Disclaimer: The universe isn't mine, but a sizeable number of the characters are. Joss Whedon developed the universe, I'm just allowing a few of my own characters to run around in it.
Chapter 7:
"Dee." Anne nodded respectfully at the slayer as she slowly, methodically descended the steps into the dim light, "took you long enough to show up."
"Anne." Dee glared at the woman who, no more than a year before, had held her position on the San Diego Hellmouth.
Brilliant strategic thinking, Dee, she admonished herself, file this right under "Bay of Pigs."
"I was wondering when you'd get around to finding this little hideout" Anne emphasized the last word, sarcastically, "I thought it would be a little sooner." She shifted her gaze to the Slayer's younger sibling, "bringing little sister along, though; not exactly your brightest move."
Dee's eyes narrowed into fierce slits, "she heard that you did a killer imitation of the contents of a dust pan. She didn't want to miss it."
Anne smiled, "you've mellowed in your old age, Dee." She paused, her face twisting in a wicked grimace, "I saw what you did to that vampire outside your house, and I heard what you did to that assassin Osiris sent after you way back when you were just starting." She smiled nastily, "now look at you; the picture of composure."
In truth, Dee could feel the anger bubbling up just under her heart, slowly rising to a boil. It took more self-control than she knew she had to keep it in check. It was only the absolute certainty that it would be a short fight that kept her from pounding Anne into something which resembled a raspberry pancake. The fight with Anne, she could probably win. Anne was just a vampire. Admittedly a vampire with the strength and skill of a slayer, but she was still a vampire. Dee was a slayer. The slayer in San Diego. She could take her.
It was the fight with the vampires that stood around her that had her worried. The most she had ever taken down at once was four.
But she would have been lying if she said that at least part of her didn't wonder exactly how many she could take down if she just let go. She'd gone berserk once, turned herself into little more than a pit of anger and fury, held up only by bloodlust. Maybe if she let herself go, lashed out at as many of the undead beasts as she possibly could, she could take some of them down with her. Maybe as many as ten.
But then what happens to April?
Dee fought not to show the anguish on her face. She'd been maneuvered into this position, and rather brutally. The van on the freeway, the attack on her doorstep, all designed to get her pissed off enough to go on the offensive, and to force her to act defensively when she did it. Like trying to run a marathon with one foot encased in a cement boot.
The secret to victory, Anders had told her, is knowing what your opponent wants, and making him believe that he can get it from you. That was Anders' theory as to why the Slayer was always a young attractive woman; the Vampire's favorite meal. A worm on the hook who had the capacity to bite back, figuratively speaking.
So what does Anne want?
"So, what's the plan now, Dee?" Anne descended the last step and stood before the raven-haired slayer; her red hair hung in a long braid down her back. "Fight your way out?" Anne looked around the circle of vampires around the two sisters, "'cause I really don't like your chances."
"You sure about that?"
Anne smiled, "two nights ago, you took out four vampires; and you were just barely able to crawl out of the graveyard afterwards."
"Deeā¦" April's voice was tremulous, nervous.
"April." Anne walked over to the younger Chlopan sister. "Scared? I don't blame you. You're probably not going to make it out of this room alive." Anne nodded at the slayer, "You can thank big sis for that one." She took a step towards April.
"You reach for her, and I swear you'll pull back a stump."
The vampires surrounding them growled and stepped forward at the threat.
Anne held up a hand, silencing them. She looked at Dee, allowing her vampiric face to show, "the slayer shows her fangs."
At Dee's silence, she went on, "and for who, exactly?" She waved a hand at April, "a sister who, a year ago, would have just as soon spit in your face as spoken to you." She fixed her yellow, catlike eyes on Dee's, "and now you go and get her killed on a rather pathetically simple ruse." She stepped up to the slayer, bringing her face inches from the Dee's, "what would your father say?"
Dee set loose a savage punch. She didn't care about what the response would be; as long as she managed to knock Anne's head off of her shoulders.
Anne twisted smoothly out of the way, deflecting the savage blow away from her face. She responded with a snap-kick that the slayer never even saw coming. It connected at her right temple, stunning the smaller woman. Dee dropped heavily to her knees.
"I must say, Dee, you're quite possibly the most predictable slayer ever to be called."
"Go to hell."
Anne's face reverted to its normal human appearance. "Eventually." She looked around, "but I think it's safe to say that you'll be making that trip a lot sooner than I will."
Dee made no attempt to mask the effort it took to stand, "I've beaten you once."
"Beat up one injured woman and you suddenly think you're hot shit?" Anne shook her head, sarcastically, "I don't know if you've noticed, but you don't have a car to hit me with, this time."
"Are you so sure I need one?"
"I just knocked you off of your feet in less than ten seconds. Believe me, you need your car."
"Don't suppose you're willing to let my sister and I go and grab it? It's parked in the street."
Anne smiled, "in a word: 'no,' but I will give you the chance to get something you've wanted for a long time."
"Exactly what do you have that I would want?"
Anne's smile widened, "me."
"You."
Anne nodded, "You face me. You win, you and your sister walk out of here. You lose, I have you both for lunch."
"And you expect me to trust you to keep your word?"
"I won't be around to countermand it, and my men won't disobey one of my orders, even after I'm dead." She paused for a moment, waving her had at her small army of vampires, "not that you have a choice in the matter."
"'Men?' What, no girl vampires hanging around?" Dee looked around her. There were indeed no females. Actually, now that she thought of it, she couldn't remember encountering a single female vampire since becoming the Slayer.
Except for Anne, of course.
Anne shrugged, "Osiris doesn't trust them. He forbids me from turning any."
"Really?" Dee arched her eyebrows, "nice to know who wears the pants in your relationship."
Anne threw a hard punch that Dee didn't bother trying to deflect. It slammed brutally into her right cheekbone, snapping her head hard to the left.
Ouch. Dee brought her hand up to her cheek, touching it gingerly. That's gonna leave a mark.
"Struck a nerve, did I?" Dee brought her gaze back to the Vampire.
"Do we have a deal?" Anne stared at her counterpart.
"Do I have a choice?" Dee countered.
Anne shook her head, "Sure. Take the deal now, and I'll make sure you die quickly. Turn me down, and I'll make sure that both you and your sister enjoy every moment of a very long, excruciatingly painful death."
"I thought you said we'd walk of I won."
"Just how likely do you think that is?"
"You're a vampire. I've lost count of the number of your kind I've killed."
Anne didn't back down from Dee's stare, "You're human. I eat your kind for breakfast."
"The one time you've faced me yourself, you lost, badly." Dee shook her head, "your minions haven't fared much better."
Anne turned to a pair of vampires behind April. "Hold the runt. If the slayer wins, you're to escort them to street level and let them go." She turned back to Dee, "I think you'll find that a more agreeable way of exiting the building than the way you came in."
The two vampires stepped forward to grab April by her arms, dragging her back outside the circle of vampires which closed around the two women.
Dee pulled held out a pair of stakes, preparing for the inevitable conflict.
"Take whatever weapons you need." Anne nodded at the pair of swords Dee still wore across her back, "I already have mine." Anne again allowed her demonic face to show.
Vampire slayer and slayer vampire circled each other slowly; each watching the other move, each waiting for the other to strike.
Each knowing that in a few minutes, it would all end.
