So sorry for the delay in getting this chapter up.I had a really hard time getting inside Buffy's head, and I never did get her voice right. I'll try and post on a more regular basis from now on. Thanks again to everyone who has reviewed!
The Immortal was not pleased with his current situation. Cowering in the catacombs beneath his city, hiding from his own paramour, his bella Buffy. Why must she be so unreasonable? What did it matter if he smuggled the occasional load of heroin or Eastern European prostitutes? Was he not a generous patron of the arts, a donor to numerous charities, and a benefactor to the Church? Indeed, were not most of his business interests well within the law?
He fastidiously brushed some dirt off the sleeve of his jacket and sighed. This breakup had come at a most inconvenient time. And from the sound of things, his ragazza was destroying most of his merchandise as well as killing off a good number of his employees. It would be no easy task to rebuild his smuggling network after this disaster.
The sound of footsteps alerted him to the approach of his faithful servant, Aldo. The mournful-faced demon was limping and holding his arm stiffly at his side.
The Immoral felt a brief stab of alarm. "She didn't see you enter the tunnels, did she, Aldo?"
Aldo's long ears twitched, and he shook his head. "No, my master," he replied. "The others managed to distract her so I could make my escape."
Sighing in relief, the Immortal clapped Aldo on the arm, ignoring his servant's wince.
"Good," he said. "How much damage did she do up there?"
Aldo looked even more hang-dog, if that was possible. "I am afraid our entire shipment will be destroyed, master," he replied. "As well as the warehouse and most of your people."
The Immortal sighed again. Buffy certainly had a fiery temper worthy of an Italiana, and matched with her American self-righteousness that was a dangerous combination. Yes, this would definitely put a crimp in his operations for a while. This was certainly distressing, perhaps even more so than losing Buffy's affection. He had genuinely enjoyed her sparkling, witty personality, and had taken great pleasure in showing her around Rome and educating her to Italian and European culture. Not to mention her enthusiasm in l'amore.
Still, there were plenty of other women out there. And it would never have lasted, anyway. He would have grown bored of her, or she would have been killed, or something else would have inevitably driven them apart. It was always this way for the Immortal, who had cut himself off from humanity a long time ago.
But this certainly rated as one of his most memorable break-ups of all time. The Immortal felt himself cheering up at the thought. After all, what was most valuable to him was not money or power, but new experiences. And Buffy was one of the most unique individuals he had ever met.
"Come, Aldo," he said, starting down the tunnel. "At least we still have our health, no?"
Aldo nodded loyally, cradling his arm (which was now dripping dark blood) closer. "As always, you are the winner in the end, master," he replied, following the Immortal.
The Immortal chuckled to himself. Yes, things always worked out for him in the end. Still, he would stay out of Buffy's way after this. No need to tempt Fate. Why bother? In another fifty years, she would be dead, and he would still be here.
That was the way it always was and always would be. Friends, enemies, lovers, he outlasted them all.
He would miss her, though.
Buffy stood in the middle of the burning warehouse and wondered if she would ever develop better instincts when it came to romantic relationships. Maybe she should just swear off men altogether, she reflected.
A floppy-eared demon that reminded her (uncomfortably) of Clem ran at her with an axe in its hand. Buffy dodged its first blow and stabbed it through the chest with her sword, then kicked its body at a human who was aiming a pistol at her with shaking hands.
The dead demon knocked the human off his feet and the gunshot went wide. Buffy quickly ran over to the human and punched him once in the face, the crack of bone breaking quickly followed by a hard thud as his head bounced off the floor. The man slumped, unconscious, blood streaming from his shattered nose.
Buffy felt she should probably drag the man over to the warehouse's entrance. After all, he might be a bad guy, but he was also human.
Instead, she stalked along the wall toward a small knot of the Immortal's henchmen who were facing off with two Slayers. Buffy tore into them from behind, killing two warty, green-skinned demons before they even knew she was there. A third demon proved more troublesome, lasting almost eight seconds before she chopped its head off.
The two younger Slayers, Bianca from Naples and a girl from Austria whose name she could never remember, finished off the demons they were facing. That left two humans with clubs in their hands and fear in their eyes.
"You can walk out that door," Buffy said to them, pointing to the entrance of the warehouse, "or I can kill you." She wondered what she would do if they called her bluff. She wondered if it was a bluff. Fortunately, she was spared the decision, as the two men dropped their weapons and ran for the entrance.
Buffy turned and surveyed the warehouse floor. The rest of the Immortal's henchmen were down and dead, or gone. The other three Slayers that had participated in the raid were walking over to Buffy, Bianca, and the Austrian girl. What was her name, dammit? Ilsa? Elsa? Something like that.
"What now, Buffy?" Bianca asked. Buffy turned to see the Neapolitan Slayer and Ilsa-or-Elsa were looking at her with something like awe in their eyes.
Buffy knew she had been something of a disappointment to the new Slayers of Western Europe. They had been told all about her, the greatest Slayer ever, came back from the dead, saved the world a bunch of times, blah, blah, blah. She knew she hadn't really lived up to the hype.
