Author: mkcrl120
Disclaimer: All the characters mentioned in this story belong to Joss Whedon or Mutant Enemy or some other people. I own nothing and wrote this just to get it out of my system.
Summary: I'm writing some of these, as I've come up with ideas that I honestly don't know what I'll be doing when the Ultimate series gets that far. In the meantime, these won't go away from my brain unless I do something with them. Warning: It may be a standalone it may be spoilers for something later; only time will tell.
Rating: 15 probably… mainly for language.
Setting: Season 3 - I think you'll recognise when.
What The Hell(mouth) Happened?? - Chapter 26
End Of School Day.
The Car Park.
"So what's tonight's fun and frolics going to consist of..?" Jesse asked from his position of sitting on the bonnet of his own car. Willow was lying down, resting her head on her boyfriend's lap, her feet gently tapping in time to the music.
"Not sure." Cordelia answered, leaning out of her car window, having drove over to them once the car park became a little emptier.
"What..?" Jesse shouted.
Cordelia turned the car engine off, effectively silencing the radio which had been blasting away.
"Not sure." She repeated, turning her head back inside to glare at the radio. "What song was that?"
"Dunno." Willow answered, looking directly up to Jesse with a questioning glare.
He simply shrugged.
"Dammit." Cordelia responded. "Need to know what it is so I can buy it."
"Was kinda catchy..." Willow drifted off.
"You need to know what it is now..?" Jesse asked.
"It's the weirdest thing." Cordelia stated, then after recieving their looks of astonishment, she quickly clarified. "Well, not Hellmouth weird... but still pretty weird... though I guess it is Hellmouth related."
"There was nothing that impressive about the song." Jesse informed her.
"Not the song, dufus." Cordelia corrected him. "But the me... the one that was here before me... if you see what I mean."
"Oh god, it's one of these again." Jesse lifted his hands to his face. "I can feel the headache growing already."
"What about that you?" Willow asked, without missing a beat.
"She had really different taste in music to me... it's like about a year ago my tastes and her's completely seperated... you know."
"Not really." Jesse answered, trying to keep track of the conversation.
"You know, you're possibly the only person who can speak about themselves in both first and third person terms at the same time... and manage to be completely correct." Willow informed them, then added quietly. "Without being schizophrenic."
"I didn't know that." Cordelia stated, ignoring the comment. "And as a result I've had to re-purchase almost all my own CDs..."
"I'm sure I could do it if I really tried." Jesse commented, looking at Willow.
"Do you even know which is the first person and which is the third..?" She responded, glancing up at him.
"Of course." He replied with certainty, but was saved from any more comments by the arrival of Buffy and Xander.
"Hey guys." Buffy commented as she walked up to the group, leaning on Cordelia's car next to the driver's window.
"Hey." Xander added, climbing onto Cordelia's bonnet.
"Hey, geekboy." She shouted leaning out of her window. "Sit on your own car."
"I'm not hurting it." Xander replied, leaning closer towards her, threatening to put a dirty hand on the windscreen.
"Off!!!" She shouted again.
"Make me." He teased, pushing his tongue out in a childish manner, while Buffy turned her attention to the others.
"He's like a child in both dimensions." She heard Cordelia mutter, before watching amazed as she turned the car engine on.
"People could get hurt." Willow quickly stated. "Last time he tried car surfing, he fell off."
"That wasn't intentional." Jesse corrected her.
"He still almost broke his leg." Willow stated defiantly.
"It just was a grazed knee." Xander tried arguing but no-one listened.
"I like his legs in working order." Buffy commented, reaching towards the open window intending to pull the keys out of the ignition.
"Relax," Cordelia told them. "I'm not driving anywhere." She then proceeded to turn both the windscreen wipers and the washers on.
"Quit it." Xander quickly jumped off. Holding his hand where he'd been hit by one of the wiper blades, and staring at his right shoulder which had been caught in the spray.
"Next time get off when I tell you." Cordelia said.
"Sure."
"Nope... in fact, next time climb on someone else's car." She corrected herself.
"Sorry..." Xander said, making a small buzzing sound. "We can only take your first answer."
