both Buffy and Dawn chorused
Spike grinned and put his arms around Buffy. She learned back against
him "Um nice..."
Dawn smirked and mock scolded them as she opened the van doors, "Get
a room you two."
"In good time, lil' bit, in good time."
It felt good to not just have Buffy love him, but Dawn like him
again. She treated him like family. It'd been a long time since he'd
felt that. No matter that they didn't currently have one, being
around these two Summers women, felt like home.