In fact, she had pretty much been on permanent vacation this past year, only occasionally visiting other Slayers to patrol with them. She had spent most of her time hanging out with Dawn, partying, shopping, and sunning herself on the beach. Until tonight, the new European Slayers had never seen Buffy in full combat mode. She guessed she was living up to her reputation now.
She felt a little guilty about it, like she had let the new kids down or something. But hey, didn't she deserve a break after all she had been through? Hadn't she done her time? You bet your ass she had.
"Sweep the warehouse and drag out any survivors," Buffy said to Bianca and the others. "Then let's clear out before the police get here." The other Slayers swept into motion, and Buffy felt the tiniest little bit of satisfaction penetrate her gloom. She had planned and executed this attack with more than a little trepidation, but they had pulled it off without a hitch.
Well, except for losing track of the Immortal in all the chaos. It looked like he had escaped, and Buffy felt bad that she didn't feel worse about it.
It had been a good vacation. At first. Buffy had been intrigued when she met the Immortal, a mysterious individual who might or might not be evil. He had been charming and handsome, and he had shown her around Rome, and somehow she had wound up sleeping with him after a month or so.
She knew Dawn and Giles didn't approve, but she was just having a little fun. It had been several months since they had started dating, and just when she was finally beginning to relax around him she had discovered how he was making a lot of his money. Evil or amoral, she didn't see much difference, and she knew what she had to do. But she was still a little glad she had not had to kill him.
Buffy followed the girls outside, then told them to split up and return to their normal stations throughout Europe. She had snuck each of them into Rome over the past week in preparation for her assault on the Immortal's operations, and she was pleased with her ability to act stealthily around her soon-to-be ex-boyfriend in the mean time. The other Slayers took off, and Buffy and Bianca set off towards her place, taking a twisting route to avoid any pursuit.
Bianca chattered excitedly about the fight, still pumped up on adrenalin and victory. She was obviously impressed with Buffy's skills, now that she had finally put them to use. Buffy listened distractedly out of one ear, but she was mostly thinking about what Giles was going to say, whether the Immortal was going to take the hint and skip town or if she would have to finish him off, and...
There was no use lying to herself. Tonight had been like old times, for the first time in a long while. She was wishing that it was Xander and Willow by her side right now. She was wishing that Giles was waiting for her back at the apartment, with his books and tea, instead of Andrew, with his comic books and disgusting European colas. She wanted to hear Anya fussing over Xander and bemoaning the dry cleaning bill, and she wanted to hear Tara gently chiding Willow for some spell that had gone a little wacky but with no harm done.
And God, how she wanted to hear Spike make some sarcastic remark, or cock his head and look at her with that ridiculous gaze that somehow still warmed her all through her body.
She wondered what Angel was doing right now, in Los Angeles, at Wolfram and Hart. She wondered if whatever price he had paid for this new power was worth it. She hoped he hadn't been corrupted, and a part of her would never believe it, no matter what Giles said.
Buffy and Bianca arrived at her apartment building and climbed the stairs to her floor. Buffy sighed in resignation. The old days were gone forever. Spike was dead, and Angel was a stranger now.
Willow and Giles were always so busy running the Council now, and they had both grown into their roles in a way that made Buffy both proud and sad. They had changed, and she was still the same. They had left her behind, and she had no one to blame but herself.
Her heart ached when she thought of Xander. They had said awful things to each other that last time they were together in London. He had really hurt her, and she had to admit to herself that she had hurt him just as bad, for a long time. And poor Willow, she had tried to make peace and wound up shouting at them both. He had left and gone to Africa, and hadn't called or e-mailed her even once. He had sent her an incredibly beautiful wood carving for Christmas, along with an incredibly impersonal card. "Merry X-Mas," that was it! And he had sent Dawn this really expensive ivory carving, and a long letter that her younger sister refused to let Buffy read. Brat.
Buffy wearily opened her apartment door and let herself and Bianca in. "I'm home," she called out.
Dawn and Andrew came out of the kitchen, and Buffy immediately sensed something was way wrong. Dawn looked furious, and Andrew was shame-faced, with a nicely developing bruise under his right eye.
"How'd it go?" her younger sister asked her. Bianca started to babble about the fight but Buffy cut her off with a sharp wave.
"What's going on here?" she said, in what she hoped was a tone that brooked no debate.
Dawn's face changed from anger to sadness as she looked at her older sister. Now Buffy started feeling just a little panicked.
"What is it? Andrew, what did you do?" Andrew and Bianca both blanched, and Buffy wondered exactly what her expression looked like right now.
"He didn't do anything, Buffy," Dawn said quickly. "Except what he was told to do. And I already punished him for it."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Buffy felt her voice starting to rise.
"Sit down, Buffy," Dawn said, following her own advice by sitting on the couch.
Buffy Summers looked into her sister's eyes and wondered when she learned how to look so compassionate. The expression on Dawn's face reminded her of nothing so much as her mother's when she had told Buffy that she and Hank were getting a divorce. Buffy felt a cold fist close around her heart, and she discovered she was sitting down on the couch next to Dawn. She couldn't remember doing that.
"What is it?" she asked, simply.
And Dawn told her, and it was both better and worse than she had feared.
TBC