"What did he do now..?" A new voice asked, as Faith strolled into the group, Pete walking alongside her.
"Just the usual Harris lack of charm." Jesse commented, responding to Faith's question.
"Hey!!" Xander said. Turning to his girlfriend, he then asked. "Aren't you going to defend me?"
Buffy however was smiling at Faith, and giving her a knowing look. Faith for the most part, was giving her a glare promising a dark and painful death back, practically daring her to say anything. Which was causing Buffy's grin to grow even wider.
Cordelia raised her eyebrows at seeing Pete's arrival, and quickly flicked her view to Faith before being subjected to the death stares herself. "He does tend to hide behide women's skirts." Cordelia commented without much enthusiasm, using it mainly to remove Faith's attention from her own person.
"I do not..." Xander commented, letting his eyes flick downwards towards the skirt that Buffy was wearing. "Though I wouldn't mind hiding in them..." He added, trying to avoid Buffy's unreadable look.
"So you're a transvestite here..?" Cordelia teased.
"Here..?" Pete queried, most of the others having forgotten about his prescence due to his silence.
"Now... she meant now." Willow quickly covered, Cordelia eagerly nodding her agreement.
"I'm not a transvestite!!!" Xander shouted. "Not anywhere and not anywhen."
Then he noticed the others looking over his shoulder. Sighing, he turned around to see Larry climbing into a nearby car.
"None of my business bud." Larry shouted back, before starting his engine and driving off.
"This is just great." Xander replied, banging his head on Cordelia's bonnet.
"Will you stop that." She ordered him.
"Right, I'm going home before anything else happens." Xander informed them, linking arms with Buffy.
"What's tonight's plan bud..?" Jesse asked as they were leaving.
"Not sure..." Buffy started to reply as she turnd to respond, then paused as her eyes fell on Pete. "... how it can be any different to any other night... probably meet up at the Bronze later."
"Kay." Willow responded, climbing off the car and getting into the passenger side of Jesse's car.
"Cool." Jesse stated, getting the silent hint.
"Faith, you coming with us..?" Buffy asked as they made their way across to Xander's car.
"Yep... hold on." Faith answered as she gave Pete a quick goodbye kiss.
"I can take you home." Pete offered, gently grabbing her hand.
"Nah... it's fine... Xander'll prob be round ours for a while anyway... mostly likely trying to score some of Joyce's food, if not with her daughter." Faith smirked, while shrugged it off as being an unnecessary gesture.
As Jesse and Willow quickly drove off, Pete turned to Faith and asked. "So... what time at the Bronze..?"
Faith glanced at Cordelia for help. "Not sure..." she offered.
"We're normally in there by half nine at the latest." Cordelia responded. "Tell you what... you speak to Scott and we'll meet you both in there sometime around nine-ish.
"Sounds good." Faith agreed, before giving him another kiss and running off in front towards Xander's car.
"I can pick you up..?" Pete shouted after her.
"I'll be with Buffy so don't worry about it." Faith shouted back.
Pete watched her catch up with her friends before they reached the car. Cordelia shouted "Goodbye!" as she drove off herself.
Realising he was now standing alone in an empty part of the car park, he slowly made his way towards his own vehicle.
Having approached the car first, Xander held the door open for the two girls to climb in.
"After you, ladies..." He commented, gesturing for them to climb into the passenger seat.
"What a gentleman." Buffy nodded towards him, as she passed.
"Suckup." Faith added, starting to climb in.
"You're welcome..." He moved to close the door, before smirking and quietly adding ".. slut."
"You can talk." Faith commented as she placed her hand on the door handle, using her superior strength to lightly bang the door into his knees.
"Argh." He commented, walking around to the driver side with a slight limp. "What did that mean..?" He asked as he climbed in, now secure in the knowledge that buffy seperated him from the dark haired Slayer.
She smirked as she began to inform him, "I'm just saying... in two dimensions you've managed to get three of the four girls in our little gang. I'm the only one who's resisted your charms."
"And isn't that a surpr..." He muttered as he started the engine, and put the car in gear.
Buffy quickly interrupted him. "You do realise I'm not going to defend you in a fight if it's actually your fault, right..?"
