For notes, wantings and disclaimers see chapter 1
Chapter 19: Human or Something Like It
(Buffy's POV)
Okay, I'm getting seriously freaked out here. First I had Ethan trying to hide from me --with trying being the operative word, seeing how it took me less than a minute to find him-- and now I have Giles urging me to hit him... hard. Personally I'm inclined to do as I'm told for once, but to see my usually restrained watcher so violence happy... well, let's just say that this is a side of him I had never really seen before and I'm not all that sure of just how I feel about it. Don't get me wrong, I've known for a really long time that my watcher is more than capable of some serious kicking ass when the situation calls for it, it's just that I had never seen him quite so eager to see me kicking some human ass, and --whether I like it or not-- Ethan is still human... or at least something like it.
As I said, tracking him down wasn't much of a challenge, in fact that was the easy part. The problem is that --in an attempt to keep his teeth attached to his gums-- the little weasel quickly informed us that this whole thing was not originally his idea, that he was just sub-contracting, working for someone else. Knowing as I do what line of work Ethan is in and who his clients are likely to be I get the funny feeling that things are about to get even uglier than they are now... and with Giles stuck in teenageland I have to admit that it really doesn't look good.
I know the Scoobies are working the library end of things right now and that could help some, but I am also very aware of just how many books there are in that place and without a clue as to what it is that they are looking for or where to begin... well, let's just say that the whole thing is bound to be kind of needle in a haystackish. Luckily Ethan's backbone is far from the most relevant part of his anatomy and he has a healthy sense of self-preservation... not to mention the fact that he also has a very clear idea of just how much damage a pissed off slayer can do. Seeing how he is now facing two of them, I'm kind of hoping that getting him to tell us exactly what we need to know won't be too difficult. Faith is looking almost gleeful as she asks me if she can have a go at him first so I just nod in her direction. This is her first encounter with Ethan but I seriously doubt it will be her last and she needs to know what she's dealing with here. Me? I'll just ask the questions, sit back and enjoy the show.
Going by what Ethan's saying, it looks like this whole mess was courtesy of our budding new master, a certain Mr. Trick who used to be Kakistos's right hand vamp and is now making a move for the top dog spot... not that it looks like he's going to have much competition. The truth is that from what we've been able to find out about him so far, this Trick character sounds like a real piece of work. He is not particularly fond of the old ways and he is not really into mayhem and chaos... and that would be of the good if it weren't 'cause it ain't. An entrepreneurial spirit is something you really don't want to see in a vamp and that's exactly what this Mr. Trick has. He is calculating, he doesn't take stupid chances and he rules his emotions rather than the other way around. It's not like Angel, Angelus, Spike or Drusilla and that makes this guy far more dangerous than any of them as far as I can tell. They were cruel but deeply passionate in a really sick and twisted kind of way, Trick is cold... deathly cold.
I ask Ethan why Trick wanted the city deserted, after all it wasn't like we ran into hoards of vamps on a feeding frenzy as we made our way here and that would have been the most logical scenario. That means that there has to be some ulterior motive behind all this planning and I know it can't possibly be of the good... it never is. It is then that Ethan makes the mistake of lying to us... or at least trying to. Giles is still adamant that we punch the daylights out of him, but while I'm aware that that's not really an option --seeing how we kind of need Ethan to be awake and able to answer our questions-- I still gesture for Faith to hit him... I can tell she's enjoying this, heck I would if I were in her place.
That gets the weasel talking, babbling something about a demon named Lurconis and a tribute that has to be paid, something so big they had to be sure that even here in the capital of denial-land there would be no outside interference. If Giles were himself this would be so much easier but he is not himself right now and that means we can't rely on him for information. That's just too bad... especially for Ethan. I push him a little harder for an answer but I get the feeling that he's not lying when he says he doesn't know just what this tribute is supposed to be.
Well, at least now we have a name the gang can research while we pray that they'll find an answer before it's too late, before the tribute --whatever it turns out to be-- is paid.
I'm still on the phone with Willow when I hear a commotion going on behind me and I turn around in time to see that Faith somehow got distracted and Ethan managed to get a hold of a piece of metal and now seems to be intent on clubbing me with it... in fact he's so intent on that that he's totally missed the fact that Faith is now standing right behind him and before I know it he's been literally thrown out of the action. That leaves me to deal with problem number two... did I mention problem number two before? Yups, that would be the fact that my usually restrained watcher is now pointing a gun at Ethan and seems to be determined to blow him to kingdom come. I know the feeling but unfortunately I also know that, once the candy wears off, Giles would never be able to live with himself so --even though it would be oddly fitting for Ethan Rayne to meet his end at the hands of a pissed off Ripper, high on his own cursed candy-- it's up to me to keep my watcher from doing something he is bound to regret.
I've barely managed to get the gun out of Giles's hand when I hear my mom telling me that Willow wants me... bad, so I just grab the phone again hoping that things won't deteriorate once more. At first I'm deeply relieved when she tells me that they've managed to identify the tribute but that relief turns to horror when she informs me that the tribute is a ritual feeding... and that Lurconis eats babies. Can we say ewww?
We have to move and we have to move fast. For all we know we may already be too late. Faith and I have only taken a couple of steps, hoping that for once the 'grown-ups' will follow us willingly but not having the time to worry about it right now, when my mom calls me back and asks me what are we supposed to do with Ethan. I have a few ideas but unfortunately slayers are not allowed to kill humans in cold blood so Faith and I turn to look for something we can use to restrain him... then my mom produces a pair of handcuffs from behind her back. Faith and I exchange a look at that but we really don't have the time to debate this latest development right now.
There's something strange going on here, and once this whole mess is over we are going to find out just what it is... even if I'm not entirely sure that I really want to know.