"No, I didn't know that." He responded. "And while I think it is unfair... I won't be pressing the issue at this particular moment."
"Giles was wrong... he does have some common sense then." Faith smirked back.
"I..."
"Not defending." Buffy repeated.
Xander pouted at his girlfriend, while on the opposite side Faith stuck her tongue out at him.
"But you can't attack while the car is in motion either." Buffy added, turning to face her sister Slayer.
None of them noticed Pete standing beside his car, his eyes never leaving their car until it drove out of the parking lot and out of sight.
Later That Evening.
Prior To Dusk.
The Masters Old Lair.
"Right..." Jonathan stated happily, admiring the handiwork in front of him. "So that's these rooms kitted out with some necessities... Stephen, I think we need to move you and your expertise onto some of the other buildings."
"I'm not done here yet." The other vampire commented, placing his toolbox down on one of the unused coffins.
"I'm still not certain about whether we need lights or not." Jonathan answered, eyes quickly scanning the surrounding areas, deciding that the current level of candlelight was more than adequate to see by. "And I think making a start on the other buildings is more important."
"That wasn't what I meant." Stephen replied, pausing as if unsure how to broach the subject, he swallowed once then continued. "Mister Trick wouldn't let me in the room to wire him up... he threatened to stake me when I tried to take a look around."
Jonathan shook his head, mocking the minion. "Stephen... no-one likes a tell-tale... but I'll speak to Trick, let me worry about it, I'll find out what he wants, and send someone for you if it's necessary." Walking over to the vampire, he raised his arm up to put it around the larger man's shoulder. "I need you to get started on the other buildings."
"They won't take as long." Stephen confidently answered.
"Really..?" Jonathan asked in an interested tone.
"Sure... two of them are ex-warehouses... so it's just a matter of reconnecting a few cables and ensuring the power continues into the building... in this I had to drag lots of cables down here in the first place." He shrugged, "That's why the entrance is such a mess. I won't have to do that in the others."
"Even the mansion?"
"I haven't taken a look, but I assume it had electricity going to it at some point..." He drifting off, pausing to ponder the situation. "Even if it hadn't... it's on the street so it should be fairly easy to connect up."
"Excellent." Jonathan smiled back. "And we get the electricity forever right..?"
"Not quite." Stephen admitted. "At some point the electric company will notice the unscheduled power usage and track it down so that they are able to pinpoint it's location. And that's a seperate task for each site."
"And what do we do then..?" Jonathan asked, curious.
Stephen folded one arm across his chest while the other scratched his chin. "We have to reconnect it." He answered bluntly. "Normally I'd say the problem would be acquiring more cable if the company decide to strip it out... but if they follow the cable then they're gonna run across some of us, so I guess that way it's just a matter of reconnecting everything still." He stopped, rethinking his options. "Worse case scenario is that they rip out enough out so that we can't get what we have to reach, but they don't venture far enough to be caught..."
"And if that happens..?"
"We'd be down for twenty four hours tops..." Stephen replied immediately. "We'd have to wait til dark before we could steal anymore but once we've got it, I just need to get to work."
"Stephen... I must admit, for a vampire, you're a very useful person to know." Jonathan commented. "Is everything alright with you..? Enjoying the girls I sent you..?"
"Oh yes." He answered, a smirk coming to his face. "But I was wondering..."
"Stephen, don't be shy." Jonathan said, placing his hands together to show he was listening. "You can tell me..."
"I overheard you talking to Mister Trick about getting some television down here."
Jonathan looked confused, tilting his head slightly to the left he gestured for the engineer to continue. "And..?"
"There's a woman named Maria Locans... she works for the cable company... as a field engineer." Stephen stated without making eye-contact with Jonathan.
"You making recommendations now..? Is she the best or something..?"
"I dunno about that... but she's the hottest engineer I've ever met." Stephen replied enthusiastically. "I asked her out once but she turned me down." He confessed sadly.
"And you'd like another shot at it... one where she's less likely to say no." Jonathan grinned back. "Perfectly understandable... you see Stephen, this is how working relationships are meant to be... you do me a favour, I do you a favour. Now, tell me about this girl so I can get the boys to look out for her."
End chapter twenty six